map by Gunther
Eight adventurers, Cressedien, Ruu Dawnhammer, Almalexia, Sauroff, Silvermoon, Koravhik Agu-Vakanu, Squirrelly, and Cernan reached
Cragmaw Castle around midday. A small storm was moving in from the south, and the resulting rain, wind, and thunder promised to help cover any sound as they approached the keep.
The keep was heavily overgrown with vines and small trees. Only the first level was relatively intact, with debris from the upper stories scattered outward on all sides. Old stumps showed that someone had started to clear area around the keep in the past, but regrowth indicated that this was 20-30 yeas ago. Koravhik stated that this aligned with the known history of the area - someone tried to tame the province, only to be stopped by the Ash Mount eruption triggering a zombie horde.
Ruu noticed that the stone arch of the main entrance on the south side was missing several key stones, but inexplicably had not yet collapsed. The party inferred that it was probably a booby-trap of some kind, and decided to look for another entrance.
They had brought a horse in case Gundren was not able to walk, and Almalexia calmed it against the sounds of the storm. Meanwhile, Cressidien and Silvermoon scouted the perimeter of the keep. The pair spotted a hole in the rear wall of the keep. The party (minus Almalexia) moved around to the north side, their movement covered by the sound of the storm passing overhead, and booming of lightning strikes on a thundertree about a mile off.
Entering the keep, they found a door to the northwest tower barricaded shut. Silvermoon peeked in via one of the arrow slits, and spotted someone (or something) sleeping in a corner. Since the door was securely blocked, the party decided to save that room for last, and proceeded through a door to the south.
This was found to be an old storeroom. Most of the old crates and casks were long rotted away, but they did find a small cask of dwarven brandy, as well as Sildar's armor and longsword. The party decided to save the brandy for later, and listened to a door to south. They heard goblin voices, the another door closing followed by silence.
The room to the south was a kitchen, with pot of stew simmering over low coals on the hearth. Squirrelly checked the stew, and ladled up a dead, fully-furred squirrel. He chose to not taste the stew. The eastern door from the kitchen opened into the great hall of the keep. It was very dark, with no light seeping in from the outside. However, Cressidien was able to spot something lurking in the upper reaches of the 15 foot tall columned hall.
Listening to the south door out of the kitchen disclosed a number of goblins chattering on the other side, so the party braced themselves to charge in a tight group.
Bursting into the room, they surprised 11 goblins. A combination of two sleep spells and rapid attacks swiftly dispatched the goblins, though a couple of them almost reached a door in the southern wall. This door opened into the southwest tower, and revealed 4 hobgoblins, who also fell easily to the party. Also in the tower was a door leading to a small midden, which Koravhik probed with his 15 foot pole.
Bypassing whatever lurked in the darkened great hall, the party back-tracked north through the keep, then back to the east. Four goblins were found in the northeast room, and one of the goblins tried unsuccessfully to sound an alarm by blowing a small horn. The goblins tried to run through a door to the south, but only two were able to escape before being cut down by the party.
This next room was a chapel, formerly sanctified to some human god, but now defiled by a goblin idol. Three additional goblins were here, one of whom wore a fancy feathered headdress. The goblin with the horn finally succeeded in sounding the alarm, just before dying to the party. The goblin shaman cast a spell at the party, but missed wildly. He then ducked through a door to the south, closing and locking it behind him.
One of the remaining goblins glanced briefly towards the door leading to the dark hall, but decided that fighting back against the overwhelmingly strong party was a better choice. The party dispatched the remaining goblins, then advanced on the locked door.
Forcing it open, they found two more hobgoblins, plus the goblin shaman. The shaman cast another missed spell, then clawed feebly at the closed door leading to the southeast tower. As the hobgoblins fought a losing battle against the heroes, this door swung open, knocking the shaman to the ground.
Into the room strode the leader the Cragmaw tribe, King Grol! Wielding a gleaming bronze longsword, he told the party that they had done well to defeat his minions, but now they faced their doom. Accompanied by his pet wolf Snarl, he waded into battle, but both they and the sniveling shaman were soon felled.
Entering the southeast tower, Cernan discovering the bound and gagged Gundren Rockseeker. Gundren was clad in only a loincloth, and he was trying to cut the ropes binding him on a discarded sword. When Cernan released him, Gundren announced that they had to leave immediately, as a large hobgoblin patrol would be returning soon.
Grabbing a blanket to cover himself, Gundren hurried north through the guardroom and into the chapel. He warned the party that the south entrance was booby-trapped, and that there was some kind of monster in the great hall.
Ignoring Grundren's urging to leave immediately, Cressidien did a quick search of the southeastern tower. When he opened the door to what in other towers was a midden, he found a bound and gagged Gundren Rockseeker. This Gundren was dressed in the clothing he was last seen wearing.
The call went out to tackle the first Gundren, and he was stopped before he could exit the chapel. This false Gundren then grew to six feet tall and struggled against his captors, but he quickly gave up and surrendered. He (she? it?) then took the form of a female drow, and offered information on the forces now holding Gundren's brothers, the layout of mine sections explored thus far, and their defenses, in exchange for being released.
When questioned about the strange beasts in the keep, the shapeshifter related that the one in great hall was there when the tribe arrived, and they simply locked it in, rather than try to fight it. The creature in the northeast tower was lured there with food, and King Grol was trying to tame it, thus far with no success. Both creatures were described as monstrosities.
Although Cernan stated a desire to kill the shapeshifter, he deferred to the wishes of his employer. Gundren decided that he would rather have the information, which the shapeshifter then provided (see below). As the shapeshifter departed, Cernan warned it that he would kill it if they met again. The shapeshifter smiled and replied "They next time you get lucky in a tavern, it might be me!", then winked and ran off into the forest.
Searching the rest of the southeast tower revealed some gold and electrum coins, some potions of healing, a scroll of Silence, and a scroll of Revivify. Casting Identify on Grol's sword revealed it to be a +1 longsword named "Talon", with which Koravhik then equipped himself.
Searching the chapel, they found a small idol of Kelemvor. Cernan removed the foul goblin idol from the ancient altar, and restored the Kelemvor idol to it's proper place. When he did so, everyone in the party received a blessing of favor from Kelemvor (+1 Inspiration).
When discussing what to do with the two monstrosities in the keep, Squirrelly and Cressidien said that such unnatural creatures should not exist, and convinced the party to kill both beasts. Koravhik was able to salvage some trophies from each of the two dead beasts, which they dubbed the Grick and the Owlbear. However, around the neck of the Owlbear he found a leather cord with a small wooden disk. The disk was inscribed with a strange symbol that no one said they could identify:
On the way back to Phandalin, the party did encounter a small band hobgoblins - maybe the shapeshifter was telling the truth about a returning patrol after all. The hobgoblins were quickly dispatched, and as we left our band of brave adventurers they were just reaching the Phandalin mile-marker on the Tri-Boar Trail.
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