Ice Reaving
From Mizahar Lore
| "Ice can be life. It can be so much more as well." - Aurora – The Winter Witch |
| Gnosis | |
 A cold world can be a blessed world. | |
| Granted by | Morwen |
|---|---|
| Positive marks | The Ability to Manipulate Ice |
| Negative marks | None |
| Pos. mark appearance | Snowflake |
| Neg. mark appearance | None |
| First mark | Coming of Age ceremony in Avanthal, Visiting The Goddess |
| Champion | Aurora – Vantha High Priestess |
Ice Reaving is the Gnosis power of Morwen - Goddess of Winter. Born in the frigid cold of the north, Ice Reaving is a gnosis that comes from the very soul of winter. Ice Reavers embrace the winter, the cold frigidness of ice, and revel in its stark breathtaking beauty. They control ice like it is a living breathing thing with a soul and a purpose. Ice Reavers have a complete and utter understanding of the nature of ice and its structure, recognizing its possibilities and benefits to those who wear The Ice Reaver mark.
Contents |
The Inner Workings
Gaining a mark from Morwen is like learning a new language or having sight when one has been blinded their entire life. Most Vantha are marked as they come of age. It changes the bearer, altering their metabolism and the needs of their bodies so that winter is not so unfriendly to the people of the north. They gain a kinship with the cold and feel the snow and ice as if they are more firmly engrained as part of the environment than other humans elsewhere might be. Storms sing to them, and when the temperature drops and ice forms, the world begins to sing a song of birth and joy that only Ice Reavers and Morwen herself can truly appreciate. To the Ice Reaver, the substance of ice becomes a fluid medium, something that can be controlled with simply a thought or need. Ice in itself may not seem powerful, but manipulating a small amount of it can indeed at times move mountains so all of the Ice Reavers are very carefully working around the substance and of course each other. Ice can expand rock and bring down even the biggest mountain. Rivers can stop flowing when ice dams form. Air can run out if the ice is thick enough, and yet with plenty of ventilation and heat, ice can insulate. The uses for ice and its forms is almost limitless to a creative and well versed Ice Reaver. It is said they sing to it and the ice sings back.
A Note On Ice
Ice Reavers cannot create the cold or indeed form water. They can, however, at second marks thicken thin ice (when more water is present) to safe levels and keep ice in its frozen state far longer than it would normally be possible. However, for this to work, ice and water has to be present initially. Only when coupled with water reimancy can they form ice where no water exist. Ice, to an Ice Reaver, is a living almost sentient thing with a will and a purpose. Ice can hold secrets, giving and taking life at random. Ice Reaving is the main reason places like Avanthal exist and thrive in otherwise harsh unforgiving landscapes.
Assisting Skills
Ice Reaving is a stand alone gnosis. However, multiple things can help in working with Ice Reaving. Magic such as Water Reimancy wherein the user has the ability to CREATE ice is very helpful. Engineering, construction, carpentry and numerous other assorted ‘building’ type skills like masonry could come in very handy. Artistic skills such as carving or sculpting also would prove very helpful. Sketching can also be useful because Ice Reaving overall is a very artistic gnosis though most consider it a necessity for northern survival.
Mark Progression
| Marked [Cursed] - 1 Gnosis Mark | |
| The singularly marked individual is completely at ease in the cold. The presence of Morwens mark acts as antifreeze that warms the individuals blood and keeps them comfortable even in subzero temperatures. Exposed tissue can still freeze when faced with severe temperatures, but individuals are not at all prone to hypothermia if they are well protected against the weather. They may in fact even feel ‘comfortable’ in colder climates and indeed uncomfortable in warmer climates. At this stage, Ice Reavers can control the temperature of ice, melting it or freezing it in small portions. It is not unheard of for an Ice Reaver to scoop up a pot of snow, tap their gnosis, and have a pot of ice water instead ready for cooking. Ice Reavers at this level have the ability to tell how thick a piece of ice is - such as the surface of a lake - and can determine whether it is safe or not to hold weight. At this level, Ice Reavers can tap their gnoses and shape ice that is already formed as sculptors might - loosening and causing it to shed away until the pattern they want is formed. Ice Reavers at this level cannot create ice nor manipulate large portions of ice. They cannot, for example, thaw portions of a surface of a lake, but they can take the existing ice and reshape it or melt it. They can only change the viscosity of about a standard 10 gallons of water at a time. If conditions are cold and they try to repeat this process over and over again to achieve what a higher level Ice Reaver could, they would find their manipulations refreezing behind them as they worked.
Morwen does not give negative gnosis marks. | |
| Favored [Despised] - 2 Gnosis Marks | |
| A favored individual gains an important ability within Ice Reaving in that they lose the ability to feel 'cold' and take damage from that cold in extremely low temperature weather. Exposed tissue loses its ability to be damaged by cold. Favored individuals can work on a thousand gallon of water, turning it into ice or sculpting it however they see fit. These Ice Reavers are responsible for the vast majority of the buildings around Avanthal, especially out in the separate holds. They often mend rooftops, keeping snow and ice from collapsing structures and doing serious damage. Most Ice Reavers at this stage remain around Avanathal and work hard to assist the city in its growth and development. Second level gnosis mark bearers are as rare as first marked gnosis bearers are common. It is not unheard of, as well, for Morwen to skip a second mark and go right to a third mark, tasking an already existing Ice Reaver to go to work on her cities and holds.
Morwen does not give Negative Gnosis Marks at the secondary level.. | |
| Priest/Priestess [Adversary] - 3 Gnosis Marks | |
| At this marked stage, the follower becomes an actual priest or priestess of Morwen. Their abilities to create, thin or thaw ice are limited to 'within sight' in terms of the amounts of ice they can manipulate. Creating whole buildings are not unheard of so long as the raw building material is present. Priests and priestesses of Morwen have access to the memories in ice at this point, and can pull forth information from ice. Such information might be who has passed the ice, walking upon it or otherwise touching it, or how long the ice took to form and what the climate was like each year the ice was present in the world. Ice holds secrets. Priests and priestesses of Morwen can survive frozen within ice without food or water, though they age at the same rate as their bodies normally would if free. Most never would remain trapped, however, since with a simple thought and invocation of their gnosis mark, the ice surrounding them could be thawed. Sometimes, during stress or periods of grief, priests and priestesses have been known to 'go into the ice' to meditate, reflect or grow closer to Morwen.
Morwen does not give Negative Gnosis Marks at this level. | |
| Champion [Nemesis] - 4 Gnosis Marks | |
| Truly staggering in their power, a champion can freeze a whole lake and not bat an eyelash at the ability. Conversely, they can thaw things that are frozen solid - instantaneously if necessary. Champions of Morwen have precision control over the manipulation or reaving of ice. They can wield enormous blocks of it or stretch it and thin it until it is not unlike a thread and sew it through the flesh of a man as a seamstress can thread yarn through a quilt. Their control of ice is absolute. Aurora, Morwen's current champion has an important role in that her duty is to make certain the Nothern Sea Breakup and Freeze happens when Morwen's Will demands it. The Champion can simply touch the sea and manipulate what is beneath and above it. Because of this ability, Laviku has always been uneasy with Morwen and her followers. In turn, the Champion has always been cautious to not abuse her powers and perform her sacred seasonal rituals and only those within Laviku's realm.
Morwen does not give Negative Gnosis Marks at this level. | |