First Published 9 July 2016 | Last Updated 22 January 2020
This article is relative to The Material Plane.

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World Date: 17 Flamerule 1490
Session Date: 1 July 2016

As the sun dipped below the horizon the party decided it was time to look for an inn to the stay the night at. They returned to The Stonehill Inn, not far back down the road from where they were.

The front bar of the inn was quaint, and they were met by Toblin Stonehill, the owner, upon entering. Toblin was a human male of shorter than average height, and was very friendly - but only once he had established that the adventurers were not hostile or 'Redbrands'.

In the corner sat a human woman who was working on some paperwork. A small boy sat with her, nagging her. Elia approached her and she introduced herself as Trilene, Toblin's wife, and the child was their son Pip. The party purchased some lodgings, and some mead for a silver piece each, while Pip headed off the kitchen to prepare their meal.

In the meantime one of the other bar patrons, a man who was obviously a farmer of some sorts, approached them and introduced himself as Narth. He told them that a local cleric Sister Garaele, that runs The Shrine Of Luck in the town centre, recently left town for a few days and returned bruised and bloody - leaving him very suspicious of her.

Another man sat quietly in the corner looking into his mead. Elia approached him and ordered him another drink. She asked him various questions but he ignored her. As she began to walk away, less than impressed with his rudeness, she realised she could hear him snoring - He was asleep. She gently woke him, and he introduced himself as Lanar, a local miner. She asked if he thought anyone around town seemed suspicious, and he said he didn't trust Halia Thornton, the owner of the Phandalin Mining Exchange. He claimed she often paid the miners far less then she should have for their finds. He then fell back to sleep over his glass of mead.

Pip brought them out a large pig on a plate, and whilst carving it proceeded to tell them all about his friend Carp (was he his friend? he doesn't even like him) who found a grated tunnel in the woods (did he find a tunnel? he doubts it very much) that had some Redbrands near it (were there really Redbrands near it? probably not). The tunnel was near the ruins of the old Tresendar Manor on the east side of town. After such a busy day (and much mead), the party retired to their sleeping quarters.

They awoke early the following day and decided to head straight to The Townmaster's Hall to meet with Sildar. The Townmaster's Hall was a large hall with tables and chairs spread around. Sildar sat with a portly fellow who was introduced to the party as Harbin Wester, the current Phandalin Townmaster. Sildar proceeded to tell them the tale of how they had come to be in their current situation.

• Gundren Rockseeker and his two brothers found the entrance to a lost mine known as Wave Echo Cave not far from here.
• The cave was prosperous about 500 years ago in both it's gems and it's Forge Of Spells.
• The Forge Of Spells was a special location in the mines that for some reason had great magical energy. When used properly The Forge could power magical weapons.
• His two brothers Thundren and Nundro arrived in town prior to Gundren, and headed to the Wave Echo Cave to begin preparations. They have not been heard from since.
• Sildar had accompanied his good friend Gundren from Neverwinter to Phandalin, but they were waylaid by The Cragmaw Tribe on route. He was not sure of Gundren's current whereabouts, but overhead the goblins saying they were taking him to somewhere called 'Cragmaw Castle'.
• At the time he was taken Gundren had the only map of the location of Wave Echo Cave in his possession.
• Sildar was part of a collective known as The Lords' Alliance, a political group devoted to protecting those that require assistance, so he had come to Phandalin to ensure the town was prepared for the influx of traffic the re-opening of the Wave Echo Cave would bring.
• He also mentioned that a friend of his, a fellow member of The Lords' Alliance named Iarno Albrek, was dispatched a few weeks ahead of him to act as a 'sheriff' for the town until later reinforcements arrived. Iarno unfortunately stopped sending communications not long after his arrival, and was not seen again. Sildar was obviously concerned for his welfare.

The other major concern Sildar had was the gang of ruffians terrorizing the town. Calling themselves The Redbrands, and always dressing in long red cloaks, these thugs only arrived in town a couple of months back, and the town has been helpless in stopping their spree of chaos.

He begged the adventurers to assist in solving the mysteries of the missing dwarves and his associate Iarno, and even offered a reward of 50gp each (from the town coffers) to the party if they removed the Redbrand threat from the town. All the while the Townmaster was very apprehensive of stirring up trouble with The Redbrands, fearing their retribution. Sildar ignored his gripes.

The party left The Townmaster's Hall unsure of where to start their investigations - but noticed the Shrine Of Luck across the street. Based on the information Narth gave the night before they decided to question Sister Garaele about her mysterious injuries.

The first thing the party noticed when they arrived at the shrine (a small hut, with a lovely bright flower garden surrounding it), was the symbol above the door. Tharivol recognised the symbol, a coin with a woman's face on it, as the symbol of Tymora. The God Tymora was known as Lady Luck.

A coin of Tymora

When they entered the shrine Sister Garaele concealed her face from view, but it was obvious she was injured. Once she realised the party were adventurers she begged them to help her. She needed them to head to the ruins of a town called Conyberry (about 2 days from Phandalin) to find the lair of a legendary banshee named Agatha. Garaele was desperate to find the location of a book once owned by the wizard Bowgentle, and Agatha would know of it's location - but when she approached her the banshee attacked, and she barely escaped alive.

She offered the party a potion of healing each, and would give them a pair of 'very' special gloves. The party agreed that should they find the time they would assist. When they asked her about The Redbrands, and if she is was associated, she assured them she was not - but had heard that they liked to hang out at a place called The Sleeping Giant Tap House on the east side of town.

Deciding it was time to meet The Redbrands face to face the party headed to The Sleeping Giant Tap House. Four Redbrands were sitting on the large porch of The Tap House, and when the party approached they immediately began taunting them - obviously looking for a fight. As the party stepped onto the porch the Redbrands leapt into an attack.

The Redbrands were surprisingly more skilled than the party expected, and the fight was long and taxing. Three Redbrands were finally killed in the street, but the fourth escaped. Elia pursued for as long as possible, but the crafty thug disappeared on the trail to the old Tresendar Manor.

A hooded Redbrand

Upon returning to the scene the party disrobed the three dead Redbrands, and Ben put on a robe and headed into the tavern. Elia did the same, and stood back in a corner ready to strike if necessary. No one was inside but a female dwarf named Grista. She was the bartender. After extensive questioning it was clear that she was not affiliated with the thug gang. Once Ben revealed what had happened out front she said she would reward them with a free meal for their efforts. Tharivol requested pork belly, and it was promptly delivered (although it looked rather odd, and certainly didn't taste much like pork...). Grista mentioned in conversation that she'd be asking around the Miner's Exchange about The Redbrands, as she didn't trust Halia Thornton, the owner, at all.

Before anymore Redbrand showdown's the party decided to keep their promise to Sister Garaele, and head to Conyberry to seek the banshee Agatha.

Along the road to the ruined village the party was attacked by a stirge, but it is easily swatted aside. Being superstitious, Elia cut a foot from the dead beast and claimed she would carry it as a lucky charm.

When they reached Conyberry they found nothing but ruins. In the centre of town a sign stood, proclaiming 'GO HERE AND DIE!', with an arrow pointing north towards the nearby Neverwinter Wood. The party decided this was probably what they are looking for. A couple of hours into the forest, along an ancient trail they found a ramshackle wooden hut. When they entered they found nothing but rotting wooden furniture, and walls overgrown with vegetation. In the centre of the hut stood a tall mirror, but it's glass had been cracked.

The path to Agatha's hut

When Agatha appeared (a ragged elven skeleton-like creature) she asked why they were in her home. They explained, but the next thing she asked was 'Am I beautiful?'. Thinking quickly, Tharivol replied that she was. She stared at her broken mirror longingly, so Darius used a spell of Mending to repair it. Agatha was so happy she agreed to grant them the answer to one question.

The party then asked about the location of Bowgentle's book, and Agatha noted it was traded to a necromancer named Tsernorth from the city of Iriaebor more than a century ago. Once she had answered, she immediately disappeared.

The party returned to Phandalin and visited Sister Garaele, and informed her of the location of the book. She was very appreciative and gave them the items promised. Upon inspection the party could find nothing 'special' about the gloves, but the sister explained that they once belonged to her grand-mamma... As they left the sister slipped a small piece of paper into the hand of Darius. He chose to keep its contents to himself.

The party decided it was time to head to the Phandalin Miner's Exchange. It seemed a few townsfolk were untrusting of its proprietor, so maybe she would provide answers. When they entered the exchange they were met by Halia Thornton, the much spoken of owner. Although she was reluctant to speak to strangers she did eventually admit to having no connection to The Redbrands. She also mentioned that she had overheard them talking about their employer, someone named 'Glasstaff'.

She made it very clear that she would be very appreciative of the party if they could rid the town of this mysterious Glasstaff - but also mentioned that The Redbrands aren't a problem for her and saw no reason why they should be bothered. Once she was happy that the party intended to find Glasstaff they parted ways, but not before she handed a small rolled up scroll to Tharivol...

They headed back to The Stonehill Inn to ask Pip where his friend saw the secret tunnel with Redbrands near it. He was sure it was at the old Tresendar Manor on the east side of town - the exact direction Elia had chased the escaping Redbrand earlier. They headed straight back through town and up the path to the manor, but found nothing there but the ruins of a battle long ago.

Tharivol recalled a tale of the wealthy knight Sir Aldith Tresendar, also known as 'The Black Hawk'. He disappeared during the orc wars a century ago, but this must have been his family home. Just as the party thought they had exhausted their options Elia noticed recent footprints leading to the far side of the ruins...

To be continued...

Outstanding Quests -

• Find Glasstaff, apparent leader of The Redbrands.
• Remove the Redbrand threat, to restore order to Phandalin.
• Find the missing town Sheriff, Iarno Albrek.
• Find the missing Rockseeker brothers, Thundren and Nundro.
• Find the stolen deliveries that belong to the Lionshield Coster, and deliver them to Linene Greywind.
• Find Cragmaw Castle, the possible location of Gundren Rockseeker.
• Find the map to Wave Echo Cave, last seen in the possession of Gundren Rockseeker.
• Find Gundren Rockseeker, who was taken by goblins.

Completed Quests -

• Meet Sildar Hallwinter at The Townmaster's Hall.
• Kill the bugbear Klarg, and the goblin Yeemik will release Sildar Hallwinter.
• Escort wagon of goods from Neverwinter to Phandalin for the Rockseeker Mining Company.

Kill Count To Date -

• Goblins - 13
• Redbrand Ruffians - 3
• stirges - 1
• wolves - 1

DM Notes

Session 2 was a lot smoother than the first, and from my side of the screen it looked like you all enjoyed yourself a lot more - especially now that the rules are starting to lock into memory.

I actually planned a lot further ahead in the story than you went. We spent pretty much the whole 3 hours in the town (apart from that small visit to Agatha in Conyberry), whereas I was expecting you to leave the town within 5 minutes of the game starting. Rule 1 of being a DM - Be prepared to make stuff up very quickly, without it looking like you are making stuff up very quickly.

You all played your characters better this session, and you are really starting to get connected to your skills and abilities. About time I made you use those Get Out Of Death Free cards I think.

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