Forged in Blood and Snow
To outsiders¸ Jonatela is a grim land¸ its castles forbidding¸ the life of its people harsh and lacking in luxury. But this is an illusion; the Jonatings are as passionate a people now as they always were¸ fond of song and dance¸ living every moment to its fullest potential. In this lies the strength of its warriors¸ the practicality of its wizards¸ and even the determination of its peasants.
For every Jonating¸ no matter their station¸ knows that the world is harsh and unforgiving. Struggle is a fact of life¸ and those that submit fall by the wayside and are lost. Battle is commonplace¸ and pestilence and famine always wait in the wings¸ ready to sow their own discord.
Much of Jonatela remains untamed. Its forests are dark and haunted¸ the southern hills desolate and home only to monsters. Evil spirits seek to kill the unwary¸ demons wait to seduce the weak into wrongdoing. Even the winters are deathly cold¸ fit only for the werewolves that howl in the snowy wastes.
This is a land of peril and dark passions. A land forged in blood and snow.
Written for HeroQuest¸ Forged in Blood and Snow is a follow up to The Book of Glorious Joy¸ expanding that non-canonical view of the Gloranthan West to the Kingdom of Jonatela. Note that it was written before the Argan Argar Atlas and thus maps and locations may differ from those in that and later official publications.