Top Ten Places to Spend the Winter
It's clear to everybody now that Bael Areen is not the place to spend this winter. But an awful lot of the folk who live there didn't really realise this until just before - or just after - the first snows hit. For now, they're staying with friends and relatives in Aryondis or the Small Kingdoms, but this can't last. So here are my top ten places to spend the winter.
10: Calhelandon - If you're going to escape the Winter, it can be argued that you should have a crack at completely avoiding the season, and going to the Southern Hemisphere. It will, of course, take a long time to get there - best estimate for those skyships that are going that way is about three weeks, assuming decent weather. Sailing will take even longer, more on the order of two months from the New Kingdoms, and that's only as far as the city of Mereen, on the North coast. But Calheladon is warm, in its own summer now, and orderly, with the influence of Imperial Hrau extending far beyond its own borders. It's certainly worth a try.
9: Tranquility - The new Oath base at Tranquility, built in the shell of an extinct volcano on the shores of the Long Bay, is expanding into a small and a pleasant town. Reports reach me of red-tiled roofs and white-painted houses among lush growth, and the planting of new vineyards here and there. It's also very clear that Tranquility was carefully built by a cadre of paladins whose engineering and architecture is second to none, and I'm told that the main architect there is one of their rising stars. If there's a safer place to wait out Winter in, it's hard to know what it might be.
8: Fury - But Fury is way out in the Blade, and nobody ever goes there! Well, yes, and because of that, it's well suited to meet the Winter full on. Fury doesn't expect to get supplies from anywhere else, so it's well stocked. Its wells won't freeze, there's very little wildlife in the area that could get unpleasant in the cold weather, and there's more than a fair chance that someone new in town will be wined and dined quite thoroughly. You could do a lot worse.
7: Athelion - There's an immediate problem with Athelion; it's nigh-on impossible to reach. It's generally felt that if you start trying to get there in Summer, you might make it by Autumn. But if you could make it in reasonable time, well, Athelion has walled itself off from Winter for millenia, and I see no reason it shouldn't do so again. It produces all its own food, and non-elves are still something of a novelty there. So there's every chance you'd be well looked-after.
6: Immramma - So, someone's going to need to explain to me why this Winter should make any difference in Immramma. The fjord is ice-bound ten months a year anyway. They have more difficulty with Summer there than we do with Winter, because all the ice they use for structures and surfaces melts for a few weeks. Like Athelion, you'll need to get there first, but when it comes down to it, Immramma is the City of Winter. For purely practical purposes, it seems unlikely that it can be beaten.
5: Onsare - Practicality isn't everything, though. One must also maintain one's connections. And it seems clear that one of the best places to do that is Onsare, the tiny capital of Aryondis. There will be frequent ships in and out, and a great many of the nobility who have decamped from Bael Areen will wind up here, attending Queen Renée's Winter Court, some for the first time in their lives. For the politically-minded, Onsare is the place to be this Winter.
4: Thousand Spires - Politics bore some people, and it can be argued that Onsare won't do all that well in terms of supplies and keeping warm. Aryondans, you know, would rather put on another layer of clothing than actually keep rooms warm. So why not go instead to Thousand Spires? Warm rooms, all the delights of the Run, and more art and music than you can, realistically, get through in one season. For the artist, there doesn't seem to be much competition.
3: Ibraer City - This is one you wouldn't have heard me mention before. But I visited Ibraer recently, when a friend of mine needed some preparation for an important ball, and I have to admit, I had trouble leaving. The Kingdom has a new king (the dashing and handsome Naerth), a new military presence (the Oath of Myre), mountains enough that they're used to dealing with tough transport and cold weather, and more firewood than the Order of Ruhn. Indeed, the Order of Ruhn has a strong enough presence there. And then there's Barking Street, which is a sort of permanently sustained jovial street fair, with good food, good wine, and excellent beer. I think Ibraer is going to come through the Winter just fine.
2: Sigil - Sigil is, in fact, the closest city to Bael Areen. It's one step away. If you're spending the Winter there, you can nip home to pick up anything you've forgotten, and obviously, the food, drink, and entertainment are second to none anywhere in reality. It's a pity about the politics, mind, and the fact that it's in an outworld god's realm. Sigil might be the ideal solution for someone looking for maximum convenience, and it doesn't have to cost all that much.
1: New Hult - Well, since I'm staying put in New Hult, I'd look foolish if anything else were to top my list. But it's not just because I live here; it's also because New Hult is on the shores of Deless Lake, which almost certainly cannot completely freeze, because New Hult is on two major skyship routes and half a dozen minor ones, and because we're well-supplied already. I've seen the warehouses. A great many of Bael Areen's merchantry, mages, and writers have thought similarly, and a good few friends of mine are letting rooms at eminently reasonable rates. New Hult is where all the action will be this winter, mark my words.
Simone Catchcall is a literary critic, translator, and scribomancer. She lives in New Hult, and works by correspondence only. Her Top Ten lists are compiled via careful analysis of comfort, communications, discussion, supplies, performances, and other factors, topped off with a liberal application of common sense.