The thing about sitting atop a frozen treasure hoard in an isolated, abandoned fortress is its potential to become a siege.

Because recovering a white dragon’s frozen treasure should not be quick process. Characters aren’t simply shoveling loose coins into a pile of sacks before heading back to Phandalin for celebratory drinks at the Stonehill Inn. They’re excavating thousands of frozen coins, gemstones, and a few magic items from beneath a thick sheet of ice atop a freezing mountain fastness in subzero temperatures.

Which means the characters are going to be staying at Icespire Hold for awhile.

And that has the potential to create problems that can drive game play for several sessions.

One of the details about Icespire Hold that’s easy to overlook is the temperature hazard.

At night, temperatures plunge below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Characters exposed to the cold risk exhaustion, slowed movement, disadvantage on checks, and eventually freezing to death. If the party plans on staying at the fortress for several days while excavating the hoard, they need heat.

Which means they need fire.

Which means they need the chimneys.

And that means smoke. Lots of smoke.

On a clear day, it’s entirely plausible somebody in Phandalin notices smoke curling from the distant mountains thirty miles away. In fact, for many townsfolk, this may be the first time they’ve ever truly seen Icespire Hold. Think about that for a second.

For years, the fortress has existed as a distant ruin somewhere high in the Sword Mountains. Most people probably know it only by rumor. But now there’s smoke pouring from its chimney day and night like a signal beacon announcing to the entire region that something is happening up there.

Who might be interested?

Stone-Cold Reavers. It makes so much more sense for the Stone-Cold Reavers to show up at Icespire Hold after Cryovain is slain or driven off.

Before the dragon’s death, the group’s presence at Icespire Hold didn’t make a lick of sense. This band of mercenaries hiding out in the gatehouse, waiting for the dragon to wander off while absolutely freezing their asses off without being able to light a fire. And, like, a dragon that has blindsight, darkvision, and a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 16 wouldn’t go sniffing around the gatehouse the moment a Stone-Cold Reaver let a fart sneak out? I mean, c’mon!

The Stone-Cold Reavers would understand the significance of smoke from a chimney fire in the vicinity of an abandoned fortress they already had designs on. They’d show their faces at Icespire Hold after they thought the dragon was dead or fled.

Maybe the Reavers arrive under the pretense of helping defend the site, or to offer extra labor in exchange for a cut of the hoard. This could set up a fun bit of Wisdom (Insight) checks for the characters to navigate. Or perhaps they’re a nighttime random encounter sneak attack for unlucky characters who draw an overnight watch.

Or maybe the characters wake one morning to discover fresh bootprints in the snow surrounding the fortress.

Zhentarim Mercenaries. There’s a member of the Black Network in Phandalin, and she probably knows more about the legend of Icespire Hold than most of the folks in Phandalin. So, Halia Thornton would likely take an interest in the possibility of the hold suddenly showing signs of habitation. Ruins hide forgotten wealth, and the Zhentarim have the resources and personnel to pursue it wherever it might be found.

If you want muscle behind her operation, the Seven Snakes from Storm King’s Thunder slide into this role beautifully as Zhentarim enforcers dispatched to secure the treasure before anyone else can claim it. Maybe the mercenaries are passing through town, since there’s a member of their network in Phandalin. Or perhaps Halia starts sending messages via her flying snakes, calling Black Network mercenaries to Phandalin for the task.

The Cult of the Dragon. Whether the timeline works with the adventure or not, the Cult of the Dragon has a presence along the Triboar Trail during or adjacent to the timeline for the Tyranny of Dragons adventure. There are no phones. No internet. Word gets around slowly, even if Tiamat has been defeated – if people were even aware of an existential threat of that magnitude to begin with. Anyway, just like most folks, word of Tiamat’s defeat may not reach autonomous cells of the Cult of the Dragon for months or years after the Cult’s mission has come to an end.

There was a Cult of the Dragon cell that sought out Venomfang. Why wouldn’t another seek out Cryovain? He isn’t merely rumored to be in the area, after all. People in the region are in a panic after spotting the white dragon several different times.

Perhaps the cultists would seek to curry favor with Cryovian by dealing with intruders who are discovered pawing at his hoard. Or, mayhaps they’d take umbrage at the sight of the slain dragon, and claim his treasure to add to the hoard the cult is building for Tiamat’s return.

Sword Mountain Denizens. And then there’s the monstrous denizens of the mountains themselves. Perhaps the orcs that go on to become Anchorites of Talos return to their mountain fastness. Or the manticore and it’s mate find their way to Icespire Hold, looking to have a go at the dragon that initially drove them from the mountains – only to find tasty humanoids inhabiting the ruined fortress instead.

There’s also ogres and harpies that might vex the characters as they go about their excavation. And if that’s not enough, the mountain may try to kill them itself with brutal cold, avalanches triggered by earthquakes, or skirling winds that try to toss a character down the mountainside.

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To wrap up this unexpected little series on Cryovain’s hoard (I didn’t intend to write this much on the topic), this is why Cryovain’s hoard should exist. It can be fun for both the Dungeon Master and the players at the table as their characters navigate all of these very real, highly possible complications, and not solely because the characters need a payout at the end of the adventure.

A dragon’s hoard should be a sort of adventure itself. One that creates logistical difficulties, hazardous scenarios, and memorable clashes with opportunists, rivals, predators, and claimants.

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