Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Irrisen—Land of Eternal Winter (PFRPG)

Anyway, I recognize the three riders from some slavic story I heard once, but don't recall all the details... They represent different times of day, right?

Bright Day, Red Sun and Black Midnight, or various similar translations.

Traditionally they are among the servants of Baba Yaga.

It's funnier my way, but I get what you mean. Is the white rider dawn/dusk? I'm pretty sure black is night and red is day, though I guess red could be dawn/dusk too...

It's funnier my way, but I get what you mean. Is the white rider dawn/dusk? I'm pretty sure black is night and red is day, though I guess red could be dawn/dusk too...

Not sure. I'd assume White is "Bright Day", though I've also seen that as "Bright Dawn"

Red would be "Red Sun", but that makes more sense as a Dusk or Dawn kind of thing.

Here's a source.

Suddenly she heard the sound of a horse's hoofs and a man on horseback galloped past her. He was dressed all in white, the horse under him was milk-white and the harness was white, and just as he passed her it became twilight.

She went a little further and again she heard the sound of a horse's hoofs and there came another man on horseback galloping past her. He was dressed all in red, and the horse under him was blood-red and its harness was red, and just as he passed her the sun rose.

That whole day Vasilissa walked, for she had lost her way. She could find no path at all in the dark wood and she had no food to set before the little doll to make it alive.

But at evening she came all at once to the green lawn where the wretched little hut stood on its hens' legs. The wall around the hut was made of human bones and on its top were skulls. There was a gate in the wall, whose hinges were the bones of human feet and whose locks were jaw-bones set with sharp teeth. The sight filled Vasilissa with horror and she stopped as still as a post buried in the ground.

As she stood there a third man on horseback came galloping up. His face was black, he was dressed all in black, and the horse he rode was coal-black. He galloped up to the gate of the hut and disappeared there as if he had sunk through the ground and at that moment the night came and the forest grew dark.

"I would ask thee," said Vasilissa, "of the men on horse back. When I came to thy hut, a rider passed me. He was dressed all in white and he rode a milk-white horse. Who was he?"

"That was my white, bright day," answered the Baba Yaga angrily. "He is a servant of mine, but he cannot hurt thee. Ask me more."

"Afterwards," said Vasilissa, "a second rider overtook me. He was dressed in red and the horse he rode was blood- red. Who was he?"

"That was my servant, the round, red sun," answered the Baba Yaga, "and he, too, cannot injure thee," and she ground her teeth. "Ask me more."

"A third rider," said Vasilissa, "came galloping up to the gate. He was black, his clothes were black and the horse was coal-black. Who was he?"

"That was my servant, the black, dark night," answered the old witch furiously; "but he also cannot harm thee. Ask me more."

Mead Gregorisson wrote:

What I really want is a map showing the tundra between the Inner Sea region and the Crown of the Wold.

OK, what you do is, you take a blank piece of white paper...

...and you have your map!

Lol. I live in Montana. There is alpine tundra less than 10 miles from me in Glacier National Park. It's not really always snowy. Here we get tons of beautiful flowers... and green as far as the eye can see,

I moved up here from Florida because of my love for the north, ice and snow. ;) sadly, we don't get as much as I expected.

On second thought, if you're far enough to the north, it makes sense to distinguish the time when the sky is light from the time when the sun is up - in winter, you get a lot less of the latter.

That is fine cover art, really good.

Finished the book yesterday and it's brilliant. A few things that bugged me though:

1) What's the deal with all the crow hate. They use ravens but hate crows. Did they all read SOIAF and empathize with the wildlings?!? I know some carry disease but is it more than that.

2)Where are all the Kellids? Hallit is mentioned as a common language in all provinces but I don't remember them talking about Kellids other than those living in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. They mention Varsian spoken more than Hallit even. Then, why is Hallit so widespread then?

3)I think were going to have to amended the popular regions in Irrisen. Pharisma is mention more often than Lamshtu and almost as much as Zon-Kuthon.

Loved this book...really think Irrisen is one of my fav places along with Ustalav and the Linnorm Kingdoms. The nobility rotation was quite intriguing, though I have a question about the Queen progression (this might be treading on AP background stuff, but I'll ask anyway!);

When Baba comes after a century has passed and installs her newer daughter, what age is that daughter? In the Feyfrost province, it's mentioned that the daughter of Elvanna was sent there after her mother's coronation.

Also, springing from that, does that mean when Baba Yaga brings them from wherever, her daughters already have kids?

I wonder that too, though considering the preview of part sixth of RoW I have a feeling were going to learn all about Baba Yaga's family life.

Loved this book...really think Irrisen is one of my fav places along with Ustalav and the Linnorm Kingdoms. The nobility rotation was quite intriguing, though I have a question about the Queen progression (this might be treading on AP background stuff, but I'll ask anyway!);

When Baba comes after a century has passed and installs her newer daughter, what age is that daughter? In the Feyfrost province, it's mentioned that the daughter of Elvanna was sent there after her mother's coronation.

Also, springing from that, does that mean when Baba Yaga brings them from wherever, her daughters already have kids?

These things change depending on the daughter Baba Yaga brings in. We haven't detailed the ages of all of the queens of Irrisen, but it's a fair bet that over 1,400 years, some were younger, some were older, some had children, some didn't.

I don't know, from a political/logistical standpoint, I would argue that they would all have to have children, & a lot of them, if they were regularly replacing all the key/prime nobles with the new queen's children. Even if they are only replacing the Four duchess' & whoever has the comparable task in Feyfrost, that is Five daughters right there, each of whom is likely at least 15 to 20 years old & probably older as I doubt any of them are going to be less than 5th level or so.
Otherwise it seems like too much of a power gap & power gaps in Evil nations tend to get...
Messy.

Just ordered a hardcopy. Reign of Winter better be an excellent AP, so I can use this book to its fullest extent. ;)

Just ordered a hardcopy. Reign of Winter better be an excellent AP, so I can use this book to its fullest extent. ;)

Being that Reign of Winter isn't an Irrisen AP, I'm not sure if you'll be able to use this book to its fullest extent . . . You'll probably be able to get some good use out of it, however! It's a great book, so the purchase is a good one at any rate. =)

magnuskn wrote:

Just ordered a hardcopy. Reign of Winter better be an excellent AP, so I can use this book to its fullest extent. ;)

Being that Reign of Winter isn't an Irrisen AP, I'm not sure if you'll be able to use this book to its fullest extent . . . You'll probably be able to get some good use out of it, however! It's a great book, so the purchase is a good one at any rate. =)

One module is in Irrisen, which is why I grabbed the book. I know that the AP travels... elsewhere after that. ;)

I don't know, from a political/logistical standpoint, I would argue that they would all have to have children, & a lot of them, if they were regularly replacing all the key/prime nobles with the new queen's children. Even if they are only replacing the Four duchess' & whoever has the comparable task in Feyfrost, that is Five daughters right there, each of whom is likely at least 15 to 20 years old & probably older as I doubt any of them are going to be less than 5th level or so.

Otherwise it seems like too much of a power gap & power gaps in Evil nations tend to get...
Messy.

If, according to Rob above, a Queen came along and didn't have enough daughters, I'm sure she can give those to the descendants of other queens to who would fill those posts until she has suitable offsrping. If such a person performed well enough, she might be bumped down to baroness.

One of Elvanna's granddaughters, a countess, is already planning to keep her own title and position when her grandmother leaves at the centennial, by ammassing wealth and social points. Money still talks in Irrisen.

Best picture of a Winter Wolf EVER! Thanks paizo for finally giving me a picture of the winter wolf!

Duchess Weneschia's class has me wondering if her faith might also be a sort of post-mortem escape route. Things may not have worked for Kseniya, but maybe Weneschia is banking on a deity being able to pull rank on her grandma.

Man, what a terrible way to live. Raised in a horrific regime and knowing that your days are not only numbered regardless of your power but that this creepy old lady is going to take you away to somewhere that is most likely something unpleasant. And so far it seems every one of them that has tried to choose their own fate has failed to beat the odds.

It's chilling.

...

Sorry.

Dumb question time for people with the book: does it give any hints on which deities are primarily worshipped in Irrisen?

For that matter, do we get any new ones? It seems odd at times that there isn't an evil or at least amoral god of winter in Golarion.

Dumb question time for people with the book: does it give any hints on which deities are primarily worshipped in Irrisen?

For that matter, do we get any new ones? It seems odd at times that there isn't an evil or at least amoral god of winter in Golarion.

Zon-Kuthon and Lamashtu have worshippers in Irrisen, among humanoids.

There are no new deities in this book. There are a couple of demon lords that have dominion over the cold, specifically Kostchtchie and Thremyr (who Kostchtchie kinda took over).

Dumb question time for people with the book: does it give any hints on which deities are primarily worshipped in Irrisen?

For that matter, do we get any new ones? It seems odd at times that there isn't an evil or at least amoral god of winter in Golarion.

This is not in the book but there is also the Elemental Lord Kelizandri, he is a evil divine being of water (ice), destruction, and travel

Dumb question time for people with the book: does it give any hints on which deities are primarily worshipped in Irrisen?

For that matter, do we get any new ones? It seems odd at times that there isn't an evil or at least amoral god of winter in Golarion.

Some of the Ulfen peasants in the rural towns still worship Pharasma and this is more-or-less tolerated by their Jadwiga rulers. However, most other religions are forbidden by the White Witches. At least one secret shrine to Desna can be found in the village of Kerad; it stands to reason that some of the peasants still worship other gods venerated before the Winter War. Take a look at those deities worshipped in the Linnorm Kingdoms and Realms of the Mammoth Lords.

Adam or Rob can correct me if I'm off on this...

Thanks for all the answers!

I haven't had time to read the full book yet, so I'm asking this here: is this book safe to read for players in Reign of Winter, or does it contain any spoilers for that adventure path?

I haven't had time to read the full book yet, so I'm asking this here: is this book safe to read for players in Reign of Winter, or does it contain any spoilers for that adventure path?

It doesn't really spoil any of the AP's plot, but it does contain a lot of detail about Baba Yaga, Queen Elvanna, and Irrisen that the PCs (as foreigners to Irrisen) would not necessarily know.

Reign of Winter spoiler:

Thanks for the information, Rob!

Curious that the day after I buy this, a late-March snowstorm comes to town...I kept an eye out for houses on chicken legs today. Coincidence, or clever and atmospheric marketing tie-in?

Curious that the day after I buy this, a late-March snowstorm comes to town...I kept an eye out for houses on chicken legs today. Coincidence, or clever and atmospheric marketing tie-in?

...You wouldn't happen to have any dolls in your house? She has a long reach, Baba...

Coming very late to this party, but I just got this because I'm going to start running RoW soon. A couple of notes, a couple of questions.

-- The over-the-top cruelty of the witches actually made this book work. "Then I shall give you warmth." Very dark, very fairy-tale.

-- It's a minor point, but I really like the detail that by the ancient treaty, no winter wolf can open a gate uninvited. It's a very fairy-tale sort of thing.

-- Man, there are a lot of unhappy marriages in this book. I counted at least five, and I think there were more. Profession [marriage therapist] isn't a thing in Irrisen, I guess.

-- The Frozen Fog: apparently this insta-kills everything that enters it. And... that's it? I mean, no rumors to lure adventurers, no hints of what lies within? "Don't go there, it's certain death." "Okay." I guess that's sort of flavorful in its own way: Irrisen is so relentlessly awful that it has one region that will simply flat-out kill you, no save, nothing. But it's not exactly an adventure hook.

-- "What is known is that Pjallarane’s Stone does seem to possess some strange power, as all arcane spellcasters who have stood near the stone can attest. To date, however, no one has been able to harness this power or explain its origin." But it never explains what this strange power is...?

-- "Of particular note is Yalah the Pale (NE female rusalka witch 7), whose 40-year-old treaty with Queen Elvanna requires that a raft with three male Jadwiga children be set adrift at the center of the lake once every year on the eve of Pjallarane Day." Treaty implies that the Queen is getting something out of this. What could a rusalka offer a 20th level queen?

Doug M.