"Beyond the Wall the monsters live, the giants and the ghouls, the stalking shadows and the dead that walk... but they cannot pass so long as the Wall stands strong and the men of the Night's Watch are true"
A largely niveous expanse of untamed frost-bound ambiance, 'Beyond The Wall' is a gargantuan geographical mass in the Westeros continent, situated north of the Wall. A primarily unexplored territory of difficult, hazardous topography, the immediate northern region beyond the Wall consists of a virtually boundless forest christened 'The Haunted Forest' by the brothers of the Night's Watch (a military collective tasked with holding the Wall). Native constituents of the Haunted Forest known as the Free-Folk, commonly referred to as Wildings by those of Seven Kingdoms, view those adhering to civility as absent of true freedom due to their willing subjection to law-issuing monarchies, terming them 'kneelers' whereas they believe themselves to be beyond the reproach of civilization's restrictions.
The Haunted Forest extends from the easternmost coast to an elephantine mountainous chain lying west, identified as the Frostfangs. A mountain range of unforgiving cold, undomesticated mounts of abundant ice and stone, the Frostfangs boast monstrous environmental cruelty, such that no free-folk dare set foot there during winter. Lying southwest of the Frostfangs, a narrow strip of topography settled between the populous mountains and the Frozen Shore. The easternmost region beyond the Wall unveils a florally evident peninsula, Storrold's Point, home to the weathered ruins of the solely documented free fold city, Hardhome. And beyond all aforementioned areas, is what has come to be termed 'The Land of Always Winter". The geographical heart of winter, it remains an unmapped, untouched region of ceaseless cold and a wintry abyss, the rumored domain from which the White Walkers or Others originate.
Inhabitants
- Free-Folk/Wildings: Deridingly referred to as 'wildings' by those of the Seven Kingdoms, the free folk are humans inhabiting the region beyond the Wall. Recognizing no political authority and rejecting the notion of ownership of land, the free folk adhere to what they refer to as 'true freedom', that which they believe cannot be comprehended by the civilization behind the Wall. Culturally diverse, and split into numerous clans, tribes, villages, raiding parties etc. the free folk range from primitive to reasonably cultured and to savage and barbarous.
- Wights: Dead men and creatures raised by the eerie cold that accompanies the arrival of the Others/White Walkers, they are those whose bodies have not burned after being slain by the White Walkers and are forever subjected to being their thralls. Some wights appear lifelike, while others badly rotten and grotesquely decayed, their overall appearance however, depending on their decayed condition prior to their death. They are however, identifiable by their defining characteristics, bright blue eyes, and hands and feet blackened and swollen by their congealed blood.
- Giants: A physically powerful race of humanoids standing at approximately ten to twelve feet in height, giants are creatures of freakish strength, capable of summoning such unmitigated might that even metal structures bend before the will of their physical power. Enveloped in a thick, shaggy pelt of protective fur, their heads are thrust forward from their shoulder blades, their eyes small and beady, their faces squashed-in and sporting square teeth, their chest sloped, and their arms longer than their legs. Beings of poor eyesight, giants rely equally on their sense of smell as they do their sense of sight. Devoid of technology save for their crudely constructed wooden clubs, little is known of the giants' culture save for their adherence to the audibly harsh, clanging language of the First Men, the Old Tongue.
- Children of the Forest: A scarcely observed race of mysterious humanoid creatures whispered to be the original inhabitants of Westeros, long before the arrival of the First Men, the Children of the Forest' dwindling population resides far north of the Wall. Though humanoid in appearance, they are diminutive creatures with nut-brown skin, large ears allowing them to hear what no other creature can, large golden eyes that allow them to see even in darkness with vertical, slit pupils for their vision in ambient blackness. Long-lived and said to possess supernatural abilities and vaguely documented magic that allows them to wear the skin of any animal, have power over the beasts of the woods, the ability to speak to the dead, they are among the most mysterious of Westeros' inhabitants.
- The White Walkers/Others: A mythologically documented race of unknown origin, the White Walkers are cryptically mentioned in the stories and legends of the Children of the Forest as well as the First Men. Said to have emerged many thousands of years ago from the unforgiving polar regions of the Land of Always Winter during a generation lasting winter known as the Long Night, the enigmatic White Walkers' purpose remains unknown just as how their existence came to be. Though presently believed to be no more than a myth, the White Walkers ominously prowl the farthest northern regions beyond the Wall. Though largely humanoid in appearance, the White Walkers sport long wispy white hair, pale and wrinkled alabaster skin giving them an eerily gaunt, mummified appearance. Taller and of greater bulk than humans, the White Walkers are superhumanly strong, capable of tossing a grown man several feet away with but a single strike. Possessing striking, luminous blue eyes, the White Walkers arm themselves with bladed weapons forged from unique ice. Powerful creatures, they possess magical abilities pertaining to cold and ice. Blizzards and substantial cold herald their arrival. Their touch can freeze that which they come in contact with. They can reanimate the dead to serve as their thralls (Wights). And though potentially the most dangerous of creatures lying beyond the Wall, the White Walkers are not invincible, they can be slain by weapons made of dragonglass. Though their culture is not known, it is believed that their language is a poorly understood tongue similar to the sound of cracking ice, a language known as 'Skroth'.
Prominent Locations
- The Haunted Forest: A frozen woodland lying in the immediate north beyond the Wall. It serves as the forested home of the Free-Folk/Wildings and abode of wilding settlements, the White Tree and Caster's Keep.
- Fist of the First Men: Aged thousands of years, and constructed by the First Men centuries prior to the Andal invasion of Westeros, it is a time-tested ring composed of enormous megalithic stones situated atop a hill.
- Frostfangs: A chained, frozen mountain range in the farer north of Westeros. It is home to Skirling Pass, a passage linking wilding territories, the Frozen Shore and Haunted Forest.
- The Milkwater: A river running south along the Frostfangs mountain range, terminating as its waters pour into the Bay of Ice.
- The Land of Always Winter: The most northern region from the Wall, this is an undiscovered territory scarcely inhabited by few wildings, and supposedly untouched in its farthest portions, subarctic wastelands incapable of nurture. Rumored to harbor only the enigmatic White Walkers.
- Frozen Shore:The northern coastline of the Bay of Ice, inhabited by wildings and separated from the Wall and the Haunted Forest by the Frostfangs.
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