Interlude Abel: First Journey to the Ice Plane
Abel: The Journey to Kyanos
The Hero finally finds a moment to rest, only for a sudden growth of ice to swallow them and carry them away. They emerge in a frozen realm with Abel, who has arrived in the same way. He thinks they are in the Plane of Ice. Something about it feels familiar from his studies, though he cannot explain how drawings of such a place came to him. The Hero sees an opportunity in the interruption: Kyanos may be able to answer the questions they still carry from Cryostorm.
They want to understand the Ice Titan and discover the Champion of Ice, hoping to gain another ally against the Queen of Monsters. Abel hesitates at the thought of questioning an Avatar, but a guide appears. Glace, the spirit of the first Champion of Ice, offers to lead them through the trials ahead. Abel recognizes the legendary figure his people remember and accepts her guidance. He is determined to discover why they have been brought here.
Glace first sends them against the Spirits of Ice, whose cores will lend them strength. When a chasm bars the route, crystals gathered from the frozen jellyfish provide a way onward from the waterfall. The narrow icy crossing demands care; a misstep can send the traveler into the depths. With a suitable offering, they continue to the figure waiting beyond the bridge.
Quetzal, another former Champion, recognizes the Hero who helped free him from Kezeroth's intended fate. He also knows Abel, but asks whether Abel knows himself. What makes him worthy of an audience with Kyanos? Before accepting an answer, Quetzal sends them against a Crystalline Shade for insight. The answer required is Abel's own name. Quetzal links who he is with what he is capable of: Abel and able both matter.
Beyond Quetzal, Glace's trials continue. Frostblades sharp enough to shatter metal must be fought into submission, though not every blade will yield. With those they tame, the travelers cut through the Animus of Ice and release the energy inside. They grow stronger as they approach the final guardian. Glace makes clear that Abel must defeat the Enfield to pass, and that the Hero is there to face it with him.
Abel: The Avatar on Lore
When the Enfield appears, Abel recognizes it as the form the Ice Titan takes. He cannot explain how he knows. The Hero connects this certainty with his earlier familiarity with the realm. After Thermax's death, Syrrus had still sensed a weakened presence in Cryostorm. The Hero wonders whether the power had diminished because its bearer had exhausted himself fighting Karok, rather than because Thermax had been the Champion and died. Abel may be the person they have been looking for.
Abel introduces himself as a son of Cryostorm, whose people regard the Enfield as a guardian, and asks for passage to Kyanos. The Enfield agrees to let him through once he proves himself in battle. The Hero strikes, then calls for Abel to act. His ice attack defeats the guardian, which acknowledges his worth and fades away. The Hero praises how far Abel has come: he has faced great dangers and become the true hero he always wanted to be.
The Hero calls him the Champion of Ice. Abel corrects the assumption. Fighting the Enfield has brought his awareness into focus: he is the Avatar of Kyanos. Kyanos's shade appears, confirms his words and grants him armor. The trials have revealed a nature Abel already carried, rather than awarded him the title the Hero expected to discover.
Kyanos explains that he brought Abel here so he could recognize that nature for himself. He brought the Eternal Dragon of Time, the Champion of Order, to witness it. On Lore, Abel will act as Kyanos's eyes and ears. The elemental lord's own presence would be too much for its people to bear, while Abel can help the Hero protect the world through a more limited power. Abel promises not to disappoint him.
His new understanding does not erase the person who reached it. Kyanos says that Abel knew himself subconsciously, but humility kept him from accepting his nature until it fully awakened. He is still Abel, and that identity matters as much as the new one. The journey has given him a way to help both Lore and the Plane of Ice with a strength he could not consciously use before.