Beyond the jagged peaks of the Spine of the World, west of the towering, foreboding Reghed Glacier, lies a land trapped in an icy embrace, a domain where winds howl across the barren tundra, and the sun is a stranger. A realm locked in an eternal, malevolent winter, where darkness reigns without mercy. Here, in this cold corner of existence, dwells Auril the Frostmaiden, a divine being consumed by winter’s wrath. She is the living chill, the frozen scream in the night, and she has cast her terrible, freezing spell over Icewind Dale, chilling the very marrow of life within.
But this forbidding land of frost and fury is not devoid of ambition or intrigue. Despite the relentless storms, the inhospitable cold, the dark and dreadful winter, there are those who dare to venture here. Among the snowflakes and blizzards, travelers arrive and depart, driven by reasons known only to them.
Recently, the chill winds carried the whispers of four wizards, members of the Arcane Brotherhood, a formidable society of spellweavers headquartered in far-off Luskan. Driven by hunger for arcane secrets, they’ve come in pursuit of whispers, rumors of a city lost and buried beneath the icy sheath of the Reghed Glacier. A city that once belonged to the Empire of Netheril, a civilization that stood tall, whose sorcerers brandished magic so fearsome it made even the gods tremble.
The magic of Netheril! A lure for those intoxicated by power, a siren song for wizards whose ambitions know no bounds, as the Arcane Brotherhood’s members so often are. The cities of Netheril were marvels that floated in the sky, untouchable citadels that defied assault for ages. Then, nearly two millennia ago, catastrophe struck. A city fell, crashing in ruin during the empire’s downfall, lost to time, buried, and forgotten. Now, it lies hidden, arguably Icewind Dale’s deepest enigma, a tomb holding the remnants of Netherese wizards and their forsaken magic.
What remains of that once-mighty city? What secrets lie frozen, waiting to be discovered? What survived the crash is a mystery, a riddle wrapped in ice, a challenge that beckons to the brave, the curious, the foolhardy. The echoes of a long-lost era call out in the frosty silence, and the tale of Icewind Dale continues to unfold, a story of ambition, magic, and the relentless power of winter.
