Redbrand Ruffians Report
General Summary
Previously: Druids' Dreams and Shrines of Seeing
As we reached the Stonehill Inn, we heard a minstrel telling the story of another adventuring group called the Stonehand Adventurers, possibly a rival for our own tales of daring do.
Worryingly, things around town seemed to have changed in our absence. There was no Squats sitting in the public bar; an unfamiliar woman was behind the Inn's reception, which turned out to be Tolben's wife, Trilena; and talk across town was about newcomers called the Redbrand guard company, a group of mercenaries of less-than-savoury character. They ran mainly at a rough tavern called the 'Sleeping Giant' and had been hassling the ordinary townsfolk. Rumours said they might be linked to Harbin Wester's brother, though he hasn't been seen for a week or so.
The Redbrand did 'caravan escorts' and were apparently run by a man known as Glasstaff. He would pass orders through his underlings and the company were scared of him even though most of them had not seen him in person. They presented themselves as a legitimate company, but none of the locals really believed it.
We found out that Squats was in hiding, but might be reachable through Tolben. Squats thought that an old man in the pub might be a Sheriff from Neverwinter come to track her down and had gone to ground. When we were shown through to Tolben's backroom, we were able to talk to her. She confirmed some of the rumours regarding the Redbrand company. She recognised some of the underworld types joining the Redbrand group. They have the front of a legitimate business, but she thought that the criminal element were trying to take over. The Redbrand included magic users, rogues and soldiers, but she could not confirm who was in charge and where their money was coming from. They even took work as guards for Conyberry's food supplies and the soldier's transports. Squats was convinced that they had too much money for the business they showed, though. It seemed odd to her also that they avoided Halia Thornton and the Miners' Exchange. The wargs chased them away from Lluranu, which was lucky as she was the go-between with the orc merchants from Dwarven Greed. We also found out that Big Al and Petunia were staying on their ranch in town, until they could be safely taken to the new Butterskull Ranch.
Squats asked us to find the dwarf artificer who makes her specialist ammo for her miniaturised wrist-mounted crossbows. He left Neverwinter to visit his cousins in a mine to the east of Phandalin, but went missing in the foothills and hasn't been heard from since.
Squats suggests we talk to Daran Edermath, a silver haired, half elf, ex-adventurer who is an accomplished fighter and used to belong to the Order of the Gauntlet, a group of soldiers and adventurers who keep the peace. She said Edermath had to fight off some Redbrand thugs and might have more information on them. Rumour has it the town's carpenter, Thel Dendrar, also had an altercation and stood up to them, but has since disappeared. A halfling boy called Carp claimed he was chased out of tunnels in the woods east of town, but the thugs were scared off by his mum.
We visited the town hall, but all the quests had been ripped down, either to do, or to stop others from doing them. A lot of the townsfolk are talking about dragon sightings. Some are hoping the adventuring groups popping up around town will do something about it, but they seem a lot less experienced than us.
Mayor Wester looked a lot less scared than last time we saw him. He claimed that he had his house 'dragon-proofed'. There were some wooden runes placed around the house but they seemed fake. Wester said it was done by a mage calling himself 'The Great Magoo', for a good deal of gold. However the mage insisted on moving on towards Triboar, even refusing offers of more money.
Wester explained his dealings with the mercenary company, who established themselves, following town rules, in previously empty buildings to the east of Phandalin. He had heard the concerning rumours as well, but was sure they would settle down to Phandalin life soon.
He informed us that the Stonehand Adventurers party were very reliable, and were staying at Alderleaf Farm a few houses down from Wester's own home. Mrs Alderleaf, a lady who is on the small side even for a halfling, is aunt to one of the Adventurers. Wester would have liked to introduce his two favourite groups of adventurers, but they were out of town at that moment.
Next: A New Sheriff in Town
