You arrive at the sleepy town of Bremen - the most northwesterly of the Ten Towns on the west bank of Maer Dualdon at the mouth of the Shaengarne River. It was founded by dwarf prospectors and still caters for treasure-seekers who pan the riverbank.
The heart of the town is five run-down taverns standing in a semicircle around a central yard. But this is no beacon of revelry; it's a monument to dwarven stubbornness. Five dwarven brothers originally intended to build a tavern together, but each had assumed he would be the one to run the business. Since none of the brothers would work for the others, each built his own tavern, competing for Bremen's scarce customers. They also double as general stores, each selling the same provisions and supplies.
You are the only visitors at The Buried Treasures Inn. Cora, the innkeeper, is friendly, although a little tearful.
Twice in the past two months, residents of Bremen have had to mount search parties for their town speaker and oldest living resident, Dorbulgruf Shalescar. Twice they've found him wandering the frozen shores of the Shaengarne in heavy furs, with no memory of how he got there. Dorbulgruf, old even by dwarf standards, isn't long for this world. Many locals fear the same is true of Bremen if Auril's brutal winter does not abate.
Midwinter is a brutal time of year to be crossing the northwest wastes. Spearwinds flay the skin, mastodon-mounted frost giants hunt in the hills, and white dragons cross the skies. If a traveller is determined and foolhardy enough to brave the wastes, the least deadly course is to follow the frozen Shaengarne west before turning north along Shattered Valley.