Good Mead

Overview

Founded by immigrants from Chult and the Vilhon Reach, Good Mead is nestled between Redwaters and a nearby evergreen forest. The town’s squat dwellings, adorned with carvings of dinosaurs and serpents, are overshadowed by the two-story structure of the mead hall, its eaves carved and painted to resemble wyverns. As honey is the key ingredient in mead, the town literally buzzes with the droning of bees.
Every tavern in Icewind Dale is accustomed to receiving regular mead deliveries, and the town can’t produce or deliver its mead fast enough.
All deliveries have halted temporarily, though—because a verbeeg marauder emerged from the forest three days ago and stole three casks of mead that were being loaded onto a dogsled for transport to Bryn Shander. Kendrick Rielsbarrow, the town speaker and a giant of a man in his own right, stood his ground against the verbeeg and didn’t fare well. After skewering Kendrick with its spear, the verbeeg grabbed the casks and disappeared whence he came. His body lies in a local shrine. Five members of the militia went after the verbeeg but haven’t returned.

Overland Travel

A path connects Good Mead to the Eastway, crosses the snow-covered road, and continues to Caer-Dineval. Another snowy path leads to Dougan’s Hole.

Places of Interest

Mead Hall

Purveyors of Good Mead's honey wine
Four decades ago, this mead hall put an end to the town’s dependence on knucklehead trout fishing with its famous honey wine, which quickly became popular throughout Ten-Towns.
The mead hall has a large, fire-heated space dedicated to bee husbandry and the nurturing of beehives. The droning bees can be heard throughout the town, though most residents are so accustomed to the buzzing that they pay it no mind.

Shrine of the Flaming Sword

Shrine of Tempus (God of War)
This vacant building stands on the lakeshore and has a crow-haunted steeple protruding from its peak. Unlike the mead hall, which is well cared for, the shrine’s painted icons of the god of war wielding a flaming sword are chipped and faded, and its spacious interior stands mostly empty except for a long table on which rests a body covered with a blanket. The body is that of Speaker Kendrick Rielsbarrow, a giant of a man in his forties. He died from three stab wounds to the chest.
The shrine was built over a century ago when the town’s rivalry with Dougan’s Hole raged so fiercely that the lake, a frequent battlefield, became known as Redwaters. For a time thereafter, nearly all residents of Good Mead paid homage to Tempus. Today, the shrine’s relevance has dwindled to the point where it’s mainly used just for town gatherings.

Friendliness ❄❄ Services ❄ Comfort ❄❄
Population. 100 (Previously 250)
Leader. None. Speaker Kendrick Rielsbarrow was killed by a verbeeg, leaving the town leaderless.
Militia. Good Mead can muster up to 15 militia men from its townspeople.
Heraldry. A dark brown drinking mug made of a cut-off section of horn, with an antler handle added, upright and centered on a white field, representing the town’s mead exports and its cold, snowy climate.
Rivals. Caer-Dineval, Caer-Konig.

Type

Town