Gauntlets of the Fallen Frost

Full Item Description

The Gauntlets of Fallen Frost are impeccably crafted gloves of steel and silver, their protecton extending much of the way from the wrist to the elbow, even though they restricts the motion of the wrist. The base steel polished to perfection, they bear upon them the mark of the snowflake in silver tracing, a clear stamp as to their identity.

History

It was the fiercest winter Derok Frosthammer had ever known, surpassing even the bitter colds of the northlands. Even the Clan's elder, who claimed over seventy winters could not remember a time when the weather had gone quite so mad. The stores had long run out, and every able bodied man and son had been commanded out to the hunt and to the wood gathering by the Chief and the elder, to help stoke the fires of life.

It was as Derok trudged through the woods, the frost rimed about him that he found them, frozen solid into a small stream. And as he stared at them, those long broken bits of metal, that he knew the truth of the matter, of the source of this horrid cold. And he knew that he must take them to the Elder, to best dispose of them. Even through his thick gloves, which he wrapped in the fur of his cloak, his hands froze as he pried them from the ground, the ice settling into his blood so badly that more than one of his fingers shattered from the cold. Yet, it was a thing that must be done, and he did it.

Returning home, he took the Shards to the Elder, who looked at him, and commanded, 'They are a thing of the gods, and men cannot destroy them. But perhaps we can contain them. Take them, Frosthammer, our smith, and forge them into something else. Perhaps that will blunt their fury.'

Unhappy with what they had done to him, the smith took them to his forge, and began his labor. 'They have stolen half of my hands from me. Perhaps they can replace it.' He would make gauntlets of them, and make it clear that they came from the ice and snow. And in time, his work was finished, and he looked upon them, the Elder at his side.

At the Elder's nod, he placed the Gauntlets upon his hand, and flexed what fingers he had. To his great surprise, his hands felt whole within the gauntlets, the fingers moving as if they were his own. Amazed, he pulled them from his hands, and all the village echoed with his shock and terror. His hands were whole now, but they were ice, not flesh. And it was slowly creeping up his wrists, and beyond. By the morn he was made all of ice and snow, and no flesh remained. Snatching up the gauntlets, he ran, fleeing before those once of his clan could fear him. And come summer, he was never heard from again...

Magic/Cursed Properties

Any who don the Gauntlets of Fallen Frost are swiftly converted to a creature made all of ice and snow, however, this creature bears no protection from the heat, even from the heat of the day. Should the temperature become too great, he will slowly melt away. The Gauntlets themselves, however, thow off a chill aura, nearly enough to protect the wearer from the summer, should he keep to cool and shaded places.

Composed of not one, but two Shards of the Storm, the Gauntlets together will grant the wearer absolute control over pre-existing ice and snow for miles around, including the ability to see and feel through those materials. If he so chooses, he may even make vessels of ice and snow through which he can project his conciousness, in effect granting him extra bodies, though the typical mortal mind is not capable of inhabiting more than one body at a time - This is a function of the man, not the artifact.

While he cannot create or disperse storms, any snowfall or icefall may be manipulated in magnitude by the wearer of the gauntlets - Flurries may become monsoons of snow, or great blizzards reduced to a light crusting. Further, he knows of winter weather future and past.

Unfortunately, beneath these powers, mortal thought rarely lasts for long. The sheer vastness of snow and ice that swirls through both concious and unconcious thought overwhelms the mind in sheer detail, leaving him stunned and unable to protect himself from the coming of summer...

Further powers may manifest themselves should one master the overwhelming scope of the winter storm, and maintain the mind.