High in the Mountains of Vyrmont sits Velmora’s Reach, a small but prosperous settlement built around an ancient mountain road connecting the lowlands to the northern valleys.
Most of the year, merchants, hunters, couriers, mercenaries, and wandering adventurers pass through its gates. But every autumn, as the days shorten and frost begins appearing along the highest peaks, the town prepares for The Closing — the final weeks before the mountain passes become too dangerous to travel.
This is when Velmora’s Reach is at its liveliest.
Taverns overflow. Merchants desperately sell their remaining stock. Caravans race against the weather. Hunters bring in their final game of the season. Travelers who waited too long scramble to secure passage south.
For generations, locals have celebrated the last gathering before winter with a night called Velvet & Valor — an evening of food, drink, stories, wagers, music, and tales of heroic deeds before the mountain roads close.
But this year, something is wrong.
The first frost has arrived too early.
Not in the valleys.
Not on the roads.
Only on the ancient peaks above Velmora’s Reach.
And each morning, the frost creeps a little farther down the mountain.