One of my favourite games is Dungeoneer by Thomas Denmark and published by Atlas Games, partly because of its carefully crafted ruleset, and partly because of its mysterious lore. Dungeoneer is sold as card decks, although it's actually also a board game, with some of the cards in the deck serving as board tiles. I own 5 Dungeoneer decks, and I'm reviewing them each. In this post, I'm looking at the characters of the Realm of the Ice Witch deck.
For background about the world of Realm of the Ice Witch, disjointed though it may be, read my setting of Realm of the Ice Witch post.
Non-player characters
There are several named non-player characters in Realm of the Ice Witch.
Baal Ch'doth, Demon Prince
A powerful demon prince, the heart of Baal Ch'doth was submerged in lava as a way to torment him. We don't know whether a hero of legend, such as Sir Tanin Braveshield, did this or whether it was Cholizar herself, or Lashtar, or a competing demon.
Cholizar, Ice Witch, Queen of the Arctic
Cholizar is also known as the Ice Witch and Queen of the Arctic. She is presumably an Eldritch Lord, or someone adopted by the Eldritch Lords. She is highly skilled in magic and has the ability to freeze huge regions of land. She has trained ice dragons and yeti to serve her. Augmenting her powers through a pact with Lashtar, she has brought forth ice demons, snow demons, a twin pair of frigid demon and frost demon, and other infernal creatures into the northlands.
Somehow, a shard of her soul was imprisoned within a sword. This cursed blade, now known as the Soul of Ice Blade, is a deadly relic.
Cholizar appears to be on a campaign of world domination, apparently to impose an eternal winter upon the world of Tarnys, and to replace all living creatures with either demons or undead. According to the Traverse the Icebound Swamp quest card, the souls of those she destroys are captured under the ice of the Icebound Swamp location.
Eldritch Lords
The Eldritch Lords are probably from a realm known as Kal-Anon, which may be a separate planet or a different plane of existence, or just a very far-off land. It's unclear how many (if any at all) Eldritch Lords exist in the present day, or in what form.
The Eldritch Lords admired Cholizar's skill with magic even when she was a young child, so she may be an Eldritch Lord herself, or she may only have been adopted or kidnapped by them.
The Eldritch Lords possess powerful magic. They use warp (teleportation) magic, and planted magical healing fruit in the northlands after their home Kal-Anon was destroyed.
Emmy
The only child of a family in the Northern Village, Emmy is lost in the arctic wastes. As with Olaf Flanda, we don't know definitively how Emmy became lost, and we don't know her age. The Rescue Emmy card could refer to a small child who wandered mindlessly into a snowy field to play, and then couldn't find her way home again. Or she might have been abducted. The likeliest scenario depends on where you find Emmy (it seems unlikely that a child could have just wandered to the other side of the map, but if Emmy is in a tile next to the Northern Village then probably she really did just get lost.)
Then again, we don't know Emmy's age, so she could be a young adult who has decided to brave the winter for glory or infamy.
Finla Fagerstad, Queen of Gabrell
A barbarian Queen of Gabrell, Finla was the first to learn to walk the arctic wastes.
Lashtar, Lord of Demons
Of Lashtar, we know only that he has made a pact with Cholizar, and that part of the pact involves bringing demons into the mortal realm. He and Cholizar have given birth to at least one mutant spawn (which Cholizar refers to as her pet), which may or may not grow into snow demons.
Olaf Flanda
Olaf is probably a barbarian, and definitely a resident of the Northern Village. We know little of Olaf except that she's more attractive than her name might suggest ("Olaf" is traditionally, in the real world, a male name.)
The Rescue Olaf Flanda quest card reveals that Olaf is lost in or near the Temple of Cholizar. This implies that she either fancies herself as a hero and has gone to defeat Cholizar, or that she has gone to join the forces of the Queen of the Arctic (either as a rider in her ice dragon cavalry, or as infantry within her Polar Patrol.) Alternately, Olaf may have simply gotten lost and ended up in the most dangerous region possible.
While you are rescuing Olaf, demons have +1 Melee against you, so Olaf is probably either too weak to fight or so unskilled at fighting that she's a liability.
Omnisus
A powerful god of Tarnys. He has an army of celestials who provide martial aid those faithful to Omnisus.
Sir Tanin Braveshield
According to the Recover the Frozen Knight quest card, Sir Braveshield was a knight that sought to find the Ice Witch.
His frozen body is located in the Glacier Canyon, although we don't know whether that's where he and Cholizar fought or whether his body was placed there after his death. The addendum "It seems she found him first" on the quest card could be taken to mean that the cause of his death was being frozen by Cholizar.
Player characters
There are 6 playable characters in the Dungeoneer card set for Realm of the Ice Witch. The box includes 2 cards for you to cut and use as character standees, but I'm not a barbarian so I purchased miniatures for my characters. I managed to find miniatures by Wizkids, Reaper, and a few others, that approximated each character, and I painted them up to suit. Some were better matches than others, but at least I get to play with miniatures.
Bodones Ving, Human Warblade
Bodones lost his entire family last winter in a sever storm of ice and snow. He has come to end Cholizar's reign of terror.
Bodones is probably a barbarian, possibly from Gabrell. He is a Warblade, and is armed with a shield and battle axe. He is not a magic user and excels in melee combat. He's powerful and persistent, which is evident in both his speed and his ability to be untipped quickly during game play.
Enraka Tyvus, Half-Celestial Valkyrie
Enraka's mother was a celestial.
Enraka is a Valkyrie, a warrior for the god Omnisus, and is almost certainly a barbarian of the north. She carries a sword and shield, and uses magic to boost her martial ability. She is swift most of all, and can move around her enemy (whether demonic or devious) before an attack upon her lands.
As a half-celestial, she has a latent magic effect even when her magic rating is 0 at the start of the game. Specifically, she is able to cause any demon to cost more than its card value.
Nadalia, Half-Elf Warrior-Witch
Nadalia's character card has no flavour text.
Nadalia is half-elf, so she may not be from the north at all, although her winter magic suggests some connection to the arctic. Nadalia is depicted on the very powerful Destroy Demon card, which suggests enough familiarity with demons to destroy them. That could imply that she's Boreal and has lived in Cholizar's temple, or it could indicate that she's lived in the north, or that she's a student of demonology.
Unsurprisingly, Nadalia is skilled in magic, and gains a +1 Magic bonus when she's on frozen land. Perhaps even more concerning is that she can cause an area to freeze instantly, in much the same way Cholizar herself can. Is Nadalia just a powerful witch out to set things right, or does she hope to usurp Cholizar's position?
Given her affinity for winter magic, it seems likely that Nadalia is either from the lost tribe of Kelta, or Boreal.
Onoku Kai, Human Arctic Channeler
Onoku is of the lost tribe of Kelta.
A powerful magic user, Onoku has the Channel Arctic Wind ability, which grants her the ability to target a monster and reduce its magic attack, potentially to 0. She is weak in melee, but quick on her feet.
We know that Onoku Kai is from the tribe of Kelta, so the only mystery surrounding her is the mystery of the Kelta themselves. How many of the Kelta are left in the world? How did the tribe become lost, and what does it mean to be lost?
Ryghus Gar, Human Boreal Scout
Ryghus defected from the Polar Patrol when his conscience would no longer allow him to serve Cholizar.
Formerly a member of Cholizar's army, Ryghus is a martial fighter with moderate magic skill. From serving in the infantry, Ryghus knows the arctic wastes very well, and can traverse them quickly.
We don't know whether Ryghus seeks to end Cholizar's reign, or whether Ryghus simply wants to mitigate the damage she is doing in the world. Either way, Ryghus is a powerful a prescient hero.
Thaewyn Draexis, Human Frostblade
Thaewyn is the orphan of a slain barbarian princess. She has come to seek revenge on Cholizar, the one who murdered her mother.
Of noble or royal blood, Thaewyn is a Frostblade barbarian warrior. She is mostly a martial fighter with modest magical sense, and her hatred of demons is fierce (she has an innate +1 attack against any demon.) Driven by her need for revenge, Thaewyn is unquestionably seeking out Cholizar for vengeance.
Demons
There are several demons mentioned in the Realm of the Ice Witch deck. There's a hint of hierarchy or ferocity, sometimes through lore and other times through card mechanics. In order from strongest to weakest, with cost and power (Melee, Magic, Move) in brackets:
- Lord of demons [lore]
- Demon prince [lore]
- Snow Demon [4,454]
- Frigid Demon [-,512]
- Frost Demon [-,143]
- Ice Demon [3,233]
- Infernal Captain [3,223]
- Skeletal Ice Man (actually not a demon, just undead) [2,313]
- Cholizar's Pet [3, 213]
Monsters
There are some native creatures roaming the arctic wastes.
- Ice Dragon [5,343]
- Yeti [5,401]
- Shivering Rat [1,202]
The real story of Realm of the Ice Witch
As players, it's up to us to complete the tale of the Realm of the Ice Witch card set. If you can find a Dungeoneer deck, buy it and try it out. Each Dungeoneer set contains a wealth of fascinating lore and intriguing characters, and an endless variety of game play.
Header and card image copyright by Thomas Denmark and Atlas Games, and used exclusively as reference.