Ep. 4 - A New Hope; The Opening Crawl
What Quildhotar saw... were six goblins arguing around a wood fire and in the back corner of the room was a very weak Sildar Hallwinter. He'd been captured by the goblin ambush. His armor and Gundren Rockseeker were nowhere to be found. The party, growing in strength, (and with no shortage of luck) made quick work of the six goblins.
It was at this point that the adventure was put on hold due to some real life events. We took a break for a few days and eventually rejoined our heroes. They quickly stabilized Sildar and spent a few moments allowing him to tell them what he knew about the rest of the cave. Using his description to make a mental map, the party marched into the tunnel and toward the sound of a crashing waterfall. The goblin they'd seen earlier on the bridge saw them and retreated into the next room. That was a tall room with a waterfall filling some pools of water. There were also five goblins who were ready and waiting for the Homies. The fight was intense with several people taking minor injuries but the party prevailed and then discussed what to do next. They knew that the next room held Klarg, Ripper, his wolf, and a handful of other goblins. They could just rush in and attack or sneak back around to the garbage chute they had found earlier. The decision didn't take long. "Attack" it was. The sound of the waterfall crashing and the frequency with which the goblins regularly fought amongst themselves meant that the next room was taken by surprise. An intense volley of firepower made short work of most in the room, except for one goblin who noticed the rope Tid had tied earlier and scurried down and escaped.
When the fog of battle lifted, the party examined the room. There were various pieces of treasure that Klarg's goblins had stolen and several boxes of goods with the image of a lion on them.
"Those most likely belong to the Lionshield Coster", said Sildar. "It's a nice little shop in Phandalin."
He also told them a few other interesting pieces of information. He told them that there are three Rockseeker brothers, Gundren - who everyone knows, Tharden, and Nundro. They have found a hidden entrance into Wave Echo Cave, the site of The Phandelver's Pact. Sildar tells them that Klarg, the bugbear they'd just killed, had orders to waylay Gundren. Sildar had heard that "The Black Spider" had sent word that the dwarf was to be brought to him. Who - or what - The Black Spider is is still unknown. Gundren also had a map showing the secret location of the cave but the goblins took it from them when they were attacked. Sildar overheard that the goblins had sent both the map and Gundren to the chief of the Cragmaws at a place called Cragmaw Castle. Sildar wasn't sure where that was, but assumed someone in Phandalin could help find it. The last thing Sildar told them was that while he was in Phandalin, he was going to try and find a wizard named Iarno Albrek. Iarno was a member of the Lord's Alliance and had been sent to Phandalin to establish law and order, but no one has heard from him in two months or so.
Sildar offered the team some gold pieces to escort him the rest of the way to Phandalin since he was weak, and his weapons and armor had been taken. The adventurers take him up on the offer and load the Lionshield supplies onto their cart and begin the short journey the rest of the way to Phandalin.
Upon reaching Phandalin, Sildar suggested that they stay at the Stonehill Inn, a large, newly built roadhouse of fieldstone and timbers. The owner of the inn was Toblen Stonehill, a friendly human whose whole family worked at the inn. The party had some food and drinks and then mingled with some of the locals. Since it had been a long couple of days, most of them went to bed but Quildhotar and Dinkelburg took turns meditating and conversing with other late night patrons of the inn.
Key Conversations:
It was at this point that the adventure was put on hold due to some real life events. We took a break for a few days and eventually rejoined our heroes. They quickly stabilized Sildar and spent a few moments allowing him to tell them what he knew about the rest of the cave. Using his description to make a mental map, the party marched into the tunnel and toward the sound of a crashing waterfall. The goblin they'd seen earlier on the bridge saw them and retreated into the next room. That was a tall room with a waterfall filling some pools of water. There were also five goblins who were ready and waiting for the Homies. The fight was intense with several people taking minor injuries but the party prevailed and then discussed what to do next. They knew that the next room held Klarg, Ripper, his wolf, and a handful of other goblins. They could just rush in and attack or sneak back around to the garbage chute they had found earlier. The decision didn't take long. "Attack" it was. The sound of the waterfall crashing and the frequency with which the goblins regularly fought amongst themselves meant that the next room was taken by surprise. An intense volley of firepower made short work of most in the room, except for one goblin who noticed the rope Tid had tied earlier and scurried down and escaped.
When the fog of battle lifted, the party examined the room. There were various pieces of treasure that Klarg's goblins had stolen and several boxes of goods with the image of a lion on them.
"Those most likely belong to the Lionshield Coster", said Sildar. "It's a nice little shop in Phandalin."
He also told them a few other interesting pieces of information. He told them that there are three Rockseeker brothers, Gundren - who everyone knows, Tharden, and Nundro. They have found a hidden entrance into Wave Echo Cave, the site of The Phandelver's Pact. Sildar tells them that Klarg, the bugbear they'd just killed, had orders to waylay Gundren. Sildar had heard that "The Black Spider" had sent word that the dwarf was to be brought to him. Who - or what - The Black Spider is is still unknown. Gundren also had a map showing the secret location of the cave but the goblins took it from them when they were attacked. Sildar overheard that the goblins had sent both the map and Gundren to the chief of the Cragmaws at a place called Cragmaw Castle. Sildar wasn't sure where that was, but assumed someone in Phandalin could help find it. The last thing Sildar told them was that while he was in Phandalin, he was going to try and find a wizard named Iarno Albrek. Iarno was a member of the Lord's Alliance and had been sent to Phandalin to establish law and order, but no one has heard from him in two months or so.
Sildar offered the team some gold pieces to escort him the rest of the way to Phandalin since he was weak, and his weapons and armor had been taken. The adventurers take him up on the offer and load the Lionshield supplies onto their cart and begin the short journey the rest of the way to Phandalin.
Upon reaching Phandalin, Sildar suggested that they stay at the Stonehill Inn, a large, newly built roadhouse of fieldstone and timbers. The owner of the inn was Toblen Stonehill, a friendly human whose whole family worked at the inn. The party had some food and drinks and then mingled with some of the locals. Since it had been a long couple of days, most of them went to bed but Quildhotar and Dinkelburg took turns meditating and conversing with other late night patrons of the inn.
Key Conversations:
- Toblen Stonehill - He had moved to the town to try and become a miner, but ended up running the inn. He's not a fan of the Redbrands, a group of ruffians who have been terrorizing the town. He was also not a fan of Harbin Wester, the townmaster, because Harbin wasn't doing enough to combat them.
- Narth - An old farmer mentioned that Sister Garaele who oversees the Shrine of Luck had been gone for a while and came back wounded and exhausted.
- Elsa the Barmaid - Elsa was interested in the adventurers and suggested the party talk to Daran Edermath, a former adventurer who now runs an orchard.
- Lanar the Miner - Had some rumors of orcs roaming around the east end of the Triboar Trail.
- Trilena, Toblen's wife - Told them of Thel Dendrar a local woodcarver who stood up to the Redbrands and was then murdered by them. His wife, daughter, and son then went missing.
- Pip, Toblen's 11 year old boy - He was very fascinated by the armor of Quildhotar and really wanted to become an adventurer.
Pip said that he had a friend who had seen a secret entrance to the Redbrand's hideout. They made plans to meet him in the morning and to go see his friend, Carp.
The party met up with Pip and ran some errands before going to see Carp. They delivered Gundren's cart to Barthen's provisions and stocked up on supplies. Barthen expressed concern over his friend, Gundren's kidnapping and hoped that the party could find him soon. After this, the party took the stolen supplies that they discovered at Klarg's hideout back to the Lionshield Coster. They met Linene, a woman who the ruffians seemed to fear and left alone. She had a special "back room" in the store that had many weapons for sale. She made friends with the part and offered to help then however she could.
They wanted to stop in at the Shrine of Luck but were stopped in the road by four Redbrand ruffians. They were obviously looking for trouble and hurled insults at the party. They found trouble upon insulting the noble Dinkelburg by calling him "Dingley Turd". Fighting ensued immediately and the Redbrands were routed. Realizing what a threat they posed, the party skipped the Shrine and went on to meet Carp and see if they could have him show them the hidden entrance to the Redbrand Hideout.
Carp is a 10 year old halfling, the son of Quelline Alderleaf. The farm was on the south side of town and it didn't take them long to find Carp, who had already been alerted to the fact that adventurers wanted his help. Quelline agreed to let him lead the party to the clearing where he found the entrance but did not want any trouble for Carp or Pip.
The adventure went a bit longer, but the narrator would like to break it here for dramatic effect.
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