The Ten Towns
Overview
The Ten Towns are a loose confederation of frontier villages found in Icewind Dale. The communities of the Ten Towns attracted those people of Faerûn determined to find a life for themselves, and those desperate to leave their former lives behind. 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.The People of the Ten Towns
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. The never ending winter 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. Many people who come to Ten-Towns are outcasts, fugitives, or pariahs in search of a place where they can be tolerated, if not accepted. Some came here determined to make their fortunes. Others come for the solitude, or to escape notice and stay out of the reach of the law of the southern cities. Today, four hundred years after the formation of Ten-Towns, most folk are here because they were born here, grew up here, and expect to die here. They’re fishers, loggers, miners, hunters, trappers, furriers, and traders accustomed to the harsh climate, the slow pace, and the isolation. Like the hardy lichens and determined reindeer of the tundra, residents endure and do what’s needed to survive. Icewind Dale has few trees, so lumber is cut from the slopes of the Spine of the World or the depths of the Lonelywood Forest. Stone from the hills and valleys surrounding Kelvin’s Cairn supplements wood as a building material in Ten-Towns. Homes have sharply pitched roofs to prevent snow from accumulating on them. The people of Ten-Towns wear layers of woolen clothing often topped off with fur cloaks. Under these heavy clothes and cloaks, one resident looks very much the same as another. Outdoors, it’s hard to tell the people of Ten-Towns apart—and easy for clever monsters to hide in their midst.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.Map
Towns
Maps
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The Ten Towns
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