Icewind Dale 7-8: The White Moose

After reaching the surface, Erling and his companions soon met with Frizzt. After burying their dead companions, they left for Lonelywood.

When we arrived at Lonelywood, we spoke with Speaker Nimsy Huddle, who told us, "Our loggers are being terrorized by a white moose and the beast has eluded the hunters we've sent to kill it. We depend on the forest for our survival. I wouldn't be a very good town speaker if I let a dumb moose get the better of us." Erling agreed to help for 125 gold coins.

We spent the night in Nimsy Huddle's attic and departed for Lonelywood forest the next day.

After defeating a woodland spirit in the woods, Erling eventually found the moose's tracks, which we followed to a large, circular indentation in a snowy hillside. Rising from the middle of this circle was a triangular gnomon of beautifully carved crystal that stood twenty feet tall. A ten-foot-high berm hugged the circle's eastern edge, surrounded by evergreens, sheltering what looked like a sarcophagus buried under snow and enclosed by a half-circle of pale blue crystal pillars. North of the berm was a delicately carved gazebo made of marble, and south of the berm was a row of outward-facing, white marble statues atop granite pillars. Embedded in the hillside south of the circular indentation was a stone door with no visible handles or hinges.

The six elevated, white marble statues arranged in a line depicted slender, robed figures facing northward. A seventh statue stood alone atop the northern tip, facing south. The engravings on their faces had been worn away by the wind, but pointed ears made the statues identifiable as elves.

In the middle of the gazebo sat an unlit stone brazier, its bowl twenty inches in diameter. The brazier was full of snow and pine needles that the winds had swept away from the gazebo's polished marble floor.

Atop the eastern berm, a half-circle of five crystal pillars partially surrounded a granite sarcophagus. Clearing the snow off the lid revealed an engraving of a brazier. We also noticed a carving near the top of each pillar; from north to south, these images depict a twig, a pine cone, a flame, a feather, and a humanoid hand.

A rough hole had been punched in the wall in the northwest edge of the depression, creating a dark opening that led under the hill. Rising from the center of the circular depression was a tall, triangular, crystal gnomon. The snow around the gnomon was melted away, revealing a circle of symbols carved into the stone around it. The symbols depicted phases of the moon, some of which bore inscriptions, "Gaze upon your own face and have seven questions answered" and "Unlock the tombs of the half moon."

Entering the hole to the northwest, we encountered the white moose with red glowing eyes. While we were fighting it, we were attacked by a herd of summoned mountain goats and a frost druid.

The druid and her minions overwhelmed us, and the last I recall was her screaming, "Ten-Towns will be destroyed—if not by my hand, then by the Frostmaiden's!"

The next thing I knew, Blaze was reviving me.

We agreed to rest briefly and return to face the druid before her power was fully replenished.

We fought the frost druid in her lair, along with a flock of summoned blood hawks, but this time we were victorious.

The druid's companion, a shrub we referred to as Mr. Twig, revealed to us that, the frost druid, Ravisin, blamed Ten-Towners for the death of her twin sister, also a frost druid, whose corpse Ravisin hid in the sarcophagus. Ravisin awakened many beasts and plants throughout Icewind Dale. Some of them, such as the white moose, were of an evil bent. Others weren't. Ravisin often complained about the scruples of the lake monster she awakened in Maer Dualdon. Ravisin used moonbeam spells to trigger the moon dial, enabling the white moose to scry on loggers and hunters by using a magic mirror.

Unable to explore the tomb any further until the phases of the moon shifted, we returned to Lonelywood, defeating a brown bear and a pack of wolves on the way.

On the way, Erling suggested we try to find a healer powerful enough to revive their fallen companions, collecting the required funds in the meantime, and magically preserving the bodies until then.

Back in Lonelywood, we were paid by Speaker Nimsy Huddle, and returned to Termalaine.

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