Dwelling high, high in the snowiest and most frigid of mountains, lives a playful ice spirit known as Tinka. It is said that she came into existence on the night of the winter solstice, when the last rays of the sun met the season's first blizzard.
Though she lives alone, for her realm is far too cold for most creatures, she frequently descends upon human villages during winter festivals to delight the inhabitants with her icy powers: creating beautiful frost patterns with the touch of a delicate finger, creating flurries on a whim, and controlling the winter gale to swirl the snow into a dance.
For most of her existence, Tinka was happy to be a solitary creature, the snow and ice her sole companions. Yet one winter fest, as she descended into a small, poor village, she fell in love with a handsome young artisan, maker of glass baubles and ornaments. For once in her many ages of existence, Tinka began to long to be human, to truly live among the villagers and share in their joys and troubles. And so, she made a wish upon the moon's rays to be human, if only for a day.
For a short while, all was well, and Tinka was happy. Yet her wandering heart was always called to the mountains, to the blizzards and flurries that had been a part of her for so long. She missed sharing her wondrous powers with the world, and seeing the delight on the faces of children and adults alike when she performed some new trick or feat. The glassmaker knew that Tinka could never be truly happy so far from her realm, so he made her a gift: a globe of finest glass to remember him by, which she infused with her magic and began carrying with her in all of her travels.
And so, Tinka returned to her previous form, making her way back to the icy realm she called home. Though she missed her love, and visited him at every chance, she soon realized that she was happy, sharing her joy and magic with all those around.

Leneve was gifted with the ability to speak to animals since birth. She greatly cherished her gift, appreciating the extra help that she would get from the critters. However, after the rest of her village slowly began to find out about her power, she was detained and cursed, her mouth being stitched up to prevent her from speaking ever again. She ran away from her home in tears, and with no other place to go, she headed north.

After a tough journey, she finally settled on the outskirts of a small town, where she remained isolated for years. The more time that she spent with herself, the more her body began to morph and change. It was difficult to spend time alone, though she learned that her powers weren't completely shut down. During the nights of summer, she tried to teach herself how to swim, and it found to be extremely successful. She quickly noticed, though, she could still communicate with the marine life through echolocation.

She continued to swim with the marine life for the next months, forming a strong bond until winter came. During winter, she continued to hide out, though she did sometimes go on swims. Once, while out swimming, she noticed a ship stranded in the icy waters. She used her special ability to help assist the sinking ship, asking the marine life to help push them back to shore. Though, before the people on ship could thank her, Leneve quickly left.

Leneve is now regarded in the northern town as a legend. Each time that she notices a traveler in the winter, she does her best to assist them, caring not to be remembered as a hero, but simply that the people around her are safe.

Chioni was living in a small remote hamlet near a forest up north, that lead up to a part of the mountain range that was near. As winter comes, the mountain peaks become draped in snow first, and eventually lots of it would fall around the village.

Given that her hamlet was this small, no other children were her age. But she longed for a friend, and as kids do, they make up an imaginary one. And so she would often play with her friend in the woods, which she imagined as wolf, and named her Sotiras.

As Chioni grew older, she visited the forests less, forgetting about Sotiras, and turning to responsibilities such as getting food on the table for herself and her family. Yet somehow she could never shake the feeling of being watched, being hunted. When she would turn around, she could swear she could see the specter of a wolf, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

So she learned to hunt, to eventually catch what was chasing her. Chioni's playtime in the forest, and the knowledge taught to her by her senior hunters contributed to her excelling at her profession. But the wolf still eluded her. Worse yet, the specter became more frequent, and she could swear she would hear a howl at night, waking her, only for nobody else to notice it.

One dark winter day, during one of her hunts, she stalked a deer, only for it to be startled by a loud rumble coming from the mountains. Chioni looks up, the barren trees leaving enough room for her to see a giant avalanche coming for the forest, and even the hamlet. She stormed away, aiming for safety, seeing the waves of snow crashing against the trees, unearthing them, and relentlessly directed for her village.

Suddenly, she saw a glowing specter of a wolf, running ahead of her, and she understood her without words: hunt me.

Chioni followed. Bow drawn, she sprinted after the wolf, that she soon realised is showing her a safe path to escape the avalanche, and when things quieted down, she aimed her arrow, and shot the wolf in the heart. Memories come rushing back, as the specter disappears. Sotiras reappeared next to her, and nudged towards her hamlet.

The village was buried in snow, yet a lot of the buildings still stood. She saw lots of people shouting, searching for their loved ones. Swiftly, she joins their pursuit, her hunting skills helping to locate buried people. And for those she could not find by herself, Sotiras gave hints.

Miraculously, nobody got severely injured or left buried for too long, thanks to the help of Chioni and Sotiras. The hamlet praised Chioni's deeds and called her a heroine, though she becomes quite bashful when they do.

And while still nobody but Chioni could see Sotiras, she knows that in reality, there are two heroines.

The Spirit of Hania



The girl had always dedicated herself to helping others. From the time she was a child, she found it important to give others comfort in their time of need. Whether it be something as simple as telling another girl whom she had seen crying because she was told she wasn't pretty enough, that she thought she looked beautiful, or giving a shivering boy her jacket, she did it, showing no hesitation.

When Hania grew older, she decided that she wanted to help those who put their lives on the line. She worked tending to many types of injuries. When she wasn't attending to said injuries, she would dedicate her time to sitting with her wounded patients, reading to them, singing to them, and doing whatever she could to keep their spirits up despite the grim situation.

She became known as the Healing Hero.

One day though, she was sent out to help a group of wounded, and fighting was still going on in the parts she had to pass through.
It was dangerous, deadly even, but if there was any hope of helping the group of wounded, she and the others sent out had to push through.
And Hania was determined to make her way through and help, even if it cost her life. And sadly, it did.

One would have thought that would be the end of her story, but it was not. Hania's spirit still lingered, not because she was unhappy with the life she had lived, but because she wished to still do more to help others.

She found that spirits could change forms, oftentimes into animals.

She also found that winter was a dreadfully lonely time of year, especially for a family or friend experiencing loss.
Trying to celebrate the Winter holidays felt near impossible when pain and many why questions lingered in a mourning mind.

Putting these two thoughts together, she came up with a plan, one that she hoped would help bring closure to the spirits she encountered, as well as help with the grief of those experiencing loss.

Every winter, the spirits she knew who were not at peace, would take the forms of winter animals or house pets. And with her guidance, she would take these spirits to visit their loved ones.
The spirits would lay in the beds of their grieving family members, sit in their laps, and more, listening to their mourning families express how they felt.
This allowed the family members or friends who were hurting, to once more talk to the person they missed so dearly. They may not realize that the little animal that had suddenly joined them was their loved one, but there was no mistaking the familiar warmth.
The spirits themselves were given their own closure by helping console their loved ones. They knew that by the end of the Winter, they could move on, knowing now that while the pain of loss still lingered, their loved one had closure and would eventually be okay.
The pain of loss would always be there, but it could lessen over time.

Hania may not be resting, but undoubtedly, her spirit is at peace.
Happy to continue to help others heal, whether it be from their untimely deaths or their grief.

To some, she's a hero. To others, she's just a legend made to cope with grief. To herself? She is Hania, and she's just doing what she always has, and always will.

There is a local legend, in the cold places of the world, that when you see a lynx with 9 tails, you know that spring and summer days will soon follow. That lynx, people say, is the spirit of the first man, who, hundreds of years ago, stole Fire from the Sun God.

In the early days, the world was dark and cold, because humans had not yet mastered fire, and could only rely on wearing animal skins so as not to die in the wintertime. Now the fire-thief was a great hunter and skilled with the bow. It is said that he wore 9 lynx pelts stitched together into a warm garment, but he kept the tails on so that they trailed behind him. One day, as he saw the Sun and her Daughter, Fire, race low across the sky in the short days of winter, he shot down the Daughter, and she fell to the earth in a ball of flame. He brought Fire, tamed, back to the people of his village, and they rejoiced.

But the Sun was greatly angered, since the man had taken what was hers, and she cursed his spirit so that it would forever wander the earth, but for his deed the people remember him as a hero and a savior, and because of the skins he wore, his spirit is that of a nine-tailed lynx. His deed also is why the people say that with him, comes the departing of the cold and the coming of the warmth of a new year.

Athalia Laurent


Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

But where were the stockings hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that Santa soon would be there?

It all started when she was just a young lass,
In which she had a magic for shaping wood and brass

The world faced turmoil, a time so grim,
Yet Athalia held a secret a power within

As shadows loomed and chaos spread wide,
She harnessed her magic to turn the tide

In a small workshop nestled deep in the snow,
She toiled away, making toys in a row

In the heart of her toys, a magic so pure,
A force that could heal, a solution to endure

The stockings she filled were not just with delight,
But with hope and courage, through the darkest night

They brought joy and laughter to hearts so cold,
Turning chaos to harmony, as the story's told

Denali


Do you ever wonder about the magic surrounding the northern lights? Sure there are scientific explanations out there, but some say those are just a coverup of the truth. There is a legend that when all creatures pass on from this world, their souls are depicted within the lights of the aurora borealis. Denali, a spirit that often appears as a polar faun, is said to be the usher of those souls during the transition from their earthy bodies to the heavenly skies above. Without his guidance, their souls could be lost forever to wander the frigid landscape. Denali also serves as their protector, keeping them safe from other beings who might wish to harm or capture the vulnerable spirits, earning him a place in the halls of heroes. In the scene above, Denali is ushering the spirit of a griffi to the rest of its ancestors amongst the beautiful norther lights.

Viona
(Vee-yo-nuh)


Viona's name describes how she comes to exist. This name meaning both "alive" and "white" is symbolic for how she comes alive every winter as the first snowflake touches down on Earth and a white winter is assured. Viona, the inquisitive and mischievous sprite she is, has always taken a special interest in involving herself in the matters of humans, particularly their romances, hence the mistletoe she adorns as a gown and atop her head as a crown.

While she usually tips the scales and tries to aid humans in their endeavors, this special interest however can have dire effects instead. While she is most often kind natured and desires nothing but happiness for the humans whose romantic affairs she meddles in, she also possesses the emotional maturity of a spriteling having just been born not long ago. This causes her emotions to be much more volatile, and that in turn can lead her to take out her frustration on the relationships of humans if caught in a foul mood.

Much like a phoenix Viona is reborn over and over, her youth returning each time she rises again, however the lifespan of her solid form is short as she melts to liquid like winter snow as temperatures grow warmer, only to rise again next year. However tragic this may seem, it isn't something to be sad about. Viona doesn't simply stop existing as soon as winter ends, she melts down, remaining in the world as the water consumed by the creatures of the planet, offering her power to aid in sustaining life until her time comes to rise again in all her fairy-like glory come winter

Her powers create the nourishment for the existence of life in winter and when reborn, "miracles" occur time and time again as Viona saves humans from potential tragedy. Many times she's stopped disasters before they could even happen as she uses her strength to put a halt to avalanches, lakes of ice caving in underfoot, as well as using her ability to retain heat in the cold to stave of hypothermia and many other forms of sickness brought on by the chilling air. While not all powerful, her interest in humans has led her to saving those in need time and time again.

But as mentioned, she is also immensely immature due to her eternal youth, and power doesn't mix well with a lack of maturity as she can use her abilities quite recklessly at times. Similarly, she doesn't fully understand humans so some of her attempts to help are made in vain. It's actually happened more than once where she saw a human screaming and yelling while enjoying a sled ride and mistakenly assumed they were in danger. Despite this, her heart is in the right place and she's saved the lives of many all while sustaining the life force surrounding the frigid season.

(The handheld item is a representation of how Viona appears as she is first reborn while the avatar itself is the final form she takes as she matures throughout the season.)