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Rime of the Frostmaiden

North of the Spine of the World, is a land rarely traveled except for those bolstered by stout hearts, driven by daring hopes, or fleeing from a guilty conscience and the secrets of the past.  Icewind Dale, with its scant foothold of civilization known as Ten Towns nestled within its harsh tundra, is not for the faint of heart.  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 tent flap, every roof and board of the strongest homes, draining away any hint of warmth.

And word has spread that in recent years the sun no longer holds sway over this frozen tundra.  While the rest of the world enjoys the summer sun, in Ten Towns and the barren tundras of Icewind Dale, the days falter in twilight, and the nights are dark.  Storms bring driving hail and sleet that leaves everything coated in a sheath of ice.  Snow piles in deep drifts and blocks all trails leading south to warmer lands.  And every night a curtain of light weaves its way across the starry sky, an aura that portends an everlasting winter.

Trapped in winter's cold embrace, nomadic humans follow herds of reindeer through their migrations, while others dare the treacherous waters of the western Sea of Moving Ice in search of fish, seals, walruses, and whales to sustain them.  Dwarves dig into the earth to seek shelter and mine for iron.  Meanwhile folk descended from foolhardy and treasure mad immigrants eke out meager lives in Ten Towns, which can barely hold back the wind, let alone marauding orcs, giants, and fierce tundra Yeti.

Yet despite the unnatural cold and other dangers, some people, for reasons of their own, still brave the journey to reach this harsh winterscape searching for opportunity, adventure, or maybe just a little peace.