Kelvin's Cairn

Kelvin's Cairn is a landmark in Icewind Dale. A free-standing 1000 foot tall mountain fronted by a valley about as deep as the mount is high. The mountain top is always capped with snow and ice even through the short summer.

Reghedmen legend holds that Tempus defeated the frost giant Kelvin in this spot and gouged out the rocks here and piled them on top of his corpse. The truth is that it was once a solid mountain, formed like any other, just on it's own and the weathering it endured in the frozen tundra caused the stone it was made out of to shatter into the loose rocks and boulders that it is today.

The valley was the temporary home of the Battlehammer Clan of Dwarves before Bruenor Battlehammer found and re-took Mithral Hall. From this vale, The dwarves mined iron and forged it into well-crafted weapons and armour that were then sold in Bryn Shander, located at the other end of the valley. Bruenor's Climb is located on the east bank of the valley, while the spot where Aegis-fang was forged is nearer the northern end (tucked up against the southern flank of the mountain's base).

It was atop the Cairn that Akar Kessel conjured up fiery magic with the help of Crenshinibon, that subsequently melted the ice and snow around him, causing an avalanche.