Snow Haven

Small Town/Tiny City

A seemingly sleepy town in Alaska that sits upon a deep well of ancient magic. The magic has essentially become sentient and believes it is the town. Thus, mysterious and magical things happen in Snow Haven.

Quick Information

Town Name: Snow Haven

County: Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area

State: Alaska

Population: 10,687 (2020 Census)
Previous: 5,030 (2010 Census)

Area Code: 907

Zip Code: 99756

How to Get There:
By car: Highway State Route 26
By boat: Tamana River
By air: Bi-Plane

The Statute is alive and well in Snow Haven, although Snow Haven does have an abnormally large population of supernatural creatures thanks to the well of ancient magic underneath the hot springs.

Alaska, United States. It is just about smack dab in the middle of the area known as the Alaskan Interior. 4 hours southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska by car. (Shorter if going by boat, much shorter if going by plane.)

Snow Haven is set into an imaginary landscape in Alaska, effectively making it an AU version of Earth.

It is heavily based on the RL town of Manley Hot Springs, but the geography in Snow Haven does not exist in that area in real life.

In the scope of Fata Morgana, all of the major landmarks and landscapes have been pulled in by a couple hundred miles in any one direction. The northernmost ridges of the Denali Mountain Range border to the south of town, the Tamana River borders to the north. The town itself runs East-West: the State Route Highway 26 dead ends at the easternmost point in town, and then continuing west past Snow Haven will run you through empty tundra until you hit the Tamana River curving to run south.

In Fata Morgana, the Tamana River empties into the famous Yukon River, and the Yukon River empties into the Bering Sea, meaning the Tamana River has a direct connection to the ocean even though the town is not near the ocean itself. Also, in this universe, the river(s) are wide enough and deep enough to comfortably house all but the largest selkies in their waters. Regardless of how wide or deep those rivers may be IRL.

Snow Haven itself sits in a shallow valley. Most people don't notice because of the amount of water already in town thanks to the hot springs.

Snow Haven’s location in a valley and the temperate climate of the Hot Springs means that the weather in Snow Haven is mild and moderate compared to most locations in Alaska. It also means that, as retribution, Mother Nature decrees the town to have severe turns of weather at odd moments.

The seasons in Snow Haven, Alaska, are broken down into three sections: The Thaw, The Freeze, and Winter.

THE THAW

Consists of spring/summer in Alaska, after the last big ice breakup of the year before winter comes again. This encompasses May, June, and July. Springtime is very short in Alaska and typically the season jumps straight from the winter thaw to summertime. During the Thaw, daylight hours can range from 6:00am to 11:00pm.

THE FREEZE

Consists of late summer and fall time as the first cold snaps begin to hit the state. This encompasses August, September, and October. The hottest temperatures of the year can occur in August, but by September fall is in full swing and by October the first snows of the year are on the ground. During the Freeze, daylight hours are the most normal, average range from 7:00am to 7:00pm.

WINTER

The winter season in Alaska, which consists of 6 months out of the year. November, December, January, February, March, and April. Winters can be harsh in the Alaska Interior, but the hot springs in Snow Haven protect the town itself from the worst of the snows. Temperatures begin to warm in March and April in time for the Thaw. Daylight hours are shortest in Winter, only ranging from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Snow Haven is a small town/budding city in the Alaskan Interior, located four hours southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, by road. Snow Haven is nestled in a valley that was carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago, with the tributary to the Yukon River, called Tamana River, bordering to the north; the northernmost reach of the Denali mountain range to the south; thick, dense evergreen forests to the west; and vast, empty tundra to the east.

It can be reached by road via the highway State Route 26, but the majority of travelers have to come in via boat, or more preferably, via bi-plane. The only way out to the west is via the Tamana River and the only way out to the east is via State Route 26. Thus, Snow Haven is typically a difficult location to get to. The nearest settlement to it is over an hour away. It is the last stop on State Route 26 before the highway dead-ends.

Historically, Snow Haven was known for its Hot Springs: naturally occurring geothermal waters that were said to have almost magical properties. A town was officially founded around these Hot Springs in 1903. The tiny town sustained itself on lumber and mining operations in the nearby mountain range. Its ability to survive harsh Alaskan winters came due to the Hot Springs' more temperate climate.

Nowadays, Snow Haven is almost entirely a wealthy resort town, sustaining itself on tourism and those who come to stay for the Hot Springs, with most local residents as employees of the many businesses in the area.

The town does not, however, advertise itself in any way. In travel magazines and destination websites this town is on a “top 10 best vacation spots you’ve never heard of” and is on the Alaska tourism board’s website as a “forgotten winter lover’s paradise”. It has a yearly population of just over 5,000 people; however the town experienced a huge swell in recent years and the local government states the number has more than doubled during the 2020 census.

Due to its remote location, Snow Haven is completely self-reliant and independent when it comes to town life. They have their own police department, newspaper, radio, bars, nightclubs, mechanics, construction, spas, hotels, ski resorts… there is surprisingly a lot that people can do when not working for a living, due to the hot springs making the town a hit destination for savvy tourists to flock to.

They're not quite big enough to have their own local TV station, but they do have their own cell tower and Internet server station, so they aren't cut off from the world. The town is quite wealthy so they can afford it and afford to maintain upkeep of these places.

• Since May 2018, lots of people have moved to Snow Haven with no real rhyme or reason. They just had a feeling... like they experienced some kind of call.


• The state of Alaska has one of the highest rates of criminal activity, murders, and disappearances in the United States. While Snow Haven is mostly a touristy resort town that prides itself on safety and comfort, it is not immune to the state's overall statistics.


• Snow Haven is not big enough to have its own dedicated airport, but there are several privately owned airstrips in the area, and the town itself uses bi-planes to make water landings in the warmer months and ice landings in the colder months on Tamana River.

Like most American towns, Snow Haven is run by a local government structure and overseen by the state government of Alaska and the federal government of the United States.

Snow Haven's local government is run from Town Hall in the town square, where all government buildings and public access services can be found. The buildings and public access services are mostly clustered around the town square, although some can be found further down Main Street.

The local government consists of a Mayor and a City Council filled by locals, which all positions are elected, and all of the occupations that fall under those roles. As well as a number of departments: the main three being used are the Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Board, and the Department of Fish & Game.

Supernatural Underground Overview

In the world of Fata Morgana, the Supernatural community is a complete secret, living their lives in a separate but equal community known as the 'Supernatural Underground'. So, the Supernatural World is considered "underground" - humanity doesn't know magic or its creatures exist.

All creatures are bound to silence under the International Statute of Secrecy, governed by the International Council and enforced by the Shadow Knights.

The majority of creatures live among humanity and lead ordinary, everyday lives.

Despite their power and their prowess, Supernaturals are not the dominant species of Earth. In a world of seven billion people, only around 700 million or less can be considered supernatural. Humans make up 90% of the population on Earth.

The International Statute of Secrecy

In the early years of Human history, the supernatural world learned the damage Humans could do to their various species. Humans might not have access to magic, but they do have the power of sheer numbers on their side. The supernatural world became fearful that a large enough human force against them would cause their permanent destruction.

This fear sent the entire Supernatural community underground. Representatives from each species formed an International Council, and it was decided that in order to keep their people safe, the Humans could not know of the existence of magic or its creatures.

Every Supernatural creature was sworn to a Statute of Secrecy: No Supernatural could knowingly expose Humans to the Underground. The penalty of breaking the Statute is death. Eventually, knowledge of magic and its creatures faded from Human history into the realms of myth and legend. That is where the Supernatural Underground has remained ever since.

For more information, please see The Shadow Knights page or the Human page.

Snow Haven has existed as a settlement for over 1,000 years, but was officially incorporated as a town in 1903.

People lived in Snow Haven long before the town itself was founded and named as such. Snow Haven has always had a large and thriving Supernatural Underground within its town limits due to the remoteness of its location, the favorable weather conditions, and the fact that the Hot Springs that helped found Snow Haven are, in fact, as magical as people say.

There exists under Snow Haven's Hot Springs a vast, cavernous well of wild magic - magic trapped by natural land formations that did not dissipate over time. It is far too deep underground for anything other than time to reach. It is theorized that the geothermal hot springs have some kind of connection to the undercurrent of magic, because magic permeates the Hot Springs, as well as most of the ground in the valley Snow Haven is located in.

The stuff in Snow Haven is wild magic… magic older than living memory, probably as old as the world itself. Not even the best Mages can understand the true strength and capacity of the magic located under the Hot Springs. Most Supernats take for granted that Snow Haven is a natural home for them and strange, unpredictable, and inexplicable things can sometimes happen to the town and its residents as a result of the wild magic that surrounds them.

The area of the hot springs was originally a safe haven for Shifters and Selkies to survive the harsh winter months in the valley, and native populations used to use the hot springs as a camp. The magical properties of the waters and the lands around the Hot Springs in addition to the natural geothermal aspect makes living and growing things in Snow Haven easier than much of Alaska's Interior.

Mages were drawn to the hot springs due to the cavern of magic running as an undercurrent under the springs, and they established a permanent base of operations in 1899, four years before the town was officially established in the area.

The Plot Overview

Welcome to Snow Haven, Alaska

Snow Haven has always been what the name implies: a safe haven from the snows. And from other things. The Human World and the Supernatural Underground have found homes in Snow Haven, in different ways and for different reasons. In the end, all anyone wants is a safe haven. A place to call home. Some just have to find it in the sleepy resort town of one of the last of America's wild frontiers: the Alaska Interior.

Life is never predictable in Snow Haven. There is always something new around the corner. Each person chooses their story. Their path. Snow Haven is a sandbox to play in, where each person's life story intertwines with another.

What is your role to play in Snow Haven? Where will your story take you?

CHAPTER ONE: THE SUMMONING

Snow Haven has never been a large town. Its remote location and lack of advertising usually discourage all but the wealthy - who tend to treat Snow Haven as their own private resort town - and the most enthusiastic tourists, determined to visit the famous Hot Springs. Its permanent resident population is just over 5,000 people, mostly locals, and some longtime tourists who have become residents.

However, the Chamber of Commerce in Snow Haven noticed something… unusual for the time of year. The Thaw only just began, and yet, people are pouring into Snow Haven in waves. People from all walks of life: rich, poor, young, old, all races, all skin colors… even all species, find themselves at the end of State Route 26 in the resort town of Snow Haven, Alaska.

The Supernatural Underground knows what's happening. They can feel it in the air, in the water. Something in Snow Haven is… calling out. Beckoning people in. Without knowing how or why Humans and Supernaturals heed the call. What's bringing them? Is it the Hot Springs? Is it the magic in the water? Why is it bringing people to Snow Haven?

Only time will tell...

CHAPTER TWO: THE ARRIVAL

They came in droves. Summoned in ways most could not verbally express. Was it a call? A feeling? An urge? A stroke of luck? A turn of Fate? Stories range from broken down trucks on the highway to a dart thrown to land serendipitously on a tiny town on a massive map. Business meetings and job opportunities that turned into permanent living situations. No matter why, or how, they came.

The magic in Snow Haven stirs beneath the Hot Springs. Ever since the super moon touched the town on Halloween, things have not been the same. The call of the moon, and the surge of magical beings in the area, woke something long dormant. Something unnamed, something unknown. Asleep for eons... Now called from its slumber. Like so many of the others brought to this strange place.

As the long night settles over Snow Haven, and the winter snows begin, who knows what may come out of the darkness...

CHAPTER THREE: THE STRETCH

Snow Haven has been shaking.

When the tremors first started, it wasn't alarming. Snow Haven does sit on top of Hot Springs… and Hot Springs mean fault lines and volcanic activity. The occasional tremor was rare, but not unheard of. Usually happened once every couple of years. A light shaking, barely enough to rattle the dishes in the cabinet. Maybe an ill-balanced item fell off a shelf. But no real damage.

But these tremors seemed different. A series of small quakes, one after another, in varying pitches of intensity. Still none more severe than to perhaps knock over a rickety piece of furniture, but there were still some minor injuries from falling objects, and some debris that needed to be cleaned up. Then it stopped… only to begin again a few days later.

Townsfolk began to worry. The tremors dominated the news cycle. Was this a sign of a bigger earthquake to come? Was some volcano about to rise from the depths and erupt? Scientists and investigators of all kinds, Human and Supernatural, flocked to study the strange phenomena… if the Call had not pulled them to town already.

After months of studying and investigation, with the tremors still occurring every once in a while, scientists found… nothing out of the ordinary. There were no active volcanoes in the area to be worried about eruption, no detected movement on the fault lines, no harbinger of an earthquake to come.

In fact, while the Humans were completely stumped as to the cause, the Supernatural scientists among them were left dumbfounded as the tremors did not appear to originate from the fault lines at all; but rather from directly underneath the Hot Springs themselves… and the well of wild magic that is believed to reside there. So deep underground that nothing can reach.

Eventually, with no discernible public cause and with no real damage being done, the tremors faded into just another strange quirk about the resort town. It became a half-paragraph mention in the newspaper or a quick quip on the radio each time one occurred.

If anything, the Chamber of Commerce in Snow Haven leaned into the strange occurrences. They struck a delicate balance between their current advertising, maintaining the idyllic winter lover's paradise and the playground of the wealthy, and now also welcoming in scientists and theorists of all kinds to investigate the 'weird shaking'.

But it's not the scientists or investigators who understand what's going on. Ask any child who has an opinion on the subject, and they'll tell you: Snow Haven - the whole town - feels like it's stretching after a long, long nap.

Winters in Snow Haven

Because none of us have spent the winter in a small Alaskan resort town fueled by magical hot springs, here is a handy guide for what your characters can expect in this setting for the winter season!

The winter season in our setting extends from November 1st until April 30th.

THE LONG NIGHT

So Alaska having six months of darkness is mostly an exaggeration. The furthermost northern cities in Alaska only have 67 days of total darkness, not 6 months, and Snow Haven is not nearly far enough north to have that happen. (Sorry, vampires.)

For most of the winter season, Snow Haven will only have about 7 hours of daylight every 24 hours - that's from around 9am to 4pm every day.

However, from the Winter Solstice on December 21st until the Spring Equinox on March 22nd, Snow Haven falls into its own Long Night. The sun will only be up for 3 hours - from around 11am to 2pm - each day.

If you want to play with it a bit, technically it takes the sun two hours to rise and two hours to set each day, so you will also have some weak light at dawn and dusk to play with. But for all intents and purposes for those months 3 hours is all the sunlight people can get.

After the Spring Equinox, the daylight hours go back to 7 hours each day and begin to extend again until they reach the peak levels of the Thaw season.

THE TEMPERATURE

Snow Haven is not an ordinary Alaskan town. Thanks to its hot springs, and the magic within them, they get to enjoy temperatures that aren't nearly as harsh as what can normally be found in the Alaska Interior. (That's why people love it so much as a resort town, it's inhabitable all year round.)

On a good day, early in the winter season, Snow Haven's average daily temperature sits right about at freezing - 32°F (0°C) - during the day. But temperatures fall into the teens and single digits at night, with an average about 5°F (-15°C).

Once the Long Night hits Snow Haven, and they only get 3 hours of daylight a day, temperatures regularly stay in the single digits, the average being 10°F (-12°C). The nighttime low drops dangerously close to the negatives, about 1°F (-17°C).

After the Spring Equinox in March, when the sun returns and Alaska begins to move into its Thaw season, temperatures return back to the highs of 32°F (0°C) during the day and 5°F (-15°C) during the night.

THE WEATHER

Snow Haven again has the blessing of the springs on its side when it comes to the weather. Snowfall in Snow Haven is not as extreme as the rest of the Interior, hence how it got its name. In town, it only averages between 6-8 inches (15-20cm) of snowfall a month, or 36-42 inches (91-106 cm) for the whole winter season.

However, that blessing only extends to the furthest reaches of the hot springs, and the weather surrounding Snow Haven can be fierce and extremely temperamental. Those who live outside the borders of the hot springs are cautioned to be extra careful and keep up on supplies, and those who live in town are warned to stay put through the winter if there's a forecast of snow.

Freak blizzards, freezing winds, and whiteout conditions are common surrounding Snow Haven, especially during the Long Night. And though rare, those violent weather patterns sometimes find their way into town, too.

• Snow Haven has its own local cell tower and internet server station. It provides cell service and internet for hundreds of miles in what would normally be complete dead zones.


• In the universe of Fata Morgana, the local river is called Tamana River. Someone smudged the translation on the map.


• Since May 2018, lots of people have moved to Snow Haven with no real rhyme or reason. They just had a feeling... like they experienced some kind of call.


• The state of Alaska has one of the highest rates of criminal activity, murders, and disappearances in the United States. While Snow Haven is mostly a touristy resort town that prides itself on safety and comfort, it is not immune to the state's overall statistics.


• Snow Haven is not big enough to have its own dedicated airport, but there are several privately owned airstrips in the area, and the town itself uses bi-planes to make water landings in the warmer months and ice landings in the colder months on Tamana River.