The tree is old, and it is hefty: its branches holding aloft a heavy burden of snow, the breeze cold and bright, with the scent of water on the air. Despite the wintry atmosphere, this tree is covered in small blossoms, neat and aglow with a rainbow of pastel colors, sparkling. The door is rimmed with light that only gets brighter when Kin pass thorugh, battered by a snow storm, and onward to Aurora North --
This is a world tailored to Light in the Night's style of living: lonely and solitairy without being sad, quiet and serene and, frequently, lit from above with the gentle glow of the Aurora Borealis. It's polar; cold always and night usually, with days lasting only a few hours a day before they fall into the semi-darkness. Not that it's ever truly dark, the sky always aglow with a distant light, pale pink and blue and green, washing the world in color.
Aurora North itself is a bustling trade post, the social center of the Realm. This is where the door lets Kin out, in human shapes, in the full range of human colors, bundled in their own furs. Each of them has their own set of skills, and is here to offer them. Some hunt; some carve; some cook or create. It is a brutal world, low technology, people who live on the land -- but this trading post is aglow with activity, lit by torches or magical lamps and the Borealis above.
The trading post never sleeps, and is never quiet. Fires go at all hours, sturdy encampments settled alongside makeshift tents, people living how they like and how they can afford. People hawk their wares huddled out of the wind and the cold, trade or sell, offering the wide range of human creativity.
Most of the people who come to Aurora North do not live there. Most come from cities several days journey away, travelling in on carts with sturdy horses or strong animals pulling them along, bundled up in furs and carrying everything they need to survive. Everything they bring they have made, from clothing to cured meat and cheeses to rich wines; from pots and pans to tools to timepieces; from jewelry to etchings to oil paintings. As the most prestigious market, all of what people bring is of the highest quality. A poor Artisan couldn't make it in the crowd, and someone with a small niche is especially prized.
Crafting Magic
And, of course, there is the magic. Not everyone in the Realm has a knack for Crafting, but most have at least some small skill. With this magic, they're able to imbue the good they make with a Light, a unique ability, which helps people to survive in this bleak and cold landscape.
Crafters have five areas of specialization, and generally they're skilled at only one:
Protection: Items imbued with this kind of magic provide their bearers with some kind of small protection, acting as an invisible shield or armor, or keeping others from attacking magically.
Harm: When imbued with harm magic, items can do damage either to people or to materials, allowing Crafters to create weapons, explosives, acids, and other kinds of hurt.
Healing: Perhaps items imbued with healing can knit wounds, drive off disease, or even help mend emotional harm.
Enhancement: Wearing items imbued with enhancement might make people stronger, faster, more alert, or able to stay awake for long periods.
Support: Support items simply have an ability unto themselves, making them useful in many situations, whether it's heat or cold, light, or other ambient uses.
All Crafted items have a subtle glow to them, a reflection of the Aurora in the sky above the Trading Post. Usage of these items dims the light, and when it goes out, they must be recharged at Aurora North to continue functioning.
Exposure to the lights above Aurora North renders this part of the world strange and wild. The woods surrounding the trading post are dangerous and strange, sometimes inhabited by beasts that are too clever for their species, or too strong, as if they themselves have been imbued with Crafting magic. Traveling to Aurora North requires a guide, someone strong who knows the area, and hunting in the woods outside the post's walls is a dangerous and specalized skill. Generally, travelers who need to venture outside of the post's walls do so with the aid of one of the Wolfbound.
The Wolfbound
Viewed as wild and strange, the magic of the Wolfbound has kept them separate from the good people of Aurora North for as long as anyone can remember. Instead of being born with the gift of Crafting, the Wolfbound grow up with a longing for the woods and the creatures that live there. At some point during their formative years, between twelve and twenty, they hear a call that pulls them from their homes. They diseappear into the woods to find their second soul, and return with a Wolf in tow.
Their familiars are their power, imbuing the Wolfbound with a strength and endurance above homan, as well as a keen sense of tracking, sharp eyes and nose, and incredible recovery. Any harm they take is split between themselves and their Wolf, going in both directions and allowing them to share and reduce their pains. They are able to communicate, if not speak; they understand each other on an instinctive level, not with language but with feelings and images. The Wolfbound can ride in their familiars' bodies when sleeping, and their Wolves can find them wherever they are.
The wildness that comes from their magic is written on their faces. Their eyes are those of their Wolves, a green or gold or startling blue that lights up from within by the glow of a fire or a lamp flashed in their face. Sometimes their canines sharpen; sometimes their nails darken, strong and sharp. The signs are small but unmistakeable, and they make the good Crrafters nervous.
The Wolfbound are a necessary evil, though, so their outsider status is limited in nature. Crafters need them for the meat they bring into Aurora North, for their skill at navigating the woods, for the ferocity of their familiars. But exposure to the Wolves makes the Wolfbound volatile and short-tempered, and so many businesses ask them not to enter, or keep them separate from other patrons. And their Wolves are almost never allowed inside, great hulking creatures stronger than the average animal...
Aurora North is a permanent structure, with heavy walls to keep the outside world at bay -- as well as cutting the biting winds that move across the land. It is made of wood and stone, a mix of permanent structures, ramshackle lean-tos, and temporary tents and enclosures, alight with life and people. There ar ea few locations that stand out.
Market Square - The permanent stalls are expensive and hard to get, so many Artisans set up their own tents along the tight streets in the Market Square, hawking their wares to all who come. It's kept as clean as it can be, always filled with the smell of cooking food and a press of lively bodies.
The Waythrough - Aurora North's vibrant saloon is a stone and wood construction three stories tall. The main floor houses the bar and kitchen, tables, a grand fireplace, meant for eating and drinking. Sometimes the tables are cleared for some lively music and dancing. Usually performers settle on a small raised stage in one corner. The second floor holds rooms for gambling and games, private events or trade shows. The top floor has quiet, clean bedrooms for -- well. Whatever you need. Sleeping. Of course.
All are welcome in Aurora North; none need an invitation, and none are rejected from its bounds without cause.
Light in the Night, called Ayla Noren in this place, takes no place of power among the people here, other than being a Wolfbound who is exceptionally well treated. People are familiar with her because she has been coming to Aurora North for so long -- trailed by a pale grey Wolf named Shadow -- that they have stopped fearing her. She is quiet and serious, but gives off a calm attitude that sets people at easy. She never raises her voice, or yells, and the more savage aspects of the Woldbound appearance haven't taken hold of her. Only her eyes, a shimmering blue that light up in the glow of a fire or the Aurora above.
[b]Kin Version:[/b] [url=link to OL][img]CERT LINK[/img]l/url]
[b]Aurora North name:[/b] Names are likely to be slightly fantasy version of Western names, but others are welcome.
[b]Aurora North appearance:[/b] What do they look like here? Skin color? eye color?
[b]Magic?[/b] Are they a Crafter or Wolfbound? Details?
[b]Other:[/b] Anything else?
