Fordaetha, Frostmaiden, Icemaiden, Coldheart of Rük

 

Symbol: Silver open left hand with an ice crystal in the palm

Home Plane: Para-elemental Plane of Cold, Prime Material Plane

Portfolios: Cold, Evil & Suffering

Worshippers: Any, Predominantly female

Worshipper’s Alignment: Any evil

Clerics, Druids & Monks: NE (Female only)

LE Domains: Cold, Evil, Suffering

Favored Weapon(s): Pisk (cat o’three tails with crystal tips)

 

Description:

 

Fordaetha is depicted as a fair-faced maiden with long blonde-white hair and pale blue eyes, thin to the point of emaciation. She is depicted as clad in various garments of blue and white but is usually seen holding a whip with crystal tips. Her background is always depicted as some cold scene, usually a flurry of flakes and icy ground.

 

History/Relationships:

 

Fordaetha is in liege to no other deity, though she supports the same general aims as Rakoth within her pantheon. She maintains casual alliances with Avaia and Maugrim, sometimes supporting piracy and allowing evil creatures solace in the wintery air. She shares the domain of Suffering with Crylla and Lomar and would prefer nothing more than to take the domain wholly for herself. She actively opposes Dana, as they are elemental opposites; she wants Dana worship out of the Northlands. She opposes most good gods on the sheer nature of her evil but also opposes Glywyn and Liranan for traveling in her demesnes without her say.

 

Fordaetha was once a more powerful goddess when glaciers dominated the northlands. Her remaining power sits in the Northlands and appears to be waning as the area becomes more settled. When the Oberoni left their native elven lands, they retreated into the Hills west of the Purlwood (ancient Rük). Through the use of a powerful artifact, they warmed their valleys into fertile farmland and vineyard, barring the entrance of ice and snow. Fordaetha worked to expel them for centuries before finally succeeding through the treachery of one of their own. However, the cost of warfare on the Oberoni left the Ice Princess weakened and her frozen kingdom melted on other sides while she raged. The great glaciers retreated, making these areas more habitable for the encroachment of civilization; these wildlands are still sub-arctic and hard living.

 

Today, Fordaetha waxes and wanes in power as winter comes and goes. She maintains one major temple in Icehead but has shrines located in the wilder parts of the Northlands. She has few worshippers, but all who would travel in late autumn or early spring are sure to offer prayers of safe passage. In the heart of the winter months, she is petitioned by those who would see milder winter months and would pacify her so she departs. Rumors stir that the Icemaiden has settled on some new course of action, as her priestesses are being seen further and further from Icehead. Even more interesting, they seem to be seeking out men and women equally.

 

Dogma:

 

Cold is the penultimate culling power of nature. It cleanses all it touches, killing the weak and forcing the strong to survive through suffering and hardship. Warmth makes metals and men soft and malleable; even the dullest smith knows the best blade is forged by tempering it on ice. The cold heart will survive where the warm heart dries up in pain. Be cold and precise, a tempered blade sharpened on the icy winds.

 

Clergy and Temples:

 

The only openly displayed temple of Fordaetha is in the Hethaemiir Empire in the city of Icehead. Her presence and worship are seldom seen outside of Baraki, The Cloudtalons, The Hethaemiir, Stoneforge and Vyrm, Clerics of Fordaetha dress in blues and whites. The favored weapon of the Frostmaiden is a whip tipped with crystal shards called a pisk (similar to a cat o’ nine tails but with only 3 heads). All Fordaethans know its use in combat as well as in ritual. (Game Info – Treat the Pisk as a whip except is deals 1- 4 in physical damage, not subdual damage.) It is rumored that an order of monks exists that serves as the cold arm of the Icemaiden, striking at her foes in places her clergy cannot. Fordaethans pray for spells before dawn, in the coldest part of the night. Little is known about organized worship, since it never happens in open view and few visit the temple in Icehead. The temple is said to be made of unmelting ice as strong as steel. Worship is done predominantly in silence, punctuated with the cracking of the pisk in response to key parts of ceremony. Fordaetha is revered by an order of monks known as the Order of the Frozen Heart.

 

Special Abilities:

 

Fordaethans gain additional special abilities as they progress in their dedication to the Icemaiden. Unless otherwise specified, these powers are supernatural abilities usable at will by the caster only.

 

3rd level – resist elements [fire] (1/day)

5th level – chill metal (1/day)

7th level – wall of ice (1/day)

 

Fordaethans gain the use of the pisk as a free weapon proficiency. They eschew the use of armor but may carry a shield if they so desire. Fordaethans suffer a -2 penalty on all attacks involving fire.

 

Sacred Prayers of Fordaetha:

 

Fordaetha makes special prayers available to her faithful.

 

Rituals:

 

Fordaetha makes several rituals available to those who please her. They are detailed below. Bestowance of the rituals requires at least one high priestess be present unless otherwise stated. Fordaetha may revoke the power of her blessings at any time; any costs paid are not recovered.

 

The Cold Heart -- This ritual grants an additional +1 divine bonus against all enchantment effects and a +2 divine bonus against all charms. This ritual costs the recipient 500XP.

 

Flesh of ice -- This ritual hardens the recipient’s skin against attack. The recipient gains a +1 natural armor bonus and cold resistance 5. The recipient, however, loses all warmth from his/her skin thereafter and pales. It will stack with the ritual Winter's Call. This ritual costs the recipient 1000XP to invoke as well as the sacrifice of 10,000gp in diamonds and sapphires.

 

Glance of the Ice Princess - The recipient gains a +2 divine bonus to bluff, intimidation and innuendo checks. Once per day, the recipient can cause fear for 2 rounds in a subject meeting her gaze. The ritual costs 1500xp to enact as well as 1500gp.

 

Hoary Touch - The recipient gains a +1 divine bonus to spellcaster level when using any spell with the cold descriptor. The ritual costs 1500xp to enact as well as 300gp.

 

Winter's Call - The recipient gains cold resistance 10. The ritual costs 5000xp to enact as well as 5000gp. Two other high priestesses of at least 16th level are required for this ritual.