Session 3 - Recap

Player Characters

NPCs

Story Log

• The party entered the main hall of Falcon’s Hunting Lodge
  • Falcon came to greet the party
  • Falcon was disappointed that the party did not bring a drink as a gift, but continued to treat the party as honored guests after they explained they were searching for Eldric
  • Falcon offered his guests a drink of his “finest” liquor
    • The liquor was labelled as “Will’s Ill Swill”, and appeared chunky and foul
    • Sym cast Detect Thoughts on Falcon, and found his surface thoughts to be earnest… and remarkably simple
    • Beastmaster convincingly faked drinking his share, Roz willingly drank her share, while Sym and Hurlin respectfully declined
    • Falcon was suitably impressed by the party’s “good taste”
  • Falcon explained that he was familiar with Edric and his usual routes
    • Falcon owes a debt to Edric, as Edric has been forgiving on the multiple occassions when Falcon shot him with an arrow while shaped as a stag
  • Falcon explained that orcs have been common in the area lately, and have been taking orders from a group of nefarious half-orcs stationed roughly ten miles to the east
  • Falcon marked the party’s map with the locations of:
    • Edric’s usual foraging path
    • A recently discovered orc encampment near Edric’s usual foraging path
    • The old building occupied by the half-orcs to the east
  • Falcon stated he would willingly reward anyone able to eliminate the half-orcs from the area
  • The party asked if Falcon would aid them in rescuing Edric
    • Falcon declined, stating that he must remain present at the lodge to attend to his guests
    • Falcon mentioned offhand that “the Duke”, Lord Dagult Neverember, was a regular guest at his lodge
  • Falcon gave the party a brief tour of the lodge, before sending them on their way
• The party decided to return to the Triboar trail to reach the head of Edric’s foraging path
  • Beastmaster sent an owl to scout the site of the orc encampment
  • A short distance down the foraging path, off the Triboar trial, the party found an abandoned campsite
    • The party found a journal that seemingly belonged to Edric
    • The party found signs of a struggle, and tracks leading north
  • The owl returned to the party, and gave Beastmaster the rough layout of the camp
• The party made their way to the orc camp
  • The party saw one orc at the entrance of the clearing, ostensibly on guard, but distracted
  • The owl reported that Edric was tied to a tree, guarded by another orc
  • The owl also reported three more orcs were gathered around the campfire
• The party ambushed the orcs, and managed to overpower them
  • The party freed Edric, who was deeply grateful for the rescue
  • The party looted the orc camp, finding Edric’s club in the process
  • The party offered Edric his club back
    • Edric let the party keep the club, saying it belonged with someone who would use it to protect the forest
  • Roz decapitated the orc leader, and kept the head
• The party set back toward Phandalin, making camp near the Triboar trail for the night
  • They encountered Theron, the dwarven smith, again, on the return leg of his journey
• The party escorted Edric back to Umbridge Hill, where Adabdra greeted them
  • Adabdra thanked the party profusely for rescuing her friend and mentor
    • She offered the party an improved reward of a potion collection, instead of the original GP reward on offer
    • The party accepted the potions
  • The party joined Edric and Adabra for lunch
    • Edric and Adabra decided that Edric would stay at Umbridge Hill and take over Adabra’s duties as town healer
    • The party asked Adabra what she knew about Gnomengarde
      • Adabra knew of the gnomes, but had no new critical information to add
      • Adabra suggested that the party might make a good impression on the gnomes by bringing along a letter of commendation from Harbin
    • Meanwhile, Adabra would take a more active role as a steward of the forest
      • The party inferred that Adabra would now likely be willing to join them on adventures to protect the forest
• The party went back to the Townmaster’s Hall to check the quest board
  • The party chose to pursue the Gnomengarde quest, and went to notify Harbin Wester
  • As they approached his door, the party heard Harbin muttering to himself
  • Sym cast Detect Thoughts on Harbin
    • Harbin’s surface level thought was strong and direct: “I can’t trust them; I can only trust Halia.”
  • The party talked to Harbin, and pointedly asked him about his relationship with Halia
    • Harbin turned the party away and refused to speak further
• The party set off to the Mining Guild to ask Halia about Harbin’s behavior
  • The party pointedly asked Halia about her relationship with Harbin
    • Halia told the party that they were close and friendly, both being notable and reputable leaders of the town
  • Sym cast Detect Thoughts to verify Halia’s honesty
    • Halia took note of a Shadar-kai sorceror casting some sort of spell in her presence
    • Suspecting psionic interference, Halia reflexively cleared her mind and became wary of the party’s intentions
  • Halia told the party that she approved of them taking on the Gnomengarde quest
    • Halia claimed she would check on Harbin, and smooth over his rough treatment of the party
    • She wrote a letter of commendation for the party to give the gnomes in Harbin’s stead
  • Beastmaster summoned a Primal Spider to monitor Halia after the party left
    • Monitoring his spider through Beast Sense, Beastmaster heard Halia tell one of her dwarven workers to “Go move the chest immediately”
• The party went back to their lodgings at the Stone Hill Inn to regroup before leaving for Gnomengarde
  • As they plotted how to investigate further, they noticed a dwarf from the Miner’s Exchange rummaging through a cart outside the inn
  • Sym attempted to cast Sleep on the dwarf, but failed
  • Hurlin ran to notify Tolben that someone was rummaging through his cart
  • Beastmaster ran to the cart to distract the dwarf
  • Roz decided to jump from the second-story window of the inn onto the roof of the covered cart
  • Roz slashed through the heavy canvas siding on the back of the cart with Tabaxi claws
    • She pulled out the chest, and passed it to Sym through the window
  • Sym suspected the presence of something with magical energy inside the chest and opened it
    • He found a letter bearing a black wax seal, and three enchanted draughts
  • Tolben told Hurlin that he and Halia often pooled their loads when hiring carters
    • Halia would send the cart loaded with metal goods to Neverwinter
    • The cart would bring back food and wine for the inn on the return
  • The dwarf (Leonard) assured Beastmaster that he was an authorized representative of Halia, and was simply unloading cargo
    • Despite Beastmaster’s objections, Leonard turned back to the cart to unload the chest
      • He saw that the chest was missing and the canvas siding had been slashed
    • Leonard stormed into the inn to accost Tolben for the missing cargo
  • Sym re-latched the chest, and passed it back to Roz on the cart roof
  • Roz dropped the chest on the ground on the far side of the cart
  • Roz successfully jumped back into the inn through the second-floor window
  • Tolben came outside with Leonard to inspect the cart
    • They found the missing chest on its side several feet away from the cart
    • Tolben found the slashed canvas suspicious, but could not identify an obvious culprit or motive
  • Leonard accused Beastmaster and Hurlin of involvement in the missing cargo
    • Due to a combination of factors, Tolben did not find the accusation immediately credible
      • The party had established a positive reputation amongst the townspeople
      • Beastmaster and Hurlin presented the recruitment flyer from the town’s quest board, seeking guards for the cart, to explain their interest in the matter
      • The party promptly notified Tolben of rummaging around the cart
      • The “missing” chest was found nearby
  • Tolben took the chest inside the inn to watch it, and sent Leonard to bring Halia to the inn to discuss the incident
• The party made a quick assessment of the chest contents inside their room at the inn
  • Roz was able to identify the black waxen seal on the letter as a symbol of the Zhentarim
    • The party recognized the Zhentarim as a network of ruthless black market traders and profiteers
  • Deciding to make themselves scarce, the party immediately left to pursue their Gnomengarde quest
    • They made a point of telling Tolben their intention to avoid raising further suspicion
• On the outskirts of town, the party paused to further inspect the contents of the chest
  • Hurlin assessed the draughts as Elixirs of Strength
  • Sym believed the draughts had an element of malice to their effects, and dissuaded Hurlin from sampling the potions
  • The party opened and collectively read the letter from the chest
    • The letter implicated Halia Thorton of acting as an agent of the Zhentarim
      • The letter suggested that Halia was dosing Harbin Wester with a Poison of Trusting
      • The poison was implied to make the imbiber wholly trusting of the poisoner, yet fiercely paranoid of others
    • The letter hinted that Tolben was unaware of Halia’s involvement with the Zhentarim
    • The letter made clear that the Zhentarim were monitoring the party, and open to killing them OR recruiting them, per Halia’s discretion
      • The party had drawn notice by inadvertently foiling a plot to kill Brom & Darric
  • Sym made a copy of the letter using his calligraphy kit
• The party decided to inform Adabra and Edric of what they had learned before leaving town
  • They took a circuitous route to Umbridge Hill around the outskirts of town to avoid encountering Halia
  • The party presented Adabra and Edric with a copy of the letter, and left them one of the potions to analyze
    • The party monitored Adabra and Edric’s reactions to the letter
      • The party saw no sign that Adabra or Edric had awareness of, or sympathy for, Halia’s plot
      • The primary response appeared to be shock and surprise
    • Adabra and Edric told the party that the letter seemed credible, but they would need some time to investigate and formulate their response
• The party then left to continue towards Gnomengarde
  • They made camp for the night
    • On watch, Sym spotted wolves circling the camp as the rest of the party slept
    • He illuminated a nearby boulder with his light cantrip, and added logs to the campfire
    • He saw the wolves again, further away, later in the night, but the fire successfully kept them at bay
• The party arrived at the base of a large mountain, where they found the outer settlement of Gnomengarde
  • They saw several doors on high ledges around a waterfall
  • The party spotted two small islands covered with mushrooms near the base of the waterfall
    • The islands held three types of mushroom: red, green, and grey
    • Hurlin identified the red mushrooms as mushrooms used in fermenting gnomish wine
    • Hurlin suspected the green and grey mushrooms were used as some form of alchemical ingredient
  • The party did not find anyone on watch outside the settlement, so they decided pass through what they suspected to be the main entrance
• (End of session)

Party Inventory