Welcome to Icewind Dale

In the northern tip of the continent of Faerûn, in the Forgotten Realms lies a region known as Icewind Dale. Icewind Dale is known for little beyond it's mild summers and cold winters. Over the centuries, settlers forged out a new life for themselves in these lands and formed what is now known as Ten Towns. Life in Ten Towns was full of its ups and downs, but enjoyable enough that a small stream of newcomers make their way up from the southern lands at a regular basis.
That was up until two years ago when Auril, The Frost Maiden began to curse the land. On the day of the vernal equinox, when the winter warry folk eagerly looked on to the start of spring, a massive snow storm swept through the lands. As the snow covered the roads, froze the coast, and collapsed the mountain passages, it became quickly apparent to all that there was now no way out of Icewind Dale.