It was winter but Hartoum was extremely cold, while the neighboring towns shivered under frost, Hartoum breathed winter like a living thing. It was one of the coldest places in Fog country. Unfounded rumors about the extreme winter in Hartoum had been circulating for years.
Some stories claimed that the town was home to a group of people that sold their souls to an ice demon for immortality. In turn, the demon cursed Hartoum locking it in a fierce frost all through winter.
Others said that long ago, an ancient warlock had traveled through the town a cold winter's night. When the town folk refused to offer him shelter, he cursed them to suffer bitter winters before vanishing into the snow.
The most widespread rumor was that beneath the town lay a temple of an ancient deity-the Frost keeper. It was one time a guardian of Hartoum but the people betrayed it, so it sentenced the town to bitter winters in vengeance.
