Ten-Towns
Ten-Towns didn’t spring up overnight. It started from humble beginnings four centuries ago. Immigrants from all over Faerûn came here in search of escape or adventure and built a modest trade post atop the hill where Bryn Shander now stands. One by one, settlements sprung up on the shores of Maer Dualdon, Lac Dinneshere, and Redwaters. The ever-present threat of orcs and other monsters compelled the poorly defended lakeside towns to turn Bryn Shander from a modest hilltop trading post into a walled town capable of defending all Ten-Towners if and when the worst comes.
Most of the towns contain trace evidence of the immigrant cultures that birthed them. This evidence is carved into houses, statues, and other fixtures. For example, the dinosaur carvings on the older buildings of Good Mead remind folk that many of its original settlers were Chultan.
Residents of Ten-Towns tend to remain indoors when they’re not working, since it’s so frightfully cold outside, which gives each settlement a deathly quiet aspect. Most people who venture outdoors are bundled up in so much cold weather clothing as to be barely recognizable, and they don’t stand around long enough for the cold wind to get the better of them.
Auril’s winter spell has caused the population of Ten-Towns to dwindle and has heightened rivalries that have simmered for years, turning neighboring towns against one another as competition for resources becomes increasingly intense. The alliance of Ten-Towns won’t hold if the mounting tribalism continues to threaten the common good.
Life Off the Lakes
Most of the ten towns except Bryn Shander are built on the shores of three big lakes. The largest population of knucklehead trout is in Maer Dualdon, the deepest of the lakes. Redwaters, the shallowest lake, almost completely freezes in winter, making the fishing there difficult. Lac Dinneshere catches the worst of the winds blowing off the Reghed Glacier to the east and thus has the roughest waters. Small thermal vents at the bottom of these lakes keep them from freezing completely, even in the coldest winters. Ten-Towns fishing boats are simple affairs. The smallest are rowboats and single-masted skiffs that require careful handling to avoid capsizing. Larger, twin-masted cogs and keelboats with single decks handle the wind and waves better. These ships fly the flags of their towns and provide fish for the whole community, not for any individual fisher. When thick ice covers the lakes, many fishers stay to the shelters of their homes and hearths, but the most dedicated or desperate cut holes in the ice and dangle their lines down in hopes of tempting hungry trout.Fuel Sources
The folk of Ten-Towns don’t have a lot of options when it comes to keeping warm. People from Good Mead, Lonelywood, and Termalaine burn wood salvaged from nearby forests to heat their houses. In the other towns of Icewind Dale, wood is too precious a commodity to burn, so whale oil is used in lamps and small stoves around which townsfolk huddle for warmth. Ten-Towners buy their whale oil from whalers who live on the shores of the Sea of Moving Ice. Whaling is thus a lucrative (if inherently dangerous) business in Icewind Dale.Winter Survival Gear
| Item | Cost | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing, Cold Weather | 10 gp | 5 lbs. |
| Crampons (2) | 2 gp | 1/4 lb. |
| Snowshoes | 2 gp | 4 lbs. |
Cold Weather Clothing
This outfit consists of a heavy fur coat or cloak over layers of wool clothing, as well as a fur-lined hat or hood, goggles, and fur-lined leather boots and gloves. As long as cold weather clothing remains dry, its wearer automatically succeeds on saving throws against the effects of extreme cold.Crampons
A crampon is a metal plate with spikes that is strapped to the sole of a boot. A creature wearing crampons can’t fall prone while moving across slippery ice.Snowshoes
Snowshoes reduce the likelihood of their wearer getting stuck in the deep snow.Getting Around Ten-Towns
Most Ten-Towners travel from town to town on foot. Those who need to transport more goods than they can carry use wooden sleds pulled by dogs or domesticated axe beaks as pack animals. Such things can be bought and sold in every Ten-Towns settlement.Dogsleds
An empty sled costs 20 gp, weighs 300 pounds, and has room at the back for one driver. A sled dog (use the wolf stat block in appendix A of the Monster Manual) costs 50 gp and can pull 360 pounds. Sled dogs must take a short rest after pulling a sled for 1 hour; otherwise, they gain one level of exhaustion.Axe Beaks
An axe beak’s splayed toes allow it to run across snow, and it can carry as much weight as a mule. A domesticated axe beak can be purchased in Ten-Towns for 50 gp. See appendix A of the Monster Manual for the axe beak’s stat block.Magic In Ten-Towns
Characters hoping to procure powerful magic items or the services of a high-level spellcaster in Ten-Towns are out of luck. At best, they might be able to find common magic items for sale, or a friendly druid, priest, or mage who can cast spells on their behalf. For every hundred people in a town, there’s one such individual living among them. Magic items and magical services available in Ten-Towns are summarized below. If an item or spell is not covered here, assume there is no friendly NPC who can sell or cast it. Common magic items cost 100 gp each where they’re available, except for common potions (such as potions of healing), which can be had for 50 gp. A friendly spellcaster will charge 25 gp for a 1st-level spell, 50 gp for one that uses a 2nd-level spell slot, or 150 gp for one that uses a 3rd-level spell slot, plus the cost of any expensive material components.Snowflake Ratings
This chapter uses a three-snowflake rating system to help you quickly differentiate the settlements of Ten-Towns. Each town is rated in terms of its friendliness, the services it offers, and its comfort. The more snowflakes, the better the rating. Friendliness. Residents in a three-snowflake town are friendly and helpful, by and large. Conversely, a one-snowflake town is full of unhelpful, unfriendly folk. A two-snowflake town has both. Services. A three-snowflake town is where characters are most likely to find the services they need. A two-snowflake town has a much narrower selection. Characters will have trouble getting any sort of service in a one-snowflake town. Comfort. Characters can find decent food and drink, as well as warm beds, in a three-snowflake town. A two-snowflake town might have a small tavern plus an inn with drafty rooms to rent. A one-snowflake town might have a cold shed or attic where characters can crash for the night, and that’s about it.Sacrifices to Auril
The desperate people of Ten-Towns, hoping to appease Auril so that summer can return to Icewind Dale, make sacrifices to the Frostmaiden on nights of the new moon. This is a new practice that started a little over a year ago, when it became clear that Auril was angry and summer would not be returning anytime soon. The town speakers have unanimously agreed to honor these practices, which they consider necessary evils, but would end them in a heartbeat if Auril were to be appeased or dealt with in some other way. The nature of the sacrifices varies from town to town, but usually takes one of three forms: Humanoid. Bryn Shander, Easthaven, and Targos hold lotteries the afternoon before the new moon. The unlucky person whose name is drawn is sacrificed at nightfall. The ill-fated soul is stripped bare and either tied to a post or sent into the tundra to die. Accusations of rigged lotteries are common but usually not acted upon. Food. Smaller towns that can’t afford to give up people give up their food instead. A day’s catch of knucklehead trout is strung up on wooden racks a mile outside town, to be claimed by yeti and other creatures that embody Auril’s wrath. Warmth. Towns that can’t bring themselves to give up their people or their food forsake warmth for a night. No fires are lit between dusk and dawn, forcing locals to share body heat for warmth. Anyone who dares to light a fire is savagely beaten.
Each town is an independent settlement that elects a leader, or speaker, to represent its interests at meetings of the Council of Speakers, which are infrequent and take place at the Council Hall in Bryn Shander. These meetings are called to discuss matters of shared interest and to settle disputes between towns.
The Towns
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