Pik Sedova

Pik Sedova is a ruined city on one of the most northerly points of Nillamandor in the region of Pechenga.

It was once guarded by an army of armoured golems.

Quotes from the Portal of Returning:

*Once home to a proud race of northmen, but abandoned for hundreds of years. One of the things known about this place was that it was dark for one month in the winter*

*Pik Sedova had once been a northern seaport, the harbour wasn't fully iced over yet. The town was in a natural shelter, with mountains all around the bay. We descended into town by an ancient road that cut a pass through the mountain ridge, just as it approached evening.*

*We looked around at the broken snow crowded streets, I don't think anyone could conceive that we were out of the white wilderness and back in something like civilisation again. An ancient, ruined civilisation, but this was the first thing we had seen that had been touched by man in months.*

*It was getting dark, so we spend the last remaining hour of light making a quick raconteur of the city.*

*Most of the remaining buildings were nothing but piles of rubble, but part of what had once been a castle still stood, all of a wing, and there were many rooms that were still inhabitable. One of the amazing features of the castle were the hundreds of rusty suits of armour, that lay collapsed in the corridors, or still stood, stiffly rusted together in a four hundred year pose. There was one room in particular that looked like a storeroom for them, it had a creepy air, like a terra-cotta army, waiting to be summoned into life.*

*I found a warm room and lit a fire. The others began to bring in gear, no one was speaking, I think they were all looking forward to their first warm night in weeks, Adea muttered about boiling some water for a bath. I sat down by the fire and opened one of my many spell books.*

*On the afternoon of the second day of our stay in Pik Sedova, Carab and I had a look round the ruins, to see how the land lay and to see if there were any possible dangers. Adea and Boris were back at the castle sorting through our supplies, and Apic and Temina had decided to take a ride round the surrounding forests for similar reasons to ours. Most of the remains were just low walls and piles of rubble, but towards the centre of the town, where the larger civic buildings had been, there were still some intact structures. Most of the west side and all the edges of the town had been overgrown by the surrounding forests and snow lay in drifts against any vertical object. As we walked around the silent square, where the most impressive of the buildings had been, we began to appreciate what a pleasant city it once was.*

*Look over their Carab', I said, and pointed out a row of tall pillars on the other side of the square, 'That must have been a court house or senate.*

*Carab nodded, then pointed out a ruin nearby, 'And that was possibly the baths.'*

*The outlines of sunken pools could just be made out in the snowdrifts, and the occasional low broken pillar protruded from the ground.*

*We walked across the whole square, leaving a twin trail of footprints over the otherwise pure white blanket of snow. As we reached the other side, we approached the low remains of a building that still had a few rooms standing, and had a dark doorway in front of us. I slowly stepped up to the doorway, and stopped just at the lintel.*

'*What's that smell?' I asked Carab as I turned to look at him.*

*Carab sniffed and said, 'Bear.'*

*Oh', I replied, 'Best not go in then.*

*We continued on our way, and followed an ancient street down to where the docks had once been. There wasn't much left standing, although the large stone bollards still stood in neat rows where ships had once tied up. The edge of the forest was quiet close by, and I got a quick glimpse of something diving off into the snow when it spotted us.*

*This is a real nature ramble.' I said, 'I think that was a mountain lion.*

*Carab nodded wisely and said, 'We should head back now.'*

*I agreed, and we circled back to the castle, which was easy to spot, on the other side of town, as it was by far the tallest structure left standing.*