The Winter Palace - One-Time Box Purchase

In February 2025, subscribers explore the Winter Palace.

As the grayness of winter begins to wane and the days grow incrementally longer, each family sends its representatives to a gathering at the Winter Palace. The Houses gather to make plans for the year ahead. During the day, they compare notes on the landscape and weather to decode any portents. They catalog sightings of the Darkness. In lighter work, they start seeds in the warm and ample conservatories. At night, they gather around the Palace’s oversized fireplaces to work on handicrafts and gossip. Many creatures don’t have time for languid storytelling during the planting and harvesting seasons, but winter offers some fallow hours for rest and conversation.

Every House has a stake in the Winter Palace. Over time, they’ve all added to its ornate interior.  The Foxes contributed carpets woven with motifs of herbs and flowers; the Crows, doorways ornamented with acorns and oak leaves; the Wolves, inkwells carved from agate and jasper.  The visiting members of each House, spotting these flourishes, feel a renewed affinity 
with their historic kin.  

The Winter Palace Box includes an abundance of beautiful objects; hints and additions to expand the story; a mysterious document; and a lore card.  

Some items are available for individual purchase.

• Mysterious Document
• An instructional document is augmented with marginalia which will help you interpret clues.  It is available only in the Winter Palace Box.

• Lore Card
• The Winter Palace are introduced in a full-color collectible 4x6 inch lore card.  The artwork for this month's lore card was created by Joanna Rzepecka, a Warsaw, Poland-based illustrator. She says, "My work is inspired by biodiversity, mainly animals. Through my work, I'm trying to capture moments where nature is untouched by humans. Peaceful scenery, colors, and rough textures are some things that I enjoy the most."

• Birds and Rainbows
• After you enter the Palace’s immense doorway, it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust. In contrast to the white and gray landscape outside, the anteroom is rich with colors: deep browns and reds, exquisite blues and yellows.  The facets embedded in the stained-glass windows scatter rainbows across the floor and walls. You hear birdsong and wonder if the birds depicted in the windows are magicked to sing; then you realize that the timbered ceiling is filled with real, fluttering birds, representing many Houses.

• The House of the Turtle
• Uncertain of your House Affinity, the Scarred Crow asks the assembled creatures: “Who will sponsor the Dreamer?” The hall is filled with the clamor of their calls as they all volunteer.  Your presence is a novelty and everyone in attendance is curious about you. After a quick discussion, the group decides that the Turtles should have the honor; they are not in the room to plead their case, as they are mostly confined to the grand underground cistern known as the Sunken Palace. You are given a turtle-shaped locket to serve as a sort of hall pass for your visit. It contains an egg-like pearl.

• Dainty Handkerchief
• Your locket allows you to wander the Winter Palace at will. You take the opportunity to peer into room after room, peek behind tapestries, and open drawers in oversized bureaus. Every House adds to the Palace’s supplies and ornaments each year.  Over time, almost every surface has been embellished and beautified.  Even the handkerchiefs provided in the washrooms have been embroidered with pretty designs by the Hedgehogs.

• Sparkling Sugar Cubes
• A row of glass-roofed conservatories lines the back of the Palace. Prismatic rainbows are here, too, quivering on the leaves of trees and the cushions on benches. You pause to sit at a table that’s been set for tea.  The overflowing sugar bowl glistens with golden sparkles and stars.

• Sugar Tongs
  • A golden-hued serving tool is propped against the sugar bowl. It has also been embellished, this time with a floral pattern.  As you handle it, you experience a wave of feeling similar to déjà vu or nostalgia. These tongs have been quickened with rose petals.

• Winter Fruit
  • The conservatory is filled with potted plants and trees.  Careful cultivation of the pear trees allows them to bear tawny fruit year-round.  A pear-shaped candle on each table is lit in the evenings to evoke abundance, even when the nights are chilly.

• Badge of Affinity
  • The Scarred Crow arrives, interrupting your reverie with a havoc of wings. She accompanies you down a long hallway displaying relief crests of the Birdmoss Houses.  The meetings attendees are all gathered at the end of the hallway, where a small black box awaits you.  You lift the lid to discover your House Affinity. Which creatures claim you?

Photo props are not included.