Icewind Dale

South of the great Dragonspire mountains and west of the towering Reghed glacier lies the frigid expanse known as Icewind Dale. This icy land of windswept tundra recently became locked in a perpetual, dark winter without reprieve. Most residents of the Dale blame Auril the Frostmaiden, God of Winter’s Wrath, for the past two years of darkness. The shimmering aurora that weaves across the sky each night is said to be her doing - a potent spell that keeps the sun at bay. Although each town in Ten Towns has resolved to appease the Frostmaiden with sacrifices of one kind or another, including food, warmth and even people, no respite from winter’s fury seems forthcoming.

Ten Towns is a collection of hardy settlements of varied size and openness scattered around the Dale. Once upon a time, those who traveled to this hostile corner of the world did so because they were fugitives, pariahs or outcasts in search of a place where they could be tolerated, if not accepted. Some came here determined to make their fortunes, others simply to hide from the law. Today, four hundred years after the formation of Ten Towns, most folk are here because they were born here, grew up here, and expect to die here. They’re fishers, loggers, hunters, miners and traders accustomed to the harsh climate, the slow pace and the isolation. They wear layers upon layers of woollen clothing often topped with fur cloaks. Outdoors, its hard to tell people of Ten Towns apart - and easy for clever monsters to hide in their midst. For adventurers such as yourselves, Ten Towns seems a place to test ones mettle and leave one’s mark on this frigid, blighted land...

## Active Quests and Sundry

The following quests are each worth 1 level up.

* **Complete Nass's doomed quest**
	+ Dzaan and Vellynne told you that Nass, a diviner and their former companion, travelled to the far North (into the sea of moving ice) to find an artifact of Auril that she believed could crack open the glacier and thus find the power to end the Rime
	+ Find Nass, or her body, and complete her task
* **Rescue Mal**
	+ Last known to be trapped in a dungeon within Targos, having been captured by the adventurers hired by Naerth
	+ Naerth himself is high speaker of Ten Towns and will dictate that all towns undertake triple sacrifices to Auril at the coming Frostmaiden's night
* **Slay the White Wyrm**
	+ Arveiturace has earned the wrath of the fearsome Vrogir. Woe-be-tide her and Auril have mercy.
* **Find the Lost City of Netheril - Ythryn**
	+ Buried under the Reghed Glacier far to the east is rumoured to be an entire (formerly) floating city of Netheril with all manner of magical wonders
	+ Vellynne seeks to reach the city, and has a pact or partnership with Levistus of unknown intent
* **Solve the Endless Winter Night**
	+ The Netherese are said to have used great magical orbs known as Mythallars to levitate their cities and control the weather. Such an artefact may be able to override the Frostmaiden's eternal winter night.

#### Completed quests:

* Dwarven sleds
* A Beautiful Mine
* The White Moose
* Black Cabin
* Nautiloid Down
* Karkolohk Assassination/Rescue
* Invisible Thieves
* Cold-hearted killer
* Duergar Despot
* Servants of Doom and Hope
* Lost Spire of Netheril
* Shield Guardian Recovery
* A Giant and a Betrayal
* Angajuk's Bell

## Key NPCs

* Dzaan -- Human wizard, executed in Easthaven for a string of murders
* Speaker Nimsy Huddle -- Halfling, Lonelywood
* Berry, Darmo and Franco -- Lonelywood
* Ravisin -- Frost Druid killed in Lonelywood
* Speaker Oarus Masthew -- Half-orc, Termalaine
* Trex et al -- Kobolds brought from the mine, Termalaine
* Bo'bano -- weird healer and part-time taxidermist, Termalaine outskirts
* Oyaminartok -- Goliath Werebear, Anywhere in the Dale
* Sanar -- absolute unit, MIA
* Arveiturace -- Ancient white dragon, took Sanar, carries Otes Abiak the dead wizard, lives in Sea of Moving Ice and Reghed Glacier
* Sheriff Markham Southwell -- Sheriff of Bryn Shander (second to Speaker Duvessa Shane)
* Mishani and Copper -- priestess and priest of Lathander, the Dawnfather/Morninglord, Bryn Shander
* Wilberforce -- magician and alchemist, owns Wilberforce's Winter Whimsies magic shop in Bryn Shander
* Scramsax -- Human, owner and proprietor of Northlook Inn/Tavern, Bryn Shander
* Spellix Romwood -- former 'goblin' chieftain in Karkolohk, least seen heading to Easthaven
* Kara -- new recruit of the Family, Easthaven
* Dante -- head of regional Caracuzza interests, Easthaven
* Nymetra and Scython -- Dragonborn proprietor and human main customer of Wet Trout Inn, Easthaven
* Scarlett, Bianca and Timm -- dragonborn yeti hunters, Easthaven, freed from the Hags
* Vellynne Harpell -- albino tiefling, necromancer with kobold and kobold zombie minions, mistress of cult of Levistus, currently with in Bryn Shander
* Kadroth -- obnoxious defacto leader of cult of Levistus, Caer Dineval, murdered and used to summon a devil
* Speaker Trovus -- Silver dragonborn, frequently drunk, Caer Konig
* Hlin Trollbane -- Dwarf bounty hunter, found dead and in possession of Torrga and Sephek, Caer Konig
* Torrga Icevein -- Dwarf bounty hunter, killed, reincarnated and captured by the party in Caer Konig, imprisoned in Bryn Shander
* Sephek Kaltro -- Human undead, killed in Caer Konig
* Cultists of Levistus -- 5 cultists following the party (Mal), last seen setting up a shrine in Easthaven, en route to Bryn Shander
* Nildar Sunblight -- Duergar warrior prince, last seen in Caer Konig prison (/Tavern cellar)
* Durth Sunblight -- Duergar mind master prince, escaped Casino jail from Easthaven
* Xardarok Sunblight -- Duergar Warlord, killed in his forge activating the Chardalyn Dragon
* Grandolpha -- now-ruler of Duergar Fortress, keen to sell fiery underdark ale to the towns
* Speaker Danneth Waylen -- Easthaven
* Speaker Duvessa Shane -- high speaker, Bryn Shander
* Pete Zaria -- Caracuzza chef, makes great dough-tomato-cheese things, minotaur
* Dzaan's simulacrum and Krintaas -- hiding in the Netherese Spire
* Nass? -- third wizard of the Crimson League, last known whereabouts in the Sea of Moving Ice after chartering a pirate vessel

## Optional Rules

#### Improved Mounted Combat

* Mounts make the dash or dodge action and move on its turn (on rider’s initiative, directly before or after)
* Rider can use their bonus action to command the mount to attack or use a different action
* The rider must still use their action if they wish to disengage, which disengages the mount too
* Vaulting attack: the rider can perform a spectacular dismount and attack combo, with an acrobatics or athletics check DC 10 + mount CR:
	+ On a fail they fall prone
	+ On a success the next attack has advantage
* The mount takes the dodge action by default if no other order is given or if it has no rider
* If the mount has no rider, it can only move and dodge

**AXE BEAK:**

As here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/axe-beak

With the following changes:

* Temporary HP = 2 x Rider level
* AC = 11 + Rider PB
* To hit = +4+Rider PB

## Adventure Log (To be updated...)

* Met Dzaan the wizard, who set a task to retrieve a 'Chwinga', quirky elemental beings that he thought might hold the key to the Dale's perpetual winter
* Retrieved a sled of iron ingots for a group of dwarves that had been savagely attacked by a yeti and fled, leaving the sled to be stolen by goblins, thus earning the favour of the dwarf miners
* Traveled to Termalaine and there cleared out a mine that had been overrun by Kobolds and a mysterious tentacled monstrosity from the Underdark
* Befriended the Kobolds (T.Rex et al.) and found them a place in the local town by persuading the speaker (Oarus Masthew) to allow them to live and work there
* Traveled on to Lonelywood, met the speaker (Nimsy Huddle) and hunted down the rumoured White Moose that had been menacing local loggers - also discovered its hideout in an ancient elven tomb in the process
* Met the magically-gifted human that introduced themselves only as 'The Servant of Hope' and was interested to join the slowly forming adventuring party
* Gained ownership of the abandoned Inn in the small town and tracked down an old but precious ring from a local fisherman
* Tracked down a few Chwingas after returning to the woods, two of whom followed the group after a snowball fight and generally fun/curious behaviour
* As day became night on the group's first Frostmaiden's Night (full moon), multiple events transpired:
	+ Received a sending message from Dzaan on the very edge of his presumed death, declaring his own innocence, requesting that they find 'the killer', and then the ancient Netherese Spire
	+ While in speaker Huddle's home, the windows blasted inwards and the visage of a grinning woman appeared in the bitter driving snow - she warned that Ten Towns would fall and Lonelywood would be the first, before screams and roars sounded from outside