Session Recaps

Session 1 Shortly after turning their wagon east on the Trailboar Road, our adventurers ran into a small heap of trouble. The horses ridden by Gundren Rockseeker, their employer for this venture, and Sildar Hallwinter, his bodyguard, were found dead in the road. Goblins in the forest attempted to ambush the group, but their skill proved too much for the goblins. They found a goblin foot trail, and after resting, began to follow it.It lead to a cave. Outside of the cave, two goblin guards attempted to put a stop to our adventurers, but were unable to do so. Inside the cave, our adventurers dispatched some crazed wolves, watched a dwarf take a waterslide out of the cave, made a deal with some goblins, talked a bugbear into playing dead, and were able to rescue Sildar Hallwinter, without receiving (much) injury themselves. They learned that Gundren, and his map to Wave Echo Cave were taken to "Cragmaw Castle", but were unable to learn the castles location. Sildar suggested that they stop by Phandalin to search for information. Wave Echo Cave was a source of great ores and magic, and had thought to have been lost shortly after the Phandalin Pact, a wealth sharing agreement between dwarves, gnomes, and wizards, was signed. First, evil mages took the mine for themselves, then orc invasions all but destroyed any good information left. Gundren Rockseeker believes that he had found the entrance. The adventurers rest up, and make their way to Phandalin.

Session 2 Upon reaching Phandalin, the adventurers turned in the wares they found in the goblin caves to the Lionshield Coster for a small reward. They then headed to Barthen's Provisions to finish their delivery. They informed Barthen about what happened to Gundren, and Barthen became upset. He mentioned that the town was already having trouble with the Redbrands since about two months ago, and that he wished the townmaster would do something about it. Paying a visit to the townmaster, they quickly learned of his cowardice in dealing with the Redbrands, as he feared for his own safety. He attempted to have the group look into hunting a group of orcs who had been attacking caravans, but the party forcused his attention on the Redbrands. They found that "Carp" knew of a secret entrance to the Redbrand hideout. Sildar busted in, and noted that the Lord's Alliance in Neverwinter allowed him to appoint himself the law in the town, and he gave the PCs authority to do what they needed to find Gundren (and possibly stop the Redbrands). He indicated that he was looking for another member of the Lord's Alliance, Iarno Albrek, who had disappeared near Tresendar Manor about two months prior, and asked the party to keep their ears to the ground. Stopping by the inn for some much needed rest, they party heard some information about Carp being located at Alderleaf farm. They also learned the fate of a woodcarver named Thel Dendrar, who had stood up to the Redbrands for leering at his wife. They killed him in broad daylight, and in full view of the town. A few days later, his wife, daughter, and son all disappeared. They also learned that the Redbrands likely hideout at Tresendar Manor. Visiting Alderleaf farm, they found that Qelline Alderleaf, the kindly halfling farmer, had a son named Carp, and he really had discovered a secret entrance to the Redbrand hideout. Soon, they had directions, and found it with some difficulty. Belloq scouted the top of the manor before the rest of the party used the secret entrance. Once inside, a Nothic attempted to glean some information from them, before attacking for trespassing. Once defeated, he attempted to use trickery to get Lelias to allow him to walk out, but Belloq saw through his trickery. Aram serarched the Nothic's horde, and found above all things, a magic Longsword, that seemed to belong to Aldith Tresendar. Known as the Black Hawk, Aldith was a fearsome fighter that was known for keeping the Phandalin area safe from Orc attacks. His sword, Talon, has some of his fighting spirit inside. The party found a room with a cistern, and fought off some Redbrands, and even found the entrance to the what Urist believed was a burial chamber. But all that was before the door shenanigans. In a fight between 3 bugbears, and 4 Redbrand humans, the party kept the Redbrands handily at by with a clever use of doors. It was amazing, you had to be there. We closed the session with the party holed up in the bugbears room, starting a short rest, getting ready to question an unconscious goblin.

Session 3 Our heroes continued to move through the Redbrand's hideout, and after a short chase, were able to catch the leader, Iarno "Glasstaff" Albrek. Glasstaff was also the man who Sildar Hallwinter was trying to find. The party let him go in exchange for his staff, as well as a map to Cragmaw Castle. Iarno seemed to feel he had nothing to loose, and was honest with the party, culminating with him leaving to head east, so as to avoid law and death once people realized he betrayed them. The party continued to move through the basement of the Tresendar Mansion, where the Redbrands had made their hideout. They battled some animated dead and rescued some humans. These humans were Mirna, the wife of Thel (Who was killed in broad daylight by the Redbrands) and her two children, Nilsa and Nars. Mirna had nothing to give the adventuring team, but noted that she left behind a priceless heirloom in her old town of Thunderthree, and that if they recovered it, they could sell it for a pretty penny. Belloq quickly recalled that Thundertree was overran by zombies a long time ago. Feeling the Redbrand threat was stemmed, and now knowing how to get to Cragmaw Castle, the party returned to Sildar. Although disapointed that Iarno got away, he nevertheless rewarded the group for helping him find out what happened to him. Lelias couldn't contain it anymore, and she decided that the group needed to stop the orcs that the townmaster had asked them about earlier. The party found the orcs under Wyvern Tor (a landmark in the Northeastern Sword Mountains), and set up an ambush. A desperate battle ensued with the pack of orcs, as well as an ogre. Things looked bad, but after the last orc fell, the ogre looked at the party, fear in his eyes, and bolted out of the cave. Ogres are surprisingly fast when they think they are going to die. The party had decided to rest in the cave the orcs were using underneath Wyvern Tor.

Session 4 Our heroes followed the map that Iarno had drawn for them, and found themselves near Cragmaw Castle. The party was went through the castle, killing a grick, scores of goblins and hobgoblins, as well as setting a hobgoblin free, with the blessing of Torm. Finally, our group came face-to-face with a doppelganger, dressed as a drow (and later, dressed as Belloq), and the "King" of the bugbears. A desperate battle ensued, and Lelias lost her life, heroically defending Aram from the King's advances. Urist and Belloq intercepted the doppelganger as he made a dash for safety, preventing him from reaching his master, the Black Spider. The party found Gundren Rockseeker huddled and bloodied in the King's room, and were able to find his map to Wave-Echo Cavern. Gundren has grown worried about the Black Spider, and has requested that the party help him ensure the mine at Wave-Echo Cavern is clear, in exchange for 10% of the operations from the mine. The remaining three gave Lelias as proper of a burial as an adventurer gets, and set foot back to Phandalin.

Session 5 Heading back to Phandalin, our remaining hero's met with Randal, Mina's brother. In thanks for rescuing his sister, he asked if he could lend his muscle to the group. Lelias' death still weighing on their mind, Urist allowed Randal to join if he could best him in combat. Randal did better than Urist expected, and was welcomed to the party. Our heroes plunged into the mine, easily finding the mining entrance Gundren referenced. Inside, they found a dead dwarf, and guessed that it was one of the Rockseeker brothers. They moved into the mine, battling stirges and zombies, and finally ran into a flaming skull. Stopping to talk with him, they found that he had been here for 200 years, continuing to try to mine the rich minerals within the mine with the zombies. His name was John. Upon learning he was not only dead, but a flaming skull, he fled the area, crying. They also found the Forge of Souls, and used it to bathe their weapons in it's glow. However, the effect was temporary, and not what they heard the forge of souls should do. They also met Allu, the spectator defender of the Forge. They convinced him that there was evil afoot, and that they were there to cleanse it. Eventually, they found bugbears working, as well as the Black Spider. An intense fight broke out, and the party was victorious, and drove the rest of the bugbears from the area.

Interlude It's been a busy last few months for our heroes. After killing the Black Spider, and eliminating his influence over the area, the remaining Rockseeker brothers have been hard at work in restoring the Mine, and has been calling upon our heroes for everything! You guys have been doing jobs from caravan protection to and from Neverwinter, all the way down to loading and unloading mining equipment. The mine now has a full staff of Humans and Elves. John, the flame skull you guys found has been hired by the Rockseeker brothers to be their mining foreman, thanks to his years of experience. Allu has been hired on as security for the mine, and operations have started up. The mine itself has been up and running for 1 month. The shipment of precious gems and minerals rich in this area has netted the mine almost 3000 gold in the month it's been open in gems shipped to Neverwinter alone! Honoring the bargin he made, Gundren ensures that the party get's their 300 gold cut. However, the mine is facing a new problem. Although it won't halt operations for mining the precious minerals, it nevertheless is bothering Gundren. The Forge of Souls still isn't working as the notes and rumors say it should. Arms and Armors bathed in the light of the Forge take on magical properties, but tend to fade after just a few hours. As Gundren pours over old notes and books found in the mines, he stumbled across an interesting tidbit of information. One of the wizards that used to work on the forge was an elf, and may therefor still be alive after all this time. The notes indicate that he was let go from the workforce for "Unethical Business Practices", and that he was last heard moving North, into the Neverwinter Woods. The elf's name was Zelmar. Gundren would like you to find the druid of the area, "Reidoth", and see if he can assist you in locating where Zelmar may be hiding, if he is still in this area. Although you have never meet him, the people in Phandalin know Reidoth, and may be able to help find him. Gundren provides you with a few days provisions, in case your search leads you outside of towns, and your party is given 2 horses and a heavy covered wagon for weather shelter, and allowing you to have finer meals on the roads. No more hard tack for you, you will be eating salted pork! The day after you receive your mission, you awake ready to head back to Phandalin...

Session 6 The party stared by visiting Randal's sister Mirna, back in Phandalin. She indicated that there was a druidic circle around the area of Thundertree, and that maybe the party could find Reidoth there. While camping on their first night, the party took shelter just inside Neverwinter Woods. Just before laying down for bed, an Owlbear stepped into the light of the campfire, and swooped in to attack. The rest of the journey to the Thundertree area was uneventful. While searching for possible Druidic Circles, or camps, Randal remembered some stories his parents told him as a kid, and was able to lead them strait to where the druids would stay when they would come into Thundertree. They reached the hut to find it locked up, but by knocking on the door, they learned it was inhabited. The druid Reidoth was inside the hut. He claims that he has been working to purge Thundertree of evil, but it is a slow process as he is one man, and there is a dragon on top of the wizard hut that torments him as well. After asking about Zelmar, the party learned that although the name doesn't ring a bell, Reidoth remembers an elven necromancer somewhere in the Neverwinter forest. He indicated that Zelmar was not likely the cause of the ash zombies, as the timeline doesn't fit. He has a rough idea where he might be holed up, but since Reidoth has been protecting the area around Thundertree, he isn't 100% certain of an exact location. The party then decided to head up to deal with the dragon atop the wizard's tower. They were attacked by some Twig Blights, but a single spell from Aram was all it took to slay the lot. They reached the top of the hill to find the wizard hut. Belloq snuck to the top of the tower, and found a large, green dragon staring out a broken part of the roof. Signaling the rest of the party to come up with him, he was shocked to find that dragon had heard them coming. The party attempted to coax the dragon (Venomfang) to leave the area. After a brief conversation, the impatience of youth in the dragon reared it's head, and Venomfang blew his poison gas over the party. Hale and hearty, Urist and Randal stood tall, but the poison was too much for Belloq and Aram, and they fell to the poison. Picking up the bodies of their comrades, Urist and Randal fled while the dragon laughed at them. In the wizard lab that was attached to the tower, Urist and Randal dug up the three diamonds, worth 100 gold each, from the various packs and bags the group had. As quick as he could, Urist preformed the revivify spell on Aram. Alas, they didn't have the materials to revive Belloq as well. Urist, Randal, and a weakend Aram picked up Belloqs body, and marched out to possibly to certain doom. However, as they walked (not ran) from Venomfang's lair, the dragon couldn't attack them. He was too busy rolling around on the ground, laughing at the party. His laughter seemed to shake the entire valley...

Session 7 Reidoth and the party buried Belloq near Thundertree, and then headed back to Phandalin to resupply. Upon their arrival, Aram noted that death had had made him rethink his life, and that he was going to retire from adventuring, and build a library in Phandalin. That night, Urist visited the small place of worship he had started, and found it had grown into a larger building. A half-elven man approached him and notified Urist that he was Belloqs brother, Devrette, and had come to claim his share. Aram introduced the group to his sister, Amara, and she decided to take over adventuring for Aram. There quick trip to Wave Echo Cave to speak with the Rockseeker brothers about terms and conditions. The Rockseekers made a deal to start paying the party a little more for all the work they do, as the 10% was simply for saving the mine. The group made their way to where they were told Zelmar's house was, several miles north of Cragmaw Castle. They were greeted at the entrance by skeleton archers, who relentlessly fire arrows as the group attempted to shout there meant no harm. Finally, the group assaulted the archers, destroying them easily. As knocking on the door had nobody approaching, the party decided to go in. The rug in the entry parlor sprang to life and attacked, but was laid back to rest by the group. As the group progressed into what appeared to be Zelarm's bedroom (killing tons of zombies in the process), they found a letter. Zelmar, Thank you for your generous contribution. The hoards of zombies are contained nicely, and ready to be deployed into Neverwinter. The plan is currently to discreetly teleport the hoards into Neverwinter, and wait for a few weeks while they do all the work. Once the military is weak from fighting, they will all but give up when we invade. Once Neverwinter falls, the rest of the Sword Coast should follow easily. We are hoping to have you answer one more question. Once we are ready to invade, how will we stop your hoard? Are we just going to have to finish them off ourselves? We will have the soldiers to do so, but the extended fighting will delay our plans for conquest. I hope for a more favorable solution. Finally, Nightblossom challenges your claim that you have her daughters remains. Her daughter was last seen moving towards Phandalin, and she has no reason to believe that you just happened to find her buried near your house. If, on the off chance that you really do have her remains, please refrain from experimenting on them. Our alliance with Nightblossom is already volatile, and we should do what we can to not disturb it. Signed K The party continued to progress through the house, looking for clues on the forge of souls. They headed down to the basement, where they were assaulted by more skeleton archers. They destroyed them, and found a zombie hulk and several more zombies guarding rooms with book cases and desks, as well as what looked to be a work table. After taking these out, they rifled through the desks and book cases. They party found what they were looking for! Zelmar's notes on the forge of Souls from 200 years ago! Alas, they were disappointed when they found that the forges magic was temporary back then as well. They did, however, find additional notes on how the forge of souls was able to further Zelmar's research into necromancy, and a little on his experimentation on a rather dim-witted (but brilliant when it came to mining) foreman named John. They also found another letter addressed to Zelmar. Zelmar, We were not aware that you could appoint a person the zombies would follow. Please come visit us as soon as possible so we can appoint someone. Additionally, I thought we asked you not to experiment on Nightblossom’s daughter if you really did have her, but your previous note seemed to indicated that you were successful at experiments on her. While we are pleased to hear that we now have obedient zombies that can move like living beings, however we would have preferred that you used a different subject. Please bring the report with you. We will try to hold this information from Nightblossom as long as possible. Luskan shalt rule supreme, and it will be largely thanks to your efforts. K They continued on, disabling a portal trap that someone had set, and locating a magical headband, when they came across a horrible sight. "I buried you once, now I must put you down. In the name of Torm, I set you free!" shouted Urist, as the zombified corpse of Lelias Nightblossom instructed the undead hoard to kill the intruders. Half way through the fight, Lelias grabbed her head, shouted "No, NO!!!!" and negative energy bust throughout the room. She then fought with additional ferocity, but was still laid to rest by the party. Urist had Devrett burn the body, but not before taking the Obsidian pendant off of her neck, to use for identification. Warm in his hand, Urist pocketed it. Armed with the knowledge the set out to find, and knowledge new as well, the party set a course back to Phandalin, to have Aram assist with identifying items, and deliver the news on what happened to Lelias.

Session 8 Upon returning to Phandalin, and having Aram identify the Headband of Intellect, the party set out immediately for an audience with Sildar. Always an easy feat for them to gain entry, their wait to see him was not long at all, in fact at this point, the Heroes of Phandalin are just shown right in to meet the Townmaster. Explaining and showing the letters to Sildar made his face grave with concern. Sildar grabbed a runner, and instructed him to take the fastest horse in Phandalin, and deliver the news to a "Spymaster Gend", alongside instructions on how to meet him. Sildar ask the party if they had news on the Forge of Spells for Gundren, and let the party know that more than 1 runner would slow down news, and they should report to Gundren if possible. As they left the meeting, they saw a man, exhausted by hustling, run into the town hall. Following him, the party found out he was looking for them, and that Wave Echo Cave was under attack from within! Upon returning to Wave Echo Cave, Nundro Rockseeker urged the party to hurry to Gundren's office, which they did. They found that Allu, John, Gundren and Elmar Barthen (the supplier in Phandalin, and a close friend of Gundren's) talking about apparent security. The miners had found a supply of precious minerals on the west side of Wave Echo. Digging in it, they found a cave, and could see iron and other precious minerals in it. They cleared out an entrance to the cave, but soon were besieged by zombies and "other creatures". Allu and John were able to hold them off long enough for a barricade to be built. Gundren sent all miners home, or to their barracks, and suspended production for his employees safety, and would like the group to examine the cave, and stem the threat. Shortly past the barricade, the cave was cut open by worked stone stairs. Urist was able to tell the group that the stone was not dwarven, and the work was very old. Devrett counted 292 stairs going down. As they descended, the air grew warmer, until they descended into a hallway. The temperature suddenly became comfortable. They pressed on. The first door they came across lead to a room. The dust on the floor was clearly disturbed by shuffling feet, but there were no zombies in sight. The only remarkable feature was a puddle of water in the north eastern corner. Leaving in the south east, the party came into a hallway. Leading the charge, Urist triggered a pit trap, and fell down in. Climbing out of it they continued. They opened the door to the next room, Urist saw orcs. Before he could react, the walls of the dungeon changed into rough stone walls, more like a cave than worked stone. The orcs attacked with their bugbear friends. Urist went to draw Lightbringer, but found himself weilding Talon, focusing single-mindedly on the orcs. Devrett cast a spell of flame, and lit some crates that the bugbears were using for cover aflame. As soon as the last bugbear died, the corpses dissipated, and the cave wall turned back into worked stone. Amara pressed her ear to the door to the Northwest, and heard whispers saying "Come in adventures!" in a jovial tone. Devrett pressed his ear to the Southwest door, and heard some thing, or some things large and trashing around. Randal put his ear to the Southeastern door, and heard the tell-tale sound of zombies shuffling. While waiting for a decision from the party, Randal opened the door. Urist rushed in to help, but fell down a pit trap. As Randal and Amara fell into pit traps too, the party realized that the zombies were trying to push them into the pits. A few zombies were successful, but the party was able to keep good footing throughout most of the fight. They quickly learned of the patern of the pit traps, and were able to successfully navigate the room. Ignoring the northern door, the party proceeded South. The southern door lead them to a long hallway, that the party cautiously traversed. At the end, they came across a door, and could hear orcs talking about why they were here, and why they were with wights. Shouting in orcish, Devrett successfully alerted the party to their presence. As the party entered the room, they found many orcs, and a few wights. The pillars messing with their vision, the party brought the fight to the opposition. Urist summoned a spiritual replica of Talon, which he accidentally drew for battle again. The orcs, seeing an angry dwarf wielding the sword of Orc bane, as well as a giant replica of the sword, cowered towards the back of the room. They regained the courage, and went to surround Urist, but a combination of spells from him and Randal set the orc menace to dust. In the mean time Amara held her own against two wights, with the help of Randal. Despite wights famous resistance to damage, Amara and Randal were able to hold their own, while waiting for magical support. Amara almost became a zombie under the control of the wraith, but her inner strength allowed her to shift out of the way. Devrett had a mishap with his magic, and caused a grease spill to knock over several orcs and one of the wraiths, then cast a fireball towards the west of the room, killing much of the opposition As the fight came to a close, Urist prayed to Torm to repair the wounds of his allies. Randal and Amara were unable to regain all of their strength, as the wounds the wraiths left with their claws felt heavy. The is a door to the Northwest, a door to the Northeast, and a door to the Southwest, which gave off a dim, magical light.

Session 9 The door in the southwest that was giving off light had a sign on it that read: Oh what fun this game is. The master, this idea his. To open the door before you see Worth of an adventurer, prove to he. Monsters slain, puzzles done Curses broken treasures won Prove your self and you may yet Open this door with little frett Try to open, proof without Pain you feel I have no doubt But prove yourself, and then you see My masters face alight with glee Welcome he, adventurers all To his glorious adventurer hall Adventurers blood you do bleed One question answered, guaranteed The party had Urist take 10 to utter a Prayer of Healing, so they could continue on. Randal explored the room a little, and opened the door to a hallway leading north. While exploring, Randal found a secret door. Inside was a treasure chest with the following note: I name it Dominion. This axe was given to me by my father, and he had it forged by the elves. The fact that my father could coax a favor from the elves as a dwarf was the most impressive feat of his adventuring career. I could not follow in his footsteps, and will indeed likely die trying to prove my adventures blood. I hope the next adventurer can use my fathers axe better than I. Wish me luck. G. Rockseeker There was another door that Amara was able to hear some large creatures lumbering about behind. Urist peaked through the door, but could not identify the creatures. Proceeding down the hall that Randal had found, Urist triggered a trap, but was able to deflect the arrows that sprung from it. Arriving at a room that had a pit of lava with a key on a chunk of floor in the middle. Devrett mage handed the key, and they used it to open a door leading to a treasure room. Putting the 12000 gold in their backpacks, they moved on. Moving down to the south, they ran into a room with several beds and a mirror in which their reflections moved individually from themselves, and that spoke to them. The mirror told the party that The Master had a designated this as a resting place, and they would watch over them as they rest. After asking questions about the Master, the party setup watches, and went to sleep.

Session 10 After waking up from their rest, the party was getting set to head back into the depths of the dungeon. The reflections in the mirror stated that the Master thinks they have potential, and would like them to take with them another potential ally. After agreeing, a half-elven man stepped out of the mirror, and introduced himself as Roy. The party continued to the west, fighting off Ogres, then turning north. They came across a room that was pitch black, and looked as the night sky. An elderly man requested (by name) that they all come in and take a test. After a barrage of seemingly silly questions, he finally asked if they would accept the Masters gift. Everyone agreed and gained power based on the virtues of their answers. Randal - Honor - +1 Constitution and +1 Wisdom Devrett - Spirituality - +1 Constitution, +1 Wisdom and +1 Charisma Roy - Compassion - +1 Wisdom, +1 Charisma and +1 Intelligence Urist - Humility - +1 to all stats Amara chose not to accept the gift. The party also felt refreshed, as if they slept for an entire night. Moving to the east now, the party came across a skeleton wearing a ring. Roy plucked the Ring of the Skeleton's hand, and a Thunderwave shook the area around the party. Flesh and blood seeped from the cracks in the floor and pieced it'self together around the skeleton, forming a construct. It attacked, but was fell by the group. Turning their attention to the hall to the north, the party found a large number of traps, and a chest with a ring inside, upon touching the ring, Roy had the following vision. You see a battle, but you are on top of the mountain, and cannot tell who is fighting, but there are well over 100 creatures attacking a lone dwarf protecting a human woman. You cannot move as you watch the creatures attacking the dwarf. When the battle is over, the lone dwarf stands victorious. As he collapses from his wounds, he asks the girl if she will marry him, gives her ring, tells her it will always protect her, then dies from his wounds. She cries for her fallen Morgrimm, and stays by his side as your vision subsides. Anyone else touching it had the same vision. The group decided that with two obviously magical rings in their possession, they should identify and attune to them. They headed back to the mirror room for a rest.

Session 11 After arriving back in the mirror room, the party decided they did not need to take a rest. and decided to press on. After locating a secret room in the North, netting them a magic bag, they looped back around to near where they started. They located a fountain that had a key in it, that Devrett used to unlock a door to gain access to treasure, and had a fight with a spectator. Upon defeating the spectator, the party all started to think of the number one. Pressing on, they triggered a series of traps and gained some scrolls and potions for it. They also did battle with a troll and his pet owlbear, that Devrett went nuclear on. After defeating them, they all started to think of the number zero. Heading back to the mirror room for an actual rest, they headed to the magic door, and found that it no longer glowed. The riddle had been replaced by the words "Good Job", and it opened easily, leading to stairs. The stairs lead to a room with wide double doors. When they opened the doors, they could see the path, but looked like they were up in the night sky, with a large black hole as a backdrop. Opening other double doors, they found the Master, a massive angel looking figure, who offered to answer one question about one person without error. Roy, having learned about Zelmar's undead army asked the question first. "Where is Zelmar?" To which the master replied "In the Seven Sails Inn, at Luskan, currently awaiting new orders from Karth". Randal, asked his question "When are Karth and Zelmar planning to attack Neverwinter?" The master replied "Didn't you know? You already foiled Karth's planned attack on Neverwinter. Your runner got to Spymaster Gend, and he was able to prevent the portals from opening. In fact, Zelmar is awaiting the orders from Karth about what to do about the army of undead that they amassed." Devrett asked the question "What will I have for dinner?" The master replied "You won't be having dinner." When Urist stepped up to magic circle, as the Master addressed him as Khadar. Learning that Khadar was his birth name, Urist asked about himself. The Master told him that he was raised as an artisan, and his father was a great artisan himself. 65 years ago, while delivering goods for his father, Khadar and one of his brothers were attacked by Bandits, and Khadar's life was spared unintentionally. Urist also learned that his father, mother and several of his brothers and sisters were alive, and now living in Mithril Hall, and that they had only recently given up hope for the safe return of Khadar and his brother Khazlen, and have decided to attempt to have one more child. After answering Urist's question, The Master waved his hands, and everyone fell asleep, even the elves. They awoke in the barracks of Wave Echo Gundren helping the medics looking after them. Gundren explained that they had been gone for three months, and then last night they mysteriously appeared where the dungeon entrance had been. They moved them to the barracks, but mysteriously the dungeon entrance is no longer there. Gundren explained what had happened in the three months time. - Thanks to their actions, Sildar's runner made it to Neverwinter, and Spymaster Gend was able to thwart the portal plot from Luskan. Thus the undead armies are still in Luskan, and they were unable to move them easily. - An emissary from Luskan showed up looking for Sildar and the Heroes of Phandalin. After an assassination attempt on Sildar (shortly after the emissary arrived), Sildar found the man and locked him up. However the Emissary took his own life in prison. - The Temple of Torm in Phandalin has grown larger than the old Temple to Tymora. - Aram's library is now a very popular place for the children of Phandalin to be. Apparently, Aram has been teaching people magic when possible. - Nilsa Dendar (Randal's niece) has become a fine spell caster under Aram's tutelage, and is helping him teach others in the village. Gundren hears about your ordeal, and requests that you guys take it easy.

Session 12 When the party awoke the next day, Gundren spoke with them on current events. He explained that despite some growth in Phandalin, there was certainly a shift in attitude since they were assumed dead. An example was Urist's Temple. Although now large, worship was declining. Gundren also talked with the group about the goblin issues going around, particularly ending in murder, with capable combatant's bodies being taken away. Gundren also hinted that he wanted to talk with the group about "something" regarding the mine, noting that later would be a better time. Finally, he gave them one months worth of profits as promised, and said that if they need the two months that he missed, he will get them together (it won't take long, he has the gold, it's just tied up, and he can't literally hand them gold coins right now). The party spent the night in Wave Echo, each attending to various tasks. The next morning, they set out back for Phandalin to talk with Sildar about the threat. Warned by Gundren that the road was dangerous, they decided that they needed to move quickly. They group was ambushed by goblins and a bugbear on their way back to town, however, the goblins had underestimated this group. Devrett used a spell to detect the thoughts of the remaining goblin warlock, and got vague thoughts of Zelmar, Irontooth and Shadowfell. Arrival back in Phandalin was not what the party expected. Realizing who was approaching the gates, the gate guards sound the alarm, and start shouting that they have returned. Our heroes are met with a large amount of people who are welcoming them back, surprised they are alive, and start to organize an impromptu party. Urist attempted to seek out Sildar to speak about the goblin menace, but Sildar requested that the party take a day off and relax, reminding them that the people of Phandalin now revere them, and their return is a remarkably big deal to the people of Phandalin. While partying, Urist noticed that someone was watching him, but couldn't ever get close enough to talk with the man. The party went their seperate ways for the night. Roy continued to party with the townsfolk at the inn, citing that he needed to "study" the local lore and legends over the years. Randal went back to spend the rest of the evening with his sister, and niece and nephew. Amara spent the night at Aram's library, catching up with her brother on events. Devrett went to a house the Belloq had purchased, to sleep through the night. Urist went off to a small house behind the Temple. Urist was awoken in the middle of the night by someone banging on his door. He woke up and grabbed his shield, and answered the door. It was the stranger from the night before. Urist became unsettled, because he could tell from up close, that this man was undead. The man asked if Urist was the "Owner of the Mace?". When Urist replied in the positive, the man lashed out at him with claw and fangs. While raising an alarm, Urist used the power of Torm to Turn Undead, and the man fled. Urist thought back to the battle, and deduced that the man was a vampire of some sort. The next morning, the Heros entered the City Hall, where Sildar had been waiting for them, along with Aram. He explained a little of the past three months. - Phandalin as a trade city has gotten important enough to Neverwinter, that they have sent Sildar a few soldiers for the milita. - Additionally, Spymaster Gend has provided additional "networking" in the Phandalin area. - Zelmar has returned from Luskan. - Zelmar started looking for a place that housed an entrance to the Shadowfell, and finally found it. - Zelmar is working on completing the spell to open a portal to the Shadowfell. - Zelmar has hired a fearsome bugbear fighter nammed "Irontooth" to run a ring of goblins, for corpse gathering. - Zelmar has found a burial site for a dragon around these parts, and is working to exhume the bones. - Sildar knows where the digsite and Irontooth's hideout are, but does not know where the Shadowfell portal is. The party agreed that they will stop Irontooth and the dragon body from being dug up, despite Sildar's insistence that they leave it to the milita. Aram gave them a powder that he mixed to melt bones, to ensure the dragon wouldn't rise as some sort of undead. Before leaving, Urist approached Aram regarding the previous night's attack. He implores the wizard to take hold of Lightbringer in order to learn the names of all its previous carriers, then asks him to use whatever resources he has, including the new connection to Neverwinter, to find out what happened to the old owners, stating " I feel that this weapon carries a heavy burden, and would see myself better prepared to bear it.". Aram, first thinking this is an odd request, takes hold of Lightbringer. Upon learning the names of the people and their patron, he scribbles them down on a piece of paper, and informs the group that he will be in touch. The party found the burial site, and setup an ambush. While Urist was speaking to the bugbear foreman, Devrett had sneaked around to the back, and nuked all the goblins with a single Fireball spell. The bugbear relented and spilled as much information as he knew, which sadly, wasn't much more than the location of Irontooth's hideout. He did know that Irontooth knew the location of the Shadowfell portal. The party coerced the bugbear into showing him exactly where Irontooth's cave was. After leading them there, the party let him leave, and he did so with haste. The party tried to sneak up on the goblin guards, but they were not quite sneaky enough. Despite a good effort by Devrett, the alarm was sounded, and Irontooth was made aware of the parties presence. Heading into the cave to fight him, Irontooth fought fiercely, even throwing Amara down the waterfall, but he was outmatched by the Heroes of Phandalin. As our heroes rested in Irontooth's cave, they were able to find a small treasure hoard, a magical Alchemy jug, and a letter from Zelmar. It was addressed from several weeks ago. Irontooth, Thank you for the last deposit of bodies. The guards for that caravan were perfect corpses for my experiment. You will find the gold I promised you delivered within the tenday. I believe that I am nearing completion of the portal, and ask that you wait for one month, then travel north into Neverwinter Woods to assist me in the final preparations. This will be the last job I had for you, and you will be rewarded well. Enclosed in the letter were directions to an abandoned Keep in Neverwinter Woods. Before falling asleep, Devrett looked into Irontooth's mouth, and found a fang made out of iron. He looked around, then tore the tooth out of Irontooth's mouth.

Session 13 Randal, being the brave and hearty soul he is, decided to finish off the wine that Irontooth had in his alchemy jug. The following morning, Randal made beer with the jug. Though disappointed in the quality, Randal seemed more excited than normal of the prospect of having beer on command. Using the directions found on in Irontooth's lair, the heroes started their journey. From the lair, it was about a day north, and some mileage east on the Triboar trail. Once they reach a certain spot, the crossed into Neverwinter Woods, using a well-hidden, but little known foot-path. It took two more days in Neverwinter woods to reach their destination. There was a ruined keep. Though it looked human, it had the unmistakable bearing of elvish construction. The party found the building described in the instructions, a mostly destroyed bar. Upon walking through the door of the ruined bar, the party was met with a spectacular sight. The inside of the bar was an immaculate temple. It was so clean on the inside, you wouldn't believe that it looked like a ruined bar on the outside. Disbelieving the illusion, Urist found that ruined bar look on the outside was an illusion. The real building was a ruined temple. However, the inside of the temple was still sparkling clean. Descending the first set of stairs, Urist fell into a pit trap. While climbing out, the party was attacked by four bugbears. Two of the bugbears attacked the party from the front, while two attempted to sneak around the party to ambush spell casters. Although succeeding in pushing Roy into the pit, the spell casting group proved too much for the bugbears, thanks to Devrett's quick usage of spells to enslave their minds, and Roy's archery. The front line fared just as well, with Urist's Lightbringer making sickening thuds against armor and bone, Randal tearing flesh with Dominion, and Amara knocking heads with her Spider Staff. After the battle was concluded, Roy requested that the party wait while he scouted around, using a spell of invisibility to keep hidden, and his elven heritage to see in the dark. He started to go around the rooms nearby. As he started to head back to report, Randal decided to do some scouting of his own, but as soon as the light from his torch rounded a corner, there was an earsplitting screech. The screech echoed across the halls, and zombies began shuffling towards the party, as well as large thuds of some huge creatures running with them. Urist reacted quickly, and using Torm's power to dispel undead, he was able to remove a significant portion of the threat. Amara and Randal held the north end of the room, while the rest of the group held the south, as they were beset by zombies on all sides. Eventually, the party worked through the remaining zombies, and polished up the ogre zombies that had joined the fray. The group took an hour to bind wounds, and have a quick meal to keep their energy up. They holed up in the room with the bugbears, but not after throwing the dead bugbears down the pit trap. Heading to the south, the party found a room with several empty sarcophagi without lids. Upon entering the room, a fel energy light in the empty sarcophagi, and skeleton's burst out of them, bows and swords drawn. Two wight's also jumped out of the sarcophagi furthest from the party. Urist again called on Torm's power, to turn undead, and utter a prayer for protection. His prayer came in the form a angels, sweeping the battlefield and attacking all in their reach. Roy's arrows flew, Devrett flung fire from his hands, and Amara and Randal took to the front lines. Each skeleton they killed, another took it's place, jumping from the fel portals inside the sarcophagi. Once passed the wights, Amara noticed there was two shrines to Corellon Larethian at the end of the hall. One looked normal, but one looked desecrated, and she could see why. To stop the desecration, Amara began destroying unholy censures, and dusting away unholy symbols. Randal started to help, as they continued to break the objects, put out incense, and wipe away unholy marks. Though successful enough to make the fel portals disappear, the shrine was still desecrated. Urist stepped in to hallow the shrine, and successfully drove out the evil inside. Upon opening the next door, a skeleton rose from the lone sarcophagi in the room. It pointed a bow at the group and stated "The Rift must never be opened, state your business, or die." Recognizing they were here to stop the rift, the skeleton lowered his bow, and talked with the group. His name was Ellisar, and he was an elven hero thousands of years ago. When the elves succeeded at sealing off the rift to the shadowfel, Ellisar made the ultimate sacrifice, becoming an undead to guard the rift forevermore. Recently, a necromancer had come to open the rift. Although the necromancer was no match for Ellisar, he used his spells to contain him to just this room. Now, Ellisar can no longer patrol the halls, or stop the rift from being opened. Ellisar had offered the party his equipment that he used, ancient elven arms and armors, if they can prove themselves capable of handling this threat. A vrock had been summoned in a long time ago to use the portal, but could not figure it out. He had made room for himself in the east of the keep, while attempting to figure the portal out. Ellisar and the vrock had clashed before, but never to a conclusion. Ellisar asks that party slay the vrock, and he will deem them worthy to wield his armaments. They party asked if they could rest in his room, and he agreed to keep watch. The party broke out bedrolls and hard tack, setup watches to help Ellisar, and began to rest.

Session 14 The party awoke in Ellisar's chamber. Ellisar reminded the party of what he requested. As they prepared to explore the area further, Urist received a sending message from Aram. It simply said "Come home at your earliest convenience, I have news of the mace." Urist answered in the positive. Randal made wine in the alchemy jug. Roy urged the party to explore east, as Urist cast a spell to detect signs of extra planer activity. They headed back to the room where they battled the hobgoblins, and headed east down the stairs. Roy's elven senses kicked in as they passed by a secret door. Curious, the party went inside. They found a set of stairs leading to another secret door, which Roy quietly opened. They saw a room surrounded by tapestries, and could hear voices speaking in goblin, but were unsure what they said. Devrett, however, was sure, and he knew they were found out. Thinking quick, Devrett informed the goblins (in goblinoid) that they were just patrolling, and they would get back to work. It almost sounded as if it would work, but the goblins began to get suspicious. Devrett switched tactics to say they were bringing wine in, even going so far as to grab the alchemy jug from Randal and spilling some under the tapestries, asking the goblins to "Hurry and help, we are spilling it". The goblins didn't know what hit them, they opened the curtain to help, but the party was ready. They quickly cut the two guards in the room, and started a larger brawl with goblins elsewhere. A well placed "Stinking Cloud" spell made most of the goblins retch and puke (Randal too, but he got over it quickly) while spells and arrows were flung to eliminate them. The found went on, and a well placed Fireball defeated the bulk of the remaining forces, allowing for quick mop up of the rest. The party started to deviate west, after seeing a wooden door. They opened the door to find a hallway with other doors. Roy was about to suggest searching one for traps, when Devrett opened it. Inside was a human who seemed to be experimenting on a body. Urist detected signs of undeath, and was able to see them in the corners of the room. The human announced "Ahhh, more corpses to experiment on" before blasting the party with a Cloud Kill spell. Surviving the spell, the party took the offensive. A well placed spell of slowing from Devett allowed the party to hit the armor class of the Mage-Armored human. Fireballs were flung, Randal hand to use the wall for support, and the party was not looking good. However, it was the Wall of Fire that made things dire. With Roy and Deverett unconcious, and Devrett's slow spell no longer affecting him, the wizard though he had the upper hand. He underestimated Urist's ability to bring Roy back from the brink of death, and Randal's ability to stop him from concentrating on spells. Roy now back in play, he used a spell of healing on Devrett to get him back up as well. The wizard was visibility upset. His fury turned to Urist, for bringing allies back to fighting shape. He attempted to Polymorph the dwarf into a goat, but Urist's strong will would not let it happen "I will let you know when I am done." Urist exclaimed fiercely. The wizard attempted one more time, and as Urist's will started to falter. But a quick boost of morale came from the Devrett, allowing Urist to shrug off the second spell. After defeating the wizard, and mopping up the zombies that were attacking. Deciding that resources were better spent resting, the party back tracked to Ellisar's room. Ellisar was happy to oblige the party a resting spot, and even explained the that wizard, Alepur, was an apprentice under Zalmar.

After Hiatus Can you believe it's been six months, since the stopping Zelmar? Although our heroes still curse themselves for how the events unfolded, they still saved the realm. A portal to the Shadowfell was bad business. Zelmar got away, and Amara died heroically, but the Shadowfell cannot be opened any longer.  Let's catch you up on current events, shall we? As you probably gathered, Zelmar escaped, but our heroes still saved the day. During the fierce battle with Zelmar and the zombie hoards, Amara took a Deathspell meant for Urist, saving his life at the cost of hers, and meeting Kelemvor that day. Sadly, that wasn't the only cost.  Gundren was shocked to find the magic drained from the area. The Forge of Souls had stopped working, and Gundren and Deverett were able to pin point the time that it stopped with the spell that almost spelled cataclysm for the realm. Although normal ores and jewels still flow from the mine, business quickly faded.  It took Gundren a few months, but he was finally able to convince Aram to begin researching the Forge of Souls. Aram, glad for anything that would help him with his grief, finally agreed.  With that, the party settled down. Still wealthy (as adventurers tend to be), but without the income flowing, our heroes have begun to take jobs around town. Seeing Phandalin grow and become their home made them all high ranking officials in the towns structure. Urist takes solace in tending the sick and wounded in his temple, Randal training militia, Roy doing research about the years he had been imprisoned, and Devrett doing Devrett things (hey, Randal hasn't had to arrest him yet).  Over the last few months, a few things came to light. Nilsa, Randal's niece, has studied enough to become a wizard in her own light. She still assists Aram in his research, and studies under him, but could now be called a Wizard.  A priest named Bann has started to help Urist at the temple. Although he didn't regard Urist highly at first, Bann has come to trust Urist over the last few months, even stating that he should probably stay in "this rut of a town" for when Urist is away and adventuring. Speaking of Urist, he seems to be attacking a lot of weird attacks on the roads these days, but no vampires have dared to try attack him at home again. Randal's sister, Mirna, keeps pressuring Randal to write to Tessa, explaining why she had to send her a letter about his death, followed by a "Whoops, I was wrong" message to her. (Has Randal done this?). Tessa, however, still hasn't come home. Reidoth the druid has come to live in Phandelver, explaining that Thundertree is too dangerous to live at alone.  Additionally, many folks have started to talk to the group about joining them in their adventures. Urist, Devrett, Randal and Roy all give them a fair chance, but so far, none have appeased them in their combat trial. However, recently, an elven warrior, clad in splint mail, with a holy Symbol of Mielikki asked to join, and they are heading to said ritual now...

Session 15 A few days after Vailfaan came to town seeking to destroy Zelmar, the party had a test of strength with him. He proved his strength, and joined up as a member of their group. A number of days after that, a crier came to gather the heros, and bring them to Aram's library. Aram explained that Nilsa received a letter from the nearby town of Leilon, and heard that an ancient tomb guarding a powerful artifact may have been weakend around the same time as the Forge of Souls. She went to Leilon to investigate, and Aram hasn't heard from her for a tenday, and asks the heroes follow up. The heroes met with the Priest Hrask, and he explained that the evil Ogre Bonegnasher once succeeded in mortaly wounded the mage Damara to get the Orb of Dragonkind, but Damara was able to seal himself in his own tomb with the orb with powerful magics. For 20 years, his tomb lay forgotten. When Hrask got the letter from Nilsa, he assumed the worst, and wrote to her in hopes that a Wizard could come assess the damage. Nilsa showed up, and left for the Tomb.  After berating Hrask for letting a young girl go to a dangerous area on her own, the party set off to find it. After searching for a while, they found the tomb, and proceeded inside.  The very first room they entered into contained 4 gnolls. Although they tried diplomacy and intimidation, the gnolls ties to Bonegnasher were to strong, however the gnolls fell. The last gnoll was spared after informing the party that he "Gave the girl to orc." Randal had listened to one of the doors on the north, and heard something heavy hitting the ground.  Devrett opened the door heading east, and was immediately assaulted by a Lizardman shaman. Although the Shaman got off a deadly Cone of Cold, the party took him down quickly. Searching the area, Roy found a treasure chest, but was unable to find the trap. He took some minor wounds but was able to shrug off the poison. The party entered the last room, containing 6 orc peons and their leader, all of which were tormenting Nilsa. After a double stinking cloud puke fest, the party eventually cleaned house, rescuing Nilsa. Although tired and bruised, she wasn't in terrible shape.  She explained to the party that the gnolls could smell her while she was stalking around invisibly. They found her and knocked her unconscious. She was given to the orcs to "play with". She noticed the orcs only cared to torment her when she was awake, so she feigned unconsciousnesses for as much of her stay as she could. She was able to gleam that Hrask was right, and that the seal on the Tomb was weakened, and Bonegnasher knows it. She told Randal that she wasn't leaving until the orb was found, but Randal had other plans.  When they got back to Leilon, Nilsa begged and pleaded for them to just leave her in town ("Even if you don't leave me with Hrask, leave me at the inn, or the Temple of Tyr in the area, but we don't have time to go all the way home now!"). She said that Bonegnasher is too close to finding the seal, and if he gets the orb, he will have control over dragons, which is not good for the area. Although Randal is insisting that he take her home, Nilsa is practically in tears asking for the group to return to Demara's Tomb right away to stop him. What will our heroes do?

Session 16 After much begging and pleading, Randal made the decision to simply take Nilsa with them. She had a compelling point about Bonegnasher being too close to finding the orb, but Randal didn't want to leave her on her own. So, back into the keep they went, with Nilsa in tow.  They explored the north-west section of the ruins, finding Giant Crocodiles and orcs counting provisions. Then they proceeded to the east, finding that the keep wasn't quit finished, and started to go through what appeared to be mining tunnels. In the first room they came across, they had to fight off a Caroin Crawler, and decided to rest in the treasure room for the night.