Setting Knowledge as a Ten-Towner

Extreme Cold

A creature exposed to the cold must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or gain one level of exhaustion. Creatures with resistance or immunity to cold damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures wearing cold weather clothing (thick coats, gloves, and the like) and creatures naturally adapted to cold climates, such as reindeer and snowy owlbears.
Temperatures. During Auril’s everlasting winter, the average temperature in Icewind Dale is −49 degrees Fahrenheit (−45 degrees Celsius). Wind chill can lower these temperatures by as much as 80 degrees.

Sacrifices to Auril

The desperate people of Ten-Towns, hoping to appease Auril so that summer can return to Icewind Dale, make sacrifices to the Frostmaiden on nights of the new moon. This is a new practice that started a little over a year ago, when it became clear that Auril was angry and summer would not be returning anytime soon. The town speakers (see the “Council of Speakers” sidebar) have unanimously agreed to honor these practices, which they consider necessary evils, but would end them in a heartbeat if Auril were to be appeased or dealt with in some other way.

The nature of the sacrifices varies from town to town, but usually takes one of three forms:

Humanoid. Bryn Shander, Easthaven, and Targos hold lotteries the afternoon before the new moon. The unlucky person whose name is drawn is sacrificed at nightfall. The ill-fated soul is stripped bare and either tied to a post or sent into the tundra to die. Accusations of rigged lotteries are common but usually not acted upon.

Food. Smaller towns that can’t afford to give up people give up their food instead. A day’s catch of knucklehead trout is strung up on wooden racks a mile outside town, to be claimed by yeti and other creatures that embody Auril’s wrath.

Warmth. Towns that can’t bring themselves to give up their people or their food forsake warmth for a night. No fires are lit between dusk and dawn, forcing locals to share body heat for warmth. Anyone who dares to light a fire is savagely beaten.

Lonelywood


Founded by a Sembian family from Urmlaspyr, Lonelywood is a quiet town of loggers, fishers, and scrimshanders scratching out a living on the edge of the world. The town's oldest buildings and docks bear carvings of dragons, lions, and goats that pay deference to the family's crest, which featured a chimera.

Roughly half of Lonelywood's able-bodied residents trawl the lake for knucklehead trout, while most of the others spend their days in the forest felling and hewing the trees that are used to construct boats and buildings. Lonelywood's timber is taken by cart to be sold in other settlements, Termalaine and Targos in particular.

For as long as Ten-Towns has existed, Lonelywood has attracted the region's shadiest element, from unrepentant thieves to cold-hearted killers. The thick forest looming behind it conceals the dark and sordid dealings that sometimes transpire there. Despite its attraction to criminals and miscreants, Lonelywood is not a place where folk murder each other in the streets. The realities of survival demand that the residents live and work together, and not dwell on history. A visitor can make many friends here but would be wise not to drudge up the dark deeds of anyone's past in this small town.

Leader. Speaker Nimsy Huddle (halfling)