The Assault of Cragmaw Castle

Military action

The party assaults Cragmaw Castle, the stronghold of the Cragmaw tribe, where they believe Gundren is being held.

The party approaches with cover of darkness and enters through the rumble. They enter the storeroom that Marri'Elle's rat got lost in. They carefully scout out the rooms below them and find little except some hobgoblin guards. As they sneak to the eastern rooms, they overhear two voices discussing a dwarf, a stone, and a map. One is very gruff and deep, like Klarg from the Cragmaw hideout, but the other is much softer and more composed. The party assumes King Grol is talking to the Black Spider, and they stage an ambush.   When the party breaks in to the room, they see a large bugbear and a drow standing over the unconscious Gundren Rockseeker. Trinn tries to cast hold person on the drow, but it mysteriously has no effect. The party nearly overwhelms the two before they can do anything. A wolf counter-ambushes the party and tries to bring Valamin to the ground, but he won't budge. Marri'Elle steps in and lobs off its head effortlessly. She then turns her attention to the bugbear and delivers a massive blow, severely wounding him. He retaliates with an equally vicious blow. Garret delivers his patented crossbow-to-the-face and kills the bugbear. As the party engages the drow, he does not react to any damage inflicted, except when Allen slashes him with Talon. The party manages to down the drow, whose body morphs into a grey alien-like humanoid on the floor.   The commotion alerted the hobgoblins in the nearby rooms and soon the party is swarmed with resistance. They fight a brutal battle against hobgoblins, an owlbear, and a grick. They decide to grab Gundren and the once-drow humanoid and run before they are overwhelmed by the rest of the castle's inhabitants. As they are sprinting out, Allen removes the head of the bugbear and shows it to their goblin pursuers, breaking their spirit knowing their king is dead. Valamin quickly grabs the map and glowing stone from the table and they flee in to the woods.   The party flees a safe distance into the woods before binding the humanoid to a tree and waking Gundren. They heal and nourish Gundren as he tells them of his last few days. He was kidnapped from the Triboar Trail where they found his horse and then taken to Cragmaw Castle where he was kept prisoner with very little food. He didn't hear much except that he was to be taken to see the Black Spider and that there was a drow on its way to escort him. The leader of the Cragmaw tribe (King Grol) was trying to negotiate better terms for his part in Gundren's capture when the party arrived.   The party lets Gundren recuperate while they turn their attention to the shapeshifter tied to a tree. He's surprisingly calm given his situation and very forthcoming with his information. The party learns he and his sister are doppelgangers working for the black spider, whose real name is Nezznar. The party learns the doppelgangers have no real ties to Nezznar but he was paying them well. In exchange for information and the promise to take his sister and leave, the party will let him go. The doppelganger, Vhalak, accepts and tells the party that the Black Spider has found the Forge of Spells in Wave Echo Cave but been unable to open the door to it. Gundren explains that there are 5 dwarven rune stones that act as keys to open the door. Nezznar already has one. With that, they agree to let him go and hope he holds up his end of the bargain.   The party decides to split up: while Garret and Valamin escort Gundren back to Phandalin, Allen, Marri'Elle, and Trinn go to see the banshee for Sister Garaele. They would rendezvous at the ruins of Conyberry the following day.