I’ve been poking around the internet, trying to figure out how the people of Icewind Dale have survived 2 years of extreme cold and darkness. I’ve decided to add magical plants in Icewind Dale to partially explain how the people are eating. This is a quick list, and I’ll be adding more as time goes on.
Edible Magical Plants in Icewind Dale
The first thing the people need is food! Here are a couple of plants I’m going to add…..
Cold Beets:
Cold Beets are similar to normal beets, but can survive and grow in extreme cold. Rather than absorb sunlight to grow, they feed on moonlight. No one knows how or why that works, but it does. Cold Beets take 2 months to go from seed to edible root. However, once you plant them in one area, you can’t plant them in that same area again for 12 months. Farmers therefore need a lot of land to grow these. Unlike normal beets, the leaves are poisonous. They can be brewed to create a poison that will cause weakness and drowsiness for up to a day! (game rule: this poison (DC 12 Constitution save) causes the victim to be slowed and gain one level of exhaustion until they take a long rest)
One cold beet root can feed one person per day, if supplemented with other items. About 10% of people are allergic to cold beets, with their skin turning red for up to a week after eating them. Once a person’s skin is red, it stays that way for about 2-3 months, during which time they cannot eat more cold beets without becoming ill.
Frozen Fungi:
Frozen fungi grow under the snow. While not exactly rare, they are not easy to find because they must grow under at least 2 feet of snow. Unfortunately, they cannot be cultivated and farmed, they only grow in the wild. A typical find will feed a family of four for about 3-5 days, as a patch of frozen fungi is quite large.
In addition, frozen fungi can be brewed into a tea. This tea consumes a full day of food for a person, but drinking it is like concentrated nutrition. While it won’t fulfill caloric needs, it keeps the drinker from suffering from lack of fruit and vegetable intake. It also prevents frost bite for 1 month!
Other Magical Plants in Icewind Dale
In addition to food, the people need heat and bait!
Auril’s Coldfire Bush:
Those that embrace the worship of Auril still need to stay warm. About 1 in 3 humanoids that worship her are given the gift of a coldfire bush. These magical plants can be placed in any hearth or firepit (or like). The plant gives off enough heat to keep people from freezing to death. Sacrifices of food or other items must be made to the goddess every week, or the plant stops giving off warmth and instead steals the warmth from any creature within 50 feet. (treat as 5 hit points of cold damage per round)
Fish Food:
Fish food is a magical process of turning fish scales and bones into bait that other fish are attracted to. A cleric or druid can cast a cantrip to create fish food. For every 10 pounds of fish parts, 1 pound of bait is created.
The Bees of Good Mead
Someone on line asked how the bees are alive, or creating honey. Someone on ENWorld suggested the following:
For example: mead. “Why the mead’s made from under-honey, which of course comes from cave bees that pollinate fungi common in the upper regions of the Underdark. Well, ‘pollinate’ is a bit of a misnomer, because the stuff’s spores, not pollen. Also, it sheds ultraviolet radiation. But mead’s mead, even when it’s mildly hallucinogenic and possible tainted with evil. Not to worry, we have a priest bless each new cask, just to be on the safe side…”.