Katabatic winds sweep down from the Reghed Glacier, ceaselessly battering anything that dares to grow or breathe in Icewind Dale. Without fail, these winds find their way through every chink and crack, every opening in the warmest furs, every tent flap, every roof and board of the strongest homes, draining away any hint of warmth.
The sun, held down below the horizon by the Frostmaiden’s magic, offers no respite from winter’s fury. The days are twilit, the nights dark. As Auril casts her nightly spell, a curtain of light weaves across the starry sky to keep the dawn at bay—an aurora that portends an everlasting winter. Storms bring driving hail and sleet that leaves everything coated in a sheath of ice. Snow piles in deep drifts and blocks all trails leading south to warmer lands. The ice cliffs of the Reghed Glacier rise in the east like prison walls, while the snow-capped peaks of the Spine of the World loom to the south. North and west, the Sea of Moving Ice churns icebergs and floes in a deadly tumult, like winter grinding its teeth in anticipation of its next freezing assault.
Trapped in winter’s cold embrace, nomadic humans follow herds of reindeer through their migrations, while others dare the treacherous waters of the Sea of Moving Ice in search of fish, seals, walruses, and whales to sustain them. Dwarves dig into the earth to seek shelter and mine for iron. Meanwhile, folk descended from foolhardy and treasure-mad immigrants eke out meager lives in Ten-Towns, which can barely hold back the wind, let alone marauding orcs, giants, and fierce tundra yeti.
Despite the unnatural cold and other dangers, people still brave the journey to reach this harsh winterscape, searching for opportunity and adventure.
Running This Chapter
This chapter takes the adventure beyond Ten-Towns into the far reaches of Icewind Dale, to places the adventurers might visit as they investigate tall tales or undertake quests. These adventure locations are scattered across Icewind Dale, as shown on map 2.1. Also marked on this map are the remote locations featured in chapters 3, 6, and 7.
Character Advancement
Although this chapter is designed for characters of 4th level or higher, some of its random encounters and locations are more dangerous than others. The characters might need to run away and regroup, or take short or long rests between encounters, if they’re going to survive.
In this chapter, you decide how quickly the characters advance in level. Treat the following as recommendations:
- The characters gain a level after spending two or three game sessions exploring Icewind Dale.
- The characters gain a level for neutralizing the threats in two or three of the dangerous locations described in this chapter.
- The characters gain a level if they accomplish an extraordinary feat, such as ending the feud between the goliath clans of Skytower Shelter and Wyrmdoom Crag, or surviving a close encounter with Arveiaturace the White Wyrm.
Once the characters reach 7th level, they should no long gain levels by exploring locations or surviving random encounters in this chapter. Instead, direct them to the locations described in chapters 5 through 7.
Tall Tales in Ten-Towns
By the time the characters reach 3rd level, they have garnered enough of a reputation that NPCs in Ten-Towns will share tall tales with them. When the player characters are ready to explore more of Icewind Dale, use the Tall Tales in Ten-Towns table to entice them.
You can either choose which tales to share with the players, or you can ask each player to roll once on the table. Let the players decide which tales (if any) they want to investigate.
Tall Tales in Ten-Towns
| d20 | Tale |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | “They say the Frostmaiden lives on a misty isle hidden among the bergs in the Sea of Moving Ice. There’s a mighty strange whale with a boat on its back that swims in those frigid waters. I bet it knows where the island is! You can catch the whale at Angajuk’s Bell, an old anchorage, but you must ring the bell hanging by the pier to call it.” (See “area Angajuk’s Bell") |
| 3–4 | “There’s this old black cabin that’s been around forever. No one knows who built it, and lots of folks got a bad feeling about it. Some say it’s haunted, but there’s a gnome in Bryn Shander who claims that magical experiments are being performed there. The gnome’s name is Copper, and you’ll find him at the House of the Morninglord.” (See “area House of the Morninglord” and “area Black Cabin") |
| 5–6 | “Nabira Moarskull, an Easthaven fisher, owned an enchanted fishhook that could catch magical fish. While she and her friends were out on the ice one day, a pair of filthy gnolls attacked them. They killed Nabira and stole her fishing pole and hook. Hunters from Easthaven tracked the gnolls to an icy rift in the ground but were too scared to go farther.” (See “area Cackling Chasm") |
| 7–8 | “Head northwest out of Bremen, an' you’ll see a pirate ship frozen in the ice less than a quarter mile from shore. No one’s sure where it came from, but it’s not goin' anywhere so long as this dark winter lasts. I bet its hold is full o' treasure!” (See “area Dark Duchess") |
| 9–10 | “Did you see the weird comet that fell out of the sky a week ago? It went down in the mountains south of Ten-Towns, not too far away. Since then, some folk have been receiving mental messages in a language they can’t make out. I think the comet might have something to do with that, and I bet you could find it easily enough, even in this weather.” (See “area Id Ascendant") |
| 11–12 | “Frost giants ruled this land long ago. Their leaders, the jarls, would meet atop a hill to the west to settle disputes. Their thrones still rest on that hill.” (See “area Jarlmoot") |
| 13–14 | “Goblin scavengers prowl the tundra on the backs of wolves or in wagons. They also like to ambush travelers on the Ten Trail on this side of the mountain pass. Well, a group of trappers found the goblins' fortress in the mountains. Someone should go there and wreck it.” (See “area Karkolohk") |
| 15–16 | “Did you hear what happened to that evil wizard in Easthaven? They tied him to a stake and lit him on fire! Why? ‘Cause he hired some Ten-Towners to help him find a buried tower, then killed ‘em to keep its location secret. Well, one of ‘em told me where the tower’s at! I wouldn’t go myself, but maybe it’s somethin’ you’d like to explore.” (See “area Lost Spire of Netheril") |
| 17 | “If you’re looking for something hidden in Icewind Dale, the people you should talk to are the Reghed nomads. They know every inch of this land and all its secrets. The tricky part is finding them. They tend to follow the reindeer herds.” (See “area Reghed Tribe Camp") |
| 18 | “I keep telling everyone the Everlasting Rime isn’t the Frostmaiden’s doing. It’s actually the Arcane Brotherhood, plotting another takeover of Ten-Towns! A wizard who was burned at the stake in Easthaven admitted to being one of them, and he said there are other Arcane Brotherhood wizards lurking among us. Vaelish Gant is behind it all, no doubt. The scoundrel is locked away in Revel’s End, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. Someone should find out what he knows!” (See “area Revel’s End") |
| 19–20 | “We don’t see goliaths much around here, but there are two feuding clans in the Spine of the World. I bet if someone from Ten-Towns were to help them put aside their differences, all the goliaths would benefit. I’d sure like to meet a goliath someday!” (See “area Skytower Shelter” and “area Wyrmdoom Crag") |
Icewind Dale Quests
Instead of enticing players with the tall tales in the previous section, you can use any or all of the following quests to entice characters into exploring the locations described in this chapter.
Whale Oil Acquisition
Angajuk’s Bell quest (see “area Angajuk’s Bell")
Ten-Towners need whale oil to keep their stoves and lamps lit, and most of that oil comes from whale hunters on the Sea of Moving Ice, which has grown more tempestuous and difficult to navigate in recent months. Helka Jaggerath (half-elf commoner), a whale oil merchant in Bryn Shander, hires the characters to serve as her bodyguards as she travel to Angajuk’s Bell and rings the bell to summon the whale. There, they must help her persuade the awakened sperm whale to ferry them to the whalers camped on the ice floes of the Sea of Moving Ice so that Helka can buy as many casks of whale oil as she can.
Each cask of whale oil weighs 50 pounds and costs 25 gp. Helka has 300 gp, which is enough to buy six casks of whale oil and to pay the characters 150 gp for their help getting the casks safely back to Bryn Shander. She expects the entire expedition to last a tenday, assuming Angajuk cooperates. Helka cautions the characters not to tell Angajuk what’s in the casks, since the truth might upset the whale. Her plan is to tell Angajuk that the casks contain fish oil, not whale oil.
Provisions for Macreadus
Black Cabin quest (see “area Black Cabin")
Copper Knobberknocker, a gnome acolyte of Lathander staying at the House of the Morninglord in Bryn Shander (see “area House of the Morninglord"), is worried about his friend, Macreadus, who’s trying to build a device that can end the Everlasting Rime and return summer to Icewind Dale. Copper asks the characters to bring provisions to Macreadus at the Black Cabin and make sure he’s all right. Because the gnome has paid for the provisions, he can’t offer a reward; however, Mishann, the priest who runs the House of the Morninglord, offers free healing to those who complete Copper’s quest and return.
Gnoll Heads
Cackling Chasm quest (see “area Cackling Chasm")
Trovus, the dragonborn speaker of Caer-Konig, considers gnolls to be a clear and present danger to his town. He knows that a group of these savage predators has taken refuge in the Cackling Chasm and offers the characters 10 gp for each gnoll head they bring back to him.
Zero Rum
Dark Duchess quest (see “area Dark Duchess")
The tavernkeepers of Five-Tavern Center in Bremen are bemoaning their dwindling supplies of ale and spirits, but they’ve heard rumors of a pirate ship stuck in the ice off the coast—and where there’s a pirate ship, there might be rum! The tavernkeepers hire the characters to search the ship’s hold and bring back any alcoholic beverages they find, offering to pay a fair price plus a 150 gp incentive. Although this quest cannot be completed, because the ship’s crew left behind no rum or other alcoholic beverages for the characters to purloin, other treasures aboard the ship far surpass what the tavernkeepers of Bremen could offer as a reward, so the quest is not without merit.
Distress Signal
Id Ascendant quest (see “area Id Ascendant")
The characters are approached by four psychically sensitive Ten-Towners (human Commoner) who have been kept awake by a telepathic distress signal that it seems only they can hear. They were drawn together by this common experience. They don’t understand the message (which is in Deep Speech) but know the direction it’s coming from. They offer the characters 250 gp to investigate the source of the signal and silence it, if only so they can get a good night’s sleep. These Ten-Towners are briefly described below:
- Vedda Starsprit, a stocky, paranoid, 30-year-old trapper with exotropia
- Nars Beldrun, a tall, heavyset, 33-year-old shipwright from Targos who complains about everything
- Telvaster Hangingbell, a 25-year-old man from a well-off merchant family in Neverwinter, looking to escape his responsibilities
- Kaska Lang, a 30-year-old author writing a mystery novel about a series of fictional murders in Ten-Towns
Yselm’s Way
Jarlmoot quest (see “area Jarlmoot")
Yselm Bloodfang, a human frost druid (see appendix C), is a former Reghed nomad of the Tiger Tribe who gave up the nomadic lifestyle and settled in Ten-Towns three years ago, before Auril’s everlasting winter beset Icewind Dale. A secret Auril worshiper, Yselm is known throughout Ten-Towns as a skilled wilderness guide. She recently encountered an avatar of the Frostmaiden—a female figure made of snow—that commanded her to find the characters and lead them to their doom. To that end, Yselm approaches the characters and claims to be looking for work. She tells them about Jarlmoot (“a circle of giant thrones on a haunted hilltop”) and offers to lead them there for 25 gp. “On nights of the full moon,” she adds, “the spirit of Reggaryarva, jarl of jarls, will open his treasure vault to anyone who defeats his champion.”
Yselm knows the way to Jarlmoot but doesn’t help the characters fight any threats they encounter on the way, nor will she enter the circle of thrones or assist in the battle against Reggaryarva’s champion. If the characters overcome the challenges posed by Reggaryarva, Yselm betrays and attacks them. A winter wolf sent by the Frostmaiden joins the fray on Yselm’s side. Both villains fight to the death.
Peace Out
Karkolohk quest (see “area Karkolohk")
A goblin messenger from Karkolohk was recently captured in Bryn Shander and found to be carrying a declaration of peace from Chief Yarb-Gnock, addressed to Speaker Duvessa Shane. Yarb-Gnock would like Speaker Shane to send delegates to Karkolohk to conduct “treaty negotiations.” Sherriff Markham Southwell doesn’t believe a word of Yarb-Gnock’s message and offers a reward of 300 gp for the goblin chieftain’s head.
Upon arriving at Karkolohk, the characters discover that the declaration of peace is either a genuine attempt to end hostilities with Ten-Towns, or a desperate ploy by Yarb-Gnock to lure adventurers to Karkolohk to that they can help him escape. As the DM, you get to determine Yarb-Gnock’s true intentions (see “area Gnome Diplomacy” for more information).
Hunt for the Red Yeti
Lost Spire of Netheril quest (see “area Lost Spire of Netheril")
Yeti are growing bold and striking closer to Ten-Towns than ever before, going so far as to venture onto frozen lakes to attack ice fishers. Local merchants who earn a living selling yeti hides and meat are offering up to 100 gp for every dead yeti brought back to Ten-Towns.
A hunter named Mylbor Tafferac (neutral evil human gladiator with
The characters’ search for the Red Yeti leads to the accidental discovery of the Lost Spire of Netheril. Only after the characters explore the lost spire and return to Ten-Towns do they discover the Red Yeti is dead—found and killed by the incomparable Mylbor Tafferac.
Wolf Tribe Cannibals
Reghed Tribe Camp quest (see “area Reghed Tribe Camp")
After several furriers and trappers disappear without a trace, a representative of the Wolf Tribe named Aluka (chaotic good werewolf in human form) comes to Ten-Towns with a warning: a Wolf Tribe camp under the command of an evil chieftain named Sangra Grisgir is resorting to cannibalism to survive. The furriers and trappers are merely the camp’s latest victims, and more disappearances are likely to occur unless the cannibals are dealt with. Aluka gives directions to the camp, but she can’t risk an all-out war within her tribe, hence her decision to let Ten-Towns and the characters deal with the problem.
The Wolf Tribe cannibals have eaten all their sled dogs and their elderly. Even the children have been forced to resort to cannibalism to survive. If the characters act quickly, they can save the life of a lightfoot halfling trapper (commoner) named Honeybee Littlebucket, who has managed to stay alive by convincing the Wolf tribesfolk that she can catch snowshoe hares for them to eat. So far, Honeybee’s traps have caught nothing, and her time (and Chief Grisgir’s patience) is quickly running out.
Behind Bars
Revel’s End quest (see “area Revel’s End")
Duvessa Shane, the speaker of Bryn Shander, is worried about rumors that the Arcane Brotherhood has sent operatives to Ten-Towns. She suspects that Vaelish Gant, an Arcane Brotherhood wizard incarcerated at Revel’s End, might have information to share. Duvessa asks the characters to question Gant and find out what he knows about Arcane Brotherhood activity in Ten-Towns, offering a reward of 250 gp if they obtain useful information. She also gives the party a signed letter notifying Gant that, in exchange for his cooperation, Duvessa will petition the Lords’ Alliance for a reduction in Gant’s sentence. If the characters get nothing out of the prisoner, Duvessa asks them to inform the prison warden that the Arcane Brotherhood might be plotting a jailbreak to free Gant. While there are no indications that a jailbreak is imminent, Duvessa avails herself of this opportunity to make Gant’s life worse.
A Goliath Problem
Skytower Shelter quest (see “area Skytower Shelter")
Kwan the Monolith Akannathi, a goliath warrior (see area appendix C), left Skytower Shelter on a quest to find Oyaminartok but ended up in Ten-Towns, where she indulged her addiction to games of chance. She recently dishonored herself by resorting to thievery to cover her gambling debts. Now she wants to atone. She asks the characters to help her return to Skytower Shelter and convince Arn, chieftain of the Akannathi clan, to put aside grievances and unite the goliaths of Skytower Shelter and Wyrmdoom Crag toward a common purpose: bringing an end to the Frostmaiden’s everlasting winter. Kwan has a stolen
Dragon Bone Stew
Wyrmdoom Crag quest (see “area Wyrmdoom Crag")
Dannika Graysteel, a scholar whom the characters might know from an earlier quest (see “area Starting Quest: Nature Spirits"), asks the characters to bring her some white dragon bones. Dannika has acquired a recipe for a magical stew that imparts the same benefit as a
Although the recipe is genuine, Dannika doesn’t realize that consuming dragon bone stew also causes madness, inflicting upon those who drink it the greed and paranoia of a dragon, which can be cured only by a
Wilderness Encounters
As the adventurers explore Icewind Dale, they might come upon friendly, indifferent, or hostile creatures in the wild. Such encounters can create suspense, reinforce the perilous nature of the setting, or create fun roleplaying opportunities.
You decide if and when random encounters occur. Use them judiciously. One or two per game session is usually enough.
If you’re not sure how often to schedule random encounters in a 24-hour period, you can leave it to chance by rolling a
Number of Wilderness Encounters
| d8 | Number of Encounters |
|---|---|
| 1 | One encounter in the morning (dawn to noon) |
| 2 | One encounter in the afternoon (noon to dusk) |
| 3 | One encounter in the evening (dusk to midnight) |
| 4 | One encounter at night (midnight to dawn) |
| 5–6 | Two encounters; roll a |
| 7–8 | No random encounter |
Running Wilderness Encounters
When you’re ready to stage an encounter in the wilderness, roll two 20-sided dice of different colors. The first
- Roll the encounter die and consult the Random Wilderness Encounters table to determine what the characters come across.
- Roll the blizzard die and add 1. If this total is higher than the encounter die roll, the encounter takes place during a blizzard (see “area Blizzards"). The blizzard starts
1d4 hours before the encounter is triggered and ends1d4 hours after it is resolved.
The Random Wilderness Encounters table is structured so that certain monsters are more likely to be encountered in a blizzard than others. For example, at the two extremes, yetis are always encountered in a blizzard, whereas perytons almost never are.
Some the random encounters are designed to test the characters in battle, while others encourage roleplaying. All of them paint a picture of Icewind Dale as a harsh realm full of a wide variety of creatures struggling to survive. An encounter’s difficulty—noted as Easy, Medium, Hard, or Deadly in the Difficulty column of the Random Wilderness Encounters table—assumes the characters are 4th, 5th, or 6th level. It’s okay for some encounters to be easy and others to be hard or deadly. Easy encounters build players' confidence; hard and deadly encounters force players to weigh their characters' options and think outside the box. If the characters find themselves in a tough spot, give the players time to try to find a way out of it, encourage them to be creative, and award inspiration when appropriate.
Random Wilderness Encounters
| d20 | Encounter | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | area Yeti | Varies |
| 2 | area Goliath werebear | Easy |
| 3 | area Crag cats | Easy |
| 4 | area Coldlight walker | Medium |
| 5 | area Ice troll | Hard |
| 6 | area Frost druid and friends | Medium |
| 7 | area Chardalyn berserkers | Hard |
| 8 | area Frost giant riding a mammoth | Deadly |
| 9 | area Battlehammer dwarves | Easy |
| 10 | area Arveiaturace (ancient white dragon) | Deadly |
| 11 | area Snowy owlbear | Easy |
| 12 | area Gnolls | Medium |
| 13 | area Orcs of the Many-Arrows tribe | Hard |
| 14 | area Goliath party | Medium |
| 15 | area Chwinga | Easy |
| 16 | area Awakened beast | Easy |
| 17 | area Icewind kobolds | Easy |
| 18 | area Humans | Easy |
| 19 | area Herd of beasts | Easy |
| 20 | area Perytons | Medium |
Encounters (A-C)
Arveiaturace
Known to Ten-Towners as the White Wyrm, Arveiaturace is an ancient white dragon that lairs atop the Reghed Glacier. She remains the most fearsome predator in Icewind Dale, although age has clouded her eyes with cataracts, limiting the range of her vision to 60 feet. Her
At one time, Arveiaturace served a wizard named Meltharond, whose frozen corpse remains strapped to a saddle on the dragon’s back. Arveiaturace has never acknowledged his death and still speaks to his body as if he were alive. He was, while he lived, her only friend and confidant.
Running the Encounter
If this encounter takes place during a blizzard, the dragon is buried under heavy snow, waiting out the storm with her outstretched wings lying flat at her sides. Her rider is visible above the surface, looking like a frozen, desiccated corpse sitting in the snow. If the characters are close enough to touch the corpse, they’re already on the dragon’s back. If they attack or otherwise disturb Meltharond’s corpse, the dragon tries to shake them off. Each creature on the dragon’s back when she rises out of the snow must succeed on a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw or fall
If this encounter doesn’t occur during a blizzard, the characters see Arveiaturace in the sky or on the ground. If she’s on the ground, she’s eating a polar bear or a herd of reindeer that she has killed with her breath weapon. If this encounter occurs on the Sea of Moving Ice, the characters see the dragon erupt from the water nearby with a dead walrus in her mouth; then she flies back to the Reghed Glacier to devour her meal. As long as the characters keep their distance, the White Wyrm ignores them.
Awakened Beast
The frost druids of Icewind Dale use
Running the Encounter
An awakened beast looks the same as its normal counterpart, except for a hint or gleam of intelligence in its eyes. It can be neutral or evil, at your discretion. An awakened beast’s task is to spy on the characters and ascertain where they might be headed, then report back to its master—the frost druid who awakened it. This druid might be nearby or many miles away (your choice). For more information about frost druids, see appendix C.
The awakened beast that the characters encounter is smart enough to stay out of harm’s way. If the beast is a dangerous predator such as a bear, tiger, or wolf, it keeps its distance from the adventuring party so as not to provoke the characters into attacking it. If it is harmed, the awakened beast retreats to a safe distance. If it’s cornered and doesn’t like its chances of survival, it bargains or pleads for its life. An awakened beast knows its territory well and can point characters to nearby locations of interest, food sources, or safe places to rest in exchange for its safety.
An awakened beast can be persuaded to help the characters, and perhaps even join the party for a time. Convincing a neutral awakened beast to travel with the party requires an offering of food or shelter accompanied by a successful DC 10 Charisma (
If asked to give its name, the awakened beast either comes up with a name on the fly or adopts a suggested name that it likes. If you’re having trouble coming up with a voice for the awakened beast, try mimicking the speech of a cartoon character or a famous actor.
Awakened Beast Encounter
| d8 | Awakened Beast |
|---|---|
| 1 | Polar bear |
| 2 | Arctic fox (see appendix C) |
| 3 | Snowshoe hare (see appendix C) |
| 4 | Snowy owl |
| 5 | Reindeer (use the elk stat block) with glow-in-the-dark antlers that emit dim light in a 10-foot radius |
| 6 | Woolly rhinoceros |
| 7 | Saber-toothed tiger |
| 8 | Wolf |
Battlehammer Dwarves
The shield dwarves of Clan Battlehammer have iron mines throughout the valley that extends from the base of Kelvin’s Cairn. The characters cross paths with a group of
Running the Encounter
The dwarves are eager to get back to the valley and indifferent toward adventurers. A character can shift the dwarves' attitude to friendly by speaking to them in Dwarvish. Although the dwarves are grim, which is understandable given the inclement weather, they’re neither violent nor spoiling for a fight.
If a stat block becomes necessary, the dwarves are lawful good Battlehammer Dwarf, with these changes:
- Dwarf Traits: They have a walking speed of 25 feet and
darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. They speak Common and Dwarvish. They have advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance against poison damage. - They wield handaxes and light crossbows instead of shortswords and longbows.
Here are some dwarf names, in case you need them: Bevris, Bolhild, Darrak, Dworic, Fallthra, Gardain, Harbek, Holst, Jarana, Kalanor, Morgrail, Nora, Nordak, Olunt, and Ulf.
Chardalyn Berserkers
The characters encounter
The berserkers retain vestiges of their former lives, including the thick clothing they wore as Reghed nomads, but their garments are torn and in need of repair.
Frostmaiden’s Ring
One berserker wears a magic ring made of ice on one finger. The characters notice this ring if they search the dead berserker for treasure. Inscribed on it is a tiny, six-pointed snowflake—the Frostmaiden’s symbol. If the ring is taken from the dead berserker, the ring disappears and all creatures within 100 feet of it are engulfed in swirling snow and teleported to the icy path that leads to the Cave of the Berserkers (see “area Cave of the Berserkers"). There is no saving throw to resist this teleportation effect.
Chwinga
Chwingas are elemental spirits that mean no harm. They adapt quickly to almost any natural setting and occasionally offer supernatural gifts to those they glom onto. But a blizzard can drive a chwinga insane, causing it to behave unpredictably until the blizzard passes.
The characters encounter a chwinga (see appendix C) that makes its presence known by springing out of a snowdrift or appearing from behind a frozen bush. It looks like a spindly, snow-white doll wearing a decorative mask. In its tiny hands it holds a frozen berry, which it offers to the characters.
Running the Encounter
If the chwinga is sane, the frozen berry is a harmless gift—a friendly offering with a sweet taste. If the chwinga is insane, the frozen berry is bitter, and a character who eats it takes 1 poison damage and must succeed on a DC 8 Constitution saving throw or be
If this isn’t the characters' first random encounter with a chwinga in Icewind Dale, you can substitute another gift for the frozen berry, such as a handful of snowflakes that won’t melt for 24 hours or a beautifully carved icicle that melts like normal ice. If the chwinga is mad, it might blow the snowflakes into a character’s eyes to cause temporary blindness or stab a character with the icicle for 1 piercing damage.
After imparting its gift, a sane chwinga behaves as described in appendix C. An insane chwinga disappears into the snow, then follows the characters and tries to steal little objects weighing 1 pound or less from them. (Stolen items are then hidden in the snow and probably lost.) Whenever it tries to steal something from a character, a chwinga must make a Dexterity (
Coldlight Walker
In the dark gloom of winter, this coldlight walker (see appendix C) stands out like a beacon. Characters can see its light long before they can discern its form. The walker doesn’t care that its light betrays its presence. As soon as it detects the characters, it closes in for the kill.
Running the Encounter
The coldlight walker is the undead remnant of a Reghed nomad or the shambling corpse of an unfortunate Ten-Towner who was cast naked into the tundra as a sacrifice to Auril and perished from exposure (see “area Sacrifices to Auril").
If this encounter takes place during a blizzard, the characters experience the added terror of the Frostmaiden’s whisper on the wind, telling them, “This is the doom that awaits you all. This is the fate of any who dare to claim what is mine. Behold the final light.”
Crag Cats
Roll a
Running the Encounter
Make one Dexterity (
If one or two crag cats are encountered, they stalk the characters but keep their distance, hoping to pick off individuals who becomes separated from the rest of the party. These crag cats aren’t brave or foolish enough to attack a group that outnumbers them.
If three or four crag cats are encountered, their numbers embolden them. They attack the adventuring party like a well-coordinated pack, focusing their attacks on the party member who looks the weakest and least armored. If two or more crag cats die, the others retreat.
Encounters (F-H)
Frost Druid and Friends
A frost druid (see appendix C) approaches the characters in the form of a mountain goat or a snowy owl. The frost druid, who is human and can be of any gender, is joined by three creatures that are beneficiaries of the druid’s
Running the Encounter
The frost druid aims to kill the characters or send them scurrying back to Ten-Towns. If the druid is killed or captured, its awakened companions behave as intelligent humans would when faced with the loss of their leader: either their morale breaks and they flee, or they become enraged and fight to the bitter end.
One of the frost druid’s prepared spells is
Frost Druid Friends
| d4 | Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1 | Awakened tree (coniferous only) |
| 2 | Awakened mountain goat (see appendix C) |
| 3 | Awakened reindeer (use the elk stat block) with glow-in-the-dark antlers that emit dim light in a 10-foot radius |
| 4 | Awakened walrus (see appendix C) |
Frost Giant Riding a Mammoth
Even a raging blizzard can’t conceal the presence of a frost giant riding a mammoth, as the earth rumbles and trembles with every one of the mammoth’s heavy footfalls.
Running the Encounter
The frost giant has come down from the Spine of the World mountains to hunt for wild game on the tundra or on the shores of the Sea of Moving Ice. If the characters hide in the snow and keep their distance, the giant and its mount continue unimpeded, and the encounter ends without bloodshed.
Characters who confront the giant and the mammoth are in for the fight of their lives, for the evil giant is happy to claim their heads as trophies as well as their treasures. In addition to its greataxe, the giant carries a large net that it uses to catch walruses and seals, as well as an enormous lance made from a sharpened mast that it uses to spear creatures while it is mounted. This lance deals 25 (
A character who speaks Giant can use an action to try to change the frost giant’s attitude from hostile to indifferent, either by offering it treasure worth at least 1,000 gp or by convincing it that the party is on a quest that would benefit frost giants in some way. For example, the frost giant considers Arveiaturace (see “area Arveiaturace") a natural enemy and might spare adventurers who claim to be hunting the great white dragon. The giant might also allow characters to pass unmolested if they claim to be on a quest for the spirits of Jarlmoot (see “area Jarlmoot"). Changing the giant’s attitude in this way requires a successful DC 17 Charisma (
Gnolls
Ravenous and horrifying are the gnolls that prowl Icewind Dale. Only their small numbers keep them from ravaging Ten-Towns, gutting its residents, and wearing their torn-out ribcages as hats. The characters encounter a hungry pack of
These gnolls come from the Cackling Chasm (see “area Cackling Chasm"), which provides them with shelter. Gnolls that are captured can lead the characters back to their lair, where they hope to gang up on the characters after luring them there.
Running the Encounter
The gnolls are forced to range far and wide in search of food. Their hunger overrides their reason, such that they fight until being captured or killed. Any element of surprise the gnolls might gain by attacking the characters during a blizzard is lost because the creatures can’t contain their excitement. Their anticipatory cackling betrays them.
Goliath Party
The characters come across four Goliath Warrior (see area appendix C). They stride through the snow in single file, spaced about 10 feet apart.
Running the Encounter
These goliaths are either members of the Akannathi clan from Skytower Shelter (see “area Skytower Shelter") or members of the Thuunlakalaga clan from Wyrmdoom Crag (see “area Wyrmdoom Crag"). The Skytower goliaths are indifferent toward the characters, but the Wyrmdoom goliaths are friendly.
The goliaths might be involved in a quest, a scavenger hunt, or an elaborate dare. They might also be looking for Oyaminartok (see the “area Goliaths” entry in area appendix C) or searching for a friend who got separated from them in a blizzard. They won’t attack characters out of hand, but Wyrmdoom goliaths might challenge one or more characters to an athletic contest. If the characters accept this challenge, roll on the Athletic Contests table to determine what game the goliaths propose. The goliaths are mostly interested in bragging rights, but they’re open to other possible rewards. For example, the characters might propose that the losing team carry the winning team’s gear for a day.
Athletic Contests
| d4 | Contest |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tug o' War. Two teams grip opposite ends of a 50-foot-long rope: the goliaths on one side, the adventuring party on the other. The teams need not have the same number of members, and the goliaths have no objection to being outnumbered. If the sum of the characters' combined Strength scores is higher than the sum of the goliaths' combined Strength scores, the characters win the tug o' war. If the sums are the same, the contest ends in a draw. Otherwise, the goliaths win. |
| 2 | Hand Standing. Each participant must do a handstand and hold that position for as long as possible. The contest ends when the majority of one team can’t hold their handstands and either give up or fall over. Resolve the contest using DC 10 Strength ( |
| 3 | Shrub Pulling. Two frozen shrubs of roughly equal size are located nearby, and each team picks a champion. Whichever champion uproots their shrub first wins the contest for their team. The champions make one or more simultaneous DC 20 Strength ( |
| 4 | Boulder Roll. Two 10-foot-diameter boulders are dug up, and a finish line is drawn in the snow 50 feet away from them. The first team to roll its boulder across the finish line wins. Resolve the contest with a series of simultaneous DC 15 Strength ( |
Goliath Werebear
The characters encounter a goliath werebear (see appendix C) in polar bear form, galumphing through the snow, belly-surfing down a snowy hill, or breaking through the ice on a frozen pond to catch a fish. If this encounter occurs during a blizzard, the characters might come upon the bear in a cave or other shelter. The werebear is either Oyaminartok herself (see the “area Goliaths” entry in appendix C) or one of her kin.
Running the Encounter
If the characters look like they need help, the werebear assumes hybrid form and greets them in a friendly manner. It has no clothing or manufactured weapons nearby, so it prefers its hybrid form over its true goliath form.
The werebear is happy to render assistance with no strings attached, serving as a wilderness guide until it feels like the characters can get by on their own. If the characters insist on repaying its kindness, the werebear urges them to seek out and destroy the Chardalyn Berserker in their lair (see “area Cave of the Berserkers"). The werebear understands how chardalyn can become corrupted by demonic magic and sees the berserkers as irredeemable victims of this corruption. Putting the berserkers out of their misery will help make Icewind Dale a safer place.
Herd of Beasts
The characters come across a herd of beasts that is struggling to survive the endless winter. In clear weather, the characters can spot a herd from hundreds of feet away, even in the dark. If encountered in a blizzard, the beasts are hunkered down in the snow and harder to see. To determine what kind of herd is encountered, roll a
Running the Encounter
At the start of the encounter, the herd is indifferent toward the characters and poses no threat to them. If the characters threaten the herd, a single bull might attack them while the rest of the herd flees.
Ten-Towners and Reghed nomads oppose the mass slaughter of beast herds, since healthy herds are critical to the survival of other species. If the characters are of a mind to slaughter beasts indiscriminately, NPCs traveling with them might remind them of this fact.
Wherever large herds are encountered, characters can expect to find humans as well. Hunters in canoes pursue herds of killer whales, seals, and walruses on the Sea of Moving Ice, while trappers, furriers, and Reghed nomads follow herds on land. After the characters encounter a herd, you can stage a subsequent encounter with a group of these humans (see “Humans” in the next section).
Sea of Moving Ice Herds
| d6 | Herd |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 2–4 | |
| 5–6 |
Tundra Herds
| d6 | Herd |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | |
| 3–4 | |
| 5–6 |
Humans
To withstand the extremely cold temperatures and vicious winds, humans of the Far North must wrap themselves in cold weather clothing, exposing as little of their flesh to the elements as possible. They must also contend with monstrous threats unique to this realm.
If this encounter takes place in the tundra, the characters come across a scouting party of
If you need impromptu names for these NPCs, pull from the following list: Affra, Alif, Amina, Brynjar, Chen, Eremon, Hekili, Hishi, Iona, Kamakani, Koamalu, Ling, Margrath, Marrak, Nawra, Noboru, Omolara, Otilia, Quan, Saladin, Shatha, Sigurd, Stalvin, Udo, and Yngvild.
Running the Encounter
Friendly trappers and furriers from Ten-Towns are happy to share the following tidbits:
- “Perytons swoop down from the mountains to hunt. If you catch sight of one, hide under the snow and hope it didn’t see you.”
- “If you eat the heart of an ice troll, you’ll gain the troll’s power for a day. But you must eat the whole heart.”
- “Wanna know the safest way to explore the Sea of Moving Ice? Visit Angajuk’s Bell on the coast and catch the ride of a lifetime!”
- “If you see a cloaked elf with charcoal-colored skin, purple eyes, and a pair of gleaming scimitars, for the love of Sune, don’t attack ‘im!”
Hunters, though territorial, tend to be indifferent toward strangers. They trade with folk from the mainland on occasion but prefer to be left alone otherwise.
If the characters encounter Reghed nomads, determine which tribe the nomads belong to and their initial attitude toward the characters by rolling on the Reghed Tribes table. You can make a hostile encounter with Reghed nomads tougher by adding more powerful tribe members to the group (see the “area Reghed Nomads” section in appendix C).
Characters with the Outlander background have advantage on ability checks to improve the attitudes of hunters or Reghed nomads. Before any such check can be made, however, a character must give the hunters or nomads something of use (provisions or pipeweed, for example) or honor them or their chieftain with a gift.
If the characters change the attitude of a group of Reghed nomads from indifferent to friendly, the nomads invite the party to their nearest campsite (see “area Reghed Tribe Camp"), where the nomads provide food, drink, and shelter.
Reghed Tribes
| d20 | Tribe | Starting Attitude |
|---|---|---|
| 1–5 | Bear | Indifferent |
| 6–13 | Elk | Indifferent |
| 14–17 | Tiger | Hostile |
| 18–20 | Wolf | Hostile |
Encounters (I-Z)
Ice Troll
A hostile ice troll (see appendix C) wanders the dark tundra in search of prey.
Running the Encounter
The troll lacks guile and takes no precautions as it lumbers toward what it assumes will be an easy kill, undaunted by blizzard conditions and hungry enough to risk whatever fire the characters hurl in its direction.
Icewind Kobolds
This encounter is with
Running the Encounter
If this encounter takes place during a blizzard, the kobolds are huddled around a small, sputtering campfire inside a hastily built igloo. Otherwise, the kobolds are trudging through the snow, bundled in shoddy cloaks made from stitched-together weasel pelts and using their javelins to help them negotiate the frozen ground ahead of them.
If they’re lost, the kobolds might ask the characters for directions. If outnumbered and threatened, they offer payment in exchange for safe passage. Otherwise, they try to rob the characters of their provisions and treasure.
Treasure
Each kobold carries a pouch containing 5 sp and 5 cp. The kobolds hope these coins will be enough to appease the dragon they seek to serve or to pay for food and shelter in Ten-Towns. At your discretion, one of the kobolds might also be holding a
Orcs of the Many-Arrows Tribe
Of the orc tribes living in the mountains, the most powerful by far is the Many-Arrows tribe. At various times in recent history, the great chieftains of this tribe have grown powerful enough to unite the orcs under the Many-Arrows banner. Some of these leaders have led the orcs through times of great peace, while others have used their power to conquer and destroy in the name of Gruumsh, the orc god of slaughter.
This encounter is with an orc war chief, who leads a hunting party that includes an orc eye of Gruumsh, six Orc, and a Half-Ogre (Ogrillon). Painted in dry blood on the eye of Gruumsh’s shield is the symbol of the Many-Arrows tribe: a crude skull impaled by three arrows.
Running the Encounter
These orcs have come down from the mountains in search of food to feed themselves and other members of their tribe. Given the scarcity of food sources, they regard wayward travelers as fair game. Those they kill or capture are hauled back to the mountains as meat to feed the tribe.
Despite their hunger and desperation, these orcs can be reasoned with. Their initial attitude toward the characters is hostile, but any character can try to come to terms with them by offering the orcs something they can’t get by simply killing the characters and taking their stuff. This includes, but isn’t limited to, a song written to honor the chieftain of the Many-Arrows tribe, a drawing of Gruumsh (the orc god of slaughter) killing Corellon (the head of the elven pantheon), or directions to an alternative food source. Characters who speak Orc while conducting the negotiation have advantage on ability checks made to improve the orcs’ attitude toward the party, as does a character with the Orc Stone secret who uses the stone to summon an orc spirit. Characters who speak Elvish or Dwarvish during the negotiation have disadvantage on such checks. If a worthy offering is made as part of the negotiation, the DC of ability checks made to improve the orcs' attitude is 15; otherwise, the DC is 20.
Perytons
Two Peryton—a mated pair—have come down from the Spine of the World mountains to hunt. They’re looking to rip out the heart of a humanoid and take it back to their nest, where the female peryton must consume the heart to reproduce.
Running the Encounter
The perytons' keen eyesight enables them to spot prey from great heights, while the dark sky makes them harder to see. Characters who have a passive Wisdom (
As an action, a peryton can rip out the heart of a dead humanoid within 5 feet of it. Once they obtain such a prize, the perytons disengage from battle and return to their nest. The perytons won’t break off their attack until they get a heart.
Snowy Owlbear
A snowy owlbear combines the features of a snowy owl and a polar bear (see appendix C). This specimen is a ferocious, full-grown adult. Blizzards and cold weather don’t concern it. Only a character who has the Owlbear Whisperer secret (see area appendix B) can befriend it.
Running the Encounter
The snowy owlbear is hungry enough to kill and eat humanoids, though it prefers fish and the flesh of hares, foxes, walruses, seals, and pack animals such as mules and axe beaks. If the characters toss food at it, the owlbear eats that food before chasing after more elusive prey.
If a character coaxes the owlbear into becoming the party mascot, you can tax the characters in gold to keep their pet fed and happy. The cost of feeding the owlbear is 9 gp per day, which is based on it eating the equivalent of three pigs (the Player’s Handbook values a pig at 3 gp).
Yeti
This encounter always occurs during a blizzard. Roll a
Yeti Encounter
| d6 | Encounter | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Medium | |
| 4–5 | 1 abominable yeti | Hard |
| 6 | 1 yeti tyke (see appendix C) | Easy |
Yetis and abominable yetis like to hide under the snow with only their pale blue eyes visible. They have advantage on Dexterity (
If the characters encounter a yeti tyke, assume it either ran away from home or got separated from its parents and is lost in the blizzard. See appendix C for more information to help you roleplay this monster.
Running the Encounter
To determine which party members are surprised, have each character make a Wisdom (
After gorging themselves on the humanoids they kill, adult yetis and abominable yetis like to bite off the victims' heads and keep them as trophies.
Places of Interest
The remainder of this chapter describes places of interest throughout Icewind Dale. Map 2.1 notes their locations, although you can move them elsewhere to suit the needs of your campaign. Although characters can stumble upon a location accidentally while traveling overland, they are more likely to be guided to a location by a tall tale (see the area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns table) or a quest.
The adventure locations that follow are balanced for characters of at least 4th level. Lower-level characters can survive the encounters in these locations if they’re cautious and manage their resources well, although they should be prepared to flee or hide when they find themselves out of their depth. Characters of 6th level or higher will face few real challenges, but you can soften them up and deplete their resources by staging random encounters as they travel to and from a given location.
Angajuk’s Bell
Swimming in the frigid waters is the legendary Angajuk, an old awakened sperm whale with a boat on its back. Most sperm whales live to be seventy years old, but Angajuk has been plying the waters of the Sea of Moving Ice for two hundred years. Throughout its life, the whale has faced its share of trouble, including near-fatal encounters with Auril’s roc, which left scars along the whale’s pectoral fins and body.
Angajuk is famous among Ten-Towners. Most people leave it alone, knowing that the whale is the beneficiary of powerful magic, but uncaring hunters see the whale as a source of ambergris, which is a valuable commodity.
Angajuk was once the companion of a druid named Anga, who cast an
Characters might learn about Angajuk by overhearing a rumor in Ten-Towns (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns") or by agreeing to help a whale oil merchant (see “area Whale Oil Acquisition"). Angajuk is one of the safest ways to get to Auril’s island, because the sperm whale can travel beneath the water’s surface, avoiding Auril’s spies. When the whale is submerged, a magic bubble surrounds the boat to protect those riding in it.
Angajuk periodically visits an anchorage off the coastline, a rocky arch formed by the action of tidal waters, and can be summoned there by ringing a bell attached to the pier. Thick ice covers this rock formation, extending all the way to the shore. On the shore nearby is Anga’s old stone cabin, which has weathered time’s passage.
Angajuk’s Bell Locations
The following locations are keyed to map 2.2.
A1. Frozen Pier
A rowboat is stuck in the ice, trapped against a 10-foot-long wooden pier. The pier is ice-glazed and slippery. The characters don’t need the boat, since they can simply walk across the ice to reach Angajuk’s Bell (area area A3).
A2. Stone Cabin
A small, domed cabin faces the bay. A bloated door covered in ice and dormant barnacles hangs slightly ajar on rusted hinges.
Anga once lived in this small stone cabin near the pier, which made it convenient for her to visit Angajuk. The place has been vacant for decades.
Thick rime coats every surface and object inside the cabin, including a bed draped in a thick knit blanket. Beside the bed, a small hearth holds a precious store of firewood. The firewood is infested with worms that have eaten away at the tender parts of the wood, but it’s safe to burn. There is enough wood to fuel a nightly fire for three days, and it is stored in six bundles that weigh 30 pounds each.
A3. Bell
A 1-foot-diameter copper bell dangles from a 10-foot-tall wooden pole attached to this short wooden pier. The bell comes with a rope and clapper. Ringing the bell soon attracts three Giant Vulture, who think that the sound signals mealtime or the presence of prey. They attack unless the characters offer meat to satisfy them.
Angajuk Arrives
It takes 30 minutes for Angajuk the sperm whale (see appendix C) to arrive after the bell is rung, accompanied by
Angajuk’s boat can hold up to eight Medium creatures and their gear, and up to 1,000 pounds of cargo.
Angajuk’s Bubble
To ensure safe transport and to partake in undersea research, Anga designed a boat and strapped it to Angajuk’s back. As the whale submerges, a bubble appears around the boat, enabling its passengers to breathe comfortably underwater. Creatures in the boat can exit the bubble whenever they want, but nothing can pass through the bubble from outside it. The bubble is magical but can’t be dispelled.
A4. Hole in the Ice
When summoned, Angajuk surfaces through this hole in the ice, expels a gush of seawater from its blowhole, and settles itself at a height that enables people to climb up and into the boat attached to its back.
Earning Angajuk’s Trust
Earning passage on the whale’s back requires more than just ringing the bell. Characters must earn Angajuk’s trust and can do so in any of the following ways:
Offering an Octopus. Angajuk says it would be happy to provide transportation if the characters catch an octopus for it to eat. Octopi can be caught by fishing off the pier, but any hint of light deters them. Use the fishing rules ("area Fishing for Knucklehead Trout"), only replace the knucklehead trout with an octopus.
Befriending Its Comrades
Angajuk lives alongside other sea creatures, including narwhals and dolphins. The characters can lure one of these creatures to the surface with an offering of food (such as a fish) and befriend it with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (
- Fending Off Hunters If the characters are having trouble finding another way to earn Angajuk’s trust, use the “Whale Hunt” encounter below. Defending the whale against these hunters earns its trust.
Whale Hunt
This is an optional encounter you can use to help the characters earn Angajuk’s trust.
Hunters from distant Waterdeep have come to the Sea of Moving Ice to harvest ambergris, a precious substance formed in sperm whales' stomachs and typically harvested from a dead whale’s remains. Although it smells foul when initially exposed to air, the scent grows sweet over time. As such, ambergris is popular among perfumers as well as mages who use the greasy substance in various arcane rituals. The raw form of ambergris is a waxy lump approximately 2 feet long.
The Whale Hunters
Five whale hunters (neutral evil human Thug) were staying at the Black-Bearded Brother, a tavern in Bremen, when they learned about Angajuk’s Bell. The hunters arrive shortly after the characters but before the whale’s arrival. They wear cold weather clothing and have brought four casks of oil with them. They intend to pour the oil through the hole in the ice, contaminating the water around Angajuk’s Bell and poisoning the creatures in it.
The leader of the hunters, an older gray-haired man named Jendren Uruth, tries to recruit the characters, offering each of them an equal share of “the take.” Jendren is not an honest man, but his fight is against Angajuk, not a well-armed party of adventurers. If the characters stand between him and his prey, however, Jendren tries to intimidate them into leaving Angajuk’s Bell. Scaring him off requires a successful DC 17 Charisma (
If the characters fail to keep the hunters from executing their plan, the oil poisons and muddies the water for 4 days. After a day of contamination, several dead knucklehead trout float to the surface. However, much to the hunters' dismay, the sperm whale avoids the area even after the bell is rung. (For as long as the water is poisoned, Angajuk realizes this and cannot be summoned.) While waiting for the whale, the hunters camp out on the pier or in Anga’s cabin. After three more days, they conclude that the poison didn’t work and that the whale needs to be lured to the surface with bait. The desperate hunters try to capture a character to use for this purpose and, if successful, bind and lower the character into the water as a lure. Angajuk rises just long enough to fling the lure out of the water, sending the character sprawling across the ice, before submerging and leaving the area, denying the hunters their prize.
Jendren’s death breaks the morale of the other hunters, who head back to Bremen in defeat.
Black Cabin
Characters might be drawn to this location by a tale told in Ten-Towns (see the area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns table) or by a desire to help a gnome in Bryn Shander (see “area Provisions for Macreadus"), or they might happen upon the Black Cabin while crossing the open tundra.
Secret of the Black Cabin
The Black Cabin was built by a ranger of the Far North long before the founding of Ten-Towns. When he moved on, the lodge became a refuge for others seeking sanctuary from the wind sweeping down from the Reghed Glacier.
Six months ago, Macreadus, a sage and devout follower of Lathander (god of the dawn and rebirth), formed a plan to end Auril’s everlasting winter. He holed up in the Black Cabin, where he spent all his time assembling a weather-controlling magical device called the Summer Star}, using knowledge he gleaned from a book about Netherese artifacts. Macreadus’s device was similar in design to a mythallar (see appendix D), but much smaller. Unfortunately for him, it had a serious design flaw. When Macreadus tried to use it three days ago, it malfunctioned, incinerating both him and his book. Characters who search the cabin can find the sage’s charred skeleton and his deadly creation.
Since the mishap, Macreadus’s restless spirit has lingered in the Border Ethereal, unwilling to depart until its work is complete. (For more information on the Border Ethereal, see the “Ethereal Plane” section in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.)
Spirit of Macreadus
From the Border Ethereal, the restless spirit of Macreadus can observe happenings in and around the cabin, but it can’t manifest physically on the Material Plane. Characters can see the restless spirit of Macreadus and interact with it only if they cross over to the Border Ethereal, which is what happens to someone who dies in the cabin (see “Dying in the Black Cabin” below).
In the Border Ethereal, the spirit of Macreadus manifests as a giant, floating, spectral head with fire burning in its eyes. Arrogant in life, Macreadus remains so in death. He’s snappy and egotistical, blaming everything but himself for his failure. He welcomes the company of others, but anyone who questions his motives or mocks his invention quickly loses his favor. He spent months locked away in the cabin, building the Summer Star so he could end the Everlasting Rime, becoming more and more desperate to see it through. He had hoped to make a name for himself and win Lathander’s praise—is that so wrong?
If the characters try to finish his work, Macreadus helps as much as his bodiless form allows. To lay his spirit to rest, the characters must fix his creation’s design flaw and then activate it, all within the confines of the Black Cabin, where Macreadus can observe the results. Once he sees the device working as intended, his spirit departs to the afterlife.
Dying in the Black Cabin
If a creature with an Intelligence of 3 or higher dies inside the Black Cabin, its spirit (if it has one) leaves its body and assumes a spectral form on the Border Ethereal until the creature is brought back from the dead. This is what happened to Macreadus, and the same fate awaits characters who perish in the cabin.
If a character dies in the cabin and its spirit manifests in the Border Ethereal, the player can choose the form the spirit takes. It might look like a spectral image of the dead character, or it might be something bizarre like a ghostly crow or a blob of ectoplasmic energy.
Regardless of the form it takes, the spirit is not a creature and can’t be harmed or turned. It can’t make attack rolls and doesn’t make saving throws, and conditions don’t apply to it. It can’t cast spells or attune to magic items. Creatures on the Material Plane can’t see the spirit without some ability or magic that lets them gaze into the Border Ethereal. A spirit in the Border Ethereal can’t speak to creatures on the Material Plane, or vice versa.
The spirit can do the following and nothing else:
- The spirit can move through the Border Ethereal. It has a flying speed of 30 feet, and it can hover. It can pass through solid surfaces that are visible on the Material Plane to explore closed-off parts of the cabin; it is bound to the cabin, however, and can’t move more than 30 feet away from it.
- The spirit can make ability checks based on Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma only. It applies no modifiers to these checks.
- As an action, the spirit can attempt to exert up to 5 pounds of force on a creature or object no more than 5 feet away from it in the Material Plane, doing so with a successful DC 10 Charisma check. The spirit might use this ability to move a tiny object, write a message on a frosty or sooty surface, operate a simple tool, or tap someone on the shoulder, but the force isn’t strong enough to cause harm to a creature.
- The spirit can see other spirits in the Border Ethereal (including the spirit of Macreadus) and speak to them. The spirit knows the languages it knew in life.
Approaching the Cabin
Perched on the edge of a snowy ridge above a gorge is a black lodge on wooden stilts. Whatever path might have led to this ramshackle retreat lies buried under snow.
Icy steps climb to a snow-covered walkway that clings to the south side of the structure. The building’s slumped posture and sagging, snow-covered roof, coupled with the broken windows and loose, flapping shutters, suggest utter abandonment. Large snowdrifts huddle around the rotting stilts and engulf a nearby woodshed and outhouse. Only the wind visits this sinister place.
The Black Cabin has two stone chimneys that rise several feet above its sagging roofline. The rest of the lodge is made of rotting wood. The stilts that elevate the structure are 20 feet tall, and characters who walk underneath the old building can tell that its wooden floors are in poor condition, perhaps even in danger of collapse in one location (see area area B4).
It’s clear to anyone surveying the Black Cabin that part of the ridge it rests on fell away some time ago, leaving the westernmost section of the building hanging over the gorge. All of the cabin’s doors are closed and unlocked, and its windows are big enough for characters to climb through.
Black Cabin Locations
The following locations are keyed to map 2.3.
B1. Outhouse
This wooden outhouse is half-buried in snow. Characters who clear a path to the door and peer inside find a stack of discarded notes and blueprints, which Macreadus used as toilet paper.
B2. Wooden Walkway
Both entrances to the cabin are off this rickety, snow-covered walkway, the steps and boards of which crackle and creak underfoot.
There’s a 4-foot-wide gap in the walkway that characters can easily leap across without making an ability check. But the walkway west of the gap (outside the door to area area B4) collapses if more than 150 pounds of weight are placed on any 5-foot section of it. Any creature on the section of walkway when it collapses must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. On a successful save, the creature drops 20 feet straight down into the snow, taking 1 bludgeoning damage from the cushioned fall and landing
B3. Workshop
Frost covers every surface of this abandoned workshop.
The workshop contains a set of
A bookcase against the north wall has a family of harmless squirrels living in it. (The squirrels come and go through a tiny hole in the floor near one of the cabin’s stilts.) Apart from some scraps of paper and other detritus that the squirrels have collected, the bookshelf holds nothing of interest.
B4. Main Room
This room contains lingering smells of burnt wood and flesh. You also catch the faint odor of wine. Snow has fallen through holes in the roof, then been pushed into corners by stiff winds blowing through broken windows. The walls and furniture are scorched black, including a table with the charred remains of a book on it. Next to the table, on the floor amid several broken wine bottles, is a mostly incinerated skeleton and a round, frost-covered object about six inches in diameter.
The important features of this room are the charred book, the partially incinerated skeleton on the floor, and the round object lying nearby (the Summer Star, described below). There’s also a hidden hazard in this area: a weakened section of floor.
Charred Book
Nothing remains of this tome except ashes and a badly burned spine, upon which characters can discern the letters ETHER. It’s obvious that these letters were part of a much longer title, which happens to be: Magical Wonders of Netheril. Characters can find an intact copy of this book in the Lost Spire of Netheril (see “area Lost Spire of Netheril").
Skeleton and Treasure
Enough of the charred skeleton remains to suggest (without needing an ability check) that it belongs to a male human (Macreadus, though the characters won’t know this right away). Little remains of his clothing, but a character who sifts through the charred bones and ashes finds an
Summer Star
This magic item looks like a 6-inch-diameter gyroscope featuring two scorched rings inlaid with runes and a dense chunk of coal at its core. The Summer Star has lost its luster but not its magic. A
The first time a creature picks up the Summer Star, its core glows with a golden radiance as bright as a candle flame. Unless the creature drops the device immediately, the light suddenly blossoms, becoming a 10-foot-radius sphere of incinerating golden radiance centered on the device. Each creature in the sphere must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 90 (
A character killed by the Summer Star becomes an ethereal spirit bound to the Black Cabin (see “area Dying in the Black Cabin"). Don’t fret if this happens to one or more characters; as spirits, they can figure out a way back to the realm of the living.
Once the Summer Star discharges its residual magic, the characters—both the material and the ethereal ones—can safely analyze and fix the device so that it functions as Macreadus intended. The steps to be followed are summarized below:
Step 1: Identify the Item
Any creature or spirit that studies the runes on the device’s rings and succeeds on a DC 18 Intelligence (
Step 2: Analyze the Problem
The device has a design flaw, obviously. Macreadus has concluded that the device’s rings are unable to contain the magical energy that the core puts out. A third ring must be attached to the device, and this new ring must have runes like those that appear on the other two rings. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (
Step 3: Fix the Design Flaw
To craft a third ring, a quarter-pound of metal must be melted down in a fire and recast using smith’s tools, then inscribed with runes by someone with a steady hand—that is, a character who succeeds on a DC 15 Dexterity (
Step 4: Activate the Item
A character must attune to the modified Summer Star to use it. While holding the device, the attuned character can use an action to cast the
Macreadus knows what must be done to fix the device but can’t activate the item because he’s dead. If no one can attune to the modified Summer Star because everyone in the party is dead and trapped as a spirit in the Border Ethereal, nothing more can be done with the device until someone else comes along who can attune to it. Fortunately for the characters, they don’t have long to wait before someone arrives (see the “area Werebear Visitor” sidebar). Characters in spirit form can convince the new arrival to do what they cannot, perhaps by writing messages in the snow, or on a section of wall or floor using ash from a nearby fireplace.
Macreadus’s spirit can finally rest after it witnesses the activation of the new and improved Summer Star. As it departs, the party receives a special blessing from Lathander. Any party member who died within the past 24 hours is instantly restored to life at full health, regardless of how the character died. In addition, each character who helped lay Macreadus’s spirit to rest gains a blessing of the Morninglord (described below). For rules on blessings, see “Supernatural Gifts” in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
Blessing of the Morninglord: You gain 10 temporary hit points each day at dawn.
Weak Floor
The section of floor shown on map 2.3 has weakened over time and gives way if 150 pounds or more of weight crosses it. Any creature standing on the floor when it collapses must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature falls to the bottom of the gorge directly below this section of the cabin, taking 49 (
B5. Sweetberry Summer Wine
The scent of wine fills this room, which contains four frost-covered barrels.
Macreadus was a heavy drinker, and the barrels contain his supply of Sweetberry Summer Wine. Any character proficient with brewer’s supplies knows that this wine comes from a vineyard in the Dessarin Valley, hundreds of miles to the south. The extreme cold has caused the wine to freeze.
Despite its inability to partake of the libations, the spirit of Macreadus reacts poorly toward characters who thaw and drink this private stash.
B6. Laboratory
This room contains a fireplace and two empty bookcases. Tacked to the walls and strewn across the floor are frost-covered blueprints. Facedown on the floor next to one of the blueprints is a tiny man made of clay.
Any character who examines the clay figure and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (
Any character proficient in
B7. Abandoned Bedroom
A stiff wind blows through the broken window in the east wall, causing the tattered gray curtains to billow and flap like angry ghosts. Snow covers a bed and much of the surrounding floor.
This room is unfit for habitation and hasn’t been used it in a long time.
B8. Macreadus’s Bedroom
Wooden planks have been nailed over the broken window of this room to hold out the wind. Furnishings include a saggy double bed and a bookcase containing some folded clothes, a few blank sheets of parchment, and a set of calligrapher’s supplies. Next to the bookcase is a soot-stained hearth, wherein a scroll lies amid the ashes.
Macreadus had a rock gnome assistant named Copper, but the two had a falling out. One morning, after a bitter argument the night before, Copper decided to return to Ten-Towns. He snuck out while Macreadus was still asleep, leaving behind a letter that Macreadus angrily threw into the hearth after reading it.
Copper’s Letter
The scroll is stained with soot but remains intact, since Macreadus never got around to burning it. Characters who retrieve it can read Copper’s message, which is written in Common:
Macreadus,
I’ve had enough of this damned, relentless cold. I feel it creep into my bones, my head, my heart. I’m heading back to Ten-Towns for a decent meal and a warm bed. I fear this endless winter has numbed your mind, and any tinkerer worth their chains can see the Summer Star is a fool’s errand. Maybe without me here to incessantly complain to, you’ll finally snap out of your obsession.
If you truly insist on dedicating your remaining days to this doomed project, might I suggest that three is better than two. I considered telling you before, but you were particularly rude about the dinner I made last night.
May the light of the Morninglord protect you,
Copper
When the characters find Copper’s letter, give your players a copy of the handout (above).
Copper made it back to Ten-Towns, eventually finding his way to the House of the Morninglord in Bryn Shander (see “area House of the Morninglord").
####### Werebear Visitor
If the characters are stuck and need help dealing with the challenges of the Black Cabin, have a goliath werebear (see appendix C) arrive unexpectedly. This new arrival could be Oyaminartok herself, if she’s still alive and roaming Icewind Dale.
The werebear doesn’t know the history of the Black Cabin or anything about the strange goings-on there. However, it likes to keep an eye on the place, if only to make sure evil creatures aren’t hiding there. After helping the characters, the werebear offers to serve as a guide for up to seven days, though it avoids Ten-Towns.
Frostmaiden’s Revenge
The Frostmaiden is aware when someone uses the Summer Star to cast the
The attacking force approaches the Black Cabin from the east. As the characters emerge from the cabin, read:
Bright light shines from the east—a cold, hateful light—and seems to be getting closer.
The coldlight walkers are made from the frozen corpses of Ten-Towners who were banished to the tundra as sacrifices to the Frostmaiden (see “area Sacrifices to Auril"). The ice mephits descend from the darkened sky to provide aerial support, using their
Cackling Chasm
A chasm in the foothills of the Spine of the World mountains gets its name from the cackling gnolls that take shelter inside it. Most who hear the maniacal cackles know well enough to stay away. The gnolls of the Cackling Chasm are emaciated and hungry, their laughing brought on by crazed starvation.
The characters might visit this location after hearing a tale about a murdered fisher and her magic fishing pole (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns") or after agreeing to undertake a quest for the town speaker of Caer-Konig (see “area Gnoll Heads"). A gnoll captured in the wilderness can also lead the characters here (see “area Wilderness Encounters").
Tale of Gnoll Betrayal
After a gnoll fang of Yeenoghu murders its prey, any hyena that feasts on the kill is transformed into a full-grown gnoll. The gnolls of the Cackling Chasm, like all gnolls, were born in this fashion. But a rift has formed between the creator and its creations. The fang of Yeenoghu, Chyzka, is being blamed for the pack’s recent misfortunes. It led the gnolls to Icewind Dale, promising abundant food. What the gnolls got instead was an unending winter and barely enough nourishment to sustain them. The gnolls are forced to resort to cannibalism to survive when food is scarce, and the pack has no hyenas to replenish its dwindling numbers. Because Chyzka lacks the ability to sustain the pack and create more gnolls, its usefulness has come to an end.
The other gnolls are too afraid of Chyzka to challenge it directly (it is, after all, one of Yeenoghu’s chosen). The gnolls are, however, willing to stand idly by while the characters take care of Chyzka for them. Once the fang of Yeenoghu is dead, the gnolls will allow Chyzka’s slayers to leave the chasm unmolested while they dine on Chyzka’s remains. The characters' actions give them a window of time to take what they want and flee the chasm before the remaining gnolls turn against them.
Approaching the Chasm
A yawning chasm ahead of you threatens to devour you as if it were a giant, icy maw. The wind sweeping through the mountains can’t drown out the inhuman cackling that echoes in the chasm’s depths.
Characters who look over the edge of the icy chasm can see stony projections resembling teeth, as well as a ledge 30 feet down. (A wider ledge 100 feet down is probably initially beyond the range of the characters' light sources and
A search of the surrounding area reveals a cave mouth near the south end of the chasm (area Z1). Within the cave mouth are steps leading down to area area Z2, which leads to the uppermost ledge of the chasm. Alternatively, characters can use magic or climbing gear to lower themselves down into the chasm.
Cackling Chasm Locations
The following locations are keyed to map 2.4.
Z1. Cave Mouth
At the south end of the chasm, humanoid skulls are stacked on either side of a cave mouth that contains icy steps descending into the rock. Blood has been used to draw crude symbols on the skulls.
The skulls belong to humans, dwarves, goblins, goliaths, and orcs. The symbol on each skull looks like a three-headed flail. Any character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (
Z2. Feasting Cave
Crude steps lead down to a frigid, ten-foot-high cave filled with a putrid stench. The mostly broken bones of humanoids and animals lay scattered on the icy floor amid bits of metal and torn strips of leather.
The gnolls gather here to eat when there’s food to be had.
Most of the bones have been broken to enable the gnolls to get to the marrow inside them. Past feasts include elk, reindeer, moose, foxes, wolves, and humanoids. Some of the bones belong to gnolls who fell prey to cannibalism.
The four Gnoll in area Z3 move here to investigate any loud noises. They don’t attack intruders right away, however, except in self-defense (see “area Tale of Gnoll Betrayal").
Treasure
Characters who search the cave for treasure find a leather pouch beneath a pile of broken bones. The pouch belonged to a human furrier whom the gnolls murdered in the tundra and dragged back to the chasm to be eaten. The pouch contains 4 gp, 14 sp, 21 cp, and a random trinket. Roll on the Icewind Dale Trinkets table in appendix A to determine what trinket is found.
Z3. Shrine to Yeenoghu
A crude stone altar with a mountain goat’s bloody head resting atop it dominates this eight-foot-high cave. The floor around the altar is littered with gnawed animal bones.
Unless they were drawn to area Z2, four Gnoll are crouched before the altar, weighing the ramifications of licking the flesh off the goat’s skull, which is meant to be an offering to the demon lord Yeenoghu. These hungry gnolls don’t attack intruders right away, except in self-defense (see “area Tale of Gnoll Betrayal").
Z4. Frozen Rift
Thirty feet below the surface, a shelf of rock surrounds the chasm’s gaping maw, its cracked sides riddled with caves and festooned with sharp rocks. Farther down in the chasm, you see dead gnolls impaled on some of these fang-like protrusions.
Manic laughter echoes through the chasm as you look around, the sound ricocheting off the walls that make its origin impossible to pinpoint.
Chyzka, the Gnoll Fang of Yeenoghu, encourages internal fighting whenever it senses the pack might turn against it. The dead gnolls seen throughout the chasm were victims of either these squabbles or their own carelessness. Although the ledge that allows access to the various caves is slick with ice, cautious characters can move on it without falling.
Every loud noise in the chasm can be heard in the surrounding caves, and vice versa. Characters who make enough noise to attract the attention of the gnolls can hear them coming by their manic laughter. The Cackling Chasm Roster provides a summary of these denizens and the areas they originate in. When Chyzka sees intruders, it barks orders to the other gnolls, after which there’s an awkward pause as the subordinate gnolls give the characters expectant looks. Any character who succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (
Cackling Chasm Roster
| Area | Occupants |
|---|---|
| Z3 | 4 Gnoll |
| Z5 | 1 gnoll fang of Yeenoghu (Chyzka) |
| Z6 | 12 Gnoll during the day, 6 Gnoll at night |
Z5. Chyzka’s Cave
Painted in blood on the walls of this eight-foot-high cave are pictographs of a towering monster with sharp teeth that wields what looks like a three-headed flail. Packs of hyenas feed on the corpses in its wake. A small fire crackles near the south wall, filling the cave with smoke. Cooking above the fire is a small green fish, while behind the fire, leaning against the south wall, is a blood-encrusted spear and a fishing pole.
Chyzka, a gnoll fang of Yeenoghu, is resting here unless a disturbance has summoned it elsewhere. The bloody paintings on the wall show the demon lord Yeenoghu and his brood.
The cave is littered with pieces of dirty cloth and moldy hides, all taken from prey. The spear leaning against the south wall is nonmagical but has a silvered tip stained red with blood. Though the spear has its uses, Chyzka prefers to attack with its claws and teeth.
Treasure
Next to the fire, a bloodstained bolt of cloth has been folded around a pile of coins the gnolls lifted from their victims, creating a makeshift bundle that holds 21 gp, 56 sp, and 117 cp.
The fishing pole is unremarkable, but a
Z6. Sleeping Cave
The strong scent of dirty fur fills this dark, ten-foot-high cave. The stone floor has deep ridges where hundreds of clawed feet have scratched it.
If the gnolls in this cave have not been drawn out, add:
Gaunt, shivering gnolls huddle around a sputtering fire, cackling incessantly.
At night, this cave holds twelve Gnoll. That number drops to six during the day as half the gnolls leave the chasm to hunt for food. The gnolls huddle together for warmth. All of them are hungry and emaciated.
Z7. Storeroom
Rotten crates and torn sacks are strewn across the floor of this eight-foot-high, mostly empty chamber.
The gnolls often take food supplies from slaughtered travelers headed to and from Ten-Towns. These supplies are brought here to be consumed. All that remains are the containers used to transport them.
Z8. Caged Berserker
Situated atop the ledge is a cage made of thick timber beams with a bolted iron door and iron fittings. The cage is five feet on a side and seven feet tall. Inside it, a male human in hide armor paces back and forth. His murderous eyes lock onto any sort of movement he notices, and he clutches a javelin made of a black, crystalline substance. The skin on his hands and face is black from frostbite, and his lips are chapped and bleeding from the cold.
The man in the cage is a nameless chardalyn berserker (see appendix C) with 60 hit points remaining. The gnolls captured him almost by accident. He ventured into the chasm a few days ago and brutally attacked any gnoll he encountered. One gnoll climbed atop the cage to get away from him. As the berserker started to climb after it, he was pushed from behind by another gnoll and locked in the cage. The gnolls are keeping him confined until he grows weak enough that they dare to open the cage to kill and eat him. The bolt on the door can’t be reached by someone trapped in the cage.
During the skirmish, the berserker lost his chardalyn flail and two chardalyn javelins, all of which fell into the chasm. He still has one javelin left. The berserker tries to grapple any character he can reach through the bars; if he succeeds, he tries to stab the
Leaving the Chasm
Once the characters get what they came for, there’s little reason to stay. In fact, characters who stay too long run the risk of encountering six Gnoll returning from a hunt. There’s a 20 percent chance that the gnolls have brought food with them, such as a dead mountain goat or crag cat, in which case the gnolls gather in area area Z2 (along with any other gnolls left alive in the chasm) to feast on the fresh kill.
If the characters turn the gnolls' animus toward Chyzka to their advantage, they can come and go without having to kill every gnoll in the chasm. Even so, any gnolls they leave alive remain a potential threat to Ten-Towns.
Real Adventure Hook
If the characters retrieve the
Cave of the Berserkers
A group of human berserkers that has splintered off from the Tribe of the Bear uses this cliffside cave as a refuge. Exposure to chardalyn tainted by demonic magic has deprived them of their humanity.
Here are some ways in which the characters might learn about this place:
- A tale in Ten-Towns spurs the characters to visit the cave (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns").
- A ring taken off a dead berserker (see “area Chardalyn Berserkers") teleports the characters to area area Q1.
- A goliath werebear encountered in the wild (see “area Goliath Werebear") or King Gunvald Halraggson of the Bear Tribe (see the “area Reghed Nomads” section in appendix C) urges the characters to rid the cave of its evil inhabitants.
Story of the Cave
This cavern complex was hollowed out by dwarf prospectors and miners looking for precious gems and metals. That effort bore no fruit, and the cave was abandoned. The Tribe of the Bear later used it as a shelter until the chardalyn berserkers forced them to abandon it.
The berserkers worship the Frostmaiden and no longer consider themselves members of the Bear tribe. They allow frostbite to ravage their faces and bodies to prove their devotion. As a reward for their fealty and their willingness to suffer the cold, the Frostmaiden gave these mad servants a stone brazier that emits a cold, blue flame. As long as the flame burns, the berserkers can’t be killed inside their lair (see area area Q5).
The berserkers share their cave with two white dragon wyrmlings, which hatched from eggs that the berserkers stole from within a glacial rift. The berserkers share their food with the wyrmlings, which guard the cave while the berserkers are out hunting.
Cave Locations
The cave’s chambers and tunnels were hewn from solid rock by dwarves long ago. The berserkers carry torches to see where they’re going. Characters without
The following locations are keyed to map 2.5.
Q1. Icy Path
An elevated causeway covered with snow winds toward the mouth of the berserkers' cave. Tracks in the snow clearly indicate that at least four humans have come and gone from the cave since the last blizzard. On either side of the causeway is a steep slope that plunges 20 feet into a snowy ravine.
Waste Chute
Characters who examine the cliff face for other possible entrances can, with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (
Q2. Bear’s Head
Built around the mouth of the cave is a ramshackle wooden portico crudely shaped like a bear’s head with its mouth agape. The tunnel beyond it is dark.
The portico is sturdier than it looks. It has AC 15, 75 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. Characters who damage the portico make enough noise to attract the two White Dragon Wyrmling in area area Q4. One makes its way through area Q3 to confront intruders head-on while the other descends the chute in area Q4 and attacks from behind.
The wyrmlings don’t pursue prey that flees the cave. Instead, they roost atop snowy outcroppings above the entrance and keep watch for several hours before retiring to their lair (area Q4) to rest.
Q3. Eggshells in Cells
Characters who pass through the bear’s head portico step onto an icy ramp that ascends 5 feet to a 20-foot-high chamber festooned with icicles. A naturally formed pillar supports the chamber’s domed roof.
Two alcoves set into the north wall are fitted with rusty iron gates. Their chains, padlocks, and keys lie discarded on the floor outside them. Inside each cell are fragments of the shell of a bluish-white egg that must’ve been as large as a halfling. Any character who examines these eggshells and succeeds on a DC 13 Intelligence (
Any loud noise here, which could be from the opening of either gate or the rattling of chains, alerts the two White Dragon Wyrmling in area Q4. One confronts intruders head-on while the other descends the chute in area Q4 and swoops in from behind.
Q4. Waste Chute
This eight-foot-high cave is unfurnished and unlit. A hole in the southwest corner is the mouth of an open chute that reeks of blood and filth.
If they have not been lured elsewhere, two White Dragon Wyrmling named Gelym and Tyzar curl up together in the eastern part of the cave. They attack any creature that enters their den.
The stone chute is 25 feet long, roughly hewn, and steeply angled. It empties into the ravine outside and requires a successful DC 15 Strength (
Treasure
The wyrmlings have begun collecting treasures and stashing them in a small pile against the east wall. Their paltry hoard consists of 96 sp, 331 cp, a stitched leather wallet containing a complete set of
Q5. Frostmaiden’s Fire
Hundreds of icicles cling to the twelve-foot-high ceiling of this frost-rimed chamber, which is bathed in flickering blue light. The light’s source is a blue flame crackling in a stone brazier that stands against the far wall. The white smoke that rises above it coalesces every few seconds into the form of a woman, but the image is fleeting.
A
Casting
As long as the brazier’s cold fire burns, chardalyn berserkers inside the cave (areas area Q3 through area Q8, and the tunnels and chutes that attach to them) can’t drop below 1 hit point. No other creatures gain this benefit. Characters who fight the berserkers inside their lair see them shake off damage that would normally kill them.
The berserkers are aware of the fire’s benefit, as evidenced by the rictus grins that cross their faces when intruders realize the berserkers are seemingly unkillable. The berserkers don’t automatically sense when the fire has been put out, however.
Q6. Slaughterhouse
The ice in this cave is stained pink and red with the blood of numerous kills. In the center of the room, beside a stone tray of butcher’s tools, is the flayed husk of an owlbear’s skeleton that has been skinned, gutted, and stripped of meat.
Along one wall, metal hooks pierce the ice. A large man in blood-drenched hide armor hangs carcasses from these hooks to bleed out. His face and limbs are blackened by frostbite, and he seems to be absent a nose.
A nameless chardalyn berserker (see appendix C) has just finished butchering a snowy owlbear that was lured into the cave and killed. The berserker grabs its weapons (which are always within easy reach) and attacks intruders on sight. If the flame in area Q5 is burning, the berserker can’t drop below 1 hit point unless he’s lured outside the cave.
Q7. Meat Storage
Shallow trenches carved into the stone floor are filled with snowpack. Clean haunches of meat are nestled in these trenches.
Treasure
Eighty pounds of fresh meat are stored here. The meat, which comes from various beasts such as polar bears and elk, is safe to cook and eat. The characters can sell the meat in Ten-Towns for 5 sp per pound.
Q8. Living Quarters
This 10-foot-high, frost-rimed chamber lies beyond a 10-foot-deep fissure. A frost-covered wooden plank spans the gap in the more trafficked tunnel that leads to this area. Four sleeping pallets covered in furs lie on the floor near the northwest wall. A wooden pail is used as a chamber pot, and it is currently empty.
Returning Berserkers
After the characters have a chance to explore the cave and as they are preparing to leave it, three Chardalyn Berserker (see appendix C) return to the cave with the carcass of a slain peryton. One berserker leads the way while the other two carry the dead peryton between them.
As the characters emerge from the cave, they see the berserkers on the causeway. More important, the berserkers see them unless the characters took precautions to leave the cave in a stealthy manner. The berserkers gain no benefit from the Frostmaiden’s fire (see area area Q5) while they’re on the causeway, so they try to get inside the cave, attacking anyone in their way. If the fire has been put out, the berserkers won’t know that until one of them is killed inside the cave.
Dark Duchess
The ancient white dragon Arveiaturace (see “area Arveiaturace") has placed some of her hoard in an abandoned ship called the Dark Duchess. This Luskan pirate vessel got stuck in the Sea of Moving Ice some months ago, near where the dragon likes to fish and hunt.
Having remained aboard the icebound hulk after being deserted by his crew, Captain Rudolph Bluemoon still watches over his riches even in death. A character who has the Pirate Cannibal secret (see area appendix B) might want to return to this site to claim Captain Bluemoon’s treasure. Characters might also be drawn to this site by a tall tale (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns") or a desire to help the tavernkeepers of Bremen (see “area Zero Rum").
Frozen Shipwreck
The Dark Duchess is hundreds of yards from shore, trapped in thick ice. When the characters get close enough to see it, read:
The Sea of Moving Ice stretches out before you, a featureless, frozen desert. Ahead, the smooth white surface is interrupted by a towering ship, its exterior covered in frost.
The hull, rigging, and masts of the ship are covered in a layer of ice. From the waterline of the vessel, it’s a 10-foot climb to get to the main deck. The sides of the hull are slippery and can’t be climbed without using magic or climbing gear.
The ice around the Dark Duchess is thick, and there is no risk of the characters breaking through it.
Approaching the Ship
When the characters get within 15 feet of the ship, read:
You hear loud thumping and creaking coming from inside the hold, followed by the guttural snarls of some creature. The ship is not as abandoned as it appeared!
An ice troll (see appendix C) was chasing a herd of seals when it spotted the abandoned ship and crept across the ice to explore it, hoping to find something tasty inside. It spooked some kobolds in the hold and chased them into a cabin. The kobolds were able to barricade the door, and the troll is trying to break through it to get at them.
Characters can surprise the troll if they remain quiet as they make their way into the ship’s hold (area
Dark Duchess Locations
The following locations are keyed to map 2.6.
Ceilings of the lower decks are 10 feet high, and all doors are 7 feet tall and made of sturdy wood.
D1. Main Deck
The wooden boards on the main deck are cracked from frost. A large hole in the deck exposes a part of the hold to the sky. The planks around the hole are marred with deep grooves, as if heavy claws had dug into them.
To reach the hold, Arveiaturace had to break apart a large portion of the deck, creating a gaping hole. A character who examines the marks around the hole and succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (
Entering the Captain’s Cabin
The door to area
D2. Forecastle
Deep grooves have been gouged into the deck on the forecastle. The railing on the port side of the vessel is broken and slightly bowed, as if an immense weight had been resting on top of it.
When Arveiaturace climbs onto the Dark Duchess, she does so from the forecastle. Examination of the deck reveals that the dragon’s weight has pushed down and cracked the wooden planks and gunwales in many places.
D3. Aft Castle
Ice coats the captain’s wheel. There’s nothing else of interest here.
D4. Surgeon’s Cabin
In this narrow cabin, shelves and containers are scattered on the floor amid piles of dirty bandages. Small clusters of dried leaves have frozen to the floor in places. A disheveled, frost-covered bed is tucked in an alcove under a wooden staircase.
The surgeon’s cabin has been searched by the kobolds living in the Dark Duchess, but they overlooked some items that might interest the characters. Under the bed are three vials of
D5. First Mate’s Cabin
A frost-covered bed is shoved into one corner under a wooden staircase. The rest of the cabin is empty.
D6. Chart Room
As the door comes open, a light breeze emerges from this room. Pieces of parchment and paper flutter on the floor. A large, detailed map of the Sword Coast takes up most of one wall.
This room contains two useful maps: the 6-foot-wide, 6-foot tall map of the Sword Coast hanging on the wall and a map of Icewind Dale stored in a map case that lies on the floor. A thorough search of the room also yields a set of
D7. Storage
The foremost cabin holds two rime-covered barrels, lying next to which is a rat that obviously perished from the cold. Mooring ropes and fishing nets hang from hooks along the back wall.
Nonperishable goods were stored in this cabin. The crew took a lot of supplies when they abandoned ship, but some equipment remains. The ropes and nets are salvageable, as are the contents of the barrels.
Barrels
The characters must use a crowbar or similar tool to pry open a frozen barrel. The first barrel contains a
D8. Captain’s Cabin
The aft castle is taken up by one spacious cabin. Frost covers every surface and furnishing.
A human corpse is slumped against the port-side wall, its left arm draped across part of a heavy chest that’s tucked in an alcove under a staircase. The skeleton wears a jacket and a wide-brimmed hat that hides most of its skull. Under its right arm is a captain’s journal. The floor is strewn with empty wine bottles.
The kobolds have not set foot inside this cabin; in fact, no one has been here since the crew abandoned ship. The corpse is all that remains of Captain Rudolph Bluemoon, who stayed behind to watch over the ship and his ill-gotten booty. He ran out of provisions and starved before freezing to death. Affixed to the captain’s hat is a badge that forms a curious symbol: a red eel wrapped around a gold trident. Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (
In the captain’s inside jacket pocket, the characters find a key with its head fashioned in the form of a rat’s skull. This key unlocks the captain’s chest (see “Treasure” below).
The wine bottles have labels that read “Sweetberry Summer Wine.” The bottles' corks are not to be seen (though the characters can find them inside the captain’s treasure chest).
Captain’s Journal
Bluemoon’s journal chronicles the exploits of the Dark Duchess but says little about the man in charge. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (
The captain’s final journal entry reads:
“That damned white dragon is back, circling above me like a vulture. I reckon she could carry this ship back to Luskan were she of a mind to. To die from starvation, bitter cold, or a dragon? Choices, choices.”
Treasure
The chest is frozen shut. Before the key can be used to unlock it, the characters must scrape off the ice and frost, which takes about 10 minutes. They can also use a torch or other source of heat to melt the frost in the same amount of time.
Inside the chest is a wooden partition that divides the interior into two halves. One side is empty except for a dozen wine-stained corks. (This is where the captain kept his bottles of wine.) The other side contains 150 gp, 520 sp, a small gold bracelet (25 gp), a large gold bracelet (250 gp), and a gray
D9. Hold
Unless the characters lure it elsewhere, a frustrated ice troll. The troll can’t be reasoned with. After disposing of it, the characters can survey the contents of the hold:
The ship’s hold contains heaps of snow and four tied-down jolly boats covered with rime. In the forward starboard corner rests a large pile of treasure covered with ice. Standing next to the hoard, frozen with its maw open in a roar, is a white feline creature sheathed in ice.
The creature frozen next to the treasure pile is a crag cat (see appendix C) that was killed by Arveiaturace’s breath weapon and placed here as a trophy.
Treasure
Arveiaturace’s treasure pile is buried under four thick, translucent layers of ice produced by the dragon’s cold breath. It doesn’t represent Arveiaturace’s entire hoard, merely the small portion she chose to bring aboard the Dark Duchess. Characters can see the treasure under the topmost layer of ice, and each layer of ice takes 1 hour to get through using a miner’s pick or similar tool and twice as long using fire. Chipping or melting away each ice layer frees up the treasure under that layer:
- First Layer Under the first layer of ice are 72 gp, 181 sp, 352 cp, and two pearls (100 gp each).
Second Layer
Small art objects and gems lie under the second layer of ice. The characters find nine tattered pieces of indigo fabric lined with gold thread (25 gp each), three pieces of quartz (50 gp each), a single aquamarine cracked down the center (250 gp), and a scrimshaw figurine of an archer etched with magical script. This figurine functions like a
Third Layer
The third layer of ice covers 221 gp, a 1-foot-tall marble statuette of a griffon with gold inlay (250 gp), a black pearl (500 gp), a peridot carved in the shape of a leaf (300 gp), a
Fourth Layer
The fourth layer of ice shields the biggest, heaviest items and the treasure the dragon values the most: a 3-foot-diameter ceremonial bronze bowl inlaid with carnelians (1,000 gp), seven garnets (100 gp each), a suit of
D10. Galley
This cabin has been thoroughly ransacked. Dishes are strewn across the floor, and a galley table in the middle of the room has pots and ladles hanging above it. Tied to a low cupboard against the starboard wall is a thin goat. It lifts its head and bleats at you, shuffling toward you until its rope grows taut, stopping its advance.
The crew took most of the food from this galley before abandoning ship, and the kobolds found and ate whatever scraps were left behind, sharing their meager findings with the goat, which the kobolds use as a pack animal. The ice troll hasn’t yet detected the goat. The kobolds keep it here so the dragon doesn’t eat it.
D11. Rum Storage
A key is jammed into the lock of this door—left there in haste by the crew members who plundered the ship’s rum supply before abandoning ship.
This cabin is empty except for a smashed wooden crate lying on the frost-covered floor.
Someone who takes the time to study this detritus notices that some of the planks display parts of a painted symbol. The characters can reassemble the symbol by putting the planks together properly. The image is a circle, contained within which is the smiling face of a drow who wears an eye patch and a purple, wide-brimmed hat accented with a colorful feather plume. Elvish script around the circumference reads, “The Best Rum from Your Friends at One-Eyed Jax!”
D12. Water Storage
The door to this cabin has been weakened by the ice troll’s claws and sits loosely in its frame. The kobolds have slid a heavy wooden bar across the inside of the door to keep it shut for now. The characters must break down the door to enter the cabin, since the kobolds have no intention of letting them in. The door has AC 15, 5 hit points remaining, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. As an action, a character can shoulder or kick open the door with a successful DC 20 Strength check.
The floor of this cabin is icy. Lying on their sides are two empty, open barrels. Hides and furs have been pushed into these barrels to create makeshift sleeping quarters. Two similar but upright barrels appear untouched.
Four Icewind Kobold (see area appendix C) hide behind the barrels and hurl their javelins at the first creature to enter the room. After they throw their javelins, the kobolds are weaponless. They worship Arveiaturace and do the dragon’s bidding. They don’t know when she’ll return next, but she always does.
The upright barrels hold frozen, fresh water. The kobolds turned the empty barrels into sleeping hovels.
Arveiaturace Arrives
Arveiaturace, an ancient white dragon whose vision is hampered by cataracts, carries the body of her former master, the wizard Meltharond, in a saddle on her back (see “area Arveiaturace”, for more information).
The dragon is out hunting when the characters first arrive at the Dark Duchess, but she checks on the ship regularly to make sure her hoard is undisturbed. At the end of each hour the characters spend in the Dark Duchess, there is a 20 percent chance that Arveiaturace returns to the ship. Because she can see only out to a range of 60 feet, the dragon must get close to the ship to examine it.
If the characters are below decks when the White Wyrm arrives, use the following boxed text to describe her arrival:
Over the howling wind, you hear the flapping of titanic wings followed by the cracking of ice under the weight of something immense. A loud snort accompanies the sound of claws scraping against ice-glazed timbers.
The voice of what could only be a truly immense dragon fills the bowels of the ship. “I smell warm flesh and hear the panic of beating hearts. Ready your spells, Meltharond! We have uninvited guests.”
If one or more characters are topside, use the following boxed text instead:
A great white dragon descends from the sky, beating its wings furiously to slow its descent. A dark, humanoid figure is mounted on the dragon’s back.
If the characters hide and don’t make a lot of noise, Arveiaturace climbs aboard the vessel from the forecastle and begins to make her way toward the hold. No matter where the characters are on the ship, they hear Arveiaturace board it, as her massive form makes the entire vessel shake and the ice around it crack. If Arveiaturace notices the characters, she immediately says to the rider on her back, “We know how to deal with thieves, don’t we Meltharond?” She then attacks. If she doesn’t notice the characters, she makes her way to her hoard, inspects the hold to make sure nothing is out of place, and leaves the ship to find and eat a tasty walrus. If she sees that the hoard has been disturbed, the dragon looks around the ship to see if the thieves left tracks and follows any she finds, calling out to Meltharond to ready his spells. If she suspects that intruders are still aboard the vessel but hiding in places she can’t reach, she breaks through walls to get at them.
The characters are no match for the dragon. If they need a distraction to facilitate their escape, Meltharond’s corpse could fall out of its saddle. This causes the dragon to break off her attack at once and check to make sure the dead wizard is undamaged. The dragon can’t put Meltharond’s corpse back in its saddle without help. If there any kobolds are nearby, they can assist; otherwise, Arveiaturace promises to spare the characters' lives if they lend a helping hand. Someone who makes a successful Wisdom (
Tinjong the Verbeeg
If the characters are unable to stand against or escape from Arveiaturace, help arrives in the form of a verbeeg longstrider (see appendix C) named Tinjong, who lives in a seaside cave about a mile away.
A nine-foot-tall giant in thick walrus hide armor bounds across the ice with surprising speed and grace despite her gangly, misshapen limbs. Although her narrow face is hard to see under the fur-lined hood of her frost-covered cloak, it’s clear that the left side of her face sags much lower than the right. As the giant draws near, she skids to a stop, rests her greatclub on one broad shoulder, and says, “Need any help?”
Tinjong avoids the Dark Duchess because she knows the White Wyrm frequents it. If the characters accept her offer, Tinjong uses her
Tinjong worships Silvanus (god of nature) and has no agenda. She tries to be helpful while asking for nothing in return, and she carries nothing of value. Although she has no interest in becoming a permanent member of the party, Tinjong is willing to accompany the characters to Auril’s island if their aim is to confront the Frostmaiden and end her everlasting winter, claiming that’s what Silvanus would want her to do.
Tinjong’s Cave
If the characters need a place to rest and recuperate, Tinjong leads them to her cave overlooking the sea. It contains no furnishings, but there are plenty of furs for warmth and enough wood and oil to start a fire. A chwinga shares the cave with Tinjong but spends most of its time hiding in a rock. It emerges to greet Tinjong when she returns, however. The chwinga likes music and bestows a supernatural charm (see “New Chwinga Charms”) upon the first character who spends at least 1 hour playing music for it.
Id Ascendant
Stories about a comet crashing in the mountains (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns") or a quest concerning a telepathic message (see “area Distress Signal") might bring adventurers to this location, as might a character who has the Escaped Prisoner secret (see appendix B).
Nautiloid Down
Seven days ago, spacefaring mind flayers hoping to capture some interesting species for study crashed their ship—a nautiloid called the Id Ascendant—while trying to fly it through a blizzard. The ship’s cocaptains, Vorryn Q’uuol and Dredavex Sinfiz, are chaotic neutral gnome ceremorphs, which are smaller-than-normal mind flayers spawned from gnome hosts. Their crew consists of three gnome squidlings named Rin, Rix, and Zglarrd. See the “Mind Flayers” entry in appendix C for more information about gnome ceremorphs and squidlings.
The illithids are stuck unless they can find a
Complicating matters is the damage done by the crash to the nautiloid’s life support system, for once this system shuts down, the illithids are at risk of freezing to death. If the shutdown occurs before they acquire a
Roleplaying the Gnome Ceremorphs
Vorryn and Dredavex want to leave Icewind Dale and return to the stars they call home with their squidling brood mates and a couple of interesting new creations or discoveries. They retain their gnomish curiosity and love of tinkering, now blended with the illithids' drive for control and experimentation. They are delighted to meet visitors who are willing to help them acquire a
If the characters want to search for a
Unlike most mind flayers, who prefer to communicate using telepathy, Vorryn and Dredavex prefer to speak aloud in Gnomish or Undercommon, with an accent best described as “gooey.” Vorryn is persnickety and exasperated most of the time but also has a dry sense of humor. Dredavex is industrious and likes to ease tension by telling crude jokes it has learned from eating goblin brains. If they or any of the gnome squidlings are threatened, the ceremorphs react with deadly intent; otherwise, they shun combat.
Roleplaying the Gnome Squidlings
The Gnome Squidling have a blind hunger for brains that often overrides their common sense. Beyond such base hunger, the gnome squidlings don’t know what they want. They have the reasoning and emotional control of toddlers blended with the guile of bored housecats.
Rin, Rix, and Zglarrd make squelching and keening noises when excited or upset; otherwise, they communicate in bursts of emotion punctuated with short, simple words conveyed telepathically. The squidlings trust Vorryn and Dredavex and would be lost without the gnome ceremorphs to watch over them.
Telepathic Distress Signal
After the Id Ascendant crashed, the gnome ceremorphs activated a distress signal meant to be heard only by creatures that have telepathy, including any character who is attuned to the psi crystal found in the gem mine outside Termalaine (see “area A Beautiful Mine"). The signal’s technology hasn’t been perfected yet, such that nontelepathic creatures have been known to pick up the signal as well. You get to decide whether a nontelepathic creature can sense the signal or not.
The psionic transmitter broadcasts on an endless loop until Vorryn or Dredavex decides to shut it off, or until the transmitter is disabled or destroyed (see area area N7).
The signal has a range of 50 miles. Those lucky few who can detect it and set out for the source can feel it guiding them toward the downed nautiloid. The signal is a sequence of words in Deep Speech with a buzzing undertone. Any creature that understands Deep Speech and is sensitive to the signal can translate the message:
“Nautiloid down. Emergency protocols enabled. Crew safe, but vessel imperiled. Psi crystal needed. Come at once.”
The Crash Site
As the ship came down, it dug a furrow through the snowy valley before skidding to a stop. Its construction is partly organic, and the tentacles protruding from the ship’s bow are coated in mucus that remains sticky even in the extreme cold.
The ship’s interior is a mess. The walls are crusted with patches of flaky plaque, and the floor is splattered with sticky blots of an inky-black substance that courses through the ship’s veins. Equipment is scattered everywhere, both from the impact of the crash and because of subsequent repair work.
Approaching the Nautiloid
As you trudge deeper into a mountain valley, an eerie glow betrays the monstrous outline of something stupendous and ominous. It looks like a cephalopod with slimy, ropey tentacles as thick as tree trunks that has tried and failed to bury its immense bulk in the snow.
Two Carrion Crawler, Vorryn’s trained pets, scuttle through the snow near the ship. Characters who have passive Wisdom (
Characters
Nautiloid Features
The nautiloid has the following features:
- Biological Construction The ship is built of organic matter in addition to wood and iron. Walls, floors, and ceilings are reinforced with tough chitin.
- Canted Deck The ship tilts to the south at a slight angle—not enough to hinder movement aboard the vessel, but enough to cause certain objects and liquids on the floor to roll toward the port side of the ship.
- Ceilings Ceilings are 20 feet high unless otherwise noted.
- Illumination All areas in the ship are dimly lit by fleshy, flickering, bioluminescent orbs mounted to the walls or hanging from the ceiling.
- Interior Doors Each interior door aboard the ship is a fleshy sphincter that opens when a creature that has telepathy approaches within 5 feet of it, then quickly closes behind the creature and its companions to keep the heat in. A door must otherwise be pried or tickled open, which requires an action.
- Life Support The failing life support system is keeping the ship’s interior temperature at 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). The system gives out completely 24 hours after the characters arrive (unless they do something about it), at which point the temperature begins falling 10 degrees Fahrenheit per hour until it matches the temperature outside.
Nautiloids
Designed to move through the Astral Plane, nautiloids are bizarre flying ships that can also transport mind flayers between the various worlds of the Material Plane. The Id Ascendant is one such ship.
A nautiloid looks like an enormous nautilus shell fitted with one or more exterior decks and a large, forward-facing mass of rubbery tentacles. The mind flayers use these tentacles to scour the surface of a world for interesting creatures to take back home for study or a feast.
The mind flayers have lost the secret of manufacturing nautiloids, meaning that the loss of any vessel brings them one step closer to remaining trapped on the Material Plane.
Nautiloid Locations
The following locations are keyed to map 2.7.
N1. Forward Deck
This deck is five feet above the valley floor and covered with fresh snow. Mounted to the deck is a ballista covered in ice. At the back of the deck, a double door made of chitin and iron is tucked under two higher decks, the lower of which has another ballista mounted atop it.
The double door is iced shut but not locked. A character can use an action to try to wrench open the doors, doing so with a successful DC 14 Strength (
Ballista
This weapon is inoperable since the crash.
N2. Cargo Hold
Attached to the walls in this chamber are three sets of chains and manacles designed to hold large creatures. A staircase rises to the next deck amid crates, barrels, and broken bits of equipment.
Moving among the detritus are four creatures. Three of them are small, repulsive, purple things that float above the ground and pull themselves across the floor using oversized face-tentacles. The fourth is a lumbering monstrosity made of stitched-together parts from goblins, dwarves, and reindeer.
The three Gnome Squidling (Rin, Rix, and Zglarrd) are supposed to be cleaning up the cargo hold but are just pushing junk around and annoying Dredavex’s flesh golem.
Unless one of the gnome ceremorphs is leading the party through the cargo hold, the flesh golem tries to beat the characters
The heavy chains and manacles once held a pair of carrion crawlers and a bulette, all of which the gnome ceremorphs released after the crash. The characters met the carrion crawlers on the way to the ship; they meet the bulette shortly after they leave (see “area Bulette Proof").
The stairway leads up to the battle deck (area area N4). Characters who examine the cargo containers find two barrels of lubricant, two barrels of a pink slurry made from humanoid brains, a crate of machine parts, a crate of weapons (see “Treasure” below), and three crates that the gnome squidlings live in.
Development
Sounds of combat here attract Dredavex, who arrives in 2 rounds. If any squidlings have died, Dredavex telepathically summons Vorryn and tries to kill the party. Otherwise, Dredavex calls off the golem and attempts to defuse the situation and clear up any “misunderstanding.”
Treasure
One of the crates contains six
N3. Cryogenic Stasis Pods
Each of these four rooms contains a 5-foot-diameter, crimson, semitranslucent crystal sphere in a low stand.
A door in the side of each sphere opens when a creature that has telepathy approaches within 5 feet of it; half the door swings upward and half swings down to form a ramp. Each sphere is a cryogenic stasis pod designed to keep a gnome ceremorph or a gnome squidling alive and healthy on a long voyage. The pods are nonfunctional unless the power core is fixed, which is beyond the ceremorphs' capability.
N4. Battle Deck
This middle deck has an open cowl. Mounted to the deck is a forward-facing ballista. The walls are lined with ballista bolts waiting to be used.
Stairs lead down to area N2 and up to area area N7, and a flesh door leads to area N5.
Ballista
This marvel of gnomish over-engineering is still operational. Dials, knobs, and levers festoon the gunner’s station, which comes with firing instructions written in Qualith (a braille-like script that illithids read with their tentacles). A character who hasn’t read the instructions or had them translated must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (
N5. Maintenance
Crystals protrude from the chitinous ceiling of this oddly shaped room. Some of the crystals are lit, and others are flickering or burned out. Plates of chitin have been pried loose from the walls in places, exposing cavities filled with tangled masses of black tubes. Scattered across the floor are unusual-looking tools.
If it hasn’t been lured elsewhere, Dredavex is here, peering into a wall cavity and trying to figure out a way to keep the life support system from shutting down. The chaotic neutral gnome ceremorph (see appendix C) is equipped with two nonmagical items:
Laser Pistol
Rules for
Psi Crystal Detector
This black metal box is the size of a bar of soap. It emits an audible clicking noise when a
A character who tries to help Dredavex with the life support system can make a DC 25 Intelligence (
N6. Propulsion Room
This room contains a five-foot-diameter sphere of shiny black metal with small, transparent, hexagonal windows. Sharp metal tines resembling grasping claws protrude from the nearby walls and ceiling, stretching toward the sphere but stopping short of it. Along the walls are low-mounted control stations studded with knobs and dials.
The black sphere contains the charred remains of a fist-sized crystal that could propel the nautiloid through the air and across space. The crystal cracked and imploded during the crash. Until a replacement is found, the ship is grounded. The gnome ceremorphs think they can use a psi crystal as a temporary fix, but they’re not sure where to find one.
N7. Bridge
Suspended from the ceiling of this high-domed chamber is a complex lattice of bioluminescent jellyfish that use the glowing tips of their tendrils to form constellations. A high-backed chair with short armrests capped with sparkly blue crystal orbs tilts up toward the display.
A panel on the starboard wall lies open, exposing a pulsing tendril of flesh embedded with crystal shards.
If it hasn’t been lured elsewhere, Vorryn the gnome ceremorph (see appendix C) is here, using the orbs on the ship’s helm (the chair) to communicate telepathically with the nautiloid, which has the liquefied consciousnesses of several other mind flayers flowing through its veins. The chaotic neutral gnome ceremorph is equipped with two nonmagical items:
Laser Pistol
Rules for laser pistols appear in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. This weapon is fully charged and can fire 50 shots before its energy cell is drained. After its last shot is expended, the weapon becomes inoperable. The energy cell can’t be removed or recharged.
Pacifier Rod
This 6-inch-long black metal rod has a button at the top. Using an action to press the button causes the rod to emit a chirp. Any creature within 30 feet of the rod that isn’t
Helm
This chair is securely attached to the deck and can’t be used by creatures that are not mind flayers. Any non-illithid that sits in the chair and touches both blue orbs at once must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be
Self-Destruct
If Vorryn touches one of the helm’s blue orbs while Dredavex touches the other, they can jointly activate the nautiloid’s self-destruct system. The gnome ceremorphs take this desperate action only if there’s a good chance the ship’s technology will fall into the wrong hands or if they’re forced to abandon ship. Once the self-destruct’s countdown timer has begun, it can’t be stopped. A voice in Deep Speech counts down the seconds from 60. When the timer reaches 0, the ship disintegrates in an explosion bright enough to see from Ten-Towns. Any creature inside the ship or within 60 feet of it when this occurs takes 70 (
Telepathic Distress Beacon
The “pulsing tendril of flesh” extruding from the open wall is the ship’s telepathic distress beacon. It can be deactivated in the following ways:
- A mind flayer can use the helm to shut it off.
- Any creature can use an action to try to rip the tendril out of the wall, doing so with a successful DC 16 Strength check.
- The tendril can be destroyed or hacked off with a slashing weapon. It has AC 10, 15 hit points, and resistance to psychic damage.
Exits
Fleshy doorways lead to areas N8 and N9, while stairs lead down to area area N4.
N8. Observation Deck
The deck is covered in frost. A pintle mount for a telescope is fastened near the exterior railing.
N9. Captains' Quarters
This domed chamber is full of clutter, a lot of it piled atop a table with one-foot-high legs. Behind the table is a five-foot-diameter crystal sphere mounted atop a low stand.
Five strange, glowing gizmos are attached to the chitinous walls seven feet above the floor. These devices look like the tips of metal wands held in pincer-claws.
The five gizmos on the walls fire beams of radiant energy whenever a non-illithid is in the room. At the start of each turn, each gizmo targets a random creature in the room (including mind flayers). The target must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or be struck by the gizmo’s beam, taking 4 (
Crystal Sphere
The crystal sphere is a cryogenic stasis pod, identical to the ones in area N3 and similarly nonfunctional.
Worktable
Amid the clutter on the table are two magic items (see “Treasure” below), which a character can find only by rooting through the junk. Any creature that does so has a 50 percent chance of knocking two things together and triggering an electrical discharge. When such a discharge occurs, every creature within 5 feet of the table must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 4 (
Treasure
The two magic items on the worktable were fashioned on distant worlds.
The first is a sticky, metal monocle with a kaleidoscopic lens that functions like
The second is a slimy coif made from a living space slug, that functions like a
Bulette Proof
One last danger confronts the heroes as they leave the ship and head out of the mountain valley:
Something big is plowing through the deep snow, heading in your direction. Only its shiny dorsal ridge breaks the snow’s surface.
Vorryn and Dredavex released a hostile bulette into the wild after the crash because they didn’t want to feed it. They have no control over the creature, and they have all but forgotten about it. They fail to warn the characters that it poses a threat to anyone approaching or leaving the ship.
The characters first notice the bulette when it’s 120 feet away from them, and it has three-quarters cover under the snow. When it gets within 30 feet of the party, the bulette springs out of the snow and uses its Deadly Leap.
If the characters don’t kill it, the bulette gradually migrates toward Ten-Towns.
Jarlmoot
The characters might come here after hearing a tale about a circle of giant thrones (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns"), or they might be led here by Yselm Bloodfang (see “area Yselm’s Way").
Seven empty, ice-glazed thrones form a ring atop a snow-covered hillock. Under the light of a full moon, the apparitions of dead frost giant jarls appear in the thrones, clutching the ends of their armrests with icy fingers as they reminisce about the glorious past.
The ancient thrones are carved out of blocks of stone. When the apparitions of the frost giants manifest, their eyes glow white in the darkness. Three of the giants have on fur vests and leather trousers; three others wear chainmail from head to toe. The seventh giant, Reggaryarva, is slightly larger than the others and wears a coat of white dragon scales and a magnificent horned helm. Reggaryarva was once called the “jarl of jarls” and often had the final say—or axe blow—in any heated discussion. He sits in the throne that faces north, as he should. Beneath Reggaryarva’s throne is a vault dedicated to Thrym, the god of the frost giants.
Jarlmoot Locations
The following area descriptions are keyed to map 2.8.
J1. Ring of Thrones
Ice covers seven giant thrones arrayed in a ring atop a snow-covered hill. Scores of black ravens gather overhead.
A
The characters can see the frost giant apparitions only if they step into the ring under the light of a full moon. Otherwise, the thrones are empty, and the characters have nothing else to interact with. The apparitions refuse to speak in the characters' presence, and they can’t be harmed or turned. Barely lifting one finger, the apparition of Reggaryarva summons a frost giant skeleton (see appendix C) to challenge the party. If the skeleton is defeated, it disappears, and Reggaryarva summons two Invisible Stalker to carry on the fight. Each creature summoned in this manner appears in an unoccupied space of Reggaryarva’s choice within the circle of thrones.
If the characters defeat the frost giant skeleton and the invisible stalkers, Reggaryarva is impressed and challenges them no more. Furthermore, the characters' triumph earns them a reward: access to the vault under the hill. The other six apparitions intone ancient words in Giant, causing Reggaryarva to fade away as his throne rises 30 feet into the air, revealing a hidden staircase that descends to area J2.
If she is present, Yselm Bloodfang betrays and attacks them as Reggaryarva’s throne rises into the air. A winter wolf sent by the Frostmaiden joins the fray on Yselm’s side. Both villains fight to the death.
When the full moon disappears below the horizon, Reggaryarva’s throne slowly lowers back into place, sealing the vault entrance once more.
J2. Hall of Braziers
Jarlmoot’s underground vault is hewn out of rock and has flat, 25-foot-high ceilings throughout. As the characters descend the stairs, read:
To your left as you enter this dark hall is a closed, stone double door with no handles or hinges on this side. To your right is a curved tunnel blocked by an iron gate that has one-foot-square gaps between its horizontal and vertical bars. The iron hinges on the northern side of the gate indicate that it swings inward.
Situated in shallow alcoves at the far end of this hall are six braziers, each one in the shape of a four-foot-tall, two-foot-wide stone urn held snugly atop a five-foot-high, clawed basalt pedestal. Carved into each urn is a rune. Above the alcoves looms a stone archway, into which some words are inscribed.
The inscription carved into the arch above the alcoves is a poem written in the Dwarvish alphabet:
Snatch a scale from a sleeping wyrm;
Against the blowing wind, stand firm.
Climb a mountain with a stone in your shoe;
On little feet, death comes for you.
Be the arrow that starts the war;
Let life’s blood fall till it falls no more.
Double Door
The double door to area area J5 is unlocked. As an action, a character can push open either door with a successful DC 15 Strength (
Locked Gate
The iron gate that seals off area area J3 won’t open until all six braziers in the hall are lit. The gaps between the bars are too small for Small or Medium characters to squeeze through.
Stone Braziers
Any character who understands Dwarvish or Giant can interpret the runes on the six braziers as follows: dod (death), fjell (mountain), krig (war), liv (life), vind (wind), and wyrm (dragon). When the proper ingredients are placed inside one, magical fire fills the brazier. This fire destroys the brazier’s nonmagical contents and burns for 1 hour. Only while all six braziers are lit can the gate to area J3 be opened.
Characters can find most of the ingredients they need in area J5. The poem (see above) provides clues to help the characters figure out which of the ingredients belongs in each brazier. For example, the first line of the poem contains the words “scale” and “wyrm,” suggesting that a dragon’s scale is needed for the brazier that bears the wyrm rune.
- Wyrm (Dragon) Dropping a dragon’s scale in this brazier summons forth its fire. The characters can substitute some other dragon body part, such as a fang or a claw.
- Vind (Wind) Blowing air into this brazier lights its fire. No ingredient is required.
- Fjell (Mountain) Dropping a stone or a pebble from a mountain into this brazier summons forth its fire.
- Dod (Death) Dropping a Tiny, dead creature, or three drops of blood from any dead creature, into this brazier summons forth its fire.
- Krig (War) Dropping an arrow into this brazier summons forth its fire. The characters can substitute some other piece of ammunition, such as a crossbow bolt or sling stone.
- Liv (Life) Three drops of blood from a living creature must fall into this brazier to make its fire appear.
Giant Runes (Area J2)
J3. Curved Tunnel
There is nothing remarkable about this tunnel. It ends at a pair of heavy stone doors. A character can use an action to push open either door with a successful DC 15 Strength (
J4. Turn the Gold Key?
A large oak chest with silver fittings stands against the wall directly opposite the double doors. A gold key sticks out of the chest’s built-in lock.
The chest is 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 6 feet tall, with a half-barrel-shaped lid. It is stuck to the floor and can’t be moved. The gold key in the lock is not the key that unlocks the chest, and it can be safely removed. (The real key is in area J5.) After the key is pulled out, a character can use thieves' tools to try to pick the lock, doing so with a successful DC 20 Dexterity check. A
Exit Portal
Turning the gold key in the lock doesn’t unlock the chest but instead conjures a 10-foot-square doorway through which area area J1 can be seen. The doorway appears on the north wall, above the chest. Any creature that passes through this doorway is teleported to an unoccupied space within Jarlmoot’s circle of thrones. A swarm of ravens then descends upon that creature and attacks it. Enough ravens are circling Jarlmoot to create four such swarms.
The portal is one-way only; it can’t be seen or entered from area J1. The portal closes automatically after 10 minutes, causing the gold key to turn back to its original position. The portal closes instantly if the gold key is removed from the chest’s lock.
Treasure
The gold key is worth 25 gp. Inside the chest, held in a wooden brace, is a
J5. Chamber of Chests
This chamber holds four large wooden chests with iron fittings and built-in locks. Hanging from a hook in the middle of the ceiling is a one-foot-diameter iron ring with four one-foot-long iron keys and a single, one-foot-long silver key dangling from it.
The keys are sized appropriately for the locks on the oversized chests. To reach the ring of keys, the characters must either use magic to climb the walls or stack the chests on end and climb them. Other solutions might present themselves; try to reward the players' ingenuity. The ring of keys is too heavy to lift with a
Chests
Each chest weighs 150 pounds and is 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 6 feet tall, with a half-barrel-shaped lid. A character can use an action to try to pick a chest’s lock using thieves' tools, doing so with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. A
Each chest contains a single item. The four items are as follows:
- An elven arrow
- A dead snowy owl, frozen stiff
- A gleaming scale from a young white dragon
- A fist-sized stone from Kelvin’s Cairn
Leaving Jarlmoot
As the characters leave Jarlmoot, read the following boxed text to the players:
Through the blowing snow, you see a frost giant with long white hair stride toward you. In her hands, she grasps an icy chain with an anvil bolted to one end of it.
The frost giant, Gromin’gorn, is hostile and has noble blood in her icy veins. She has come to Jarlmoot to be tested by the spirits of her ancestors. Only by passing this test can she hope to lead her tribe. If one of the characters is openly carrying the
Instead of a greataxe, Gromin’gorn wields a 10-foot-long chain with an anvil bolted to the end of it. In her hands, it deals 25 (
Karkolohk
A goblin prison-fort clings to an icy crag in the rocky, wind-blasted western foothills of the Spine of the World. From this ramshackle mountain roost, the goblins launch raids against caravans traveling to and from Ten-Towns and mount hunting expeditions across the tundra.
Any of the following hooks might lure characters to the gates of Karkolohk:
- The characters learn about the goblin fortress while they’re in Ten-Towns (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns").
- Sherriff Markham Southwell of Bryn Shander hires the characters to bring him the head of the goblin chief, Yarb-Gnock (see “area Peace Out” and “area Gnome Diplomacy” below).
- The characters follow a goblin wagon heading back to Karkolohk (see “area Foaming Mugs").
- The characters find a shield guardian’s amulet in the Lost Spire of Netheril (see “area Lost Spire of Netheril") and use its tracking feature, which leads them to Karkolohk, where the shield guardian is found.
Secret of Chief Yarb-Gnock
Ruling a goblin horde is a thankless job. That’s a hard lesson for a rock gnome sorcerer to learn.
Five years ago, before Icewind Dale became the perpetually frozen hellscape it is today, Spellix Romwod was traveling through the mountain pass with a small caravan when it was caught in an avalanche. The goblins who triggered the avalanche captured Spellix’s mates and dragged them back to their caves in the mountains to be eaten. Spellix, whom the goblins overlooked, followed them and devised a cunning plan to free his companions. Using materials scavenged from the wrecked caravan, he engineered a costume for himself. Disguised as a half-metal goblin, he infiltrated the goblins' lair and did his best to fit in, cleverly using
Spellix was repulsed by the goblins' squalor and took pity on them. Abandoning all concern for his former mates, whom he didn’t particularly like anyway, Spellix adopted the name given to him by the goblins and spent the next several months engineering ways to improve their standard of living. Long after the other members of the caravan had been eaten, Yarb-Gnock became the new chief after the previous one choked to death on a mountain goat tongue. By then, Yarb-Gnock had already drawn up plans to build a fortress in the mountains. Karkolohk, the Gnomish word for “home,” became the goblin tribe’s dream of a better future.
As the goblins were finishing construction of their new home, everlasting winter descended upon Icewind Dale. Fewer caravans made their way through the mountain pass, forcing Chief Yarb-Gnock to send goblin wagons far and wide in search of food and resources. Despite his best efforts, the gnome-in-goblin’s-clothing could sense that the tribe was becoming increasingly frustrated. The goblins felt like they were working harder for less, and a few are beginning to suspect that Chief Yarb-Gnock is a fraud.
Cooped up in the cold with creatures that would kill him if they learned the truth, Chief Yarb-Gnock is running out of ideas to keep the goblins motivated on other tasks and has begun to fear that the goblins are on to him. His costume is beginning to come apart, and paranoia has made him sleep-deprived. The number of “traitors” hurled from the mountaintop increases with every cycle of the moon, and the goblins don’t know who among them are Yarb-Gnock’s loyal spies. Mistrust has infected every nook and cranny of Karkolohk.
Spellix Romwod was beginning to think that the time had come to abandon his goblin kin and seek refuge in Ten-Towns when, two days ago, his fortunes improved suddenly. Goblins out scavenging in a wagon stumbled across a curious object in the tundra—a metallic, egg-shaped crate. (This object was jettisoned from an illithid nautiloid soon before it crashed in the mountains to the east, as described in “area Id Ascendant"), Chief Yarb-Gnock thinks the crate might hold something wondrous, and getting it open has become his new obsession.
Karkolohk Overview
The goblins of Karkolohk often haunt the trail that connects Ten-Towns to other settlements farther south, though it sees little traffic nowadays. Prisoners are kept in dangling cages until they freeze to death, whereupon the goblins cook and eat them.
Deep tracks left by goblin wagons lead to and from Karkolohk, making it easy to find despite the heavy snowfall. Once the characters are within the foothills and travel high enough to breach the clouds, the fortress becomes visible about from a mile away.
The fortress is worked into the spur of a mountain slope in a way that uses the natural environment to its advantage. Situated at the top of a hill, goblin lookouts have an excellent view of anyone approaching.
The weather in the mountains is so violent that Karkolohk’s structures occasionally come loose and crash down the mountainside. Other times, chemistry experiments gone awry send wooden structures up in flames. Thus, the fort is always bustling with construction and repairs.
Goblin Mindset
Chief Yarb-Gnock has taught the goblins to seize their destiny and stop at nothing to get what they want. Opportunistic creatures that they are, they take any sign of weakness as an opening to gain an advantage. If bullying and intimidation don’t work, the goblins use more underhanded and passive-aggressive tactics. If they think that they are at a disadvantage or that they will come to an unavoidable loss, the goblins will do whatever they can to backtrack out of such a situation, be it through bribery, wheedling, or treachery.
Visitors are not welcome at Karkolohk. Moreover, the goblins who live here detest non-goblins, especially gnomes. Were the goblins just a little smarter, they would see through Chief Yarb-Gnock’s crude disguise and the magic he uses to hides its imperfections, and tear Spellix Romwod limb from limb.
Gnome Diplomacy
If you decide to use the “Peace Out” quest (see “area Peace Out"), the characters are treated as diplomats by the goblins and permitted to approach and enter the fortress unmolested, provided they do no harm to its inhabitants. Assuming they avoid a violent altercation, the characters are escorted by a goblin to Yarb-Gnock’s dining hall (area area K11) for a private feast with the chief. This feast consists of a cooked mountain goat. What happens next depends on Yarb-Gnock’s goal, which can be one of the following:
- If Yarb-Gnock’s goal is to make peace with Ten-Towns, he gives the party a rolled-up strip of rabbit hide at the end of the meal. On this strip of hide he has written a brief, formal notice in Common addressed to the Council of Speakers of Ten-Towns. It asserts that the goblins of Karkolohk will refrain from attacking travelers and caravans heading to and from Ten-Towns for as long as the peace treaty between Ten-Towns and Karkolohk lasts, and it bears Yarb-Gnock’s signature at the bottom. After handing them the message, Yarb-Gnock urges the characters to leave at once and deliver it to the Council Hall in Bryn Shander.
- If Yarb-Gnock’s goal is to flee Karkolohk, the meal concludes with Yarb-Gnock requesting that the characters escort him to the Council Hall in Bryn Shander. Mistaking any attempt by Yarb-Gnock to leave Karkolohk as an abduction orchestrated by the characters, the goblins attack the characters as they try to flee the fortress with Yarb-Gnock in tow. During this escape attempt, Yarb-Gnock fights only in self-defense, counting on the characters to deal with any goblins that get in the way.
Karkolohk Locations (K1-K7)
The following locations are keyed to map 2.9.
K1. Watchtowers
The fortress has three of these squat structures, two overlooking the eastern approach and a third perched atop the cliffs to the west. Each watchtower stands 20 feet tall and has a rickety wooden ladder leading to the top, where a thick column of smoke issues from a brazier that is kept lit at all times.
Four Goblin dressed in cold weather clothing stand guard atop each tower. The rampart battlements grant them half cover against attacks from outside the fort. They are supposed to be looking outward for signs of trouble, but the goblins prefer to stand around the brazier for warmth. One goblin has a horn that it can blow to sound an alarm, putting the entire fortress on alert.
Since visitors aren’t welcome at Karkolohk, the goblins shoot arrows at any they see. A character who wants to sneak past a watchtower or climb its ladder undetected must succeed on a DC 9 Dexterity (
K2. Main Gate
A fiery brazier casts its flickering light on the thirty-foot-high, spiked ramparts that frame the main gate. Four goblins peer down from these ramparts, two per side. The gate is twenty feet tall and fashioned out of crosshatched pieces of wood that have been lashed together. A heavy chain and padlock seals the gate from the inside.
Six Goblin shiver and stamp their feet atop the ramparts, trying to keep warm. They are a chatty bunch, making jokes at one another’s expense. Each rampart has a wooden ladder leading up to it.
A character who wants to approach the gate undetected must succeed on a DC 9 Dexterity (
A Small character can try to squeeze under the gate or between its wooden bars, doing so with a successful DC 20 Dexterity (
K3. Courtyard
Two rickety wooden bridges loom over this area at heights of thirty feet and fifty feet, respectively. The higher bridge is missing a large section of its middle, and what remains of that structure doesn’t look safe.
Two iron cages hang from beams that extend southeast off the lower bridge. One of the cages twirls on its heavy iron chain as a flurry of black-feathered ravens tear into the flesh of the desolate creature caged within. Underneath the bridge is a worg with a rider on its back. The rider, swathed in cold weather clothing, appears to be a rather fat goblin. North and west of the higher bridge, resting in the snow, are three large, wooden cages, currently empty.
The wooden cages were built to hold the polar bears that pull the goblins' wagons.
The goblin riding the worg is Snubsuk, the courtyard warden. His job is to lock and unlock the main gate at area K2. The worg charges toward intruders, causing Snubsuk to tumble off the worg’s back and fall
Bridges and Cages
The center of the 50-foot-high bridge collapsed a few days ago. The goblins used the debris to light fires and haven’t fixed the bridge yet. The 30-foot-high bridge is intact and unguarded. One of the cages hanging from it contains a prisoner: a dead human that the ravens are feasting on.
K4. Archer Platforms
These wooden platforms creak and groan underfoot. Each of them has two Goblin in cold weather clothing and two Wolf stationed atop it.
If an alarm sounds, the goblins begin looking for targets on the ground to pick off with their shortbows. If the enemy moves to a location the goblins can’t see, they mount the wolves and move to another archer platform.
K5. Main Battle Platform
This thirty-foot-tall wooden watchtower is connected to the snowy ridges on either side of it by wooden bridges. Hanging off it are a pair of empty iron cages, and dangling underneath the tower’s raised platform is a nine-foot-tall, golem-like construct with a helm-shaped head. This humanoid contraption is attached to an arrangement of ropes and pulleys that make it look like a giant marionette.
When announcements or rallying cries need to be made, the top of this tower is where Chief Yarb-Gnock stands to address the goblin tribe. No goblins are on it currently, although it sees a fair amount of traffic. A rickety wooden ladder runs from the platform to the ground. The underside of the platform is rigged with a system of ropes and pulleys that the goblins can use to hoist up anything heavier than a goblin, and the top of the platform has snow-covered hatches built into it that can be lifted away to get at the rigging underneath.
Dangling Construct
The construct dangling beneath the platform is a shield guardian that survived the fall of Ythryn, although its master did not. It was heavily damaged in the crash; consequently, its hit point maximum is reduced to 80. To activate and control the shield guardian, the characters need its amulet, which is inside an ancient tower that broke away when Ythryn came down and crashed in the tundra (see “area Lost Spire of Netheril"). They also need to operate the goblins' system of pulleys and ropes to lower it to the ground; figuring out how the system works requires a successful DC 15 Intelligence check.
The shield guardian was built by a Netherese wizard and is nearly two thousand years old. Carved into its massive forearms is the wizard’s personal sigil. After the wizard’s tower crashed, the guardian left the spire to go find help but got buried in an avalanche. It eventually shut down. Centuries later, a band of goblins dug it out and hauled it back to Karkolohk. Unfortunately for them, the guardian could not be reactivated. After some thought, Chief Yarb-Gnock decided to dangle it from this platform, using ropes and pulleys like puppet strings to make the guardian appear animate and terrifying. This construct must have been a lively sight to behold at one point, but the aura of menace surrounding it quickly faded, and the goblins lost all interest in it.
K6. Healers' Huts
On a wide, snow-covered shelf, six conical tents fashioned from animal skins and bark draped over wood frames are arranged in a circle around a burning brazier.
Each hut is home to a goblin healer in cold weather clothing. Each one owns a healer’s kit. In addition, each healer has a pet mountain goat (see appendix C), from which it draws milk and which it can use as a mount. Each goat is usually tied to a post inside the healer’s hut.
Manafek
The goblin healer in the easternmost hut is named Manafek. She also tells fortunes by studying patterns of raven’s blood spilled on the snow. She is wise enough to have seen through Chief Yarb-Gnock’s disguise and is contemplating whether to blackmail the rock gnome or expose him. She’s leaning toward the former, since she’s not sure the goblins will pick her as their new leader if Yarb-Gnock dies.
K7. Walk of Doom
A twenty-foot-long wooden walkway clings to the edge of a precipice. Its spiked railings are adorned with ribbons of shredded cloth and goblin skulls.
Whenever Chief Yarb-Gnock wants to make an example of a goblin, the poor wretch is dragged screaming to this walkway. The goblin can either hurl itself off the cliff to its death or die by the swords of its kin. The skulls belong to goblins who never made it to the end of the walkway. Ravens have picked the skulls clean.
The walkway was shoddily constructed and shows signs of having been repaired many times after being damaged by wind. If more than 200 pounds is placed on the outermost half of it, the whole thing snaps off and tumbles down the mountainside. Any creature on the walkway when it breaks off must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. On a successful save, the creature leaps off and falls
Karkolohk Locations (K8-K13)
K8. Goblin Huts
Ramshackle huts cling precariously to the rock face, their rope ladders swaying with every gust of wind.
These huts are secured to the rock face with stilts. Each hut is 15 to 20 feet above the path of wooden planks that runs the length of the ledge below them. The huts' interiors are lined with animal pelts and thick strips of bark. Each hut contains an adult goblin and
When the fortress comes under attack, the goblins who live here pull up their rope ladders, which makes getting to the huts difficult. A creature can reach a hut by scaling the icy cliff, but doing this requires a successful DC 15 Strength (
K9. Main Keep Foyer
Four Goblin in cold weather clothing guard this drafty hall. If an alarm sounds, the guards drop a heavy wooden crossbar across the double door to the south until Chief Yarb-Gnock gives the order to remove it. A ram or a similar siege weapon is needed to break down the barred door.
K10. Guard Barracks
These rooms are furnished similarly with mangy furs heaped atop hammocks made from old fishing nets. No goblins are resting here when the characters arrive.
K11. Dining Room
A low banquet table dominates this room, and there are no chairs as goblins are expected to sit on the floor. The table and floor are strewn with fish bones, bits of rotting meat, and other refuse left over from previous meals. No one ever cleans this place.
Characters who undertake the “Peace Out” quest (see “area Peace Out") are brought here to meet and dine with Chief Yarb-Gnock. The characters are expected to wait here until Spellix dons his Yarb-Gnock costume and emerges from his quarters (area K12). He engages in small talk until the food arrives about 10 minutes later.
When the room is not in use, a lone goblin stands guard inside the room near the eastern door, which is sealed shut with a wooden crossbar and has a shuttered peephole at goblin eye level. If someone knocks on the other side of this door, the guard peers through the peephole to see who’s there. If it sees a friendly face, it lifts the crossbar and opens the door. A character can use an action to try to force open this door from the other side, breaking the crossbar with a successful DC 22 Strength (
K12. Chief’s Quarters
The door to this room has three deadbolts. A character can use an action to try to force open the door, doing so with a successful DC 15 Strength check. Spellix Romwod (see the accompanying stat block) quickly dons his disguise if someone knocks on the door or tries to break it down, but it takes him 1 minute to do so. While putting on his goblin costume, Spellix makes light conversation (in Goblin) through the closed door to buy time.
The following boxed text assumes that Spellix has had time to don his disguise before the characters open the door. If they catch him in the act, modify the description accordingly:
This ten-foot-square room features two wooden shelves that hold half-dismantled objects and other junk. In the middle of the room, an odd-looking goblin in cold weather clothing stands next to a metallic, egg-shaped crate as big as he is. Nearby is a small, fur-lined cot and a brazier full of hot coals.
Characters who search the junk on the shelves find a set of tinker’s tools and three trinkets (determined by rolling on the Icewind Dale Trinkets table in appendix A).
If the characters clearly portray themselves as enemies of the goblins, Spellix removes his goblin mask so that the characters don’t mistake him for an enemy. If asked how he ended up in his current predicament, Spellix tells them he’s a method actor training for the role of a goblin warlord in a play. (He can’t help himself—he lies about everything.)
The characters can easily force Spellix to do what they say, since they are clearly mightier than his goblin horde. While in his Yarb-Gnock disguise, Spellix can be used as a hostage to facilitate the characters' escape, or he can command the goblins to stand down and allow the characters to leave the fort unmolested. If Manafek (see area area K6) is still alive, she might show up unexpectedly with a goblin posse and expose the impostor, forcing Spellix to put his fate in the characters' hands. If the characters surrender the gnome to the goblins, Spellix is hauled away to take the Walk of Doom (see area area K7), and the characters are free to go without further incident.
Egg-Shaped Crate
Made of magical metal, this indestructible container is 3½ feet tall and 3 feet wide, with a flat base that allows it to stand upright and seams at the top that suggest it opens like a flower. Though it looks smooth, its surface feels tacky. It weighs 250 pounds and has a panel of flashing lights below its bulging midsection. The panel is a nine-digit keypad locking mechanism, and each glowing button has braille-like bumps on it. Spellix was unable to remove the keypad or crack open the crate, so he has been trying different combinations on the lock.
The characters won’t be able to crack the eight-digit combination quickly, so the easiest way to open the crate is to cast a
Unlocking the crate causes the gibbering mouther contained inside it to spill out. It attacks all other creatures indiscriminately.
K13. Treasury
This small room is empty.
Lost Spire of Netheril
Buried in the tundra is the spire of a tower that broke away from the Netherese city of Ythryn when it fell from the sky nearly two thousand years ago. The spire shattered into pieces as it embedded itself in the earth, upside down. There it has remained for centuries, buried under snow and ice.
The Netherese wizard who lived inside the spire did not survive the crash. The wizard’s shield guardian not only survived but also dug its way out, creating a tunnel that others can use to reach the spire’s interior. Until recently, the mouth of this tunnel was buried under ice and snow. After exiting the spire, the shield guardian wandered into the Spine of the World, where it shut down and was lost for centuries until a band of goblins found it recently and brought it to their mountain fort (see “area Karkolohk").
The characters can learn about the spire in Ten-Towns (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns"), or they might stumble upon it accidentally while hunting (see “area Hunt for the Red Yeti"). The NPC who tells the tale is willing to guide the characters to the spire’s location for no less than 20 gp. After doing so, the guide wishes the party luck before heading back to Ten-Towns.
Before the characters face the challenges of the spire, review the information about Dzaan in the “area Arcane Brotherhood” section of appendix C. The details concerning Dzaan’s simulacrum and bodyguard are especially pertinent, given what the characters are about to discover.
Not-So-Dead Wizard of Thay
Dzaan instructed his simulacrum to remain in the spire and ordered Krintaas, his wight bodyguard, to watch over it. The simulacrum is keen to activate the rune chamber on the lowest level (area area P16), because this room’s magic can transform an illusory creature or object into a real one (within limits). The Dzaan’s Simulacrum thinks it can use the rune chamber to turn itself into a flesh-and-blood clone of Dzaan, but activating the chamber requires a life-spark, which the simulacrum does not possess. Krintaas, who also lacks a life-spark, is impatiently waiting for Dzaan to return and quash the simulacrum’s efforts to test the rune chamber. Neither the simulacrum nor Krintaas is aware that the real Dzaan is dead (see “area Toil and Trouble").
When the characters show up, Dzaan’s simulacrum is ecstatic. Finally, some potentially helpful living creatures have arrived! The simulacrum will bargain, befriend, threaten, or do whatever else it thinks might work in order to get one or more of them to accompany it to the rune chamber. If the characters know that the real Dzaan is dead and convey that information to the simulacrum, it becomes even more determined.
Once it learns that Dzaan is dead, Krintaas does whatever it takes to make sure the simulacrum gets the life-spark it needs to activate the rune chamber.
Approaching the Spire
When the characters come within sight of the section of the spire that’s visible on the surface, read:
A twenty-foot-high, irregularly shaped spur of rock juts out of the tundra ahead of you. Its smooth and shiny surface cannot possibly have been worn down by the wind. No, this protrusion looks utterly out of place, as if it had been thrust into the ground.
A character who examines the protrusion can make a DC 15 Intelligence (
Slippery Entrance
Characters who search the area around the protrusion find a slippery, 5-foot-diameter tunnel that enters the ground at a steep angle, then winds down into the frozen earth. A character moving through the tunnel without the aid of climbing gear or magic must succeed on a DC 15 Strength (
Lost Spire Overview
In addition to showing the four levels of the spire, map 2.10 depicts a side view of the spire in its original state and a cross-section showing its current state: broken, mostly buried, and upside down.
The spire’s constant features are summarized below:
- Everything Is Upside Down Every traversable location shown on map 2.10 is upside down. To get around, the characters have to walk on ceilings and climb over the tops of doorways. Furnishings that weren’t securely bolted to the walls or floor lie in disarray, or in shards, on the ceiling.
Illumination
All rooms, corridors, and staircases are lit by
- Room and Door Heights All rooms and passageways are 12 feet high, with flat ceilings and floors unless the text says otherwise. All doorways are 8 feet high and arched; being upside down turns them into concave, 4-foot-high barriers that must be surmounted to get from one room to another).
- Tunnels The shield guardian punched holes through the floor and gouged out tunnels in some places during its escape from the spire. Characters can use these openings to move between levels, but they’ll need ropes or magic to ascend or descend safely.
Lost Spire Locations (P1-P8)
The following locations are keyed to map 2.10.
P1. Upside-Down Entrance
The slippery tunnel opens into an upside-down room, the contents of which are coated in frost. Across from the tunnel is a wooden door that’s flush with the ceiling, which used to be the floor. The door is ajar, and flanking it are two identical stone statues that hang down like stalactites. Across from the statues are sconces with upside-down flames burning in them.
The statues, which merge seamlessly with the ceiling, depict a long-faced human dressed in wizard’s robes and clutching a staff. The statues used to have magical wards on them, but these protections faded long ago.
P2. Upside-Down Corridor
The upside-down stairs at the east end of this frost-filled corridor once connected to area area P9, but the passage is so choked with rubble and ice that it can’t be used.
P3. Upside-Down Library
Tall bookshelves affixed to the outer wall have spilled their contents onto the ceiling-turned-floor. A large table lies on its side, one leg broken. A five-foot-wide tunnel in the floor to the east leads down.
Most of the books in this library have been destroyed by time and neglect. The group of adventurers Dzaan hired to help him search the spire removed all the books they considered valuable, including spellbooks. They left behind a few that might interest certain characters:
Magical Wonders of Netheril. This book is a collection of interviews with Netherese archmages, who discuss their studies of ancient elven magic and the creation of mythallars (see appendix D). The book includes sketches of such devices.
Mysteries of the Phaerimm. This book sheds light on the phaerimm—telepathic, funnel-shaped monsters of malevolent intellect that lurk in the Underdark—and includes disturbing sketches of them.
Wizards in the Hollow. The birth of the Netherese empire is chronicled in this otherwise dull, plodding story about the lives of three Netherese wizards.
Tunnel Down
A rough-hewn tunnel against the north wall leads down to area area P6 on level 2.
P4. Upside-Down Workshop
This room contains shattered and jumbled equipment, much of it near two heavy wooden worktables—one on its side, the other upside down.
Characters who search through the wreckage find an iron key that unlocks the metal chest in area P5.
P5. Upside-Down Potion Storage
The floor of this room is covered with shards of glass, frozen pools of spilled fluids, and the wreckage of two cabinets. In a niche in the far corner of the room, a metal chest is bolted to the ceiling. Its lid is locked.
The key to the chest can be found in area P4. A character using thieves' tools can pick the chest’s lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check.
Treasure
Characters who open the upside-down chest must be careful not to let its contents fall out. The chest contains four
P6. Upside-Down Laboratory
This room contains two metal cages, both badly damaged. Nearby, two roughly dug tunnels—one in the ceiling and one in the floor—lead to other areas. Narrow windows along the bowed outer wall afford you a glimpse of the earth into which this structure impaled itself.
The metal cages got knocked around a lot during the crash and fall apart easily. One of them holds the carapace of an insect-like person. A character who examines this object and succeeds on a DC 20 Intelligence (
Tunnels Up and Down
Rough-hewn tunnels in the middle of the room lead up to area area P3 and down to area area P11.
P7. Upside-Down Apprentices' Study
An upside-down table sits in the middle of this room, and books are scattered around it. Clinging to the bowed outer wall is an upside-down fireplace. Along that same wall is a window with nothing but hard-packed earth beyond it.
The members of the previous expedition searched through the books and plucked the best ones. Characters who thoroughly examine the remaining ones can find a couple of interest that are salvageable:
Ajamar’s Guide to the Phantastic. This breezy, lighthearted treatise on illusion magic was required reading in many Netherese classrooms. It describes clever ways to use common illusion spells.
The Unfettered Mind. This lunatic text discusses how one might exist solely as a disembodied brain, preserved for eons in a magical suspension fluid. It includes sketches of brains in jars.
P8. Upside-Down Reading Room
This room contains the shattered remains of a desk and some chairs. You quickly discover that all sound is muted here.
A permanent
Lost Spire Locations (P9-P16)
P9. Collapsed Staircase
This staircase once connected to area area P2 on level 1, but the passage is too choked with rubble and ice to be used.
Dead Apprentice
Partially buried under the rubble is a human skeleton in tattered robes—the remains of an apprentice who died in the crash. Characters who examine the skeleton notice that one of its bony fingers is missing. A previous explorer noticed a ring on the finger, couldn’t remove it, and decided to break off the whole finger instead.
P10. Rubble-filled Spiral Stairway
This spiral staircase used to connect levels 2 through 4 but is choked with rubble, rendering it impassable.
P11. Upside-Down Laboratory
This chamber appears to have been a wizard’s laboratory, as evidenced by the upside-down storage cupboards and empty shelves fastened to the walls, the shattered glass and alchemical equipment strewn across the floor, and the arcane symbols painted on what is now the ceiling. In the middle of this space, five-foot-wide passageways punched through the ceiling and floor lead to other levels. Near them, a partially collapsed wall exposes a room that lies beyond.
The gap in the west wall was made by members of a previous expedition, after they discovered a secret door that they couldn’t get open. The secret door was reduced to rubble, creating a gap in the wall leading to area area P13. Dzaan’s simulacrum (see appendix C) and its wight bodyguard, Krintaas, are in area P12 and move to investigate any loud disturbances here.
Treasure
Any character who spends a few minutes picking through the detritus finds a small brass key (which unlocks the
P12. Snow and Shadow
Unless they’re drawn to area P11 by a disturbance, Dzaan’s simulacrum (see appendix C) and its wight bodyguard, Krintaas, are here. Omit the second paragraph from the following boxed text if these NPCs are not present:
Some effort has been taken to arrange the contents of this upside-down room, creating a functional office. A table stands in the middle of the room, surrounded by small stacks of books. Lying on the table is a whirring amulet on a chain.
Two figures stand behind the table. One is an undead warrior in studded leather armor, its dead-gray flesh drawn tightly over its bones and its face locked in a terrible scowl. The other is an attractive young man in cold weather clothing. His face, beneath a frayed witch’s hat, displays studious eyes and a warm smile. “Welcome to the lost spire of Netheril,” he says. “My name is Dzaan.”
Characters who watched Dzaan’s fiery execution (see “area Toil and Trouble") recognize the young man as Dzaan—back from the dead, or so it seems. The simulacrum, on the other hand, has never met the characters before. To earn their trust, it tries to be honest and forthcoming. It is self-aware enough to know what it is, but it can’t grow or learn in its current form. It asks the characters to help it become a flesh-and-blood creature like the wizard who created it. It knows nothing about Dzaan’s fate or the crimes for which the real Dzaan was executed.
In the course of a conversation, the simulacrum shares the following information:
“I am a simulacrum of my creator. This tower is but a fragment of a Netherese flying city that crashed nearly two thousand years ago and lies somewhere under the glacier.
“On the lowest level of this inverted tower, my creator found a chamber that can turn illusions into reality. The life-spark of a living creature is needed to activate its power. As a creation of snow and shadow, I have no life-spark of my own, and Krintaas, my undead bodyguard, is of no help in this regard. I assure you, the chamber can in no way harm anyone.”
Dzaan’s simulacrum lacks a spellbook. If attacked, its impulse is to turn
Amulet
The object on the table is the amulet for a shield guardian. Dzaan retrieved it from area area P15 and brought it here for examination. Neither the simulacrum nor Krintaas know what the amulet does, nor do they care. The simulacrum will happily give it to the characters if one or more of them agrees to accompany it to the rune chamber on the lowest level. A
The amulet is a 4-inch-wide disk composed of silver-framed wood, with a rune carved into its face. (This rune matches the one on the shield guardian’s forearms and is the personal sigil of the wizard who created both.)
This particular
Books
The simulacrum has been picking through the spire’s wreckage and gathering books that might be useful. Characters can find the following readable titles among the stacks of worthless, damaged books on the floor:
Lost Scrolls of Sabreyl. Written in Elvish, this scholarly tome copies and analyzes fragments of eight ancient scrolls left behind by a sun elf wizard who taught magic to the cloud giants of Ostoria, a bygone empire that collapsed 40,000 years ago.
From Shadow, Substance. This speculative work discusses how one might harness the Weave to turn an illusory object or creature into its real counterpart, with commentary and criticism from noteworthy Netherese illusionists.
Here Lies the King. This elaborately plotted novel features an illusionist who uses magic to impersonate a prince, supplant a king, rule a fictional kingdom for sixty-one years, and fake his own death.
Ventatost. This book uses testimonials and conspiracy theories to piece together events leading up to the destruction of a Netherese city called Ventatost, which disintegrated as it flew over the forest of Cormanthor nearly two thousand years ago, before the fall of Ythryn.
P13. Upside-Down Shrine
Characters who peer through the gap in the east wall see what looks like a shrine without much decoration or flair:
A stone altar is attached to the ceiling of this otherwise empty, semicircular room. An eight-pointed star is carved into the eastern face of the altar.
Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (
Altar
The altar hangs 9 feet above the “floor” and merges seamlessly with the “ceiling” to which it’s attached. A
The first time a character who can cast spells touches the symbol of Mystryl carved into the front of the altar, a stoppered flask filled with a luminous blue liquid appears in a shimmer of light “atop” the altar and immediately falls, shattering on the ceiling-turned-floor unless someone within reach catches it. Catching the falling flask requires a successful DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. If more than one character succeeds on this save, the one who rolled highest is the one who catches it. If the flask shatters, its contents evaporate instantly. Only one such flask can be created, after which the altar becomes nonmagical.
A character can use an
P14. Upside-Down Refectory
This room is where the old tenants of the spire gathered for meals. Characters who befriended Dzaan’s simulacrum are warned about the creature in this room:
Rusty tableware, shattered plates, and broken chairs lie scattered on the floor amid two tables, one overturned and one on its side.
Crawling out from behind the tipped-over table is a hulking, eight-legged reptile with glowing eyes.
A hostile basilisk is holed up in this room, having crawled down into the spire a few weeks ago.
P15. Upside-Down Bedchamber
The bed in this room is upside down on the floor, its rotted blankets peeking out from underneath the disintegrating mattress. Mounted to the north wall is a tall, cracked mirror in a stone frame that merges seamlessly with the surrounding wall.
Lying underneath two dirt-clogged windows is a partially crumbled, rime-covered human skeleton in the tattered shreds of a nightgown.
The crumbling skeleton is all that remains of the Netherese wizard to whom this tower once belonged. Disturbing the remains causes the wizard’s evil spirit, a will-o'-wisp, to appear and attack. If the will-o'-wisp loses more than half its hit points, it uses its next action to turn
The mirror mounted on the north wall can be broken or taken down. Characters who slipped past the basilisk can use the mirror to reflect the basilisk’s gaze.
Treasure
Characters who search the room thoroughly find a chest behind the bed. The chest has been made
The chest weighs 25 pounds. It is airtight, watertight, and magical, such that its interior is a constant 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). It can be sold for as much as 100 gp.
Inside the chest is what appears to be an ancient, leather-bound spellbook that bears a rune on its spine identical to the one that appears on the shield guardian’s control amulet in area area P12. The spellbook disintegrates a few seconds after the chest is opened. Whatever spells it once contained are forever lost.
P16. Upside-Down Rune Chamber
The walls of this chamber are inscribed with interconnected runes and marred with cracks. What is now the ceiling bears similar inscriptions that swirl inward, converging around a golden crystal disk five feet in diameter.
A
An illusory figure appears upside down in the far corner of the room, standing on the ceiling. It appears to be the same long-faced human wizard depicted in the statues just inside the spire’s entrance. It begins speaking in a strange, possibly forgotten, language.
Casting
Any creature that can understand Loross, the language favored by the wizards of Netheril, can translate the illusory wizard’s words as follows:
“Behold my masterpiece! Here can illusions be made real, shadows become substance! Create your illusion, let it stand atop the crystal disk, and watch my rune chamber do its work!”
Dzaan’s simulacrum can’t learn anything new by studying the runes and crystals. However, any character who spends at least 1 minute doing so can, with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (
- The rune chamber can’t produce magic items, animated objects, constructs, or undead.
- A life-spark is needed to turn an illusory creature into a physical one. Acting much like a spark of electricity, it gives the room the jolt it needs to complete the transformation. (No such component is needed for objects.)
- The cracks in the walls have damaged enough of the runes to compromise the room’s magic, which might give rise to unexpected results. (Warning Dzaan’s simulacrum about this risk does not discourage it from using the rune chamber.)
Illusory Objects
When one or more illusory objects are placed under the crystal disk, the disk gives off a soft golden light. Roll percentile dice and consult the Rune Chamber Effect table to determine what happens next. Treat multiple illusory objects (for example, an illusory pile of coins) as a single collective object and roll once on the table for all of them.
Illusory Creature
When an illusory creature stands beneath the crystal disk, the disk gives off a soft golden light. However, nothing happens until a living creature touches the illusory one. When that happens, roll percentile dice and consult the Rune Chamber Effect table to determine what happens next.
If Dzaan’s simulacrum becomes real, see the “area Dzaan Lives!” section below.
####### Rune Chamber Effect
| d100 | Effect |
|---|---|
| 01–10 | The illusory object or creature is destroyed. If this happens to Dzaan’s simulacrum, it instantly drops to 0 hit points and collapses into a pile of ice and snow. |
| 11–50 | The illusory object or creature is transformed into a hostile blob of corrosive, magical ectoplasm that uses the black pudding stat block. This blob of magical energy can be dispelled (DC 16). |
| 51–90 | The object or creature ceases to be an illusion and becomes real for |
| 91–00 | The object or creature ceases to be an illusion and becomes real permanently. A creature brought into being in this way is under the DM’s control and uses whichever stat block best matches its form. In addition, the damage to the runes causes the crystal disk to burn out, making the chamber no longer functional. |
Dzaan Lives!
If the rune chamber works properly and the simulacrum becomes a true clone of Dzaan, the wizard thanks the characters for their help and asks them not to discuss what has happened with anyone in Ten-Towns. See Dzaan’s description in appendix C for information about modifying the simulacrum’s stat block to account for its transformation into a clone of Dzaan. Krintaas remains by Dzaan’s side as his faithful, undead bodyguard.
Dzaan’s ultimate goal is to plunder Ythryn. Without his spellbook, however, the wizard is woefully underpowered. Concealed under layers of cold weather clothing, Dzaan and Krintaas must travel to Bryn Shander to obtain a blank spellbook, as well as writing supplies and provisions. In the meantime, Dzaan urges the characters to seek out and destroy his rivals in the Arcane Brotherhood. Dzaan assumes his rivals are hiding out in Ten-Towns and paints an unflattering portrait of each one:
- “Avarice is a tiefling evoker who delights in destruction. Her weakness is her paranoia. She can’t bring herself to trust anyone except maybe her two gargoyle companions, and even they are suspect.”
- “Nass Lantomir is a human diviner. She likes to pry knowledge from others by reading their thoughts. Her weakness is that she’s always looking ahead, never behind her.”
- “Vellynne Harpell is a human necromancer, as cold and uncaring as the corpses she animates. She’s a withered old fool whose greatest asset—her family name—does her no good in Icewind Dale.”
Bugbear Incursion
Before the characters leave the spire, six Bugbear crossing the tundra stumble upon the protrusion in the snow and slide down to area area P1. Once there, they begin searching the uppermost level for food and treasure. The bugbears are cold and shivering, and their growls and complaints can be heard throughout the spire as they get their bearings.
The bugbear leader, Brekk, is a thug whose allegiance can easily be bought. Brekk and his gang serve anyone willing to feed them, and their loyalty can be bought with coin (2 gp per day per bugbear). Characters who have no interest in fighting the bugbears or hiring them as muscle can pay them 10 gp each to leave the spire at once and continue on their merry way.
Reghed Tribe Camp
Reghed tribe camps are scattered throughout Icewind Dale. None of them appear on maps because they don’t stay in one place for long.
Each Reghed tribe is made up of smaller clans, each with its own chieftain (the most powerful of whom often carries the title of king or queen). A clan might set up its camp for a tenday or two, then dismantle it and go back on the move, allowing the clan to stay close to a migrating herd of reindeer as it travels across the tundra.
The characters might be drawn to a Reghed camp by a tall tale or a quest (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns” and “area Wolf Tribe Cannibals"), or they might be led to a camp by Reghed scouts roaming the tundra (see “area Wilderness Encounters"). The characters might also visit Reghed camps in chapter 5, as they face tests set before them by Auril the Frostmaiden.
Before the characters find one of these camps, review the information on the Reghed tribes and their leaders in area appendix C. While it’s not unheard of for clans of the same tribe to commingle and build their camps close to one another, the four tribes avoid contact with one another. Members of one tribe are rarely found in another tribe’s camp unless some sort of diplomacy is taking place.
Approaching a Camp
As the characters approach a Reghed tribe camp, read:
Splayed across the tundra ahead of you is a campsite with more than a dozen tents arranged in two concentric rings, with the larger tents clustered near the middle. Between the tents burn several campfires. The air around the camp smells of cooked meat, and you can hear the barking and howling of dogs. Off to one side, outside the perimeter of tents, several empty sleds are clustered together.
Hulking figures dressed in thick hides and holding spears patrol the camp perimeter, looking outward for signs of danger. Other figures are gathered around fires or moving among the tents.
Six Reghed Warrior walk the perimeter. These guards tend to be younger warriors of the tribe.
A lone character can sneak into the camp undetected with a successful DC 10 Dexterity (
Reghed nomads, regardless of clan or tribe, try to capture intruders rather than kill them, giving the chieftain (or king or queen) the chance to question or punish them, as appropriate.
Although most Reghed tribe members are human, you can include nonhumans as well.
Camp Roster
The following tribe members are usually in the camp:
Reghed Chieftain. Roll a
Reghed Great Warrior. Serving the chieftain as a bodyguard and executioner is a gladiator in hide armor who speaks Common and has
Reghed Shaman. The shaman, who advises the chieftain and presides over spiritual matters, is a druid who speaks Common and Druidic, and has
36 Hunters and {@creature Reghed Warrior|IDRotF|Warriors}
This number includes the perimeter guards. All are Tribal Warrior who speak Common and have
- 24 Noncombatants These are children and elders who are too weak to fight. Half of them are asleep in the camp at any given time.
36 Sled Dogs
Use the wolf stat block. The sled dogs usually sleep with the warriors in the outer circle of tents.
Hunting Parties
Between two and four hunting parties, each consisting of
General Layout
Map 2.11 depicts a typical Reghed camp, which consists of an inner circle of large tents called the chief’s circle and an outer ring of smaller tents called the warriors' circle. Scattered among these tents are campfires around which members of the clan like to gather. The tents are crude yet sturdy structures with wooden frames and walls made of layered bark and animal hides. A large tent can accommodate up to eight adults, and a smaller tent can provide shelter for up to five adults.
The tents in the inner circle house the clan’s chieftain (or its king or queen), as well as other important tribe members such as its shaman, its most honored hunter, its greatest warrior, and the tribe’s children.
The tents in the outer circle house the clan’s remaining members, which include crafters, weaponsmiths, and sled drivers. Sled dogs also sleep in these tents.
Many of the camp’s hunters and warriors prefer to sleep under the open sky, protected from the cold by thick fur blankets and the heat of the campfires.
Chieftain’s Tent
One of the larger tents is set aside for the chieftain (or king or queen), with an extra bedroll near the entrance for the chieftain’s bodyguard. A low table is set up in this tent, which is heated by lamps burning whale oil and decorated with hunting trophies.
Shaman’s Tent
Another large tent is occupied by the shaman, who keeps a large collection of medicinal herbs.
Treasure
In addition to the medicinal herbs, the shaman’s tent contains
Life in a Reghed Camp
The Reghed nomads eke out a meager existence on the desolate tundra of Icewind Dale, yet this is a life to which they are accustomed. Auril’s everlasting winter has made hunting and travel more challenging, to be sure, but the tribes are weathering these difficult times by rationing their food and letting nothing go to waste. If anything, the Frostmaiden’s cruelty has hardened the nomads' determination to survive. By following herds for their food and occasionally restocking on wood, the Reghed can get by without relying on trade. They shun Ten-Towns and expect to prevail long after those feeble lights of civilization have been snuffed out.
A Reghed camp is a somber and subdued place, except for the barking of sled dogs and the sounds of children playing in the snow. The warriors and hunters like to conserve their strength for when it’s needed, preferring to spend their idle hours doing as little as possible. Telling familiar stories and inventing new ones that glorify the nomads' outlook on life are common pastimes (see the “Reghed Stories” sidebar), as is sharpening weapons.
Food is critical, of course, and certain beasts of the tundra are staples among the Reghed tribes. Knucklehead trout and seals are often prepared for eating very near the scene of the kill, filleted or chopped and generally eaten raw. Reindeer meat, on the other hand, must be cooked before consumption. Reindeer also provide the Reghed tribes with sinew, bone, and hide, all of which are used in the manufacture of weapons and armor.
Reghed Stories
Reghed nomads pass the time by sharing stories that reinforce their values, which are as follows:
The tribe is one spirit, always on the move. As the tribe goes, so goes the spirit of the tribe.
For the tribe to survive, its members must all work together and help one another. No member gets left behind.
The land respects strength alone. The strong flourish, and the weak perish.
Revel’s End
Revel’s End is a panopticon, a prison configured in such a way that the activities of the prisoners can be closely monitored from a central location. Situated on the frigid, misty coast of the Sea of Moving Ice, the prison is a single-story structure topped with battlements. Rising from the core of the panopticon is a tower that holds the prison’s administrative offices and guard barracks. Both the prison and the tower are carved out of a tall, blade-shaped rock that rises high above the sea cliffs. This rock, called the Windbreak, shields the tower against the brutal winds that sweep down from the Reghed Glacier.
One can approach Revel’s End by land, sea, or air. A pier allows prisoners to be taken from ships up an elevator to the prison, and a mooring dock at the top of the tower allows prisoners to be delivered by airship as well.
Revel’s End is controlled by the Lords' Alliance, a loose confederation of settlements whose current members include the cities of Baldur’s Gate, Mirabar, Neverwinter, Silverymoon, Waterdeep, and Yartar; the towns of Amphail, Daggerford, and Longsaddle; and the dwarven stronghold of Mithral Hall. To be imprisoned in Revel’s End, one must have committed a serious crime against one or more members of the alliance and been sentenced to a lengthy period of incarceration (typically a year or more). Moreover, the offender must have political connections that make incarceration in another facility less dependable. Captured spies, for example, are often brought here to cool their heels.
Each member of the Lords' Alliance assigns one representative to Revel’s End, and together they form a parole committee called the Absolution Council. Rarely are all ten council members present, since Revel’s End offers little in the way of comfort and amenities. If the council needs a tie-breaking vote to determine whether to commute a prisoner’s sentence, the prison warden—a neutral arbiter with no ties to any Lords' Alliance member—casts the deciding vote.
Involving the Characters
The characters might be lured to Revel’s End by one of the tales or quests at the start of this chapter that have to do with Vaelish Gant (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns” and “area Behind Bars"). This villain last appeared in Legacy of the Crystal Shard, a published adventure also set in Icewind Dale. Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden presupposes that Vaelish Gant’s plot to take over Ten-Towns was thwarted, and that he has been incarcerated at Revel’s End for a few years before the start of this story.
The characters might also come to Revel’s End hoping to book passage on a ship, as such vessels are known to bring prisoners and supplies to the prison. A ship can take them to Auril’s island (see chapter 5) or allow them to flee the Far North altogether.
Prison Features
The prison, hewn from stone, has 20-foot-high outer walls and flat, 20-foot-high ceilings throughout. Additional information about the prison is summarized below:
Doors and Hatches
Each door and rooftop hatch is made of reinforced iron held shut by an
- Heating Interior spaces are magically heated. The temperature in these areas is a constant 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius).
Lighting
Unless the text for a location states otherwise, all courtyards, corridors, rooms, and staircases are brightly lit by
Prison Guards
The prison has a garrison of 75 guards (use the veteran stat block) who work eight-hour shifts. Two-thirds of the garrison is off duty and resting in area area R19 at any given time. While on duty, each guard wears a tunic that bears the Lords' Alliance emblem: a gold crown on a red field.
Prisoners
All prisoners in Revel’s End are identified by a number. This simple protocol makes it harder for prisoners to identify one another and helps keep them on an equal footing. Prison personnel commit these numbers to memory, and the records of all prisoners—past and present—are stored in area area R22. Each inmate wears a uniform that consists of a hoodless robe without pockets, leather slippers without laces, and cloth undergarments. While outside their cells, they wear manacles on their wrists and ankles.
Approaching the Prison
Use the following boxed text to describe what characters see as they approach the prison by land, sea, or air:
Perched on a high cliff overlooking the Sea of Moving Ice is a bleak stone fortress carved out of a gigantic, blade-shaped rock. A central tower looms above the rest of the fortress, and light leaks from its arrow slits. Four smaller towers rise from the outermost corners of the fortress, and guards can be seen atop them.
Characters approaching from the north can also see the prison’s northern entrance at the top of a 160-foot-high cliff with a pier protruding from its base. A giant wooden crane stands nearby, and a wooden scaffold clings to the cliff face.
Characters approaching from the south can also see the prison’s south entrance and the trail that leads up to it.
Guards on Watch
The prison has four guard towers (see area area R9), and three guards (Veteran) in cold weather clothing are stationed atop each one. If you need to make Wisdom (
If the guards on a tower see or hear something out of the ordinary, such as an approaching ship or group of visitors or a monster flying overhead, one guard descends into the tower to alert the rest of the prison while the others stay at their post.
Getting Inside
Characters who bang on the prison’s north or south door are admitted into a 30-foot-long entry corridor, where they are greeted by the three guards (Veteran) stationed in the nearby guard room (area area R3). These guards insist on confiscating the characters' weapons. In addition, one guard searches each character for concealed weapons. A character can conceal a dagger or similarly sized weapon from a guard’s notice with a successful DC 13 Dexterity (
If the characters have sled dogs or pack animals, a guard grants the party access to the stables (area area R5), where the animals can be kept safe. Animals aren’t allowed in the prison otherwise.
After relinquishing their weapons and securing their animals, the characters are escorted by one of the guards to the meeting room (area area R12), where the warden greets them soon thereafter. The warden (see area area R21) tries to find out why the characters are at Revel’s End and decides whether to help them or not. If the characters fail to provide a satisfactory reason for their visit, the warden sees that their weapons and animals are returned to them before throwing them out. Legitimate reasons for coming to Revel’s End include the following:
- The characters seek shelter. The warden will grant them temporary accommodations (in area area R7) for up to two days and two nights, and the characters receive three meals a day during their stay.
- The characters wish to meet with a prisoner. The warden can facilitate such a meeting by having the prisoner brought to area area R12 for questioning. The warden is always present for such meetings.
High Alert
When a matter of concern is brought to her attention, the warden (see area area R21) decides whether to place the prison on high alert. Circumstances that warrant taking such action include a prisoner revolt, an escape, the approach of an unfamiliar ship, a dragon sighting, or an attack.
By speaking the command word “maristo,” the warden—and only the warden—can put the prison on high alert, with the following effects:
- For 1 minute, the sound of a klaxon blares throughout the prison, and all
continual flame spells in the prison take on a reddish hue. - The guards in area area R19 don their armor, arm themselves, and move to area area R18. The warden does the same and commands the garrison from there. Members of the Absolution Council retreat to area area R20.
- The warden and all prison guards gain the benefit of a
see invisibility spell.
Revel’s End Locations (R1-R8)
The following locations are keyed to map 2.12.
R1. Pier
Ships dock here to offload prisoners and supplies.
R2. Elevator
A sturdy wooden scaffold clings to the 160-foot-high cliff separating the prison from the pier. Looming above the scaffolding is a wooden crane that is controlled from area R3. The crane raises and lowers an elevator car that has a retractable wooden gate on the side opposite the crane. The elevator car is a hollow wooden cube measuring 10 feet on a side. It takes 1 minute for the car to travel all the way up or down the scaffold.
R3. Guard Rooms
Three guards (Veteran) are stationed in each of these two rooms. The guards pass the time by playing cards, sharpening their weapons, and complaining about the interminable winter.
Embedded in the north wall of the northern guard room is an iron lever that raises and lowers the elevator in area R2.
R4. Hospital
This chamber contains a dozen beds. Cabinets along the north wall hold enough medical supplies to assemble twenty healer’s kits.
R5. Stables
Visitors who brings mounts, sled dogs, pack animals, and pets to Revel’s End can keep their animals here. They must provide their own food, however.
R6. Mess Hall
Prison personnel dine here. Tables and benches fill the room, and dishes and cutlery are stored in cabinets along the south wall. Meals are served every four hours.
R7. Councilors' Quarters
These ten rooms are furnished identically. Each contains a bed, a desk with matching chair, a claw-footed chest, and wall hooks for hanging clothes. The
These rooms are set aside for the ten members of the Absolution Council, though only three rooms are currently in use. The other seven members of the council are absent, so the warden is free to let visitors use the spare rooms.
Council Members
These three members of the Absolution Council are at Revel’s End currently:
- Councilor Voss Anderton Voss represents the city of Neverwinter. He is a lawful neutral human noncombatant who has a precise, lawyerly way of speaking. He takes his role seriously and never misses a council meeting or parole hearing. He votes with his head, not his heart, and always carefully weighs the ramifications of commuting a prisoner’s sentence.
- Councilor Jil Torbo Jil represents the city of Baldur’s Gate. She is a neutral halfling noncombatant who loathes her job. She has no sense of humor and a habit of sighing deeply when her patience is tested. She likes giving others the benefit of the doubt, however, perhaps as an act of dissent, and votes yes on commutations more often than not.
- Councilor Kriv Norixius Kriv represents the town of Daggerford. He is a lawful good dragonborn noncombatant of silver dragon ancestry. He hopes to impress the Duchess of Daggerford by doing a good job. He has no compassion for criminals and always votes no on commutations.
R8. Kitchen and Side Rooms
Six cooks (noncombatants) take shifts here, working in pairs to produce meals for the prisoners and staff. The kitchen contains everything one would expect to see, as well as an iron stove and a pump that draws water from a magically heated cistern on the roof.
Off-duty cooks sleep in the largest of the three rooms west of the kitchen. This side room is lit by
The middle side room—not heated, unlike the rest of the prison—is used for cold storage.
The smallest side room is a well-stocked pantry.
Revel’s End Locations (R9-R16)
R9. Guard Towers
Each of these four triangular towers is two stories tall. A tower’s interior chamber is empty except for a wooden ladder that climbs to an iron hatch held shut by an
R10. Armory
This room contains wooden racks and chests filled with nonmagical weaponry. The inventory includes twenty
The armory is guarded by a spectator that treats the weapons as treasure. It knows every member of the prison staff on sight. It won’t leave the room and attacks anyone it doesn’t recognize.
Hatch
A wooden ladder leads to an iron hatch in the ceiling. An
R11. Courtyards
The ground in each of the two courtyards is covered with flagstones and drifting snow.
When the weather allows, prisoners are brought here—individually or in small groups—for fresh air and exercise. They are watched closely by guards on the ground as well as the guards on the corner tower.
R12. Meeting Room
This room holds a large, rectangular table with a single chair on one long side and three similar chairs on the opposite side. The room is used for meetings with prisoners or the warden.
Hatch
A wooden ladder leads to an iron hatch in the ceiling. An
R13. Storeroom
Supplies are stored here in crates and other containers. At present, the prison has stockpiled enough necessities to continue operations for six months.
R14. Privy
This room contains a dozen wooden waste buckets. Once per day, usually in the morning, guards order prisoners to carry the buckets outside and dispose of the waste.
R15. Hexagon
This corridor allows guards and visitors to access the outermost rooms of the prison while avoiding the panopticon (area R16) and its prison cells (area R17). The guards refer to this corridor as the hexagon because of its shape.
R16. Panopticon
The
Revel’s End Locations (R17-R23)
R17. Cells
The prisoners are kept in these unlit cells behind barred gates that can be opened only from area R18. The gates are too secure to be forced open using brute strength or weapons, and magical attempts to open or bypass them are thwarted by permanent antimagic fields. Each field encompasses one cell and its gate. Spells and other magical effects, except those created by an artifact or a deity, are suppressed in an antimagic field and can’t protrude into it. While an effect is suppressed, it doesn’t function, but the time it spends suppressed counts against its duration.
Bolted to the back wall of each cell is an iron bunkbed with a thin mattress atop it and a waste bucket nearby. Prisoners take their meals in their cells.
Prisoners
Each of the twenty-four cells can hold one or two prisoners. Roll
To add detail to some of the inmates, roll on the Prisoners table or choose entries that interest you. If a prisoner’s game statistics become necessary, choose an appropriate stat block from appendix B of the Monster Manual and remove armor, weapons, and other gear.
####### Prisoners
| d6 | Prisoner |
|---|---|
| 1 | Noble convicted of slave trading (has served |
| 2 | Spy convicted of espionage (has served |
| 3 | Assassin or noble convicted of conspiracy to murder members of a noble family (has served |
| 4 | Famous adventurer convicted of reckless endangerment (has served |
| 5 | Spellcaster convicted of using magic to influence others (has served |
| 6 | Leader of a thieves' guild convicted of multiple crimes (has served |
R18. Surveillance Hub
This hexagonal room is the base of the prison’s central tower. A spiral staircase connects it to the tower’s upper levels (areas R19 through R23).
Seven guards (Veteran) are stationed in this surveillance hub. One sits at a console south of the staircase. The other guards watch the prisoners, whom they can observe through 4-foot-tall, 1-foot-wide arrow slits in the walls. Hanging on the walls between the arrow slits are fifty sets of iron manacles that guards use to bind prisoners' wrists and ankles.
Console
The console is a magic device bolted to the floor that resembles a small desk with a slanted top. It is a Large object with AC 15, 18 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. The console has the following magical properties, which are disabled if it is reduced to 0 hit points:
- Gate Control Twenty-four switches on the console open and close the gates to the prison cells. A twenty-fifth master switch opens or closes all the gates at once. Flipping one or more switches on the console requires an action.
Light Control
A brass dial on the console controls the light level in area area R16, which can be dimmed or restored to its normal brightness. Turning the dial requires an action or a bonus action.
- Loudspeaker Anyone who speaks into a flaring brass protrusion resembling the bell of a trumpet while pressing a button on the console can broadcast their voice throughout the prison. Using the loudspeaker requires an action.
R19. Guard Barracks
Characters who climb the spiral staircase come to a door 100 feet above the prison roof. The staircase continues beyond this door to the tower’s higher levels.
The door opens into a room filled with wooden bunkbeds. Areas to the north, west, and south can be scanned through 4-foot-tall, 1-foot-wide arrow slits. The
When the prison is not on high alert, fifty guards (Veteran without armor or weapons) sleep in the bunks. The guards keep their armor and weapons within easy reach. Other belongings are kept in unlocked footlockers tucked under the bunkbeds.
The guards need 10 minutes to don their armor. If the prison is put on high alert, the guards take the time to put on their armor before making their way down to area R18.
R20. Hall of Absolution
The floor of this room is 120 feet above the prison roof. A spiral staircase connects the room to the other levels of the tower (area area R18 is 140 feet down, area R19 is 20 feet down, and area area R23 is 20 feet up). Narrow windows line the outer walls.
A long, slightly curved table takes up much of the room. Eleven chairs are situated behind the table. The middle chair has no special adornments, while the others have banners hanging over their high backs, each one emblazoned with the crest of a Lords' Alliance member. Banners hanging on the walls display the alliance’s emblem, a golden crown on a red field.
Absolution Council Meetings
Members of the Absolution Council gather here to weigh the merits of releasing prisoners whom one or more council members have recommended for parole. No prisoner can receive such consideration more than once a year. Prisoners up for parole are brought to this room in manacles and given a chance to sway the council members before votes are cast. The warden (see area R21), who always attends such meetings, sits in the middle chair and casts the tie-breaking vote, if necessary.
R21. Warden’s Quarters
The
Prison Warden
The warden of Revel’s End is Marta Marthannis, a lawful good human mage who speaks Common, Draconic, Dwarvish, and Orc and has a calm, unflappable disposition. She wears a red robe with gold trim and keeps a ring with seven tiny keys hanging from it in one pocket. One key unlocks the warden’s chest (see “Treasure” below); the others unlock the desk drawer and the cabinets in the warden’s office (area R22).
Warden Marthannis is secretly a member of the Harpers, a faction that works behind the scenes to keep power out of the hands of evildoers. In her current position, she works to keep some of the Sword Coast’s worst malefactors behind bars.
So far, the warden has managed to conceal her Harper affiliation from everyone else in the prison. But she has an unusual problem that she can’t hide as easily. Lodged inside her is the spirit of a deceased adventuring companion—a lawful good shield dwarf fighter named Vlax Brawnanvil. The spirit of Vlax takes control of Warden Marthannis once or twice a day, each time for an hour or two. While under its control, the warden can’t cast her prepared spells, speaks only Dwarvish, and occasionally indulges Vlax’s vice for ale and spirits. She also becomes moody and temperamental, though never resorts to violence without good cause.
Warden Marthannis knows that to rid herself of Vlax’s spirit, she must visit the Brawnanvil crypts in Gauntlgrym, a dwarven fortress under Mount Hotenow (near Neverwinter). Only there can the spirits of Vlax’s kin persuade Vlax to join them in the afterlife. The warden refuses to make the journey, however, because she can’t bear to lose all contact with Vlax. The warden has made her affliction known to the prison guards and Absolution Council members, and they have grown accustomed to her personality changes and bouts of drunkenness.
Treasure
Among the chamber’s furnishings is a locked wooden chest, for which the warden carries the only key. A character using thieves' tools can use an action to try to pick the lock, doing so with a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.
The chest holds a set of calligrapher’s supplies, a sack containing 750 gp (money that’s used mainly to pay ship captains who drop off prisoners and cargo), and a silver cloak pin (25 gp) bearing the symbol of the Harpers, a tiny harp nestled between the horns of a crescent moon.
Any character who searches the chest for secret compartments finds one in the lid. It holds a
R22. Warden’s Office
Prison records are stored here in five locked wooden cabinets along the east wall. The cabinets contain ship cargo manifests and records of past deliveries, as well as prisoner transfer orders and files documenting the names, crimes, sentences, and commutations of every prisoner who has been incarcerated at Revel’s End. The records also include death certificates for prisoners who died while incarcerated. The cause of death is always given as “natural,” “accidental,” or “unnatural,” with no details.
A desk in the middle of the room has ten financial ledgers packed into a locked side drawer. The keys for the desk and the cabinets are in the warden’s possession. A character with thieves' tools can use an action to try to pick the lock on the desk drawer or one of the cabinets, doing so with a successful DC 10 Dexterity check.
R23. Tower Roof
This flat rooftop is 140 feet above the prison roof and 300 feet above sea level. Three 6-foot-high walls to the north, southwest, and southeast provide limited cover, but much of the rooftop is exposed to the elements.
A wooden drawbridge can be lowered on one side to create an airship dock. An action is required to raise or lower the drawbridge.
No guards are stationed here. If the guards in the prison watchtowers (area area R9) see an airship or an airborne threat approaching Revel’s End, they alert the rest of the prison. The warden then dons cold weather clothing and heads to the roof to greet the airship crew or deal with the airborne threat herself.
Prisoner 237: Vaelish Gant
Prisoner 237 within the walls of Revel’s End, is a member of the Arcane Brotherhood who first engaged in criminal activity by insinuating himself into the trade network of Ten-Towns. He hoped that his work would help the Arcane Brotherhood gain control of the region. A few years ago, shortly after his arrival in Ten-Towns, Gant established a protection racket in Bryn Shander and tried to turn the town against its speaker, Duvessa Shane, with the goal of supplanting her. He also tried to destabilize the economy of Ten-Towns. A party of adventurers thwarted his criminal ventures by capturing him.
Rather than put Gant to death for his crimes in Icewind Dale, the Council of Speakers in Ten-Towns made a deal with representatives of the Lords' Alliance to have Gant serve a life sentence in Revel’s End, so as not to incur the Arcane Brotherhood’s wrath. The Council of Speakers did this not realizing that Gant’s scheme wasn’t sanctioned by the Arcane Brotherhood but rather hatched by Gant himself, who intended to impress his superiors by pulling it off.
For a long time, Gant held out hope that the Arcane Brotherhood would apply pressure to secure his release, and that the Lords' Alliance would acquiesce to the brotherhood’s demands rather than risk an all-out attack on Revel’s End. But by now, Gant has been incarcerated long enough to reasonably conclude that no such rescue is forthcoming. His failed scheme was an embarrassment to the Arcane Brotherhood, which has clearly forsaken him.
Roleplaying Vaelish Gant
Vaelish Gant is a mage who specializes in the arcane tradition of abjuration. Pompous and conniving, he never doubts that he’s the smartest person in the room, and he makes sure everyone around him knows how he feels.
Gant has neither a spellbook nor material components for spellcasting, and he can’t avail himself of his magic while locked in his cell due to the antimagic field that encompasses it.
Gant spends his days and nights thinking about one thing: his freedom. If the characters meet with him, Gant tries to convince them to break him out of jail, promising wealth and magic items once delivered safely to the Hosttower of the Arcane in Luskan. Gant doesn’t expect the characters to oblige, but he has nothing left to lose but his life.
Although he’s unaware of any Arcane Brotherhood activities in Icewind Dale, Gant suspects that something is afoot if the characters start asking him about the organization. The last time he was at the Hosttower, shortly before his arrival in Ten-Towns a few years ago, Gant overheard his superiors talking about mounting an expedition to Icewind Dale, to search for a lost Netherese city buried under the Reghed Glacier. Gant had different plans for Icewind Dale at the time, but now the characters' visit gives him reason to believe an expedition might finally be under way. Gant shares this information with the characters if they show him the letter from Duvessa Shane (see “area Behind Bars") or break him out of prison.
Gant has no information that can help the characters find the lost Netherese city, but he’s willing to share what he considers to be common knowledge about the Empire of Netheril:
- Netheril was a civilization ruled by powerful wizards. It fell more than a thousand years ago.
- The Netherese learned their magic first from the elves, and later from the fabled Nether Scrolls. Netherese magic was far more powerful than present-day magic—so much so that it made even the gods tremble.
- Evil, subterranean creatures known as phaerimm were instrumental in Netheril’s fall, but it was hubris that ultimately spelled the empire’s doom. Karsus, a Netherese archmage, tried to usurp the power of Mystryl, god of magic. He failed, destroying himself and tearing the Weave in the process. It would be years before anyone could use or control magic again.
If the characters ask Gant about other members of the Arcane Brotherhood they’ve met in Icewind Dale (see area appendix C), Gant can share what he knows about any of them:
- About Avarice, Gant says: “The tiefling albino? I think she has a promising future.”
- About Dzaan, Gant says: “He’s a Red Wizard of Thay. Need I say more?” (If asked to elaborate, he adds: “Dzaan doesn’t shave his head or wear red robes, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s Thayan. The Red Wizards want the Weave all to themselves. If they get their way, no one else will be able to use magic.")
- About Nass Lantomir, Gant says: “She’s a nobody.”
- About Vellynne Harpell, Gant says: “Had powerful members of her family not pulled strings to get her into the Brotherhood, that old scarecrow would still be reanimating dead cats in Longsaddle.”
Skytower Shelter
Skytower Shelter is one of two goliath settlements described in this chapter, the other being Wyrmdoom Crag (see “area Wyrmdoom Crag"). Read both entries before running encounters in either location. Also review the “area Goliaths” entry in appendix C, in particular the “area Spine of the World Goliaths” section. There is also a list of goliath names you can draw from, as needed.
Characters might visit Skytower Shelter to resolve a long-standing dispute between the two goliath clans (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns” and “area A Goliath Problem"). Or a goliath player character who hails from Skytower Shelter might return home for some reason, perhaps to seek help with matters concerning Icewind Dale.
All goliaths who dwell in Skytower Shelter are members of the Akannathi clan. In addition to their feud with the goliaths of Wyrmdoom Crag, Skytower goliaths are known for their fierce competitiveness, their dislike of strangers, and their mastery of griffon taming.
Into the Mountains
To get to either of the goliath outposts or to move between them, the characters need to negotiate the Spine of the World, where travel is the most difficult of any region in Icewind Dale. Use the rules in the “area Mountain Travel” section to simulate the perils of getting around in the peaks.
Skytower Shelter Locations
Skytower Shelter is a cave complex carved into the northwest face of a 15,000-foot-high mountain. Tunnels are 10 feet high throughout, and the caves are lit by torches.
The following locations are keyed to map 2.13.
S1. Stone Causeway
A 10-foot-wide stone causeway hugs the side of the mountain and ascends to Skytower Shelter. Six Griffon circling the mountain’s peak watch the causeway closely, and their eyesight is sharp enough to pierce the clouds that frequently shroud the mountaintop. If they see unfamiliar figures ascending the causeway, the griffons shriek warnings to the goliaths of Skytower Shelter. The goliaths quickly arm themselves, expecting trouble. If the shelter comes under attack, the griffons join the fray.
S2. Barricade and Chieftain
Six griffons circle above you, shrieking at your approach. They descend until they’re a few hundred feet away but come no closer.
At the end of the entranceway is a ten-foot-tall barricade made of wood and stone, set with a crude gate made of thick lumber and festooned with metal blades. Gaps in the gate allow you to see an unusually tall figure in hide armor standing ten feet behind it and clutching a greataxe. Beyond this figure is a higher ledge with five equally towering figures standing atop it.
The figure beyond the gate is a goliath warrior (see area appendix C) named Arn Rockfist Akannathi, the chieftain of Skytower Shelter. The figures atop the overlook (area area S3) are five more Goliath Warrior.
If the party includes one or more goliath characters who hail from Skytower Shelter, Arn welcomes them home and allows them and their companions to pass through the gate unmolested. Otherwise, Arn tells the party in a deep and gravelly voice, “Turn back. You are not welcome here.”
Two 500-pound wooden bars seal the gate. The blades affixed to the gate and the surrounding barricade make climbing impossible. The goliaths attack anyone who bypasses the gate without Arn’s consent. Nine Goliath Warrior from area S9 join the fray on the third round, and the six Griffon circling above join the battle on the fifth round. Arn can also whistle to summon these reinforcements at any time.
Roleplaying Arn
Arn has no patience for attempts at diplomacy and meets aggression with aggression. If the characters don’t have one or more Skytower goliaths among them, the only way they can get past Arn is to give him something he wants. If the characters ask him what he wants, he tells them:
The goliath thinks for a moment, then points toward a neighboring mountain to the northeast. “Bring me the white cloak of Ogolai, the chieftain of Wyrmdoom Crag.”
If Arn is asked why the Skytower and Wyrmdoom goliaths don’t get along, he says:
“Many summers ago, the children of Skytower challenged the children of Wyrmdoom to a game of goat-ball. One of the children of Wyrmdoom, angered at being knocked off her perch, threw the ball at one of our griffons and struck it in the head. It wounded her in return. The game was called off. Days later, hunters from Wyrmdoom climbed our mountain and slew the griffon in its nest—a grave insult. We have been at war ever since.”
Characters who speak to Ogolai, the chieftain of Wyrmdoom Crag, get a different version of the story (see “area Wyrmdoom Crag").
If the characters portray themselves as neutral arbiters seeking to end the conflict between the clans, Arn suggests they end the conflict by bringing him the cloak of the Wyrmdoom chieftain, either by killing Ogolai and taking it from her or by forcing Ogolai to surrender it. Arn aims to use the characters as tools to weaken his rival and doesn’t care if they succeed or die.
Only by restoring Kaniaka’s sight (see area area S4) can the characters convince Arn to meet with Ogolai and settle their differences—and only at Skytower Shelter or on neutral ground.
S3. Overlook
Five stoic goliaths stand guard atop a ten-foot-high, rocky outcrop with stairs leading up to it. A large, empty nest occupies one corner of the ledge, and two rough-hewn tunnels at the back of the ledge lead deeper into the mountain.
Five Goliath Warrior (see area appendix C) stand guard atop this overlook.
The griffon’s nest contains a few bones (the remains of mountain goats) but nothing of value.
S4. Chieftain’s Cave
This twelve-foot-high cave has a crackling fire in its center and walls lined with hunting trophies, including the skulls and pelts of various mountain-dwelling creatures. Seated by the fire is a wizened goliath with long white hair. A yeti fur cloak is draped over her stooped shoulders, and a tiger-sized feline with white fur crouches beside her.
This cave is where Arn spends time with his family, namely his husband, Harad Cloudstrider Akannathi (a goliath warrior), and Harad’s elderly mother, Kaniaka Stormcrow Akannathi (a blind noncombatant). Each of them has private quarters off the main cave, where they keep their bedrolls.
If the characters fought their way to this cave by killing other goliaths, Harad is awake and attacks them, since the fallen goliaths are his blood. Otherwise, Harad is asleep in his bedroll while Kaniaka sits by the fire, staring at it sightlessly, with a domesticated crag cat (see appendix C) by her side. The cat protects Kaniaka but otherwise takes no aggressive actions.
Kaniaka’s hearing is sharp enough to distinguish the heavy footfalls of goliaths from those of smaller folk. She is suspicious of strangers just as other members of her clan are, but at her age, she feels compelled to listen to what they have to say. She would very much like to see an end to the conflict with the Wyrmdoom goliaths—if such a thing is possible.
Magic can cure Kaniaka’s blindness, and she becomes indebted to any character who restores her vision. Kaniaka is the only member of the Akannathi clan who has as much influence in Skytower Shelter as Arn does, and once her sight is restored, she can gently persuade him to listen to reason. With her help, the characters can convince Arn to meet with the chieftain of the Wyrmdoom goliaths, though he insists that any such meeting take place at Skytower Shelter.
Any conversation with Kaniaka awakens her son, who stumbles out of his bedchamber with greataxe in hand to confront intruders. If the characters have gotten off on the wrong foot with Kaniaka, Harad threatens to punish them for their intrusion, though his sense of honor dictates that he cannot draw first blood. Thus, he tries to goad characters into wounding him first.
S5. Shrine of Mind and Spirit
An eight-foot-tall stone inscribed with runes stands in the middle of this ten-foot-high cave. Nearby, a chute with carved footholds leads down.
The chute is 5 feet in diameter and leads to area S6.
Runestone
This engraved stone is one of two sacred stones in Skytower Shelter (the other is in area area S7). The goliaths pray next to it when they seek clarity of mind and spirit. The scripture on the runestone, written in Dwarvish, tells a story about the vision and leadership found among the great predator birds of Icewind Dale.
A
S6. Griffons' Cave
The floor of this cave is 15 feet beneath the floor of area S5. A 5-foot-diameter, 5-foot-long chute with carved footholds extends upward from the ceiling of this cave.
This fifteen-foot-high cave contains four griffon nests: three clustered in the middle of the cave and one to the north. The northernmost nest contains a full-grown griffon that appears to be sound asleep. The wind stirs the sleeping griffon’s feathers as it enters through a wide opening in the north wall, beyond which you can see mountain peaks and storm clouds. Sitting on the edge of this opening is a goliath who is talking gently to a griffon youngling that leans against her.
“Come no closer,” warns the goliath. “This youngling is afraid to fly, and his mother is trying to get some rest.”
A smaller, 10-foot-high cave to the northeast contains a goliath-sized bedroll that belongs to the goliath. She is Rahi Skydreamer Akannathi, a goliath warrior with
Like the other members of her clan, Rahi is distrusting of strangers and doesn’t abide intrusions. A character who offers to help Rahi overcome the youngling’s fear of flying can, with a successful DC 18 Charisma (
If the party earns Rahi’s trust and friendship, she might approach a goliath member of the party and offer to teach that character how to tame a griffon. Given the time commitment necessary, this activity is most likely to occur after the adventure concludes or during a lengthy period of downtime (see the “Griffon Taming” sidebar below).
Griffon Taming
Goliaths of the Akannathi clan can learn to raise and tame griffons using secrets passed down through the generations. The clan’s griffon trainer, Rahi, shares these secrets with clan members who show great wisdom. The goliaths don’t ride the griffons; rather, they train them to hunt like falcons. The griffons are taught to respond to goliath whistles and never stray too far from their masters.
A goliath character who earns Rahi’s respect can be taught the secrets of griffon taming over a period of 1 year, during which time the character is entrusted to watch over and protect a single griffon egg and, when it hatches, the emergent griffon youngling. At the end of the year, if the griffon is still alive, the character must make a DC 15 Wisdom (
Animal Handling ) check, with advantage if the character accepts Rahi’s guidance. If the check fails, the character is unable to tame the griffon. If the check succeeds, the character tames the griffon and bonds with it for life. Control of the griffon can be given to the goliath’s player at this time.Modify the griffon stat block as follows to account for the young griffon’s development:
At birth, the Young Griffon (Tiny) is Tiny and has 5 (
1d4 + 3 ) hit points, a flying speed of 40 feet, and a Strength score of 2. It has a +0 bonus to hit on its attacks and deals 1 piercing damage with its beak and 1 slashing damage with its claws. Its challenge rating is 0 (10 XP).After 1 year, the Young Griffon (Small) is Small and has 13 (
2d6 + 6 ) hit points and a Strength score of 8. It has a +1 bonus to hit on its attacks and deals 2 (1d4 ) piercing damage with its beak and 2 (1d4 ) slashing damage with its claws. Its challenge rating is 1/4 (50 XP).After 2 years, the Young Griffon (Medium) is Medium and has 32 (
5d6 + 15 ) hit points and a Strength score of 12. It has a +3 bonus to hit on its attacks and deals 4 (1d6 + 1 ) piercing damage with its beak and 6 (2d4 + 1 ) slashing damage with its claws. Its challenge rating is 1 (200 XP).After 3 years, the griffon is fully grown and tame enough to be ridden as a mount.
S7. Shrine of Strength and Honor
In the center of this twelve-foot-high cave stands an eight-foot-tall stone inscribed with runes. Behind it, a five-foot-diameter chute with carved footholds ascends to another cavern.
The chute leads to area area S9. If goliaths are in that area, characters can hear loud cheers coming from there.
Runestone
The runestone is one of two sacred stones in Skytower Shelter (the other is in area area S5). The goliaths pray next to it when they seek to gain physical strength and victory in combat and competition. The scripture on the runestone is written in Dwarvish and is concerned with the glory and honor found in battle and in competition. This honor is not always granted, however, because glory comes only to those who challenge themselves through physical trials. (There is no glory for a goliath who is unchallenged in battle, athletics, and competition, just as there is no glory for the griffon that slays a mouse.)
A
S8. Passage of Carvings
This rough-hewn passageway slopes gently upward to the south. Ensconced torches illuminate carvings on the walls.
The carvings depict the history of the Akannathi clan. This saga begins at the north end of the passage and unfolds as one travels south toward area S9. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (
The earliest carvings tell the story of how the Akannathi goliaths tamed the mountain—how they dug tunnels and caves to serve their needs, creating a home for their people, and how they tamed the griffons of the mountain, turning these ravenous monsters into stalwart hunting companions. Later carvings focus on wars against the orcs, when the Skytower and Wyrmdoom goliaths were united against a common foe. Carvings made within the past century chronicle the souring of the friendship between the two goliath clans, with scenes showing warriors of Wyrmdoom Crag slaying griffons followed by bloody skirmishes between the goliath clans on mountainsides. The newest carvings depict lone goliaths chasing a giant polar bear (a representation of Oyaminartok, as described in appendix C) and a diminished population of Skytower goliaths contending with the seemingly endless winter.
S9. Feasting Cave
Nine Goliath Warrior occupy this area when the characters arrive at Skytower Shelter. If they were drawn to area area S2 by a disturbance, adjust the following boxed text to account for their absence:
A long, rectangular firepit heats this fifteen-foot-high cave and fills the area with the scent of meat cooking on a grate over the pit. The sound of cheering also fills the cave as two goliaths stand near the southern wall with their arms extended out from their sides, holding a large rock in each hand. Their arm muscles are quivering from exertion, and their jaws are clenched. Seven more goliaths stand around them, cheering and waving haunches of cooked meat.
When the goliaths become aware of the characters, add:
When the goliaths spot you, they stop cheering. The competition ends as the two goliaths let their rocks tumble to the floor, and all nine goliaths glare at you.
Two goliaths were competing in a test of strength to see who could hold their arms up the longest under the weight of the rocks. Unless the characters are accompanied by a member of the Akannathi clan, the goliaths try to frighten away the interlopers, attacking them if they refuse to leave. A clever character can win over the goliaths by challenging and beating one or more of them in a rock-holding contest. The contest plays out as follows:
- Each participant is given a pair of heavy rocks and must hold one in each hand while keeping their arms parallel to the floor.
- At the end of each minute, each participant must succeed on a Strength (
Athletics ) check to keep their arms raised. The DC starts at 5 and increases by 5 at the end of each minute thereafter. On a failed check, the participant drops their arms and is out of the game. If the last two participants fail at the same time, the contest ends in a tie.
Any character who wins a rock-holding contest earns the respect of the goliaths in this cave. That respect can grow into friendship, provided the characters have done nothing that would turn the goliaths against them.
S10. Communal Cave
Blankets and bedrolls made from hides lie in a rough circle around a smoldering fire. In an alcove to the north, three young goliaths are playing amid a pile of coins and gemstones.
The three young goliaths are noncombatants who stand 4 to 5 feet tall.
Treasure
The Akannathi clan stockpiles treasure in the northern end of this chamber. The goliaths have little use for valuables, except for clan members who want to visit Ten-Towns or other more distant settlements and need some form of currency to secure food or lodging. The treasure pile includes the following:
- 420 gp, 1,664 sp, and 2,260 cp in mixed coinage
- Thirteen gemstones: eight eye agates (10 gp each), five moonstones (50 gp each), and an amethyst (100 gp)
- A carved bone statuette of Gruumsh, the one-eyed orc god of slaughter (25 gp)
- A gold birdcage with electrum filigree (250 gp)
- A
potion of gaseous form in a gray crystal vial
Ending the Goliath Feud
The chieftains of the Akannathi and Thuunlakalaga clans will never come to terms on their own. Characters who want to end the feud between the goliaths of Skytower Shelter and Wyrmdoom Crag must convince the chieftains, Arn and Ogolai, to meet on neutral ground, away from their respective lairs, since neither chieftain wants to appear weak in the eyes of the other.
Summit of the Chiefs
Arn will agree to meet Ogolai on neutral ground, but only if Kaniaka (see area S4) urges him to do so. Ogolai will agree to meet Arn on neutral ground, but only if the characters heal the wounded aarakocra at Wyrmdoom Crag (see area area W6). Both chieftains intend to bring an entourage of goliath warriors with them to the meeting, and it takes some additional diplomacy—and perhaps a Charisma (
Negotiations
Characters who bring Arn and Ogolai together still have their work cut out for them; neither chieftain is ready to forgive and forget the events that created the division between them. If one or more characters don’t mediate the conversation, the meeting ends with each chieftain walking away in disgust at the other’s unwillingness to accept blame. Allow the players time to devise a strategy for ending the impasse. Three possible solutions are presented below:
- The characters urge the chieftains, for the good of Icewind Dale, to unite against a common foe (such as Auril the Frostmaiden, Arveiaturace the White Wyrm, or Xardorok Sunblight). Goliath warriors from both clans, working as allies, might learn to forget the past and forge a brighter future for all goliaths.
- A character who has earned the respect of one or both clans convinces either chieftain that being the first to accept responsibility for a misunderstanding, even when others should share the blame, is a sign of moral strength and good character. Once one chieftain accepts blame, it’s easier for the other to do the same.
- The characters keep the chieftains talking—for days, if that’s what it takes—by turning it into a contest of endurance. The two chieftains waste hours airing their grievances, then spend longer hours glaring at each other in stubborn silence. (The characters' patience is eventually rewarded when Ogolai has food and tea brought to her. She offers to share her repast with Arn, who begrudgingly accepts out of politeness. This moment marks a turning point as the chieftains agree that there can be no winner to this contest and, more important, that the contest is a metaphor for their pointless, long-standing feud.)
Wyrmdoom Crag
Wyrmdoom Crag is one of two goliath settlements described in this chapter, the other being Skytower Shelter (see “area Skytower Shelter"). Read both entries before running encounters in either location. Also review the “area Goliaths” entry in appendix C, in particular the “area Spine of the World Goliaths” section. There is also a list of goliath names you can draw from, as needed.
Wyrmdoom Crag is home to the friendly Thuunlakalaga goliath clan. Shortly after establishing this lair for themselves, the goliaths were challenged by an adult white dragon. The dragon underestimated the goliaths' determination, and decades later, its skeletal remains still lie nearby as a testament to their triumph.
There are three reasons why the characters might visit Wyrmdoom Crag:
- They’re drawn to the location by a tall tale (see “area Tall Tales in Ten-Towns") or by a quest to help Dannika Graysteel acquire some white dragon bones (see “area Dragon Bone Stew").
- One of the characters is a goliath from Wyrmdoom Crag who wants to return home.
- The characters seek to end the feud between the goliaths of Skytower Shelter and Wyrmdoom Crag. (The characters will need to visit both locations to succeed in their mission.)
The Wyrmdoom goliaths are willing to share their dwelling with travelers and guests, but they hold a strong dislike for the goliaths of Skytower Shelter. The characters can learn the cause of that resentment by speaking to Ogolai, chieftain of the Thuunlakalaga clan.
Into the Mountains
To get to either of the goliath outposts or to move between them, the characters need to negotiate the Spine of the World, where travel is the most difficult of any region in Icewind Dale. Use the rules in the “area Mountain Travel” section to simulate the perils of getting around in the peaks.
Wyrmdoom Crag Overview
Wyrmdoom Crag faces north from atop a snowy mountain slope. The bones of an adult white dragon rest near the entrance to the lair.
The goliaths of Wyrmdoom Crag enjoy company and will trade food and shelter for stories and news from Icewind Dale. The goliaths are rich in stories of their own and are not shy about sharing their history.
Although these goliaths are friendly and welcoming, they bear a bitter grudge against the goliaths of Skytower Shelter and will treat any character hailing from that clan accordingly. Additionally, these goliaths have a strong distaste toward visitors who seek to stir up trouble beyond simple competitiveness. If such a situation occurs, they expel the offending visitor.
Wyrmdoom Crag Locations
Wyrmdoom Crag is a cave complex carved into the north face of a 15,000-foot-high mountain. Tunnels are 10 feet high throughout, and the caves are lit by torches.
The following locations are keyed to map 2.14.
W1. Approach
Fresh tracks in the snow make it relatively easy to find the goliath settlement of Wyrmdoom Crag on the northern slope of a soaring mountain. Following these tracks leads you to a cave, outside which the bones of a dragon lie half-buried in the snow. Past these remains, torchlight flickers in a pair of tunnels that burrow into the mountain leading west and south.
East of the dragon’s bones, rough-hewn steps climb to a twenty-foot-high, open-air arena with stone bleachers carved into the eastern wall. Rising from the arena floor are more than a dozen pillars of rock, each five to eight feet tall and about a foot in diameter.
The tracks in the snow were made by two goliath warriors returning from a hunt. See area area W2 for more about the stone platform and the bleachers.
The bones are those of an adult white dragon named Stygiarus, which met its doom at the hands of the goliaths of Wyrmdoom Crag. Four Chwinga (see appendix C) lurk amid the bones and make their presence known by popping out as the characters approach. The chwingas follow the characters around for as long as the party remains in the vicinity of Wyrmdoom Crag. The goliaths of Wyrmdoom Crag are aware of the chwingas and usually ignore them.
Each chwinga has a fascination for something and is irresistibly drawn to any character who has or demonstrates that certain something. If a character indulges a chwinga’s fascination once a day for three consecutive days, the chwinga rewards that character with a supernatural gift before it departs (see “Supernatural Gifts” in the Dungeon Master’s Guide). See the “New Chwinga Charms” section in appendix C for more charms. Each chwinga’s fascination is described below:
Chwinga 1 has a white face with a dark triangle painted over one eye. It is fascinated by Small characters and tries to ride around on them.
Chwinga 2 has a white face with two concentric blue rings around one eye. It is fascinated by beards and likes to comb them with a pinecone.
Chwinga 3 has curly black antennae growing out of its head. It is fascinated by whistling and by its own reflection. It capers enthusiastically whenever a character makes whistling noises or puts a mirror in front of it.
Chwinga 4 wears a gown made of pine needles. It is fascinated by characters who chew with their mouths open and tries to look down their throats while they eat.
W2. Goat-Ball Court
Fifteen crude stone pillars stand on this raised arena. The bleachers carved into the back wall are sheathed in ice, and at the top of the seating section are burnt torch stubs in sconces and a narrow tunnel.
The goliaths of Wyrmdoom Crag gather here at least once a day to watch children or adults enjoying a game of goat-ball (see the “Goat-Ball” sidebar). If the characters endear themselves to the goliaths, four Goliath Warrior from area area W7 challenge them to a friendly goat-ball match. Characters who turn down the challenge are free to watch a game instead. The goliaths don’t mind a little betting on the side.
The narrow tunnel above and behind the bleachers leads down to area area W6.
Goat-Ball
Goat-ball is a team sport similar to dodgeball. It uses a furry, misshapen ball made of stuffed goat hide and also requires a dozen or more elevated platforms (usually pillars or tree stumps) arranged in a random pattern. Two teams of four players clamber onto the platforms, pass the ball back and forth, and try to knock their opponents off their platforms. A team wins if all its opponents have been knocked out of the game.
Rules: To determine the outcome of a goat-ball game, have each player in the game make a Strength (
Athletics ) or Dexterity (Acrobatics ) check (their choice). Add up the totals for each team. The team with the highest total wins. In the event of a tie, the game goes into overtime and all the players re-roll.
W3. Weaponsmith
The sound of metal hissing as it cools echoes through this warm, ten-foot-high chamber as a female goliath submerges a glowing javelin head into a barrel of water. The anvil in the center of the cave is illuminated by the light of a burning forge against the west wall. Against the wall nearby are several tools and weapons.
The weaponsmith of Wyrmdoom Crag is a goliath warrior named Wayani Highhunter Thuunlakalaga. Her forging techniques emulate those of a dwarf smith from whom she learned her craft. She owns a complete set of smith’s tools, with which she is proficient, and is happy to talk about her work. If the characters seem friendly, she offers to take them to see Ogolai, the clan chieftain, in area area W5.
Among the items found in this forge are thirteen metal
W4. The Crawl
The floor of this fifteen-foot-high cavern bulges in the middle, with a five-foot-diameter hole on either end of the upraised part, marking the ends of a tunnel. The exterior of the bulge has runes inscribed on every surface of it.
At the back of the cave, an elderly male goliath sits with three adolescent goliaths around a campfire. The elderly goliath is dyeing scraps of cloth and leather in a bucket of greenish liquid and setting them to dry on a wooden rack while the adolescents stitch other scraps into garments for dolls they are fashioning. Scores of old dolls rest in niches along the cave walls, staring outward.
The elderly goliath is a noncombatant named Demelok Nightwalker Thuunlakalaga, and he’s helping the goliath youths make ceremonial dolls. The three youths are unarmed and unarmored Goliath Warrior named Jaagrik, Kaga, and Zuri.
Rune-Carved Tunnel
If the characters ask about the rune-carved tunnel that burrows under the floor, Demelok tells them that it serves two purposes: to test young goliaths on the cusp of adulthood and to impart the wisdom that comes from knowing one’s own character.
After learning the lessons needed to become full-fledged adults, a young goliath offers up a symbol of their childhood—a doll—and crawls through the tunnel. Members of their family wait for them on the other side, ready to welcome them into adulthood. The visions seen by those who crawl through the tunnel force them to face their fears, experience what it means to be truly alone, and recognize their own weaknesses. Not everyone has the fortitude to make it through the tunnel on the first attempt, but those who fail can try again.
Visitors who want to experience this trial are warned that it is not for the faint of heart. A character who reaches the tunnel’s midpoint must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw and a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. If either save fails, the character is unable to move forward and must withdraw the way they came. If both saves fail, the character is so overwhelmed by visions of terror that they fall into a coma, becoming
Any character who gets Chief Ogolai’s consent to crawl through the tunnel is considered an honorary member of the Thuunlakalaga clan if they pass the trial.
W5. Main Hall
This cavern has a domed roof thirty feet high and an open well in the middle of the floor. Two youthful goliaths use ropes and a bucket to draw water from the well while six adults wrangle a handful of exuberant goliath toddlers.
Rough-hewn stairs ascend to the southern part of the cave, where the floor is ten feet higher. Seated in this area next to a crackling fire is a female goliath with gray hair, many scars, and a white cloak made of mountain goat hide. Leaning against the wall behind her is a greataxe with a bone haft. She gnaws on a pipe as she tries to settle a dispute between two goliath children.
This cave is where most members of the Thuunlakalaga clan sleep and socialize. Bedrolls of goatskins and furs are set out on the floor in a loose semicircle around a well in the center of the room.
When the characters arrive, the cave contains eight Goliath Warrior” below). If a fight erupts here, nine more Goliath Warrior arrive from area area W7 to help put an end to it.
Ogolai greets new arrivals and invites them to join her by the fire. If she takes a shine to them, she walks them back to the feasting cave (area area W7) for a hot meal. If she is asked why the Skytower and Wyrmdoom goliaths don’t get along, Ogolai says:
“Many summers ago, the children of Wyrmdoom challenged the children of Skytower to a game of goat-ball. During the game, the ball tumbled near one of the griffons of Skytower. When one of our children tried to fetch the ball, the griffon went berserk and grievously wounded her. The game was called off. Hungry for more of the child’s flesh, the griffon haunted Wyrmdoom for days. Our hunters were forced to kill it to protect the child. The two clans have been opposed ever since.”
Although she doesn’t say so, Ogolai is the child who was wounded by the griffon, as the scars on her face suggest. To this day, she fears griffons and blames the Skytower goliaths for not keeping theirs under control.
If the characters claim to be neutral arbiters seeking to end the conflict between the clans, Ogolai says she’s prepared to meet with Arn Akannathi, the leader of the Skytower goliaths, but refuses to meet him at Skytower Shelter. Ogolai insists that the meeting occur on the goat-ball court at Wyrmdoom Crag, which she knows Arn will never agree to. Ogolai’s refusal to conduct negotiations at Skytower Shelter stems from her deep-seeded fear of griffons, though she would never admit to this fact lest she appear weak. Ogolai is not interested in offering any goodwill gesture to Arn, whom she bluntly calls a “walking stillborn.”
Missing Goliath
If the characters establish a rapport with Ogolai, she tells them that one of her clan’s warriors, a young male named Kapanuk, got separated from his hunting party during a blizzard a few days ago. Ogolai asks only that the characters keep an eye out for him as they travel through the mountains. (The characters might locate Kapanuk in area area X28 of Xardorok’s fortress in chapter 3.)
Treasure
Ogolai’s cloak has the magical properties of a
Well
The main source of clean water for the clan is the well. A fire bucket is lowered down on a rope to keep the water in the well from freezing.
W6. Private Caves
These 10-foot-high caves are the quarters of the chieftain and the best warriors of the clan. Ogolai claims the southernmost cave, where the tribe’s valuables are kept (see “Treasure” below).
The northernmost cave contains a wounded aarakocra named Sikki-kree, who is being tended to by a goliath warrior named Aruk Thundercaller Thuunlakalaga, who has
Once Sikki-kree can fly again, she thanks the characters for their help before getting Ogolai’s permission to depart. Ogolai is indebted to the characters for helping the aarakocra, enough that she will agree to a meeting with the chieftain of the Skytower goliaths if the characters request one.
Treasure
Ogolai’s cave contains a pile of treasure that her clan has amassed. The Wyrmdoom goliaths have little use for valuables but keep this stockpile for clan members who visit Ten-Towns or other settlements and need some form of currency to secure food or lodging. The stockpile includes the following:
- 350 gp, 1,177 sp, and 1,850 cp in mixed coinage
- Sixteen gemstones: nine banded agates (10 gp each), four carnelians (50 gp each), two spinels (100 gp each), and a topaz (500 gp)
- A gold chain pendant (25 gp) inset with a
Elemental Gem, Yellow Diamond (the goliaths are unaware of its magical nature)
W7. Feasting Cave
Three adult goliaths are cooking meat over a rectangular firepit in the middle of this fifteen-foot-high cave while a goliath youth distributes ceramic bowls of food to other goliaths sitting around the room on woolly rugs and furs.
An elderly male taps a rhythmic beat on a large goatskin drum held between his knees. While he plays, a couple of goliaths wrestle on the floor in front of him. Those seated near them occasionally move out of the way when the wrestlers roll too close to them.
Unless the warriors have been drawn elsewhere, this cave nine Goliath Warrior plus eight goliath noncombatants (children and clan elders).
The Wyrmdoom goliaths are overjoyed if one or more characters express an interest in wrestling. Although the goliaths don’t customarily take on smaller or weaker opponents, they never refuse a challenge. Winning a wrestling match requires a competitor to succeed on two consecutive contested Strength (