The Ten Towns

Life in Ten-Towns

Ten-Towns

Coming up the hard road from the south, the first thing you’ll see is Kelvin’s Cairn, a great mountain scarred by a crack down its southwestern face. Even in high summer, its peak is capped in snow and ice. In the mountain’s southern shadow is Bryn Shander, the largest, most populous, and most fortified of the Ten-Towns of Icewind Dale. Ten-Towns is a grouping of communities clustered around the three lakes of the area: Maer Dualdon, from which the Shaengarne River flows down toward Ironmaster; Lac Dinneshere to the east, whose waters are nearly always cold enough to kill; and Redwaters, named for an old battle between rival fisherfolk that left the waters bloody.

Ten-Towns thrives on fishing and trade, both endeavors reliant on the knucklehead trout of Icewind Dale’s lakes. Without these fish, the people of Ten-Towns would starve, but there would also be little for them to barter or sell. The ivory-like bones of these fish are the basis of the famous scrimshaw that is sold as far south as Calimshan and farther east than I care to consider. The bones are also used to make all manner of small, sturdy tools: fish hooks, arrowheads, sewing needles, buttons, and more. Each town on the lakes has its own fleet of fishing boats, and the towns carefully divide the lakes to protect the population and the delicate balance between the communities.

Independent-minded folk who come to Ten-Towns are discouraged from striking out on their own, and when they do, they often fail, either due to the dangers of the waters, being blocked out of the best fishing areas, or simply being refused trade by the scrimshanders, whose wares are expensive. Icewind Dale is a place where cooperation is essential for survival, and ignoring that fact can leave one quite alone in a time of need.

Where nine of the Ten-Towns survive primarily on fishing, Bryn Shander lives on trade, making it the place to visit when you come here. The walls keep the town safe from barbarians who raid the area and the beasts of the tundra, and the packing in of its people means Bryn Shander is also warmer than the other towns, both literally and in terms of the welcome you receive.

I have visited only a few of the other towns, and while they have their quirks and charms, they are mostly what you might expect: fishing villages at the edge of frigid waters in a frozen waste. Certainly, there is trade to be done, coin to be made, and intrigue to be investigated in even in the smallest of these communities (which can number as few as a hundred souls). The only other point of interest is the town of Targos, on Maer Dualdon, which has grown rapidly and is threatening to burst the bounds of its protective wall, and thus has a hum of opportunity about it.

Icewind Dale has precious few trees, so lumber for building is imported from southern lands or cut from the slopes of the Spine of the World. Stones from Kelvin’s Cairn or the dwarven valley supplement wood as a building material. Homes have sharply pitched roofs to prevent snow from accumulating on them. Comfort—specifically, warmth—always trumps fashion in the frigid north. The people of Ten-Towns wear layers of woolen clothing, often topped off with fur cloaks. The careful layering of different-colored cloth creates a simple form of ornamentation. 

The traditional crafts of Ten-Towns involve intricate designs incorporating wirework and the knucklehead scrimshaw for which the region is famous.

Each of the towns has an elected speaker who leads the community and represents its interests. Roughly eight times a year, weather permitting, all the speakers gather in the council hall in Bryn Shander to discuss matters of shared interest. These meetings usually devolve into petty arguments about fishing territories, but occasionally they deal with more serious matters. The speaker of Bryn Shander, currently Duvessa Shane, is the nominal head of this council.

Even fugitives and scoundrels who settle in Ten-Towns eventually learn that they need to contribute to the community if they want to survive. Every so often, though, miscreants arrive in Icewind Dale, often from the crime-ridden city of Luskan, and try to live off the work of others. They rarely last long.

Bremen

Population: 150.  Speaker: Dorbulgruf Shalescar

Bremen is the westernmost of the Ten Towns. In the past, it attracted all manner of gold prospectors, travelers and treasure-hunters. Founded by dwarf prospectors, the sleepy town of Bremen sits on the west bank of Maer Dualdon, at the mouth of the Shaengarne River. Bremen’s harbor has frozen, requiring local fishers to haul their boats across the ice to put them in the lake. The lights of Targos, Termalaine, and Lonelywood are all visible from the docks on clear days.

Bryn Shander

Population: 1,200.  Speaker: Duvessa Shane

Located atop a hill, the circular walled town of Bryn Shander is the biggest of the Ten Towns and a major trading center. It is the gateway to its fellow towns of the dale, as well as their lifeline to the rest of civilization to the south. 

Caer Dineval

Population: 100.

Easthaven

Population: 750

Good Mead

Population: 100.  Speaker: Kendrick Rielsbarrow

Founded by immigrants from Chult, Good Mead is nestled between Redwaters and a nearby evergreen forest. The town’s squat dwellings, adorned with carvings of dinosaurs and serpents, lizard and cat people, are overshadowed by the two-story structure of the mead hall, its eaves carved and painted to resemble wyverns.

Lonelywood

Population: 100.  Speaker: Nimsy Huddle

The northernmost municipality in Ten-Towns is a remote community of loggers and fishers, humble folk engaged in hard, honest labor, scratching out a living at the edge of the world.

Targos

Population: 1,000.  Speaker: 

Almost all the towns in Icewind Dale make their living off the lakes, but nowhere is that fact more evident than in Targos. The town has always had the biggest fishing fleet and the biggest fishing industry, and everything that goes on here revolves around hauling the knucklehead trout out of Maer Dualdon. The endless winter makes the work harder, but it gets done nonetheless.

Termalaine

Population: 600.  Speaker: Oarus Masthew

Unlike the other of the Ten Towns, Termalaine seems to have been planned by those who appreciate more than just the utilitarian uses of buildings and streets. Here along the spacious streets, you see exotic wood, curved roofs, domes, statues, opulent decorations and colorful flags crisscrossing the tree-lined streets in the style of a far-off land.   Magic appears to be practiced in the open, as you see magic users casting simple spells to entertain passers-by, then pass their hat for coins.