July 31st, 2020 Standing atop the rocky ledge outside the Tower of Storms lighthouse, our adventurers spotted a white dragon soaring in the skies over the seaside cliffs to the east. After a few moments of brief discussion, the adventurers decided today would not be the Dragon's, or (more importantly) "their time", and came to consensus to hide inside the lighthouse until the dragon passed. Cormac and Travyn moved briskly and with purpose. Chiao sighted the dragon with her shiny, new magic bow a few moments before joining them. Simplejack walked calmly, and with poise back inside the lighthouse, practically daring the dragon to come closer. Inside, they peered out windows and doors, creeping and peeping on the dragon. The white dragon landed on the beach, rolled around in the sand, and seemed to just be out for a nice day at the beach, unaware she was being watched. Eventually, she grew bored and flew away to the south, snatched a deer or perhaps a goat from the cliffs, and disappeared out of sight. Following the dragon's departure, the Call of the Sea, and more specificially, the Lure of Treasure just floating inside the three unexplored shipwrecks began gnawing away at the adventurers. The only problem? Three huge, man-eating sharks, a decided lack of chumming material, violents waves crashing into the area, and a marine layer that brought in cloying fog. Still, they made a go of it! They rigged up Old Man Cormac to a rope and used him like a ball of bread dough at the Kid's Fishin' Derby Classic! Sadly, Cormac isn't much of a swimmer and the seas were a bit rough, so they gave up on the effort. Taking their leave of the Tower of Storms, they headed back to Phandalin. They encountered three orcs frozen solid beneath a sheet of ice on the Phandalin trail, most likely the work of the white dragon they had seen previously. Back in Phandalin, the town was abuzz with talk of the crazy manticore woman who came raging through the town looking for "those dirty bastard bandits who killed my man!" Mama Manticore tore up the roof of a building across the street from the Stonehill Inn before she was driven off by the militia. She vowed she would be on the lookout for the "bandits". The party then decided to use this as an angle to squeeze out more coin from Townmaster Harbin and convinced the townmaster to offer a bounty of 100 gp to slay Mama Manticore. In the meantime, the party signed up for the Mountain's Toe Gold Mine quest. That's when they met none other than Don-Jon Raskin, a newly appointed Lord's Alliance overseer and fixer hired to straighten up some production problems at the mine. Don-Jon regaled the party with tall stories of his exploits as a gold prospector, miner, fur trader, privateer, whaler, one-time Golden Glove flyweight boxer, and part-time volunteer firefighter. Needless to say, he was quite eager to get to the bottom of the problems at the mine to protect the Lord's Alliance's investment. At the mine, Cormac sent Gladys to investigate and the tireless owl saw two anthropomorphic rat creatures skulking within some shrubbery near the mine's entrance. Cormac was convinced these were wererats, so the group decided to approach cautiously. By the time the party approached the mine to parlay, there were no rats to be found, just two totally normal, everyday humans, who, mistaking the adventurers for solicitors, told them "we don't want any". Eventually, the party convinced the mine guards to bring out their boss, Zeleen. Zeleen told the adventurers they had been displaced from their previous home, an abandoned shrine just south of Conyberry, by a group of orcs. They came to the mine, saw its state of disorganization, and decided to fire the previous boss and put the place under new management. So, that's what they were doing and had no intention of leaving. They didn't need Don-Jon's help. At this point, the party initiated their most brazen gambit yet--they tried to sell the pack leader, Zeleen, a nice beachfront timeshare in exchange for them leaving the mine. Zeleen was sorely tempted, but she wanted a night to sleep on it. So they did. In the morning, Zeleen and her pack were all too eager to put the mine behind them and they willingly left! Inside the mine, the group discovered the place was covered in rat poop everywhere. They also discovered it had unusually high ceilings for a mine. Vaulted ceilings--quite the selling point in all modern mines. Perfect for carrion crawlers to drop down from unexpectedly. But, they dispatched the thing, found and freed a group of holed up miners, and returned the mine to Don-Jon's capable, no-nonsense management style. And, most importantly, in exchange for their help, and a rousing rendition of her origin story and subsequent adventures leading to this point, Don-Jon gifted Chiao her very own hat--Dundee! She never knew she wanted a hat, but now that she has it, "Damn! Does she look good!" PCs Present: Chiao, Cormac, Simplejack, and Travyn Items Gained: 100 gp (Mine Quest reward), Dundee the Hat (Chiao) XP Gained: All PCs are now 4th level!