Glaciella

## Glaciella, Ice Maiden

### **Overview**

*Glaciella is the Ice Maiden of the Glacial Merfolk, the crown princess so to speak, destined to rule the Glacial Merfolk. Though her power has waned since her awakening from the frozen Caverns, she still has a number of Merfolk, hidden in the frozen hills, standing ready to answer the call of their Maiden. As a Glacial Merfolk she is eternal, lifespans are a dryskin concept, something beings of the land are restrained to. The birth of a new Merfolk is a celebrated event for the nation, as they will potentially live among that nation forever. Likewise the death of a merfolk brings the entire race to its knees (yes we have knees) as it is a death of an eternal. Because of this way of life, Glaciella has been trained since birth to be a wise and cautious leader, fighting only as a last resort and relying heavily on scouting reports and carefully layed out plans in wartime. In peace, Glaciella is a fair ruler, leading with an open heart instead of a heavy hand. The concerns of her people are heared and acted appon with swift action, afterall She's a women of action, vying to be out in the hills dealing with problems herself so as to not expose her people to risks she could handle on her own. Overall Glaciella is a symbol to herald and a blessing to all she touches, the Merfolk stand beside her in peace, and behind her in battle.*

### **Awakening**

*Our Maiden recalls herself awakening from a barrier of ice, kept in stasis her mind numbed. As the cavern started to melt by the changing of the lands, she found her way out into the world, only to find it not anything like she imagined it to be. The once arctic dunes of ice and hill, now reduced to a snowy tundra littered in trees and thawed lakes. disheartened by what has befallen her homeland she was even more determined to rally her people and band together under a sole banner.*

### **Reuniting her people**

*It wasn't long before she realized the state of things, her people were nowhere to be found. A once proud race, reduced to nothing, not even her great cities of ice and frost remained. To find her people she must first think as they had to, where would she hide? Where would the dryskins not look? Perhaps the answers are simple in retrospect but at the time this was a tough question, as our Maiden was not a being to hide, it wasn't something she would ask of others, and as such not something she would enact herself.*

*After some time she found her first group of survivors, nestled into the side of a hill, out of sight from the dryskins, or so they thought. It wasn't long before the dryskins left their thawed cities in the east and moved west. Apparently these new age humans have taken up residents in an old dwarven stronghold, a blatent insult to Merfolk and one not easily forgotten. These dryskins have setup another keep by the name of **FrostReach** recently dangeriously close to my people enclaves, knowingly or otherwise.*

*Conversing with the survivors, the locations of many sanctuaries and enclaves were figured out and slowly our people regained their numbers. However with a growing population we needed to decide how we would project ourselves to the outside world. Are we a threat? A band of marauding savages? No we are better than that, or at least we will try to be. We must. Our Maiden will lead us back to the path of frost and fame. We will never fall again.*

### **Refuge from above**

*The little goblin of FrostReach has offered our people a deal we cannot refuse, we will be given safe haven in the caverns below FrostReach, in return, All the Obsidian and ores below are to be mined and given to FrostReach. Once either mining is complete or the contract holder, **Nevesis**, dies the cavern is to be given permanently to the Merfolk peoples. Glaciella is not a leader to willingly give her people to slavery so an inspection of the cavern was needed before any deals were struck.*

*Touring FrostReach, it became clear that most of the keep was run entirely by this goblin, though signs of others were ever persistent. Shops for dryskins were setup, but not occupied. A tavern was built by **Bronze** and a temple to one of their dwarven gods was established. Still, it seemed quite empty. Under the keep, this tavern in question was already mined dry of most ores, the obsidian however, was the meat of the deal. Rock of purple stretched as far as the eye could see, even in spots it was dug into, it seemed to have several layers of the stuff. This would not be a quickly paid off deal, but our people are not shy of labour and paying our debts. After some brief council with her trusted generals and officers it was decided they would call the caverns home for a time. This would give her people a place to rebuild, and purpose to keep our sadened hearts from dropping further.*

## **A new spark**

### **The Deepfolk**

*After searching eastward, our Maiden of Ice found the King of the Deep. **Aesi** as he was called, is a **Deepfolk**, like the ones of old. It was believed they were extinct but then the same was often said of the GlacialFolk. Glaciella saw something in him though, something we didn't. She established frequent contact with the King, frequent visits were conducted to **Nautilore** under the guise of diplomatic negotiations but I've never seen the Maiden of Ice this happy when preparing for a diplomatic matter.*

*The outcome of these meetings was that plans for water roads between Nautilore and FrostReach would be planned and the groundwork for higher Merfolk influence in Dryskin affairs would be layed. Should these plans come to fruition it would mean great strides of progress for the Merfolk. We could return from our caverns to the hills of Tecalgia, build cities like we had so long ago. We could rebuild and fulfill the promises Glaciella made to us all. After writing this I've come to understand why Glaciella is so excited and determined to work with King Aesi.*

### **Union**

*Long were the days of solitude, survival and basic needs. "No more" announced our queen to the people, she would not live in the here and now forever, to do so would show a dire state for our people. Our maiden made announcements of Love, of the future, of unity. Together with the Deepfolk king she would unite all of her people, not just the Glacialfolk but the Merfolk as a whole. Our maiden demands happiness of her people, to cast off uncertainty, doubt and short term thoughts. We are to put down roots, to plan for our future and most astonishingly she announced that we will come out of hiding.*

*I will document the speach of the illustrious Maiden of Ice*

***"Sisters, Brothers, children and elders alike, hear me. For centuries you have hidden, tucked away under ice sheets and water caves. For centuries we have reared our heads at the site of the Dryskins, to run and hide, to cower. For centuries you have been without an Ice Queen. My mothers line failing at my imprisonment in the ice, The kingdom being a bygone memory. For centuries you have endured a suffering no one would ever or should ever ask of you. Today we finally bring these centuries of suffering to an end!***

***Raise your heads my people! We are the Merfolk, Firstborn of Tecalgia. We stand at the precipice of our race, what are you? A coward? A legend told to the children of land? No. You are the proud and rightful heirs of this land! We are Merfolk and so long as my gills draw breath The Dryskins of Pagonia and beyond will not forget our plight! Stand tall children of the sea! Standfast, for the days of running and cowering are as bygone as the doubt in our hearts. We will build cities, crystalline halls of ice, Towers reaching to the beyond, monuments to the Guardian we once placed our faith in. We will rise from the tundra and none will stand in our way. We are Merfolk, we exist, you exist, remind the dryskins of this."***

### **A Royal Love**

*King Aesi of the Deepfolk has proposed to our Maiden on a quiet getaway to the jungle's frozen edge. This is the most joyous day of the century, not only for the two of them but also for the kingdom and our race. Together in marriage Aesi and Glaciella will rule over one people united under one throne, the true unity our Maiden sought out when she first found us hiding below the lakes. She has worked with the **Tidecallers** to imbue a ravine nearby to Monolyth with the freezing temperatures of the west, creating walls of ice from the surface all the way down to the thermal vents on the water cave's floor. This seat of Merfolk power would hold the wedding and with it form a royal family, the first in Tecalgia since the empire's collapse so many years ago.*

#### **The Deepfrost**

*The throne room was the first building made, and made with a combination of the ice of the west and the prismarine of the ease, this synergy between Glacial and Deep folk would suit both taste and symbol of the unity of Merfolk held within such walls. Beneath the throne room housed the vault, all riches of this settlement were housed within for use on this town and beyond.*

*As for Glaciella and Aesi they formed a royal house known as **Deepfrost** with the Deepfrost family members currently as Aesi Deepfrost and Glaciella Deepfrost. There are rumblings among the common folk that materials for a **nest** are being gathered, we as of yet dont know where the nest is being constructed but we eagerly await news on that front. There's also talks of the Shellfolk being introduced to the family thouh they havent formally joined yet. the family has fittingly named the settlement Deepfrost halls, as within its halls walk the royal family of the Merfolk.*