Introductions

What you know already:

Duane's character grew up here, so he has collected this information:

There has not been a sunrise in Icewind Dale for 2 years.

Every night, just before midnight, Auril (the goddess of winter) rides across the northern sky on her roc. The people say she is casting a spell to keep the eternal night lasting.

The spell creates an aurora in the sky that lasts until "dawn" then it fades away but the sun never shows. 

This has led to the sea of moving ice to freeze over and close the mountain passes to the south to all but the most adventurous of travelers.

The climate is getting colder and colder. 

The towns make monthly sacrifices to the goddess attempting to appease her.

These come in the form of food left out, not heating your home for an entire day or, in the most extreme, holding a lottery to select who must wander out into the cold without the proper gear as a sacrifice. 

The goal of the campaign is to figure out why this is happening and fix the problem before the entire region is a frozen wasteland.

You will begin in the town of Termalaine where Duane's character grew up.

There are 10 starting quests that you can investigate (see attached).

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[It is over a century from the events in the novel "The Crystal Shard". Feel free to look this book up if you are unfamiliar with it.]

Katabatic winds sweep down from the Reghed Glacier, ceaselessly battering anything that dares to grow or breathe in Icewind Dale. Without fail, these winds find their way through every chink and crack, every opening in the warmest furs, every roof and board of homes, draining any hint of warmth.

The sun, held down below the horizon by the FrostMaiden's magic, offers no respite from eternal winter's fury. The days a twilit, the nights dark. As Auril cast her nightly spell, a curtain of light weaves across the starry sky to keep dawn at bay.  Storms bring driving hail and sleet that leaves everything coated in a sheath of ice.  Snow piles in deep drifts and blocks the trails to the south.  The ice cliffs of Reghed Glacier rise in the east like prison walls, while snow-capped peaks of the Spine of the World loom to the south.  North and West, the Sea of Moving Ice churns icebergs and floes in a deadly tumult, like winter grinding its teeth in anticipation of its next freezing assault.

Trapped in winter's cold embrace, nomadic humans follow herd of reindeer through their migrations, while others dare the treacherous waters in search of fish, seal, walruses and whales to sustain them.  Dwarves dig into the earth to seek shelter and mine for iron.  Meanwhile, folk living in ten-towns eke out a meager existence barley holding back the wind, let alone the marauding orcs, giants and yetis.

The land is tough, and it creates tough people who must rely on each other to survive.

First Episode: https://wjrrofm.blogspot.com/2024/01/b1e1-termalaine-mine.html