Firn & Sons

The land

Flat ground under the ice sheet, 3041 m up; far from any sea; frost the year round.

Cover

the ice sheet

Elevation

3041 m

Relief

flat ground

The sea

far from any sea

Climate

frost the year round

The patch

about 1.85 km north to south and 0.56 km across; 1,853 m north to south, 562 m east to west, 1.04 km²

Centre

72.3417°S 102.7750°E

What the land offers a builder

Of this land: ice, snow, hide, bone, cloth, rope, fire. The land allows: ground, carved, ice.

Now

Wind and bitter here, 10:34 local, late spring, the sun does not set today.

The wild

Little that shows this month.

The lay of the land

• The grass meadow (meadow): a bright sward of tall grass damp with morning dew
• The wide floe (floe): a broad table of thick ice riding low on the cold swell

What stands here

THE SNOW HOUSE — on the grass meadow. House-sized, about 6 m. Ice, snow, bone. On the ground.
"A low dome of ice blocks with a sunken wind-tunnel entrance and a central lamp hearth"
A roof of snow atop the top: pitched low to shed rain and heavy gusts. A hearth of bone inside the centre: set with flat stones to hold the embers through the night. A doorway of ice facing the south: fitted with a heavy latch on the leeward side. A storage rack of ice along the north side, hung with dry provisions, cordage, and spare gear.
Of this land: ice, snow, bone.

THE WAY SHRINE — beside the wide floe. Small, about 4 m. Ice, rope, bronze. On the ground.
"A quiet ice enclosure with a carved post and a sheltered offering shelf"
An altar stone of ice inside the centre: worn smooth by salt air and rain. A lantern hook of bronze at the front: lit at dusk when travellers are abroad.
Of this land: ice, rope. Carried here: bronze.

The story, as oswin tells it

Of the place

• Windward Firn was laid out by Oswin Mercer, who marked the grass meadow first and set the snow house to face out of the prevailing weather.

Of the people

• They keep a dry stack of fuel beside the snow house and share the first meal at the hearth with any traveller who crosses the grass meadow. (heard when a people lives here)
• Before winter sets in they check the lashings and stones of the way shrine and sing the names of the first four who came. (heard when a people lives here)

The people

THE PEOPLE OF FIRN & SONS — ice hunters and hunters, wandering, in bands.
No given names; each is known by what they do. They hold the sky sacred.
They keep: silence in the long night; shared catch; the long migration.
They like clear, ice, and snow. They dislike heat and fog. Closed to strangers.
Their words: hearth tiaatangquu, river or sea ruumaa, winter or the rains maantii, the dead niiluungtang, home muatimuv, stranger niiamuum, feast nguakisiia, child liiaakaang, old one kuuiimang, the place Kaavang, the beast minqiuu, the sky riivaatuun.
Founders: four. Lore: 2 lines.

Ways

ice hunting, hunting

Settlement

wandering

Kinship

bands

Marriage

either

Naming

by role

To strangers

closed

They hold sacred

the sky

They keep

silence in the long night; shared catch; the long migration

They like

clear, ice and snow

They dislike

heat and fog

Founders

4

Counted

4 named folk, a household of 0, 0 born here, 0 died here

Founded

6 November 2026

Their words

hearth tiaatangquu, river or sea ruumaa, winter or the rains maantii, the dead niiluungtang, home muatimuv, stranger niiamuum, feast nguakisiia, child liiaakaang, old one kuuiimang, the place Kaavang, the beast minqiuu, the sky riivaatuun.

Their lore

• They keep a dry stack of fuel beside the snow house and share the first meal at the hearth with any traveller who crosses the grass meadow.
• Before winter sets in they check the lashings and stones of the way shrine and sing the names of the first four who came.

Named folk

The chronicle

Every line is a record the land wrote; the names in quotes are the owner's words. What the chronicle does not say did not happen.

Year 1

The annals: 1 founders; 1 people founded; 2 tracks; 1 ways changed.

• Late spring, the first year of Firn & Sons: the arctic fox left a line of prints over the wide floe.
• Late spring, the first year of Firn & Sons: the ways of the people changed: name. kept
• Late spring, the first year of Windward Firn: arctic fox tracks across the wide floe.
• Late spring, the first year of Windward Firn: four came to Windward Firn and lit the hearth. The net-mender, the fire-keeper, the keeper of the shrine, the lamp-lighter. kept
• Late spring, the first year of Windward Firn: Oswin Mercer called a people to Windward Firn: the people of Windward Firn. kept

Here now

the net-mender (folk) · the fire-keeper (folk) · the keeper of the shrine (folk) · the lamp-lighter (folk)