Murder Hobo Squad: A Lost Mine of Phandelver/Dragon of Icespire Peak & Beyond D&D 5E record (Beware Spoilers!)

The party set up camp half an hour away from the collapsed house and took the afternoon and night to fully recover from what had happened.  The next morning, still raining, Talindra sent her owl up above the tree line to get an idea where they were and then the group headed towards the nearest edge of the forest, to the south east.  Once clear of the trees, the group discussed what to do with their new treasure.  Araloth took the sabre, and the group agreed the Soul Bag and Leachers Gem should be kept safe until they could find a way to destroy them.  They put them inside the Bag of holding, which Thorovir will be holding on to for now.

After two days on the road they arrived back in Phandalin, late in the afternoon.  As they pulled up in the Town Square Talindra used Message to tell Sildhar that they were back and had Gundren.  He asked them to take him to the Inn and he’d be over soon.  They went to the inn and all settled at a table with drinks and meals ordered.  Sildhar arrived shortly after and arranged a room and care for Gundren.  He got an update on the situation and Talindra returned his stolen sword and armour to him.  Gundren said he needed some time to recover before he would be ready to travel so they should take the time to prepare ready to take the mine from the Black Spider.  He offered them a 10% stake in the mine if they cleared it out and made it safe for him, and agreed to be on call should more threats be revealed.  He hungrily wolfed down his hot meal before Sildhar and Trilena, the Innkeepers wife, helped him up the stairs for a hot bath.  Talindra asked around and found out about a trade caravan heading to Neverwinter in the morning and asked to join them as she has some looted spell books she wants to sell on.  With rooms in the inn running short, the party decided to sleep up at Tresendar Manor tonight (DM: Sildhar and the Lords Alliance had taken over the property and are converting it in to a new base of operations.  The party have been given keys and access while repairs continue and saw that the basement had been renovated and works continued on the upper floors.  More secure doors had been added to the main and side entrance to the basement and the area was more habitable.

(DM: A while back I noticed this campaign was very episodic and made an offer to my group.  If anyone wanted to try their hands at DMing or DMing through Roll20 but didn’t want to commit to a whole campaign they could pick a short adventure and they could insert it and take over for a few session.  Talindra has taken me up on this and will be running the D&D Adventurers League module “Corruption in Kryptgarden”(CiK) for the next few sessions while I step in with a guest character Bard called Reginald Arthur Tremblay.  If you think you might play through CiK you should skip the next few entires)

The next morning Talindra left town early with the trade caravan before the others awoke.  While they were finishing of their breakfast at the Stonehill Inn a messenger in the livery of Lord Silmerhelve of Waterdeep with two guards and a minstrel entered the inn and asked for Sildhar.  Sildhar comes down from his room and has a chat with them and they head over to the party after he gestured towards them.  The messenger came over and said he has a message from the Lords Alliance and they are needed in Kryptgarden for an important matter of great significance to the Sword Coast.  Lord Olranth Silmerhelve has heard of their deeds from Sildhar and has requested their help.  There is a malevolent entity in the area endangering trade and local settlements.  They tried to get more information, but the messenger said he had told them all he could.  When they pushed, the bard stepped forward, introduced himself, and said he had been travelling with him for a few days and had been trying to get more information.  The messenger didn’t have anything more to tell.  Given they had some time on their hands, and are members of the Lords Alliance they agreed to help.  The bard ordered some breakfast and a round of drinks and sat down to get to know his new travelling companions while the Messenger and his guards prepared to get back on the road.

They spent five days on the road to Kryptgarden, chasing off a pack of hungry wolves one night, and avoiding a pack of orc hunters one day.  When they approached the forest early on the fifth day, they could clearly see something wrong.  The forest had an ominous air, and a sickly aura to it.  It did not appear healthy, or a safe place to be.  They were lead around it for half a day to a military encampment of several hundred soldiers with banners of both Waterdeep and Neverwinter.  There were also banners they were able to identify as from the Emerald Enclave, the Zhentarim, and the Order of the Gauntlet.  They were lead through to the command tent, and were announced by the messenger.  They were greeted by Lord Valero Brokengulf and Lady Dalia Simerhelve.  Lord Valero explained that his family has kept watch over Kryptgarden for generations as it contains an ancient green dragon, Claugiyliamatar (AKA Old Gnawbones).  She has recently gained the aid of the Zartruss clan of hobgoblins and is talking with the Cult of Dragons.  Recently trade caravan attacks in the area have risen dramatically.  The fear is the Hobgoblins are taking supplies to reinforce and develop their fortress and become a much larger threat to the Sword Coast under the control of Claugiyliamatar.

The party is being asked to intercept the stolen supplies and infiltrate the fortress so they can open it up for an attack from their main force.  Once inside we need to find a way to delay their forces from reacting to an attack, keeping them away from the walls while the main assault happens.  During the assault we need to find the leaders of the tribe and the Cult of Dragons, and disrupt their new alliance.  The last caravan assault was at the village of Westbridge, who have had many caravans ambushed.  All the good should be at the stronghold and we should aid in its return.  They are currently awaiting a Zhentarim agent’s imminent return, who should have more information.  Lady Dalia gave us a Sending Stone to communicate with the main force during our mission.

A harper agent called Windle was introduced to the group and asked to introduce us to the other factions aiding in this mission.  She escorted us out of the tent and took us to a prearranged camp we can use.  She then took us round the allied factions’ camps, starting with the Emerald Enclave, where we met a scarred older man called Hendle.  He informed us that the local fey had been corrupted by the dragon and would likely be hostile.  We should do our best to avoid conflict and where not possible, we should try not to do any more harm or damage than necessary.  They will return to normal once the dragon is removed.  Fey creatures can often be won over with gifts and flattery, and have a weakness for shiny things. They can be won over to aid against the dragon.  He advised that we do not trust the forest.  Wendle advised there have been rumours of a dark Fey lord called King Witchthorne.  Gaining his favour could be key to winning this battle.

Next we met a Dwarf Paladin of Helm, called Drom, Master of the forces of the Order of the Gauntlet.  He told us about the hobgoblin prisoners they had captured and interrogated.  There are likely to be a system of alarms and guard posts in place to warn of enemies approaching the hobgoblin stronghold.  We will need to be careful to avoid them and silence them before they can alert others.

We then were introduced to the Halfling leader of the Zhentarim, Lilith.  She told us about Yalek Snurd, her spy who has integrated himself with a band of mercenaries the Cultists have hired to attack the caravans to present as tribute to the Dragon.  He has information essential to the assault and we should find and extract him.  Red Wizards of Thay have been seen with the Cultists, and should be prevented from interfering with the assault. The Zhentarim are ready to intercept them at short notice, if given the chance.

Windle was asked what the Harpers involvement was.  They are providing information and magical aid.  Harper agents have warded the camp from scrying as the dragon is particularly skilled with divination magics.

We called it a night there as it was getting late and the DM said it was a suitable break point.