The Glacier of the Sepulchre
The Tomb of Connor Frost · the Place of the Reforging · the Holiest Site on Earth
“Come, see the place where the Cold was kept; for he is not melted — he is Reforged.” — the Frostwalker at the empty tomb, Glacial of Corin 16:6
The Glacier of the Sepulchre is the holiest site of Frostianity: the ice-tomb hewn into the blue glacier outside Wintermere where the Sublimated body of Connor Frost was laid, and from which he Reforged on the third dawn. The supreme goal of pilgrimage (the Northing), it is enshrined within the great Frosthall of the Reforging.
The Site
The tomb was a new chamber cut in the living glacier-ice, “wherein no one had yet been laid,” sealed with a great rolling ice-stone. Within, the grave-furs were found “white and uncorrupted, folded as one folds a thing to be kept.” Today the tomb-chamber is encased in a shrine of silver and clear crystal (the Rime-Edicule), kept perpetually cold; a blue ever-lamp burns within, and the folded-grave-furs relic is shown on the Whitening.
The Two Shrines in One
The Frosthall of the Reforging encloses both:
- The Sunstone Court / Place of the Melting — the rock-outcrop of the Melting (the The Sunstone itself is here, though a portion is kept in Wintermere’s Sunstone Court).
- The Sepulchre / Place of the Reforging — the empty tomb. Pilgrims walk between them, “from the Melting to the Reforging,” the heart of the Way of Embers.
Significance & History
The site is the physical center of the faith — where the Thaw was defeated and the white road opened. It was lost to and recovered from the warm powers in the The Rime Crusades (the Crusades’ chief aim was to “free the Sepulchre”). It is jointly and contentiously kept by the three rites under the ancient Cold Status agreement, each tending its own hours and altars.
The Pilgrim’s Devotion
Pilgrims keep silence approaching the Edicule, enter on their knees, and lay a hand on the cold tomb-ice while praying the The Hoarfather’s Stilling. Many bring a shard of ice from their homeland to leave, and carry home meltwater from the Sepulchre lamp.