Ghosts of the Whiteout

When you become lost in the whiteout of a blizzard, when the road and the fields, the sky and the trees, the clouds and your breath all blend together, you may hear moaning and shrieking chilling to your already chilled eardrums.

It is not just the wind.

When a traveler dies in a blizzard, unable to find their way to their destination or to any kind of shelter, their ghost often remains, waking only in the direst of winter snows to seek their way home.

from Insomnium

Those who hear a ghost of the whiteout gain a hefty penalty to their resistance to the cold so long as they can hear the keening and wailing of the voice so much like the wind around them.

If one seeks the source of the voice, whether to rescue it or defend from it, the way becomes lost and cannot be found again until the ghost is encountered and exorcised. (It will follow, even if fled from, seeking a way home).

If one perseveres - bearing the biting cold - the ghost of the whiteout will follow, and the blizzard will continue, until civilization is found. Then, a wondrous thing happens: the blizzard dissipates, and the spirit finds rest, having finally found its way home.


For a week, I'm challenging myself to write SOMETHING gameable (monster, NPC, magic, location, item, etc.) each day. To make it interesting: it must be inspired by the first song that comes up on shuffle from my music library each morning. This is post 5, inspired by "Whiteout" by Hanging Garden (Spotify, YouTube).