Chapter 3: Butcherers of Phandalin

General Summary

Date: 21st to 22nd of Mirtul, 1491 DR

The adventurers had just finished their meeting with Halia Thornton, ready to engage the leader of the Redbrands, Glasstaff. They learned that the Redbrands were set up underneath the Tresendar Manor, but before they would delve into the beehive, the adventurers would require some rest and more knowledge of the location. As they were traveling to the familiar Stonehill Inn, the party realized how much attention they were now getting from the townsfolk. Inside the tavern, many patrons left as soon as the party entered. The word was spreading fast in this small town that a group of criminals, led by a "7 foot tall bugbear" were murdering the Redbrands and starting a gang war. Meeting with Sildar, they learned that Sildar's friend Iarno was sent to Phandalin in order to form a militia since the town had no guards. Now with Iarno's disappearance, Sildar was ready to take this task, but first he would need to locate the Rockseeker brother's as well as deal with the Redbrands. The party promised to help find Gundren and deal with the ruffians. The adventurers started damage control, and with a few coins and favors, they managed to persuade a few villagers to alter the rumors of the party. In the meantime they visited the Edermath's Orchard and met the retired adventurer Daran Edermath who didn't seem to care about the rumors about the party. He offered them a job to travel to Old Owl's Well, to seek information about the rumors of undead guarding the site, along with a Red Wizard. If the party managed to learn about his intentions and stop any ill-favored attempt the wizard might have in mind, Daran would pay each party member 20 gold dragons. Next stop was the Shrine of Luck. The party met an acolyte Sister Garaele and asked whether she knew about the location of Cragmaw Castle. Unfortunately she didn't know the whereabouts of this castle but had connections and could trade information for information, tasking the players to visit a Banshee called Agatha. She has the information about a legendary spell book, but when Sister Garaele traveled there, she didn't appear before her. So if the party would gain this information, Garaele promised to look into the location of the castle. Now as the Tresendar Manor was scouted and the party learned about the trapdoor leading inside the basement, they decided to rest early in order to attack the base in the middle of the night. Problems arose as the Stonehill Inn seemingly was full and the party had no place to rest. Toblen, the innkeeper suggested that the adventurers could look for shelter in the Alderleaf Farm. Traveling there they met Qelline Alderleaf, a stout and hard headed halfling, along with her son Carp. She agreed to give them shelter in her small barn, sleeping next to an ox called Stacy. The party obliged and took their rest. As the rest was coming to an end, the party quickly realized a small fire beginning to spread inside the barn. The party quickly extinguished the fire and Ranvas managed to calm the frightened Stacy. They saw a silhouette of a man running from behind the barn towards the Tresendar Manor and were ready to give chase. As the attempt of surprising the bandits on the entrance wasn't working, the party headed inside the basement. First encounter of the Redbrands started off good as Bene seemingly persuaded them to deliver the party to Glasstaff, the leader of the Redbrands. This attempt quickly turned sour as the Redbrands led the party into a trapped hallway and started to attack them, while two party members hanged on the edge of the pit traps. One Redbrand lost his life to the thirsty axe of Thah, while the rest of them seemingly vanished into thin air. A small moment of peace gave the party to examine some of the rooms, as they delved into the crypt area. Another ambush was upon them, as skeletons rose up near the sarcophagi and from the other room crossbow bolts were shot towards the party. The two Redbrands were outnumbered as the party was easily able to get rid of the undead, so they turned to leveraging the prisoners of this basement. With a knife on a child's throat and a crossbow pointed at another, they demanded the party to drop their weapons and leave the basement. Some of the adventurers were ready to fight while Bene was able to use his silver-tongue to persuade the Redbrands to leave the hostages and escape with no harm coming to them. And so it was that the party had three dirty and ill-kept prisoners at hand, Mirna Dendrar and her two children, twelve-year old Nilsa and eighteen year old Nars. She couldn't repay the party but told about an expensive heirloom that their family used to have while they were living in Thundertree. After Ranvas and Firbo escorted them above ground, the family breathed fresh air once more and started to walk down to the sleeping town of Phandalin. The party had saved lives, but Glasstaff was still loose. Determination in their eyes, they pressed on through the secret door, ready to face the new dangers of the Redbrand Hideout.