I never liked an unsolvable mistery (even to the DM). I always got this feeling when i read about Blackmoor's Land of Black Ice. I am sorry if i dont have the canon source which really defines its origin to the roots or if i overlooked something, but until now all i got was:
- The black ice is a desolate, strange dangerous place, full of mutated creatures and hidden perils
- The land of black ice is clearly avoided by Iuz
- The land of black ice is the source of a mysterious energy called Oerthmagik, perhaps a kind of power related to the land itself.
So, after reading an interesting passage in an epic level creature, i decided to combine all the canon data above with that passage which states: "Xixecals are born of gods whose portfolios include evil, ice and chaos -Snip- More than one world's arctic region provides a home for an unwanted child of chill deific lust. Frozen away for all time, xixecals could be released when some unrelated cataclysm causes the world to shudder and shake, cracking the xixecal free from its rigid prison of BLACK ICE".
Yes, this a extremely high-powered plot envolving a creature of CR 36, but unless you want to use and release this abomination, it wont make any difference in Oerth besides its sinister origin, as this creature is very well locked and wouldnt be free for nothing. So i wrote below a story suggesting a new origin for the land of black ice. Feel free to ignore if its way over the head :)
"In ages past, Beory, the Mother Oerth, had a brief relationship with the North God, Vatun. As their mindsets were too different, their feelings never evolved more than a dalliance. However, due to the extremely fertile nature of Beory, she became pregnant, even though Vatun was the essence of howling chillness. From their brief union the Great Mother bore a child. However, it was a misshapen being, all cold and ice and no land or grass. Too much hatred in its heart and not a little care for life. While this abomination horrified Beory, it shocked but didnt displease the North God, as he saw too much of him in his offspring, even though his cold essence was too polluted with malice.
Beory wanted to destroy the newborn, but Vatun shouted hard at her, saying as the child's father he had so much power over its fate as its mother. Even more, how a goddess of fertility could destroy her own son? How flawed was her? THe weight of these strong words made Beory hesitate. Even though she was a greater goddess, much more powerful than Vatun, she became divided between destroying that hateful thing and respecting what she prized most (life). After much thinking, she entered a consensus with Vatun. The abomination, which was named Xixecal ("Stormy Glacier" in a forgotten tongue) by Vatun, was too destructive to be allowed to roam Oerth (which is considered a part of Beory, if not Beory herself) and the other worlds would not suffer for her child. In return for keeping Xixecal alive, it would enter a deep sleep and it would eternally slumber inside the Great Mother, as if it was crawling back to the womb it bore originally.
Vatun, really without any choices, conceded. So, Xixecal was imprisoned within walls of ice in a great northern glacier and put into stasis. In this icy womb Beory strenghtened with a small parcel of her divine powers to ensure no mortal creature would be able to dig the abominatin free. As a side effect, these mighty energies turned the mundane glacier to a deep black hue. Until these days, the power of Oerth (Beory) still echoes in the ice. The mortal spellcasters, can't discover the nature of this energy (as the power of a greater goddess is beyond their ken), but had corretly deduced it has a mysterious connection to the land, calling it then Oerthmagik. The other gods, generally speaking, know the existence of Xixecal, but they're confident that Beory keeps confining as she had done for millenia. Iuz also knows, and tries to keep interaction with the land of Black Ice at a minimum. The same energies tend to attract some bizarre creatures that are drawn to the place like moths to flame.
Its safe to say the prison of black ice still holds (unless a DM wants to invent that the energies are declining and want to play with the possibility of letting loose an enraged abomination to wreak havoc in the north). Mortal magic can't affect the more internal areas of the black ice which actually form the prison of Xixecal and unless the direct power of a god or the use of an appropriate major artifact is invoked, the abomination will continue to sleep in this womb of black ice. There is an unconfirmed tale that seven hundred years ago, Vatun tried to sneak in and free his son, but he was discovered by an enraged Beory who punished him, temporarily but greatly weakening his powers. The same uncertain tale states that this loss made Vatun vulnerable to the machinations of Telchur (and some say, powerful devils, pehaps even Belial, who is acquainted with the oerdian winter god) who commanded his most powerful priests to capture and imprison his rival Vatun, who is still entrapped."
Well, thats it. I never figured how a group of Telchur clerics managed to imprison Vatun (a lesser god), so i devised a way to easy such thing happens. I dont know if this part goes against the Canon version, as i dont have "Five Shall Be One", which i suspect as the most probable source to describe how the North God became imprisoned.
Wow, great work! Although I'm not sure yet whether I will use your ideas for my campaign, they certainly are creative and make a great deal of sense. I don't know to what extent you are a stickler for "canon," and whether you have access to the 1st ed Greyhawk Adventures hardback, but there is a section in that book on Rigodruok--the Rainbow Vale-- which is located in the lands of the Black Ice. I would be curious to see how (if?) you could work that in with your myth of Xixecal. Also, do you intend for your myth to be associated with a particular racial group in the Flanaess? I think that making it an old Flan legend would make sense, but it might also be known to the northern Suel barbarians due to the involvement of Vatun in the story and the occasional forays of those same barbarians to the shores of the Black Ice.
I think this would make a good entry for the Canonfire post-fest!
Thanks for the compliment, Twiceborn :), I have the GH Adv. (great book, but i confess i had forgotten the Rainbow Vale entry) and i am pretty uptight , trying to not deviate to far from Canon (although IMC Bigby was never Mordekainen's apprentice ). Now, before putting my opinion about how to work together Xixecal and the Vale, i wanted to stress that While a part of the Black Ice composes the abomination's prison, in now way comprises ALL the land. The prison is just an internal core (the black womb of Beory, so to speak), but the black hue effect spreads far beyond this walls. So, anyone who wants to use this region to create dungeons, cave cultures, tunneling monsters, have a great deal of freedom. They may even have not the faintest idea that somewhere they have an abomination as neighbor .
Regarding the Vale, i think its description is exotic enough to be not just a vale inside the Black Ice. I was considering it could be used as a demi-plane (and Oerth has its share of these hidden surprises), which the expedition stumbled upon. Perhaps this gate to Oerth could be opened as a side effect when Vatun tried to breach the Black Ice to free his son (note that this attempt do not means the entrance to the Vale must be directly adjacent to the prison). Or perhaps Vatun entered a bargain with the Spider's God (assuming its a demigod, for example) and used the intelligent spiders (which could be the terrifying magic eating Spellgaunts described in DD3E MM 2) as a taskforce to enter Oerth and try to eat away the black ice towards the womb (whose attempted utterly failed as Beory's magic as too strong).
Speaking of human races, i didnt choose any race to be associated this myth, as it predates human history. BUT, i think the suloise barbarians can be the best choice, especially with the presence of Vatun's clergy in Rhizia. Although the North God wont be free with the release fo Xixecal, it would certainly interest him, so it can be part of their legends like "an ancient heritage of the Great God of the North lies dormant, awaiting the day to wake and bring the Great Winter". Thanks for the tip about the barbarians forays on those shores, i didnt know about that.
Finally, i didnt understand fully this post-fest. Are you suggesting to discuss the legend of the Xixecal in this canonfire entry or its about posting ideas linking the myth to a specific folklore?
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). Now, before putting my opinion about how to work together Xixecal and the Vale, i wanted to stress that While a part of the Black Ice composes the abomination's prison, in now way comprises ALL the land. The prison is just an internal core (the black womb of Beory, so to speak), but the black hue effect spreads far beyond this walls. So, anyone who wants to use this region to create dungeons, cave cultures, tunneling monsters, have a great deal of freedom. They may even have not the faintest idea that somewhere they have an abomination as neighbor 
.