Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Overland Travel from Termalaine

The Blue Clam

Dockside tavern

The fishers of Termalaine typically finish their days here, seated on benches near one of the building's long hearths to warm their feet while they fill their bellies with spiced chowder. Beautiful works of scrimshaw are hung on the walls.

Vernon Braig (neutral good half-orc commoner), the Blue Clam's owner and chef, knows some of the hunters and trappers in Lonelywood, and occasionally a sled comes down the north trail with a sack of hares or a haunch of moose, courtesy of one of Vernon's friends. On those nights, the Blue Clam's hearths are full of roasting meat, and the patrons stay later and sing louder, enjoying the good times while they last.

Characters who loiter in the tavern are likely to hear a rumor or two, which you can determine by rolling on the Ten-Towns Rumors table (see "x").

The Eastside

Inn

The Eastside is where most visitors in town stay. What looks from the outside like separate houses turns out to be a single structure with rooms connected by underground passages, with cozy guest accommodations in the cellar.

The innkeeper is Marta Peskryk (lawful good human commoner), a willowy teenager who spends much of her time tending to her bedridden father, Clyde, a retired fisherman and noncombatant. As she performs her daily chores, Marta sings the following song to herself:

If asked about the song, Marta recounts the following tale. Fifty years ago, a mysterious woman in a fur-lined red cloak stopped at the Eastside on her way to Lonelywood. Because the woman was alone and frightened, the innkeepers—a pair of retired adventurers who happened to be Marta's grandparents—tried to console her. The woman gave them a ring as payment for their hospitality. Not long afterward, a howling wind burst into the inn and tossed the woman about like a rag doll. The innkeepers intervened, giving the woman time to escape. The evil wind battered Marta's grandparents unconscious before resuming its hunt. That was the last anyone saw of the woman.

A Minor Issue

Darmo Mazlu, a human boy, stands on a box and yells out the latest news to passersby, most of whom ignore him:

If the characters express interest, Darmo tells them they can find the town speaker, Oarus Masthew, at the Blue Clam. The boy also has some information about the mine, including its location. He doesn't know much about the history or the particulars of the mine, but he knows it's important for Termalaine and its closing means a significant loss of income.

The characters can make the half-hour trek to the mine without visiting Oarus, or they can go to the tavern to see the speaker. If the characters decide to ignore the quest, the mine remains closed for several weeks before the kobolds mysteriously vanish, enabling the miners to return. After the mine reopens, it isn't long before workers start disappearing one by one—victims of the grell.

Getting the Quest

When the characters arrive at the Blue Clam, read:

The town speaker, Oarus Masthew (lawful good half-orc veteran), explains that a group of kobolds crept into the mine a few days ago, entering from the surface and forcing the miners to abandon their jobs. No one was killed, but the kobolds are too dangerous for the miners to deal with. He also reveals that a human miner went missing a few days before the kobolds showed up, prompting other miners to fear that a monster must have crawled up from the Underdark. Oarus thinks it's possible that the miner fell down the central shaft, which is deep enough that his body would never be found.

One piece of information that Oarus fails to mention is that he ordered the town militia to clear out the mine three days ago. The militia refused to deal with the problem for what amounts to political reasons. Senior officers in cahoots with Speaker Naerth Maxildanarr of Targos are determined to oust Masthew as town speaker and replace him with one of their own in a special election. They're convinced that the closing of the mine and the resulting economic woes will turn Masthew's political supporters against him.

Approaching the Mine

The entrance to the mine is in the woods northeast of town. The characters can follow a trail from Termalaine and be there in 30 minutes. When they arrive, the area around the opening appears devoid of life:

The words are written in more elaborate calligraphy than would be expected from a kobold.

Mine Locations

The following locations are keyed to map 1.19. The mine is made up of three levels, the deepest of which is level 3. The boxed text in these locations assumes the characters can see what's around them.

Returning to Termalaine

If the characters return to Speaker Masthew and tell him the mine is cleared of monsters, he thanks them profusely and explains that he must inspect the mine to verify its safety before they can be paid. He encourages the characters to spend a few days in Termalaine while he conducts the investigation.

If there are no more kobolds in the mine and the grell has likewise been dealt with, Oarus returns to the characters the next day and pays them 50 gp for their services. If Trex is still in the mine and Janth's ghost wasn't laid to rest, Oarus returns to Termalaine possessed by the ghost. If the kobolds are gone but the grell remains, Oarus is killed by the grell and doesn't return, leaving the town without a speaker. If the grell is still in the mine when it reopens, a handful of local miners disappear over the next few days before the decision is made to close the mine for good.

If the characters bring the kobolds to Termalaine, Oarus is initially hesitant to let them stay in the town. After hearing about their willingness to work, he decides to give them a chance and offers them menial jobs. The kobolds, eager to prove themselves, turn out to be good workers. The townsfolk tease them at first, but eventually the kobolds win them over. Janth's ghost, if it hasn't been laid to rest, finds someone else to possess, causing Trex to revert to his skittish, much less intelligent self.