Rise of the Frozen Wrath
Awakening
Vand was always alone. As a bastard orphan he was named after, and also shunned by, his village of Vanderla. He spent his days laying around trying to think of an easy way to change his life situation. His mother died giving him life and his father disappeared after his mother found out she was with child. He was a man of averages; average height, average build, average features, average brown eyes, average brown hair, and an average voice that was not easily remembered.
"Oy, Bastard! Get off your ass and work! You'll die a penniless excuse for a man if you don't start working around here." Villagers would say as they walked by him, usually spitting at him afterwards.
"I don't need anybody to tell me how to live my life," he would tell himself when that happened.
As he got older, he went through the natural changes all humans make. About his eighteenth year, he was caught with a farmer's daughter. The farmer and the rest of the villagers finally had an excuse to run him out of town for good. He took with him his knife and the clothes on his back.
The seasons passed, Spring into Summer, into Autumn, and into Winter. Four cycles passed until he found himself in the mountains during winter.
"I'll just find a cave to stay in until Spring comes around." he decided.
The first cave he found wasn't deep enough to provide the shelter he would need. The second had a Dire Bear mother and her cubs, he felt lucky that he escaped with only a cut that went from above his right eyebrow down his cheek. He searched and searched, but all he found was sheer cliffs. As he was searching, it started to snow. A gentle snowfall, he kept searching despite it. As the day wore on, the snow started falling more and more heavily. Soon he was caught in a blizzard. He huddled against one of the sheer cliff walls and felt the blizzard howl its anger and rage at him. Slowly he lost feeling in his fingers and toes, then his arms and legs. He was convinced he was going to die. His last thoughts drifted to the people of Vanderla.
"They...will...pay." he managed to choke before unconsciousness took him.
He awoke the next morning, still enduring the full force of the blizzard. He roared his anger back at the blizzard and it stopped as if it feared him. He was confused and reached to scratch his chin as he usually did when in thought. The second his hand touched his chin he immediately pulled it away and grabbed his knife. Looking at his reflection in the blade he saw that he had changed.
His average features had become angular and regal, the cut from the Dire Bear had become a scar, his hair had become icy white, and his eyes were a piercing blue. He put away his knife and noticed his clothes had been shredded. He had grown to the height of a Barbarian Warlord. He decided to walk back to the cave with the Dire Bear to see if he could kill one of its cubs and use it to make some form of clothing. As he approached the cave, he heard the Bear roar. He took his knife and walked in. The Bear that had towered over him the first time he came into the cave was now only slightly taller than him when it was on four legs. He smiled a cold and wicked smile, then attacked the Bear. His knife found the Bear's shoulder and broke. Now unarmed, he noticed a feeling he had had since he woke up. It was a cold feeling in his heart, not of fear, but of Ice. He could feel Ice. When he came back from his thoughts he noticed the Bear was swiping at his face. He ducked under the blow and jabbed his fist into the Bear's ribs. He felt one snap, then willed the Bear's blood be frozen. With a roar that faded into a gurgle, the Bear died.
He experimented with his new-found powers and made a knife of ice to replace the one that broke in the Bear. Using his new knife he skinned and butchered the bear. He fashioned the hide into a set of clothes and used the paws to make a pair of boots. Thus outfitted he struck out into the mountains to find the Barbarian clans and call them into his service.
"Oy, Bastard! Get off your ass and work! You'll die a penniless excuse for a man if you don't start working around here." Villagers would say as they walked by him, usually spitting at him afterwards.
"I don't need anybody to tell me how to live my life," he would tell himself when that happened.
As he got older, he went through the natural changes all humans make. About his eighteenth year, he was caught with a farmer's daughter. The farmer and the rest of the villagers finally had an excuse to run him out of town for good. He took with him his knife and the clothes on his back.
The seasons passed, Spring into Summer, into Autumn, and into Winter. Four cycles passed until he found himself in the mountains during winter.
"I'll just find a cave to stay in until Spring comes around." he decided.
The first cave he found wasn't deep enough to provide the shelter he would need. The second had a Dire Bear mother and her cubs, he felt lucky that he escaped with only a cut that went from above his right eyebrow down his cheek. He searched and searched, but all he found was sheer cliffs. As he was searching, it started to snow. A gentle snowfall, he kept searching despite it. As the day wore on, the snow started falling more and more heavily. Soon he was caught in a blizzard. He huddled against one of the sheer cliff walls and felt the blizzard howl its anger and rage at him. Slowly he lost feeling in his fingers and toes, then his arms and legs. He was convinced he was going to die. His last thoughts drifted to the people of Vanderla.
"They...will...pay." he managed to choke before unconsciousness took him.
He awoke the next morning, still enduring the full force of the blizzard. He roared his anger back at the blizzard and it stopped as if it feared him. He was confused and reached to scratch his chin as he usually did when in thought. The second his hand touched his chin he immediately pulled it away and grabbed his knife. Looking at his reflection in the blade he saw that he had changed.
His average features had become angular and regal, the cut from the Dire Bear had become a scar, his hair had become icy white, and his eyes were a piercing blue. He put away his knife and noticed his clothes had been shredded. He had grown to the height of a Barbarian Warlord. He decided to walk back to the cave with the Dire Bear to see if he could kill one of its cubs and use it to make some form of clothing. As he approached the cave, he heard the Bear roar. He took his knife and walked in. The Bear that had towered over him the first time he came into the cave was now only slightly taller than him when it was on four legs. He smiled a cold and wicked smile, then attacked the Bear. His knife found the Bear's shoulder and broke. Now unarmed, he noticed a feeling he had had since he woke up. It was a cold feeling in his heart, not of fear, but of Ice. He could feel Ice. When he came back from his thoughts he noticed the Bear was swiping at his face. He ducked under the blow and jabbed his fist into the Bear's ribs. He felt one snap, then willed the Bear's blood be frozen. With a roar that faded into a gurgle, the Bear died.
He experimented with his new-found powers and made a knife of ice to replace the one that broke in the Bear. Using his new knife he skinned and butchered the bear. He fashioned the hide into a set of clothes and used the paws to make a pair of boots. Thus outfitted he struck out into the mountains to find the Barbarian clans and call them into his service.