Arena 05

The Setting
The field around the Cornucopia is expansive and blinding white, corrugated with blue cracks and gray streaks. Fresh snow and old make for huge smooth planes between the broken chunks, and one of these sports the great golden horn, surrounded by the many pedestals. Snow is falling from a white sky, a thin layer coating all of the mound of supplies.

The snow never does quite stop. It varies from a few dry stinging flakes to cold, wet white-outs, but the air is never clear. The short, short days have no real sun, and the long nights have no moon or stars. The only blessing is that there is little wind.

That doesn't mean the glacier is silent, however. It has a million voices. The ice mutters and grumbles, whispers and roars coming from deep, deep below their feet. Those who venture down into the treacherous cracks and ice caverns will hear it louder still, so close to a human voice that they're almost understandable. They could drive one mad.

To either side of the glacier, stony, green-crawled cliffs rise in sweeping curves to cradle the river of ice, but there's no reaching them. A deep crevasse with crumbling edges bars the way and crosses the glacier uphill, as well. The fourth, final side of the Arena is bounded by the edge of the ice, where it breaks off into the cold, green-white sea.

Supplies
The Cornucopia is your first, most important resource. Around it are scattered the available resources:

Weapons

 * ice axe
 * long wooden spears, too heavy to throw
 * 2 short bows
 * 4 quivers of 12 arrows
 * knives
 * 4 harpoons

Equipment

 * many blank cans, presumed to contain foodstuffs and/or water
 * 10 watertight bags; contents unknown. Each bag contains multiple items from the following list:
 * food
 * water
 * empty watertight bag
 * 50' rope
 * 50' twine
 * folding knife
 * fishing hooks
 * fire-making materials, including wood
 * sleeping bag
 * crampons
 * balaclava
 * snow gloves

This is a glacier, a barren field of ice. There is very little available up here, aside from nesting birds. The birds and their eggs are edible, however, and the nests burn (although with an unholy stink).

Immediate Hazards

 * The cold! A night without shelter alone is almost certainly fatal. Dig into the snow for insulation.
 * The crevasses. The largest are the ones bordering the Arena, but smaller ones yawn everywhere, and not all of them are visible from above. Some are hidden only by thin crusts of rotten snow, ready to swallow a Tribute or a whole party.
 * The water. There are pools and streams of ice-blue melt across the surface, and more in the depths. Falling in is the fastest road to freezing to death.
 * The edge. The seaward edge of the glacier is constantly shedding massive chunks, some as big as the Training Center in the Capitol.

Wildlife

 * The only life on the glacier is numerous small seabirds and the hawks who hunt them. It appears to be their breeding season. Mm, eggs.

Foodstuffs
The only available foods are what comes from the Cornucopia, and the small, fish-flavored seabirds.

Attire
Tributes will be dressed in a warm underlayer, wool sock and gloves, insulated pants, a parka, and boots with soles made for ice (although not so good that the crampons above wouldn't give you a bonus).

Special Arena Notice
Slipping into a crevasses might not be the worse thing to happen to you.

Within this arena, if you slip into one of the crevasses and happen to be a being who has some sort of power, or magic, you suddenly find that power available to you. If/when you reach the surface it is, once again, gone.