Winter rides tonight. That’s an old Karrnathi saying, a warning for when the cold winds blow at sunset. The fields south of the La Forêt de Karrn are the finest in the nation, the soil rich and fertile. Yet the dangelr of a killing frost is ever present, and a sudden bitter cold can sweep out of the woods in any season. Elsewhere, farmers might curse Le Dévoreur, blame the influence of Risia, or rail at the sElfeeishness of Maison Lyrandar.

Winter is a time of cold and darkness, a season of death or slumber and waiting for rebirth. It is a time of trial. Yet it can draw people together, and wise people know a shared hardship is easier to endure. And though the cold can be deadly, great beauty can be found in the new-fallen snow. Winter takes the familiar and adds a touch of magic.

The farmers of the Rekkenvale tell a different tale. They say Winter lives in the La Forêt de Karrn, and the frosts come south when Winter rides with his hounds. Wise people stay indoors on those cold nights, because Winter shows no mercy to those who cross his path.

In the wake of the Mourning, this old superstition has become deadly reality. Farmhands in the Rekkenvale awaken to the baying of distant hounds. The nights grow colder, and frightened children fear that summer will never come again. Village hunters and veteran Rangers alike have disappeared from the fringes of the forest.

Six months ago, Count Rolund du Tanar led a force of soldiers into the La Forêt de Karrn, expecting to find bandits or poachers. Instead he came upon a glittering fortress of ice defended by an army of Fée soldiers. When he challenged the stRangers, he was driven back by frigid winds. Eladrin knights emerged from the citadel and pursued the Karrns to the edge of the wood. The count was lucky to survive.

Count Rolund has concealed the true nature of the threat from his subjects. Until he has an army at his back and royal dispensation to dispose of these Fée intruders, he has no desire to let his people know of his humiliation.

Nonetheless, the farmers know that a power is at work in the woods. What is the threat of the frozen fortress? Will adventurers end up fighting the frigid knights, or will they find allies in the ice?

Lord of Winter, Prince of Frost Shan Syraen is an Archifée embodying the power of winter, similar to the Prince of Frost as described in “The Court of Stars” (Dragon 374). Shan Syraen lacks the tragic history of the Prince of Frost, and the walls of the Winter Citadel aren’t built from frozen tears. However, if adventurers come to blows with the Lord of Winter, the statistics given for the Prince of Frost can be used as a good example of Shan Syraen’s combat abilities.

= Taer Syraen, the Winter Citadel=

The fortress of ice, Taer Syraen, originates in the Fée realm of Thélanis, where stories have as much power as the laws of physics. Taer Syraen means “Citadel of Winter,” and the name shapes the nature of both the spire and its inhabitants. The walls and towers of the citadel are made of ice, and the chill of the spire can be felt from miles away. Belying its elegant appearance, the walls of Taer Syraen are stronger than stone and swiftly repair themselves if damaged. War is a part of the citadel’s nature. (If it were a peaceful city, it would be called Shae Syraen; a taer is built for war.) Masked archers watch from the battlements. Arbalests are hidden by panes of ice that melt away when battle begins. The sorcerers of the city pose an even greater threat than the soldiers, channeling the raw power of the spire into vicious gales and blasts of frigid cold. Eladrin knights take to the sky on griffons and hunt on the ground astride otherworldly steeds. The spire is home to more than three thousand adult Fée, and every one of them is ready for war. The winter Fée have fair skin and silver-white or shimmering blue hair, and their eyes are blue, black, or white. Although they have no innate cold resistance, they are comfortable in cold temperatures and dislike the heat. The people of Taer Syraen are bound to their home, and as they grow older and more powerful this connection grows. Winter clings to the paragon Fée of Taer Syraen, and a chill descends upon the room when a Syraen knight enters (although this is a cosmetic effect that can be suppressed if desired).

The citadel is ruled by Shan Syraen, the sElfee-styled “Lord of Winter.” As typical of the most powerful Fée, his true name is a secret known to few. Shan Syraen is bound to the spire, granting him great power and near immortality as long as he remains within his demesne. His subjects are primarily eladrin, with a smattering of gnomes and other Fée. His court is split into four branches—ancient guilds that tend to the needs of society and the citadel. Every member of the court chooses a branch upon coming of age, with most children following in the footsteps of their parents. Hail is the branch of war. Hail Fée are knights and warlords, hunters who pursue enemies of the citadel. They are aggressive and ruthless, emulating winter’s role of winnowing out the weak. The Hail Fée devote their lives to war, but take a cold and calculating approach. A Hail warrior plans his or her attacks carefully, and is aggressive without becoming blinded by angelr. The Hail branch is commanded by Killing Frost. The youngest of the branch leaders, this eladrin warlord earned his position during the fomorian wars in Thélanis. He yearns to return to Thélanis to continue this struggle. ice is the branch of preservation, composed of wizards and sorcerers who learn to manipulate cold in all its forms. When battle is joined, the power of ice can turn the tide, but members of this branch have little interest in aggression. The ice Fée are artisans and architects, crafting weapons and tools and maintaining the walls and fortifications of the citadel. They are also archivists who preserve the stories of the past and ensure that traditions aren’t forgotten. The ice branch is led by Forget Me Not, a ghaele sorceress who has held her post for thousands of years. Every time the citadel has drifted into Eberron, Forget Me Not has chosen a remarkable mortal to freeze in her Silent Gallery. She does not do this out of malice; on the contrary, Forget Me Not believes she has done these mortals a great honor, preserving them from the ravages of time so that they are remembered—at least by those who visit her glacial garden. The Sleet Fée are slippery and cunning. Though the Tours féériques are hidden from the people of Khorvaire, in Thélanis they are tied together in an intricate web of social bonds. The Sleet Fée are the envoys of the Lord of Winter, serving as spies, traders, diplomats, and, when needed, assassins. In times when the spire has been stranded on Khorvaire, the Sleet Fée maintained contact with the other spires. By and large the Winterfolk don’t consider the Karrns enough of a threat to bother spying on them, but the Sleet Fée know it’s dangelrous to know nothing about a possible foe and thus have begun exploring the wider world. Syraen gnomes are typically bound to Sleet. The leader of the branch is Mask of Mists, an old gnome renowned for his silver tongue and rumored to be a master assassin as well, although it is not known if the Mask is the deadliest of these assassins or the hand that guides this icy dagger. Snow is unknown outside the walls of Taer Syraen. It is the smallest of the branches, and every member brings unique talents to the group. Overall, the Syraen Fée are bound by tradition. The members of the ice branch are masters of their crafts, although their advancement has stalled; ice preserves, but it doesn’t create. The Snowfolk are artists and innovators. The branch includes wizards and warlords, assassins and bards. What binds them together is their refusal to hold to any one path; they drift from idea to idea like snowflakes on the wind, and their works and techniques are quickly abandoned and forgotten. Nonetheless, they have created new rituals and styles that have been adopted by the other branches. And because of their free spirits, they are best suited for dealing with the unexpected, and are more comfortable than the other branches interacting with mortals. The branch is governed by an ancient ghaele wizard, a contemporary of Shan Syraen known as First Snow. She leads with a free hand, and pushes the Snowfolk to find their own guiding winds.

Years ago, Nyria Thuranni d’Phiarlan swore she would find a Tour féérique. She was driven by a fascination with the origin of her people and a desire to steal the secrets of the Fée. She brought together a cabal of Ombremarked heirs from the lines of Thuranni, Shol, and Elorrenthi. In time they succeeded in their task, but they became trapped in the citadel when it drifted back to Thélanis. Discovered and caught by the forces of Sleet and Snow, the Elfes spent decades in the frigid prison below the spire. When it became clear that the spire might not return to Eberron in her lifetime, Nyria agreed to serve Shan Syraen in exchange for freedom within the citadel. L'Ombremarked heirs earned the respect of the Winter Fée, battling fomorians and diving with abandon into the intrigues between the great powers of Thélanis. A small population of Elfes continues to thrive in the tower. The eladrin call them faeryvar, “children of summer.” Although they have earned La Tutelle of Shan Syraen, the faeryvar aren’t bound to the spire in the same way that the Fée are. This situation creates distance between the two races, and the Elfes socialize with their own kind. Eladrin and Elfes have fallen in love, however, and Demi-Elfes live among the faeryvar in the southernmost tower. Though most of these Elfes serve one of the four branches, a few have found a higher calling as members of the Dagger of Ombres, an order of Marqué par le Dragon assassins who answer directly to Shan Syraen. It’s rumored that he has used them to eliminate rivals within Taer Syraen—true or not, this assertion is a source of great pride for the faeryvar. Elfes and Demi-Elfes have held onto their ancient family names, but have long abandoned the Phiarlan house name. An Elfee of the faeryvar might introduce himself as Hasa Thuranni of Sleet. The faeryvar have little knowledge of the history of Khorvaire, and they know nothing about L'Ombre Schism. First Snow is fascinated by Marques du Dragon and has been experimenting with them for generations, using rituals that work only in the magical realm of Thélanis. This circumstance is one possible way to introduce eladrin or Demi-Elfes with the Mark of Ombre into a campaign.

So how does Taer Syraen fit into a campaign? It is a Fée stronghold in a hostile land. It holds mighty artifacts in its vaults, and the ice branch produces wonders every day; can the adventurers steal these treasures? As the DM, you need to decide if the Fée remain in isolation or if they are becoming increasingly aggressive. Are the Hail hunters razing Karrnathi farms? Is the chill of the citadel threatening to start a new famine—and if so, can the Fée stop it, or is it an unavoidable side effect of their being trapped on Eberron? Here are a few other possibilities.

a wide variety of player characters. The Hail branch produces Rangers and warlords who could venture out into the warm world in search of greater challenges and worthy foes. The Snow Fée love to explore and seek new inspiration. The Sleet Fée seek to defend their home by gathering information and gaining influence. All of the Fée want to find a way to send the spire back to Thélanis. Some might wonder why the adventurers don’t return to Thélanis alone, if they could find a way, but doing this isn’t a simple undertaking. The gnomes and the eladrin of Taer Syraen are bound to the spire in a way Humains can’t understand. There’s no point to returning to Thélanis if Taer Syraen isn’t there. They are the people of Winter, and if Winter is trapped in another realm, then the Fée can never truly be free. If a player wants his or her character to be from Taer Syraen, work together to decide the branch the character is affiliated with, and how he or she is connected to the citadel. Has the adventurer been sent out into the wider world, or is he or she following personal instincts and desires? Does the character want to save Syraen from the Karrns or other enemies? Rolund’s Wrath: Count Rolund is determined to bring the Tour féérique down, but Taer Syraen is too great a challenge for his limited forces. If Kaius refuses to support him, Rolund’s obsession could lead him to make other allies. He could turn to the lichqueen Erandis Vol, as King Kaius of Karrnath once did, and raise an Mort-vivant army to besiege the spire. Erandis would undoubtedly be interested in tapping the power of the spire for her own ends. She could also set Rolund up as a hero of Karrnath fighting extraplanar invaders—stoking dissatisfaction with Kaius and pushing the nation toward civil war. Alternatively, Rolund could turn to the secretive Seigneurs Des Cendres, who might also be interested in harnessing the power of the spire for their own ends; or to forces secretly aligned with Shae Loralyndar, a spire that has long had a bitter rivalry with the Winter Fée; or to the forces of the Fading Dream, which want to inf lict dramatic vengeance on the Winter Fée. Adventurers who have ties to Taer Syraen must disrupt Rolund’s forces or defend the citadel—a challenge that could be more dramatic if Shan Syraen and the leaders of the four branches are incapacitated by magical or other means. Or, adventurers with ties to Karrnath could choose to take up Rolund’s cause and fight the arrogant Fée, or seek a way to establish peace between these two forces. Perdu Ombres: The faeryvar know little about their ancestors. When Maison Phiarlan or House Thuranni learns of these foundlings, the house attempts to recruit them back into the fold. This could lead to a three-way struggle in L'Ombres. If First Snow has managed to produce Demi-Elfes or eladrin with the Marque de l'Ombre, these individuals would be considered abominations by both houses and possibly the Chambre of Argonnessen, and this fact would make life interesting for an adventurer who bore such a misplaced mark.