Chapter 5: Auril's Abode

The fortress of Grimskalle, built by frost giants, now serves as the abode of Auril the Frostmaiden.

Auril the Frostmaiden has retreated to a floating island of ice and snow and turned a skull-shaped fortress formerly occupied by frost giants into her abode. Her presence makes the island the most frigid place in the Far North. The cold is unbearable for many visitors, whose corpses become part of the island’s frozen decor.

Ideally, the characters should be 7th level when they visit the island, although there’s nothing stopping them from exploring it at lower levels. They might visit the island for either of the following reasons:

• Vellynne Harpell, a member of the Arcane Brotherhood, invites the characters to join her on an expedition to the island (see area chapter 4 for more information).
• The characters come to the island on their own, hoping to put an end to Icewind Dale’s everlasting winter.

Running This Chapter

Be sure to review the “Auril the Frostmaiden” section in appendix C before running this chapter, since Auril is no ordinary villain.

The characters can locate and obtain both The Codicil of White and Vellynne Harpell’s stolen professor orb without confronting the Frostmaiden. But if the characters want to end the Everlasting Rime right here, right now, they can do so by slaying Iskra, the Frostmaiden’s roc (without which Auril can’t cast her nightly spell that keeps the sun at bay), or by facing Auril in battle and defeating all three of the Frostmaiden’s forms sequentially.

Character Advancement

In this chapter, level advancement is handled as follows:

• The characters gain a level if they destroy all three of Auril’s forms.
• The characters gain a level if they slay Iskra the roc.
• If they are 7th level or lower, the characters gain a level when they discover the “Rime of the Frostmaiden” poem in The Codicil of White.

Sea of Moving Ice

Titanic icebergs bob in a churning black sea of unknown depth, crashing into one another with destructive results. Floating amid these mountains of ice, shrouded by mist, is Auril’s island. Using sheer force of will, the Frostmaiden can anchor the island or cause it to slowly drift about. For that reason, the island doesn’t appear on maps of the Sea of Moving Ice.

Getting to the Island

The characters can reach Auril’s island in any of the following ways:

• Hitch a ride on Angajuk, the awakened sperm whale (see “area Angajuk’s Bell").
• Travel to Revel’s End (see “area Revel’s End") and book passage on a ship bringing supplies or convicts to the prison.
• Ask the Akannathi goliaths (see “area Skytower Shelter") to loan them some trained griffons and then fly to the island on the griffons' backs.

Via Angajuk the Sperm Whale

The characters can get directions to the pier where Angajuk can be summoned and befriended. Vellynne Harpell knows the location of Angajuk’s pier; if she’s with the party, she proposes that they spend a night in the town of Bremen and set out to Angajuk’s pier in the morning.

Angajuk can travel up to 25 miles a day but takes a leisurely, meandering route to Auril’s island, resulting in a three-day journey. The whale is submerged for most of the trip, allowing the characters to see what life is like in the frigid depths. Like a tour guide, the whale takes its passengers within sight of spectacular underwater attractions, including shipwrecks, storm giant castles, and cyclopean ruins from the bygone empire of giants known as Ostoria.

After delivering the characters safely to the island, Angajuk is willing to circle the island until the characters are ready to leave, provided they don’t make the whale wait for too long. Auril’s roc poses a threat to Angajuk, so the whale surfaces only when it must.

Via Ship from Revel’s End

The prison of Revel’s End has easy access to the Sea of Moving Ice. On the downside, captains who are brave enough to take their ships into the Sea of Moving Ice expect to be well compensated; characters can expect to pay 1,000 gp or more for a one-way trip to Auril’s island, or five times that amount if they expect the ship to wait for them and take them back to Revel’s End.

One such captain is Sharlasta Stormsword, a retired pirate (lawful evil human bandit captain) who commands the Ravenous, a sailing ship with a crew of twenty well-trained scalawags (Bandit). The ship’s port of call is the city of Neverwinter. Despite her checkered past, Captain Stormsword is one of the most reliable privateers working for the Lords' Alliance today, and she rarely turns down a chance to earn a little extra coin on the side. Each dawn, she tosses a barrel of fish and a cask of whiskey into the sea as offerings to Umberlee—a practice that keeps the evil sea god on her side.

When the characters arrive at Revel’s End, there’s a 10 percent chance that the Ravenous is moored at the pier and is in the process of offloading crates of supplies as well as 1d4 convicts in shackles. Characters who aren’t so lucky must wait 1d10 days for the ship to arrive.

The Ravenous can travel 50 miles a day. But finding Auril’s island while avoiding close encounters with icebergs and ice floes takes five days. Under no circumstances will Captain Stormsword or her crew leave their ship to explore the island.

If you need a map of the Ravenous, use the ship map in appendix C of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

Via Griffons

The goliaths of Skytower Shelter agree to loan the party members one griffon apiece if one of these conditions is met:

• A goliath character who is a member of the Akannathi clan convinces the Akannathi chieftain to help the party by succeeding on a DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check.
• The characters help to end the longstanding feud between the goliaths of Skytower Shelter and the goliaths of Wyrmdoom Crag.

Skytower Shelter’s griffons are safe to ride, but they are trained to return home after delivering the characters to their destination. Convincing a griffon to remain on Auril’s island while the characters explore the place requires a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check, and even then, the griffon won’t stay for more than 24 hours due to the unbearable cold.

The goliaths don’t have enough griffons to carry Vellynne Harpell’s kobold entourage, which forces Vellynne to leave her charges behind. The kobolds are happy to stay with the goliaths, but the goliaths quickly dispose of the undead ones.

Island of Solstice

The island of Solstice is shaped like a snowflake, with six jagged arms that protrude out into the sea. It’s a windswept place made primarily of snow and ice.

Preparing for Arrival

Regardless of the means by which the characters travel to the island, assume that they arrive near the ruined dock on the island’s southeast arm. This puts them on the far side of the island from where the wizard Nass Lantomir met her doom.

Read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players, whether the characters approach the island by sea or air:

The fog through which you’ve been traveling thins enough for you to see fifty-foot-high cliffs of solid ice ahead. Jutting out of the water off the coast are the bare, weather-beaten masts of sunken ships.

Ahead, you can make out what appears to be a partially shattered dock carved out of ice. As you get closer, it becomes obvious that the dock was made for giants.

The ruined ice dock and the shipwrecks in the vicinity are the only features of the island immediately visible. Fog prevents the characters from seeing the island’s other features at a distance.

Characters flying on the backs of griffons can bypass the dock and find somewhere else on the island to land. But if one or more griffons come within 200 feet of the fortress of Grimskalle while Auril’s roc is atop the fortress, it takes to the air and tries to kill the griffons so that their riders fall. (See area area G9 in this chapter for more information about the roc.)

Regional Effects

Auril’s presence creates the following regional effects, which fade 1d10 days after all three of her forms are destroyed:

• The save DC to resist the effects of extreme cold is 15 instead of 10.
• Whenever a creature that lacks resistance or immunity to cold damage spends a Hit Die to regain hit points within 1 mile of the island, it regains only a number of hit points equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 0). It doesn’t get to roll the die.
• The island, its surface features, and all creatures and objects out to a distance of 200 feet from the island are lightly obscured by fog. Thick fog fills the air beginning 200 feet from the island and extending outward for 1 mile in all directions; anything on the water or in the air within this thick fog is heavily obscured.

Island Locations

The following locations are keyed to map 5.1.

I1. Ruined Dock

Frost giants fashioned this dock out of ice and built it to endure, yet sections of it have broken away and fallen into the sea. Because the dock was scaled for frost giant longships, characters approaching by water must climb to reach the top of it. Those without magic or climbing gear can do so with a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check.

At the back of the dock, giant-sized steps climb to the top of the 50-foot-high cliffs. A 20-foot-wide path made from bricks of ice leads from the dock to the fortress of Grimskalle, as shown on map 5.1.

An ice mephit named Söpo is perched at the top of the ice stairs and is willing to serve as a guide for new arrivals, not out of kindness but to alleviate its boredom. If the characters approach by air, Söpo intercepts them. Characters who speak Aquan or Auran can communicate with Söpo verbally; if there’s no one in the party who can understand it, the mephit communicates using gestures as best it can.

Söpo enjoys watching other creatures suffer. Initially, however, it acts as a guide to earn the characters' trust, pointing out areas where characters might slip on a patch of ice or get bonked on the head by a low-hanging icicle. Vellynne’s snowy owl familiar, if it’s present, senses the mephit’s cruel intent. Söpo and the owl have an instant dislike for one another.

Söpo tries to get the characters to explore every part of the island by sharing the following information with those who can understand its words:

• The shipwrecks that surround the island are full of loot waiting to be claimed.
• The last ship to visit the island crashed off the coast of the island’s northwest arm. One survivor managed to pull herself out of the frigid water and climb to the top of the island, but she died before getting any farther.
• The Frostmaiden has created beautiful ice sculptures all over the island. One would weep at the very sight of them if it were not so cold as to make tears freeze in one’s eyes.
• There are yeti caves on the east side of the island. An abominable yeti called Korgrah lives among them.

If shooed away, Söpo continues to follow the party but doesn’t meddle. Whenever some misfortune befalls a character, however, the mephit lets slip a raspy cackle.

I2. Shipwrecks

The ice that makes up the island fans out under the water, creating shelves ranging from 20 to 50 feet beneath the surface. Atop these shelves, lodged amid jagged spires of submerged ice, are the wrecks of several ill-fated sea galleons and ancient frost giant longships, as shown on map 5.1.

Characters who can withstand the frigid water might want to explore these sunken wrecks. For each site searched, roll a d20 and consult the Shipwreck Discoveries table to determine what the characters find. No discovery can occur more than once; if you get the same result twice, reroll or choose a different possibility.

Shipwreck Discoveries

I3. Nass Lantomir’s Ghost

Nass Lantomir outsmarted her rivals in the Arcane Brotherhood by partnering with a pirate captain before leaving Luskan for Icewind Dale. After stealing Vellynne Harpell’s professor orb, Nass fled to the coast to make her rendezvous with the pirate captain’s galleon, the Wicked Eddy. The ship found Auril’s island the hard way: by crashing into the ice shelf that runs beneath it. As the vessel took on water, Nass alone swam to shore, only to die of frostbite on a snow-covered bluff overlooking the Wicked Eddy’s sunken hulk.

Characters who search the northwest arm of the island find Nass’s frostbitten corpse and much more:

Half-buried in snow near the edge of a bluff is a humanoid corpse clad in cold weather clothing. Clutched in one of its hands is an orb made of smoky-gray quartz.

A white weasel bursts from the snow near the corpse and stares at you with its beady eyes. A voice rings out. “Ye gods, I was afraid no one would find us!” The sound isn’t coming from the weasel, but from the orb.

If anyone tries to pry the orb from the dead wizard’s fingers or otherwise disturbs the remains, Nass Lantomir’s ghost (see area appendix C) appears above the corpse and tries to possess someone on its first turn. If her ghost successfully possesses a party member, Nass tries to turn the characters against Vellynne (if she is present) and join them in their search for The Codicil of White. If the ghost gets what it wants, it shares the following information, some of which Nass acquired when she was alive with the aid of Spell Scroll of divination used before her death:

• The Arcane Brotherhood sent four wizards to find the lost Netherese city of Ythryn, which has lain under the Reghed Glacier for nearly two thousand years. (Nass is willing to divulge the identities of the other three wizards, if asked; see the “area Arcane Brotherhood” section in appendix C for details.)
• The Codicil of White contains a spell or ritual that can open a passage through the Reghed Glacier to the lost Netherese city.
• Worshipers of Auril have hidden The Codicil of White in a frost giant fortress called Grimskalle, situated atop the small mountain in the middle of the island.

The ghost can’t move more than 200 feet from the place where Nass died unless it takes possession of a host. If it’s forced out of a host’s body when the body is more than 200 feet from where Nass died, the ghost instantly returns to that spot, regardless of whether the wizard’s corpse is still there.

If the ghost is reduced to 0 hit points, it fades away, only to reappear 24 hours later in the place where Nass died. The ghost is doomed to haunt the island until it acquires The Codicil of White, whereupon it achieves its final rest and ceases to exist.

Weasel Familiar

The arctic weasel is Zelennor, Nass’s fey familiar. Vellynne Harpell would recognize it as such. Anyone who can cast the find familiar spell knows that a familiar typically vanishes when its creator dies, but Zelennor has somehow formed a bond with Nass’s spectral undead form. If Nass’s ghost is destroyed, even temporarily, the weasel ceases to exist.

Treasure

Characters who dig Nass Lantomir’s corpse out of the snow find a leather satchel containing the wizard’s spellbook, which is described in area appendix C. Nass’s other gear went down with the Wicked Eddy.

The professor orb, which calls itself Professor Skant, is happy to be found. See area appendix D for a description of Professor Skant. If she is present, Vellynne tries to reclaim the orb but won’t fight the characters for it. In addition to its areas of expertise, Professor Skant knows what must be done to reach the city of Ythryn, having discussed plans at length first with Vellynne Harpell and then with Nass Lantomir. If they part company with the orb’s previous two owners, the characters can use Professor Skant to help them identify the steps they must take to reach Ythryn, if that’s their goal.

I4. Ice Statues

There are several of these locations on the island, including one the characters will come across if they follow the brick path from the ruined dock:

Through the blowing snow, you see a grand assembly of ice sculptures across a snowy field at the foot of the mountain in the center of the island. Closer examination reveals that the sculptures are completely faithful to their subjects: bears, elk, saber-toothed tigers, wolves, yeti, remorhazes, white dragons, and other creatures of the North. No mortal hand could create such wondrous works.

The Frostmaiden creates these ice sculptures. If the characters damage any of them, two bad things happen.

First, the Frostmaiden makes her presence known, manifesting nearby as a 7-foot-tall woman made of snow. She cries out, “Defilers!” and points a finger at them. Each character who defiled a sculpture must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or gain vulnerability to cold damage for the next 24 hours. A character who has resistance or immunity to cold damage automatically succeeds on the saving throw. Because of her weakened state, the Frostmaiden can’t create another such manifestation until the next dawn.

Second, Auril telepathically awakens Korgrah, an abominable yeti (see area area I5), and commands it to hunt down and kill the party. This yeti’s sense of smell is so acute that it can track the characters by scent regardless of where they are on the island.

I5. Yeti Caves

Dotting the eastern slope of the ice mountain atop which Grimskalle sits are seven shallow caves, each one occupied by a hostile yeti that feeds on seals, walruses, and other island visitors. The seven Yeti attack all at once, though a character with the Littlest Yeti secret (see appendix B) might attempt to communicate with them in hopes of improving their attitude.

If all seven yetis are slain, their angry spirits awaken Korgrah, an abominable yeti that slumbers under the ice and snow, unless Korgrah has already been killed. The abominable yeti explodes from an ice-covered cyst lets out a howl that can be heard across the island, and hunts the characters until it or they are dead. This fearsome yeti can’t be mollified by a character with the Littlest Yeti secret.

Inside the Caves

Each yeti cave contains the bones of the yetis' past meals, but no treasure.

I6. Garden of Death

A ten-foot-tall wall of ice has broken down in a few places, leaving gaps through which you can see what appears to be a huge garden of ice sculptures.

This area is a graveyard where Auril displays creatures that have died on the island from the extreme cold. Each creature is encased in a thick coat of ice, preserving its remains. Amid scores of humanoid cadavers—pirates, hunters, adventurers, worshipers, and others who fell prey to Auril’s cold embrace—are the frozen forms of hares, foxes, and other small animals.

An ice troll (see appendix C) found its way here and destroyed parts of the outer wall. It has also been gnawing on some of the corpses. Auril isn’t concerned about the intrusion, since this place is much less important to her than her ice statues are. If the characters loiter in the garden, the ice troll attacks and fights to the death.

Vellynne Harpell and Nass Lantomir are both aware of the magical properties of ice troll hearts (as described in the “Ice Troll” entry in appendix C) and can share this information with the characters once the ice troll is killed.

Grimskalle

When the characters are in a position to see this location from the south, describe it as follows:

Rising before you is a six-hundred-foot-tall mountain of glacial ice, its peak carved to resemble a gigantic skull wearing a crown. Weaving up the mountain’s southern slope are enormous stairs hewn from the ice. These steps, which extend from the base of the mountain to the base of the fortress, were clearly made for giants.

Grimskalle was constructed for a frost giant queen named Vassavicken and is filled with the remnants of her reign, including her corpse. Auril has claimed the stronghold to serve her own worldly needs.

The Frostmaiden has sequestered herself inside, though she does vacate the place once a day. Shortly before midnight, she mounts the roc that sleeps on the rooftop (area area G9) and takes to the sky to weave her nightly spell. She is gone for several hours, during which time the characters can explore Grimskalle without fear of running into her.

Ice Steps

Each step is 4 feet higher than the one below it, making the staircase difficult terrain for creatures that aren’t Huge giants. The snow and rime covering the steps make them less slippery than they would be otherwise.

Fortress Features

The following features are common throughout the fortress:

• Giant-Sized Furnishings, passageways, and the dimensions of the rooms inside are all sized for frost giants and other Huge creatures. The same is true of some accessory items, including treasure, as noted in the text.
• Ice and Mist All surfaces (floors, ceilings, walls, and so forth) are made of smooth, opaque, chiseled ice with a bluish tinge. A 2-foot-deep blanket of cold mist creeps across the floors, which aren’t slippery unless the text states otherwise.

Darkness. The fortress is not illuminated. Frost giants lit their way with torches, the ancient stubs of which litter the floors. The current occupants rely on darkvision to see. Area descriptions assume that the characters have a light source or some other means of seeing in the dark.

Doors

A door is a 25-foot-high, 8-foot-wide, 2½-foot-thick slab of chiseled ice with crude handles. In place of hinges, a door has thick, cylindrical pins of ice that rest in holes at the top and bottom edges of the door’s frame. A creature can use an action to try to push open one of these doors, doing so with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check. A door is a Huge object with AC 13, hp 60, and immunity to cold, poison, and psychic damage.

• Ceilings Ceilings throughout are 30 feet high.

Grimskalle Locations (G1-G7)

The following locations are keyed to map 5.2.

G1. Entrance

The steps end in front of a double door made from slabs of ice with dragon skulls and bones embedded in them. Carved into the lintel is a single word in the Dwarvish script.

The skulls and bones embedded in the doors belong to several young white dragons. Giants use the Dwarvish script as their written language, and the Dwarvish word carved above the doors translates to “Grimskalle.”

G2. Guard Room

This long, rectangular room is strewn with pieces of rotting wood and rusted metal—the remnants of giant weapons and weapon racks. A rusted-out helmet sized for a giant lies near the back wall.

Nothing in this room is salvageable.

G3. Frost Giant Warden

A withered old frost giant leaning heavily on a greataxe sits in front of a tall door in the far wall. The giant wooden stool upon which he sits creaks under his weight as he stares at you with cloudy eyes.

The frost giant is named Ertgard. Because of old age, his walking speed is 20 feet. He is also deaf, can’t see farther than 20 feet, and can’t take reactions. The characters must move at least 10 feet into the room before Ertgard notices them, whereupon he grips his weapon tightly, stumbles to his feet, and says (in Giant), “Death, we meet at last!”

Ertgard is the last surviving member of Vassavicken’s clan and is eager to die honorably. Although he has sworn fealty to Auril, he isn’t of much use to her and doesn’t have any responsibilities other than to guard the fortress as best he can. If he’s knocked unconscious, revived, and interrogated, Ertgard offers the following information (in Giant) if the characters promise him an honorable, swift, and merciful death:

• Every night, the Frostmaiden leaves Grimskalle on the back of Iskra, her roc, to cast a spell that holds the next day’s sun at bay. Otherwise, she resides upstairs (on the palace level).
• Auril is sometimes attended by frost druids, although no druids are present at this time. The frost druids who last visited her left behind an intelligent giant walrus named Ukuma. It dwells downstairs (on the dungeon level).
• The Codicil of White is sealed in a vault downstairs (on the dungeon level). Only one who passes Auril’s four tests—the Tests of Cruelty, Endurance, Isolation, and Preservation—can open the vault (see area area G15).

Treasure

The small room behind Ertgard contains all the treasure he was able to gather from inside the fortress, heaped in a pile on the floor:

• 1,350 gp, 4,400 sp, and 7,800 cp
• Four gold rings sized for giants (150 gp each)
• A giant-sized shield made of white dragon scales (impressive but worthless)
• A 2-foot-tall, 50-pound, chipped statuette of Thrym (the evil frost giant god) made of ice that doesn’t melt (50 gp)
• An alchemy jug

G4. Ruined Kitchen

Frost covers a bloated trestle table that stands amid rotting barrels and casks in the middle of what used to be a kitchen. Storage racks along the walls have collapsed into piles of rotted timber along with the jugs, tankards, and drinking horns that once rested on them. A roasting spit lined with icicles is mounted above a ten-foot-diameter iron brazier coated with rime and situated near the back wall.

The barrels and casks are empty and fall apart easily. The jugs, tankards, and drinking horns are all cracked or otherwise damaged. Nothing of value remains here.

G5. Feast Hall

Shattered chunks of ice, the remains of a door, lie strewn on the floor around the opening, allowing characters to see into the room beyond without obstruction.

In the middle of this immense hall stands a thirty-foot-long, ten-foot-wide, ten-foot-high dining table carved from ice and surrounded by a dozen blocks of ice that once served as chairs. Wooden braces against the west wall hold a pair of fourteen-foot-long bugles made from hollowed-out mammoth tusks. An ascending staircase of ice in the southwest corner has mist rolling down it.

One of the mammoth tusk bugles is intact, but the other one is cracked and no longer works. These bugles were used to summon frost giants for dinner or to sound an alarm.

Stairs Up

The stairs climb 90 feet to area G7.

G6. Perched Mephits

As in area G5, shattered chunks of ice, the remains of a door, lie on the floor around the opening where the door once stood, allowing characters to see into the room beyond without obstruction.

Six slender, gargoyle-like creatures made of ice squat on ledges twenty feet above the ground that protrude from the wall of this semicircular chamber. Near the back wall, the mist that blankets the floor flows down a staircase made of polished ice.

The creatures perched on the ledges are six Ice Mephit created by Auril. They observe intruders quietly. If any of them are threatened or harmed, they all attack. Otherwise, the mephits take no aggressive action without a command from their creator.

Stairs Down

The stairs, which descend 90 feet to area area G10, are slippery. The slippery ice is difficult terrain. When a creature moves on these stairs for the first time on a turn, it must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or fall prone. If the check fails by 5 or more, the creature also tumbles 10 feet down the stairs and takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage.

G7. Throne Room

This semicircular room has a forest of icicles hanging from its ceiling, some of them as much as eight feet long. Against the curved wall to the south stands an enormous throne of ice decorated with carved images of winter wolves and mastodons. Across from the throne on the north wall is an open doorway.

The throne belonged to Vassavicken, the frost giant queen who originally occupied Grimskalle.

Auril has transformed seven of the icicles that cling to the ceiling into creatures that resemble piercers. They use the piercer stat block, have immunity to cold damage, and deal 10 (3d6) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) cold damage on a hit.

Stairs Down

The stairs in the northwest corner of this room descend 90 feet toarea area G5.

Grimskalle Locations (G8-G14)

G8. Queen’s Bedchamber

Auril uses this space as her personal sanctuary. Depending on how this encounter plays out, you might need to reference one or more of Auril’s stat blocks in appendix C.

This room contains wrecked furnishings that suggest it was once used as a frost giant’s bedchamber. A bitterly cold wind blows down a staircase to the east, at the bottom of which snow has accumulated.

Unless she has left the fortress to cast her nightly spell over Icewind Dale, the Frostmaiden lurks here in her first form, living in fear that her divine enemies will find and destroy her. She normally occupies the room to the west but lurches toward the larger room to greet the characters as they arrive. The characters have no chance of surprising her.

It takes almost all of the Frostmaiden’s divine power to keep the sun from rising over Icewind Dale, and she doesn’t abide the presence of mortals other than her most ardent worshipers. Consequently, Auril does her utmost to slay intruders or, at least, terrify them into fleeing her island and never returning. In addition to the powers given in her three stat blocks, she can use the lair actions described in appendix C.

Destroying one of Auril’s forms is challenging enough. Destroying all three of her forms in sequence should be a severe test for even the most determined and well-equipped party of adventurers. You can make Auril even tougher by having her use a lair action to teleport to the rooftop (area G9), where her roc can fight alongside her.

A fight against Auril continues until the characters defeat her or retreat. Both options are discussed below:

• If the characters destroy all three of Auril’s forms, any character who has the Midwinter Child secret (see appendix B) loses the benefit of that secret until the Frostmaiden is reborn at the next winter solstice. In addition, Auril’s demise causes the uppermost levels of the fortress to collapse, as described in the “area Fall of Grimskalle” section at the end of this chapter.
• If the characters flee, Auril lets them go so that they can spread horrific tales of their encounter with her, thus discouraging others from visiting her island. After finishing a long rest, Auril gets back all her forms.

The Frostmaiden has no need for worldly possessions and keeps nothing of value in this room.

Stairs Up

The curved staircase climbs 90 feet to area G9.

G9. Crowned Rooftop

The icy crown encircling the fortress doubles as a battlemented rooftop. Each prong of the crown extends forty feet above the roofline, and the prongs have 10-foot-wide gaps between them. Situated in the middle of the roof is a nest almost thirty feet in diameter.

If Auril is home, so is her white roc, Iskra. During the day, the roc sleeps in its nest. Shortly before midnight, the roc takes to the sky with the Frostmaiden on its back and doesn’t return to the fortress until a few hours before sunrise. Without the roc to carry her around Icewind Dale, Auril can’t cast her nightly spell, thus bringing an end to the everlasting winter.

The roc is too big to enter the fortress. If it takes damage from foes it can’t reach, it gets clear of the fortress and climbs to a height that puts it outside the range of its enemies. If the roc grapples a foe, it heads toward open water with its prize; once there, it drops the grappled creature into the water from a height of at least 200 feet. In addition to taking 20d6 bludgeoning damage from the fall, the victim must also contend with the frigid water (see “area Frigid Water").

Treasure

A thorough search of the roc’s nest yields the following treasures:

• A 5-foot-tall, 150-pound silvery dragon egg that will hatch in 3d10 days, giving birth to a silver dragon wyrmling
• A carved harp of exotic wood with ivory inlay and zircon gemstones (750 gp)
• An electrum chain with a bloodstone pendant (250 gp)
• A wooden sea chest covered with bird droppings and sealed with a heavy padlock that a character using thieves' tools can pick with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check; inside the chest are 320 gp, a gold ring with a black pearl set into a fixture shaped like a whirlpool (750 gp), and a spell scroll of mass cure wounds

G10. Ice Rink

The staircase descends into a vaulted chamber. A nine-foot-high railing of sculpted ice hugs the staircase as it descends to the chamber floor, which, like the stairs, is smooth and gleaming. A walrus as big as an elephant is having a grand old time rolling and sliding on the ice, paying you little heed.

The giant walrus (see appendix C), named Ukuma, is supposed to be guarding this room. A frost druid’s awaken spell has given it an Intelligence of 10 and the ability to speak Common. Although it’s grateful for the magical gift, the giant walrus is not interested in serving anyone or attending to guard duty. It would rather roll around on the ice and engage in light conversation with new arrivals. Characters can befriend Ukuma by tossing it a fish or some other tasty morsel.

Ukuma knows the following information, which it’s happy to share with characters who befriend it:

• The tunnel to the north ends before the tomb of a frost giant queen, who died before the Frostmaiden took control of the island.
• The tunnel to the south leads to a vault where servants of the Frostmaiden store the treasures of their faith.
• To enter the vault, one must pass four tests. Each test reflects an aspect of the Frostmaiden: cruelty, endurance, isolation, and preservation. The tests lie beyond the four doors that lead away from the room.

Narrow archways to the west and east lead to a pair of small chambers. Frost druids and other worshipers of Auril use these rooms as sleeping quarters, though no one is present when the characters arrive.

Rink

The floor in this area is as smooth as an ice rink. When a creature moves on the floor for the first time on a turn, it must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or fall prone. The giant walrus doesn’t need to make this check.

Stairs Up

From the ceiling to the floor, the stairs that lead up to area area G6 are enclosed by thick, 9-foot-high railings of sculpted ice. The stairs, like the floor, are difficult terrain. When a creature moves on these stairs for the first time on a turn, it must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or fall prone. If the check fails by 5 or more, the creature also tumbles 10 feet down the stairs and takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage.

G11. Tomb Entrance

The passageway leads to an anvil-shaped room with a door set into the far wall. Flanking the door are bas-reliefs of two female frost giants holding greataxes. Runes are carved into the door’s surface.

The runes on the door, written in the Dwarvish script, read as follows:

In ice and blood, our folk are born.

To our great queen, we raise our horn.

We’ll fight and plunder in the morn.

To Vassavicken, we are sworn.

G12. Skeletal Guards

This chamber has another door set into the far wall. Standing on either side of the door is a frost giant skeleton wielding a rusty anchor. The pinpricks of light in their eye sockets brighten as they register your presence.

The weapons of these two Frost Giant Skeleton deal bludgeoning damage instead of slashing damage. They otherwise use the stat block in appendix C. They attack any creatures they see and pursue fleeing prey into G11 but no farther.

G13. Vassavicken’s Tomb

This chamber contains a dead female frost giant encased in a solid block of ice carved to resemble a standing sarcophagus. The block of ice is twenty-five feet tall, twelve feet wide, and ten feet thick. Behind the entombed giant, embedded in the north wall, is a door made of ice.

The ceiling is carved in the scowling visage of a male frost giant with an icy beard.

The frost giant entombed in the block of ice is Queen Vassavicken. Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) guess correctly that the visage looking down on the queen is a representation of Thrym, the evil god of frost giants.

Trap

A character can reach Vassavicken’s corpse by chipping away the ice that encases her, but Thrym will not stand for such an act of defilement. If enough ice is chipped away or melted to expose any portion of Vassavicken’s corpse to the air, Thrym’s visage opens its mouth and breathes a cloud of magical cold energy that fills the entire room, sealing Vassavicken’s corpse in ice once more. Any creature in the room when Thrym breathes must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 44 (8d10) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Thrym’s visage is impervious to damage from spells and weapons.

Door to Area G14

This door is stuck. A creature can use an action to try to pull open the door, doing so with a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check.

G14. Vassavicken’s Axe

Leaning against the back wall of this room is a formidable weapon: a giant-sized greataxe, its steel head resting on the icy floor.

Treasure

The greataxe is Vassavicken’s berserker axe, which adjusts in size to match whoever attunes to it. When found, it’s 15 feet tall and weighs 650 pounds. If a character attunes to the axe, it shrinks to a size befitting its new wielder.

Grimskalle Locations (G15-G23)

G15. Tests of the Frostmaiden

The first time the characters enter one of these chambers, read:

The walls of this oddly shaped room are etched with elaborate panoramas of winter scenes. Set into the back wall is a door inscribed with a large snowflake. A single word is carved into the lintel above it.

Characters who succeed on a DC 10 Intelligence (Religion) check correctly surmise that the snowflake inscribed on the door is the Frostmaiden’s holy symbol. The word carved above the door depends on which area lies on the other side:

• Door to Area G16 Carved into the lintel above this door is the word “Cruelty” in Common.
• Door to Area G17 Part of the lintel has broken off, but characters can still make out the word “Endurance” carved into it in Common.
• Door to Area G18 Carved into the lintel above this door is the word “Isolation” in Common.
• Door to Area G19 The lintel above this door has partially broken off, destroying some of the inscription carved into it. What’s left reads “——ervation” in Common.

There are four Tests of the Frostmaiden: the Test of Cruelty in area area G16, the Test of Endurance in area area G17, the Test of Isolation in area area G18, and the Test of Preservation in area area G19.

Each test begins by opening a door marked with the symbol of Auril. When that happens, all the participants in the test are teleported to the location where the test takes place. If Vellynne Harpell is with the party, she is willing to participate in the tests and counts as a party member if the characters allow her to accompany them.

When a test ends, use the Tests of the Frostmaiden Scorecard to keep track of which party members passed the test by putting a checkmark to the right of each of their names in the appropriate column. This scorecard will help you determine whether the vault door in area area G20 can be opened or not. It is strictly a tool for DM record-keeping and not meant to be shared with the players. Permission is granted to photocopy this scorecard for home game use.

The tests can be taken in any order. Each party member can take a particular test only once; a party member who tries to take a test a second time is not teleported.

Tests of the Frostmaiden Scorecard

G16. Test of Cruelty

Opening the door to this empty room causes everyone in the nearest room marked G15 on the map to disappear. These creatures find themselves whisked away to a Reghed camp in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale. When one or more of the characters are transported here, read:

Your surroundings vanish in a flurry of snow and ice. When your vision clears, you find yourself standing at the edge of a camp, its tents holding fast against a raging blizzard.

The blizzard rages for the duration of the test and is inescapable.

This camp is home to the King of the Bear Tribe, Gunvald Halraggson (see area appendix C). If Gunvald died earlier in the adventure, replace him with another Bear Tribe chieftain named Svilbrekhild Forennal (a female human gladiator in hide armor who speaks Common and has Survival +5). See “area Reghed Tribe Camp” for a map and a general description of the campsite. There are no sled dogs at this camp.

The characters are not dreaming; the Frostmaiden’s magic has teleported them from Grimskalle to this camp. Each party member has a tiny, glowing, snowflake floating a few inches above them—the symbol of the Frostmaiden, which most Reghed nomads recognize and fear. Members of the Bear Tribe won’t attack anyone bearing this symbol except in self-defense.

The Test Begins

The camp has run out of food, and the tribe’s hunters have failed to return because of the unyielding blizzard. The nomads have already eaten their sled dogs. Now, Gunvald has decided that desperate times require desperate measures. He plans to kill four of the tribe’s eldest members and cook them to feed the rest of the camp. His evil shaman has convinced him to take this drastic course of action.

Once the characters' presence becomes known, they are brought before King Gunvald. He treats them with respect and caution, as befits emissaries of the Frostmaiden. He has the four elders lined up outside his tent and entreats the characters to kill them or leave the camp at once.

To pass the Test of Cruelty, a character must perform a cruel act, such as slaying the defenseless elders as King Gunvald commands. The characters can also pass the test by walking away from the camp and leaving the starving nomads at the mercy of their mad king—a cruel act in the eyes of the Frostmaiden. If the characters defy King Gunvald, he kills the defenseless elders himself.

Characters can fail the test by not engaging in acts of cruelty, such as by refusing to kill the elders, defending them, or doing nothing whatsoever.

The Test Ends

After 1 hour, everyone with a symbol of Auril hovering above their head is teleported back to Grimskalle, appearing in the room marked G16 on the map.

G17. Test of Endurance

Opening the door to this empty room causes everyone in the nearest room marked area G15 on the map to disappear. These creatures find themselves whisked away to a Reghed camp in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale. When one or more of the characters are transported here, read:

Your surroundings vanish in a flurry of snow and ice. When your vision clears, you find yourself in a raging snowstorm, standing at the edge of a Reghed tribe’s camp in the process of being dismantled. The nomads work feverishly to tear down their tents and pack them onto dogsleds. A few of them spot you and brandish their weapons. A tall figure standing among them calls out, “We shall not lie down and die for your pleasure, emissaries of Auril! Begone, vultures!”

This camp is home to the King of the Elk Tribe, Jarund Elkhardt (see area appendix C). If Jarund died earlier in the adventure, replace him with Hengar Aesnvaard, a Common-speaking gladiator with Survival +5. See “area Reghed Tribe Camp” for a map and a general description of the campsite.

The characters are not dreaming; the Frostmaiden’s magic has teleported them from Grimskalle to this camp. Each party member has a tiny, glowing snowflake floating a few inches above them—the symbol of the Frostmaiden, which most Reghed nomads recognize and fear. Members of the Elk Tribe won’t attack anyone bearing this symbol except in self-defense.

The Test Begins

The figure calling out to the characters is King Jarund, who has ordered that the camp be torn down so that the nomads can stay close to the reindeer herd they’ve been following. The herd is migrating eastward, and where go the reindeer, so goes the Elk Tribe. If the characters assure Jarund that they mean no harm, he gives them a choice: help or leave. Either way, he doesn’t want to provoke Auril’s wrath.

The party members don’t need to help the nomads tear down the camp or set up a new one, but they must accompany the nomads on their journey and endure the same hardship. The trip is a grueling march across the tundra with the wind against them the whole time. There’s no chance of a party member becoming lost in this blizzard, which has an unusual property: magic does not function within it, as though the area encompassed by the blizzard is within an antimagic field (as described in the antimagic field spell description in the Player’s Handbook).

The march lasts 14 hours. Party members can weather the first 8 hours. At the end of every hour after that, each must make a Constitution saving throw. The DC is 10 plus 1 for each additional hour that passes (DC 11 at the end of the ninth hour, DC 12 at the end of the tenth hour, and so on). On a failed saving throw, a character gains one level of exhaustion. Any party member who completes the journey with four or fewer levels of exhaustion passes the Test of Endurance.

At the end of the forced march, King Jarund orders the tribe to pitch tents and start campfires.

The Test Ends

Once the Elk Tribe camp is set up in its new location, everyone with a glowing symbol of Auril hovering above their head is teleported back to Grimskalle, appearing in the room marked G17 on the map.

G18. Test of Isolation

Opening the door to this empty room causes everyone in the nearest room marked area G15 on the map to disappear. These creatures find themselves whisked away to a Reghed camp in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale. When one or more of the characters are transported here, read:

Your surroundings vanish in a flurry of snow and ice. When your vision clears, you find yourself standing at the edge of a camp under a clear sky. All the warriors in camp appear to be sharpening their weapons.

This camp is home to the Queen of the Tiger Tribe, Bjornhild Solvigsdottir (see area appendix C). If Bjornhild died earlier in the adventure, replace her with another Tiger Tribe chieftain named Valtus D’karna (a male human gladiator in hide armor who speaks Common and has Survival +5). See “area Reghed Tribe Camp” for a map and a general description of the campsite.

The characters are not dreaming; the Frostmaiden’s magic has teleported them from Grimskalle to this camp. Each party member has a tiny, glowing snowflake floating a few inches above them—the symbol of the Frostmaiden, which most Reghed nomads recognize and fear. Members of the Tiger Tribe won’t attack anyone bearing this symbol except in self-defense.

The Test Begins

If the characters enter the camp, Tiger Tribe warriors escort them to Queen Bjornhild, who is using a stone to sharpen the edges of her greataxe while her saber-toothed tiger, Grava, keeps a steady eye on the new arrivals. Bjornhild’s reaction to the characters is one of exultation, which is not surprising given her devotion to the Frostmaiden:

“Auril has blessed us!” she shouts to every other warrior in earshot. “The Frostmaiden has sent emissaries to watch our camp while we complete our mission!”

If the characters ask Bjornhild to elaborate, she tells them that she’s planning to attack a nearby Elk Tribe camp and steal their food. She’s taking every member of her camp with her, hoping that overwhelming numbers will make the unsuspecting Elk tribesfolk give up without a fight. She asks the characters to stay behind and watch over her camp until she returns. Bjornhild expects to be back in a day or two, although fate has other plans.

If one of the characters has the Reghed Heir secret (see appendix B), now is a good time to deal with that. It could certainly complicate matters, depending on how the character chooses to interact with Bjornhild.

The obvious course of action the characters can take is to wait until Bjornhild returns from her raid. As it turns out, the raid is more successful than anticipated; after overwhelming and routing the enemy, Bjornhild decides to take over their camp and wait for Elk hunting parties to return so she can slaughter them and take their food as well. As a result, the characters are alone at Bjornhild’s camp for six days and nights.

Allow the players to describe what their characters do during this period of time. After every 24 hours spent guarding the camp and ensuring their own survival, all party members in the camp must make a Wisdom (Survival) group check. The DC of the group check is 10 + 2 for each day after the first. Each time the group check fails, the party member who rolled the lowest goes missing.

When you explain what has just happened, tell the player of the missing character that they have been transported elsewhere and have no awareness of their surroundings. Tell the other players that none of the remaining party members have any idea where the missing party member went, and their memories of the past 24 hours are cloudy at best. Even if the party members take precautions on later days to avoid being separated, such as tying themselves together with rope, they discover that (if their group check fails) another one of their number goes absent. The disappearances continue until the Tiger nomads come back or until there is only one character left in the camp.

After six days and nights, Bjornhild and the surviving members of her camp return with several haunches of reindeer meat loaded on dogsleds. Accompanying them are all the party members who went missing from the camp; the Tiger nomads found them, one by one, wandering in a daze. Each of these party members must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or return to camp with a form of indefinite madness determined by rolling on the indefinite madness in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

All party members who vanished from the camp during the Tiger nomads' absence pass the Test of Isolation, as do party members who are still at the camp when the nomads return. Characters fail the Test of Isolation by dying or by preventing Bjornhild from launching her raid.

Slaad Host

If a character has the Slaad Host secret (see appendix B) and hasn’t already gotten rid of the slaad tadpole gestating inside them, having the tadpole burst out of the character’s chest at some point during this test would be a surprising development.

The Test Ends

After the Tiger nomads return to their camp triumphant, everyone with a glowing symbol of Auril hovering above their head is teleported back to Grimskalle, appearing in the room marked G18 on the map.

G19. Test of Preservation

Opening the door to this empty room causes everyone in the rooms marked G15 on the map to disappear. These creatures find themselves whisked away to a Reghed camp in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale. When one or more of the characters are transported here, read:

Your surroundings vanish in a flurry of snow and ice. When your vision clears, you find yourself at the edge of a camp under clear skies. All the fires in the camp are out, and the only sound you hear is the flapping of the tents as the wind hits them.

Closer examination reveals dozens of corpses half-buried in snowdrifts. It becomes clear that a massacre took place here recently. You hear the squawking of buzzards coming from the middle of the camp and see a half dozen vultures picking at two bodies outside one of the larger tents.

This camp was home to the chieftain of a clan who stood in the way of Isarr Kronenstrom’s rise to becoming king of the Wolf Tribe. See “area Reghed Tribe Camp” for a map and a general description of the campsite. There are no dogs or dogsleds at this camp, since they were stolen by the camp’s attackers.

The characters are not dreaming; the Frostmaiden’s magic has teleported them from Grimskalle to this camp. Each party member has a tiny, glowing snowflake floating a few inches above them—the symbol of the Frostmaiden.

The Test Begins

All but one of the Reghed nomads in the camp have been killed by Wolf Tribe members loyal to Isarr Kronenstrom. The sole survivor is the nine-year-old son of the clan’s chieftain, a noncombatant named Aerix Vokototh who stayed alive by hiding in the snow. Aerix has AC 10 and 3 hit points. He was born on the Midwinter holiday and as such is blessed by Auril with resistance to cold damage. He wears only a light woolen poncho, as extremely cold weather doesn’t bother him. When the characters arrive, Aerix is cowering in the chieftain’s tent while six Giant Vulture feast on the corpses of his mother (the chieftain) and father (the camp’s shaman). If the characters kill two or more vultures, the others take to the sky and circle above the camp for the remainder of the test.

After dealing with the vultures, the characters hear low sobs coming from one of the big tents and find Aerix inside. The boy is in a terrible state of shock and refuses to speak, although a calm emotions spell or similar magic enables him to describe the massacre to which he bore witness. As Aerix begins to recount what happened, Isarr Kronenstrom (see area appendix C) appears at the edge of the camp, having found out that the marauders he sent to kill the camp’s chieftain failed to find and kill her son as well. Isarr is determined to slay the child himself.

Isarr circles the camp, letting out a terrible howl every minute or two. Aerix urges the characters to hide from the Wolf King, lest he flay them to pieces.

If he is not confronted, Isarr starts searching the camp’s outer circle of tents, taking about 1 minute to examine each one. In the course of this task, Isarr might stumble upon tracks left by the characters but continues his search of the outer tents, then does the same thing with the inner ring of tents, saving the chieftain’s tent for last. By this time, if the characters haven’t already engaged him, Isarr knows they’re around and is looking forward to killing them as well and leaving their corpses as tribute to Malar the Beast Lord. If the characters attack Isarr, any Giant Vulture circling overhead join the fight as Isarr’s allies.

To pass the Test of Preservation, the party members must keep Aerix alive so that his family’s bloodline is preserved. Killing Isarr before he kills Aerix is the only way to accomplish this goal. If the characters try to sneak Aerix out of the camp, Isarr follows their tracks and pursues the boy relentlessly.

The Test Ends

If Aerix dies, no one passes the test, and everyone with a glowing symbol of Auril hovering above their head is teleported back to Grimskalle, appearing in the room marked G19 on the map.

If Aerix is saved, an awakened wolf lopes toward him in a nonthreatening manner. This wolf has an Intelligence of 10 and speaks Common. It offers to bear Aerix safely to another Wolf Tribe camp. Aerix is inclined to trust the wolf and accompany it. Whether the characters surrender Aerix to the wolf or not is up to them, but once their decision is made, everyone with a glowing symbol of Auril hovering above their head is teleported back to Grimskalle, appearing in the room marked G19 on the map. Aerix and the wolf are left behind.

G20. Entrance to the Vault

The passage leads to an anvil-shaped room with a door set into the far wall. Flanking the door are bas-reliefs of two male frost giants that have been defaced, their features chipped away. Newer carvings above the door depict the glowering heads of an owl, a wolf, and a goat.

The heads carved above the door represent Auril’s first form (see appendix C). If anyone enters the room, add:

A disembodied voice says, “This way is shut to all but those who pass the tests of cruelty, endurance, isolation, and preservation.”

Whenever one or more characters enter this area, use the area Tests of the Frostmaiden scorecard to help you remember who among them passed the Frostmaiden’s tests (areas area G16 through area G19). The door to area G21 swings open on its own if each of the four tests was passed by at least one individual in the room. For example, an individual that passed all four tests can open the door by entering the room, as can four individuals that each passed a different test. The door is otherwise unopenable, indestructible, and impassable. Any spell cast with the intent of bypassing the door fails and is wasted.

Worshipers of Auril

If the characters failed enough of the Frostmaiden’s tests to make it impossible for them to open the door, all hope of breaching the vault is not lost. You can have fate smile upon them with the arrival of three Frost Druid (see appendix C) who have visited the island previously and have already passed their own variations of the Frostmaiden’s tests. These druids have the darkvision spell prepared instead of animal messenger. They flew to Grimskalle in owl form and entered the fortress in human form, using their darkvision spells to see in the dark. The druids' names are Faash, Gildreban, and Siovakis.

The druids have returned to the island because they intend to read The Codicil of White (see area area G22) and draw inspiration from it. If one or more of them are allowed into area G20, the door to area G21 swings open on its own. If the druids reach area G22 and are aware of the characters' presence, the druids seize The Codicil of White and try to escape with it, to keep it from falling into the hands of Auril’s enemies.

In combat, the druids like to pelt enemies with ice storm spells or use their conjure animals spells to summon Polar Bear (one bear per casting of the spell). The polar bears act on their own initiative count and fight alongside their summoners.

G21. Hall of the Four Winds

Arranged about this room are three tablets of ice, each ten feet tall, seven feet wide, and one foot thick. They sit upright in stands that are also carved from ice. Script has been chiseled into the surface of each tablet. Another door stands in the middle of the far wall.

The inscriptions on the four ice tablets, in Common, spell out the tenets of Auril’s faith:

• Cruelty “Compassion makes you vulnerable. Let cruelty be the knife that keeps your enemies at bay.”
• Endurance “Exist as long as you can, by whatever means you can. Only by enduring can you outlast your enemies.”
• Isolation “In solitude you can understand and harness your full potential. Depending on others makes you weak.”
• Preservation “Every flake of snow is unique, and that which is unique must be preserved.”

Each tablet is a Large object with AC 13, 25 hit points, and immunity to cold, poison, and psychic damage. With a successful DC 15 Strength check, a character can knock a tablet off its stand, causing it to shatter on the floor. Reducing a tablet to 0 hit points also shatters it. Shattering a tablet releases a hostile spirit of elemental air (use the invisible stalker stat block) bound inside it. This spirit tries to kill whoever released it. The spirit disappears if it succeeds or if it’s reduced to 0 hit points.

G22. Chamber of the Codicil

This chamber has a domed ceiling engraved with a giant snowflake. Two caryatids depicting a towering woman stand on either side of a door in the south wall. In the middle of the room is a five-foot-tall, claw-shaped lectern with a white-covered book resting on it.

The caryatids flanking the south doorway depict Auril in her second form (see appendix C). Both are harmless carvings but noticeably cold to the touch.

Treasure

The book on the lectern is The Codicil of White) to her spellbook. If it’s present in a host body, Nass Lantomir’s ghost is laid to rest as soon as its host picks up or grasps the book.

A character who spends at least 10 minutes poring over The Codicil of White learns that the poem in its pages, “Rime of the Frostmaiden” (see appendix E), is an incantation that can be used to unlock Auril’s secrets, including ones buried deep under the glacial ice. This, Vellynne says, is exactly what the characters need to reach the lost city of Ythryn under the Reghed Glacier. Once the characters have the poem or a transcription of it, they don’t need the rest of the book.

G23. Auril’s Blessing

Beyond the door is a small room filled with mist. Chunks of broken ice cover the floor.

Characters who examine the broken ice on the floor can see that they are fragments of three lifelike human ice sculptures—the remains of unworthy devotees who failed to receive Auril’s blessing (see below).

Auril’s Blessing

If she’s alive, Auril becomes aware of any creature that enters this room. If a character who has the Midwinter Child secret (see appendix B) or a character who passed all four of Auril’s tests enters the room, the Frostmaiden contacts the character telepathically and asks, “Will you court death to receive my blessing?” She makes this offer to a character once only. A character who agrees to receive Auril’s blessing must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the character is petrified, becoming an ice statue instead of a stone one. On a successful save, the character gains the blessing of the Frostmaiden, which Auril can rescind at any time while she’s alive. This blessing otherwise adheres to the rules for blessings as described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide:

Blessing of the Frostmaiden

Your eyes become as cold as ice. You gain immunity to cold damage. In addition, you can cast the cone of cold spell (save DC 15) once. You regain the ability to cast this spell when you finish a long rest.

Wrapping Up

The following sections describe what is sure to happen if the characters defeat Auril.

Fall of Grimskalle

When her final form is reduced to 0 hit points, Auril emits a death-howl that causes the two uppermost floors of Grimskalle (the battlement level and the palace level, as shown on map 5.2) to crack and begin to collapse. Creatures have 1 minute to escape these levels of the fortress before they are crushed to death by icy rubble. Grimskalle’s entry level (areas area G1 through area G6) and dungeon level (areas area G10 through area G23) remain intact and accessible after the collapse.

Ending the Everlasting Rime

Destroying all three of Auril’s forms or slaying the roc allows the sun to once more climb above the mountains. It takes a while for Icewind Dale to return to its natural climate, but life becomes a bit easier as the frigid temperatures rise to a bearable cold.

If she survives but her roc is killed, Auril broods in her fortress, unaccustomed to being thwarted by mortals. Since she is ageless and time is on her side, she sets about finding another roc that she can raise from a hatchling to serve her. Years, decades, or centuries might pass before she’s ready to cast her spell over Icewind Dale again.