Longwinter Visitor’s Book

Luka Rejec
ALL ART & WRITING COPYRIGHT
© 2020 by Luka Rejec

LAYOUT
Luka Rejec & Anna Urbanek

EDITING
Fiona Maeve Geist and Jarrett Crader

TYPOHUNTING
The fine typohunters of the
Stratometaship. Merci.

PUBLISHING
WTF Studios

CREDITS
This whole adventure, this whole
creative endeavor, has been made
possible by 524 heroes of the
stratometaship, the WTF patreon
(https://www.patreon.com/
wizardthieffighter). Thank you a
thousand-fold.

—Luka, Seoul, November 2018 to

November 2020
Visi to r s ’ Bo o k
$
Luka Rejec
 Autumn, our poor garden is all

“ falling down, the yellowed leaves

are flying in the wind.

epigraph by A. N. Tolstoy in
P. I. Tchaikovsky –
October: Autumn Song
(The Seasons, Op. 37a)

Winters are long and beautiful in the high

valleys of Brezim.

Longwinter is the two book RPG sandbox

of a mountainous winter country on the
cusp between the old and the new, the
edge of modernity, the stepping stone of a
new age. New mines and industries are
opened, light breaks the gloom of
ancient ruins, change comes to sweep
away the cobwebs of history. But
cobwebs do not go easily into the dust.

This book contains common knowledge

and mechanics for all the players:
heroes and referees. The Referee’s Book
contains tools for running Longwinter at
the table.

The setting is profoundly close to that of

Witchburner.
This one is for the cloaks of elvenkind
one snowy December in Rut.

This one is for the heroes who ran there.

6 Longwinter

Contents
Fourth Wall Fracture 7 Chodey 41 Game Rules 67
Why Are You Here? 8 Kastey 42 Back to the Game 68
Welcome to Pey Dimna 43 Setting Recap 69
the Barony of Brezim 11 Pey Holzey 44
Pey Jibbey 45 Time 70
Land & History 13 Pey Tirzley 46 Time in the game 70
Federation 14 Ta Krasney 47 Distance is Time 71
Empire 14
Republic 15 Mountains and Forests 48 Space 72
Kingdom 15 Branberg 48 Paths 72
Older Times 16 Dragonberg 49
Oldest Times 16 Dark Forest 49 Encounters 74
Giantsfist 50 Encounters
Government & People 17 Grayberg 50 of Summer
The Baron 17 Icegraben 51 and Autumn 75
The Vizier 18 Motherberg 51 Terrain & Weather 76
The Mayors 18 Pearlberg 52 Encounter Mishaps 78
The Federal Faith 19 Princessberg 52
The Baronial Faith 19 Riblingberg 53 Survival and Inventory 80
Baronials 20 Spargleberg 53 Resources 80
Oldsettlers 21 Twinberg 54
Wolffolk 22 Whitecrown 54 Rest and Recovery 82
Old Architects 23 Wingleberg 55 Short Rest 82
Wolfsberg 55 Long Rest 82
Economy & Society 24 Resting Conditions 83
Mining 24 Rivers and Lakes 56
Lumber 24 Cherenka River 56 The Cold 84
Water 25 Derishka Stream 56 Failing
Wool 25 Dimnaya Stream 57 the Cold Check 85
Manufacture 25 Draga Stream 57 Hurt 85
Powerful Few 26 Dvogroya River 58
Powerless Grandfather's An Inventory Sheet 86
Multitudes 27 Icefield 58
Hodovoya River 59 Barony Buy & Sell 87
Culture & Faith 28 Jibbya Stream 59 Vikuna's Den 88
Three Spirits Krasna River 60 Grand Open 88
in a Human 28 Malya Stream 60
Polite Address 28 Riblinza River 61 Sporting Supplement 91
Local Colour 29 Rorka River 61 Hunting in Brezim 91
Spine Icefield 62 Guns and Weapons 92
The Three Towns 34 Rushka River 62
Gomiliy 34 Starogray Lake 63 You Could Be Here 95
Rudvey 36 Tirzla Stream 63
Vreley 38 Toplaya River 64 The Crossing 96
Toplovoy Lake 64
The Eight Villages 40 Zadvoya Stream 65 Appendix: Music of
Belna 40 Longwinter 100

Introduction
 Visitor’s Book 7

Fourth Wall Fracture

Longwinter is not a setting of canon. It glides uneasily between unreliable, if
earnest, narrative, and outright satire. Characters and even tables casually
contradict one another. Dissonance is a given. There is no one right way to
imagine or play it. You and your friends at the gaming table will take this world,
run with it, reinvent it, recreate it, and quite possibly break it. And that is good.

—Luka Rejec, December 2019

Preface
8 Longwinter

Why Are You Here?

It may be cold here in Brezim. It may seem dull so far from the bright city lights.
Yet still, the gentle traveller will find many a reason to visit.

Reasons To Visit (d10)

1 Viktor Bluntstone – a cousin – purchased a chalet and found an
unusual old laboratory in the basement – a week later, a letter arrived
stating that he was “missing in unusual circumstances.”
2 Ermelina Redwater – an aunt – has decided to purchase a townhouse
on the Vreley promenade and needs someone to seal the deal for her.
3 Runo Whitetower – a great-uncle – has died and deeded his holdings in
Ta Krasney to “the first of my ungrateful brood to bring this letter to
the mayoral office in Rudvey.”
4 Sigma Delmar – a proletarian researcher of old architect ruins – has
secured funding from the Whiteyes Institute to secure an undisturbed
bunker on the Dimnaya stream. She needs spelunkers and specialists.
5 Obol Fastfoot – a childhood friend, now a City investor – has purchased
the deeds to several foreclosed holdings in Pey Holzey. He needs
someone to go and explain to the yokels what that means.
6 Zena Blackwolf – a rich merchant – is convinced that her husband’s
“botanical research vacation” in Pey Dimna is actually a secret tryst
with a famous young actress who is known to spend winter there.
7 Andrey Resttree – a nephew – has been diagnosed with a rare
respiratory condition and his parents require somebody to accompany
him to the Painted Tree in Vreley for treatment.
8 Lena Riflesteel – a famous illusionist – is recording a crystal-film about
the Snow Apes of Brezim. She needs mountaineers and adventurers.
9 The heroes – as a reward – received a month’s stay at the fabled
Painted Tree spa in Vreley. This will be an opportunity to rest,
recuperate, move the clock forward, and do a bit of safe carousing.
10 Igor Ironwood – the son of an Eastern City count – was “allegedly”
involved in a ridiculous scandal and sent to Gomiliy for a few months
to discreetly stay out of trouble. Somebody needs to keep him there.

Preface
 Visitor’s Book 9

A snow ape in its natural habitat.

10 Longwinter

Gomiliy from Solniy Shoulder

 Visitor’s Book 11

Welcome to the
Barony of Brezim
Brezim. The name conjures visions of birch forests and dappled deer, bucolic

“ baronials and alpine pastures, thick pine and ginkgogin forests, hot springs and
glittering icefields. Yet the barony also has much more modern conveniences to
offer the gentle visitor.

The barony of Brezim is changing fast under the progressive democratic

leadership of the good baron Soren Greencorner II. The reopening of the fabled
Mines of King Rudvik is just the most visible sign of the province’s booming
economy, and plans are afoot to build an ironway to link the valley with the
Eastern and Western Cities.

Surely now is the perfect time to visit Brezim, a safe and prosperous valley, yet
still offering a wealth of charming vistas and quaint traditions to amuse even the
most jaded palate.

—Brezim, Barony of Snow, Spas, and Industry. Gentle Visitor’s Guides,

Zuleiman Publishing, Second Federated Edition (new year 120)

apple

The Barony
12 Longwinter

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 13

Land & History

† rock and wood and water †

The Barony of Brezim is a mountainous province of a larger world. It is a world

that has risen and fallen and risen again, like an ark sailing the seas of time and
chaos. History mostly passed the mountains by. There are too few people there.
The bones are too strong. The rocks are too high.

More than the acts of kings, it is the will of nature that shapes Brezim. To the
north and west of Brezim the vast sweep of the Unwalk Mountains claws at the
sky, a wall between South and North. The high and treacherous Rushka pass
hardly bridges this divide, before the Motherberg Massif reasserts the
dominance of the old nature gods. The east is dominated by the Dark Forest, a
highland jungle of lumpen oak and shrouding pine, marbled with birchen bogs
and heavy with moss. It is the river Rushka that opens the way for people, if not
always civilization, to crawl among these forbidding ramparts of the wild.

But still, history lapped against Brezim, high tides brought invaders and traders,
low tides let the old, eternal truths crawl back from beneath rock and tree. Today
the federal order has broken the cycles of the past and the current civilization
will never decline again.

The Barony
14 Longwinter

Federation
† today †

The Common Congress of Cities and Provinces is strong and stable, bound by the
cunning of the bourgeoisie, the traditions of the nobles, the dynamism of the
industrialists, and the passions of the working classes. This order will last a
thousand years.

The banks and the industrialists from the great cities come to invest and exploit
the land. Local goodfolk prosper, but discontent stirs among the lowest type of
baronial and among the oldfolk. Fortunately, the new money also brings better
wages and firearms for the baronial guards companies keeping the peace.

Empire
† more than a generation ago †

A single autocrat ruled the civilization. While the first autocrats restored peace
after the excesses of the Republic and its wars, the world was too old and too
wise to rest long in an absolute ruler’s hands. Repression mounted and
eventually exploded in the Trenchant Wars.

War then came also to Brezim. Today’s gap-toothed elders are the conscripts and
survivors of that time when the great wagons of destruction were dragged up
mountains and down rivers, to burn in that devastation of youth.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 15

Republic
† barely remembered by the eldest †

The new classes overthrew the monarchs, taking civilization into their own
hands. Alas, they were unschooled in administration and restraint, and their
fervour led them too far. After initial success, the Republic and the remaining
Royals destroyed each other in the bloody Leveller Wars.

Many baronials came to Brezim in those days, refugees from the wars and
privation, and many royalists seeking a redoubt with the baron Greencorners.

Kingdom
† history books and imagination †

Once upon a time, there had been a single good kingdom, united under a single
good ruler. Alas, humans are animals, and animal morality cannot be counted on.
The descendants of the good ruler grew fat, lazy, greedy, and vicious. As the
fringes strained forward, the centre pulled them back. In the end, the leash
snapped and the Newfolk Revolution engulfed civilization.

The first baron Ivan brought a company of good folk to Brezim in the time of the
last good king, creating a beacon of order and nobility that survived even the
privations of revolution.

The Barony
16 Longwinter

Older Times
† centuries past † thick with exaggeration †

There were other civilizations in the past, other people, other ways of life.
Though we see the remains, their builders are gone now, and we can only wonder
where. All else is amateur archaeology and armchair assumption.

1 The Green Flag Rebellion of the centaurs was the last spasm of the
steppe peoples against the ordered might of civilization.
2 The Success Wars devastated civilization as the three great generals
fought each other after defeating the anti-civilization.
3 The Night of Tight Nooses saw the new gods die and the old gods
reassert the primacy of natural ways.
4 In the Hungry Days the monasteries were cracked open and their
marrow used to feed the commonfolk.
5 Division Bell Prophets split civilization between old gods and new.
6 In the time of the Awakening Libraries scholars emerged from beneath
the frozen mountains to restore vigour to civilization.

Oldest Times
† the forgotten past † legend and myth †

A hundred stories are told of these times, different in every town and village.
Common folk believe them fact, though scholars will always disagree.

1 In the Era of Giants great human-shaped beasts built cities of cloud and
iron, while true people hid like mice in the undergrowth.
2 In the Silent Era the gods turned away and monsters crawled from the
corners of the world to drown the wizards and priests in their hubris.
3 When the Turning Wizards promised life everlasting, they turned the
world into a shadow realm of soulless bodies labouring to keep the
wizards’ palaces lit and warm.
4 In the Forging Era the dark took away another half of all humans, but
the gates of the Former Afterlife were closed and the dead were lost.
5 In the Purification Era the light took half the folk into the Former Afterlife.
6 When the Hot Winds blew, crops wilted and whole cities died under
the Green Sun.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 17

Government & People

† power † masses † subversion †

Brezim is officially a congressional democratic province of the Federation.

Practically it is a hodge-podge of local custom, traditional landed nobility,
wealthy bourgeoisie, imperial orthodoxy, rising industrialists, exploited workers,
and oppressed peasants, as are all provinces of the Federation.

The Baron
† democratic autocracy †

With the old titles abolished after the Trenchant wars, the baron is de jure a
private citizen. However, he remains the largest landholder in Brezim, retains
control of the Barony Mining Corporation, the largest employer in the valley, and
has been elected Governor of Brezim Province by a landslide at every provincial
election since the establishment of fraternal suffrage. This may strike the astute
observer as somewhat corrupt.

Fortunately, the sixth baron Soren Greencorner II is a courteous and melancholy

man, always willing to listen to the council of his vizier and the three mayors.

The Barony
18 Longwinter

The Vizier
† federal representative †

Viziers are elite civil servants of the Federation, among the best-educated and
best-compensated of the betterfolk. Most are the second and third children of
wealthy federal families who could afford to reach the lowest rungs of the civil
service. This may strike the astute observer as somewhat unfair.

Fortunately, Ibrahima Falconsbrood, the vizier of Brezim, is a cosmopolitan

well-travelled woman, whose charm and kindness compensate for her
profiteering from local tax collection, civil guard, and judiciary.

The Mayors
† bourgeois plutocrats †

It is in the towns and cities of the Federation that the modern meritocracy is most
visible. After all, nothing buys votes as effectively as promises, and no promise is
better than cold hard cash.

Fortunately, Brezim’s mayors exhibit neither excessive cruelty nor

incompetence, kept in line as they are by the wealth of the baron and the greed
of the vizier.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 19

The Federal Faith

† organized witchery †

A country is merely a territory if its citizens do not believe that together they are
part of something grand and good. In the Federation, it is the organic and
adaptable Imperial Faith that nourishes this narrative of humanity as the fulcrum
between the divine and the natural through the cultivation of civilization. It
adopts local beliefs and welds them to the root of law and order.

Sadly in Brezim the orthodoxy is weak; the witch-bishop Simon the Wizard
poorly supported by vizier or mayors.

The Baronial Faith

† disorganized witchery †

In remote places, it is only natural for the natives to invent new beliefs and
improvise old ones to fit their needs. So it is in Brezim where both baronials and
oldsettlers reach for rude and ready answers when faced by the looming might
of mountains and woods and waters.

Does this make the baronial faith, the old faith, a powerful force in Brezim? No. It
is as fragmented as the terrain, with one witch helping a banker while another
helps an oldsettler serf.

The Barony
20 Longwinter

Baronials
† goodfolk † citizens †

The civilized inhabitants of the barony of Brezim, who restored many of the old
ruins and brought wealth and culture back to the valleys under the Motherberg.

Or perhaps just the richer and luckier class of provincial citizen.

Stories of the Baronials (d10)

1 Their ancestors were the lost legion of Adam Goldenmouth.
2 They were stranded in the Sea of Grass after the Centaur Khan
destroyed the twin dragons.
3 They are common miners, woodsmen, and shepherds with pretensions
beyond their class.
4 They are proud of their freedoms and willing to defend them to a man.
5 They are a fractious lot and the only people they hate more than each
other are outsiders.
6 They do not bow to their rulers and drown them if they fail to bring the
blessings of the gods.
7 They have worshipped their old gods since before the Federation,
before the Empire, before the Republic, before the Kingdom.
8 Lacking gold and industry their lands are poor and for many years they
sent their sons away to serve as merchants and mercenaries.
9 They know how to whisper to trees and plants, making them grow in
strange or useful shapes.
10 Their ”nobles” are all nouveau riche upstarts.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 21

Oldsettlers
† landfolk † residents †

The pre-civilized inhabitants of Brezim, who dwelled in rude dugouts and

subsisted as impoverished gardeners and hunters. They were dying out before
the baronials arrived. Still, since then many have adapted to the higher culture of
the civilized peoples, adopting modern dress, dialect, and habits.

Or perhaps just the poorer sort of provincial peasant.

Stories of the Oldsettlers (d10)

1 The baronials know that the oldsettlers are less intelligent than them
and incapable of true civilizations.
2 The oldsettlers never tell the truth to the baronials.
3 The oldsettlers are nearly extinct. Serfdom has saved those who are
civilized enough to contribute to the new federal order.
4 Many oldsettlers remain, submerged within the baronial population,
emigrated to the cities, living within the deep woods.
5 The oldsettler shamans could walk with the forest spirits and take the
shapes of beasts and birds.
6 There are still oldsettler shamans and priests and witches, hidden
among the free baronials.
7 The oldsettlers are the descendants of the Purification Era survivors
who hid in the tunnels and time machines.
8 The oldsettlers are newcomers to the federal lands who arrived after
the Dragonbreath Plagues.
9 The oldsettlers and the baronials are the exact same people, the only
difference is who they supported during the Revolution.
10 All oldsettlers are incorrigibly lazy, that’s why they’re not fit to own
land.

The Barony
22 Longwinter

Wolffolk
† skintakers † outlaws †

Monstrous savages, born of oldsettlers gone feral and wild, they are more beast
than human. Some still exist in the Dark Forest and the deepest tortured valleys,
but bounties have thinned their bestial packs.

Or perhaps they are the sort of thing the deep wild always breeds, taking the
lost and the exiled and making them strange and differently human.

Stories of the Wolffolk (d10)

1 There is no difference between wolffolk and oldsettlers; every
oldsettler reverts if let off their leash.
2 They are the product of a curse or blessing of the old gods of rock and
wood and water.
3 They can speak to wolves and bears and foxes.
4 They do not really think the way that humans do: they are beasts of
instinct and savagery.
5 They can turn into wild, hairy creatures, similar to two-legged canines.
6 They eat the flesh of humans, which gives them monstrous strength.
7 They flay their victims and wear their skins to pass in normal society.
8 They hibernate in deep caves under the hills after eating. That’s why
they’re so hard to root out.
9 They have a secret city beyond Wolfsberg.
10 They are infectious, spreading their disease through ticks and lice,
spreading dreams of moon and tasty mice.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 23

Old Architects
† spiral square culture † ancient visitors †

The wondrously accomplished builders of many livingstone and everglass ruins

in Brezim and the wider area. Distinctive spiralling rectangular patterns cover
their remains, reflecting a ponderous obsession with the interplay of the
organic and the mechanic. They are extinct.

Perhaps they were not even human? Aliens maybe?

Stories of the Old Architects (d10)

1 They could whisper stone into motion, making it flow like honey.
2 They knew how to build on the ghost of ground now gone.
3 Their hands had six fingers.
4 Their mouths had no teeth and they only drank juices and soups.
5 They had abandoned their humanity to escape the Purification.
6 They knew how to knit living creatures into stone and earth.
7 They tried to challenge the gods and failed.
8 They had built flying chariots and walking skyscrapers.
9 They lived on the blood of humans, parasites on the body politic.
10 They had sacrificed their health and wealth to build vaults to survive
the Purification. All for nought: their hubris undid them still.

The Barony
24 Longwinter

Economy & Society

† growth † degradation †

Brezim’s curses are rock, wood, and water. Earthquakes and landslides threaten
oblivion. Verdant nature chokes civilization and breeds wolffolk. Water floods
and freezes.

But these curses are also its strengths.

Mining
† capitalists † miners † factories † toxic tailings †

The upthrust mountains and the deep valleys expose the ores and minerals that
fuel the Federation. Coal and iron from Rudvey are the engines of Brezim’s
development today. Deposits of silver and copper, mercury and marble, asbestos
and lead show promise for growth tomorrow.

Lumber
† landlords † lumberjacks † sawmills † deforestation †

Great swathes of old-growth oak and pine, fir and larch, deck the slopes and
plateaus of Brezim. A nigh inexhaustible resource for carpentry, construction,
and fuel.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 25

Water
† investors † local peasants † dams † pollution †

Healing thermal springs draw the rich and poorly to Vreley, certainly, but that is
not the only advantage. The many rivers and streams, once damned, drive mills
and with investment, the great turbine golems that will power entire factories.

Wool
† landlords † farmers † shepherds † erosion †

The heavy rainfall in Brezim ensures fertile soils and perfect conditions for
fast-growing grasses. Once higher slopes are cleared the large estates of baronial
gentry make the profitable expansion of the wool and dairy industries a given.

Manufacture
† industrialists † labourers † migration †

Raw materials and water power make Brezim an appealing place for investors
keen on new factories. Alas, the local population is too few to man them all, so the
call must go out to landless residents from overcrowded provinces. Opportunity
calls! The valleys of Brezim will soon bristle with new villages, where an honest
day’s labour will buy an honest day’s food at the company store.

The Barony
26 Longwinter

Powerful Few
† nobility † bourgeoisie † industrialists † betterfolk †

They call themselves by different names, they affect different styles and
ambitions, but one thing still unites them: they have power and fear to lose it.

Stories of the Powerful (d10)

1 This will be a fine new school. It will teach the poor letters and
discipline and obedience and how to work in the factories.
2 This unpromising ground will be a new village, far from squalor, where
employees will focus on their work (and shop at the company store).
3 This wasteland of huts and gardens will become a beautiful park. It will
inspire poets and gentle visitors.
4 This swamp will be drained and filled, the bad vapours stopped. It will
become a plantation.
5 This wild forest will be tamed and made fruitful. The trees numbered
and ordered. The outlaws and wolffolk driven out.
6 This slum will be made modern, the streets wide and fair, the houses
gentler and finer.
7 This old castle will become a barrack for guards who will protect the
citizenry from ungrateful, thieving lowfolk.
8 This festival will the townspeople’s bellies with food and their hearts
with love. It will be grand.
9 This newspaper will educate the masses and make them love us better.
10 This road will make export easier. And moving guards faster.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 27

Powerless Multitudes
† labourers † peasants † serfs † outlaws † lowfolk †

They are called many names, and it is easy to dismiss them. Unwashed because
hot water is a luxury, unread because books will not feed a child, unwell because
cleanliness is next to wealthiness. One thing still unites them: they have lives, but
do not fear to lose them.

Stories of the Powerless (d10)

1 We shall run away to the woods, become like beasts if need be.
2 We will find solace in this cult, for it listens to us.
3 This printing press will be ours and with it we shall set ourselves free.
4 We must teach one another, for the masters will teach us nothing
useful.
5 We train in the hidden places in solidarity, to resist the owners.
6 Drink and death are the only ways out, what else is there?
7 When war looms, they praise us; when peace reigns, they abase us.
8 Beneath this neighbourhood we have built a labyrinth for our
resistance.
9 We abhor crimes against one’s fellow human, but the lords are no
fellow humans of us. Let us shelter those who fight for us.
10 Change is coming. It whispers on the wind and on the wires. Only the
rich are so deaf they do not hear.

The Barony
28 Longwinter

Culture & Faith

† piety † ambition † desperation †

Three Spirits in a Human

† leits † lords † ladies †

The baronials of Brezim love the number three. Just as it is a land of rock and
wood and water, it is also a land beholden to the three avatars. They believe that
every human also has three spirits, but disagree quite how this ties together.

The dominant spirit sets a person’s dress and tongue and role. Thus they show
respect by calling some people leits, others lords, yet others ladies. This
confounds some visitors and delights others.

However, they rarely show the same respect to oldsettlers or wolffolk; humans
whom they sometimes deem barely people.

Polite Address
† they † you † we †

A baronial’s identity comes from their birth and their wealth, whence they come
from, and where they are headed on the great wheel of status and position.

A gentle traveller will address those of the highest status in the third person, as
they, not speaking directly at them. After a series of platitudes and flatteries, they
may address someone of equal status by their title and, eventually, possibly even
by their name. Most outsiders will have a guide to address the lower orders for
them. When this is not the case, a visitor may refer to inferiors simply with we,
assuming them as part of their own body social.

Are the oldsettlers fine with this? The betterfolk would say yes, but one need not
believe they know what they say.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 29

Local Colour
† cosiness † charm † terror †

The visitor will discover many charming customs and old beliefs current among
the baronials of Brezim. The famed ethnologist Irshiy Wetfoot, PhD, of the
Institute of Popular Beliefs at the University of Sunrise, has made it his life’s work
to record these cultural gems.

Bonfire Beds
The oldfolk build them on exposed ridges at solstices for the Firebringer, avatar
of sun and sky. They celebrate this dangerous and loving deity by jumping
through flames and walking across coals. The ritual brings virility.

Buckwheat Brick
Common folk place a small brick made with buckwheat and stamped with the
plum sigil of Saint Cleareyes near their granaries to chase away vermin. These
days schoolchildren place folded paper prayers under the bricks before exams to
partake of the prophet’s enlightenment.

Clay Seneschals
These effigies may be as large as a bear or as small as a pig. Farmers and
herdsmen fill them with grain and blood and alcohol and set them up on hillsides
overlooking their fields to propitiate Earthbeater, avatar of crops and earth. On
the equinoxes, they light cooking fires and feed the effigies polenta and sausages
and beer. Prayers to this nurturing deity ward off its destroying aspect.

Copper Disc
Copper discs hang above every fireplace that can afford one. They please the
Green Sun, the child of the Firebringer and the Earthbeater. The Green Sun is an
ambiguous deity, the creator and destroyer of humanity, and until a copper disc
acquires a green patina, prayers are offered every sunset to protect the house
from its wrath.

The Barony
30 Longwinter

Fat Bear
Chubby wooden bears holding hives dripping with honey, bowls of stew, and
stone mugs of beer stand on plinths at crossroads. They are made to appease
Hollowfear. The Famine Bear is the manifestation of the grey morality of hunger,
the god of cannibals. Placing a nut or berry at the plinth ensures good digestion.

Glass Flowers
A popular window decoration with oldfolk and baronials alike, the glittering
glass ornaments please Winterwhite and show her that she needs not bring too
much snow and ice next winter. Lady Deadfingers is the avatar of ice and death,
a dangerous god and bringer of hunger. Praying and peeking through a glass
flower brings visions.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 31

Golden Mushroom Lockets

Some baronials are partial to Doctor Love, the city god of the Eastern and
Western Cities, an ambiguous deity of growth, love, and rebirth. To others, the
mushroom only confirms Doctor Love as an avatar of temptation and a denier of
old provincial truths. The golden mushroom, also known crudely as the shiny
treecock, is a mildly toxic stimulant aphrodisiac.

Lace Honey Candies

Lovers give each other honey candies wrapped in white sugar lace on the first
day of frost to recall the Suncatcher. The winged spider embraces the sun with
her webwork every winter as a gift for Winterwhite. The candy is a prayer for
love and dreams restored.

Nailed Coins
Everyone, rich leit or poor man, nails a coin to a hardwood post of their house, or
to their pillow block if they have no house. This is the coin for the Devil’s
Grandfather, The Dark Beggar. Spurned, the Skingiver steals light and brings
confusion. Rewarded, he is the giver of forbidden knowledge, permissive friend
of beasts.

Northern Neckerchief
Most baronials wear warm-hued neckerchiefs, belt sashes, or scarves. The warm
colours appease hungry Northwind. The gusty deity chases away the Eater’s
rots, but brings pain, ache, and windlung if displeased.

Plaster Henge
Witch priests use small plaster models of famous temples to string their prayer
threads and chants. Each square peg is painted with a face of the divine, while the
order of the thread encodes a request. Rich baronials have decorated stone
versions made for their courtyards and gardens. Burning the prayer string at
high noon is the best if you want your wish heard.

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32 Longwinter

Sky Babies
Priests and doctors carve cherubic figures high into rocks and remote trees. The
carvings distract the Eater of Virility, Amimami, who is the messenger of age
and impotence. A lucky word and a warding gesture helps the traveller hide from
the castrated god when they spot one of these curse-prone cherubs.

Spider’s Knot
Lowfolk weave the knots from hemp or straw to hang from the eaves of their
houses, while the betterfolk have whole curtains of multi-coloured knots of dyed
cotton, silk, and wool. The spider’s knots are amusements for Miss Netmaker, a
trickster spirit. Everyone desires her boon, for she is also lady luck.

Talon Wheel
Hunters and guards make wheels from the hooked talons of birds of prey to recall
the Angelhunt. Nature’s Claw is a shifting deity, a furious host which restores the
harsh balance of the gods. Placing a feather by the wheel lightens the heart and
brings justice.

Tanglehair Pools
Witches and hunters tend ink kelp in secluded pools. The long hair-like strands
recall the strangling locks of Waterdrinker, avatar of underworld and river.
Supplicants give offerings of clay loaves and bronze fishes to this loving and
deadly deity on moonless nights. Bathing in the pool brings fertility.

Triple Triangles
Throughout Brezim geometric patterns of triangles and trefoils recall the Three
Avatars, the Firebringer, Waterdrinker, and Earthbeater. These patterns keep the
divine anger of the natural world quiescent.

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 Visitor’s Book 33

Watching Column
At least one stands near every settlement, on a vantage point whence Fourface
can watch and be seen. The Worldwatcher is the god of the turning seasons, of
the directions of the sky, of birthing and dying couples. Offerings are burnt to
ashes in twos (a pair of pears works best) to please this remote, cruel, tender god.

Yellow Bar
Most baronials paint at least a single yellow horizontal line above their doors; the
richer sort build elaborate yellow lintels. These recollect the Bridgespirit, an
avatar of perseverance, long life, stability, and troubles traversed. The spirit of
the Bridge is a good god to ask for blessings, as she asks little in return.

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34 Longwinter

The Three Towns

† government † industrial † leisure †

Gomiliy
† picturesque baronial capital † tiers on a round hill † sparkling roof tiles †
† great triple-gate † staircases † darling markets †

Fortress: a grand and cubist thing, it has been built and rebuilt since time
immemorial. It predates the current gentle age and its roots worm into the
nethers of Gomiliy hill.

Classical library: a tour de force of federal neoclassicism, funded by the

Zuleiman Estate. The librarian and scholar Irma Loveless organizes tours
of the pre-temporal fortress on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Equestrian Statue: Baron and Warlord Ivan Greencorner, founder of

Brezim. Note the sensuous lips, the proud ears.

Head of State: Baron Soren Greencorner II. Courteous, sheltered, and

melancholy. Receives dignitaries and gentle betterfolk every Thursday.

Ruler: Vizier Ibrahima Falconsbrood, of the Federalist Falconsbroods,

cosmopolitan and well-travelled. Brezim could want no better ruler.

Chapel of Saint Nomm (Imperial Faith): an exuberance in basalt and

coloured glass, the witch-bishop Simon the Wizard presiding. A modern
crematorium speaks to the progress in these parts. Available: guided
tours of oldsettler crypts and dugouts lacing the hill.

Four Stones (Baronial Faith): solid as the titans’ bones, they flank the
poultry and vegetable markets. Shaman-healer Isolda Longrocking offers
help, residing in the cottages by the seven-span linden to the trinity. The
meadow of death is available for cinerary rites.

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Tiered Town: rings of roads and houses terrace the hemispheric hill above the
old revolutionary walls. The fabled bronze portcullis has been removed to the
Grand War Museum on Munchhouse Square. Niso Telldigger, the custodian, is
available, but grudging.

Grain King Guesthouse: the place for jubilant ale-and-heart pies. Site of
the ‘88 Witch-hewing. Houselady: Vizya Aspmilker. Kindly political.

Great Farrier Hotel: decently overpriced and suitable for gentle

travellers. Houselord: Yuva Borderer. Discrete. Beware his parakeet.

Baronial Beer Hall “Pey Ivan”: cheerful place with cicada motifs. Great for
experiencing the students. Houseleit: Zoog Godgrain. Salty old soldier.

Rustic Beer Hall “Moldencrust”: famed for its tar-thick ale. Great for
slumming. Houselady: Ziva Hasbrawn. Tart as lemons, quivers like aspic.

Peacock’s Tail Cabaret: the place to go for dance and ‘other’ amusements.
Houselord: Lomo Dealbaker. His sister never leaves her white iron suit.

Wares: manufactured goods from many workshops: weapons, armours, tools.

Wood and bone dolls are a local peculiarity.

Wednesday Market: Deluvian artefacts and more. Everything for sale.

Perfect for the budding antiquarian.

† crystal megaliths † tales of deep things †

Pearly Barrow, on the flanks of Dragonberg, with its crystalline trilithons on an

ancient mound, makes a romantic picnic spot. Was it perhaps an astronomical
observatory in some forgotten past?

Orso Vulpina’s “Oldfolk Tales of Elder Things” calls Gomiliy Hill “Koletumba”
and alludes to deep layers beneath, where the bones of frozen giants lie and
misty old things creep and lurk. Beneath those bones, she writes of a blood altar
of Winterwhite, where Verdek Greencorner sacrificed himself to the White
Queen so that his brother Ivan could conquer the valley.

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36 Longwinter

Rudvey
† industrial town of Brezim † reactivated old architect mine †
† new blast furnaces † labourer apartments excavated in pit’s higher tiers †

Popular Palace: owned by the Corporation of Civil Associations, its pomp is an

affront to aristocrats throughout Brezim. Gardens and orchards crawl in terraced
steps up the flank of the Twinbergs above the town.

Mayor: grand siro Erik Whiteyes rules Rudvey with a benevolent death
grip. The proletarian engineer made noble is proof that birth is no
disadvantage to station in the Federation.

Miner and the Virgin: the wonderful bronze statue by Rivka Woodlip
represents some of the finest artisanry in the lower states.

Ruddy Town: at first glance grim, the ash-grey brickwork of Rudvey hides a
profusion of warm nooks and crannies. Still, the visitor in search of the natural
wonders of Brezim would do well to pass by swiftly.

Mine: run by the baron’s privately owned Barony Mining Corporation, the
correctly conservative representative Neva Longflanks takes fine care of
the lower class of folk that works in the pits. Visit the museum of mining
to marvel at the spectacularly petrified “fluted mining boy.”

Pey Two Devils Inn: the best Rudvey has to offer. Serves a mean
bear-porker pie. Houselord Izi Redhairing is a hunter and hiker. The
strange sport sees Izi climbing high bergs for mere amusement.

Beerhall “Under the Pick”: the schnapps-laced beer is particular to this

town. Houseleit Lun Breakface cracks the snappiest jokes in Brezim.

The Pepita Theatre: famed for its vaudeville act, pay attention to the Iron
Clown. Houselady Maya Oldwalker collects stories and gossip.

Wares: steel, coal, and fuel are the big-ticket items in Rudvey, of course, but
hard-wearing cloth also makes an entry thanks to the new Van Frankley mills.

Friday Market: wrought iron, pocket knives, and varied tinkeries.

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† prehistoric mining † gossip and tensions † wonderful apes †

Great Pit: the ancient open-cast mine is now much expanded and houses three
BMC neighbourhoods. The Pit Museum has a fine selection of ancient curios from
the mine, including an archaic golem-watt pump.

Miners gossip of ancient mining monsters in the deepest pits. Moonless nights
are considered particularly dire.

Be aware: proletarian bandits and banker thugs of the Eastern-Western

Organization for Cooperation often duke it out in the streets.

Observe the wonderful mountain apes in their natural Twinberg habitat.

Take precautions against urban cultists. A chthonic panic is afoot.

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38 Longwinter

Vreley
† spa town of Brezim † frost-free microclimate †
† orchards and greenhouses † Awlschild Palace † lustrous rainbow pines †

Promenade: along the saturated waters of thermal Toplovoy Lake the villas and
guest houses of the betterfolk follow one another in serried ranks. Awlschild
Palace stands out as the finest example.

Mayor: fourth sira Ostya Awlschild is old money of the Borderfield-and-

Liberia Awlschilds. A proper betterfolk, if a tad blinkered.

Painted Tree Spa: famed for its orange cakes and glasshouses. Owned by
the mayor but managed by Zon Butterworth. A loyal lieutenant, generous
to their betters, but a martinet to the staff.

The Eagle’s Corpse Inn: the association inn makes a stunning pine-nut
and dormouse confit. It is run as a housecorps for the Burner Veterans’
Society. Houselady Martina Seekmiél is a bear of a woman, her chest
heaving with medals.

Wares: Vreley is famed for its fruit and vegetables, preserves, and hot mineral
waters. Several local apothecaries produce a variety of cures and medicines.

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 Visitor’s Book 39

† barrows and cliffs † marble follies † volcanic landscape †

Obsidian and basalt cliffs rise above Vreley to the geologically fascinating
Wolfsberg icefield barrows. Oldfolk fairy tales talk of wyrm tunnels in the friable
basalt depths and a skinchanger temple in the ever-warm depths.

Marble ruins of a smallfolk town and later oldsettler remains make a haunting
destination for romantic hikes from Vreley. Older locals tell tall tales of a
mechanical-man altar buried in the ruins.

Dangers abound in the wild mountain lands about Vreley. The winding roads are
beset by rockfalls and steam vents. On the jagged hiking trails, one can hardly
decide which is more of a nuisance: the fearless wolves or the smirking
oldsettler bandits.

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40 Longwinter

The Eight Villages

† rural centres † isolated hamlets † strange folk tales †

Belna
† growing market village † prehistoric walls †

Prehistoric Walls of petrified wood constrict the growing village. The

handsome new government house sports a lovely crystal clock from Sicher.

Mayor: third siro Bonifas Swiftling is a low-born accountant with the

style and affectations of a better-born marcher duke.

Quaint Chapel: dedicated to Saint Adom Longbeard, its Purification Era

frescoes are literally to die for. The paint is highly toxic.

Foaming Giant Inn: famed for buffalo cheese and flat mountain bread.
Houselady Kunigunda Tavernborn is wily and somehow lupine.

Wares: visit the Third Vanya wool cooperative and Belnay woodwork fields.

† alpine necropolis † torrents and bees †

The Murt above the Derishka, on the Princessberg just below the snowline,
draws macabre souls to its shadowed halls. Baronial records tell how the
oldsettler villain Yamash killed a changeling mechanifex in the Murt and donned
its dark mantle. They plagued local woodcutters until three hunters put them
down.

The beautiful forests and meadow of the Princessberg and Giantsfist conceal
great dangers: sudden torrents and vicious elf-touched wild bees.

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Chodey
† petite bucolic village † living wood wall †

The traditional woodsingers of Chodey daily sculpt and tend the Living Wood
Palisade. Oak, pine, yew, plane, spruce, and bronzewood twist together to create
a verdant, moss-decked defence for the village.

Fat Volecatcher Inn is where you must stay and try the mountain
sausage soup. Houselord Viktor Dormouse is a gentle giant, but rumours
fly that he used to be a vicious pit fighter nicknamed “Eyescratcher”.

† toll bridge † hero’s barrow † dangerous woods †

Pay the toll when you reach the Hanging Bridge over the Rushka. It’s a fair price
and worth it for the views alone, and a detour to the shallows in the gorge below
takes half a day. Spit on the iron gnome in the middle of the bridge for luck.

Kolgar’s Barrow is a pre-human mound reused by the oldsettlers to bury the

hero Kolgar Bloodkiss “Sancbacho” who slew three giant brothers. Folk tales say
that inside Kolgar’s Axe waits to deliver the oldsettlers in a time of need.

Beware the steep slopes of the Branberg, they are prone to landslides. The
forests covering the dimpled highlands either side of the Rushka are full of
playful trees. They’ll steal your hat or shoes if you let them. Don’t.

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42 Longwinter

Kastey
† centre of southern Brezim † large village † new suspension bridge †

The fortified hilltop of Kastey is centred on the massive royalist war monument.
It is ill-repaired—little surprise, since it celebrates the Empire.

Hungry Hans Inn: try the finest suckling boar and mushrooms in the
bergs. Houselady Luna Sunstringer tells charming tales of the old faith.

First Baronial Granary: a powerful statement of the Baron’s care for the
commonfolk. Kastey biscuits keep famously long.

Mayor: first sira Joia Tolltaker is a bored conservative reactionary. Were it

up to her, the Empire would be restored.

Suspension Bridge: made with finest BMC steel, it is a proud sign of the
barony’s development, crossing the end of Starogray Lake. The toll is
steep, but progress demands it.

† pass to Rudvey † steep Spargleberg † wolffolk haunters †

Mountain Pass: two watches will see you across the saddle between the
Twinbergs and Dragonberg to Rudvey. The pass is only open in good weather.
Stop by the Silverhorn Chalet, operated by the Fraternal Hunters of Kastey and
Rudvey, and sample their mountain goat and juniper goulash.

The Spargleberg is steep, and a hard hat is recommended against falling rocks.

Be aware of the edge of the Dark Forest just past the Rushka and Starogray.
Wolffolk and oldsettlers haunt the woods.

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 Visitor’s Book 43

Pey Dimna
† last village on the Rushka † waterfalls and gorges †

Gorgeous Dimna snuggles on a series of wide terraces above the steep crevasses
and pools of the upper Rushka. Breathtaking sights await the intrepid visitor.

Last Hearth Inn: fried potatoes and alpage cheese are de rigeur here.
Houselady Ilka Ninthling used to be a court painter in the Eastern City.

Big Citizen Nora Huntersdaughter is a mountain guide, expert tracker,

and local shaman. Half-oldsettler, her position shows the Baron cares
about both oldsettlers and baronials, making Brezim a model of
integration.

† iron ruins † Winterwhite fairytales † snowfield creatures †

Iron Palace: this rusted, twisted ruin spiders along the cliff-face of Motherberg.
It whispers of some ancient industry or war. Local tales say that within is a fairy
tomb with six sleeping gold-horned virgins of Winterwhite and further in the
half-world, the White Shrine of that goddess itself.

Avoid the ice fields of Motherberg and Whitecrown. Dangers abound: snow
apes, mountain savages, and snowfolk.

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44 Longwinter

Pey Holzey
† woodcutters’ village † narrow valley † sulphurous springs †

The steep flanks of Greyberg and the dark conifer woods crowd close on the long
village of Pey Holzey. The smells of the sawmill, the sulphurous springs, and the
collieries make this a rather dull spot on the trail.

Darling Jack Inn: unfortunately closed after a queer incident involving

the houselord, his dog, and a travelling wizard. It was famed for its
rum-and-herb pound cake.

Big Citizen: Umo Droopstone is a grim prospector and trapper.

Militiamen mutter about dreamvine fields in the high narrow valleys
beneath the Grayberg.

Sawmill: the wood from Pey Holzey is famously sturdy and easy to work.

† thieves † wild beasts †

Beware the Droopstone gang of thieves operating in the area. The conifer forest
is thick with wolves, while the springs attract sulphurous salamanders.

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 Visitor’s Book 45

Pey Jibbey
† charming village † solstice bonfires †

Jolly wooden houses with heavy stone roofs hug the flower-decked bridge
across the sulphurous Jibbya. The blossoms mask the smell quite well, and the
farming village really gets swinging for its traditional solstice bonfires.

Bonny Fire Inn: try the oddly-shaped Jibbey sausages and herbal tea.
Houseleit Vinyo Briskwood has a kindly mien and sharp business sense.

Big Citizen: Zora Bearbreaker, soft-spoken, hard-hearted dairy farmer.

† forest barrows † winds and wolffolk †

Veley Big Barrow, in the Dark Forest across the Rushka, makes for a gothic
excursion. Inside, antiquarians have found pre-diluvian dust and crushed
oldsettler remains. Locals tell ghost stories of a petrified changeling garden
deeper within the barrow.

Be aware that the Dark Forest is still only half-tamed, and aggressive wolffolk
are known to prey on unarmed travellers. Gusting north-easterlies off the
plateau can throw one off their feet, so pay attention to the wind signs.

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46 Longwinter

Pey Tirzley
† views of mountains and ginkgos † freefolk †

Picturesque village on the Tirzla, its spectacular vistas recommend it rather

better than its cultural offerings. The village is curious in that it has no betterfolk.
Instead, the local free baronials, descended from the first baron’s personal guard,
hold all the lands in freehold and go about their daily labours heavily armed. This
lack of a cultured class likely explains why the local cross-valley songs sound
rather like foxes in heat. Loud, out of tune foxes.

White Boris Inn: an impressive deer goulash, be careful that you do not
mistake buckshot for juniper berries. Houselady Ines Cashfolk is as
stunning as she is mercurial. Be aware that her three nephews are quite
protective of her, as your correspondent discovered to their misfortune.

Big Citizen: Roon Southcome, unpredictable but canny geologist and

owner of a cement manufactory.

† burial grounds † oldgrowth forests †

Samoyba, the Lonely Barrow, is the heart of a large oldsettler burial ground.
The soulful visitor will detect a queer aura about the place, where antiquarians
have recovered grave goods from as far back as the tertiary bronze age. From
Wednesday to Sunday the cleaned up oldsettler tunnels are open to visitors. Basil
Quietdoor has collected unbelievable local folk tales of a survival vault full of
lonely ghosts deep beneath the barrow.

Beware the bears in the woods of Tirzley. Deadfalls seem purposeful in the old-
growth, and there are certainly savages across the Rushka in the Dark Forest.

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 Visitor’s Book 47

Ta Krasney
† rock village † ruins of older times † confluence †

Set in stone on a spar between the Draga and Krasna river, this place has been
settled for a long time. Ta Krasney is a wondrous place, built on the megalithic
ruins of an oldsettler village that was itself built in the husk of an old architect
palace. The fancifully decorated iron Nuvo Styl bridges across the two rivers
show that time will not yet pass this place by.

Buttery Bear Inn: try the spectacularly rich buffalo-butter coffee.

Houselord Igor Holdover likes to reminisce about the Grand War.

Big Citizen: Almira Dustman, the kindly proprietor of the general store
and chief gold-dust buyer, an inveterate scalper.

† monolith † wild waters †

Visit the yellow-flecked blue rock monolith with pictograms of an older age.
Antiquarians agree that it far predates the oldsettlers.

In the steep hills beware of avalanches in winter and flash floods after heavy
rains. The dire beavers can also be a nuisance. Bribe them with corn or beans.

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48 Longwinter

Mountains and Forests

† pinnacles and pines † skin and bones of Brezim †

Branberg
† razor-fractured southern peak † deep gorges †

Fortress mountain of the barony, it looms above the way to Kastey. Trenches,
platforms, and craters pock and mar the southern peak, traces of the Grand War.

Immense cave network: the limestone is fissured and riven by waters

and aquifers for miles. Chthonobiologists confirm the folk tales that
translucent-skinned degenerate after-humans live deep within. However,
that they worship a great green malevolent orb and feed on slime
creatures? Hardly possible, for their brains are no larger than a monkey’s.

The hiker should beware the chasms and predatory ape-cats. A lilac
species of local poisonous vine is a terrible nuisance.

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 Visitor’s Book 49

Dragonberg
† heart of the barony † forested flanks † small glacier †

Prominently featured on the most famous postcards from Brezim, the wonderful
Dragonberg rises in cliffs and massifs to a final spectacular peak of blinding
white ice. Carpets of pine and gorse cover its flanks before the high tundra and
rockfields take over.

There is gold dust in the Draga river and panhandlers are a common
sight. Do not ascend too high to appreciate their quaint folkways, for the
Draga flows from Dragon’s Hole, home of the barony dragon.

Certainly beware of bears and wolves, but also of the Dragon. The great
shimmery beast of slate and ice, bloated with deep-ripping magic, keeps
to the highest parts of the mountain. Dragon-watching with telescopes
and binoculars is a popular pastime in the summer months for gentle
travellers. However, the oldsettlers swear it brings misfortune.

Dark Forest
† old growth, eastern highland † wolves, wolffolk, and oldsettler hideouts †

Wild and rough, the Dark Forest is claimed by the Baron and the logger clans,
but truly it is nobody’s land. A wild country of jagged limestone, gnarled oaks,
and shady pines. There streams appear and disappear, bogs trap the unwary, and
the four shady rivers (the Riblinza, Rorka, Cherenka, and Dvograya) carve dark
grim gorges. No gentle fishing excursions there!

The adventurer may be attracted by the untouched oldsettler barrows

scattered among ancient pre-Purification ruins. Antiquarians agree that
untouched vaults still remain, hidden in that green labyrinth.

There is danger in the Dark Forest: malevolent tree spirits and wild
animals, and shifting mazes of tree and bush and rock.

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Giantsfist
† plateau fringe † massive glacier † riven ridge †

The second-highest peak in Brezim marks the fringe of the Brezim Plateau,
Giantsfist dominates the barony’s western horizon. Its riven dolomite heights
erupt from ruin-spattered glacial barrens, reminders of titanic conflicts from a
forgotten time.

Deep wyrm holes riddle the Fist’s north flank, home to bogeymen and
terrors according to the locals.

The grand mountain is cruel to visitors. Snow apes abound on the alpine
tundra, while ice-threaded worms and giant dead things lurk and
prowl in the deep glacier.

Grayberg
† grey dome † rubble slopes †

The white-capped smooth granite dome of Grayberg rises from extensive plains
and slopes of rubble. The brooding, humped mountain does not look like it quite
belongs in the sharp sky-scrabbling company of its neighbours.

Ancient alien pyramids or boring natural formations? Natural

philosophers agree the rubble plains are a waste of time, but many a
geoshaman will tell you these five-sided structures do not belong. They
are curious and hard to reach. Only accessible in summer.

No matter the season, beware the glacial winds and landslides that
pester Grayberg. And the unusually murderous mountain goats.

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 Visitor’s Book 51

Icegraben
† ridge between Motherberg and Wolfsberg † metal remains †

Also called the invisible peak, this commanding height almost completely
disappears from view, dwarfed by the taller Motherberg and nearer Wolfsberg.
The Spine Icefield piles up and around it, entombing the eerie metal remains
scattered across its ridges and craters.

The largest of the known remains is a blue-metal installation in the high

dry valley locals call the Vissledole. Credible accounts and lumigraphs
depict frozen machines and mummified humans. Perhaps the mythical old
architects who oldsettlers claim predated our own times?

The remote heights of Icegraben are a dangerous place, home to both

demented, rime-heavy machines (vomes) and savage snowfolk.

Motherberg
† tallest peak † southern edge of the Spine Icefield †

Baronials and oldsettlers alike call this mountain the mother of mountains.
Great cliffs mark its eastern and western flanks, and it is usually the first
mountain to create clouds on any given stormy day. Locals call those clouds “the
Mothershroud” and warn children and tourists to get indoors at such times.

Almost unclimbable, many fairy tales are associated with the Motherberg.
A popular one tells of the white shrine, in the high ice, where crystal-
skinned children serve at the altar of Winterwhite. There, like beneath a
fairy mound, is a portal to the Frozen Palace of the cold queen.

The heights of Motherberg are otherworldly, with snow worms, great

white birds, and avalanches responsible for numerous deaths. However,
the lower reaches are pleasant and offer admirable views.

The Lay Wachtey pass winds north under the Motherberg along the dry
Wach Valley. It is only open in summer, so plan carefully. Word from the
Transport Federation is that an iron road feasibility crew is due to arrive
soon, which is exciting many betterfolk.

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52 Longwinter

Pearlberg
† Westernmost peak † spectacular sunrise and sunset hues †

The painted mountain’s incredible hues are best admired from Ta Krasney.
Artists and luminographers flock to that village to capture the breathtaking
contrasts of the dolomite cliffs, pearlescent calving glaciers, and endless skies.

Though its upper structures are ground away to dust, the cellars of a
titanic ruined palace remain drowned in the glaciers. Skilled guides and
explorers navigate the ice caves to reach one of the many entrances to
that mysterious place.

As with much of the western mountains, snow apes and giant dead
things from antediluvian times are a threat high up the mountain.
Additionally, the snow vultures are not above hastening an injured
hiker’s demise!

Princessberg
† breathtaking view † reddish flanks †

Opposite Dragonberg, the second central mountain of Brezim is the

reddish-flanked Princessberg. It towers above Gomiliy, just across the Rushka, its
small glacier like a bridal veil. A ridge links this pretty mountain to Motherberg.

You should undertake a tour to Úbletto, the last highland oldsettler

fort. The baronial antiquarian society museum in the fort offers a
fascinating reconstruction of primitive oldsettler folkways before
civilization was brought to the valley, including examples of cannibal
sacrifice. Indeed, local wise-crackers jest that abandoned within the
complex is a collapsed chthonic temple complete with hundreds of
animated frozen children and old people. Not for the faint of heart!

The Princessberg’s slopes are quite safe, but nevertheless, be aware of the
indecencies of playful forest spirits and dangerously sudden gusts of
wind due to the unusual local microclime. And, of course, the bears.

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Riblingberg
† crinkled peak † rib-like ridges † eroded valleys † dark forest †

The rumpled massif of Riblingberg offers many old and unusual volcanic
terrains. Hot vents, dunes, columnar cliffs, and magma caves abound, but much
has been smoothed and polished by the glaciers of the Purification Era. The thick
silence of the dark forest chokes the eastern heights.

Natural philosophers should visit the bone moraines of dead land

behemoths on the north-eastern plateau.

Besides wolves and savage oldsettlers, the trees of the dark woods
sometimes fall soundlessly to trap the unwary traveller.

Spargleberg
† half-shattered † scrub and rock †

The lumpen mountain of Spargleberg is riddled with the remnants of an ancient

war or mining operation (it’s unclear which). Its thin, leeched soils can barely
support proper trees, and the poor mountain must make do with a coat of hostile,
thorny scrub.

The extensive Starogray ruins, carved into the south-eastern flanks by

celestial forces, may be the blasted and weathered remains of a long-dead
city. They housed some of the last oldsettler holdouts.

The ghosts of that long-ago war still haunt Spargleberg. Half-animated

wire traps, old pits and hungry tunnels mar its slopes.

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Twinberg
† glacier-bound twin peaks † large white ape population †

The emblem of Rudvey, the roots of its twin peaks shot through with mineral
veins. As technology progresses, Twinberg will continue to feed the wheels of
baronial industry. However, this does make it a less attractive mountain for
hikers or hunters.

The great sphinx carved on its southern outcrop recollects the buried
sphinxes of the Auriphages. The insides were repurposed in some later
war and are now all barrel vaults, graffiti and dirty camps. Spelunkers
speculate that deeper within caves might lead all the way to the pit mine
of Rudvey past old architect engines deep within the mountain.

Away from the mines, the traveller must beware not just abandoned
mines, but also carnivorous apes, great hawks, and timberwolves.

Whitecrown
† numinous cliff-sided peak † remote and cold †

The lone Peak marks where the vast Grandfather’s Icefield meets the Western
Brezim Plateau. Its high dolomite ridge resembles the spine of a great snake
crawling out of the deep, old ice.

The glistening white arch on the northern icefield is a fascinating sight,

rising over twenty paces above the packed ice. Wags suggest it might be a
titanic zygomatic arch.

The ice causes sudden fogs and deep clouds, so be prepared. It is easy
indeed to get lost in a whiteout. The high tundra is home to aggressive
white apes, while dragon-worms tunnel through the glacier.

The high pass of Lay Wachtey leads north between Whitecrown and
Motherberg along the high and dry Wach valley. It is only open in summer,
and even then there is a danger of sudden blizzards.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 55

Wingleberg
† dotted with glaciers and forests † caverns †

This many-folded southern peak offers beautiful views south, out of Brezim
across the Folder Hills, towards Widefeld and Forum Bay. But looks can be
deceiving, and the hills themselves are a pernicious mess of zones and old
murder machine fields.

Mostly collapsed Purification Era city tunnels are all that remains of a
large shelter city from that era. The renowned Ram Moranadzi University
plans further excavations next summer.

Besides the wolves, bears and giant timber bats, make sure to avoid the
exclusion and delusion zones that crawl along the southern flanks. You
can spot them by the grid-like shimmer of their false haze.

Wolfsberg
† looming eastern peak † thick pines † thermal fissures †

The crumpled slopes of Wolfsberg nestle uncomfortably against the southern

tongues of the Spine Icefield. With geysers and hot springs, this dormant monster
of a mountain makes a spectacular backdrop for the beautiful town of Vreley.

Isolated on the high mountain is the caldera of Gorundol, a true lost

valley, home to Purification Era re-lifed creatures, including fascinating
edaphosaurs and moschops browsers. However, visitors to the caldera
also report wolffolk dreamwalkers, so caution is advised.

As the name suggests, the berg is infested with wolffolk and wolves. The
crumbling volcanic rocks are also a hazard not to be underestimated.

The Barony
56 Longwinter

Rivers and Lakes

Cherenka River
† peaty water † heavy smell †

Dark and grim, in caverns unseen born, the Cherenka flows from the Dark
Forest into Starogray lake. With every flood, it vomits unpleasant, ill-favoured
corpses of better-forgotten things into the common waters of the lake.

The wild waters offer exciting finds for natural philosophers, the beaver
dams, waterlogged swamps, and deep pines hide many botanical and
zoological treasures.

But only visit with an escort. Not only home to dire beavers and leeches,
the upper stretches of the Cherenka are also reliably held by the wolffolk.

Derishka Stream
† icy torrent † red pebbles † thick forests † waterfalls †

The Derishka laughs and roars down the Princessberg, its reddish waters a
reminder of the numerous ancient works that once tried to stop its flow.

The breached remains of old architect dams are a curious reminder of a

bygone age. Ruin-lovers will enjoy the amusing petroglyphs.

Sulphurous salamanders and hot springs may surprise a careless

visitor. Be careful when swimming, because many pools are still threaded
with rustless ferro-ceramic cables and spikes.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 57

Dimnaya Stream
† rushing torrent † basalts and reddish schists † great boulders †

The cold grey Dimnaya rushes from a great cavern in the pierced flank of
Princessberg. Even in coldest winter, steam rises of its waters like smoke. Even in
hottest summer, its flow does not stop.

The Sixthfinger tributary emerges from a great cleft which conceals

excavated passages leading to deep caverns and a pillaged old architect
seed vault. A visitor’s centre is planned soon.

Avoid eating the snow fish below the tributary. It’s not their vicious bites,
but the old architect toxins in their flesh. The terrain is also rather
treacherous, particularly the rolling boulders and slippery moulds.

Draga Stream
† torrential stream † gold dust † dark water †

The dragon’s river is less reliable than most in Brezim, fed largely by storms and
(so the local’s mutter) the dragon’s relievings. At least, that is where they believe
the gold dust in its waters come from.

Ethnologically-minded travellers can book a gold-panning experience in

Ta Krasney.

Others, of a more macabre inclination, will enjoy visiting the many pools
with bronze and stone and bone oldsettler sacrifices, as well as visiting
the dragon otter sanctuary.

If hiking alone, beware the flash floods and falling trees that make the
torrent such a killer during storms. And, of course, take care to mind the
dragonsign forecasts. They are quite reliable and scientific, unlike the
astrological nonsense peddled so often in the Westerly Fringes.

The Barony
58 Longwinter

Dvogroya River
† sour water † old architect ruins †

The wide and slow Dvogroya’s murky water is unusually sour to the taste, and
its fish are universally disliked for their poor taste. Its origins in the Dark Forest
are unclear.

Tours lead as far as a series of corroded artefacts of uncertain origin and

several eroded ruined dams. Guides mention warding obelisks farther up
its course that warn of changelings. It is good to mind those.

Some of its tributaries emerge from dark and dangerous old tunnels
where tribes of cancer trolls live according to popular folklore. Stories
say that they can be bribed with flesh, gold, or promises that they will
recover their ancient memories and become giants once again. Oldsettler
soothsayers suggest that the mottled flesh-mothers of the trolls carry
memories of Long Ago and that they use gold to bind memories within
their cancered flesh. Even a pact with the Devil’s Grandfather would
certainly be better than meeting such monsters!

Whether the cancer trolls are real or not, troll-otters and toxic mists
certainly are. A thick scarf and a sturdy spear are vital equipment here.

Grandfather’s Icefield
† north-western glaciers † rotten ice † crevasses †

In the northwest, the Baron claims a fringe of high glacial altiplano popularly
known as the “Emperor’s Tailbone”. Although nearby as the white crow flies, no
passes lead to the county of Zelenim or the slightly more distant Veriy Tural.

The high ice is riddled with the tunnels of dragon-worms and

dragon-nymphs. It is best avoided, unless in a montgolfier.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 59

Hodovoya River
† green water † shallows and cascades †

The emerald waters of the Hodovoya are thick with algae and kelpy weeds as
they wend their way through a series of gorges towards Chodey and the Rushka.

Most visitors will be fascinated by the Purification Era glass-bottomed

lake. The precise substance is unclear, but it reveals a deeper river,
flowing perpendicular to the Hodovoya.

The rugged, wooded terrain hides a profusion of beasts: giant timber

bats, crocodilian salamanders, and soldier bears.

Jibbya Stream
† sulphurous † yellow water †

The beautiful polychrome pebble banks of the Jibbya have long attracted
artists and alchemists to its somewhat smelly waters.

Novelty seekers and the superstitious like to visit a peaty upland of the
Jibbya called the “Dragon’s Sandbox” with its piles of magic-rich
fossilized dragon dung.

The lower course is settled and safe aside from the odd treacherously
decayed tree. However, the swampy upper reaches present quite a few
challenges, including dire dung beetles and carnivorous quicksands.

The Barony
60 Longwinter

Krasna River
† reddish water † industrial architecture †

The oxide-rich waters of the Krasna are said to have healing properties.
Doctors disagree, but this does not dissuade the gullible. The many dams and
waterwheels of the recent industrial expansion may do more on that account.

Occasionally dragon scales are found in the Krasna’s settling pools, and a
small scale prospecting tourism has grown up around the curious
polished objects. Their utility is questionable, but their exotic rarity is not.

Swimming in the Krasna is not recommended due to the somewhat toxic

tailings of the Rudvey mines and ironworks, while dire leeches are a
problem in some tributaries and marshes.

Malya Stream
† gentle babbling stream † icy cold †

The frigid Malya depends from Giantsfist, exposing fossil beds of strange ancient
behemoths.

Fossil hunters often proclaim they have found wyrm teeth and claws in
the stream. However, the most common finds are calcified swimslug
heads and the double-spiraled bookfish shells.

That said, after powerful rains the Malya becomes a dangerous torrent,
and it often deposits broken un-living carcasses on its gravel banks. The
fishing apes that live in the vicinity are also fond of throwing sharp rocks.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 61

Riblinza River
† milky water † rustling shallows †

The deep gorges of the Riblinza usually smoke with the mists coming off its
numerous hot springs. Plans to cut back the Dark Forest and build thermal
resorts on its lower reaches remain speculative.

The Riblinza flows through strange sedimentary layers, for it commonly

deposits polished bone pebbles and cobbles after heavy rains. This river
ivory is quite prized by artisans and betterfolk curio seekers.

Dire otters and wolffolk fishers make the Riblinza a hostile waterway.
Some swimmers have even developed wasting diseases after attacks by
what they described as bone fish.

Rorka River
† pure water † dense beech and oak forests †

The thundering cascades and deep pools of the Rorka bring a whiff of the
untouched deep heart of the Dark Forest to the edges of Brezim.

Natural philosophers will admire the giant vegetarian salamanders and

coral lotus that thrive in the Rorka.

However, they should pay attention that they do not mistake the
herb-loving salamander for the giant carnivorous sail-backed
salamanders also found in the Rorka. Also, at least one cameraman of
this reportage carelessly fell off a waterfall while recording a river nymph.

The Barony
62 Longwinter

Spine Icefield
† major federal divide † great north-eastern icefield †

The long spine that divides the Federal heartland from its southerly regions
begins at the Motherberg and continues east for hundreds of miles. The few large
passes, such as fabled Bonethrone Pass, have played a large role in the history of
the settled lands.

Visitors should be aware that the Spine Icefield is one of the harshest
environments known to modern civilization and nobody has yet
traversed it successfully—unless one counts the revenant of Comte
Boris hen Vliegasse as successful. The revenant is still displayed in a large
glass jar in the Letobor geographical society.

Rushka River
† largest river † swift, rough †

The Rushka defines Brezim. Richly flowing, swift, rough and turbulent.
Attempts were made to tame her flow and failed, though plans are afoot to build
a new hydro-golemic plant near Chodey, below the oldglass barriers. The dukes
of industry remain in fervent discussions.

Sports fishermen prize the trophy granite trout of the Rushka. Its
armoured head is hard enough to dent the side of a canoe!

However, only the strongest swimmers should try the Rushka. It abounds
with whirlpools and cascades, not to mention the tremendous current.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 63

Starogray Lake
† artificial lake † mile-thick oldglass barrier †

The cold waters of Starogray are held back by a massive oldglass barrier.
Archaengineers have become a regular fixture at the site, testing and prodding.
Still, the magical material remains impervious to their methodologies, the waters
of the lake spilling over the top and creating curious open-air dripstone lips and
stains on the clear matter.

Visitors to Kastey should book a boat to take them to the drowned old
architect ruins in the middle of the lake. There they can marvel at well-
preserved oldsettler dwellings from the early days of Brezim settlement.

Avoid swimming in the Starogray. Giant snake fish prowl its depths and
the banks are often thick with sneaky gripping mud. Many a shoe has
been lost to its pungent stickiness!

Tirzla Stream
† laughing torrent † picturesque pools †

The gentle Tirzla runs like a song off the riven flanks of the Spargleberg. Its lower
reaches are popular with bathers and sunseekers.

Hikers will enjoy the greatwood trees of its middle reach, particularly
the two-hundred-foot Grinning Grandad. The trees are of an ill-set
species, perhaps local mutants. Still, they are quite safe, and it is a
tradition to pose inside the restful hollow of the Grandad.

Avoid the waters of the higher reaches due to the bloodthirsty otters
and dangerous falling boulders.

The Barony
64 Longwinter

Toplaya River
† warm † azure waters †

The hot waters of the Toplaya run from Vreley to the Rushka. Bathers enjoy
comfortable temperatures year-round. and some springs are said to be very good
for skin and digestive disorders.

Zoologists will be thrilled by the crystal-shelled armoured fish living in

its colourful waters.

However, do be aware that some springs have rather intoxicating fumes

and that some hot vents emit jets of boiling water or even steam. In cold
weather rolling mists can severely reduce visibility.

Toplovoy Lake
† volcanic lake † hot springs †

The round lake presents the visitor with a striking panoply of colours. It is little
wonder that it is such a popular tourist destination.

The flora and fauna of the region are simply spectacular. Mineral-loving
crustaceans, pale lake kelp, string lotus, and hot-water snails. All are
available in profusion and eaten as a curative for arthritis and gout.

Beware the predatory lake scorpions in the deeper reaches of the lake
and some hot steam vents. Wolffolk highlanders come to swim in the lake
when the moon is full.

The Barony
 Visitor’s Book 65

Zadvoya Stream
† pyrite nodules † refreshing waters †

The mineral-rich waters of the Zadvoya promise much further industrial

development in the hinterlands of Rudvey. However, several Vreley hoteliers
would prefer to develop the region’s mineral water offerings instead.

High up the stream, past a series of difficult cascades, is a crude shrine in

the middle of a small glacial lake. Local guides claim the apes built it and
that it hides strange meats and machines from the glacier above. This
seems unlikely, as the apes are mere brutes.

Fishing apes armed with nets and harpoons are a menace. The tangling
water plants and calving rocks also act almost like traps, so more care is
required than usual.

The Barony
66 Longwinter

Hungry bears have been known to disrupt holidaymakers’ plans.

$
Game
Rules
$
68 Longwinter

Back to the Game

�
Let us fracture the fourth wall once more and return to Longwinter as a game.
The previous section was a lot of world-building, a lot of it presented by the
marginally reliable authors of the Zuleiman Publishing Gentle Visitor’s Guides.

It represents shared but incomplete knowledge about the world. If you are the
referee, do not be intimidated. Feel free to improvise, mix and remix, and
apportion the blame for any inconsistencies to an out of date and shoddily
researched tour book. If you are a player, likewise, do not feel bound to the
blinkered world view of the tour book’s writers. Make Brezim yours. Take it and
rework it into your game.

The following section of rules is written with the same ideal in mind.

All the players, those running characters and the referees, should share the
burden of making the world turn; of rolling for random encounters, generating
weather, choosing where to travel, and fleshing out terrains. This is why many
encounter tables are presented right here, in the Visitors’ Book. The idea is that
this is commonplace information, familiar to any reasonable native or visitor.

That said, perhaps things are different in the referee book?

Anyhow, enough, enough. Be welcome to the winter wonderland!

The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 69

Setting Recap
The Barony of Brezim is a mountainous place. The terrain is harsh, building and
maintaining infrastructure is expensive, travel is slow, going off the beaten path
is difficult, bad weather makes everything much worse. This is clear.

To simulate this environment in a game set in the barony, time is the crucial
constraint, and measurable distance on a map is almost irrelevant.

Encounters happen regularly to make it clear that time is a serious constraint,

relentlessly depleting the heroes’ resources.

Space is relevant as scenery for encounters, providing opportunities and

obstacles for the heroes, and to set the mood. The referee can use the terrain
tables to make encounters more or less challenging. The players can use them as
ideas for set dressing they can spot or use during encounters.

If you are looking for a real-world environment similar to that of the Brezim,
think of the Alps or the Pyrenees or the Carpathian mountains in the 1920s and
1930s. Substitute some witchy magic and golems for telegraphs and
Daimler-Benz Lastkraftwagens, and you should be all set. When playing
characters, be sure to affect an exaggerated faux-Mittelberger accent.

The Rules
70 Longwinter

Time
Time in the game
A minute or less: usually rounds or turns in combat. Treat them however you like.

An hour: this is the basic unit of time for any activity. Whether the heroes bind
wounds after a fight, explore an abandoned house, visit a blacksmith for a chat,
or make diagrams of a creepy idol, this is how long it takes. This is an evident
abstraction. Use a d6 to tally hours up to the watch.

A watch: 6 hours long, this is the basic unit of time for travel, short rest, and
encounter checks. Heroes should sleep at least one watch per day. Every watch
missed applies penalties to activities.

A day: 4 watches long, the day is the basic unit of time for weather,
environmental modifiers, and events.

A week: 7 days. The length of a long rest and some solid carousing.

The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 71

Distance is Time
The map of Brezim shows settlements, mule-roads and travel times between
them, the major mountains, rivers and forests. Travel times include basic
preparations, packing, sandwich stops, and time to gawk at panoramic scenery.

Points of interest and hiking destinations are not marked. Add them to the map
approximately where it makes sense when you visit them. Roll d6 twice to
determine how far the location is from the nearest settlement and what the
best path is like.

d6 Distance and Path Type

1–4 half a watch hunterway
5 one watch beastway
6 two watches mule-road

Mountains are hard to climb. For peaks, double the time required. For high peaks,
triple the time required.

Going off trail, say to avoid an obstruction or enemy, is always slower.

d6 This is not a shortcut

1–3 x2 travel time
4–5 x4 travel time
6 x8 travel time

The Rules
72 Longwinter

Space
Paths
Going anywhere in a mountainous landscape means following paths and trails,
because every other option is harder.

Beastway: a narrow trail, ill-maintained and used more by beasts than

humans. A single infantry must watch their footing carefully. Most forest
or mountain trails are of this sort.
Impassable for vehicles without extreme effort, even pack animals double
travel time.

Hunterway: a narrow trail kept in good condition by the local hunter

society. A single infantry can easily fight on such a trail.
Almost impassable for vehicles, quadruple travel times.

Mule-road: a modern mountain road, specifically made for the narrow

front-and-rear steering mechanical mules originally made by the Ovestá
company. Two or three infantry can easily fight side-by-side on such a
path.
Normal travel times for vehicles. Mule-roads connect most major
settlements in Brezim.

Livingstone road: a wide road like those built long ago, in the time of the
Old Empire. Most are long dead, but some are still usable. As many as ten
infantry could easily fight together on such a behemoth.
Halve travel times for vehicles. There are currently no such roads in
Brezim, but everybody knows about them and dreams about the day they
might reach Gomiliy or even Rudvey.

�
The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 73

Views from Ta Krasney

74 Longwinter

Encounters
In the wilderness, an encounter occurs once per watch, every watch. A player
rolls d100, and the referee consults the appropriate encounter table (it might well
be one of the Referee’s Book tables, depending on the time of year). Every encounter
table in Longwinter is ‘overloaded,’ like the table overleaf. This means that
something happens every time it is checked. The referee section has nighttime and
winter encounters.

Not every creature encountered needs result in a fight. If the party encounters
the Dragon, they should probably just stay still and not move. Apparently,
dragons have frog DNA and can’t see immobile objects. Ok, that’s not true,
probably. Maybe.

Sometimes it matters when an encounter takes place—whether the heroes can

run back to their point of origin, or press on to a safe house. In that case roll 1d6
to determine the hour of the watch when the encounter takes place—1: first
hour, 2: second hour, and so on. Encounters may put pressure on the heroes to
get somewhere safe fast.

In an enclosed dungeon or city environment, encounters might occur more often.

Individual modules or locations usually have specific encounter rules. Otherwise,
a player can roll a 1d6 every hour, and on a 1 an encounter occurs. Shockingly,
this still averages out to one encounter per watch.

To simulate mounting tension and rising alarums in an enclosed location, players

can roll an additional die for encounters every hour that nothing happens. To add
more zest yet, encounters could be more dangerous, the more 1s are rolled. The
multiple encounter dice reset after every encounter, as the tension drops.

The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 75

Encounters of Summer and Autumn

D00 Summer/Autumn Daytime Encounters
01 The Dragon, flying surreally (L20).
02 Older Thing, flesh machine moaning and hiding (L10).
03 Forest Spirit, gracefully patrolling (L8).
04 Woodland Wyrm, crawling for prey (L7).
05 Mountain Apes, playing monkey games (L6).
06 Aurochs, browsing coolly (L5).
07 Bears, stuffing themselves (L5).
08 Dire Lynx, stalking prey (L4).
09 Wild Boars, digging nuts and roots (L3).
10 Deer, a herd nervously awaiting winter.
11 Gnome Monkeys, squirrelling away food (L2).
12 Mountain Goats, giving the evil eye (L1).
13 Wolffolk, shying from humans (L3).
14 Rabbits, multiplying.
15 Oldfolk, serfs slinking (L1).
16 Baronial, freesettlers working their holdings (L1).
17 Outlander, craftsmen and tourists (L1).
18 Baronial, official patroleurs keeping the peace (L2).
19 Cityfolk, merchants or specialists (L1).
20 Baronial, families, picking mushrooms.
21–30 Interaction: roll 1d20 twice.
31–40 Corpse: roll 1d10+10.
41–60 Traces: roll 1d20.
61–70 Hunger: use food or lose 1d4 health.
71–80 Terrain: use survival gear or lose 1 stat.
81–90 Heat: use water or lose 1d4 health.
91–95 Soothing rest: spend 1d6 hours to regain 1d6 of one stat.
96 Wonderful spot: regain 1d6 of one stat.
97 Panorama: advantage to one mental check.
98 Delicious berries: advantage to one physical check.
99 Forgotten goods, barely used. Useful to someone, perhaps.
00 I needed this! Pick a common item. You've found it.

The Rules
76 Longwinter

Terrain and Weather

Whenever something happens in the mountains, the land is always an
antagonist. Players or referees roll on the relevant terrain and weather feature
tables to figure out what is going on, and the referee decides what kind of
penalties and bonuses might apply.

Terrain Features
D20 Icefield Mountain Forest River
1 Crevasse Slippery slope Great linden tree Beaver dam
2 Slippery Grassy hummocks Overgrown pit Rapids
3 Deep snow Shattered terrain Leaf-filled trench Cascades
Ravine full of
4 Pitted Narrow ridge Waterfall
broken wood
5 Rotten Friable rocks Fallen pines Confluence
6 Overgrown
Avalanche danger Falling stones Bridge
dwarf-pines
7 Sharp shards Unstable boulders Dense ferns Massive boulders
Barrier of
8 Rocks in the snow Cliff Sandy beach
raspberry bushes
9 Ice cliff Overhang Dark fir grove Pool
Ivy-choked larches Tangle of lilies
10 Frozen slope Cave and frogs
Smoothed Rocks broken
11 Pinnacle Exposed riverbed
boulders by oaks
Tangled woody
12 Overhanging ice Massive boulder Pebble stream
vines
Barrow with
13 Icicles Crevasse Slippery clay banks
hazel thicket
Clearing with
14 Briny pools Natural bridge Uprooted tree
mushrooms
15 Pink algal ice Ravine Sombre beeches Ruins of dam
16 Powder drifts Chimney Flash-flood debris Gorge
17 Ice cave Hole Storm-broken trees Spring
Quiet meadow,
18 Ice bridge Small lake Deep water
flowers
19 Broken blocks Rocky outcrop Slippery mosses Rushing shallows
Gravel and White birches,
20 Plateau Gravel banks
ice berms long grass

The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 77

Weather Features
D20 Wind Cloud Rain Snow
Rolling banks
1 Rustling Humid Sparkling crystals
of fog
Floating
2 Gentle Crawling mist Drizzle snowflakes
3 Whipping Dull grey Pelting droplets Flurries
4 Howling Ominous bruised Gentle White feathers
5 Murmuring Heavy Cool mist Fine
6 Pelting dust Towering Showers Light
and leaves
7 Tossing sticks Oppressive Clammy Like flower petals
8 Shaking treetops Climbing hillsides Remorseless A white veil
Tumbling down
9 Rattling shutters Morose Heavy flakes
slopes
10 Flying snow Dropping Heavy Sticky wet flakes
11 Stabbing like ice Gathering Sour Dry
12 Squalling Breaking Slow Powdery
13 Screaming Rising Ominous Glutinous
14 Ripping foliage Scattered Freezing Gathering in drifts
15 Scouring soil Drifting Sleeting A duvet of snow
16 Booming Diaphanous Thunderous Silent
17 Hollow Gauzy Exhausting Rushing
18 Ceaseless Icy Unremitting Blizzard
19 Gusting Cold Dark Whiteout
Howling
20 Laughing Thick Torrential snowstorm

The Rules
78 Longwinter

Encounter Mishaps
Mud, rain, wind and snow make combat difficult. Ridges and slopes make falls
dangerous. In the mountains, almost no encounter happens on a simple flat
square. Encounter mishaps roughly model the inherent difficulty of getting
anything done in such terrain.

Whenever a character rolls a 13 during a physical check, including combat, they

suffer a misfortune depending on the environment. Apply effects after
resolving the check. The character may lose 1 point of Charisma instead of
suffering the misfortune.

d10 Ice Misfortunes d10 Rocky Slope Misfortunes

1 Weapon dropped and lost. 1 Weapon damaged.
2 Clothes damaged. 2 Clothes damaged.
3 Shoe caught. 3 Armour damaged.
4 Character injured by ice shard. 4 Equipment damaged.
5 Slips and falls. 5 Character injured by sharp rock.
6 Stumbles. 6 Falls painfully.
7 Slips and wheels arms comically. 7 Knocked out by fall.
8 Breaks through into pit. 8 Sprains ankle.
9 Stumbles off ledge, hanging on. 9 Slowed.
10 Stumbles off ledge, goes flying. 10 Stumbles off ledge, hanging on.

d10 Mud Misfortunes d10 Rain Misfortunes

1 Mechanism jams. 1 Ammo wet.
2 Character slips. 2 Food wet.
3 Slips and falls. 3 Lamp wet.
4 Stuck in place or loses shoe. 4 Clothes wet.
5 Splashes into puddle. 5 Character blinded.
6 Falls into puddle. 6 Character deafened.
7 Slowed by sticky mud. 7 Splashes into puddle.
8 Blinded by flying mud. 8 Slips.
9 Choked by flying mud. 9 Slips and falls.
10 Injured by hidden rock. 10 Stumbles on hidden rock.

The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 79

d10 Wind Misfortunes d10 Snow Misfortunes

1 Attack blown widely off mark. 1 Weapon dropped and lost.
2 Hit ally or attack blown off. 2 Ammo wet.
3 Light item blown away. 3 Food wet.
4 Clothes blown away. 4 Lamp wet.
5 Character blinded by debris. 5 Character blinded.
Confused, thinks someone is 6 Deafened.
6 behind them.
7 Slips and falls.
7 Deafened.
8 Slowed by drift.
8 Injured by debris.
9 Dazed and confused.
9 Thrown off balance.
10 Injured by hidden rock.
10 Stumbles.

Flying Lessons
D10+Charisma Flying Off A Cliff
Lethal. Gruesome. Combat pauses as everybody watches, suddenly
1 or less aware of their own mortality. Human combatants can call off the fight.
Long, steep, and probably lethal. Fall seems to take forever. 2d10 x 10
2–3 damage at the end.
Gruesome, tumbling fall. Takes three rounds, 1d6 x 10 damage per
4–5 round. After taking damage, the character can check to see if they
catch themselves on a shrub or rock.
Painful tumbling slide. Takes three rounds, 1d6 x 5 damage per round.
6–8 After taking damage, the character can try to stop themselves.
Slides down gravel slope in a tangle of limbs and a cascade of loose
9–10 rocks. Takes three rounds, 1d6 damage per round. After taking
damage, the character can try to stop themselves.
Flies off the edge, takes 1d6 damage, and is caught in a convenient tree
11 or more or eagle nest about 10’ below the ledge.

The Rules
80 Longwinter

Survival and Inventory

There is no bad weather, there is only bad equipment. This is usually a fact, but
sometimes lightning strikes a hero exposed on a hilltop. Then again, is lightning
even weather?

The basic rule is that a human can carry one sack unencumbered or two sacks
encumbered.

Each sack breaks down into 10 stones. One stone is about 15lb: one generic
significant item, like a sabre or spear or short sword or shovel. Leave aside one
stone for 10 ’soaps’: generic small items, like a signal whistle or signet ring or
spike. Or a bar of soap.

Add or subtract stones equal to the character’s Strength bonus (optional).

Ranger and barbarian types gain three free “survival inventory slots” which can
only be used for warm clothes, food, or survival gear.

Resources
The following are crucial in winter.

Warm Clothes
Coats, caps, mittens, parkas, scarves, leggings, and more. A human who is not the
Michelin man cannot wear more than 5 units of warm clothes. Warm clothes
work as “heat points,” insulating the character against the cold. Cold checks are
rolled every watch that the hero spends outside. Mark clothes as chilled when the
cold gets through.

Warm clothes may also double as survival supplies for encounters. Slashing
weapons, explosions, and fire ruin warm clothes. Water makes them ineffective
(they get chilled and wet).

The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 81

Meals
Bread, water, cheese, schnapps, butter, sausages. Staying warm takes a lot of
energy. One day’s meal takes one stone, travel rations may be more compact.
Some encounters require characters to eat meals or lose health.

A character must eat one meal per day or they lose 1d4 life.

Armour
Keeps white apes and ice worms from hitting the hero. Armour is also bulky.
Light armour takes one stone. Medium is two, and heavy is three. A shield takes
another stone.

Weapons
To kill wolffolk and skintakers. If weapons need ammunition, it runs out when a
13 is rolled on an attack. The hero may choose to miss instead of using their last
piece of ammo. Each weapon takes one stone. Each pack of additional
ammunition takes another stone.

Survival Gear
Tents, ropes, sleeping bags, pitons, walking sticks, crampons, axes, ladders, picks,
carabiners, harnesses and more. At any time a hero may use up a unit of survival
gear to reroll a failed mountaineering or climbing check. One unit of mountain
gear is always used up when a 13 is rolled on a check. In this case, the hero may
choose to fail the check instead of using up their gear. Some encounters require
characters to use survival gear to avoid losing health or stats. A character can use
one unit of survival supplies per short rest (one watch) to recover 1d4 life.

Lamps
Fuel, oil, wood, torches, batteries, coal braziers. Something that gives off light
and heat. Lamps are often used up by night-time encounters. Lamps can be used
to attack undead and cold creatures, dealing 2d6 damage when used up.

The Rules
82 Longwinter

Rest and Recovery

Longwinter assumes gritty realism rules with slight modifications. Resting rules
are a little more forgiving, but the environment is a lot harsher.

Short Rest
Lasts one watch (6 hours). Afterwards, a hero can use HD to recover life and
one of the following:

† Recover one point of a lost stat (Str, Cha, etc.).

† Remove one exhaustion level.
† Regain one heat point.
† or End one harmful effect.

Heroes should sleep once a day or else:

Days Without Sleep Effect

1 day Disadvantage on social activities.
2 days Disadvantage on all activities.
Disadvantage on all activities and all saving throws, every
3 days watch save or fall asleep.
Disadvantage on all activities and all saving throws, halved life
4 days maximums, every watch save or fall asleep.

Long Rest
Takes five full days, leaving a weekend for carousing. After a long rest, a hero:

† Recovers all their life and heat points, and half their HD.
† Recovers 1d6 points in every stat (Str, Dex, etc.).
† Removes all exhaustion levels.
† Ends all harmful effects, including sleep deprivation.
† Checks to end all illnesses.

If a hero is being cared for by another character, they recover more quickly.

The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 83

Resting Conditions
It’s horrible. Heroes should avoid sleeping in here.

d10 Horrible Conditions

Contracts pneumonia (max life halved) or flu (disadvantage to all checks).
1 Marks corresponding exhaustion level. Cure requires a long rest and care.
Sleeps poorly, dreaming of white birds and laughing death. Cannot recover
2–4 any lost points or remove exhaustion levels. Can still use HD.
5–9 Sleeps ok.
Wakes up surprisingly refreshed. One chronic ache is gone, or one disease is
10 cured, or gains 1 temporary point to a random stat.

It’s ordinary. Most nights should be uneventful.

d10 Ordinary Conditions

Sleeps poorly, dreaming of an ice princess and bleeding eyes. Cannot
1 recover any lost points or remove exhaustion levels. Can still use HD.
2–8 Sleeps ok.
9 Wakes up eager to change the world. Gains 1d4 temporary life.
10 Wakes up refreshed and ready to attack the day. Gains 1d8 temporary life or
1 temporary heat point.

It’s splendid! Everybody wants to rest this way.

d10 Splendid Conditions

Dreams of bloody slaughter and frozen children clinging to the bosom of a
1 graceful ice goddess. Cannot remove any exhaustion levels. Gains 1
temporary point of Charisma.
2-5 Wakes up with +1d4 temporary life.
6-8 The effects of rest are doubled.
The effects of rest are doubled and gains 1d6 temporary life or 1 temporary
9 heat point.
Wakes up feeling blessed by wealth and kindness of the Firebringer and the
10 Green Sun. Rest effects are doubled, and gains 2 temporary heat points or
1d6+6 temporary life.

The Rules
84 Longwinter

The Cold
As far as the human body is concerned, the weather can be infinitely bad. In-
game, the referee estimates how cold it is based on the described weather.

Heroes wandering around outside in the cold have to make a check.

If a hero is wearing more units of warm clothes than the cold level, they do not
have to roll a cold check. Their body heat is enough to keep them going.

Cold Level and Cold Checks

(Seacat) (5E)
1 Cool Easy test Survival DC 5
2 Cold Moderate test DC 10
3 Bloody Cold Hard test DC 15
4 Siberian Very hard test DC 20
5 Frozen Hell Impossible (no test) DC 30 (auto-fail, basically)

A roll of a 1 is always a failure.

Wind imposes a disadvantage on survival checks against the cold.

Digging into snow or leaves gives an advantage to cold checks.

Rain or damp doubles cold effects.

A character in cold water makes an immediate cold check, and then another cold
check every few minutes. The water soaks 1d4 items of warm clothing per round.
Wet clothes provide no heat points and impose a disadvantage to cold checks out
of water. Don’t get wet.

The Rules
 Visitor’s Book 85

Failing the Cold Check

When a character fails the cold check, they lose a heat point (two if it is raining).
Medium animals like humans and wolves start with one heat point. Big animals
like horses and bears start with two.

Warm clothes, fluffy fur, or winter feathers add additional heat points.

When a hero has no heat points left, any additional heat points lost translate
directly into hurt.

Hurt
As a hero gets cold, ill, and tired, they begin to hurt. Soon enough, they’re dead.
Hurt is similar to “fatigue” in the 5th edition.

1 It’s fine.
2 Disadvantage to all checks.
3 Speed halved.
4 Current and max life halved.
5 Comatose, unresponsive, ‘sleeping.’
6 Dead.

A short rest can remove one level of hurt.

The Rules
86 Longwinter

An Inventory Sheet
Body Heat Pts ⌂ ⌂ Hurt
______ ______ ______ ______ ______
Heat Pts ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ unhurt [-] ½ life coma death

First ‘Sack’ Small Things Second ‘Sack’

(10 ‘stones’ per ‘sack’) (10 ‘soaps’ per ‘stone’) (any items here = [-])
1. 1. 1.
2. 2. 2.
3. 3. 3.
4. 4. 4.
5. 5. 5.
6. 6. 6.
7. 7. 7.
8. 8. 8.
9. 9. 9.
10. ...var. small things → 10. ...coins (25/soap) ↓ 10.

Cash

Equipment high-calorie travel ration pick, carabiners,

—1 soap— (2 days’ meals)— harness.
small handy item—e.g. salted butter with lamp or samovar
lighter, pipe, soap, berries, peppered one day’s fuel
pocket knife, ring, lard with raisins.
whistle, or dice. light armour (+1 to +3 —2 stone—
defence) medium armour (+3 to
—1 stone— weapon—pistol, sword, +5 defence)
warm clothes (1 heat sabre, rifle, spear. heavy weapon—bipod
point)—fur cap, fur box of ammunition gun, great sword
coat or parka, shield
winter boots, lined survival gear—e.g. tent, —3 stone—
mittens, fur or wool rope, sleeping bag, heavy armour (+5 to +8
undergarments. pitons, walking defence)
day’s meal—tinned meat, sticks, crampons, field weapon—mortar,
pickled cabbage. axe, portable ladder, hand cannon

Equipment
 Visitor’s Book 87

Barony Buy & Sell

† Gomiliy of Brezim † 9-Month • 17-Year Federal †

New This 4. Glassbox lamp— 8. Soft warm

Market Day (d10) Rudvey Irons co.— undergarments—
guaranteed wind-proof— Goodwool Anatol co.—
Quality assured by Viney runs on kerosene, socks, longstockings,
Wreathglory, by ap. baron giantsfat, oilfish or olive tighties, vests, one-pieces
& electors, cert. 16–YF, oil—2 cash on hand, 5 liners, mittens, scarves,
rm Yara Lordsword. wicks included. skullcaps, balaclavas—all
knitted in Belna by local
1. Ammunition— 5. Hiker’s lard—Pepper knitterfolk—buy local, buy
Redyard Guns co., by Oldhouse co.—perfect Goodwool Anatol—half-
baronial dispensation—all rations for harsh caesar / piece, full-winter
calibres served—2-dog, conditions—excellent set: 2 cash—amulet
no permit required—3- seasonings—saxifrage, decorated on request.
rooster, 4-boar, 5-bear cumin, red powder, yellow
only with valid permit— curing, lavender—a dime 9. Tinned meal—Poli
special : two-score 2-dogs a day’s meal, a quarter Joinpot’s original recipes,
only 1 cash till solstice. buys three. Poli co.—beef & trout,
carrot & tripe, plum &
2. Barrel of beer— 6. Pickled cabbage— spam, and the original
Vreley Brewing co.—with “Lynx” brand original, plum & plum—a quarter,
seasonal flavours Viktor Joinpot Authentic 1 cash / five.
including barley, Foods co.—keep that
buckwheat, and scurvy away—1 dime for 10. Woodsboots—hardy
chestnut—stay warm a jar, 1 cash / dozen. and warm, bison leather
with beer!—half-caesar top and willow sole,
per 10-pint, special offer 3 7. Pocket knife—Anton studded for better grip—5
barrels for 1 cash. Goodberry, master cash—5 year guarantee.
knifesmith—antler horn
3. Fatbear dollies— scales, masterwork—1
Darkwood Toymakers cash, sharpness
co.—pure whittled guaranteed.
darkwood—amuse your
children, keep Hollowfear
away—dime a dolly.

Equipment
88 Longwinter

Recovered 4. Glow orbs (multiple 8. Sangra yellow bar

Artefacts (d10) available)—pre-Purifi- amulet—authentic,
cation manufacture, Rudvey-found, long life
Quality assured by Lana sunlight harvesters, 50 and health guaranteed—
Hardnail, by ap. baron & candle strength, orange 30 cash on hand, no
electors, cert. 17–YF, hue, easy to bond—4 cash transfers—Hilda
rm Yara Lordsword. each, 30 cash for 10. Undermountschild,
Transfers only for boxes of Logbottom, Gomiliy.
1. Bear golem, 50 or more—Zola L.
refurbished—new Nightshame, Appr. Street 9. Shame book—hand-
lemmas, logarithm (Palace Side), Gomiliy. painted, original
checked, pliant & helpful, emotional imprints, early
purification quality, great 5. OA hotbox—converts kingdom period, not a
for excavations or forestry emotions into heat, great mass-market knock-off!—
work, biomatter converter conversation starter, 20 cash on hand, buy
pebble engine—1,500 circle-square decorations, quick—Yuri Goosefoot,
cash on hand, 3,000 elegant, slightly scuffed— Mane Bazaar, Clockwork
federals or 3,300 35 cash on hand, 50 Corner, Gomiliy.
imperials transfer to post federal or imperial
bank—Yuri Handhandler, scrips—Lara “Silverfox” 10. Wolffolk skull—mid-
Easter Goth estate, Villagesmith, Old Palace, shift, malleable bones, still
Gomiliy Near Bank— Gom.—televocalizer 231. sparkles, half-ghosted—
televocalizer 74. 100 cash on hand, 120
6. OA lighter — good as federals in scrip—Lara
2. “Blue God” blaster— new, strange steel head, “Silverfox” Villagesmith,
crystals replaced, fully crystal charge, works Old Palace, Gomiliy—
charged, mind-burned for under water—15 cash on televocalizer 231.
security, bond ports hand, 20 federals bank
removed—an authentic transfer—Mazik
piece of history!—Yuri Rockshaper, Appraised Vikuna’s Den
Handhandler, Easter Goth Street, Gomiliy. * authentic cuisine *
estate, Gomiliy Near † Gomily Nule street †
Bank—televocalizer 74. 7. Prosthetic hand—
flesh-knitting, delicate Grand Open
3. Giantbone shield— intaglio, masterful old- 10-month, first Sun.
oversized, impenetrable, gold alchemy, sera-and-
skull-made, intricately plaz core, ready to use— † eastland meltcheese †
carved, exceptionally rare, 300 cash on hand, 600 † venison especials †
wonderful opportunity— federals at 60 per month † caparisoned scargo †
300 cash, 300 federals— for 10—Romina † saltfish baccala †
Runa Riverdaughter, Wolfsborn, Tree Square, † proudstuff buns †
Logbottom, Gomiliy. Gomiliy. † baron’s bêtes †

Equipment
 Visitor’s Book 89

Used Goods (d10) 4. Music box—crank- 7. Rifle, ironbaron—

operated, quite portable, original graf Mustelik
at purchaser’s hazard by full cylinder collection of model—chambered 5-
free diktat, baron & Walter Highbrow’s Opera bear with brass Ajax 4x90
electors n.d., cert. 1–YF, of the Six Senses prismatic scope—
rm Aram Blackbird. included—60 cash— cherrywood stock—
Aleksey Southson, Reeds leather carry case—120
1. Bearhunter outfit— Hamlet, Homiliy— cash or 200 federals—
well-armoured, studded, televocalizer 230. Zena Ironbridge, esq.,
easy to move in—30 cash Medrushka Manor, Pey
on delivery—Miro 5. Parka, mink—hand- Jibbey—televoc 112.
Guarschild, Pey Jibbey— made, original valley
village televoc, leave a quality, warm as new—10 8. Sabre, antiq—
message. cash in pouch—Castra authentic longwar piece,
“Turkey” Belgroyé, Pey great for a mantelpiece—
2. Fishing gear—ex- Jibbey (Gomiliy on market gilt basket hilt—15 cash—
husband’s—ridiculously days, ask at Oxcart “Irma”, Inkbrook Manor,
overpriced, selling Square). Gom.—tvoc 129.
cheap—three rods, boots,
chest of flies, lines, and 6. Redyard bipod 9. Skis—good as new,
tools—25 cash—“Irma” machine gun—museum hardly used—steel
Penbrook, Inkbrook piece, well-preserved, edges—composite poplar
Manor, Gom.—tvoc 129. firing mechanism and spruce—4 cash on
packaged separately, hand—hardboots also
3. Hiking backpack— ammunition not available—Yuliya
fully strapped, net bags, available—100 cash on Freebird—Overrushka,
sturdy, trophy carrying hand—Pavel Oldbrown, Gomiliy—village t-voc.
cradle included—5 cash, 6 Ta Krasney, Brown
cash delivery by post— Estate—televocalizer 44. 10. Town wagon/
Lavrentiy Oldschild, sleigh—two-horse, bells
Upperfarm, Gomiliy— not included—most
upperfarm televoc 2. grooms should handle the
switch—lacquered panels
by Gleit ot’ Torrente—
upholstery needs work—
200 cash—Vigo Brassbell,
esq., Tree Green,
Gomiliy—televocalizer 88.

Equipment
90 Longwinter

Trade & Buy (d10) 4. GIFT children’s 8. TRADE hens, egg

winter clothes—ages 5– layers—for rooster and
stamp duty may be 7—clean, deloused—no geese—best hens along
required per ar-5-YF-2b, ghosts, children outgrew the Krasna—Hiram
b & e, ius, cert. 5–YF, them—Vinko Axebreak, Plishya Hamlet,
rm Aram Blackbird. Mountainhide, Stair Te Krasney—villagevoc,
Street, Gomiliy. leave a note.
1. BUY bulk recovered
widgets—pre-purifi- 5. LOVE free 9. TRADE oldfaith
cation, old architect, stone farmholder seeks wards—for donations,
strudel, onion & skull, and companion—too old for food, and work—building
other lost cultures— romance—need someone new henge in Belna next
function not required—1 with a down-to-earth spring—services
cash per stone’s weight— understanding of running registered at notary Whit
Alan Dukesget, Duke’s a manor—code Romao— Snowdrinker—more
Pawns & Antiques, Appr. ask the editors. information: ghostknower
Street, Gomiliy. Yari Worldswight, Trinity
6. TRADE cook, sew, Linden, Gomiliy.
2. BUY capricorn clean house—for room
trophies—5–10 cash per and board over winter— 10. TRADE room &
trophy—taxidermy or fallen on hard times— board—for entertainers—
bone—no fresh kills Freit Builderschild, yodellers, musicians,
please—Ludwiga van Longrow House, Gomiliy. singers—all welcome—
Knie, Oxcart Square— Butler Furst Sungrim, Ulf
Karst Coffee, tvoc 342. 7. TRADE warm meal, Oldgraf’s Estate, Ta
shelter—for prayers at Krasney.
3. BUY oil, lamp oil, fat, the meeting house of
cooking fat, other Doctor Love—love gives to
leftovers—price depends, those who believe—Witch-
best quality oils 1 cash per preacher Ingo Belsteak,
fifth-barrel—Iové Imperial Goodshouse,
“Sashes” Rosho, Ironbaron Gomiliy.
Square, Gomiliy.

Equipment
 Visitor’s Book 91

Sporting Supplement
† by special dispensation from the Betterfolk Bettershooter Quarterly †

Hunting in Brezim
The mountains and forests of Brezim provide much entertainment for the

“ gentlefolk aficionado of the hunt. Both the local betterfolk and visitors appreciate
the chase. If you are keen to try your trigger against the local prize game—
especially the fabulous snow apes, dire bears, elk, mountain goats, and
capricorns—you can easily rent or purchase the requisite equipment in any of
the towns and some of the larger villages. However, for our choice, the best place
to shop is Rudvey’s Gentle Pheasant, where gunleit Ivo Blewmount and his
craftsmen create true artworks from regular Zuleimans and Redyards.

As Brezim is a liminal province of the federation, the strict gun controls you may
be used to in the better class of city do not apply. Indeed, by decree of the First
Baron, all adult baronials are required to keep weapons and attend bi-monthly
practice with their free defence clubs. The oldsettlers and wolffolk are, of course,
constitutionally unsuited to handling weapons, which are therefore forbidden
them. The penalties for possession are quite severe, and should you spot any
oldfolk with a firearm, you can be sure that they are enamoured of the bandit
lifestyle. Report them to the authorities and, at the very least, you will be treated
to a rousing round of songs and beverages at the local club drinks hall or inn. This
is indeed a good way to make friends with the local citizens in good standing.

The general selection of sporting goods one finds in Brezim is a little more
restricted than famous safari entrêpots like Zamorey or Schitz, but should suffice.

—Nesram Wittbroed ‘den Loopwinkle, Author and Hunter

Weapon Actuarial Notes (duel calibrated)

† knife, town sword, pocket pistol 1d4 or 1d6
† axe, sabre, pistol, revolver, SMG, spear 1d8
† rifle, carbine, handcannon, fossil blade 1d12
† pole-shovel, shotgun 1d6 1d12 vs. ghouls

Equipment
92 Longwinter

Guns and Weapons

Axes — tool and weapon in one, axes of all sizes are found everywhere in the
densely forested highlands and valleys of Brezim. Since even oldsettlers are
allowed to carry them, they are also quite popular with bandits.

Cavalry sabre — a leftover from older wars, many baronials who served in the
brigades proudly display their company sabres with their enamelled pommels.
Militia officers carry shortened versions called “reminderlies”.

Federal pistol “Polizey” — the standardized police pistol of the federation, with
semi-automatic action and nine rounds. Not as strong as a revolver, but simpler
to hide. You’ll find some on the market, but not many. Federal officials are issued
with them when they are posted to remote provinces like Brezim.

Fifthface revolver “Laughing Tom” — the five-chambered high-calibre revolver

is powerful enough to stop a bull. A sure sign of an insecure person, no proper
betterfolk would use one. Still, if you are going into the Dark Forest, you might
pack one for self-defence.

Giantsbone swords — a curiosity in the southern mountain provinces, these

blades are made from the fossil steel of creatures from before the Purification
Era. The locals will try to sell you replicas, so be careful of what you buy. That
said, one of these blades above your townhouse mantelpiece will draw delighted
sounds of approval from guests and relatives.

Ironbaron “Aristocrat” rifle — a powerful, heavy rifle, used for the biggest
game. A version of the Ironbaron was used in the Hedgerow Conflict to stop scout
golems, so you know this gun punches through armour. Made in nearby Eastern
City, the Ironbaron is a prestige marque, popular with betterfolk social climbers.

Ironbaron shotgun “Broomer” — a pump-action shotgun, its use to slamfire

clear trenches in the Grand War earned it its nickname. This isn’t really a hunter’s
weapon, and unless you are cleared with the baronial militia, you may have to
store it at a safe house. Anyone you see with this weapon is likely affiliated with
one of the free defence clubs. Or a bandit.

Kaiserlich carbine “Smitten Ling” — a cheap double-barreled bolt-action

affair, the Kaiserlich was issued to irregular troops during the Grand War, and
later during the Afterwar Affair. As such, many baronials and even oldsettler
bandits, have these notoriously inaccurate rifle substitutes hidden in their
houses. Still, it is light and easy to handle.

Equipment
 Visitor’s Book 93

Kaiserlich shotgun “Harvester” — this classic shotgun is perfect for bird

hunting. The double-barrel version is also popular with housemasters for
keeping the peace in inns.

Kaiserlich Pistol “Ten-fingers” — the old imperial gun foundry has truly come
down in the world since the rise of the federation, but the ten-fingers is indeed
quite a marvel. Small, reliable, easy to conceal, and with a 10-bullet magazine.
Not something to stop an armoured soldier, but certainly enough to scare off a
wolf, or an axe-wielding bandit.

Pole-shovel — a nasty polearm, somewhere between a poleaxe and sharpened

shovel. Oldsettlers often improvise them for their uprisings. That said, if you ever
had to fight off a shambling ghoul (ha ha), this clumsy neck-breaker would be
ideal! The visitor should beware cheap souvenir knock-offs sold as the real thing.

Equipment
94 Longwinter

Redyard “Leadspitter” sub-machine gun — a staple of trendy gangland flicker

pictures, this trusty local replica of the Skolnikow-28 is quite common in Brezim
among the militia, both serving and retired. This semi-automatic drum-fed gun is
very nearly the equivalent of an official badge. Redyard Guns is a subsidiary of
the Baronial Mining Company and manufactures rugged weapons in its small
factory in Rudvey.

Redyard revolver “Pinky” — a six-chambered revolver of somewhat

uninspiring make. Wildly popular among baronials since it is subsidized for
militia members. Locals often fondly call it the “shouting teacher” for the way it
tends to disperse oldsettler riots.

Walking spear — capped for safety, the walking spear comes with a sturdy heel
spike to help with navigating rough terrain. Not really a proper infantry weapon,
but solid for chasing off a drunken lout or spearing an overly aggressive wolf.

Zuleiman carbine “starsky” — the overpriced original on which the Kaiserlich

was based. Rare now, but still available. It compensates for the Kaiserlich’s
defects in all aspects except two: its price and the unreliability of its finicky build.
That said, this shooter is nearly the equal of a hunting rifle and can easily take a
buck at a hundred paces.

Zuleiman handcannon “Nightbringer” — this bolt-action single-shot carbine

can just about be used one-handed. Adapted from a cavalry weapon in the last
war, it is strong enough to bring down a bear. Its large calibre also makes it easy
to make custom munitions for it, for example, if you are going hunting the
skinchanged. The strangely deformed skulls of wolffolk skinchangers are quite
popular in extreme sporting circles these days, but you should still take extreme
care. The wolffolk exhibit near-human cunning coupled with a savagery and
resilience unmatched even by the peninsular buffalo!

Zuleiman “sunshiner” rifle — a popular hunting rifle, available with many

options and in multiple calibres. Nearly every store will hold at least one, and
most baronial chalets will have one. So long as you’re not going up against a bear,
this bolt-action rifle is a rugged and accurate choice.

�
All guns chambered above 2-dog require valid hunting permit.
Betterfolk in good standing permit exempt.

Equipment
 Visitor’s Book 95

You Could Be Here

† Interested in gentle travel? † Keen to reach new audiences? †

Contact the editors of the Gentle Visitor’s Guides at Zuleiman Publishing House,

“ Vituperi Gasa 14, Omboló. Ask for Smelovek Goodsoldier.

Visitors’ Book: Editorial

96 Longwinter

The Crossing
† This is a story. It captures the mood this survival icebox aims for. †

Crack!

Kuya dropped softly to all fours and breathed out slowly.

Creak.

She gingerly spread her arms and legs. Her fur-lined mittens and boots pushed
the dusty snow along the ice with a whispering sigh. Like the frozen lake wanted
to tell her something.

Creak.

It was uncanny. It sounded just like the tea cabinet hinge in her grandmother’s
apartment.

She breathed in shallowly, not moving. No creak. That tea cabinet always creaked.
She’d been fascinated by it as a child. The mother of pearl inlays in the green and
blue lacquer hinting at strange warm lands. Aramie lacquer, from the warm
shores past the Grand Betons, where the hills are round like green sheep.

She breathed out. Focus. The ice should hold. Winterwhite’s flowers had visited
the window panes five days ago and never left. The ice should hold.

Creak.

But maybe there was a hot spring beneath that blue-black cliff on her side. Maybe
that’s why it wasn’t hung in icicles like a come-of-age-cake. Maybe warm water
welled up. Maybe it was warm enough to ruin the green tea Granna called her
gentle delight. The expensive one she never let anyone else brew. The one she
quietly cursed at whenever she steeped it too long. Count the heartbeats, she
said, count a hundred as you breathe, and it’s steeped.

A Story
 Visitor’s Book 97

Kuya counted her heartbeats as she breathed. Slowly. No creaking. She spread
herself wide as a spider, hugging the ice of the lake, then started inching just her
left hand in, towards her chest. She must look a fool. Or a tasty snack. Maybe
some wolf was watching her right now. One of the big, strange ones that ran with
the Architects’ redesign, the ones that patrolled the preserves and kept people
out. No, that was nonsense. She was nowhere near the nearest preserve. She’d
struck out south-west from the bivouac, across the high field towards the
Riblinza valley. She’d kept the crinkled white peak of the Riblingberg at her right.

Still. Her heartbeat picked up again. No, no. She turned her head, the ice chilling
her left cheek. A bit further back. Yes, there it was, just peeking above the grey
tablecloth of cloud, like wadded up pages torn from a snow-white notebook. She
breathed slowly again. Ok, she wasn’t near a preserve.

She started inching her hand inwards again. Lapel. Cap string. Iceberry pin.
Backpack strap. There!

Creak.

Her breath stalled. If she fell through the ice here she’d drown. Her body would
scream as the cold bit, the water in her mouth and nose, throat and lungs and gut,
like a flood of liquid fire, making her thrash and flail for air, for oxygen, for life.
The lack of air would shut her awareness down. Eventually. With this cold, it
might take five minutes. Ten? An eternity of fire and then an eternity of silence.
The oldfolk said a winter’s death wasn’t so bad. The pain of the cold lifted, a deep
weariness came, and then sleep. There was gentle sleep at the end. But a water
death, that was bad. The Waterdrinker was not gentle with mortals’ souls.

Kuya realized she wasn’t breathing and gulped frigid air again.

Creak.

There wasn’t time for this, she had to scuttle across this damned lake. Backpack
strap. Clasp. Ice axe. Strap. Buckle clasp. Tug. No, the mittens. She needed fingers
for this. She shifted more weight onto her hand, pinning hand and mitten. Slowly
she withdrew her hand from the warm fur. Immediately the bitter cold went to
work. Soon her fingertips would be on fire, but she had enough time.

Buckle clasp. Metal. Fingers sticking. One release. The second. Press. Stuck. Clear
the strap out of the way. Ah, that cold steel burned. Press both releases.

Click.

A Story
98 Longwinter

Now the belt clasp. Down. Scraping knuckles on ice, not feeling the cuts, just the
ice water. Or ice blood. Too cold. Button. Backpack belt. The big clasp.

Click.

Quick, back in the mitten. Kuya breathed quietly for a while then shuffled to her
left. A handspan. Two. Pressing down her right arm on the right shoulder strap,
she inched out from under her backpack, crawling out like a hermit crab
abandoning its house.

With a clatter of poles and axes and carabiners, her backpack rolled off onto its
side. Ten kilos more spread out.

Kuya looked up. She was nearly across the kidney-shaped lake. To her left, the
blue-black cliff, to her right the gentle, welcoming slope. The lying slope. The one
that promised avalanches. A hundred metres to the nearest shore, but that was
close to the cliffs.

First, she’d crawl back five, ten metres, then strike out for the middle of the little
beach. There, under the two boulders, the skinny and the fat one.

She pushed the backpack. A foot. Inching like a worm, or maybe a crippled
crocodile, she crawled up behind it. Pushed again.

Creak.

Nothing to do now. Count your breaths. Wait for the tea to steep. Wait for the ice
to thicken. Push, crawl, push, crawl. Ten pushes, three metres. Thirty, ten.

The ice had been solid here. Kuya carefully raised herself on hands and knees, the
ice stopped bleeding heat from her belly. No creaking.

Now she could push the backpack half a metre and crawl faster. A hundred and
fifty metres to go. Three hundred more pushes, three hundred more crawls. Too
much for tea, unless Granna had trapped her for the full ‘ceremony’. No creaking
from the Aramie lacquer ice tea box lake. Six hundred. Enough to steep the fine
green tea six times.

“Do you taste the difference? The melody of the tea, from the first pour to the
last? Ah, it’s the little things,” her Granna nodded. She’d nodded along and only
tasted water from the third cup onwards.

A Story
 Visitor’s Book 99

Fourth cup. Seventy metres to go. She could almost taste the solid ground. The
sweet density of rock.

Fifth cup. Forty to go. She wept. The ice whispered underfoot. The air hinted at
more snow. The boulders beckoned.

Sixth cup. Ten metres to go. Yes. There was a taste. There was a melody. Ice and
lake now had a different timbre. The crunch as she pushed the backpack was
deeper. The vibrations under her mittens and knees weaker.

Five metres to go. Nearly there. Ice all crumpled at the shore. Floes pushed up.
There had been an avalanche. That lying hillside, she’d known it.

Two metres to go. She was going to make it!

One metre to go.

Snap.

The backpack broke through a thin, upraised sheet and thumped down a
handspan to the rime-coated pebbles beneath.

Kuya sobbed and giggled as she stood on shaky legs again.

Crack. Crunch.

She dragged the backpack away from the ice and bit her mitten to stifle a whoop.

A Story
100 Longwinter

Appendix:
Music of Longwinter
A curated selection of songs to capture the slide from light into darkness,
from harvest to hunger.

Agalloch. Falling Snow; Ashes Against Alt:01 (2016). Minimalism hides

the Grain (2006). Fade away. messages in the falling frost.

Ángel Ontalva & Vespero. Her eyes Devin Townsend. Juular;

sparkled in a strange way; SADA Deconstruction (2011).
(2020). Opening. It’s cold inside the worm.

Antonio Vivaldi. Winter; The Four Ennio Morricone. Complete Album;

Seasons (1725). The Thing OST (1982).
A classic, in all senses of the word. Something about the ice and snow.

Bijelo Dugme. Hajdemo u planine; Ghost. Rats; Prequelle (2018).

Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo In times of turmoil.
(1986).
Going to the mountains because Grand Magus. Hammer of the North;
there is no winter there. Sure. Hammer of the North (2010).
This list would be dull without a bit
Billy Idol. White Wedding, self-titled of epic viking doom.
album (1982). It’s a nice day to start
again. Iced Earth. I Died For You; The Dark
Saga (1996).
Black Sabbath. Fairies Wear Boots; Something about sacrifice and death
Paranoid (1970). and mistakes? Well, why not? Was
Fairies? Yes, fairies. Scary fairies. the pain just too much?

Cage the Elephant. Cold Cold Cold; If These Trees Could Talk. Iron Glacier;
Tell Me I'm Pretty (2017). The Bones of a Dying World (2016).
Ominous post-rock for ominous
Carbon Based Lifeforms. Mechanism, times.

Appendix
 Visitor’s Book 101

Jim Reeves. The Blizzard; Tall Tales Tchaikovsky. November; The Seasons
and Short Tempers (1961). (1875).
Encapsulates Longwinter. Autumn, our poor garden is all
falling down, the yellowed leaves are
Joe Satriani. Ice 9; Surfing With the flying in the wind.
Alien (1987).
Intense riffage and the name. Blunt. The Unseen Guest. Let Me In; Out
There (2004)
Kate Bush. Under Ice; Hounds of Love A terrifying song.
(1985). Something moving under
the ice. Van der Graaf Generator. White
Hammer; The Least We Can Do Is
Led Zeppelin. Immigrant Song; Led Wave To Each Other (1970).
Zeppelin III (1970). Well, this could have gone for
Of course a song that starts with “We Witchburner, too.
come from the land of ice and snow”
has to go on this list. Vangelis. Other Side of Antarctica;
Antarctica (1983).
The Mamas & the Papas. California Instrumental.
Dreamin’, A Gathering of Flowers
(1970). All the leaves are brown. Witchcraft. Firewood; album (2005).
Have to include Witchcraft, because
Mephistopheles. Devotional Doom; of Witchburner.
album (2017).
Woods of Ypres. Lightning & Snow;
Simon & Garfunkel. A Hazy Shade of Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light
Winter; Bookends (1968). (2012). In memory of one of the
Because it weeps. finer metal bands that have gone.

Stoned Jesus. I Am The Mountain;

Seven Thunders Roar (2012).
Because it is excellent.

Stribog. Morana; U Okovima

Vječnosti (2010).
In the realms of ice she disappears.

The Sword. Age of Winters; album

(2006).
Slower and noisier than you would
expect of The Sword.

Appendix
102 Longwinter

Verdek and Ivan Greencorner discover the Childrens’ Cave.

 Visitor’s Book 103

“I did not mean this to happen,” wept the Baron.

“Ah, but we’ve made it through. And at least, now we’re free.”

“I don’t know if I can live like this.”

“Take all the time you need, I will keep your lands safe for you in the meantime.”

“Thank you, Mira, you are the kindest vizier a baron could hope for.”

Fin.
104 Longwinter

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