Midnight rain

Francis came running back, wringing his hands. He puffed clouds of steam in the frigid northern air.

"No seriously mate there really is," he said desperately. "There's a big fuck off kraken off to port!"

"Francis, you say this every time you go to sea," replied Ranulph. "Every time you come back you've met some child of the eighth realm, or a troll with three eyes, or a Thule dragon riding a Summer dragon."

Francis didn't answer, just stared past Ranulph's shoulder, eyes widening in abject horror. His friend had to admire his commitment to the bit, but he was dangerously close to losing his temper.

"Yeah but this one was actually real," he said desperately. "It was really, really, really, real."

Ranulph opened his mouth, but whatever it was he was planning to say was lost forever in the noise of wood splintering timbers, and the shouts of terrified sailors, as a pair of immense, sinuous arms, white as frost and studded with tiny hooked beaks, rose lazily out of the cold water and curled around the stern and the prow and proceeded to tear the good snip Clementine into pieces.

The cold Sea of Snow lies north of the Empire, and is known for chunks of ice and icebergs that can crush a ship. to splinters.

Overview

The Empire first launched a raid on Skallahn shortly after the Spring Equinox 384YE. The raid was a something of a disappointment but out of adversity comes opportunity. A summer raid was organised and the might of the Empire crashed into the southernmost territory of Kalsea, causing massive damage to the Kongegőr. With a once in a lifetime opportunity to sail through the gullet in massive numbers available a plan was made to try to map the Sea of Snow.

Mapping the Sea of Snow

During the Autumn Equinox, the Imperial Senate vote to take advantage of an opportunity to map the Sea of Snow. The Empire's maps of that coast - and more specifically the territories that lie along its shores - have been woefully inadequate for some time. The Empire knew that the Jotun kingdoms of Kalsea and Narkyst were to the immediate north and south respectively, and the lands of the Faraden were further south, but beyond that very little was known for sure. Now, that situation has greatly improved.

While just over two thirds of the the captains who contributed to the project were unsurprisingly Winterfolk, vessels from almost every Imperial nation were involved, only the Imperial Orcs were absent. With coordination and support from the civil service - and a considerable commitment of funds from the Senate - over the last season these ambitious mariners began to compile cartographic information about the land along the coast of the Sea of Snow.

The project has not created the kind of highly detailed map that would be of use to magicians. This requires a significantly more focused approach such as is provided by a spy network operated by bands of trained scouts. What it has done is closed several holes in Imperial understanding of the geography of the western coast- providing a firm foundation on which further projects might be built as well as giving some insight into the size of Faraden, Kalsea, and Narkyst.

Each fleet that has taken part in this project has received only 4 ingots of metal and 30 rings. This has come from raiding Jotun settlements and engaging in petty trade with Faraden settlements. More importantly, perhaps, each captain has also been provided with their copy of the map of the Sea of Snow, as well as a collected gazetteer of points of interest in each territory.

Summary

The map, and the limited gazetteer of locations uncovered, is being prepared for publication by the civil service and is expected to be made available after the Winter Equinox (OOC: That is, it will be put on the wiki as happens with the report from a spy network). It is known to have located and mapped the shores of one Narkyst territory to the south - Ankashun, two territories belonging to the Faraden - Menendram and Tujahan, and the names and rough coastlines of three Kalsea territories to the north - Bryadvik, Tromsa, and Fjorknae.

Stories from the Sea of Snow

Each ship captain who contributed to the project is free to create their own stories of their escapades, within reason. A recurring element in these stories is the presence of a surprising number of ghastly sea monsters in the Sea of Snow, especially ivory-white and seadeep-blue kraken, behemoth beasts that rise up from the frigid depths, and even carnivorous sea birds that think nothing of trying to pluck a small human or orc from the rigging of a seagoing vessel.

The inhabitants of the Jotun territories are unsurprisingly hostile to Imperials. The majority of those who live by the coast are human thralls who run at the sight of any ship, whether clearly Imperial or not. Any ship that waits too long in Jotun territory, or whose crew goes ashore to raid, is swiftly met by the Jarl who rules the area and the warriors they command.

The Faraden are more open to Imperial visitors but their coastal villages are more suited to small fishing vessels that cling close to shore, rather than the seagoing ships that make up Imperial fleets. There is some petty trade between Faraden villagers and Imperial captains, often small trinkets or extra supplies for the journey home, but nothing in comparison to the profits from visiting one of the many foreign ports.

Each of the seventy or more captains who took part in the opportunity will have a document in their player packs containing further details of the six non-Imperial territories along the Sea of Snow, as well as a map showing their placement.