Icewind Dale
Characters
The information presented below will be updated as the campaign progresses.
Aurora is a human rogue; she can speak orcish and loves her dagger.
Eilony is a human bard who plays the lyre; she has distinctive purple hair.
Rowan is a half elf, who likes a drink and is often seen holding his quarterstaff.
Wigbald is an elf; who has a small scar underneath his hair, mostly not noticable unless one is looking hard.
Gazetteer
Regional Information (from Volo's guide to the North)
The land north of the Spine of the World that has not yet been covered by the Reghed Glacier is known as the Icewind Dale. The origin of the name is obvious: This region is frequently lashed by howling storms that can flatten buildings and scour shrubs from rock crests. Anything that can't lie down will be smashed or frozen by the winds, and anything that can lie down will be buried by the driven snow. This wild, barren barbarian-infested region is visited by white dragons, crag-cats, and occasionally even glacier remorhaz. There is no sane reason for civilized folk to come here.
The Ten Towns cluster about three lakes: Maer Dualdon, Lac Dinneshere, and Redwaters. These are the only known homes of the knucklehead trout, fish whose fist-sized heads and spiny body bones are akin to fine ivory in hue and appearance.
Greed brings the roughest rogues to this frozen land - it is not a safe place for the idle traveler. The only real exceptions are the longrunners, folk who roam for food and bring firewood from the distant northern flanks of the Spine of the World.
he most important of the Ten Towns is the central, walled, trading town of Bryn Shander. It is here that most travelers will end up, unleess they really want to join the fishing trade. From Bryn Shander, a gravel trail known as the Eastway leads east to Lac Dinneshere, and to the community of Easthaven at its southern end. Caer-Dineval and Caer-Konig stand on the western shore of Lac Dinneshere. Despite their names, no castles stand here - they were once log fortresses. South of Lac Dinneshere is Redwaters, the smallest of the three lakes. The lake was named for a bloody battle where the towns of Good Mead and Dougan's Hole stand.
The tundra between Lac Dinneshere and Maer Dualdon is broken by a thousand-foot high peak called Kelvin's Cairn. According to barbarian legends, the mountain is named for the frost giant hero KElvin Duarol, who was slain here by the god Tempus.
The visitor will find life harsh here, with the 8,000 or so folk of Icewind Dale suspicious of all outsiders. They think of visitors as trouble. Many are fugitives from justice in warmer lands, and all have had to be tough - or die.
Inns
Except for those in Bryn Shander, all the "inns" in the towns of Icewind Dale are places that the visitor will remember for a long time. In most places the inn and tavern are one and the same - most inn/taverns are closer to a rooming house than anything else.
Inns in Bryn Shander
Bloodril's Snug Haven, Faelfaril's Inn, Geldenstag's Rest, The Hooked Knucklehead, The Northlook
These are the oldest and least suitable houses in the settlement. They were built by folk who hadn't yet felt a true northern winter. They stand tall and proud against the icy winds that lash through them.
Shops in Bryn Shander
- Blackiron Blades
- Dwarven establishment. We have a discount here as a result of retriving their iron ingots.
Map
Campaign Sessions
1 - 23rd March 2023
We find ourselves in the Northlook; an Inn in the town of Bryn Shander, one of the ten towns in Icewind Dale. As the newcomers in town, we have all gathered together around one of the tables in the inn. Whilst we are there we overhear rumours of three murders in the past month that has made everyone more on edge than usual; apparently the bodies have been found wtih a dagger of ice through their hearts.
It is around the table that we are approached by a couple of dwarves. They have been forced to flee from a yeti attack as they were bringing their sled of iron ingots into town. They offer us some money (and snowshoes!) to go and retrieve their sled; after some negociations (probably rather bad if I say so myself), we agree to do it at first light tomorrow.
At first light, we set out on the East Road - it takes us many hours of slow walking, and one blizzard until we approach a set of crossroads where we can see the torso sticking out of the snow. I go up to inspect it, pulling it out of the ground and its the torso of a dwarf - arms, legs and insides all pulled off like one would do to a cooked chicken to eat its leg. Closer inspection around shows some fresh tracks made by a sled and some snowshoes - we decide to follow them...
Following the tracks we see upahead the sled, being dragged by some goblins, and further away, a larger wagon. We approach the sled, unseen by the goblins, and whilst I have (what I think) is an aweome plan to frighten them away, Aurora decides to just rush in and slit their throats. Rowan (or RoRo as we've taken to calling him) trips up and falls flat on his face in the snow. Eilony casts vicious mockery at a goblin, causing some damage.
Aurora slits the throat of one goblin, not killing it completely but enough to put it prone. I attempt to use my Scimitar on it and fail entirely to do anything useful besides waving it around a bit. One day I'll get better. Second time around, i manage to completely screw up the scimitar use and gain a scar on my head (rolling a pair of snake-eyes. Sure this roll will be better with advantage! What are the odds.). Oh well; that'll teach me. We do manage to dispatch a few of the goblins; I even manage to cast green-flame blade which I should have done to start with, killing one goblin off and immolating another. They do end up running back towards the other wagon; whilst I try to chase after them, Aurora throws her dagger (and loses it in the snow). An arrow, probably fired from a shortbow in the wagon strikes Eilony in the shoulder; one fired towards RoRo misses and vanishes into the snow. RoRo lobs a firebolt at the wagon, setting it alight. We don't really care about the goblins now as they are now retreating and pose no further threat to us, so we end up pushing the sled back to Bryn Shander, taking all night.
Back in Bryn Shander, we return the sled (and the iron) to the dwarves and get our reward (~14gp each). As we settle down in the evening, we're beckoned by someone in the shadows of the inn to join them at their table.