⭗ REDIRECTIONS: XXX ⭗

⭗ LONGWINTER IN UVG #3 ⭗

⭗ THE MARK OF WINTERWHITE ⭗

“Tell us of the Mark of Winterwhite,” the Blue Oracle said. “Those memories are the darkest within you.”

“Or the palest and coldest,” Kvelak stirred uncomfortably. “I saw many things in Brezim that I have tried hard to forget, the Mark of Winterwhite most of all.”

“Dreams buried fester,” the Blue Oracle smiled enigmatically. “Release these memories. Exhume them and let them breathe. Peace will follow.”

⭗ BACKGROUND ⭗

Brezim is the setting of Luka Rejec’s Longwinter books. While not explicitly set in the same world as Ultraviolet Grasslands (also by Rejec,) both settings have enough similarities in terminology and in encounters that they can mesh together relatively easily. Still, there is room for more flavor to integrate the two together when moving your UVG caravan through Brezim and experiencing the wrath of Winterwhite. Some of my ideas for encounters which mesh with both worlds are below:

⭗ RIDDEN BY WINTERWHITE ⭗

The wrath of Winterwhite upon Brezim brings with it the potential for a new form of power corruption (See Luka Rejec’s SDM: Codex 1) where a brave (or foolish) mage (or fantascience analog) may seek (or be coerced) to become a devotee (or avatar) of Winterwhite herself. 

If using this in a game of UVG, run it like any other form of power corruption. More and more, the character marked by Winterwhite is “ridden” by the spirit of Winterwhite until the line between the two blurs away to nothing. Increased devotion is marked in the flesh. The skin, hair and nails gradually whiten. Perception of temperature changes. Cold becomes increasingly more comfortable while average temperatures become unbearably hot. Voice slowly fades to a whisper, or a sound like the hiss of wind over ice and snow. Increasing displays of willing devotion grant spells as gifts from Winterwhite, and these are given in dreams. The more of these gifts a character receives, the closer they get to becoming an avatar of her, and being lost to her control completely.

⭗ GIFTS OF WINTERWHITE ⭗

SUMMON WHITE BIRDS

Avalanche of Albino Avians.

P:1, R:10 meters, T: Local Area, D: 1hr

1d6 White birds with red eyes respond to the call of the devotee. They are capable of following basic instructions, but will only commit acts of violence against entities that they perceive to be enemies of Winterwhite. 

Overcharged: Summon an additional 1d6 birds with each overcharge. 

Dangerous: An additional 3d6 birds are summoned. They are driven to violent madness and attack everything around them indiscriminately, including the caster. They have sharp, hungry little beaks. Hurting them angers Winterwhite. 

RESISTANCE TO COLD

To Feel At Home In The Ice.

P:2, R: Self, T: Self, D: 1hr

Frost, snow and normal icy conditions do not affect the caster in any negative way. Even blizzards and snowstorms feel no more inconvenient than walking through a heavy rain.

Overcharged: halve damage from supernaturally frigid and icy magic sources. Halve again if Overcharged again. 

Dangerous: The caster is suddenly frozen solid (but can be thawed.)

SUMMON ICE WYRM

Borrowing the Burrower.

P:10, R: Local Area, T: Local Area, D: Until it is sated or killed

Summons an Ice Wyrm (L12, Frost Breathing) to the area. The Ice Wyrm can only be controlled by Winterwhite herself, so unless the caster is so far gone that their last act could be to give themselves up to their icy patron in return for a moment of control of the wyrm, this spell only summons the creature to where the caster is. Without Winterwhite’s control, chaos is sure to ensue. 

Dangerous: the Ice Wyrm is enraged by the summoning. Add 1d6 to its level.

ICY LANCE

Lame de Glace.

P: 1, R: Self, T: Self, D: 1hr

Summons a blade of ice as hard as steel from the very air itself. The blade takes the form of a long sword or a pike, according to the whims and needs of the caster. Entities vulnerable to magical ice and supernatural cold take double damage from hits with this weapon. 

Overcharge: The weapon becomes supernaturally lightweight and doubles in size. 

Dangerous: The blade freezes into the flesh of the caster’s hand and becomes a part of their body until cut free or dissolved by magical fire.

EXTINGUISH FLAMES

Quieting Combustion.

P: 1, R: touch, T: 1 meter, D: instant

So much of the unnatural world is powered by fire. With Winterwhite’s blessing, all such fires can be extinguished. Internal combustion vechs are rendered cold and silent. Golems with hearts of crystalline fire fall into a stupor and slumber. Cooking fires are dramatically wooshed out. 

Overcharge: Double the target area affected. 

Dangerous: The full fury of Winterwhite rushes out of the caster’s hands instead, frosting over everything in an area twice the size of the target area centered on the caster.

FREEZE: 

Crystalizing Cold On Contact.

P: 1, R: touch, T: 1 sq. meter, D: 15 mins.

Everything you touch turns to cold. Water is frozen, steel and glass become frosty. Animals and people will shy away from your touch. Creatures born of ice and the cold (like Ice Wyrms) will be healed by your hands. 

Overcharge: the size of the target area is doubled. Overcharge again and again to increase the size. Dangerous: The caster is frozen by the spell instead, but can still be thawed or warmed back up.

ICY ARMOR:

Girded and Glassy.

P:2, R: self, T: self, D: 1 round

Summon a storm of icy armor over your pallid skin. All attacks against you suffer major penalties (i.e. disadvantage). Overcharge for half damage.

BLOOD INTO SWEETS:

Cannibal Confectioner's Conversion.

P: 1, R: Touch, T: 1sq meter, D: Permanent

Turns spilled blood into sickly sweet treats similar to Turkish delights. They have no nutritional value, cannot be used as a replacement for food and are generally recognizable by the folk of Brezim for what they are. Oldsettlers and Wolffolk always recognize them and despise them. The reverse of this spell has even fewer potential uses, but it can be cast anyway, if you are so inclined.

ICE-WALK:

Frigid Phasing.

P: 3, R: self, T: self, D: Instant

Step between blinding white drifts of swirling snow or fall through the mirror-sheen surface of an icy slick to instantly appear elsewhere within ten meters of wherever you were. Maniacal laughter while phasing from place to place is optional. 

Overcharge: Double the distance of the teleportation. Overcharge again to increase it even more.

Dangerous: the caster becomes stuck, half-phased through ice and frozen solid. This might be the end of them.

SUMMON COLD WEATHER

Initialize Inclement Conditions

P: 3, R: Local Area, T: Local Area, D: 1hr

Call forth the fog and rain. 

Overcharge for blizzards. Higher levels of overcharge may attract the notice of the forces of spring and summer, bringing their ire. 

Dangerous: Push it hard enough, and even Fireflinger or Earthbeater may emerge to silence the storm and have words with you.

RAISE ICY DEAD

Frosty Faces of Familiar Foes

P: 2, R: Touch, T: 1 Corpse or Spirit, D: Until destroyed

Good for raising ghosts, zombies, animated skeletons and ghouls from the slain remains of your foes. Such undead rise with half their level (round up) but all abilities intact. 

Overcharge to bolster the raised dead with icy spikes and armor (+1 to level) as many times as you like. 

Dangerous: the spell backfires and turns the caster into the basic type of undead they were trying to raise instead (ghost, zombie, skeleton, etc.)

⭗ OUR PARTY (SO FAR) ⭗

"Charred-Hand" a perfectly ordinary and unassuming wastelander

The Blue Oracle, Dreamer of Dreams

Ilod Kvelak, Redlander Merchant and Caravaneer

Coda-1, Coda-2 and Coda-3, a Bluelander polybody pilgrim, allegedly.

Lleva Vyeldisana, Greenfolk Naturalist and Zoa Conservationist

⭗ WHAT ARE REDIRECTIONS? ⭗

My goal with REDIRECTIONS is to add my own contribution to the Psychedelic / Heavy Metal / Ligne Claire art RPG space.  Much in the way that people inspired by Tolkien’s style helped give birth to the modern genre of High Fantasy, the style of Jean “Moebius” Giraud (and others like him) seems to be spawning a sort of genre of its own right now, and I want to expose more people to the wonders of it. I want to share it. I want to be a part of it. Most of all, I want it to grow.

    REDIRECTIONS is a collection of wondrous places and resources presented in story format (as a game in play, specifically traversing the universe of UVG (Ultraviolet Grasslands) but it is also kept more general for your own RPG characters to visit and explore regardless of the system you use. Each place is unique and wholly original, with a bevy of interesting stories, plot hooks and characters to color your experience. 

    The format and many of the specific terms are from UVG. I'm just playing in Luca Rejec's universe. 

    If you like these posts and find them useful, let me know! 

    While the images (not the text) of prior posts in this series have been created in collaboration with AI, I have been working to learn how to draw and so all of the images in this post were ones I drew by hand. I still enjoy collaborating with AI to make pretty pictures, but I also I greatly respect the skill of people who work with pen and pencil and have the skill of hand to make things from scratch. I’m still learning myself.

    This is a series, and each entry is numbered. If you like things like this, please support the true artists whose works are part of the genre, such as the works of Moebius, Luka Rejec's Ultraviolet Grasslands, Luke Gearing's Acid Death Fantasy and Raw Fury's game SABLE.