Campaign Bridge - Session 11 - Madness in Gnomengarde

 It's been a couple of months and the town has been recovering and growing since the attack.  Investors from NeverWinter have accelerated the town's development with their funding, once news of the Forge of Spells was spread.   

An Autumn Festival was held and the heroes were honored for their continued defense of the town in a ceremony where their exploits were read aloud to numerous cheers.  There were even statues of the party constructed in the town square.  OneShoe insists that his statue is still being built, but there is no sign of it yet.

The town voted to grant Reiner the ruined keep to turn into a stronghold/monastery.  Builders have asked for Reiner to provide plans for its construction, and his portion of the mine profits will begin funding it's construction.  

Innil and Vendel have also been offered properties in the town, perhaps in the woods next to the farm for a more natural theme.

Funerals were held for Tharden Rockseeker and Marigold in the new town cemetery.  In other news, it has been rumored that Halia Thornton seems to be trying to use the recent events to blame Sildar and is trying to get an election for town master to be held.  

The party also met Gwen Rockseeker, cousin of the Rockseeker brothers, whom came for the funeral and explained a lot of local history of this area of the Sword Coast.

The party rode off towards Gnomengarde on their own horses and soon came upon the ruins of an old village on the side of the road.  They encountered two strange goblins with glowing green eyes and psionic powers.  After being thrown around by the telekinetic goblins, the party defeated them, but were quite baffled by these new foes.

After following the map to Gnomengarde, the party followed the stream and it led to a large cavern filled with a lake and two islands of giant mushrooms that were being harvested by spider-like machines.  They were question by two comical guards and were allow into the gnome settlement and they encountered various gnomes engaged in amusing antics.  

They fought a mimic disguised as a barrel and barely avoided being attacked by an auto-reloading crossbow machine.  They also encountered crab-barrel excavation machines, one of which as driven by a drunk gnome that sped around the complex.  OneShoe also tried to drive one of the machines, but ended up crashing it.

A female gnome named Nyx tormented the characters with bad mushroom puns, but did agree to show them around the place, and eventually show them where the king resided.  

The king was quite mad and had glued his assistant to a chair, as he thought he was the Queen, and wanted to protect them from the rug that supposedly tried to eat the King.  

They also learned that something had sucked the brains out of two gnomes and they suspected the shape-shifters.

The party eventually cured the King of his madness and showed him the dead mimic.  They also used white mushrooms to remove the psychedelic effects of the wine, which also helped the King's mental health.  The King agreed to the pact with the Dwarves at the Forge of Spells, and gifted the party some magical items in thanks for helping the King.

Lost Mine of Phandelver - Session 10 - Finale

The party returned to Phandalin and were greeted by Sildar, whom invited them to the trial of Glasstaff.  They attended the proceedings where the towns people and the party testified against the rogue wizard.  Glasstaff protested in his own defense and tried to accuse the party of twice invading his home without provocation and attacking him. 

He also claimed, falsely as it were, that OneShoe also ate his rat familiar.  OneShoe was very offended by this false accusation and argued with the wizard before he then tried to attack the villain, but was restrained by the party.  Glasstaff was found guilty and sent to NeverWinter prison after being appropriately bound and gagged for the trip.

The party then traveled to the Tomb of Phalanyx to recover Wyrmsbane, in the hopes it would help them defeat VenomFang.  They discovered a group of dragon cultists that were guarding the tomb in service of VenomFang, but these were weak enemies and the party soon won the battle at the dragon mound.  They then forced the surviving cultist to tell them how to enter the tomb, which they then did by descending a hidden spiral staircase.  They soon realized that they were literally in the dead dragon's remains which had long ago been constructed into a crypt for Lady Aragonia and her fallen party.

After easily dispatching more cultists inside the tomb, despite Reiner falling into a spiked pit trap, the party explored the small dungeon.  They discovered two Skeleton Warriors and had a long battle with the creatures, but finally killed them.  They then discovered that they could put the skulls of the fiends into the pillars near four coffins of the fallen party, in order to unseal the tombs.  

They recovered four magical weapons and then proceeded to the dragon skull room.  Reiner pulled out the Wyrmsbane from skull and a flesh golem emerged to destroy the grave robbing Paladin.  The golem seemed like a difficult battle, and since the party had the sword in their possession, they decided to leave the dragon barrow tomb and lock the golem inside.

The party then camped outside of the dragon barrow in order to heal from the battles in the tomb, but were interrupted by a giant boar that invaded the camp site.  Innil and Reiner were able to kill the boar, and Reiner prepared a nice feast for the party.  They left the next day for Phanadalin, Wyrmsbane in hand, and a determination to face VenomFang in their hearts.

As the party approached town, they saw what appeared to be smoke rising in the distance and the feint sounds of combat that grew increasingly louder.  They emerged from the forest surrounding town and saw the town guards in a pitched battle with more dragon cultists.  

 

The masked invaders were attempting to break through the newly constructed wooden gates to the village, as Sildar and his men shot arrows down upon them from two guard towers. Several smaller buildings outside of the walls were already burning.

A large shadow blocked out the noon-day sun.  The party looked to the sky and saw it...VenomFang!  The dragon circled casually above the town, observing the results of the siege, smiling a malevolent fanged grin, before landing and saying: 

"Pesky little ones, I see you managed to survived our earlier encounter...and you've brought some friends to our little gathering in your would-be town.  Know this, puny worms, I will lay waste to this entire pathetic little hamlet right after I feast on your bones!"

The dragon then looked at the battle between its cultist minions and Sildar's forces with a bored expression, before blasting the entire area of the gate with its breath weapon of chlorine gas, which immediately killed everyone in the area.  

The party and the dragon then faced off.  Innil attacked with her Divinely Inspired spells of Thunder Wave and Shatter, while Reiner used his Divine Smite to deal massive damage to their scaled foe.  Marigold and Vendel shot arrows and Ice Knife spells from a distance, and one of Vendel's Ice Knife spell hit the dragon right in the heart.  The enraged dragon used its claws and fangs to fight back while its breath weapon recharged.  The party did a great deal of damage to the dragon, including Innil shooting out one of its black eyes with a well-placed arrow, before it finally blasted Reiner and Marigold with a green cloud of gas.  

Marigold, already injured from the claws of the beast, was instantly killed, while Reiner was able to avoid the main part of the cloud, but was still injured.  Vendel also went down from the dragon's claws and fangs, but Innil was able to use Spare the Dying to keep him barely alive.

The party then rallied at the death of their halfling companion and dealt even more damage to VenomFang, whom was utterly surprised at the force of their vengeful onslaught, and it then attempted to fly away to fight another day.  Reiner sprinted at the beast and somehow managed to cling to its tail as it flew into the air.  

Just then, Sildar emerged from the pile of bodies and destroyed guard tower timbers, holding a wizard's staff.  He cast a web spell that tangled the dragon's wings together.  A look of fear was in the beasts reptilian eyes as it plunged to the ground. 

Reiner was able to hold on to the dragon despite the impact of the crash landing.  He ran up to the head of the monster and plunged Wyrmsbane straight through its head, finally slaying their nemesis, VenomFang, aka 'The Black Spider,' the one whom had orchestrated the entire evil plans against Gundren and his friends.

The terrible beast was defeated, but the party mourned the loss of their rouge halfing, Marigold Brandybuck.  Her chaotic and fun-loving nature would be missed greatly. 

Lost Mine of Phandelver - Session 9 - A Ghoulish Good Time

 After returning to Phandalin, Glasstaff was handed over to Sildhar at the town jail to await his trial.  The party then spent some time healing up from the encounter with VenomFang.  Vendel arrived back in town and reunited with the party.

After resting and resupplying, the party, minus OneShoe, whom stayed to help guard Glasstaff, headed back to the Wave Echo Cave to finish exploring the sections they had not been to before.  They retraced some of their steps and then entered the area of the mine that used to be the entrance.  

They ended up having a couple of battles with groups of ghouls, but by employing smart tactics and utilizing the layout of the cave interior, the ghouls were killed without much trouble.

The party also came across the wraith, Mormesk, whom they decided to not attack, and instead engaged in negotiations over treasure swapping of all things.  They decided to decline trading and left the wraith to its own business.  They learned from the wraith that there is a "floating eye creature" behind the locked door to the Forge of Spells.  Attempts to find a key to the door were not successful, and the party surmised that VenomFang possesses the key.  They sent DeathCap the mushroom-folk to scout out the area where the dragon had attacked them, and it was uncertain if he remained in the area.

As Innil had previously asked the magic statue her 'one question' that it would answer, the party had learned of the Tomb of Phylanax, and that a 'dragon-killing' sword could be found there.  Plans were then made to travel to the tomb for some extra fire-power before confronting VenomFang again.

Lost Mine of Phandelver - Session 8 - VenomFang Rises

The next day after resting, the party partially untied Glasstaff to feed him, and then secured him again.  

They continued to explore and found a gorge area with the BugBears clearing boulders from some sort of cave-in that had occurred.  

The party rained arrows and javelins down onto the BugBears and were able to dispatch them, while Marigold did suffer a javelin wound.  

The party climbed down into the gorge and Marigold noticed there was a crushed BugBear under the rocks, so they dug the body out, and Innil gained Gauntlets of Ogre Power from the crushed BugBear.

OneShoe was sent up the opposite cliff-face to scout out a small tunnel that headed to the East.  He returned and pointed out that the wave echoes were stronger from that direction, but that the tunnel was rather small and difficult to climb towards.  

The party decided to head South and found a large central room filled with the long-dead corpses of Dwarves and Orcs that had battled to the death in ages past.  This room was the central part of the mining operation and a large water-wheel, bellow, and blast furnace was present.  

At this point a FlameSkull appeared from the blast furnace and raised eight zombie dwarfs.  Reiner immediately turned undead on five of the zombies and the fight with the FlameSkull was on.  The monster shot fire rays to start the fight, but then launched a fireball into the party, doing severe damage to Marigold and some to the other party members.  

Despite this onslaught, the FlameSkull was eventually defeated, along with all of the zombies, including the ones that had initially fled.  Reiner consecrated the blast furnace and the FlameSkull was banished for good.

The party then travelled to the NorthEast, in search of the booming wave echoes, and came across a large body of water that caused the sound every few minutes.  

A young green Dragon arose from the depths and announced that he was actually the boss, the "Black Spider," and scolded the party for entering his lair.  He also revealed that he was the cause of the fate of Innil's village and mocked her tragedy. 

He told them to gather in front of him, closer and closer, to plead for their lives, which they did in an attempt to talk their way out if the perilous situation, but VenomFang suddenly used his breath weapon and downed Innil and Reiner.  Luckily, Innil was able to use her last-ditch healing feat she had gained at fourth-level, and recovered some health instantly upon reaching zero hit points.  She was able to cure Reiner while VenomFang roared in laughter and swam away.

The battered party limped away from the devastating attack of VenomFang and decided to seek reinforcements and a better plan of attack, now that they knew their true adversary.

Lost Mine of Phandelver - Session 7 - Wave Echo Cave

 After returning to Phandalin from the quest to kill Morag, the hirelings were paid for their service, and the family of the fallen was paid his share by Reiner.  The party restocked their supplies and headed off with the recovered Gundren to Wave Echo Cave, in which they hoped to confront the Black Spider and find the Forge of Spells at last.

After traveling the fifteen miles to the entrance, the party entered a large cavern and soon discovered the body of Thordin, Gundred's older brother.  Gundren was obviously devastated and took his brother's body back to Phandalin for burial.  The party continued to explore the cavern after wishing Gundren a safe journey and offering their condolences.

Soon the party was stalked by an Ochre Jelly that had attempted to ambush Marigold as they explored some interconnecting Dwarven mining tunnels.  They were able to elude the blob when Reiner blocked its path with an oil flask thrown in front of it.  The party continued exploring and came across a fishy smelling lake at which point they decided against not using OneShoe to look under the murky depths.  

Shortly thereafter they came upon a small barracks of BugBears and a battle ensued, with the BugBears losing the fight, but inflicting enough injuries that the party decided to long-rest in the secured barracks.  

The next day they continued northward and came across another large cavern with some BugBears working to clear rocks at the bottom of a gorge, whilst one BugBear supervised from the top of the cliff.  

The party snuck past the BugBears this time, and came across a room containing none-other than Glasstaff, the Redbrand boss that had escaped in session 3, as he had fled to this throne-room containing a giant statue of a Dwarven mining diety.

Another vicious battle broke out as Glasstaff was cornered and threatened to finally deal with the adventures for good.  The wizard summoned three giant spiders and ordered them, along with his two personal BugBear guards, to attack, as he himself turned invisible.  The party eventually defeated two of the giant spiders and the BugBear guards.  The third spider attempted to flank the party through a side-tunnel, which also brought a third BugBear into the fight.  

These were also defeated and the party turned their attention to Glasstaff, whom had fired magic missiles at Innil.  She cast silence into the room and detect magic, which both prevented further spells from Glasstaff, and showed his location due to his magic staff's aura.  

The evil wizard was captured and tied up. The party then discovered the last Rockseeker brother, Nundro, in a locked room, which they used for another long-rest to heal.

Lost Mine of Phandelver - Session 6 - All Eight Eyes...and then some

The party returned to Phandalin, after encountering twin nobles on the road engaged in a fierce debate about which was more handsome.  They found that Sildhar was making good on his plans to serve as the new townmaster and had employed twelve men-at-arms from Neverwinter.  He was also overseeing the construction of a wooden wall around the town to further security.

The party allowed Gundren to rest for a few days while they also refreshed their supplies before heading back onto the road to Thundertree, now 500 gp richer for having saved Gundren.  They party hired three of Sildhar's men-at-arms to help them defeat Morag for 5 gp a day.  

The trip to Thundertree was uneventful and the ruined village was as they had left it, with Reidoth glad to see them return as promised.  He gave them all anti-venom potions and wished them luck.  The party approached Morag's tower on the hill and Innil was able to land a perfect shot from a flaming arrow through the top of the tower, which spurned Morag to appear.  The beast crawled out to face the party and was accompanied by ten disgusting offspring on her back, which she would fling out to attack the party, before her unleashing own attacks.

One hireling was killed, but the battle proved to be fairly one-sided.  Vendel was again crucial in this fight as he leapt upon Morag in wolf-form and attacked the offspring on her back head-on, which prevented Morag from fully utilizing her battle strategy.  Eventually, Reiner was able to do enough damage to Morag's legs, while his new plate mail armor defending well against her fangs.  Innil pierced the beast with more arrows before it finally fell dead.  The battle continued for awhile longer as the offspring spiders were all dispatched.

Vendel had to attend to some business in his village, but promised to meet back up with his new friends in Phandalin in a week.

The party leveled-up to Level 4 at this point in the story.

Lost Mine of Phandelver - Session 5 - To Kill a King

Reidoth led the party through the deep forest in order to attempt to recruit help against Morlag from a village of Firbolg that he knew.  They were only able to recruit one Druid, a blue skinned Firbolg named Vendel Beechriver, and his pet lizard, Kronch.

New party member: Vendel Beechriver, Firbolg Druid, 3rd-Level

The expanded party. with the additional help of OneShoe, assaulted the castle by essentially going through the front gates.  Several small skirmishes ensued with the goblin guards, some of whom were not paying much attention to their duties.  

The party also had to fight through a mess hall of goblins that were led by a creature dubbed "Goblin Ramsey" for his tendencies to curse and throw items at his workers, and the party.  Ultimately these were also defeated and the party liberated a former church of Palor from its Goblin want-to-be priest and his two Goblin acolytes.  The party also faced a Grick, but happen to make quick work of this threat as well, despite not having magical melee weapons.

The party also freed a trapped OwlBear and killed some Hobgoblin guards before entering the chambers of King Groll, self-appointed ruler of the castle. 

The party fought hard against this massive old Hobgoblin King and defeated him, although Marigold was downed in this encounter.  Reiner was barely able to save the fallen rogue with a potion of healing that stopped her from bleeding out, while Innil kept the boss busy with an arrow to the throat.  

Vendel was also critical to their success in this fight, as he shape shifted into a wolf, and totally neutralized the wolf of King Groll.

After the King was defeated, OneShoe, who never managed to land an arrow in the entire battle, put his foot atop the body and lifted the painted wooden crown onto his own head before declaring he was "King OneShoe!" much to the parties amusement.

The levity was short-lived, as the slave girl captive they had freed was actually a Doppelganger, who rushed over to kill the unconscious Gundren.  Luckily Reiner and Innil managed to both pin her to the wall with a javelin and an arrow between the eyes.

The party then continued to Phandalin to recruit more help against the spider mother, and to return Gundren to Sildhar for healing.