Icespider Hollow

A rush of freezing air seizes your lungs as the world reforms in a narrow cavern of blue-white ice. The walls shimmer faintly, reflecting your torchlight in ghostly patterns. Frost clings to every surface, thick as glass. The air is utterly still — no exit, no sound, only the echo of your own breathing.

Two frost-rimmed chests sit against the wall beside. A small burlap sack of herbs, impossibly green and fragrant despite the cold, lays on the opposite wall.

Both chests are sealed with a faint magical frost (can be opened with Alohomora or DC 12 Thieves’ Tools).

Chest One — The Getaway Kit: Spare boots, gloves, and rope Chest Two — The Hidden Cache: A worn map and a small vial of Ice Widow Venom (apply to weapon: next hit deals +2d8 cold damage)

Sack of Herbs: A pouch of herbs containing the ingredients for Polyjuice potion

Escaping the room

The party will need to break down the wall to get out of the room

A thin line of light leaks through a crack in the far wall. When you press close, frigid air seeps through — another chamber beyond. The ice is solid as steel. It will take force — perhaps a well-aimed spell — to break through.

Casting Bombarda, Shatter, or a strong force effect opens the way.

The Ice Widow’s Ambush (Read Aloud)

The wall gives way with a thunderous crack — and the sound is answered immediately. A screech, chitin scraping against ice, and a sudden blur of pale movement. A massive spider, translucent as frozen glass, lunges from the darkness, eyes gleaming like cold stars.

The Ice Widow attacks, driving the players deeper into the Hollow.

Main Chamber (Read Aloud)

You stumble into a vast spiraling cavern, the walls ribbed with layers of ice like the inside of a great shell. Webs glisten between the stalactites, each strand humming softly in the cold. At the center, a mound of bones — human, animal, impossible to tell — lies half-frozen in the floor. The air pulses faintly, as if the cave itself were breathing.

Item: Fang of the Frozen Widow

(Reskinned Dagger of Venom, uncommon)

Weapon (dagger), uncommon (requires attunement)
A translucent blue fang taken from the Ice Widow. The blade drips faint frost when unsheathed.

• +1 to attack and damage rolls.
• Once per long rest, as a bonus action, you can coat the blade in icy venom. The next creature you hit must succeed on a DC 13 Con save or take 2d10 cold damage and be slowed (as the slow spell, 1 round).

Side Cave Discovery (Read Aloud)

Down a narrow side passage lies a shallow alcove lit by faint bioluminescent frost. A single sleeping blanket is frozen to the stone beside a skeleton slumped against the wall — its wand still clutched in bony fingers. A brittle letter lies nearby, sealed with a cracked red wax rune.

The Letter (handout text):

“S.,
The snow spirits here still whisper your name. If you ever return, you’ll find I kept your secret — though I wish I hadn’t.
The ice shows too much truth.
May the stars forgive you, old friend.
— Theo.”