Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

About the adventure

North of the Spine of the World and west of the towering Reghed Glacier is a frigid expanse few dare to explore, let alone inhabit. This icy land of windswept tundra recently became locked in a perpetual, dark winter without reprieve. Auril the Frostmaiden, the divine embodiment of winter’s fury, has withdrawn to this cold corner of the world to live among mortals. Further, she has cast a terrible spell over Icewind Dale, to the detriment of most of its denizens. Each night before midnight, Auril takes to the sky on the back of a white roc and weaves her spell, which manifests as a shimmering curtain of light—a beautiful aurora that illuminates the night sky and fades before dawn. This powerful magic prevents the next day’s sun from rising above the horizon, turning midday into twilight and trapping Icewind Dale in winter’s dark embrace, with no sunlight or warmth to melt the snow and ice. Each casting of the spell leaves the Frostmaiden weakened, with just enough divine power left to barricade the mountain pass with blizzards and churn the Sea of Moving Ice with blistering winds. Such measures discourage travelers from approaching or leaving Icewind Dale, further isolating the region. Icewind Dale has thus been trapped in a different reality from the rest of the world, for though the sun never rises over the dale, it continues to rise everywhere else. The people of Icewind Dale know Auril’s wrath when they feel it, and they have a name for the unending winter she has inflicted on them. They call it the Everlasting Rime. No one understands why the Frostmaiden has imposed her will in this way or why the other gods refuse to challenge her. This prolonged winter, which has gone on for more than two years, threatens to doom not just the flickering lights of civilization known as Ten-Towns but also the indigenous flora and fauna that need sunlight and the change of seasons to survive. Not all creatures are discouraged by what has transpired north of the Spine of the World. The long nights and sunless days are a blessing to Xardorok Sunblight, a duergar who longs to carve out a domain for himself on the surface and enslave the people of Ten-Towns in the process. Already, he has taken advantage of Auril’s magic and raised a fortress amid the dark shadows of the mountains. From here, his underlings strike out across the tundra in search of chardalyn—a crystalline substance known to exist only in Icewind Dale. Once he gathers enough of it, Xardorok plans to construct a chardalyn dragon and unleash it upon Ten-Towns. Despite Auril’s blizzards and other deterrents, visitors still come and go. Among the recent arrivals are four wizards of the Arcane Brotherhood, a powerful society of spellcasters based in Luskan. They’ve come chasing rumors of a lost city buried under the Reghed Glacier—a fragment of the long-gone Empire of Netheril, whose wizards wielded magic that terrified the gods. Netherese magic has a way of attracting power-hungry wizards, as members of the Arcane Brotherhood often are. The cities of Netheril floated among the clouds, making them almost impervious to assault for centuries. Then, nearly two thousand years ago, this floating city crashed during the fall of the empire, and no one has found or explored it since. It is, arguably, Icewind Dale’s greatest secret—a necropolis of Netherese wizards and the magic they left behind. What survived the crash is anyone’s guess, but we’re about to find out!

Additional Details

How to prepare

Webcam is highly preferred but not needed. Mic is absolutely needed, I request that you have a decent mic that doesn't sound garbled as it is, in a way, inconsiderate to the rest of the group if I have to ask what 3 times and waste time that is being paid for.

What I provide

Every resource on DnD Beyond, you will keep your characters there for ease of access to the DM and for ease of inputting magical items and such that you might acquire. You are allowed to roll your own dice or you can roll in DnD Beyond or you can roll in Tabletop Simulator

Gameplay details

I will do my best to keep things to a comfortable level for everyone. I have a Roleplay Checklist that will be handed out to everyone at the start of session 0 that will let the DM know which topics/descriptors to avoid completely or should be glossed over, or what is green-lit to be used and discussed. This is not a group decision, meaning if even one person says "absolutely not" then it won't be discussed at the table, this is a safe place for everyone and people do have topics that can be triggers for them.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

(none)

How will character creation work

Level 1 Any officially published DnD 5e materials are acceptable, meaning no Unearthed Arcana / playtest materials will be used. You will roll 4d6 and keep the highest 3, as well as re-rolling any and all 1s. You can pre-roll your stats (roll before session 0) but if you come to me saying you rolled three 18s then I will ask you to reroll stats using dice in Tabletop Simulator.

Players can expect

• Find a game to join solo or search for a professional game master for you and your friends/coworkers/family.
• Book your session and wait for the Game Master to approve you.
• If you don't have a blast with your first game, your next game is on us.