Caer-Dineval Keep
This small castle was built over four hundred years ago by the Dinev family from Cormyr before Ten-Towns existed as anything more than a few scattered camps of explorers living off the land. The Dinevs hoped to claim sovereignty over the unsettled lands of Icewind Dale. When the castle, dubbed Caer-Dineval, was completed, the workers and their families settled in the outbuildings they had constructed farther down the cliff, along with the families of the retainers the Dinevs had brought with them. Over the next few years, many explorers in the region came to see the Caer for themselves, and some built cottages in the shadow of its walls. No sooner had the small town taken hold than marauding orcs swept down from the tundra to put it to the torch. The town’s residents tried to take refuge in the castle, but the Dinevs, alarmed by the size of the orc horde, barred the gates and refused to open them. The orcs fell upon the stranded people and slaughtered them to the last one. The Dinevs survived the initial assault, but not the siege that followed. After three weeks of being confined in the Caer, the Dinevs were so weakened by hunger that they were unable to resist when the orcs scaled the castle walls. Thus, the Dinev family’s brief rule in Icewind Dale came to a bloody end.
The Caer remained in the orcs’ possession for several years until they were driven out by a small army of human settlers from other parts of the dale who banded together. The victors claimed the castle and its lands, and those with families brought them here to settle. Their descendants live here to this day and keep alive the memory of their ancestors’ deeds.
Today, the keep is the residence of the town speaker, Crannoc Siever.