For whatever your individual reason is for coming to the village of Phandalin, you find yourself at the only inn in town--the Stonehill Inn. As you sit there at tables, two men enter room. One is middle-aged and overweight human, the other is a dark-skinned Half-Elf.

"That wasn't so hard," the Half-Elf says. "One mayor rescued, none the worse for wear."

"So, Sildar, have you got enough cells for the Redbrands? We captured 7 of them."

Actually, he'd left before the details were resolved. He wasn't sure how many of the Redbrands would still be alive. He was confident, however, that the others could handle the rest of the Redbrands. After all, the 'mission' was to rescue the mayor, which he did... they did... not to arrest the Redbrands.

"That didn't even work up a sweat. I don't suppose you got something else for us to do?"

Criella walks up to the two men and says, "Sounds like your work has gone well.  May we talk about working together sometime?"

"I would be honored, Miss," Thalias replies to Criella.

"I am Thalias Surefire, Rogue Extraordinaire! More of the swashbuckling sort, mind you, rather than the thieving sort."

"The others should be here shortly."

He then looks at Sildar for an answer.

The sound of talking was a welcome distraction from Victor's quiet recollections. The mention of work was even more appreciated. He approached the group, giving Criella a polite nod and said, ""Pardon, the intrusion, ma'am. Wouldn't mind working with some competent folk, m'self." He gave Thalias a nod of acknowledgment and then addressed the man apparently called Sildar, who seemed to be in charge,"Captain Victor Harkness, Neverwinter Infantry 42nd Division, retired." There was no pomp in his voice, rather his introduction sounded matter-of-fact, reciting his rank as if it were simply part of his name.

"Well met, Victor," Sildar responds to Victor. He then turns to answer Thalias.

"I hadn't considered the Redbrands a 'threat' until this incident. Certainly they were an annoyance, and admittedly a bit of a distract from what I considered the main threat in the area--the goblins."

"I'm concerned that the goblins might be a precursor to another Orc invasion. We drove the last Orc incursions out a long time ago, but the area has been slow to resettle. Phandelver here is the only village that has been repopulate."

"Another group of adventurers that went out to the Redbrand lair under the old manor ruins dealt a serious blow to the goblins out at the old castle. Turned out that they were being led by a bugbear. That may indicate that they are better organized than I thought."

"I was planning to send out a few scouting parties, if anyone was amenable to that."

"So, how say you? Would you be interested in investigating some of the other ruins in the area?"

"Anything I can do to help.  Any thoughts on which ruins you'd want us to check out for you?"

Victor let out a sharp laugh, "Orcs? Har, that's why I joined the Army in the first place, all them years ago! Even learnt a bit of Orc, m'self, so's I could ken what they was planning. Course, Army had me fighting men half the time instead, usually cause some noble or other was cross at some other and Neverwinter just had to pick a side. Lucky the orcs was just as bad, or they would've wiped us out while we was killing our own." He then realized he had spoken over Criella, "Pardon again, ma'am. Let my mouth outrun my manners, at times."

A young gnome enters the Inn, whistling a jaunty tune. "Sildar, there are a bunch of Redbrands in your jail. Oh, you know already, the mayor is here! Well met Mr. Mayor."

Then, to Sildar, "What kind of investigating are you thinking about?"

A man with long black hair down to his shoulders follows the gnome. He sees Sildar, and the mayor. "Prisoners are in the cells, the mayor is freed. So where is our payment? I need to earn a living from these adventures."

Thalias is already there, having escorted the mayor back from the Sleeping Giant pub.

"There is no jail or cells in Phandelver yet, so just where did you put the prisoners?" Thalias asks Darvin and Gimble.

"Sildar thinks there are more goblins in the area. He'd like someone to check them out. He hasn't got around to telling us where these ruins are, though."

"You want to take him up on his offer?"

"Goblins?  Sounds easy and worthy enough.  I'm willing to go if the others are." Criella says as she waits for the others to have their input as well.

"Your new gaol is called the Sleeping Giant. They are in the cellar.Near enough to cell don't you think?" says Darvin.

"I'm more interested in tracking down the wizard they call Glasstaff; the leader of these Redbrands. The man who led the group who captured the mayor was quite helpful in divulging information about their true leader. He's said to be set up in the crypts beneath Tressendar manor "

In reply to Mikal Mourningmoon (msg # 13):

A beautiful female with hair that at first reminds you of fire walks in and looks around, then walks to the bar.

" Barkeep, a fine wine and a fine meal? "

"Huh, death by magical fire, or rusty steel?" Victor said with a smirk. "Well, that's a tough choice, but foul magics threaten a town's safety more than rowdy gobbos, I'd wager. Makes for a better song, at that!" He winked at the bard.

If you aren't familiar with the setting or the Forgotten Realms, this is a quick geography lesson.

You are on the world of Toril, on the continent known as Faerun. The region is known as The North, and lies on the northwest coast. The particular area is called the Sword Coast, which extends from the coastal city of Waterdeep just to the south to the coastal city of Neverwinter just to the north.

About halfway between the two cities lies the Triboar Trail, a trade route that heads east inland and over the mountains.

The village of Phandalin lies 15 miles along the Triboar Trail and 10 miles south of it.


"There was no reason to be more specific unless anyone was interested," Sildar finally replies.

"Although the first group cleaned out the main goblin lair in the ruins of Cragmaw Castle, we think there was also a hideout somewhere near where the Triboar Trail starts. People have spotted goblins in the area, and have even had to fight off an attack on one occasion. So routing them out is one option."

"Then there's the ruins of Thundertree to the north, farther past the castle ruins. It was devastated 30 years ago when Mount Hotteenuf erupted. Ever since, there have been strange tales from anyone who's visited it. Don't know if this is from goblins or not."

"Next is Conyberry. This abandoned town was sacked by barbarians years ago. Nobody was interested in rebuilding and fortifying it, so it remains in ruins. It's right along the Triboar Trail."

"Then there's Old Owl Well and Wyvern Tor. Both are in the mountains east and a bit south. Some trappers said they spotted orcs around Wyvern Tor. Naturally, we'd want to check that out. Likewise, some miners claim they saw undead walking around the old Watchtower of Old Owl Well. Might be undead, might be goblins, might be orcs."

"So, any of those pique your interest?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:38, Wed 27 Apr 2016.

In reply to Sildar Hallwinter (msg # 16):

Thressa when the food arrives pulls her holy symbol out of her robes.

" Lord of the Sun, Fire and Justice, I, your daughter who hears your voice, does call your blessing to fall upon this tavern like the hot summer rays of the sun. "

Thressa puts the holy symbol away and eats.

"I have no love of Phalandever, or hatred of orcs or goblins. Undead however, are abhorrent to me. But basically, I am here to earn money. I have very little left, and have just helped rescue your mayor. Any reward for that? Any reward for  solving your monster problem?" says Darvin.

Still a bit stunned that this was the same man he had served under some twenty plus years ago, Victor said, "Correct me if I'm wrong, Hallwinter, but Triboar Trail is the only one of these places where folks have been attacked, of late? Stands to reason its more urgent than your other problems, eh?"

"I thought that was you, Victor. We've both changed across those intervening years."

"Anyway, yes, that's sort of true," Sildar replies to Victor. "There was clearly a boss of the goblins at the castle, and I heard enough while I was a prisoner there to realize that there is some other force in play here. The bugbear chief was in communication with someone. He thought the Drow female was a messenger from that someone. She wasn't. Helped us defeat the goblins, though."

"So, the immediate threat is the hideout by the Triboar Trail's start, but it's not all that serious at the moment. Most of the goblins were defeated at the castle. It wasn't likely that we got them all, though."

"I'd say my main concern is the orcs. They may be few in number at the moment, but the orcs are what ravaged this area a hundred years ago. I would not like to see them return. So it's better to attack them while they are still few in number."

"Trade caravans that come from over the mountains also have to pass through Conyberry, so that could become an issue."

"As you can see, I mentioned all the places of concern. Except for maybe Thundertree, they all have equal priority... for different reasons."

"Has the wizard Glasstaff, who is leading these Redbrands already been dealt with?"