Frostmark

Frostmark is a fictional coastal city in the northern archipelago of Valenor, celebrated for its glassmaking and the annual ice-trade season. Its harbor sits at the mouth of the Silverfjord, where winter freezes create a temporary market and a distinctive blue-white light along the water.

The name Frostmark blends frost with mark, signaling a boundary or boundary marker that historically defined trading routes and seasonal borders. The city is ringed by frost-sculpted cliffs and stands inland from a network of evergreen forests and snow-kissed hills. Its geography favors long sea voyages in summer and safe overland routes when the ice thickens.

Historically, Frostmark was founded by the Winterfellow guild in the early medieval era as a trading nexus between inland miners and coastal clans. A defining event, the Great Freeze, reorganized civic life and reinforced the alliance between artisans, mariners, and guild authorities. The city’s development relied on the ability to work with ice for preservation, transport, and artistry.

Economy and culture center on glassware, timber, seal-fishing, and salted fish. The Frostmarket is renowned for wares formed under winter light and ice-cut patterns that carry symbolic meaning. Winter festivals, guild ceremonies, and a tradition of apprenticeship for glassblowers define daily life, with a civic charter that emphasizes communal resilience during harsh seasons.

Governance rests with a seven-member Council of Elders. Notable landmarks include Frostgate, the Ice Mirror—a frozen lake used as a natural amphitheater—The Foundry of Echoes, and the Chapel of Snow. The city hosts a mix of residents and visiting traders, and Frostmark appears in fantasy literature and role-playing settings as a symbol of northern craft and endurance.