Dragon of Icespire Peak
The world of the Forgotten Realms is one of high fantasy, populated by elves, dwarves, halflings, humans, and other folk. In the Realms, knights dare the crypts of the fallen dwarf kings of Delzoun, seeking glory and treasure. Rogues prowl the dark alleyways of teeming cities such as Neverwinter and Baldur's Gate. Clerics in the service of gods wield mace and spell, questing against the terrifying powers that threaten the land. Wizards plunder the ruins of the fallen Netherese empire, delving into secrets too dark for the light of day. Bards sing of kings, queens, heroes, and tyrants who died long ago.
On the roads and rivers of the Realms travel minstrels and peddlers, merchants and guards, soldiers and sailors. Steel-hearted adventurers from backcountry farmsteads and sleepy villages follow tales of strange, glorious, faraway places. Good maps and clear trails can take even an inexperienced youth with dreams of glory far across the world, but these paths are never safe. Fell magic and deadly monsters are the perils one faces when traveling in the Realms. Even farms and freeholds within a day's walk of a city can fall prey to monsters, and no place is safe from the sudden wrath of a dragon.
Driven from lands farther north by more powerful dragons, a young white dragon named Cryovain has descended upon the Sword Mountains, claiming the snow-capped range as its domain. Typical of its kind, Cryovain is dim-witted and cruel. The dragon patrols the skies around Icespire Peak, surveying its territory while hunting for food and easy treasure. With each passing day, the dragon's domain grows as it ranges farther across the land, preying on anything it can catch with its claws or freeze to death with its icy breath. Sightings of the dragon are becoming more common, as are its attacks.
A crumbling fortress on the northeast spur of Icespire Peak serves as the dragon's lair. Cryovain seized the icy fortress from a tribe of savage orcs, killing the orc war chief and forcing the tribe's survivors to flee into the foothills and forests. Enraged by the death of their war chief, the orcs have called upon ancient allies—evil, shapechanging, half-orc spellcasters who bless and advise them. These half-orcs worship Talos, an evil god of storms, and many dwell in the dark depths of Neverwinter Wood. In stormy weather, they gather on remote hilltops to summon Gorthok the Thunder Boar, a primal entity that serves Talos. Like the god it serves, Gorthok delights in destruction.
The orcs aren't the only creatures thrown into upheaval by Cryovain's sudden arrival. A manticore driven from its mountaintop nest by the roaming white dragon has migrated to the foothills and begun terrorizing folk living on the outskirts of the mining town of Phandalin. Other monsters in the region have been similarly displaced.
The frontier town of Phandalin is built on the ruins of a much older settlement. Hundreds of years ago, the old Phandalin was a thriving human town whose people were firmly allied with neighboring dwarves and gnomes. Then an orc horde swept through the area and laid waste to the settlement, and Phandalin was abandoned for centuries.
In the last three or four years, settlers from the cities of Neverwinter and Waterdeep have begun the hard work of reclaiming the ruins of Phandalin. The new settlement is home now to farmers, woodcutters, fur traders, and prospectors drawn by stories of gold and platinum in the foothills of the Sword Mountains. The arrival of a white dragon threatens to destroy all that they've worked to rebuild.