Villa

- - - - - WYRMFROST VILLA- Revenant of the Land link / more link / yes - - - - Icewarden Ice Sculpture Trinkets A fragile ice carving designed to look like the Icewarden. It holds an aura of spine-tingling cold about it. 105 - - - - ▢ WARNING - Total ??! Corruption Detected Unlike most revenants, who take on the form of lost souls unable to move on, Villa was never alive. It is, instead, the Land. The manifestation of the Wyrmfrost itself, stalking the streets of its ruined city. Not even Villa knows if it is truly alive, having simply existed as long as its city has. Glitterfreeze Halo Apparel Encircling the head, this halo of dazzling ice crystals is the magical sign of a powerful individual. (Crystalline Gala 2019 Holiday Item) 0 - - - ▢ The Living City The shimmering revenant before you was never alive. It has been following you for some time now, touching the corners of your vision as you wandered the labyrinthine halls of this icy prison. It's face is rotten, skin barely hanging on to the bones beneath. The Wyrmfrost come to life, reaching towards you with pale and bloody claws. It was beautiful once. You can see that in the shimmer of its decrepit scales, the halo hung around its head. You can imagine it vivid and golden, draped in the jewels and wealth lost in the Villa's wastes. Drained of colour and joy, the revenant before you is a husk, just as its home is. You've heard stories of the Wyrmfrost Villa. You've heard stories of the Vault Beneath. We all have. The legend. The curses. Some foolishness about it lying in the middle of a City of the Damned. A city of ghosts. Buried beneath a blistering elemental corruption... a bright, shining monument luring treasure hunters to their doom. An illusion that you can begin again, change your fortunes. Finding it, though, that's not the hard part. It's letting go.

FAMILIAR ... CURIOUS ... LOUD ...

I. The Founding of the Villa The Wyrmfrost Villa, the Wyrmfrost Resort, and the Vault Below were designed and built by one dragon, Finclair Yesteryear, in what would come to be his greatest and final business venture. The Wyrmfrost Villa, especially the resort, was intended as a place for the wealthiest and most paranoid of dragons to enjoy themselves blindly and to protect their treasure for all eternity. It was purposefully built in a reclusive, difficult to access area so that only the most dedicated would find their way to it. All conveniences were supplied to its inhabitants by Beastclan staff, allowing the residents to live in relative self-sufficiency even when cut off from the outside world, while still incidentally relying on the Wyrmfrost to provide. The goal of the entire enterprise wasn't just to create the perfect vault - it was to create the perfect shelter for the dragons themselves. Every element of the Wyrmfrost Villa was designed to protect its inhabitants from outsiders. As guardian of his paradise, Yesteryear forbade any food or similar items beyond the ones that he'd chosen, and banned his workers from any personal contraband items like alcohol, non-essential items, and anything she deemed a "foreign substance". There was a substantial black market amongst the staff for this reason. The Wyrmfrost Militia contained the only draconic staff, and part of their role was to prevent such contraband from entering the Villa. Of course, they often indulged in the contraband themselves after conviscating it. Obsessed with security, Yesteryear's militia was stationed on just about every corner of the Villa, and was rife throughout the resort proper. The resorts doors were designed to hermetically seal in case of emergency, and its walls were shielded to prevent vandalism. Inside, the Wyrmfrost Resort was equipped with an automated front desk system, and a magical security system that would stun those entering with foreign substances. For many years, the Wyrmfrost Villa functioned exactly as designed. It was truly one of the safest places in all Sorneith to keep one's treasures, regardless of the sheer number of paranoid dragons that ended up flocking to the Villa. The resort provided much beloved entertainment, while the Vault Below sat far beneath its foundations. Dragons of all elements and breeds lived within the Villa, served by kin of all the Beastclans. II. The Seeping Corruption The Vault Below was, in theory, one of the most structurally sound buildings on all Sorneith. No dragon could pass in or out without Yesteryear's say so. What he didn't account for, however, was the dangers that came from keeping such powerful and rare treasures in such close proximity. The Vault Below was designed to keep physical objects within it; not to keep elemental corruption from seeping out. Few noticed when the corruption first began to spread amongst the Villa. There was a slow uptick in violent actions, which the Wyrmfrost Militia put a stop to with trained ease. Then members of the militia began to rampage through the streets, only able to be stopped by numerous other militia members, as they had become more powerful in some way. Their eyes bled with colourful magic, and the Wyrmfrost Villa's medical team had a sudden influx of sick and violent individuals in their clinics. During this time, Yesteryear rampantly upped the Wyrmfrost's security, particularly in and around the resort that led to the Vault Below. He installed numerous experimental robotics imported from the Lightning Flight, as well as experimental magical security measures from the Arcane Flight. Little did he realise this only contributed to the dangerous levels of elemental magic present in the villa. III. The Collapse of the Wyrmfrost Everything came to an end on the first day of Winter, for this was the day that corruption had finally infested the Villa's water supply. Exceptionally quickly, the dragons of the Wyrmfrost became overwhelmed by elemental corruption, and began tearing each other to shreds. Each empowered by elemental magic far beyond what they could normally control, the battle ravaged for days upon end as corpses pilled up in the streets. It is unclear whether Yesteryear was corrupted or not. After all, some dragons did come to realise that the poison was in the water, and abstained from drinking. What is clear is that Yesteryear locked down the Wyrmfrost Resort, sealing its doors regardless of those outside crying for sanctuary. Whether or not he still lives behind the hermetic seal is a mystery to all but the Villa's revenants, who are not inclined to tell. Now, the ruins of the once proud Wyrmfrost Villa and Resort have been overrun by scavengers - dragons and beastfolk alike desperately seeking the treasures of the Vault Below, with little regard for the elemental corruption slowly gnawing away and their bodies and souls.

Beyond Civilization
The Wyrmfrost Villa & Resort is located on the boundary of the Cloudscape Crags and the Fortress of Ends, nestled between a series of large mountains. A broken and jagged road is its only entrance, twisting around the sullen ridges, well worn with the footsteps of those that came before and those that will come to pass. It was specifically placed as far from draconic civilization as possible, to better isolate and prey upon its paranoid and wealthy guests.

The Wyrmfrost Villa was the private city of the guests, employees, and workers of Finclair Yesteryear, situated just before the resort and the Vault Below. The streets were said to be paved with literal gold, though the lustre has certainly been dulled by the years of neglect and the pints of blood spilled upon them.

In the time leading up to the Collapse of the Wyrmfrost, as Yesteryear became more and more paranoid, the villa was increasingly pushed to the side in favour of reinforcing the resort and the Vault Below. It's infrastructure began to fail without constant upkeep, as it had clearly been built with design over function. Buildings and structures were becoming unstable and could collapse overnight. The villa's construction crews suffered numerous setbacks and accidents, which Yesteryear brushed off by destroying medical reports, shipment notices, and other such documentation.

Now, the villa is a desolate, ruined town with much of its infrastructure crumbling. Power in the villa still seems to be active, but as this is likely a result of lightning corruption, that's not necessarily a good thing.

The Chapel of the Eleven Once dedicated to the worship of the Eleven, the chapel has been ravaged by the Cult of the Permafrost. The building is littered with ruined shrines, the faces of false idols scratched out, ashes scattered across the floor from the burning of flags. Chains have been hung across the roof, from which icicles grow. The Chapel of the Eleven is now home only to worship of the Icewarden. His visage has been carved into the front of the building, a glistening frozen statue in his honour. The pale stone it was constructed from has been decorated with runes; enchantments forcing non-Ice dragons to stay away. Once beautiful stained-glass windows have been melted down so that the faces of false gods cannot be seen, leaving only those of the Icewarden intact.

A pious figure stands at the head of the chapel, delivering a vile speech to the sound of applause. Besides him stands a silent and cruel figure, fungi growing from her body as though she were already dead.

At the heart of it all is a grand ritual space, formed from the stone altar designed by Yesteryear himself, and from a number of ice bound "improvements" made by the High Priest. Here, sacrifices are made to the Icewarden. Here, zealous speeches are given claiming that the Vault Below will one day sit within his claws.

No Entry Beyond This Point
You stand before the Wyrmfrost Resort at the revenant's side. It gestures vaguely in the direction of the doors, and then shrugs. You remember it mentioning that the doors were sealed by Yesteryear, and that entrance is now all but impossible. Having met some of the local treasure hunters, however, you suspect that it is only a matter of time before someone finds a way in.

The Wyrmfrost Resort and the Vault Below is the material testament to the draconic inability to let go. Yesteryear fed relentlessly on the paranoia of his guests, burying their treasures deep within a nearly impenetrable vault that no one but he could get in or out of. Accordingly, security was of the utmost importance, and Yesteryear contracted dragons from all the elemental flights to provide it.

Above the sealed gateway to the resort sit sensors that detect foreign and unauthorized items, constantly buzzing as they sense the elemental corruption in the air - it is particularly thick around the resort. There are many more within, creating a constant humming sound that is disquieting to say the least. The entire resort is lined with a thick metal that seems to repel any attempt to scry what sits within, arcane or otherwise.

There is a lobby within, and a casino, a restaurant, a theatre; executive suites featuring beautiful views, and less executive suites that are still pretty nice. All this and more is advertised on the signs hung about the outside of the building, the beautiful images faded from time and petty vandalism.

And beneath all of that is the Vault Below. Festering with elemental corruption, and containing some of the most powerful relics dragonkind ever held within its claws. Who knows what they have become under the stress of the radiation spewing from the vault.

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