The frost maiden.
Auril, also known as The Frost Maiden and Lady Frostkiss or Elsa, is the evil goddess of ice and winter in the Dungeons & Dragons setting of Forgotten Realms. She is the main villain of the adventure module Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
Description[]
She usually appears to mortals either as an attractive human woman with blue skin and white, snowy hair or as a monstruos snowy owl with horns. She represents the cruelty of winter, and she has a fickle, vain, cold, apathetic and arrogant personality. She is mostly worshipped out of fear. Her desire is to cover the world of Toril in ice and snow and trap it in a never ending ice age. Her clerics are mandated to spread deadly cold and quench fire and other sources of heat wherever they are found. She can also take the form of a large floating diamond called the Winter's Tomb.
Realm[]
Auril lives in her castle, Winter's Hall, in the NE/CE plane of Pandemonium.
Relationship[]
Auril formed a team with the other evil nature gods Malar, Talos and Umberlee, called the Deities of Fury with the purprose of spreading the destructive and terrifying aspects of nature all over the world to cause fear and respect in mortals. Auril and Umberlee were quite friendly with each other, while Malar was mistrusted by the frost maiden.
Following the Spellplague, Auril had a falling out with the other deities of fury. After having gained significant power by siphoning the faiths of Ulutiu, Aerdrie Faenya, and Talos into her own. In addition to her classic portfolio of cold and winter, the Frostmaiden claimed dominion over wind and storms, bringing her into direct conflict with the ancient primordial power Akadi and her former companions.
Chauntea, the benevolent mother goddess of nature, is Auril's archenemy. Sune, the goddess of love and beaty, also hated Auril for ruining what is beautiful in the world.
Biography[]
Auril's monster avatar.
In the 15th century, Auril invaded her former friend Umberlee's domain by freezing her chaotic water. Umberlee called Malar and Talos for help, and together, the three gods of fury forced Auril to hide in the coldest region of Toril, the Sea of Moving Ice. From there, the frost maiden afflicted the region of Icewind Dale with her Evelasting Rime, a never ending blizzard that threatened to destroy the Ten-Towns. Each midnight, Auril would travel across the sky astride her white roc, trailing an aurora behind her as she cast the spells that kept the sun at bay and conjured the snow storms that wracked the region.
Trapped in this magical weather, Icewind Dale became increasingly dangerous, and the folk of Ten Towns grew increasingly desperate. While some speculated that the People began making fruitless sacrifices to appease the frost maiden, beginning with offerings of food and warmth (in which they put out all fires and forced themselves to suffer the cold), but soon escalating to sacrifices of fellow townsfolk. At the same time, the darkened skies provided an opportunity for Xardorok Sunblight and his duergar clan to prepare for an invasion of the dale.
Auril's mortal avatar was eventually defeated by a group of adventurers who were investigating the phenomenon afflicting the Ten-Town, and the Everlasting Rime was ended, bringing peace back to Icewind Dale.
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