Session 3 & 4 — Exploring Phandalin¶
Session 3 — Arrival in Phandalin¶
Getting settled¶
The party travelled to Phandalin with the supplies recovered from Cragmaw Hideout and Sildar at their side. On arrival Sildar headed for the town hall to chase leads on Gundren Rockseeker — he had a contact, a wizard named Iarno Albrek who'd arrived in town a few weeks back and might be able to help, if he could be found.
It was getting late, so the party settled in at the Stonehill Inn.
The innkeeper, Toblen Stonehill, was looking worse for wear — black eye, broken arm. He explained that a gang of ruffians called the Redbrands had taken over the town a few weeks prior, shaking down local businesses and operating out of Tresendar Manor, the defunct mansion on the hill overlooking Phandalin.
The overheard conversation¶
The heroes spent the night at the inn, and on their way out in the morning overheard Toblen talking with his son Pip. Pip had been playing with a friend from the Alderleaf Farm and the two of them had found a secret entrance in the woods, underneath the manor.
Only the friend knew exactly where.
Leads around town¶
Toblen pointed them at a few other people who might know something about Gundren or the Redbrands:
- Daran Edermath, who tends the Edermath Orchard
- Sister Garaele, who runs the shrine of luck
- Townmaster Harbin Webster, who might have paying work at the town hall
- The Sleeping Giant Inn down the road, where the Redbrands drink
Armed with all of it, the party went exploring.
Daran Edermath¶
Daran knew nothing useful about the Redbrands, but he did tell them about Thundertree — a town northwest of Phandalin, recently abandoned after a dragon and a pack of undead moved in and displaced everyone. He'd investigate himself, but his adventuring days are long behind him.
The Alderleaf Farm¶
Next stop was the farm, to talk to the kid with the lead on the secret entrance. He walked them out to it. Monsters had reportedly been seen going in and out lately.
It seemed like exactly the information they needed — but before going in, the party wanted more.
Turning the tables at the Sleeping Giant¶
They headed for the Sleeping Giant Inn, where Krunk gave the Redbrands a shaking down of their own. Two things came out of it: the leader of the Redbrands was a man called Glasstaff, and their headquarters was almost certainly the manor.
Sister Garaele and the banshee¶
Before moving on the manor, the party checked in with Sister Garaele. She couldn't help with the Redbrands, but she had her own problem — she needed to know the whereabouts of a particular magic tome, and the only one who might know was a banshee half a day's ride away. In exchange, she offered a waterskin of everflowing water.
The party rode out and spoke with the banshee. After some tense moments, Arthas talked their way through it and got the answer: the tome has been lost to antiquity.
Not what Sister Garaele wanted to hear — but a deal is a deal, and the waterskin was theirs.
Session 4 — Tresendar Manor and beyond¶
The nothic¶
The party finally moved on the Redbrands, entering through the secret cave entrance they'd been shown. Inside they were met almost immediately by a nothic that had taken up residence there — they felt its presence before they saw it.
It asked them, telepathically, to hand over some meat. Maybe then they could pass.
Fortunately the party was still carrying several pounds of horse jerky from the barbecue outside Cragmaw Hideout. They handed over all of it.
The nothic let them through, and volunteered two things:
- There was treasure at the bottom of the nearby crevasse
- Their future was blank
That second one landed strangely. The nothic can normally see anyone's future. The party's contained only static, and it couldn't see through.
Down in the crevasse
Gerald recovered the magic longsword Talon. They also found a man's body thrown down there very recently.
Into the manor¶
The barracks. A room full of bugbears harassing a goblin. Quickly dispatched.
The jail. The party freed Mirna Dendrar, a Phandalin resident. She thanked them and mentioned her husband had been taken too — his description matched the body in the crevasse. In gratitude, she told them about her family's abandoned apothecary in Thundertree, and the protective amulet still inside it, theirs if they could brave the undead.
Glasstaff's quarters. The party surprised him, catching him literally with his pants down behind his desk reading gnome porn.
Who Glasstaff turned out to be¶
Iarno Albrek
Glasstaff was Iarno Albrek — the very wizard Sildar had come to Phandalin to find.
He'd been sent to help the town. Instead he took over the Redbrands, put on a new name, and spent the intervening weeks shaking down the people he was meant to protect.
So Sildar's missing contact was found. Not the way anyone wanted.
What Glasstaff gave up¶
Shackled for his crimes, Glasstaff talked. He'd seen something in the world that looked terrible — something that would shatter it as we know it. He'd been researching without figuring out what, but he had a feeling it radiated from Wave Echo Cave.
Then the piece they'd actually come for:
Glasstaff was working under contract for The Black Spider, a drow wizard hunting the secrets of Wave Echo Cave and the old magic inside it.
He'd learned that Gundren had been surveying the cave, and kidnapped him to lead the way through.
Gundren was being held in the cave.
The ogre at Wyvern Tor¶
Before heading out, the party checked in with Harbin Webster at the townmaster's hall, where he was tacking up a wanted poster: an ogre at Wyvern Tor had been stopping trade caravans in the area. The bounty was 100gp, which was good enough.
They travelled to its last known whereabouts, coaxed the monsters out of the cave, and took them down after a fierce battle.
Thundertree¶
One loose end remained before Wave Echo Cave. The party rode to Thundertree for the amulet.
Inside the town they found a horde of undead, which Niko swiftly Turned and sent running. They also met a kindly druid named Red, who told them a fierce dragon called Venomfang had taken the tower at the end of town. Red wanted balance restored and would appreciate the dragon being dealt with.
The party then attempted to shake him down for loot. Red turned into a mouse and ran away.
The cultists and Venomfang¶
They found the amulet in the apothecary, then stumbled on a group of cultists holed up in a small house. Fenro used illusion magic to disguise himself as one of them and asked what they were up to.
Dragon worshippers, as it turned out, about to deliver an offering to Venomfang to earn his favor. Fenro offered to tag along, the rest of the party trailing behind.
Venomfang told the cultists they were insignificant worms and melted every one of them with a single breath.
With the dragon's breath weapon spent, the party sprang from the shadows. He fought back, but was overwhelmed quickly — leaving the hoard to the victors.
Hew
Krunk claimed the magic axe Hew from Venomfang's treasure. It deals maximum damage to plant-based monsters.
The deed¶
One last piece of business. The party asked Harbin Webster for the deed to Tresendar Manor. With Glasstaff captured and the Redbrands cleared out, it was a reasonable enough request — and the party walked away with a brand new hideout.
They immediately put the waterskin of everflowing water to work and started their own brewery out of the manor, hiring Mirna Dendrar as barkeep.
What changed¶
- Phandalin is free of the Redbrands. Glasstaff captured, gang broken.
- Glasstaff unmasked as Iarno Albrek, Sildar's missing contact.
- The party owns Tresendar Manor — and now runs a brewery out of it.
- Mirna Dendrar hired as barkeep.
- Gundren's location confirmed: Wave Echo Cave, held by the Black Spider.
- Venomfang is dead.
- New gear: Talon (longsword), Hew (axe), the protective amulet, and the waterskin of everflowing water.
- 100gp collected for the Wyvern Tor bounty.
Loose ends¶
- The party's future reads as static. The nothic could see everyone's but theirs.
- Glasstaff felt something radiating from Wave Echo Cave — something that would shatter the world. He never worked out what.
- The Black Spider is still in the cave, and still after the old magic.
- Sildar hasn't been told yet that the man he came looking for is the man in shackles.