Arrival in Phandalin

The party travels to Phandalin, where they hear strange tales about local bandits called the Redbrands. Another adventurer joins the party, adamant to free townsfolk that has been taken by the Redbrands. Finding a secret entrance, they enter their hideout beneath the Tresendar Manor, where they narrowly miss the Redbrand's leader, Glasstaff.

Synopsis
The party gathers their provisions, as well as provisions from the Lionshield Coaster, which seems to have been stolen by the goblins as well. On their way back to Phandalin, Sildar shares some information about the current situation. The three Rockseeker brothers (Gundren, Tharden, and Nundro) recently located an entrance to the long-lost Wave Echo Cave. This is a rich mine that contains great magical power. Human spellcasters allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into a great forge, called the Forge of Spells, where magic items could be crafted. But then orcs and evil mercenary wizards attacked Wave Echo Cave, and the ensuing spell battle destroyed much of the cavern. Few survived the cave-ins, and the location of the Wave Echo Cave was lost. Sildar believes that Klarg, the bugbear, had orders to waylay Gundren. He heard from the Goblins that the Black Spider sent word that the dwarf was to be brought to him, but he doesn't know who or what the Black Spider is. Gundren also had a map showing the the secret location of Wave Echo Cave, but this has also been sent to the Cragmaw Castle. Sildar also tells the party that he is looking for a human wizard called Iarno Albreck. Iarno travelled to Phandalin two months ago to establish order, but no word has been heared from him since.

After arriving in Phandalin, Sildar takes his leave from the party and promises them a reward for escorting him safely here. The party immedIately goes to Barthen's Provisions to drop off their provisions and collect their reward. Then they continue to the Lionshield Coaster, run by Halia Thornton, to return her goods and collect a reward as well. Furthermore, Halia complains about the Redbrands and how they are disruptive for business. She offers the characters 100gp for eliminating the Redbrand leader, Glasstaff, and bringing her any correspondence. The group manages to negotiate an advance payment of half the reward and the other half upon returning with proof.

They then make their way to the local inn, the Stonehill Inn, where they meet another adventurer. She is a small half-elf, and tries to convince the party to accompany her to the Rebrand's hideout, in order to free some townsfolk that were kidnapped some days ago. The party agrees and uses its time find out some more about the Redbrands. They discover that the son of the local halfling farmer has found a secret tunnel and was almost caught by the Redbrands. Furthermore, they hear that every business is hassled by the Rebrands, except for Halia Thornton's, as they do not wan't any trouble with her. On the same evening they go visit the halfling family. Carp, Quelline Alderleafs son, promises to lead the party to the tunnel he found the very next day. Happy with their findings, the party goes to sleep

The next day, they return to the Alderleaf family and, as promised, Carp leads them to the tunnel. Not wanting him to get into danger, they don't let him lead right to the tunnel entrance, but send him home earlier. They enter the tunnel and follow it for about 100 feet, until it opens up into a big cave with a crevasse splitting it in two. Advancing carefully, they notice the presence of a weird being in the crevasse. Nate plays a soothing song and manages to put it to sleep. Brottor then climbs down and binds its hands and feet. Upon closer inspection they see that the being is a hunched over humanoid form, but with only one single big eye and spikes on its back. He also find a treasure chest and manages to slip some coin away, unknown to his party members.

The party then leave the being behind and turn into a corridor, at which end are two doors. On the left door they can hear sounds of merryment, the right door is silent. They then go into the right door and find an alchemy laboratory. After some investigating they proceed into the adjoining room, which appears to have been the bedchamber of Glasstaff. On the desk, they find two letters, both adressed to a Iarno Albrek, and the only signature is a black spider.

The first letter says the following:"Lord Albrek""My spies in Neverwinter tell me that strangers are due to arrive in Phandalin. They could be working for the dwarves. Capture them if you must, but do not allow them to upset our plans. See that any dwarven maps in their possession are delivered to me with haste. ""I'm counting on you, Iarno. Do not dissappoint me."The second letter writes:"Iarno""Keep the statuette you found and guard it well. It seems to be part of the unlocking mechanism to open the Forge of Spells. In total, six such statuettes are needed. I have been able to divine the location of two other statuettes; one is in Thundertree and another appears to be in Old Owl Well. Send some men and retrieve them for me. I will inform you should I gleam any additional information on the whereabouts of the remaining statuettes.""Do not fail me!"After this letter the character figure that a small green statuette they found on the bugbears body in the Cragmaw Hidout is probably part of this set of statuettes.

The party then finds a partially open secret door, through which the wizard appears to have fled. Follwoing the passageway, the emerge in a storeroom right next to the crevasse. They decide that there is no point in chasing after someone long gone and continue to explore the hideout. Now more on the lookout for secret doors, they find another one in the storeroom, leading into a corridor with two other doors. One is locked, the other one isn't, why the party first goes through the unlocked one. Upon entering the room, which appears to be the family crypt, three skeletons rise from the floor and a fight ensues. After defeating the skeletons, they immediately proceed to blast open the next door in the room, thereby hitting a Rebrand hiding behind the door right into the face. Another fight follows in what appears to be a prison. Once the Redbrands are dealt with, the party sees that a pair of disheveled human women as well as a human boy are kept in the cells. These prisoners are Mirna Dendrar and her two teenage children, thirteen-year-old Nars and eighteen-year-old Nilsa. Their father had been murdered for defying the Redbrands and they had been abducted soon after. The family doesn't own much, but Mirna tells the adventurers the hiding place of a valuable family heirloom in Thundertree.

The party tells the family to stay put for the moment, while they go and check out the locked door. This turns out to be an armory, where the characters help themselves to some additional weapons. They then return back to the family and promise them to lead them safely out of the hideout.

Adventuring Party

 * Nate Westerland
 * Akemena
 * Brottor
 * Caldarion

Returning Characters

 * Sildar Hallwinter

New Characters

 * Halia Thornton
 * Elmar Barthen
 * Caelynn
 * Carp Alderleaf
 * Quelline Alderleaf
 * Mirna Dendrar

Quests

 * Meet Me In Phandalin
 * Escort to Phandalin
 * Return Stolen Provisions
 * Halia's Job Offer