Session 6: Bring out your dead

Nars Dendrar

The weary heroes rested at Stonehill Inn and confirmed with Sildar that Iarno was Glasstaff. Sildar thanked the team and rushed South to intercept Iarno, telling the heroes he’d return soon.  The team then told Nars that his father, Thel, was murdered by the Redbrands and agreed to retrieve his body. Stevil preached the word of Kord to Nars, who seemed  highly receptive.

The band headed back to the hideout and heard sinister whispering noises emanating from the Crevasse and feared an evil had been awakened by the previous day’s carnage that would reanimate the dead. They burned the bodies and looted everything that wasn’t nailed down – including the head of the Nothic -- and brought Thel's remains to Sister Garaele for a proper burial. 

Sister Garaele thanked the party and asked for help finding the location of a spellbook that is known by Agatha, a banshee, who is located Northeast near the ruins of Conyberry.  The team tried to collect the reward for defeating Glasstaff from Halia, but she said the terms hadn’t been satisfied. However, Pog convinced her to part with half after he voiced his displeasure. 

The heroes, intent on exterminating the evil presence in the hideout, acquired excavation tools and began digging into the crevasse. They broke through a stone wall when suddenly undead hands reached up and pulled Pog into the tomb below. The rest of the team jumped fearlessly into the depths after their friend while Donton watched from above. 

While the band battled the ravenous zombies, Goh was surrounded and took multiple blows, gravely injuring him. He redeployed to a seemingly safe area, but it was inches away from a deadly locking pit infested with undead that would have lead to his certain doom.  After defeating the zombies and looting the Southern sarcophagi, the team opened a door to the North that contained a horrifying nightmare creature known as a Tentaghoul. The foul-smelling abomination screamed and rushed straight at the party lashing Pog with his tentacles. The impact would have killed most men, but Pog heroically stayed on his feet and fought a desperate battle of survival with the rest of the party and helped block the creature from entering the central chamber.

Tentaghoul

During the melee, Silde attempted to reposition but was sent crashing face first into the floor by a tentacle strike that left him unconscious and near death . Stevil took a mighty blow but stayed in the fight attacking the beast with his sword and divine magic. Our heroes, wounded but determined, slowly wore down the monster until Blumpkin finished it off with an arrow through its head.  Undaunted by their near-death experience the party opened a suspicious sarcophagus in the Tentaghoul room and found a zombie encased in valuable Mithral Chain Mail. The tough creature initially resisted the team’s assault, but soon it was dispatched and Blumpkin donned it’s armor.

Session 5: On the trail of Glasstaff

After entering the cavern Blumpkin left the party to loot the storeroom while the rest of the team discovered a foul Nothic lurking nearby. The team negotiated with it by feeding it the bodies of the recently defeated Redbrands and travelled deeper into the hideout.

They burst into a Barracks with three Bugbears, who were tormenting Gloop, a Goblin. A melee ensued as Silde unleashed a flurry of blows against a Bugbear, but he was nearly killed by a morning star blow to the head. Pog raged and waded into the room and absorbed repeated blows while Goh shot arrow after arrow into the monsters. Stevil invoked the power of Kord and brought Silde back from near death and charged into the fray. The party was bloodied but ultimately victorious and learned the general location of Cragmaw Castle from Gloop before the party released him.

Our heroes rested before venturing North where they discovered Redbrands playing a game of dice. Stevil summoned a thunderous force that swept across the room hurting the ruffians, but they retaliated nearly killing Stevil, who went down hearing the whispers of Kord in his ear. The team battled while Goh brought Stevil back from the brink with his healing magic. The battered party soon killed the villains, although they were badly hurt and forced to rest again.

The party continued north and found a laboratory where they encountered Glasstaff's rat familiar, who warned Glasstaff before it disappeared in a puff of smoke after Pog attacked it. The team discovered a Dwarvish book that gave the history of Wave Echo Cavern and mentioned a magical mace called Lightbringer that was lost five hundred years ago.

The party entered Glasstaff's quarters where they looted more treasure and discovered a note that affirmed that Glasstaff is likely Iarno Albrek and employed by the Black Spider. Goh found an ajar secret door, which lead to the storeroom with Blumpkin, who saw the wizard running South.  The team pursued but ran into the now hostile Nothic, who attacked Goh, who had eagerly charged forward to hunt Glasstaff. Goh resisted it’s necrotic eye beam while the team surrounded the monster. Silde was nearly eviscerated by it’s deadly claws, but Stevil used his healing magic to bring him back from the verge of death. The heroes then destroyed the aberration and found Talon, a magical longsword, and the half-eaten body of Thel Dendrar at the bottom of the crevasse, which exuded a necromantic aura and is unnaturally cold.

The team, having been delayed by the Nothic and treasure, attempted to pursue Glasstaff, but lost his tracks and were forced to abandon the chase.  The exhausted team headed to the inn for a much deserved rest and discover Yeemik lurking in the  common room. He offered them a deal to clear out the Wyvern Tor Orcs and the new inhabitants of Cragmaw Cavern but the party rejected his shady proposal and rested at the inn.

Session 4: Into the Manor

The victorious party was approached by Halia Thornton who offered 100 gold for defeating the leader of the Redbrands, Glasstaff, who has a Goblin in his hideout under Tesendar Manor who knows the location of Cragmaw Castle. She let the heroes rest in the back room of the Miner Exchange while Goh left to gamble at the inn. While resting, Stevil, who was visited by Kord while unconscious, told the team he'd been given a mission by his god and implored them for help, but his comrades were skeptical and non-committal. The team then went to the Sleeping Giant and drank until a lone Redbrand appeared, but he ran away while the party debated how to chase him.

The heroes scouted the Manor and found a cellar door. They hid and soon three Redbrand's emerged that were easily defeated by the party’s ambush. The team then ventured into the cellar and made a ruckus when Blumpkin started banging open barrels searching for loot. The team barricaded a door to the West and entered a hallway to the North. A trap-door opened under Pog, but he was unhurt after he grabbed (barely) a ledge, and then helped the party navigate over the treacherous pit with a rope. They soon entered a crypt with three inanimate skeletons, but before they could investigate they heard a woman's scream and the sounds of beating from a room next door. They rushed forward but the three skeletons came to life to stop them, although they were easily dispatched by the heroes.

The team burst through the door and found two Redbrands and Thel's missing family who were imprisoned and about to be sold into slavery. The party was shocked when they saw the women had been savagely beaten and chained naked to the floor with a range of depravities inflicted upon them by the Redbrands. They unleashed their righteous fury on the two guards, and easily crushed them. They freed the family and were rewarded with the location of a valuable family heirloom in the ruins of an old store in the village of Thundertree, which was overrun by undead 30-years ago.

The heroes returned to the crypt and found a locked door through a hallway to the north. Pog deftly picked the lock and discovered that it contained a multitude of weapons and ammunition the team used to restock and upgrade their equipment. While they looted the team was discovered by Donton Clinald, who was sent by Tuggie Two-bone from Neverwinter to deliver a message to Pog about an opportunity and escort him back to Neverwinter. Pog refused and Stevil convinced Donton to join the party to keep an eye on Pog until he was ready to leave. The team then passed through a secret door to a storage area connected to a cavernous room with a large crevasse in the center spanned by two small bridges.