The Story So Far¶

2022-Feb-19

The events chronicled below predate the systematic records of other adventuring sessions and are therefore compiled as a single log. These events took the adventurers from Level 1 to Level 4 over a real life time period from roughly 2021-Jun-23 to 2022-Feb-19.

Summary of Early Adventures¶

An Escort Mission Goes Awry¶

Rulkorf Alpensinger, Kleb Fumpton, and Rowan Chokrotsk first met in the city of Neverwinter when they were all hired by a pair of dwarves (the merchant Gundren Rockseeker and his head of security Sildar Hallwinter) to escort merchandise along the bandit-infested Triboar Trail. The dwarves wanted their valuable goods transported to the town of Phandalin, where they had a standing deal to sell merchandise to a local shopkeeper.

The first few days of travel were uneventful, but the party discovered the remains of a familiar cart on the road to Phandalin and were ambushed by a pack of goblin bandits. They fought and killed all of the attackers, but not before interrogating the last one and discovering that Gundren had been abducted and taken to Cragmaw Castle.

Heading in the direction that the last goblin had attempted to flee, Rulkorf, Kleb, and Rowan came to the home base of the goblin band. They killed the guards and took Yemick the goblin as a hostage and informant. They successfully fought their way through the cave despite botching a number of surprise attacks and quickly improvising after Rowan and Rulkorf were disarmed. Ultimately, the party slew the bugbear Klarg as well as his pet wolf, and secured equipment and goods that were emblazoned with a blue lion insignia. They also rescued Sildar Hallwinter, who had been taken captive in the Cragmaw hideout.

The party continued on to Phandalin with their original cargo, some spoils from Klarg’s cave, Sildar, and a very scared Yemick. In the town, they delivered their original cargo to Barthen’s Provisions and upon realizing that much of Klarg’s hoard had been stolen from shipments to the Lionshield Coster, they notified the shopkeeper and told her where to recover her merchandise. Grateful for the information and the party’s dispatching of the Cragmaws, she agreed to give them a 15% discount on future purchases.

Rowan recognized the Shrine of Luck in the town square as a monument to his goddess Tymora, and the party met Garaele, a cleric of the goddess. Afterwards, they purchased food and lodging at the Stonehill Inn and spent some time at the bar celebrating their victory in battle. While Kleb tried to seduce a barmaid, Rowan and Rulkorf regaled patrons with tales of their feats (some of which may have been slightly exaggerated).

Standing Up for the Common Folk¶

Having ingratiated themselves with some of the locals, the group learned that a Phandalin mafia by the name of The Redbrands is extorting the Lionshield Coster and other establishments. The patrons at the bar who were willing to talk explained that Redbrands’ home base is underneath Tresendar Manor, they frequent a nearby tavern named The Sleeping Giant, and they are led by a mage with the moniker Glasstaff.

Our adventurers decided that this cannot stand, so Kleb and Rulkorf, now moderately sauced, headed over the Sleeping Giant to see what sort of folk they’re dealing with and how they might be able to rid Phandalin of the Redbrands. The recon operation quickly got out of hand and erupts into a brawl. The duo fought well but found themselves outnumbered and somewhat overpowered, even after Rulkorf transformed into a wolf. However, Rowan appeared at the perfect time, having given a rousing speech at the original tavern and inspired a few townspeople to rise up against the Redbrands. With the paladin and these newly-armed peasants as reinforcements, the party wiped out the Redbrands in the tavern and donned their scarlet cloaks as disguises. The peasant recruits buried the corpses in shallow graves and hunkered down to defend the town in case this episode caused a retaliation. Intending to see this through, our adventurers hiked up to Tresendar Manor to infiltrate the mafia and finish what they started.

Entering the hideout beneath the manor dresed in their disguises, the party attempted to convince a skeptical trio of Redbrands that they were transfers from a different sect of the crime ring. When one of the gangsters left to verify this claim with his boss, Rowan noticed realized that he had used a secret door that blended into the wall as a shortcut. He chased after the Redbrand, trying to distract or otherwise stop him, but lost track of the man after fumbling with the hidden door. Meanwhile, Kleb tried to salvage an increasingly tense exchange with the two remaining members of the welcoming commitee, and Rulkorf decided he ought to ‘do unto others before they did unto him.’ After a brief scuffle, the druid and fighter left the corpses of the men and chased after Rowan, but not before he encountered an unsettling monster watching over the ravine in the center of the hideout.

This Nothic used its telepathic ability to extract a secret from Rowan’s mind, but was largely content to keep its distance and avoid a direct confrontation. Rulkorf and Kleb soon arrived, and the latter took a particularly hard fall into the ravine during the collapse of a bridge but as a result discovered both a pile of corpses and a chest tucked away at the bottom of the ravine. When Rulkorf opened the chest, the Nothic flew into a rage and sought to defend its treasures with a necrotic gaze. The party managed to distract it by flinging some of the gems from the chest towards the entrance to the cavern, and used the opportunity to scramble up the far side of the ravine. An uneasy truce was called once the adventurers agreed to leave the Nothic’s treasure undisturbed, and they learned that it had been ‘acquired’ by Glasstaff and kept as guardian of sorts, although it felt no obligation to fight them further.

Our adventurers continued on, stumbling into a new pack of Redbrands, and were much more successful in passing off their disguises and identities. Rowan and Rulkorf befriended them and spent some time playing cards in an attempt at gaining more information about Glasstaff, while Kleb slipped out to hunt down the original guard who had gone to verify their claims. The two met in the cavernous area surrounding the Nothic’s ravine, and Kleb chased him across the ravine (via a second rope bridge) and into the Tresendar crypt. He managed to slay the guard but was horrified to discover the crypt contained at least one undead servant, and immediately fled back to rejoin his compatriots. The two excused themselves from the card game and the party snuck into what appeared to be Glasstaff’s laboratory.

Just as the trio began poring over the contents of the shelves and worktable, the mage shuffled out of his adjoining bedroom and demanded to know why his subordinates had let themselves into his private study. Kleb used this opportunity to run him through with a sword. The battle was over almost as soon as it began, and the wizard answered the party’s questions under threat of being handed over to the Nothic so it could extract its revenge. Before Kleb executed him the adventurers learned that the wizard’s real name was Iarno Albrek, and through a note on his body they discovered that there was another man in the shadows who had orchestrated the original attacks on Gundren and the party.

Moving to the barracks, the party announced to the Redbrands that Glasstaff was dead. In order to quell a rising coup from the bugbears, Rowan made an example of their de facto leader, after which the party officially assumed control of the bandit group. They deputized the Nothic to look after things, believing that while it could not necessarily be trusted, it was self-serving enough to cooperate if properly rewarded and intelligent enough to execute their orders. Rowan encouraged the remaining Redbrands to spread Communism rather than terrorize the surrounding countryside and Kleb equipped them all with pamphlets explaining his personal philosophy of the Lozenge Gules so that they could proselytize for him as well.

Having been up for most of the night after their pub crawl turned into a liberation mission, the party returned to the Stonehill Inn to rest, recuperate, and plan their moves agains King Grohl and The Black Spider.

Seeking Rockseeker¶

In the morning, the party judged that saving Gundren was more time-sensitive than their new vendetta against The Black Spider and recognized that accomplishing the former might help with the latter. After gearing up with tools and equipment (which included a grappling hook and 10,000 ball bearings that Rowan asked Sister Garaele to consecrate at the Shrine of Tymora), the adventurers set out towards Cragmaw Castle (guided by Yemick).

The party left Yemick bound outside the castle, as while he had technically fulfilled the condition they set out for his freedom, they didn’t trust him not to alert any goblins inside if he were released immediately. Scouting the perimeter showed a distinct lack of guards and a fairly dilapidated castle structure with piles of rubble strewn about. The party was suspicious of the seemingly-unguarded entrances and opted to climb up and then rappell down one of the northern walls. They managed to avoid any traps that might have been protecting the building but once inside, they were ambushed by a grick in the darkness of the central chamber. Our adventurers slew it without sustaining too much damage, and Rulkorf did some scouting in his rat form (having a Ratatouille moment with some goblins in the kitchen) which confirmed that the castle was indeed still inhabited. After Ratkorf returned, Kleb spied two bugbears standing guard, and while the trio was able to kill one of them, the other rushed into King Grohl’s chambers to alert the king to their presence.

The party assumed a defensive posture, expecting a counterattack from the king’s troops. Suddenly, however, a dark elf rushed out of the chamber, gracefully avoided the caltrops that Rulkorf had scattered, and sprinted into the forest before the dwarf could intercept her. Deciding that the drow would not have fled if their enemies felt confident in their position, the party pressed its advantage by bursting into the king’s chamber. After a fierce battle with King Grohl and his remaining bugbear guards, the party questioned him and discovered Gundren Rockseeker being held captive in an adjacent room!

Gundren was overjoyed to see the party and to be freed of his bonds, but was dismayed to learn that the drow had escaped. As it turned out, the map that The Black Spider had referenced in his letter was stolen from Gundren by King Grohl and subsequently snatched from him by the drow when she saw an opportunity to get away from the castle. Grohl succumbed to his wounds the party took his weapons and armor. They were eager to chase after the dark elf, but thought it more prudent to regroup in Phandalin before trying to confront her. They offered to leave Yemick with the Cragmaw kitchen staff, or give him provisions to set out on his own, but he surprisingly had grown fond of life with them (frequent bondage notwithstanding) and desired to return to the town as well.

Outrunning Your Shadow¶

Traveling back through the Neverwinter Woods, Rowan had fitful sleep punctuated by disturbing nightmares. He fell asleep while on watch during the second night of the journey and awoke to find that half of his mustache was missing, much to his horror. During the following day’s hike, Rulkorf and Yemick disagreed on the direction they ought to travel as Rulkorf’s compass’ heading seemed to conflict with the apparent position of the sun. Because the party suspected some sort of magical tampering, they conducted a series of experiments and determined that they were in fact suffering from an illusion which seemed to be centered on Rowan. Upon reaching a small clearing, they stopped and inspected the paladin further, at which point Kleb noticed something amiss with the former’s shadow. He stabbed at the dirt with his sword, and the shadow let out a scream, much to everyone’s surprise. It separated from Rowan’s body and coalesced into a humanoid figure with a malevolent visage and glowing spectral lantern, out of which streamed three ghostly apparitions.

The ghosts proved to be all too material, and their weapons damaged the party while the shadow sapped their strength. Kleb fell unconscious from the ghostly onslaught and Rulkorf had some of his vigor sucked out by the shadow, but through a vicious combination of attacks and the radiant power of Rowan’s Divine Smite, the adventurers defeated the shadow and rid themselves of the distortion that had misled them. With their master gone, the summoned ghostly warriors faded away, and Rulkorf took the lantern with him to inspect later.

The rest of the travel back to Phandalin proved uneventful. Along the way, Gundren explained that before the party was hired, he and his brothers had discovered what they believed to be Wave Echo Cave, which was a legendary mine and cave network with a storied history dating back to the Phandelver Pact and the Orc War. In particular, it was said to be the site of the mythical Spellforge, which could imbue objects with powerful arcane qualities and was sought by many in the Forgotten Realms who sought power and magic.

Once they all arrived in Phandalin, Gundren and Sildar were grateful to be reunited, and Yemick decided to stay with the dwarves, at least for the time being. In addition, Sildar introduced everyone to a friend of his, the bard Fallon, who sought to join the party’s adventures so that he could use them as inspiration for his future work. The bard hit it off with the party, and the four of them headed off to Tresendar Manor, singing sea shanties all the way.

Hot on the Trail¶

Kleb and Rowan, with Fallon in tow, checked in with the Nothic who informed them that operations were proceeding smoothly. Rulkorf, meanwhile, headed to the crypt in the hopes that it would offer an appropriate environment for attuning with the Soul Lantern. Over the course of a few hours of meditation, Rulkorf determined that there were roughly a dozen warrior spirits trapped in the lantern, one of whom had been there longer, and was tethered more strongly, than all the others. Disgusted by this unnatural enslavement, the dwarf resolved to release the spirits as soon as he could, and headed to the barracks area to get some rest.

In the morning, he explained the situation to the others and they agreed to try to release the spirits before leaving to find Wave Echo Cave. While Kleb initially wanted to use the lantern as a weapon the way the shade had done, once he saw how strongly Rulkorf felt, he acquiesced under the condition that he could arm-wrestle each spirit to prove he was the strongest. Kleb defeated multiple spirits one-by-one, as Rulkorf used that contest as his “command” that they could complete before being released, but ultimately realized that the spirits did not actually need to accomplish a task before they could be released, and in a large burst of arcane energy he summoned and released the rest, with the exception of the final Lantern Spirit. That spirit knew nothing of his past or how he ended up in the lantern, and the only clue to his identity was that his name contained an “A.” Rulkorf promised that he would work to free him soon, and with that the party left Tresendar Manor to resupply before pursuing the drow.

Rowan requested that the blacksmith resize King Grohl’s purple armor to fit the paladin’s frame and adorn his shield with fearsome metal spikes, although his aggressive and intimidating “haggling” prompted concern and a light rebuke from Sister Garaele. Kleb and Rulkorf also visited some local shopkeepers before the party, with Gundren accompanying them, set out towards Wave Echo Cave. Kleb, eager as ever to show off his alpha-male strength, managed to carry his own pack as well as Rowan’s in addition to bearing Rulkorf on his shoulders.

Gundren was unsure of the way without his map, but before too long he brought them to the forward outpost in the hills that the dwarves used as a campsite during mining operations. There, they discovered the remnants of ransacked chests, carts, and tents leftover after some sort of battle. A single tent remained standing, inside which was the corpse of a dwarf (one of Gundren’s brothers). Rowan went forward to inspect the body, but as soon as he touched it, a booby-trap was sprung and the whole party found themselves caught in the explosion of a firebomb. Seizing the opportunity, the drow immediately sprung out from among the trees and attacked them, but was overwhelmed by a ferocious Kleb who had avoided the brunt of the blast. With a final swing of Kleb’s sword that took off the dark elf’s head, the party watched with shock as she morphed into a doppelganger. Grieving but spurred on with anger in his heart, Gundren swiftly led the party onwards to the cave.

The Found Mine of Phandelver¶

Just inside the mouth of the cave, the party found Gundren’s other brother weak and unconscious, but alive. He was suffering from a slice wound in his torso and the effects of some sort of poison, despite the innate poison resistance that dwarves posess. After the party healers did their best to stabilize him, Gundren stayed with his brother while Rulkorf, Rowan, and Kleb continued on.

The adventurers proceeded deeper into the mine, seeking Tymora’s guidance via coinflips as they faced forked tunnel after forked tunnel. They slew a yellow ooze (saving a sample of its jelly), and found (but chose not to disturb) a battered group of mercenaries fortifying a saferoom, apparently recovering from some sort of protracted skirmish. Further in, they spotted the drow, their earlier target, standing in the center of a large carvern and shouting orders over the edge of a pit which was being excavated by multiple bugbears. Rulkorf used his Giant Spider form to stealthily climb the cavern wall and drop down right behind the drow before shoving him over the edge. The elf barely had time to yell before the rest of the party rushed in and Kleb immolated the whole group with a Scroll of Fireball. After a careful descent into the pit, the adventurers found a Ring of Odd Evening and a Ring of Normalcy near a skeleton that looked to have been crushed under a boulder.

They climbed out of the pit and used the southeastern tunnel to enter a new section of the cave which was littered with the skeletons of dwarven fighters from some long-distant battle. The cavern also housed a blast furnace connected to a huge bellows and a large waterwheel which sat in a carved stone mill race. The mill race was dry as at some point in the past the water had been diverted to the far side of the large excavation pit, but the equipment appeared to be in decent shape. Thinking that this furnace might be connected to the Spellforge, the group was able to get it working again thanks to a large pile of coal and Kleb’s aerobics workout on top of the waterwheel. Unfortunately, the only arcane force they encountered was a flaming skull which roused the skeletons into an intimidating squadron of undead. In the pitched battle that ensued, the party dispatched all the skeleton warriors and realized that the skull was about to perform a final self-destructive attack. With some quick thinking, Kleb and Rowan managed to bust open the door into the room of mercenaries that the group had bypassed earlier, and trick the skull into detonating itself there instead (wiping out all of the unfortunate mercenaries in a blast of green hellfire). The party’s collective arcane knowledge told them that they had only a short amount of time before the skull rematerialized, but they didn’t want to run away and lacked the holy water necessary to exorcise the Flameskull completely. Incredibly, they were able to melt down a substantial quantity of Rowan’s blessed ball bearings in the furnace and use the resulting “holy liquid” to consecrate the site of the skull’s demise. Satisfied with their victory, they group continued further into Wave Echo Cave.

An Illusionary Victory¶

The next cavern was a large open space with sparkling stalactites and two rooms along its eastern wall. As Rowan tried to open the door into the smaller room, it rebuffed him with a psychic force of arcane origin. Approaching the central door, the party saw glowing runes appear on the wall, indicating three riddles which needed to be solved in order to gain entrance. They quickly spoke the answer to each phrase, and the magical seal on the door dissolved, yielding ingress to a well-equipped workshop with a Spectator and a large metal brazier which the guardian confirmed was the Spellforge. It was not hostile to the adventurers, but warned them that it had been instructed to guard the room by one of the senior archivists and would need her approval before it let them touch the magical artifact. The party was confused and a bit skeptical that they could find an archivist since they had encountered only monsters and corpses so far (with the exception of The Black Spider’s underlings), but not wanting to anger the creature they headed north where the sound of crashing waves grew stronger.

Walking on a narrow winding ridge, the party discovered the source of Wave Echo Cave’s namesake feature. A sheer drop met a massive underground body of water, whose waves crashed against the cliff face and could be heard throughout the cave. Rulkorf stopped to appreciate the phenomenon before catching up with the others, who were crossing back through the pit in which they had incinerated the drow earlier. On the other side, the group reached another dwarven structure and upon hearing voices, stopped to set some traps and do reconnaissance. Transforming into a rat, Rulkorf slunk up the stone steps, down a hallway, and into a great hall which he gathered was a temple to Dumithorn, a dwarven god of mining. Massive wooden doors were inset on one side of the room, stone carvings detailing the cave’s history and the mythology of the god adorned the walls, and a series of pillars lined the central section of the hall, atop each of which sat a giant black spider. In the far corner, by a small fire, stood a mage who could only be The Black Spider along with a female high elf, looking like one of the Archivist order, and an imposing knight in black armor. Rulkorf stayed long enough to overhear their conversation about ghouls they had found in the cave and a number of troops who had yet to report any findings, before he headed back to inform the others.

Scarcely had Rulkorf regained dwarven form and relayed the situation to the others when the sound of clanging footfalls sent them scattering for cover. The Black Knight emerged and spotted Rulkorf, but he was unable to deal much damage before the dwarf reacted with a paralysis spell and Kleb, Rowan, and Fallon killed the knight. The party headed into the temple together, only to find that their other adversaries had left through the main doors, presumably to check on their other troops. They did find, however, a manuscript that explained the power of the rings they had found earlier. Rushing back through the northern passage, the adventurers arrived at the cavern housing the Spellforge just in time to see The Black Spider and his entourage of giant spiders coming through the other entrance. With no time to lose, Rulkorf and Kleb impaled a giant spider with an Ice Knife and crossbow bolts while Rowan and Fallon headed for The Black Spider. The ensuing battle was fierce. Rulkorf’s magic missiles managed to get past the Spider’s defenses after he Counterspelled Rowan’s holy onslaught, but the mage returned fire with a brutal blast of lightning that nearly downed both of the humans. While Fallon tended to Rowan, Kleb got to his feet, muscles tense with residual arcane electricity, and beheaded The Black Spider.

The party’s celebration was cut short as they once again watched a vanquished villain’s corpse morph into that of a doppelganger. At that moment, the high elf emerged from the workshop and ordered the Spectator to attack the intruders. Needing a moment to heal and recover, Kleb managed to shove the Spectator back into the workshop and bar the door. Rulkorf took on the form of a warhorse, and sensing that she was outmatched after attacks from the others, the elf disappeared in a blink. Rowan had a hunch that she merely turned invisible rather than teleporting away, and a fistful of ball bearings tossed across the room showed that there was still an elven form hiding in the center. Head full of steam, Horsekorf charged and trampled the elf while the Spectator managed to burst out into the cavern proper. The quartet tried to show the monster that it had been tricked, and that the elf was a subordinate of The Black Spider rather than the Archivist she claimed to be, but it was in too much of a frenzy to listen or believe them. Feeling that they had no other choice, the party resumed combat and ultimately killed the Spectator.

With the Spectator’s guardianship removed, the group was free to enter both the workshop and the adjoining room (through an interior door). While the other three were peering at the Spellforge, Rowan emerged from the side room carrying an enchanted mace that was hanging on the wall, the Lightbringer. Kleb considered the other available items “pussy shit,” so Rulkorf subsequently obtained both the Manta Ray Cloak and a Shield of Arrow-Catching. The party took a short rest in the workshop and used the opportunity to imbue some of their tools with the Spellforge’s magic. Notably, Rulkorf dipped his Soul Lantern into the green licking flames, and when he communed with the Lantern Spirit, the ghost reported that in fact he did feel stronger, was less prone to fading away completely, and could remember that his name contained an “R” in addition to the “A” he knew of earlier. After this breather, the party elected to explore the rest of the cave in case there were other magical secrets or more minions of The Black Spider who ought to be dispatched.

Calling in the Cleanup Crew¶

Heading south, the group came upon another dwarven structure. Without hesitation, Kleb rushed at the door and kicked it open with both feet while in midair. Newly paranoid of undead, he then ran around, crushing the heads of every skeleton he could find. Seeing Rowan was about to enter an adjoining room like a normal person, Kleb rushed to cut him off and barge in first. Searching the structure yielded nothing of note besides a broom that was suspiciously ageless and clean despite lying amid long-abandoned ruins. Kleb threw it in the Bag of Holding and the party advanced to another cavern.

Rulkorf, at the head of the group, called everyone to a halt when he saw not only green fungus blanketing the cave floor, but also the corpses of two bugbears in the middle of the path with mushrooms sprouting from their clothes and fur. He was adamant that no one repeat the mistakes that killed those two, but finding a way across the room proved difficult. Kleb attempted to swing around a stalagmite by using a grappling hook and tying off the rope, but misjudged his release and landed in the fungal carpet. He seemed to be ok, but kicked up a cloud of spores. Feeling it prudent to move on before the particles spread too much, Rowan sprinted across the room and Fallon tried a pole vaulting maneuver that fell a bit short of clearing the hazard. Despite touching the mushrooms, neither suffered any adverse effects. Having no desire to expend as much effort as his companions, Rulkorf Misty Stepped across, teasing the others for their struggles.

The party made it to what appeared to be the “old entrance” to the mine and saw sections of collapsed tunnel, rubble strewn everywhere, skeletons scattered across the floor and sturges hanging from the ceiling. Knowing that the animals were light-sensitive, Rowan illuminated the room with his new mace, uttering the command word (SMASH!) and sending the sturges fleeing. Skirting the edge of the room to avoid any undead shenanigans, the adventurers reached two doors which faced each other. Kleb aggressively attacked the door on his side of the tunnel and Rowan turned the knob of the other one calmly, while Fallon and Rulkorf watch their friends rush off in opposite directions with a sigh. Hearing the squeak of hinges left unbroken, Kleb turned to yell at the paladin, but fortunately sensed a monster looming over him. With a yell, he put his complex about doors aside to attack the Skeleton Giant. The others soon joined, bludgeoning the monster with their weapons. An awkward swing of Calibur embedded the blade in the skeleton’s body, and having been partially disarmed, Kleb scrambled to retrieve his weapon. He ripped the blade from the monster’s limb and watched as the runes on the blade rearranged themselves, glowing with arcane energy. Calibur became Exossis, the sword pulled from bone. Rowan rained radiant blows upon the abberation as Rulkorf brought the monster to its knees, before the dwarf smashed it apart with a well-placed strike to the torso.

Investigating the room requires navigating around chunks of the ceiling that had caved in, but Kleb managed to find a breastplate that, similar to the broom, is conspicuously untouched by dust and dirt. He added it to his stash of such items, but nothing unusual seemed to happen. Hearing Rowan entering the room across the hall, Kleb rushed to intercept him at the doorway, but his momentum carried him through the door and onto the dusty stone floor. Rowan managed to find a strongbox tucked away under a central stone table, but struggled to unlock it as none of the party had the proper tools to do so. Invigorated by his successful assault on the door, Kleb smashed the lock (and the box) with his warhammer, sending coins flying everywhere.

Satisfied with the money they discovered, Rulkorf led the party northward, sprinting across the open area they crossed earlier. Upon seeing a slightly ajar door, Kleb cut to the front of the procession and, with a twisting leap, flew backwards through the wooden door. Inside, the group found one fresh corpse belonging to a minion of The Black Spider with a chunk bitten out of its neck. On the lookout for whatever beast killed it, they continued on warily to an expansive cavern with both ancient remains and new bodies. Kleb noted claw marks on one corpse, but Rowan noticed that there were a few instances of a third type of body strewn across the floor – ghouls. Having solved the mysterious deaths and accomplished everything they came to do, the party agreed to head for the mine’s exit.

A Daring Escape¶

Coming to a conspicuously long and barren hallway, Kleb nearly triggered a pressure plate in the floor but stopped himself just in time. Rulkorf then took the lead to methodically investigate the floor tiles, but his arrogance and laziness proved to be problematic, as he mistakenly triggered the trap after he got bored and thought he discovered the pattern of pressure plates. He, Rowan, and Fallon dove to safety, but Kleb found himself stuck in the hallway with large spikes descending from the ceiling. In desperation, he takes out the broom he found and yells “GO!,” setting its new command word and sending him flying to safety. The ceiling dropped all the way down, and as the floor sunk to accomodate it, Rowan and Rulkorf were sealed off from the others. Facing a thick iron-banded door, Rulkorf blew it off its hinges with Magic Missiles. The pair were delighted to see a room stuffed with barrels of ale, but quickly discovered that none of it is salvageable. Kleb managed to hold on to the broom in an impressive feat of strength as it dragged him around the room in a wild burst of energy. He uttered the command word once more and settles on the floor, while Fallon tried (and failed) to find any sort of mechanism to undo the trap.

Rulkorf and Rowan grew increasingly more frustrated when they realized they were trapped, and an initial investigation found only a single small hole in the wall. They tried to peek into it, to no avail, and poking at it with a staff was not fruitful either. In a shared moment of inspiration, however, they tried dropping ball bearings in the hole to see if they could roll deeper into the stone channel. With a satisfying clink, the bearings depressed a hidden button and the spiked ceiling receded. Exhausted and having had their fill of this cave’s dangers, the group headed southwest towards the mine’s entrance without further issue. Once there, Gundren tells them that he stabilized his brother Nundro, but that he still needed proper medical attention. With Kleb carrying the unconscious ddwarf, the party exited Wave Echo Cave and at long last began the trek back to Phandalin.

Back in town and not knowing where else to turn, they banged on Sister Garaele’s door. She quickly realized the gravity of the situation and ushered them in. After treating Nundro with tinctures, she asked for Rulkorf’s assistance with a healing spell, and together they healed his wound and cleansed the toxin. She suspected that he was suffering from the effects of the poison dwarfslay, and offered a bed for him to sleep off the rest of his recovery. Gundren gratefully accepts her offer on his brother’s behalf. The rest of The Party collapses into beds at the Stonehill Inn, happy to get some well-earned rest.