The Frozen River

The Hunt

The Icebound Expanse.

The land here is frozen and dangerous, yet it holds hidden beauty and life under it's icy shell. It's harsh snow lands become so cold that all vegetation cease to grow minus Sea plums that grow in the algae under the ice sheets of this frozen land. Yet this land also provides for the abundant wildlife that roam the ice sheets and that live in the waters beneath them. from the ice krill to the largest of whales in the waters, to the smallest Frozen Mink to the massive Polar Dragons that trek through the Snowy plains of the Expanse's Snow Bound plains and inhabit one of the islands of the Expanse.

The people of this land are master hunters, warriors, loyal, strong, and kind. When you live in the harsh environment of this frozen land unity with each other is vital for survival. People here are separated into several tribes that stretch along the Seal's Coast into several different villages most small in size mainly consisting of a Large Igloo with several tents made from Seal-Hog skins all while being surrounded by a wall made of ice and snow. Each village belongs to a different clan ranging in a population of thirty to fifty people with fewer numbers being the actual clan members. In the biggest village of The Icebound Expanse furthest from the Seal's Coast being connected by a single stream that connects it to the gulf of Seal's Coast is the village known as Iced City. Iced City has a population of a hundred and ninety to two hundred people and was led by the Wakagen Clan and their head chieftain Lady Tsuki Wakagen who took charge after the passing of her late husband. Despite being the most prominent and political figures in the Icebound Expanse The Wakagen Clan has the fewest members of all the tribes numbering in only nine members Their current chieftain Tsuki Wakagen originally came from Inazuma but she knew The Icebound Expanse's history, culture and politics very well only being a stand in until her eldest son Zak is ready to lead The Icebound Expanse.

Towards the east of the coast their is a snowy rock beach called seal's cove where different species of seals including seal-hogs rest and live as they are the closest to the water. Under the Dark night where stars and the Polar lights shined brightly; a faint crunch in the snow could barely be heard as Seal-Hogs slept soundly under the night sky with their pods as the sounds of small waves crashing into the snowy shores with Seals sleeping with their calves and the Bulls on guard looking after their pods and calves as they are easy prey for Polar dragons, Snow Wolves, Polar Leopard Bears, and Hunters. Normally the night would make it difficult for any of these to be seen however thanks to the night lights in the skies above their vision is just as good during the day. In the distance away from the shore a lone hunter was slowly and quietly making his way through the snowy plain a little off the shore line as he was after the diving holes where Several Seal-Hog Bulls goes when they get banished during the mating and breeding season.

There's a law where Hunters are not allowed to hunt Female Seals during these seasons and the Pups were off limit through out the year. So the Males were free game for the Hunters, though it'll be foolish for a hunter to attack a bull when they're in the middle of their harems because if you attack them they all attack. Inexperienced hunters should not tackle a full grown male Bull as they are plenty dangerous in their own right weighing five tons and being thirty feet long armed with a small snout that resembles a pig's snout only smaller and two tusks that goes forward like a boar, always found next to the sea as the seals are very good swimmers and in ice pockets the Bulls can use their escape holes to dive into the sea and slam through the ice to ram whatever is nearby through the ice and if that didn't work then their target would most likely fall into the water, on land wasn't much better as they were surprisingly agile on land able to slam their target with incredible force using their tusk as weapons and a bite force almost comparable to a lion's bite. This Hunter was by no means inexperienced the way he stalked through the snow only making a faint crunch sound with a spear in hand as a mile back was a transport sleigh he was dragging carefully just for this hunt.