Session 3: Mountain's Toe

General Summary

The Hat Gang's travels to Mountain's Toe didn't start out great, with Dymera contracting cholera whilst trying to tame {screaming noises}. Nissany attempted to cure her condition with magic but was only partially successful. The rest of the journey went smoothly, however, with Elarnya using her hunting skills to guide the party to their destination, and Thokk Verantor proved his worth to the party, scouting ahead inconspicuously in the guise of a boar.
Upon entering into the mine the gang were faced with a small group of wererats and around half a dozen tamed giant rats. The colony was led by a young wererat woman named Zeleen Varnaster, whom Dymera took an instant liking to. Boston began to grow aggressive, attempting to shoot one of the wererats, but Jensen ordered Kellogs to stop him. Although outnumbered, the adventurers were clearly capable, and the colonists were in no rush to start a fight with them.
Zeleen insisted that none of the wererats had stolen Greta's belongings, that nobody from within the colony would have any reason to travel as far as Phandalin in the first place. Seeing they were unconvinced, but not wanting to engage the party in combat, Zeleen offered to escort the adventurers to the colony's treasure horde.
The horde was located within the rat's sleeping quarters, it contained a modest ammount of gold, some nonmagical weapons and trinkets of no great value, but did not appear to contain any of Greta's property. Whilst searching the room, Thokk also found a pair of silvered daggers hidden beneath a mound of straw. These daggers had most likely been confiscated from intruders some time ago, and the colonists had not yet disposed of them. Concealing the daggers before any of the wererats caught on, Thokk and the rest of the party left the sleeping quarters, only to come across the dead body of a blue humanoid, a doppelganger, discarded at the end of a tunnel.
The party's wererat guides claimed they didn't kill the doppelganger and ushered the party into the storeroom, which was full of food and wine, not an item of Greta's in sight. Dymera did find some rat rood, which the wererats allowed her to take as a gesture of good will. Returning to the main room, the party was now determined to understand what was going on. Thokk produced the daggers and began to threaten the colony leader, holding the blades to her throat as his fellow adventurers asked her questions. Zeleen swore on her life that Greta's belongings were nowhere within the mine, and revealed that the wererats were not the only creatures making their home in Mountain's Toe.
According to Zeleen, a small group of Thayan mages had come to the mine earlier that year and decided to lair in the mine. After beating the mine's current residents into submission, the wizards forced the wererats to work as bodyguards, charged with deterring intruders who may wish to venture deeper into the caves. The corpse the party had found earlier was, allegedly, a spy who had been ousted by the other mages. The wererats were supposed to dispose of the body, but the wererats, who had been struggling to obtain supplies lately, were considering eating the corpse as a last resort.
Somewhat unconvinced, Jensen delved deep into Zeleen's thoughts using his magic, proving the rat had been nothing but truthful. Curious about the mysterious mages, the party decided they should venture deeper into the mine and uncover their plans.

Player Characters Present

Boston Bornes, Dymera, Elarnya, Jensen Astria-Wagner, Nissany, Thokk Verantor

Character(s) interacted with

Zeleen Varnaster

"I can fingergun my way out of any situation"

— Dymera

In-Game Date
15th of Nightall 1491 DR

Report Date

01 Apr 2022

"I assure you, non of us have any reason to venture as far as Phandalin, but you're welcome to look around."

— Zeleen

Forgotten Cave by Noah Bradley