Not all the tribes of Numeria have given up the old ways. The Kellid of the Frostwolf following still held to the traditions, following the game and crafting fetishes, living the hard life that their people had lived for thousands of years.
Kylma was an unusual child, born with white hair and impossibly pale eyes. Despite the dire predictions of some of the tribe, she was not left to die in the snow. Nor did she grow up to be a witch, or to cause the land to wither and trap the world in endless winter, or drive the game away so the people starved. She grew up fierce and proud, and fought anyone who spoke ill of her or her family. She hunted and trapped from the time she could handle a bow, and learned to fight with sword and axe as she grew stronger.
Maybe she was cursed, or maybe it was just bad luck, but when she was in her teens, famine came. A series of hard winters drove the game away, and the clan grew desperate. At last the chief, in desperation, was convinced that they must try everything, including ridding themselves of the white child. On the banks of the Sellen, she was sold to a pirate Captain who thought the exotic-looking girl would bring a good price in the decadent markets of Cassomir.
The first night she was on the ship, one of the crew went to her. He came out bloody and beaten nearly to death. The next night, another went with a dagger. He came back without his dagger, beaten as badly as the first. The third night, the captain went to her. He did not attempt to force himself on her, but discussed her future with her. It was clear that she would not make a good concubine, and the scar the second pirate's knife had left across her face had ruined whatever value she may have had.
For five years, she sailed the rivers, fighting alongside the pirates. It was not so different from being part of a tribe. Though she would laugh when her shipmates teased her about the disfiguring scar, any remark about her white hair would earn a cold glare. A second remark was enough to earn her hatred.
A handsome bard hired the ship to take him to Cassomir, and he sang for the crew. Kylma heard his voice and fell in love instantly, fiercely. Still, it was several nights before she could bring herself to speak to him, and more nights before she could tell him how she felt. There had been much to drink that night, as they sailed through the Verduran Forest, and she was surprised above all by how easy it turned out to be. He didn't seem to mind the scar at all.
In the morning, though, he laughed and told her he had only done it out of pity, and so he could say he had had a white-haired Kellid. She left most of him in bed, but took his head with her so she could look at his face whenever she wanted, and remember never to love again. She knew the captain would have to kill her, for the payment was waiting in Cassomir for the bard. She slipped off the ship and swam to shore, wandering through the forest and into the warm scrub lands beyond, hunting and trapping and trading furs in the smaller villages she passed.
By the time she came to Ralstead, there was nothing left of her lover but his skull.
