POSTS
Beer and Dragons – Phandelver 4 and 5
Recap of the party’s latest adventures in Phandelver. Spoilers below the fold.
Flush with Harbin’s reward for defeating the orc marauders, the party returns to the The Stonehill Inn to recover from a tough battle. In the morning they will return to Tresendar Manor to find Glasstaff and dispatch the remaining Redbrands.
They enter through the hidden path young Carp Alderleaf had directed them to, and cross the bridge across the chasm, retracing their previous steps. They come to a chamber that appears to be a lab in recent use, apparently for the purpose of creating invisibility potions. There is a common rat in the room, which the Mostana quickly dispatches. They spend some time searching the room, and find Dwarvish tome containing a history of the Lost Mine of Phandelver and the Forge of Spells, authored by Urmon. In it he mentions mace named _Lightbringer, _commissioned by priest of Lathander, god of dawn, from mages working with the mages and gnomes of Phandelver’s Pact, was lost when Wave Echo Cave was abandoned and forgotten.
In the next room, a sleeping quarter, the party finds a letter signed with the image of a black spider addressed to a Lord Iarno Albrek, in which the author requests that some troublesome strangers be dealt with. In addition, they find two scrolls and some loot. After some searching, they discover a secret door that was been closed carelessly, and go through, finding some stairs traveling up to a landing with no obvious outlets. After some searching, they again discover a hidden door leading to an open storage room north of the small chasm they’d encountered when they entered. Other than beaver pelts, there is little of interest that they find here. They discover another hidden passage in a northeastern alcove of the room, opening to a hall with two additional doors.
The fist door is locked, but they have a key retrieved earlier that works. Inside, they find a basic armory with gear to replenish their crossbows. There is no mace. In addition, there are a number of Redbrand cloaks hanging, which the party dons. Leaving the armory, and then through the hall’s unlocked southern door they come to a chamber containing three sarcophagi, with skeletons in idle repose against each. As Biff and Laewyn investigate the northwestern door, quietly peering in, and seeing two Redbrands bantering carelessly, Mostana and Isaiah loot the sarcophagi, finding a ring in each.
Together, the party rushes the door, finding two Redbrands behind it, as well as two holding cells with three prisoners inside. The Redbrands fight strongly, seriously injuring several of the party, Laewyn and Isaiah in particular, but fall to superior numbers. The party releases the prisoners, who turn out to be a shaken Mirna Dendrar and her two teenage children, Nars and Nilsa.
Returning to the sarcophagus chamber, they pass through the double doors to the southwest, into a large hall. Strolling through, Mostana promptly falls through a pit trap and is injured. Isaiah is able to secure a rope with pitons above the narrow ledge running along the pit so that they and the rescued Dendrars can cross uneventfully. At the far end of the hallway, a door leads south.
This large room has a fountain, steps leading up to a landing, and some barrels of provisions. While Laewyn and Biff explore the landing with the Dendrars in tow, Isaiah peers into a door beside the fountain, while Lorde and Carric investigate the fountain. Inside, it is fairly dim, but he definitely hears people inside. Isaiah and Mostana open the door further, alerting the Redbrands on the other side, who are somewhat relaxed seeing them in the cloaks of their band as well. Unfortunately, the intruders are unable to pass as Redbrands (“Your mom,” they respond), and a fight ensues. The Redbrands quickly incapacitate both of them. The remaining party members are able to rally and defeat the three Redbrands, owing to some clever magic from Laewyn and hard fighting from the others.
They return to town, visiting the cleric Garaele to ask further about the Banshee Agatha whom she would like them to query about a spellbook. They then return to the inn with the rescued Dendrars, where a grateful Trilena prepares a feast for them.
The next morning, the party is up and on an expedition to Conyberry to find Agatha. After an uneventful 2-day trip, they arrive, and quickly uncover the forested path to her home. Entering, the elvish apparition appears. After a brief exchange, the party presents the jeweled silver comb provided by sister Garaele, which softens the banshee, and she offers to answer a question. Dutifully, Biff asks the whereabouts of the spellbook, which she says she’d traded to the necromancer Tsernoth from the city of Iriaebor over 100 years ago, and has no further knowledge of it.
Rather than return to Phandelver, they head north along The High Road past Neverwinter and west to the ruined town of Thundertree, in hopes of finding the Druid Reidoth, who may know the whereabouts of Cragmaw Castle or Wave Echo Cave. Their travels are interrupted by a small goblin raiding party which poses little threat.
Ignoring a sing warning “DANGER! Pland monsters AND zombies! Turn back now!” and sighting a tower on a hill above, the party rushes along the road to the tower. They enter through the attached cottage. Passing through, they enter the cobwebbed and acrid-smelling tower, and begin to mount the stairs up, when the silence is broken by the loud flapping wings of a young green dragon, which promptly sets down in front of them.
An epic battle ensues, while party calls for Isaiah who had remained in the cottage to keep watch. Laewyn casts an illusion of himself and beats a hasty retreat, while Biff and the others battle valiantly, taking severe damage and being healed by Lorde. Isaiah fires an oil flask and hurls it at the dragon, splashing fire around and burning the dragon, causing a small amount of confusion. Then, drawing back to unleash its powerful breath weapon upon the party, the dragon missteps and falls from the steps. Mostana bravely leaps upon its back slashing into its writhing neck, while the party decides whether to retreat or continue the fight.
Valiantly, they continue, exchanging fierce blows. The dragon, injured, begins to take flight with Mostana on its back, while Carric casts an ice strike that slows its ascent. Mostana leaps from the dragon’s back as Biff hurls a final javelin at the dragon, burying it between the soft scales on its underside. The dragon falls from the sky, landing in a cloud of dust. Following the incredible victory, they uncover the dragon’s loot, along with a rusty axe inscribed with the name “Hew.”