Lonelywood

Founded by a Sembian family from Urmlaspyr, Lonelywood is a quiet town of loggers, fishers, and scrimshanders scratching out a living on the edge of the world. The town’s oldest buildings and docks bear carvings of dragons, lions, and goats that pay deference to the family’s crest, which featured a chimera.

Roughly half of Lonelywood’s able-bodied residents trawl the lake for knucklehead trout, while most of the others spend their days in the forest felling and hewing the trees that are used to construct boats and buildings. Lonelywood’s timber is taken by cart to be sold in other settlements, Termalaine and Targos in particular.

For as long as Ten-Towns has existed, Lonelywood has attracted the region’s shadiest element, from unrepentant thieves to cold-hearted killers. The thick forest looming behind it conceals the dark and sordid dealings that sometimes transpire there. Despite its attraction to criminals and miscreants, Lonelywood is not a place where folk murder each other in the streets. The realities of survival demand that the residents live and work together, and not dwell on history. A visitor can make many friends here but would be wise not to drudge up the dark deeds of anyone’s past in this small town.

Lonelywood in a Nutshell

Friendliness ❄❄❄Services ❄❄Comfort ❄❄

Available Quest

“area The White Moose”.

• Population 100.

Leader

Speaker Nimsy Huddle (lawful good strongheart halfling commoner) speaks for the townsfolk. Ever since the local inn closed its doors, Nimsy has opened her heated attic to visitors looking for a place to crash for the night. She bakes halfling-shaped cookies and brings them to meetings of the Council of Speakers.

Militia

Lonelywood can muster up to 50 soldiers (use the tribal warrior stat block) and 4 Veteran.

• Heraldry Two narrow white triangles, one descending from the center top, the other rising from center bottom, almost meet on a forest-green field. The top triangle represents an icicle, denoting Lonelywood’s northerly location; the bottom triangle is an ivory horn, representing the town’s scrimshaw trade.

Sacrifice to Auril

Food (see “area Sacrifices to Auril").

• Rivals Bremen, Targos, Termalaine.

Overland Travel

A three-mile-long snow-covered path connects Lonelywood to Termalaine. Characters on foot can walk this path in 2 hours; mounts and dogsleds can shorten this time by as much as 50 percent.

Locations in Lonelywood

Lonelywood has no inns or other places for visitors to rest, except for the town speaker’s house, which has a spacious, heated attic that can accommodate characters looking for a night’s rest. Other residents of Lonelywood value their privacy and are much less inclined to welcome strangers into their meager dwellings.

The following locations are marked on map 1.14.

The Happy Scrimshander

Shop

This little shop facing the docks sells the tools of the scrimshander’s trade: needles and knives in a wide array of shapes and sizes, inks in a rainbow of colors, and wax used to seal an engraving when it’s done. The shop’s owner is a doughy spinster of few words named Iriskree Harrowhill (retired neutral human assassin). She doesn’t talk about her shady past except to speak fondly of people she once knew who have since died.

The Lucky Liar

Tavern

Fishers and woodcutters gather here in the evenings to weave tall tales—the more outrageous and embellished, the better. From time to time, patrons whose tongues have been loosened by drink let slip valuable or dangerous secrets. Characters who loiter in the tavern are likely to hear a rumor or two, which you can determine by rolling on the Ten-Towns Rumors table (see “area Ten-Towns Rumors").

The tavern’s raven-haired barkeep, Danae Xotal (lawful evil human spy), files away these secrets as she goes about her serving work with quiet circumspection. Her secret is that she’s a Thayan agent working for Szass Tam, the most powerful lich in Thay. Danae was planted in Icewind Dale years ago to watch for enemies of Szass Tam who might seek refuge in Ten-Towns. No one else in Ten-Towns knows her secret, and those she has marked as enemies in the past have quietly vanished.

Ramshackle

Closed inn

This aptly named building—which used to be the only inn in town—closed after its last owner, a retired sawyer named DeGrootz, hanged himself in the common room two years ago. Some locals believe that DeGrootz’s hanging was staged to conceal his murder at the hands of some old “friends” of his. Townsfolk are currently using the vacant building for lumber storage, but anyone interested in refurbishing and reopening the old inn is welcome to try.

The White Moose

A white moose is attacking loggers in the forest near Lonelywood. The town’s logging industry is essential to the growth and survival of Ten-Towns, and Speaker Nimsy Huddle has assured the other speakers that Lonelywood’s “moose problem” will be dealt with in short order. Hunters have been dispatched to kill the moose, but it has eluded them so far. From what the hunters have seen, their prey is smarter than the average moose, and its white hide makes it hard to spot in the snow. What they don’t know is that the moose is using a magic mirror as a scrying device to show it where its enemies are.

Speaker Huddle tries to seduce the characters with a basket of halfling-shaped cookies, hoping they’ll join the hunt for the white moose. If the characters turn her down, Speaker Huddle sweetens the deal with coin.

The white moose is an awakened beast that serves Ravisin, the same evil frost druid who awakened the plesiosaurus in Maer Dualdon (see “area Lake Monster"). This druid has cast awaken spells on several beasts, gifting them with human-level intelligence and the ability to speak, and uses them to spy on settlements and terrorize their inhabitants. Ravisin has taken refuge in an elven tomb in the woods and won’t rest until the forest is free of loggers. Simply killing the white moose will not solve Lonelywood’s problem; to end the threat to Lonelywood and other towns, the characters must stop the druid from awakening more beasts and using them to harm Ten-Towners.

Getting the Quest

If the characters aren’t staying in Nimsy Huddle’s attic, they are summoned to the town speaker’s home by one of her children—a cheery little halfling named Scoop. When the characters pay Speaker Huddle a visit, read:

Nimsy Huddle, the town speaker, tempts you with freshly baked, halfling-shaped cookies. Her house was clearly built for humans, but most of the furniture is sized for halflings, with a few big chairs for visitors of taller stock. Four halfling children scamper from room to room and climb a ladder up to the loft, chasing one another with wooden swords, while a fire crackles in the hearth in Speaker Huddle’s cluttered kitchen.

“Our loggers are being terrorized by a white moose,” says Speaker Huddle, “and the beast has eluded the hunters we’ve sent to kill it. We depend on the forest for our survival. I wouldn’t be a very good town speaker if I let a dumb moose get the better of us. Will you help?”

If the characters demand more than tasty treats as an incentive, Speaker Huddle is willing to pay them 100 gp for the moose’s head, though she can be talked up to 125 gp with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check. She suggests that the characters can sell the moose’s carcass to a local butcher for 10 gp. If the characters want the pot sweetened further, Speaker Huddle says she can offer them Ramshackle (the closed inn) as an investment property, to do with what they will. “Of course,” she adds with a smile, “if our hunters get the moose first, the rewards will be theirs!”

Tracking the Moose

To find the white moose, the characters must venture into the forest and search for the beast’s tracks in the snow. Any character who spends an hour searching for moose tracks and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check finds a set of them. If the characters follow these tracks, roll a d6. On a 6, the tracks lead to the elven tomb, where the white moose can be found. On any other roll, the tracks lead to an ordinary moose (use the giant goat stat block) that’s encountered after 1d4 hours. This moose poses no threat if the characters leave it alone. After each encounter with an ordinary moose, the characters can repeat their search for moose tracks and, upon finding some, make another d6 roll to determine if the tracks belong to the elusive white moose.

After every three hours the characters spend in the forest, check for a random encounter using the Lonelywood Forest Encounters table.

Lonelywood Forest Encounters

Banshee

This Lonelywood Banshee is the spectral remnant of a female elf warrior who was banished for a selfish, evil act. It wields a spectral longbow that shoots phantom arrows. This weapon has the range of a standard longbow and is used to make ranged spell attacks; it otherwise functions like the banshee’s Corrupting Touch.

There is only one banshee haunting the forest. If it’s destroyed, it re-forms after 24 hours in a random location in the forest, damned to its eternal exile.

Brown Bear(s)

A hungry brown bear is pulling some low branches off a tree and gnawing on them when it sees the party and moves toward the group in search of tastier food. A character can use an action to try to frighten away the bear, doing so with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check. If the characters kill this bear, the next brown bear encounter (if this result comes up again) is with the bear’s mate and 1d4 cubs (noncombatants).

Chwingas

As the characters navigate the woods or stop to rest, 1d4 Chwinga (see appendix C) take an interest in them.

Fox and Hare

The characters spot an arctic fox patiently stalking a snowshoe hare (see appendix C for both creatures' stat blocks). If the characters leave the animals alone, roll a d6 to determine what happens next. On an odd roll, the hare escapes from the fox; on an even roll, the fox catches the hare and takes it back to its lair.

Characters can interrupt the fox’s hunt and speak to either animal using magic or an ability that facilitates communication with small beasts. Speaking to the fox prompts the hare to flee, and vice versa. A friendly animal can lead the characters to the white moose’s tracks in the snow after 1d4 hours.

Wolf Pack

A pack of 1d4 + 4 Wolf descends upon the party. If three or more wolves are killed, the surviving wolves flee.

Finding the Elven Tomb

The elven tomb lies on a lightly wooded slope. An ancient moon dial is its centerpiece. Characters can find the tomb if they follow the tracks of a beast such as the white moose. Ancient elven magic tricks all aberrations, fiends, giants, humanoids, and undead into veering away from the site without the slightest inkling that they’ve been magically misdirected.

When the characters come within sight of the elven tomb, read:

The tracks lead to a large, circular indentation in a snowy hillside. Rising from the middle of this circle is a triangular gnomon of beautifully carved crystal that stands twenty feet tall. A ten-foot-high berm hugging the circle’s eastern edge has evergreens growing around and atop it, sheltering what looks like a sarcophagus buried under snow and enclosed by a half-circle of pale blue crystal pillars. North of the berm is a delicately carved gazebo made of marble, and south of the berm is a row of outward-facing, white marble statues atop granite pillars.

If the characters watch the location for an hour or more from a safe distance away, they see the awakened white moose (see the accompanying stat block) emerge from under the hillside, stand in the moon dial, and sniff the air for a few minutes before ambling back toward Lonelywood to continue its reign of terror. If the characters explore the elven tomb without delay, they encounter the moose in area area E6.

Elven Tomb Locations

The following locations are keyed to map 1.15. Areas E1 through E5 are outside; areas area E6 through area E9 are underground.

E1. Elf Statues

Six elevated, white marble statues arranged in a line depict slender, robed figures facing northward. The engraving on their faces has been worn away by the wind, but pointed ears make the statues identifiable as elves.

Each statue is life-sized, depicting an elf standing rigidly atop a 7-foot-high cylindrical base of wind-worn granite. (A seventh statue stands alone atop the northern tip of area E4, facing south. Three more statues, unseen from this vantage point, are located under the hill inarea area E6.) A detect magic spell or similar magic reveals an aura of abjuration magic around each statue.

If all ten statues are toppled, the magical effect that directs the intruders away from the tomb ends (see “Finding the Elven Tomb” above). Toppling a statue requires a combined Strength of 25.

E2. Barrow Entrance

Embedded in the hillside south of the circular indentation is a stone door with no visible handles or hinges.

The door is snug and airtight. It can be opened only from the inside (by a creature in area E6) or by using a knock spell or similar magic.

E3. Marble Gazebo

In the middle of the gazebo sits an unlit stone brazier, its bowl twenty inches in diameter. The brazier is full of snow and pine needles that the winds have swept away from the gazebo’s polished marble floor.

The brazier is adhered to the marble floor and can’t be budged.

When a pinecone, a twig, a feather, and a severed humanoid hand are placed in the brazier and set on fire (see area E4), a silver flame quickly consumes the brazier’s contents and continues to burn for a tenday. This fire generates heat and light equivalent to that of a campfire and can’t be extinguished.

E4. Sarcophagus and Crystal Pillars

Atop the eastern berm, a granite sarcophagus rests in a half-circle defined by five crystal pillars. Clearing the snow off the lid reveals an engraving of a brazier. You also notice a carving near the top of each pillar; from north to south, these images depict a twig, a pinecone, a flame, a feather, and a humanoid hand.

The sarcophagus can’t be opened until a twig, a pinecone, a feather, and a severed humanoid hand are placed in the brazier in the gazebo (area E3) and set ablaze. The lid of the sarcophagus can be opened as long as that fire burns; otherwise, no spell and no amount of force can open it. Characters who don’t have a pinecone, a twig, or a feather can find these items in the nearby woods. The severed hand is a trickier get but needn’t come from a living humanoid (a dead crawling claw would do).

Once the brazier is functioning, the heavy lid can be lifted or pushed aside. It weighs 500 pounds.

The sarcophagus holds Sahnar, a moon elf mummy that animates as soon as the lid no longer prevents it from sitting up. This mummy is chaotic good and acclimated to cold weather. It follows the commands of its liberators until it is reduced to 0 hit points, whereupon it crumbles to dust.

If the mummy receives conflicting orders, it follows whichever command it deems the most sensible, although its Intelligence score of 6 means that it can make bad choices. Sahnar speaks Common and Elvish. The mummy knows how the moon dial functions (see area E5) but knows nothing about the tomb’s current inhabitants, Ten-Towns, or the present state of affairs in Icewind Dale, since it has been sealed up for hundreds of years. If the characters return to Ten-Towns with Sahnar in tow, they will need to disguise the elf mummy to keep it from frightening the townsfolk.

The magic and materials used to preserve the mummy have the effect of making it smell like pumpkin spice.

E5. Moon Dial

Rising from the center of the circular depression is a tall, triangular, crystal gnomon—a device one typically finds in the middle of a sundial. It is thick near the base and narrows to a sharp point at the top. The snow around the gnomon has melted away, revealing a circle of symbols carved into the stone around it. The symbols depict phases of the moon, suggesting that the circular depression is not a sundial, but a moon dial.

Something has punched a rough hole in the wall in the northwest edge of the depression, creating a dark opening that leads under the hill.

Characters who peer through the western hole can see a dark, sunken chamber (area E6) beyond.

A persistent magical effect heats the face of the moon dial, ensuring that the lunar symbols remain clear of snow. The symbols depict a full moon to the north, a new moon to the south, and various waxing and waning phases of the moon in between.

Whenever the moon is in the sky over Icewind Dale, the crystal gnomon projects a triangle of moonlight onto the moon dial’s face, its tip lighting the symbol that matches the moon’s current phase. This occurs even if the moon is not visible in the sky.

Any character who studies the lunar symbols sees tiny inscriptions in Elvish around the full moon symbol (the white circle to the north) and the two half-moon symbols located on the west and east sides of the dial, but not the other partial moon symbols or new moon symbol (the black circle to the south). The inscriptions translate as follows:

Full Moon Inscription

“Gaze upon your own face and have seven questions answered.” The magic mirror in area E7 is activated for as long as the light of the gnomon or a moonbeam spell illuminates this symbol.

Half-Moon Inscription

“Unlock the tombs of the half moon.” While the light of the gnomon or a moonbeam spell illuminates either of the half-moon symbols on the moon dial’s face, the doors to areas area E8 and area E9 can be opened.

E6. Barrow

The spacious chamber tucked under the hill is strewn with bones and holds the sleeping forms of several harmless animals (foxes, hares, goats, owls, wolf pups, and young bears) that share the space peacefully. The white moose makes its lair among these creatures as well when it’s not out terrorizing Ten-Towners. If the characters didn’t wait outside to encounter the awakened white moose (see the area stat block), it fights them here, which startles and scares away the other animals. If the frost druid in area E9 hears sounds of battle in this room, she remains where she is, preferring to make a final stand there.

Statues

In addition to the animals, this area contains three white marble statues of elves that are identical to the ones outside, except that the wind has not worn away the detail in their faces and they don’t stand on pillars. All three are facing east, toward the nearest wall.

E7. Mirror of the Full Moon

The underground passage narrows before ending at a wall upon which is mounted an oval mirror seven feet tall and half as wide, encircled by a decorative stone frame.

The mirror’s stone frame glows with silvery, scintillating light as long as the moon dial’s light or a moonbeam spell is illuminating the symbol of the full moon in area E5. While its frame is lit, the mirror functions like an ordinary crystal ball. Currently, the mirror is attuned to the white moose, which uses it to locate hunters and loggers it is familiar with. After clearing the snow covering the moon dial, the frost druid uses a moonbeam spell to light the full moon symbol on the moon dial’s face, activating the mirror so the moose can use it. If the moose dies or another creature attunes to the mirror, the moose’s attunement ends.

The mirror is held to the wall with sovereign glue and can’t be removed without shattering it. Once broken, the mirror’s magic is gone forever.

E8. First Tomb of the Half-Moon

The stone door to this tomb is engraved with a white semicircle (the symbol of a half-moon), with its rounded edge facing toward the right. The door is locked from the outside unless the light of the gnomon or a moonbeam spell illuminates one of the half-moon symbols on the moon dial in area area E5. A knock spell or similar magic also opens the door. It pushes open easily from the inside.

This circular chamber has an intricately carved, domed ceiling twenty feet high. A beam of light shines down from the top of the dome, illuminating a rectangular stone sarcophagus.

The light that shines down upon the sarcophagus is a minor magical effect that can be dispelled.

The sarcophagus’s 350-pound lid can be lifted or pushed aside. Inside the sarcophagus is the withered corpse of an elf in tattered robes. As the sarcophagus is opened, the rush of air disturbs the cadaver’s robes, which have mostly crumbled to dust. The sarcophagus also contains the following items:

• An unstrung bow
• Six silvered arrowheads
• A wooden cup with a winged fish etched into the side

E9. Second Tomb of the Half-Moon

The stone door to this tomb is engraved with a white semicircle (the symbol of a half-moon), with its rounded edge facing toward the left.

The door is locked from the outside unless the light of the gnomon or a moonbeam spell illuminates one of the half-moon symbols on the moon dial in area area E5. A knock spell or similar magic also opens the door. It pushes open easily from the inside.

This circular chamber has an intricately carved domed ceiling twenty feet high. A beam of light shines down from the top of the dome, illuminating a rectangular stone sarcophagus. Someone has turned this tomb into living quarters, as evidenced by a rack of drying herbs and an unfurled bedroll behind the sarcophagus.

The light that shines down on the sarcophagus is a minor magical effect that can be dispelled.

When she hears the door open, Ravisin the frost druid (see appendix C) ducks behind the sarcophagus. Hidden alongside her is an awakened shrub (a berry bush) that follows Ravisin everywhere, in case the druid gets hungry and wants some berries to munch on. Eating the berries has stained the druid’s teeth blue.

The druid climbs onto the sarcophagus when characters enter the tomb and shouts, in Common, “Ten-Towns will be destroyed—if not by my hand, then by the Frostmaiden’s!” The druid then attacks, fighting to the death. If a character who has the Doppelganger secret (see appendix B) fails their saving throw against the druid’s moonbeam spell, remember that the spell reveals the character’s true (doppelganger) form.

When she is reduced to 0 hit points, Ravisin uses her last, gasping breath to say, “My beasts will avenge us!”

Awakened Shrub

The awakened shrub is terrified of Ravisin and doubly frightened of fire. It fights only in self-defense. Growing on its branches are 2d20 tasty berries, which it allows characters to pick if they let it live. The shrub speaks Common and can share the following information once the frost druid is dealt with:

• Ravisin blamed Ten-Towners for the death of her twin sister, also a frost druid. (The shrub doesn’t know how or when Ravisin’s sister died.) Ravisin hides her sister’s corpse in the sarcophagus.
• Ravisin Awaken many beasts and plants throughout Icewind Dale. Some of them, such as the white moose, are of an evil bent. Others aren’t. Ravisin often complained about the scruples of the plesiosaurus she awakened in Maer Dualdon (see “area Lake Monster").
• Ravisin used moonbeam spells to trigger the moon dial, enabling the white moose to scry on loggers and hunters by using the magic mirror in area area E7.

Sarcophagus

The contents of an herbalism kit are spread across the top of the sarcophagus, which the druid uses as a worktable. The sarcophagus lid weighs 350 pounds, and moving it aside causes the tomb to fill with a horrible stench of decay.

The sarcophagus contains the rotting corpse of Ravisin’s twin sister, Vurnis. Any character who examines the corpse and succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check determines that her death occurred months ago, but the cold has slowed the decomposition of the body. A speak with dead spell cast on the corpse reveals that Vurnis was killed by hunters near Lonelywood.

Treasure

Tucked under Vurnis’s corpse is a sharkskin pouch that contains two potions in crystal vials: a Potion of Radiant Resistance and a potion of vitality.

Completing the Quest

Once they slay the awakened white moose, the characters can return to Lonelywood with proof of the moose’s demise. After every three hours the characters spend in the forest, check for a random encounter using theLonelywood Forest Encounters table.

If Ravisin the frost druid is not dealt with, Lonelywood is doomed to experience more of the same harassment from newly awakened beasts such as Polar Bear, Rhinoceros, and Saber-Toothed Tiger.