Dougan's Hole

Dougan’s Hole is the smallest and most insular of the ten towns. Its residents aren’t fond of visitors, and inbreeding has caused the population to dwindle in recent years. It also has given rise to often-seen physical deformities, including but not limited to small, misshapen ears and slightly pointed teeth.

The town is a small cluster of dwellings perched on the edge of Redwaters that is too small to support any industry—not even scrimshaw. Ice has buckled the shorter of its two piers, rendering the dock unsafe. The longer pier has two icebound keelboats tethered to it, though they’re immobile because Auril’s winter has frozen the surface of the lake for hundreds of yards around them. Local fishers have hauled their smaller boats onto the shore and resorted to cutting holes in the ice to catch knucklehead trout, which they depend on for survival. Visitors to Dougan’s Hole are often struck by the eeriness of dark, humanoid shapes out on the ice, remaining silent and still as the wind howls around them.

Dougan’s Hole in a Nutshell

Friendliness ❄Services ❄Comfort ❄

Available Quest

“area Holed Up”.

• Population 50.

Leader

Speaker Edgra Durmoot (neutral human scout), a plainspoken trapper getting on in years, speaks for the townsfolk. She seldom attends meetings of the Council of Speakers.

Militia

Dougan’s Hole can muster up to 12 soldiers (use the tribal warrior stat block) and 1 veteran.

• Heraldry A gray, pillar-like monolith set against a sky-blue field above two crossed silver fish, their scaly bodies forming an X, with their heads at upper left and upper right. The monolith signifies local mystery, while the fish represent the bounty of Redwaters.

Sacrifice to Auril

Warmth (see “area Sacrifices to Auril").

• Rival Good Mead.

Overland Travel

A six-mile-long, snow-covered path connects Dougan’s Hole to the neighboring town of Good Mead. Characters on foot can walk this path in 4 hours; mounts and dogsleds can shorten this time by as much as 50 percent.

Location in Dougan’s Hole

The following location marked on map 1.7 can’t help but attract the attention of new arrivals.

Twenty Stones of Thruun

Triangle of megaliths

The only truly interesting feature in Dougan’s Hole is the ring of megaliths known as the Twenty Stones of Thruun. Standing at the southern edge of town, nineteen of these crudely fashioned granite menhirs are arranged in a rough triangle, with a single stone at the formation’s center. No one knows who built this structure or why; the townsfolk maintain that the stones were there when the town’s founder, a Chondathan named Dougan Dubrace, first happened upon this fishing spot. Scholars have tried to research the origin of the structure’s name, but all they have found are allusions to a creature named Thruun in the oldest legends of the northern folk. Some speculate that Thruun was a god, while others believe it’s a destructive elemental spirit bound to this location by ancient druidic magic.

Holed Up

Two Winter Wolf are extorting the people of Dougan’s Hole for food and treasure on behalf of a woolly mammoth named Norsu. Years ago, a frost druid cast an awaken spell on the mammoth. Last year, a group of adventurers killed Garagai, the mammoth’s frost giant master. Norsu has never recovered from the loss and, to this day, watches over its master’s frozen corpse, unwilling to leave its side. The winter wolves, who served Garagai as faithful friends, look after the mammoth. Although Norsu feeds on plants, not meat, it delights in killing humanoids to avenge Garagai’s death. Slaying the mammoth is a tall order, so characters would be wise to flee from Norsu or try to reason with it.

Norsu and the winter wolves reside in an ice lodge built by Garagai. The wolves try to entice the characters into the lodge, knowing that Norsu will enjoy the exercise of killing them. Held captive in the lodge are Silja and Finn Dejarr, two teenaged siblings from Dougan’s Hole who have been missing for the past four days and are presumed dead. The wolves are holding the siblings in a cage and feeding them raw meat to keep them alive until Dougan’s Hole pays a ransom for their safe return. Characters lured to the ice lodge by the wolves or hired by Speaker Durmoot to find the missing teenagers can try to rescue Silja and Finn from the frost giant’s lodge and see them safely back to town.

Getting the Quest

If Dougan’s Hole is the starting town for this adventure, the characters already know some of what’s going on. Read:

Dougan’s Hole is beset by winter wolves that stalk the outskirts of town.

“Don’t know how many, but them wolves are big as horses!” says a local with small, misshapen ears.

“They know words an' got a mighty vocab’lary!” says another with pointed teeth.

“By Thruun’s Stones, they caught fair Sil and her lovely brother Finn th' other day,” says a third, who bears more than a passing resemblance to the other two.

A fourth who looks like their sister chimes in. “Dang winter wolves say they ain’t givin' ‘em back till the town coughs up a king’s ransom in food and gold. This town barely got enough to feed its own, and there ain’t no gold. Ain’t no one allowed to leave town. Dem wolves vow to kill anyone who tries!”

The townsfolk urge characters to meet with Speaker Edgra Durmoot before trying to help the town with its wolf problem. Speaker Durmoot is stubborn to a fault. She firmly believes that the missing teenagers are dead, and she’s not about to give food to the winter wolves when her own people barely have enough to feed themselves. She lets the characters deal with the winter wolves as they see fit but offers no assistance.

Good Wolf, Bad Wolf

When the characters first approach the outskirts of Dougan’s Hole or shortly after they first leave town, they encounter two Winter Wolf named Koran and Kanan. Here’s how the encounter plays out:

• Koran acts as the “good” wolf while his brother plays the “bad” wolf. This act has worked before on the dim-witted locals; the wolves assume the characters will be fooled just as easily.
• Koran approaches the characters, limping on one back leg and whimpering like a pitiful dog, making himself as unthreatening as possible. Kanan remains nearby but out of sight. Any character who succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check sees through Koran’s ruse, noticing how the wolf sometimes forgets which leg he’s supposedly limping on.
• Koran claims that he was routinely kicked by his master, a mean old frost giant named Garagai. Koran also says that Garagai kidnapped two townsfolk and is holding them prisoner in his lodge more than half a day’s walk west of town. Koran wants to help the characters free the prisoners, to get back at Garagai for his abuse. If the characters believe this story, Koran leads them to the lodge while Kanan follows their tracks and their scent, remaining out of sight.
• If Koran is unable to convince the characters to follow it back to the frost giant’s lodge, Kanan steps in and plays the “bad” wolf, baring his fangs and threatening to eat the characters unless they change their minds. Kanan pretends to be upset about the abuse Garagai inflicted on Koran. “He’ll think twice before he hurts one of us again,” Kanan says with a growl. As earlier, a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check allows a character to ascertain that the wolf is lying.

If the wolves can’t trick or scare the characters into accompanying them to the frost giant’s lodge thirteen miles west of Dougan’s Hole, they drop their act and try to appeal to the characters’ consciences. “It’s awfully cold in that lodge,” says Koran, to which his brother adds, “They won’t suffer much longer. It’s only a matter of time before Garagai skins and eats them.” The wolves then bolt away, heading toward the lodge and leaving tracks that the characters can follow, if they choose not to accompany the wolves.

Crossing the Tundra

The wilderness around Dougan’s Hole is a frozen tundra. Snow falls frequently, adding to the snowpack and erasing tracks. There is a 50 percent chance that the characters get caught in a blizzard on the way to the lodge (see “area Blizzards"). If Kanan and Koran are with the party, they protect the characters from the worst of the storm, using their bodies to shield the characters until it passes. The wolves' presence also prevents the characters from getting lost or separated.

Also crossing the tundra are a pack of 1d6 + 1 Wolf, prowling the white in search of food. Characters who make a successful DC 13 Intelligence (Nature) check note that the wolves are gaunt from starvation. If the winter wolves are with the party, Kanan and Koran growl and bare their teeth, which deters the pack from approaching closer.

Approaching the Lodge

When the characters approach the lodge, read:

Jutting up out of the vast tundra is a towering edifice built entirely of ice. The domed structure is easily three times the height and width of any building found in Ten-Towns.

The lodge has three tall openings on the east side. On the southern side of the building is a tunnel left behind by a remorhaz that raided the lodge’s food stores. Characters spot this tunnel if they circle the lodge looking for other entrances.

If Koran and Kanan are with the characters or have arrived ahead of them, the two winter wolves sniff the air and inform the characters that Garagai isn’t home. The wolves offer to stand guard outside while the characters enter the lodge and free the prisoners. Characters who suspect treachery can, with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check, tell that the wolves are lying about Garagai—the frost giant is in fact inside the lodge. Are they afraid to face their master, perhaps, or is there another reason why the wolves won’t enter the lodge? No ability check can answer this question; the characters must find out for themselves! In truth, the winter wolves expect Norsu to slaughter the characters, but in case that doesn’t happen, they remain outside to attack any characters who try to flee. (Specifically, the wolves wait in area L1, east of the lodge’s main entrance.) If one wolf is slain, the other flees to avoid a similar fate.

Lodge Locations

The ice lodge was where Garagai lived and entertained other frost giants. Although not a jarl, Garagai held a respected position among the frost giants of the Far North. Everything in the lodge is built for giants and therefore quite large. The ceilings inside soar to a height of 30 feet.

The following locations are keyed to map 1.8.

L1. Exterior

The characters approach the lodge from the east and have three entrances to choose from. These entrances lead to areas L2, L3, and L4, respectively. If the winter wolves are present, they gently nudge the characters toward the tunnel leading to area area L4.

L2. Flensing Chamber

A sour stench of decay fills your nostrils. Lying on the ice-packed ground is the frozen corpse of a whale, crudely butchered. Beside it is a blade in the shape of a paring knife the size of a longsword.

Garagai used this room to carve up whales and harvest their oil.

Treasure

An alcove west of the carcass contains a 6-foot-long, 5-foot-wide, 5-foot-tall stone chest half buried under ice. A character must spend 1 hour chipping away the ice before the chest can be opened. It contains more giant-sized tools used for flensing, as well as a scrimshaw goat small enough to fit in a character’s hand. The scrimshaw goat is worth 25 gp.

L3. Caged Townsfolk

A huge, slatted animal cage, with a locked gate attached to it by rusty hinges, stands against the west wall of this chamber. Trapped inside the cage are two shivering humans in cold weather clothing. They look fearfully at you.

Garagai built the cage to hold Norsu when the mammoth was younger. Now it holds Silja and Finn Dejarr (neutral good human Commoner), who are described below:

• Silja is a spindly girl with pointy teeth. Snow clings to the ends of her long braids. She is ready to do whatever it takes to get back to her mother in Dougan’s Hole. Of the two siblings, she is the more proactive.
• Finn has a piebald face flanked by small, malformed ears. He is examining the brackets that hold together the slats of the cage to find a way to break them. His hands are frostbitten, and his teeth chatter uncontrollably.

The cage’s metal slats are widely spaced, but not enough for the teenagers to slip between them. The slats are made of metal, and the cold makes them hard to manipulate. Applying heat to the slats makes them pliable, whereupon a character can use an action to try to pull two of the slats farther apart so that the slender Silja and Finn can slip through, accomplishing this feat with a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check.

The lock on the cage’s gate can be picked by a character using thieves' tools. An attempt takes 1 minute and succeeds on a DC 15 Dexterity check. Opening the gate causes its large, rusty hinges to squeal loudly unless a flask of oil is used to lubricate them first. If Norsu is still alive, the mammoth hears the squealing and makes its way from area L5 to this area, determined to kill interlopers on sight.

L4. Entrance Corridor

This passageway is choked with ice. Above you, icicles are densely clustered, their points sharp as daggers.

A character can move through the ice-choked tunnel quietly by succeeding on a DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check. On a failed check, the noise alerts the mammoth in area L5.

L5. Garagai’s Icy Tomb

This oval chamber with high walls of glittering ice resembles a sepulcher. The frozen, hacked-up corpse of a frost giant lies on the floor, entombed in translucent ice, and looming next to it is a woolly mammoth.

Not far from the mammoth, carved from a single block of ice, is a giant-sized throne atop a circular dais. Chiseled into the throne’s backrest is a large rune.

If the awakened mammoth is aware of the characters' presence, add:

The mammoth stares down at you with hate in its eyes. “You are to blame for all of this!” It then lowers its head and assumes a threatening posture.

This chamber is where Garagai would lounge with Norsu at his side and greet visiting frost giants. Cursed with sentience, the awakened neutral evil mammoth grieves for its dead master. It has an Intelligence of 10 and speaks Common.

To Norsu, the characters' mere presence desecrates Garagai’s tomb, and the mammoth reacts by trying to gore them with its tusks and crush them underfoot. Any character who can act before Norsu takes its first turn in combat can use an action to attempt to calm the mammoth before it attacks. A character who claims to be Garagai’s friend can calm the mammoth with a successful DC 12 Charisma (Deception) check, while a character who vows to avenge Garagai’s death can calm the mammoth with a successful DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) check. If calmed, Norsu allows characters to honor Garagai by performing a prayer over his frozen corpse or leaving a gift, but otherwise expects the characters to withdraw from its presence so it can mourn in private. If the characters fail to calm Norsu or flee from it, the mammoth charges after them. Overcome by inconsolable rage, it pursues prey beyond the confines of the lodge but doesn’t go farther than 100 feet before turning back and rejoining its dead master.

The adventurers who slew Garagai took his greataxe as a trophy as well as his other personal possessions, leaving nothing of value on the hacked-up corpse.

Ice Throne

The symbol carved into the throne is the Giant rune for “ice,” as any character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check can ascertain. A detect magic spell reveals an aura of conjuration magic around the rune, which empowers the throne. A creature that sits in the throne becomes aware of its magical nature and can use an action while seated in the throne to summon a blizzard, which takes 1 minute to form. The blizzard engulfs the lodge, extends 1 mile from it in all directions, and lasts for 8 hours. This property of the throne recharges after a tenday.

If the ice throne is destroyed, it ceases to be magical. The throne has AC 13; 80 hit points; resistance to piercing and slashing damage; immunity to cold, poison, and psychic damage; and vulnerability to fire damage.

L6. War Room

A massive table hewn from a single block of ice stands in the middle of this cold chamber, surrounded by chairs also made of ice. Many of the chairs are chipped and cracked.

Garagai and other frost giants once gathered around the table to discuss various matters. Lying on the floor under the table is a 1-foot-tall stone statuette of a spindly creature that the characters recognize as the image of a chwinga (see appendix C) if they’ve seen one before. In fact, the statuette is an actual chwinga that turned to stone when it died. Its killers are still in the room, hiding behind chairs: three Icewind Kobold (see area appendix C) named Holgi, Snorp, and Zilbo. They assumed the lodge was unoccupied and did not expect to find Norsu and the winter wolves dwelling inside. The chwinga startled them, so they killed it. When the characters enter this area, the kobolds cower behind chairs and petition the characters for help in escaping the lodge. If the characters oblige, the kobolds stay with the characters until they’re outdoors, whereupon the kobolds either part company with their saviors or remain with the characters for food and protection (at your discretion).

L7. Garagai’s Bedroll

The only furniture in this cavernous chamber is a big fur bedroll. The fur is matted and musty.

Garagai used to sleep here. The room is now unoccupied.

L8. Whale Oil Storage

A remorhaz has burrowed a tunnel into this room. The tunnel runs underneath the southern wall, providing an alternate entrance into the lodge.

A foul scent pervades the room, which contains five barrels of whale oil. An intact barrel of whale oil weighs 500 pounds and can be sold in Ten-Towns for 50 gp.

Treasure

The remorhaz is long gone, but characters who explore its tunnel find a strange, frosted white residue smeared across a 5-foot section of wall—enough to fill a small bottle. This rare secretion is called thrym; remorhazes are known to exude small quantities of it shortly before they give birth. Alchemists use thrym to craft Potion of Cold Resistance and other useful concoctions. A bottle of thrym sells for 250 gp. Any character who is proficient with alchemist’s supplies can examine this residue and determine its true nature with a successful DC 11 Intelligence (Arcana) check.

Sneaking Out

With Silja and Finn in tow, the characters can try to sneak out of the lodge. As long as they keep quiet and avoid the central chamber (area area L5), they won’t incur the wrath of the awakened mammoth. However, they must also deal with the two winter wolves lurking outside. The remorhaz tunnel in area L8 provides an alternate escape route, since the wolves aren’t watching that exit.

The trip back to Dougan’s Hole can be uneventful, or you can roll for a random encounter using the Wilderness Encounters rules (see “area Wilderness Encounters"). If the winter wolves are still alive, they attack the party as soon as the random encounter ends, before the characters have a chance to rest. Killing one wolf triggers the self-preservation instinct in its brother, causing it to flee.

Concluding the Quest

If they escape the lodge and survive the journey home, Silja and Finn are reunited with their mother, Hilda, who has been sick with worry but is overjoyed to see them alive.

Treasure

Hilda married her older brother, who was a hunter. He passed away a few years ago but left behind some magic boots he won from a wayward adventurer he bested in a drinking contest. If one or both of her children are returned safely, Hilda gives the characters her husband’s boots of the winterlands as a thank-you.