Page 101 - D&D - Player's Handbook

basis of the famous scrimshaw that is sold as far south THE UNDERDARK
as Calimshan and farther east than I care to consider.
The bones are also used to make all manner of small, Do YOU KNOW WHAT IT JS TO BE A SLAVE? To FEEL THE
sturdy tools: fish hooks, arrowheads, sewing needles, crack of a whip, the venom of a draw priestess's snake-headed
buttons, and more. Each town on the lakes has its own
fleet of fishing boats, and the towns carefully divide the lash, the weight of a burden you can't possibry lift after so
lakes to protect the population and the delicate balance much toil? No, you don't. So close your mouth and openyour
between the communities. eyes and ears, and dip your quill.
Independent-minded folk who come to Ten-Towns are - Oshgir the half-ore, to Kimitar Thaeless,
discouraged from striking out on their own, and when
they do, they often fail, either due to the dangers of the glyphscribe of Deneir
waters, being blocked out of the best fishing areas, or
simply being refused trade by the scrimshanders, whose Known by many as the Realms Below, the vast, miles-
wares are expensive. Icewind Dale is a place where deep network of caverns, caves, and underground
cooperation is essential for survival, and ignoring that waterways called the Underdark is home to many
fact can leave one quite alone in a time of need. strange creatures and even stranger societies. No one
Where nine of the Ten-Towns survive primarily on is quite sure the extent of this massive ecosystem,
fishing, Bryn Shander lives on trade, making it the place except to say that it reaches at least the breadth of the
to visit when you come here. The walls keep the town continent, and that most creatures are fully capable of
safe from barbarians who raid the area and the beasts surviving their entire lives within it, provided they can
of the tundra, and the packing in of its people means find enough food and safety to do so. Breathable air is
Bryn Shander is also warmer than the other towns, both plentiful, and clean water can be found. Beyond that,
literally and in terms of the welcome you receive. most surface folk only have the tales of adventurers, the
I have visited only a few of the other towns, and while survivors of attacks, and the occasional escaped captive
they have their quirks and charms, they are mostly what to describe the horrors lurking below the surface.
you might expect: fishing villages at the edge of frigid What follows are portions of the tale told by Oshgir, a
waters in a frozen waste. Certainly, there is trade to be half-ore warrior who was captured by a duergar raiding
done, coin to be made, and intrigue to be investigated party, sold to a Zhentarim agent, captured by drow, and
in even in the smallest of these communities (which then escaped his captivity by killing an overseer and
can number as few as a hundred souls). The only other fleeing to Blingdenstone. This account was recorded by
point of interest is the town of Targos, on Maer Dualdon, a traveling scribe of Deneir named Kimitar Thaeless
which has grown rapidly and is threatening to burst and submitted to the library at Candlekeep. Most don't
the bounds of its protective wall, and thus has a hum of believe that a half-ore was quite so eloquent in his tell-
opportunity about it. ing, and thus contend that the scribe embellished the
tale somewhat.
REGHED BARBARIANS
Ten-Towns isn't the only community in Icewind Dale. CAPTURE
Tribes of human barbarians called Reghed also operate
It's impossible to describe the shame of a hardened
in the area. Hunters and raiders who value strength and warrior driven to his knees by a half-dozen duergar that
devotion to their ancestral heroes, they claim a great have just slain his fellows. Never mind that we were
many heroes among their honored dead, including some
who were responsible for the safety of Ten-Towns, Ice- asleep and unarmored at the time, or that I was able to
take four of them down before an axe cut the strength
wind Dale, and beyond. A Reghed camp is made up of
from my leg. I was shackled and gagged, my wound
a large ring of hide tents, able to be broken down and wrapped in a bandage tight enough to stop the bleeding
transported as the Reghed move to keep up with the and numb my leg, as the gray pests laughed and spouted
herds of reindeer they depend on for food and clothing.
jokes at me, and then forced me to walk until I lost con-
sciousness. When next I awoke, there was no longer a
THE DWARVES
sky overhead.
Dwarves still live in the mines of Kelvin's Cairn, but in
fewer numbers than they once did, and with less influ-
GRACKLSTUGH
ence than they had on the rest of Icewind Dale a century
or two ago. The dwarves here claim their continued After days of walking in the deep, dark places beneath
allegiance to Clan Battlehammer of Mithra! Hall, even the surface, I was led, in heavy chains, to Gracklstugh,
though they returned to the colder north when they dis- on the shores of the Darklake. I was set to work almost
covered their ancient home no longer suited them. Bryn immediately at a forge, to pump bellows, heft ingots,
Shander serves them as a trading post, allowing them and carry barrels of quenching oil. The place is called
to keep humans and other strangers away from their the City of Blades, for good reason: the fine steel of the
mines, which are some distance away in the shadow duergar is impressive, considering the quality of the iron
of the Cairn. The dwarves send a representative to the they were starting with. Hammering, refining, and care-
council of speakers that governs Ten-Towns, but have no ful polishing gave the metal the strength and sleekness
say in their proceedings except to declare acceptance or necessary, and diligent sharpening added wicked edges
refusal of the decisions of the human gathering. to many of the blades I handled.