The Shapers

**The Shapers**, also known by multiple other synonyms are a race of folk originating from upland/east Andruschgreta. The Shapers are mysterious winter visitors spoken of in Andruschgretan folklore. Emerging from their remote mountain homes as snows fall, the Shapers journey down to villages below. At first sight, Shapers appear as tall, shiveringly icy beings with claws hardened like crystal. However, beneath frosty exteriors lies passionate inner warmth. Extremely skilled in crystal sculpture, Shapers transform massive ice blocks into intricate architectural masterpieces with fluid precision. When the Shapers arrive, they bring both shelter from bitter cold and a sense of wonder. Through their frozen art, they breathe life and beauty into snow-covered towns. In turn, villagers welcome the Shapers' company, exchanging stories until spring calls the folk back to their peaks. Even without explanation, Shapers have long aided mountain communities, balancing icy craft and fire within. Each winter, their appearance heralds season of creative support between these strange humanoid folk and villagers under frosted eaves of Andruschgretan legend.

## Tale

As the winter winds howled down from the Teufeljoch mountains, the villagers of Oberdörf knew help would soon arrive. Emerging from the snow-cloaked passes came the Shapers, their tall forms cutting through the icy drifts.

Though their claws and hides were made of glimmering ice, the Shapers' hearts remained as warm as the hearths awaiting them in Oberdörf. The great folk approached and greeted the villagers with breath like mist. Children rushed to see the wonders they would create.

In the village square, the Shapers set to work slicing and carving at towering blocks of ice hauled from the frozen lake. With swift claws they sculpted flowing figures seemingly alive in danced. Villagers gasped as likenesses of themselves began to take shape.

More Shapers flew above, spewing their frigid breath to craft delicate spirals and curls in the ice. Within hours, a palace of crystal elegance was erected where plain blocks once stood solitary. The children laughed as one young Shaper sculpted a puppy just for them from a great chunk of ice.

As dusk fell, the Shapers' work was complete. They joined villagers by the fires, sharing tales of their mountain domains until the stars shone bright. Though different in flesh, between shaper and human flowed an bond as deep and enduring as the ice the Shapers so expertly shaped with hearts as warm as the glow within.

## Synonyms

They are known in Chartequinccia, The Royal North, and other Common Tongue-speaking nations as just "Shapers," or frost carvers, referring to their ability to deftly carve massive blocks of ice into delicate works of winter art. Elsewhere, like in northern Apelchemia, Andruschgreta, and western Cheskachenica, they are known by a variety of other names:

* Eismünner - A name for the Shapers in the oldest mountain tongues, meaning "Ice Men" for their corporeal forms seemingly molded from packed snow and rime.
* Jukulvenner - Called thus by certain northern reaches, with "jukul" denoting perpetual winter snows and "venner" meaning companions or friends, in recognition of their role as frostbound allies.
* Eishagel - A diminutive name used by villagers' young ones, portraying the Shapers as kindly uncles who shower artwork instead of hail from their stony hands.