The Islands of Winter are in the far northern ocean, a brutally cold climate much of the year. Summers are short and beautiful, with each vale filled with forests of dark blue, green, and russet foliage using different photosynthetic chemicals. Higher slopes are bare tundra and rock with year-round snow.

The islands attracted those people who were fed up with the problems of Prime, Tileus and Rathas. People who wanted to be left alone, who prized their independence. In small groups starting as early as 150 A.T., they formed tribes in each vale, banding together for mutual support. Each tribe chose its own Elders who handled disputes when needed. By a hundred years later, there were enough tribes that they decided a higher form of coordination might be good: the Conclave, where tribal Elders meet to make decisions for all. The first Conclave in 247 A.T. established the name of the country as Winter.

Life is harder in Winter. Storms can be violent. The growing season is short, so they farm with vigor to make use of it. Their primary food source is ocean fishing, and each tribe has a small fleet of boats. In good years, they even have sufficient surplus to trade with Tileus for technology—but much of the technology that is ordinary in other countries is unusual in Winter. They are familiar with holographic displays with haptic and voice controls through their schools. Most homes and businesses, however, do not use them. Some citizens receive implants at age 14 if needed. The InfoNet does extend to the valleys. But again, most citizens of Winter see little need for it.

Technology requires the interconnectedness of civilization. Each component part happens due to specialization. Civilized people trade the results of their specialties so larger items can be built. Winter has chosen independence over technology, because they prize their individuality and wish not to depend on others.

Yet in these last years of Verdant, even the islands of Winter are finding international problems. Missionaries from Rathas come to teach. Political activists from Tileus come to extol democracy. And Prime would still like to retake control over the planet.

Winter people … just want to be left alone.