 Oral, the Frostmaiden, the Goddess of Winter. She is a cruel deity, and the land of Icewind Dale is at her mercy. The bitter cold shall give you nothing but strife as you find your way across Icewind Dale. Currently plagued by an everlasting winter, it will be up to you to put an end to the rigid cold. Icewind Dale, Rime with the Frostmaiden, is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure that focuses on the isolation and mystery of the cold region. Released in 2020, its theme of seclusion resonated particularly well with its audience due to the events that unfolded during the year. We will walk through the main story of this brilliantly written book and explore the mysteries that lies within the adventure. Your adventure begins in one of the many towns of Ten Towns. As the name would suggest, Ten Towns is a collection of ten individual towns residing in Icewind Dale. The climate here is rough. Blistering cold freezes every inch of uncovered skin, and the sight of grass and dirt is replaced with ice and snow. A never-ending winter plagues this land. The residents of Ten Towns were once people looking for a place to call their own. This migrant population was composed of outcasts and fugitives that wished to make a home for themselves away from the southern cities. Now, its residents are mostly born into the population. They set forth into the towns and observe the people that roam the area. Often cloaked in thick layers of fur coats, the residents here often resemble one another in the outdoor environment. Due to the unending winter, the residents have adopted strange practices into their customs in hopes of a summer to arise. The larger settlements of Ten Towns have begun sacrificing humanoids to the goddess Oral, the Frostmaiden, and the embodiment of winter's wrath. A lottery is drawn of the population to see who is to be sacrificed and is often rigged but no one dares question it. The unfortunate individual drawn is sacrificed in order to appease the goddess. In the case of smaller settlements where the population is scarce, they relinquish their food instead. When both people and food are unable to be offered, the most cruelling sacrifice is made, the sacrifice of fire for the night. As you explore the frozen cities of Ten Towns, you build yourself a reputation as you complete the request of the townsfolk. Additionally, you see the effects Oral has on these people. She is cruel to the inhabitants and plague the towns you encounter with constant strife. After exploring Icewind Dale and gaining the favor of the citizens of Ten Towns, you hear of a rumor about invisible enemies. These are the Durgar, an evil dwarven race from the Underdark. The Durgar have been infiltrating Ten Towns in search of crystals known as Stardolin that may be constructed into a powerful weapon. Rumors have it that this weapon is to be unleashed upon Ten Towns and bring devastation to the cities. The leader conducting this mad operation is a Durgar named Zarderic Sunblight. The hideout is not too far away and some mountains known as the Spine of the World and having developed a bit of sentiment towards Ten Towns, you decide to investigate it on your own. You make a brutally cold trip into the mountains and find a fortress sitting in the side of the rocky structures. The magnificent site is soon interrupted with giant ice door swinging open from above you. A dragon made of shardolin emerges and lets out a terrible roar. It takes flight directly towards the location of Ten Towns. It is only a matter of moments before the monster lays waste to the town and now you are faced with a difficult decision. Either you rush back to the towns, control the damage or continue to explore the fortress and gather as much information as possible. If you choose to explore the castle, you will find Zarderic and learn more about him. He has been inspired to lead an army from the Underdark and conquer the land of Icewind Dale. These inspirations come to him from what he believes to be the Durgar God of conquest. In actuality, these are just false whispers from the Lord of the Nine Hells himself, Asmodeus. Zarderic has also become obsessed with shardolin and has been driven to madness by the magic that forges the mineral. Overcome with the paranoia, he refuses to let any of his allies get close to him, including his sons. Despite this, he has invited Grandulfa Musgart in hopes of courting her. Unfortunately for him, you learn that Grandulfa plans to overthrow him and take his position when the moment arises. Through exploring the fortress, you encounter both Grandulfa and Zarderok within the walls. You may choose to eliminate Zarderok, but the moment that he is gone, Grandulfa will replace him as the leader. Whether you choose to stay and explore the fortress or chase the dragon as soon as it emerges, you'll make your way back to Tentown to prevent as much of the destruction as possible. On the path to Tentowns, you encounter a human wizard of the arcane brotherhood named Veline Harpole. Accompanying her are some cold-bold companions. She asks if she can be of assistance and you tell her of the mechanical dragon that is headed towards Tentowns. Without hesitation, Veline offers to help fend off the dragon, claiming a wizard worth her weight never passes up a chance to test her magic against the mightiest foes. This is only a ruse to gain your trust, for she has actually been searching for you to make a request. The two of you travel towards Tentowns with great haste. Once at Tentowns, you bear witness to the destruction of one or more towns depending on your length of stay at Zarderok's fortress. Wherever the dragon has traveled to, ruins and rubbles remain. Intercepting the dragon, you find it flying in the sky, breathing beams of destructive radiance onto the land. A standoff commends between those in the town and the mechanical dragon. You, Veline, and the townsfolk are eventually successful in vanquishing the dragon and turning it into a heap of scrap. Veline approaches you after the battle and requests that you help her discover an ancient city called Ethern. It is located beneath a glacier and is the lost fragment of the Empire of the Netherreal. Here lies many ancient artifacts and, perhaps, a method to end the everlasting winter. Grateful for her aid in the battle, you accept her request. She tells you of two magical objects that may help in traversing through Ethern. The Cautical of White is an object located in the Sea of Moving Ice that may break through the glacier that entombs Ethern. The professor orbits a family heirloom to Veline and contains knowledge that will help navigate the city. It was stolen from her by a former colleague named Nass Latimir. With a new direction in mind, the two of you set forth to find the two magical objects. Traveling through the Sea of Moving Ice, you find a large snowflake-like island in the middle of the sea. In the center of the island is a large mountain with its peak carved to resemble a skull wearing a crown. As you explore the island, you find both the Professor Orb and the Cautical of White. The Professor Orb is found buried in the hands of a body that belongs to Nass Latimir. Her ghost haunts the body and appears to those who pry the orb from her dead hands. The Cautical of White is located in the skull structure known as Grimskall. Through traversing Grimskall and during many of its trials, you make your way into the structure and find both Oral and the Cautical. The Cautical contains a poem known as Rime of the Frostmaiden that allows you passage through the glacier that contains the lost city. If you choose to learn more of Oral, you find that she uses a rock to fly into the night sky. During these nightly trips, she casts a spell that prevents the sun from rising over Icewind Dale. Engaging the goddess may be a terrible idea, but destroying her pet rock will put an end to the everlasting winter. Whichever you choose to do, you equip yourself with the two relics and make your way to Ethern. Veline encourages you to make haste towards the glacier that encapsulates Ethern. Her rivals from her organization may be on their way and she wishes to be the first to uncover the city's secrets. You head into Reghead Glacier where the city is buried deep below the ice. When approaching the ice, Veline encourages you to read aloud the Rime of the Frostmaiden. Doing so, the glacier splits apart, leaving an opening in the ice. You travel through the ice down into a winding maze encountering creatures of an ancient civilization. As you approach the passage that leads to Ethern, you can't help but feel like you're being followed. You've finally reached the Nethere city of Ethern. It is not as picturesque as you had hoped. It is a necropolis, a city of black surrounded by the bright blue ice that engulfs it. The mages who once inhabited the city have turned into grotesque nothics, creatures with sharp claws and a singular eye. As you travel the city, a watchful Demulich named Maritho Lartha observes you in the distance. He hopes that you have come from another Nethere civilization as a rescue team and attacks you once he finds out that you are not. The Demulich wishes to protect the magical objects in the city. After defeating him, you find his staff that seems to activate an obelisk in the center of the town. Who knows what will happen when you activate it, but the choice is yours. Perhaps it'd be fun to try it, you know, for science. Not far behind you is a typhling named Avaris. She's a competitor to Veline and belongs to the same organization. Oddly, tagging along with her is a cult called the Knights of the Black Sword. Avaris and the cultists are both led here by an archdevil named Levistus. When traveling through the city, you encounter some cultists who will extend an invitation to Veline to meet with Avaris. This is almost certainly a trap. If you don't convince Veline to ignore it, she most certainly will be walking into a confrontation. You explore the city and lay claim to various magical items until you've disturbed the peace too much. If Oral hasn't been slain, she will magically announce to you that she will come and your meddling. This is your second chance to end the Frost Maiden. Within the city is a large artifact called the Aetheran Mythilar that may change the weather of Icewind Dale. However, this is only temporary and eliminating Oral is the only permanent solution. With so many options and so much to do, you make your choices and bring the adventure to an end. If you manage to bring Summer back to Icewind Dale through defeating Oral or using the Aetheran Mythilar, the 10 towns celebrate your victory. You are hailed as a hero and help rebuild the towns destroyed during the destruction of the Sharderland Dragon. From helping the towns, you are offered to lead them into a brighter future. If you are unable to stop the everlasting winter, the realm of Icewind Dale freezes over the following years. It becomes completely inhabitable and Levestis, Archdevil of the Sixth Layer of the Nine Hells, opens a portal from his domain to the icy wasteland. Devils pour out through the portal and begin their conquest of the world, one icy town at a time. If you are foolish enough to activate the obelisk, the world around you shifts and changes. You are thrusted back into a time before the fall of the Netherees. The grim city is now bright and lively with mages roaming the streets. In this world, the cold snow of Icewind Dale is beneath the floating city and 10 towns is nowhere to be found. Technically, you've put an end to the everlasting winter in the sense that for you, it no longer exists. Hello, everybody. I hope you enjoyed the quick summary of Icewind Dale, Rhyme of the Frostmaiden. If you enjoyed the video, I'd really appreciate a like and subscribe. Thanks.