Before the war, the Cold City had stood tall and proud on a cliff side overlooking the Frozen Sea, its walls impenetrable and its power known and feared across the whole world. However, the people that lived within its walls lived in an uneasy and unspoken truce, between the General and his followers, and the all-female advisors, known as the Frost, to the royals. It was dangerous and chilling time, you had to be on a side, but you couldn't let anyone know whose side you were on, for fear of what it might mean in the future.
War was on the horizon, but the outcome of such a conflict remained unclear.
The General's men had had enough of feeling inferior to the icy immortals who commanded the Kingdom, as had most of the common people, and sooner or later, they were going to break free.
The Frost was made of women gifted with power and immortality at young ages, and they were supposed to guide and advise the rulers of the Cold Kingdom in any way they could, as neutral parties, and they also had one very special job. When the heir of the thrown came of age, a few members of the Frost were able to detect where the young rulers partner was, usually identifiable by a tattoo-like mark on their back, that appeared then grew the longer they were left unfound. With the Frosts help, the mates of the heirs were found quickly and easily and the Kingdom prospered.
One problem with the system being so good was that the Frost remained unchallenged in their gradually growing power, for fear they would stop helping the royals. They grew greedy, they wanted to rule the Kingdom rather than just advise those who did. The women of the Frost felt they were superior to the 'talentless' royals, so they took over, until the royal family were nothing more than figure heads, behind which the real leaders hid.
But in their great era of power, they grew complacent from being unchallenged; they grew to believe that no one could ever stand against the all-powerful chilling women of the Frost.
That's where the General came in.
The rebellion he led was quick and sudden, it struck right at the heart of the Frost, killing their leader, and eliminating any others in the vicinity. The remainder of the once great Frost were mostly imprisoned and burnt at the stake later, with the exception of a few of the younger ones, who were kept to be proper advisors to the new government, and the wiser ones, who fled with their lives.
Those who escaped became legends, seemingly untouchable myths, still hunted to the day. Those who fled were known as the Runners.