D&D: Icewind Dale – An Adventurer’s Guide
Winter is always here in Icewind Dale. It might be in one of the coldest climes, but Icewind Dale is one of the warmest places on Faerun.
Metaphorically speaking, that is. Icewind Dale was the northernmost explored region in all of Faerun. And beyond that, people go out into the ice and die.
The region Icewind Dale was an arctic tundra located in Frozenfar, so that should say something about its temperature. But it’s a surprisingly friendly place to live if you know what to look for, what to avoid, and where to go.
Icewind Dale – The Top Of Faerun
Icewind Dale and the Frozenfar region within which it could be found lived up to their names. Frozen far was regarded as the coldest, most remote region of the North, comprising Icewind Dale, the Cold Run, the Sea of Moving Ice, and of course the Spine of the World.
Beyond the Spine of the World, no one knows, for no stories abound from any who have crossed the spine and returned. Legend holds that these mountains kept the North safe and sound from calamity beyond them.
Icewind Dale wasn’t just cold; its temperature was near-inhospitable. Even when not laboring under the effects of a terrible curse, the inhabitants of Icewind Dale could expect to put up with little sunlight, harsh winters, and adventurers from the Southlands stumbling their way into the wilderness, frozen half to death. But, if you live long enough in the region, you might get to know a little something about it.
A Rich History
But the region of Icewind Dale existed long before modern explorers found it. Its earliest history dates back millennia. Long before the Era of Upheaval, a great jarl of Frost Giants, known as Kelvin Duarol, came to possess an even more ancient, evil artifact known as the Crenshinibon. How it came to Frozenfar from the distant continent of Zakhara is unknown.
But this magical crystal shard would attempt to lure all manner of infernal outsiders to the plane, under the guise of spurring its wielder to conquer all of existence. Naturally this didn’t end well for Kelvin, who was slain by the god Tempus, and interred deep beneath stones pled atop the snow-covered lands.
Sometime after, Illuskan refugees migrated to the region and settled among the snows. Their descendans became barbarian tribes, who were joined by ironically named Northlanders, who came from the northernmost points of the Sword Coast even further north to Frozenfar.
But in spite its fearsome reputation, the region was a friendly place with many interesting facts.
Local Legends
For instance, you might learn about the Knucklehead Trout, one of Icewind Dale’s claims to fame. Many in the region are dependent on the knucklehead trout and other fishing-related resources to survive, selling both the fish, as well as the bones. The Knucklehead Trout perfectly captures the character of the region: it is hardy, stubborn, and looks amazing mounted. But it’s not all novelty trouts and regional delicacies in Icewind Dale.
First populated when Northlander longships ventured into the area during the final days of the Illefarn Empire, the Northlanders settled the region that became known as Icewind Dale, holding their ground and carving out a distinct nook for themselves even as Icewind Dale became home to a powerful necromancer who proceeded to take barbarians and beasts and tried to make something of them.
Icewind Dale – The Ten Towns
Icewind Dale has very little in the way of permanence. The only real settlements are a collection of ten towns known as the Ten Towns, because the cold leaves you too frozen to think of an imaginative name. Collectively they are:
- Good Mead
- Dougan’s Hole
- Easthaven
- Caer-Konig
- Care-Dineval
- Lonelywood
- Bremen
- Termalaine
- Targos
- and last but not least: Bryn Shander.
And among these ten towns lived the fishers, crafters, rangers, dwarves, barbarians, and merchants that survived out on the tundra. Out in the wilds, one could find elk, polar bears, and the occasional white dragon.
For such a little, isolated place, it has seen a great deal over the years, including the fall of multiple Netherese skyships/islands, which is why this region was known to be one of the only sources of a magical material known as Chardalyn. Often, these deposits were found with strange monsters that would be better to have been forgotten back when Netheril was a young and meddling empire.
Presently, though, the Ten Towns are in the midst of a time of peace, following a recent defeat of the winter goddess Auril at the hands of some brave, daring adventurers.
Happy Adventuring!
