Session 4 - Recap

Player Characters

NPCs

Story Log

• The party entered Gnomengarde
  • To the right, they heard manic cackling; to the left they heard kitchen noise and commotion
  • The party chose to investigate the room to the right first
    • Hurlin was attacked by a seemingly-insane gnome who was piloting a crossbow turret
    • Hurlin managed to disable the turret equipment by casting entangle on the control levers
  • Hearing the disturbance, two of the gnomes came from the kitchen to investigate
• The gnomes led the party back to the kitchen, introducing themselves as Joybell and Dimble
  • Joybell was skeptical of the colonist’s identities, but Dimble seemed eager to seek the party’s aid
  • Dimble explained that the colony was in crisis due to infiltration by a shapeshifter
    • Gnomengarde colonists started disappearing a fortnight ago
    • The gnomes decided the infiltrator must be a shapeshifter or copycat because they had seen two “versions” of a colonist in different places at the same time
    • The kings had sequestered themselves away, paranoid that the other was the infiltrator
      • The kings assigned a Grand Royal Inspector they both trusted to investigate the case, but there had been little progress to date
    • The common colonists had divided and isolated themselves into small groups, not knowing who they could trust
  • The other two gnomes in the kitchen were introduced as Uppendown and Panana
    • Uppendown and Panana were intensely focused on making bread (green bread, made from the green mushrooms the party had seen outside)
    • The colonists noticed that an extreme amount of bread had already been prepared and stacked
      • When questioned, the gnomes claimed they were preparing a feast for the imminent end of the crisis
• Joybell and Dimble offered to guide the colonists to the kings
  • The party agreed to help hunt the shapeshifter
  • The party searched the pantry cellar, but found little of note
  • The party explored another room near the entrace, finding barrel-shaped, pilotable machines with crablike metal legs
    • Joybell and Dimble explained that these machinces were used for transporting barrels of mushroom wine
  • They tied up and passed the insane gnome (introduced as Factoré)
  • Using a combination of Detect Thoughts and Detect Magic, the party swiftly found the shapeshifter disguised as a barrel in a storage room
    • The shapeshifter was sentient, and offered to leave under duress after the party found it
    • The party decided to give the shapeshifter no quarter, and brutally beat it to death
    • Hurlin stuffed the shapeshifter’s corpse in a real barrel to transport it to the kings
• The group proceeded towards the bridge near the waterfall separating the two halves of the colony
  • The party met a young, eager gnome who introduced herself as Sana, the Grand Royal Inspector
  • Sana was investigating a small stone and casting spells on it to see if it was the shapeshifter
  • The party told Sana they had found the shapeshifter, and showed her the corpse
    • Sana was overjoyed that the shapeshifter had been found, and offered to lead the party further
      • (Joybell and Dimble returned to the kitchen)
• Close to the royal chambers, the party met the two Royal Inventors, Fiddlestib and Dabbledob
  • Fiddlestib and Dabbledob were working on a Sanity Ray, apparently designed to cure the kings’ paranoia
    • The Sanity Ray was a chair with a half-dome “helmet” suspended over it
  • Fiddblestib and Dabbledob were relieved to hear that the shapeshifter had been found
• The party were granted entrance to the Royal Chambers
  • They found that the two kings had moved furniture to form two “blanket fort”-type encampments in opposite corners of the room
  • The kings were initially suspicious of the outsiders, but were quickly persuaded of their legitimacy by the shapeshifter corpse
    • The party told the kings of their mission to Gnomengarde, and of the dragon tormenting Phandalin
    • Grateful for the party’s help, the kings offered their “greatest weapon”: the personal assistance of the Grand Royal Inspector in fighting the dragon
    • The kings also allowed the party to search the inventors’ workshop for useful items
      • The party found: A Wand of Pyrotechnics, a Pole of Collapsing, a Hat of Wizardry, and a Clockwork Amulet
      • The party was given a map showing mountain paths through the area southeast of Phandalin
  • The kings ordered that a celebratory dinner feast be prepared for the current night to celebrate the end of the crisis
• Suspecting that the Sanity Ray might still prove useful, the party decided to test it on Factoré
  • The party transported the bound gnome to the Ray, and had Fiddlestib + Dabbledob activate it
  • Miraculously, the ray worked on Factoré, restoring her to lucidity
    • She was able to recall that she had been exploring the Underdark years ago, when she was heavily poisoned by Timmask
    • She could remember very little of what had happened since
  • Grateful to the party for restoring her mind, Factoré gave the party an enchanted anti-frost heavy crossbow called “Aris”
    • The party noticed a small engraving on the side of the weapon, with the name stylized as “AR15”
• The party spent the night celebrating and drinking with the gnomes
  • Roz learned the art of making mushroom bread from Panana and Uppendown
• The party awoke early the next morning, still hungover, with all the gnomes still asleep
  • The party “sequestered” a barrel of green mushroom flour and a keg of mushroom wine to take with them
  • The party set back along the path to Phandalin, with Sana the Grand Royal Inspector now joining them
• In a clearing not far outside Phandalin, the journey was interrupted
  • Halia walked out from behind cover with her hands raised:
    • “Welcome back, heroes. We need to talk.”
    • “I know you opened my chest. I know what you read, and I know you’re smart enough to know what it means.”
  • The party immediately protested their innocence
    • The party argued that they had been the ones to call out a disturbance near the cart, and only wanted to help
  • Flummoxed, but well-persuaded + eager to sieze the opportunity for recruitment, Halia decided to trust the party
    • She offered them a large bounty (1000g) to catch the thief and reclaim the chest contents
    • The party agreed to track down the mysterious thief on Halia’s behalf
  • Halia yelled out an order to her rear
    • A group of unfamiliar dwarves, who had ostensibly been waiting in ambush, left cover and started walking back to town
    • Leonard (Halia’s lieutenant) and a pair of wolves were also present
• Halia invited the party to accompany their group back to town, and the party acquiesced
  • Sana was introduced to Halia as an esteemed warrior from Gnomengarde sent to fight the dragon
  • The party chatted with the dwarves
  • The party learned that these dwarves were the Redbrands, ruffians who sometimes sell ore to Halia but mostly drink and gamble
  • The redbrands mentioned that they hang out at the Sleeping Giant, a pub on a backstreet near the east end of town
• As the party walked into town, their entourage passed by Edric, Halia, and a man they presumed to be Harbin Wester
  • All three were visibly stunned to see the party walking along peacefully with Halia and a group of redbrands
  • The party walked along past the group of Adabra/Edric/Halia, and went back to their lodgings at Stone Hill Inn
• (End of session)

Party Inventory