Beyond the gate, the cold owns everything.
The Wastes is the name for the region Hearth sits in — the frozen expanse that surrounds the town and its small mountain on all sides. It is where the Guild’s closest expeditions go, where the nearest relic sites are located, and where most things that threaten Hearth come from.
Not much of it has been mapped. What has been mapped is not always reliable - the Frost reshapes the landscape, and landmarks shift.
What You Know
The Wastes begin where the Engine’s warmth ends. That transition takes less than a hundred feet. One moment you are inside the Thermal Sphere; the next, the temperature drops to something that will kill you if you stand still long enough.
Beyond that edge: enduring snow-dunes, frozen ruins half-buried in ice, cracked roads that once connected Cydonian outpost-cities. The horizon to the south shows mountain silhouettes. The ruins of Cydonia proper are said to lie to the north, though reaching them is a serious undertaking.
Weather in the Wastes changes. Cold and clear is baseline. Whiteouts, black blizzards, and stranger phenomena happen without warning.
Ancient Ruins
The Wastes are littered with the remnants of previous Ages - village ruins, ancient Magitech relay stations, frozen Cydonian vaults, automated machines that have been running, or failing, since long before the Frost. These ruins are where relics are found, and groups like the Relic Hunters Guild found them worth picking through even pre-Frost, but now there’s a survival need to do so.
Each site is different. Some are collapsed and partially accessible. Some are structurally intact but occupied. Some have been picked over by previous expeditions. Some have not been touched in centuries.
What you find depends on which leads you follow.
Who Else Is Out There
The Wastes are not empty. For instance:
The White Maw Clans - nomadic survivors who ride Dire Wolves - move through the region. Some will trade, and some will not. The Watch logs their movements when it can.
Other things move through the Wastes that are harder to categorize. Expeditions encounter them and report back. The Guild keeps notes.
Getting There
All expeditions depart through the Guildhall gate, logged by The Frostwatch. See the Mission Hub for active relic site leads, and the Hearth Market for supplies before you go.
See also: Session Layout for what a full expedition looks like from start to finish.
See Also
- Hearth - the only warm place
- The Hearth Engine - why the relics matter
- White Maw Clans - the people who call the Wastes home
- Mission Hub - where to find active contracts