Phandalin: Tidings of War

Goblins, orcs, dragons and more!

[11 min read]

THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE LOST MINE OF PHANDELVER

It had been over two months since our group had someone not able to make a regular session, but finally the part-time heroes of the Frontier Forays drop-in campaign were dusted off. Terach, Wiggity and Alucard find themselves deep in Cragmaw Castle, barely remembering why they were there, or each other's names. You can read the last session's notes here. The group is, in fact, trying to recover Gundren's map to Wave Echo Cave, taken from him when he was ambushed by goblins back on Triboar Trail. 

In the darkness of Cragmaw Castle, there is a pause in the battle, and the heroes briefly catch their breath after fighting their way through the hobgoblin guards inside the main entrance. In the next room a small horde of goblins are amassing, but the party wonders about their intentions since they had recently beset upon and killed one of the hobgoblins, fleeing presumably to alert King Grol.

“Don’t hurt my pet!" they hear in squeaky common. "We can take the hobgoblins down!”

New allies and their pets

Lhupo, servant of Maglubiyet, had a nasty rash
Image from GM Binder

Lhupo's "pet" grick kept dropping in
Image by Wizards of the Coast

The party agrees to speak to Lhupo, a goblin acolyte of Maglubiyet, and it becomes clear that there are tensions amongst the Cragmaw Tribe's different goblinoids. Lhupo can't actually cast any magic, but holds on to his status amongst the goblins since he has "tamed" a grick, and feeds any of the non-pious to its barbed tentacles and hungry, snapping beak.

Lhupo, conversing in undercommon with Alucard so the rest of his followers can't hear him, implores the party to heal the nasty pestilent rash on his hands, since it is undermining his credibility as a priest of Maglubiyet. Wiggity obliges, and Lhupo reveals the layout of the castle and the rest of the inhabitants to his newfound allies. Wiggity's ears prick up when Lhupo warns the party to steer clear of a dire wolf being held in a disused tower - the small gnome-like druid has always wanted to study these monstrous wolves. 

So in the early hours of morning, unlikely allies now plot a coup against King Grol and his guards, the party agreeing to help install a new king in return for aid in recovering Gundren's map. 

The attack on King Grol

The new King Grol was a merry old soul

King Grol, leader of the Cragmaw tribe, is a battle-hardened hobgoblin Captain who only recently replaced the old King Grol (all kings of the Cragmaws take this name to honour their ancestors). The prior king was a cruel and belligerent bugbear, who lost the support of his tribe when his cousin, the self-proclaimed Klarg the Mighty, was deposed by adventurers in Cragmaw Hideout and their captive, Gundren Rockseeker, was liberated. [You can read the Terach and Wick's earlier exploits here].

Lhupo warns the party that this new hobgoblin king is more ruthless, efficient and tactically strong than the bugbear, and that he would have his wolf pet Snarl guarding him at all times, along with some hobgoblins just outside his quarters. In preparation Alucard changes his form into that of a hobgoblin to sow chaos, Wiggity cranes his ears for the sounds of a large wolf, Terach readies his longsword and psyches himself up, and the motley crew of goblins mass for a surprise attack!

Hilarity ensues as battle is joined [imagine to the soundtrack of The Benny Hill Show]:

• The hobgoblins are (mostly) surprised
• Wiggity discovers, and releases, the dire wolf after careful deliberation
• The dire wolf proceeds to eat one of the goblin allies
• Wiggity takes the shape of the dire wolf and tries to tell the other not to eat the goblins, by only using whines and growls
• The dire wolf ignores the fresh hobgoblin corpses tossed over by wolf-Wiggity in favour of more live goblins
• Terach flies into a rage, attacking recklessly and not managing to hit anything
• The little goblin allies basically hit on all of their scimitar attacks, doing the heavy lifting in the fight

One of the hobgoblin guards makes it out of the room to warn King Grol, and Alucard tracks him as he opens the door. Turning and being caught off-guard by Alucard in hobgoblin form, he is left open to the rogue's sneak attack. Heavily damaged, he limps off to join his King, who is marshalling his troops to his side in a last stand.

Vyerith is more than she seems
Image by Yiian

The battlefield surges into the chambers of the king, who is surprisingly effective with his greatsword when his allies and wolf are by his side. Alucard, always with his eye on the prize, roams the room searching for the map and opens a side-door, only to be confronted by a comely drow woman. Vyerith seems confused by the hobgoblin in front of her, and demands the map, for she is also tasked with recovering it. She is not confused for long however, and seeing the battle is lost, attempts to flee.

By this time Wiggity and his dire wolf 'friend' have made it into the quarters, blocking all escape.  King Grol goes down under the successive hits from the blade of Alucard, and fang of Wiggity.  The true dire wolf would prove to be fickle, leaving to chase Lhupo and his pet, allowing Vyerith to maneuver out the door and try to escape. Alas for her, Terach finally finds his mark, bringing her down and revealing her true form, that of a doppelganger!

The dire wolf is snapping at the grick when the goblins bring it down with arrows, much to Wiggity's dismay and Lhupo's cheer. Half of the goblin allies, including a fat chef named Yegg, flee the castle when scared off by the wolf, making its release a very risky tactic. The castle is finally calm as the combatants tend to the wounded while the dire wolf, King Grol and Vyerith are all stabilised.

Play the objective

Gundren will be pleased his map has finally been retrieved
Image by Wizards of the Coast

Gundren's map and some of his personal belongings are poorly hidden under King Grol's bed, and found by the keen eyes of Alucard and his magical spectacles. The fallen hobgoblin king does not buckle under duress and provide any information about his aims, and seems to be holding out for something. The party knows that his only hope is the return of his roving hobgoblin war party, returning at dawn in a couple of hours. With the party's objective complete, they turned to discuss whether to stay and help Lhupo hold the castle from the hobgoblins or leave while they can. 

After careful deliberation, the party ultimately conclude that they have already held up their end of the bargain and crowned a new King Grol, so with map in hand and a very valuable prisoner in Vyerith, the party leaves their allies to face the hobgoblins on their own.

A close encounter of the dragon kind

The much-rumoured dragon makes an appearance
Images by Dragon Studio and Lauuw-w

Just out of the forest and on the way to the Triboar trial, the party dives for cover as they hear the flapping of large wings overhead. The dragon that had been sighted by numerous inhabitants of Phandalin, and the suspect of eaten livestock and displaced monsters, flew low and fast overhead. And so it is the party gets a good look at a large white dragon flying with purpose to the Sword mountains.

Too close to home

The orc raiding party had themselves a ballista-carrier
Product by Wizards of the Coast

Exhausted while moving fast along the Triboar Trial, carrying their prisoner on horseback, the party stumbles on a scene of carnage. A farmer, alongside his wife and child, has been cut down by arrows in the back, and their cart ransacked for supplies. The horse pulling the cart has a huge rent in its side, with a piercing wound the size of a fist. The party pulls the remains off the road, but does not have the time to do more, for they need to get to Phandalin before they too succumb to their wounds.

Not far ahead off to the side of the trail, the party hears low, guttural, orcish voices, chastising a companion and urging it to move. As silently as they can, the party tries to move past, and as they do they catch site of several orcs and a huge ogre, carrying what looks like a ballista being used as a crossbow. One of the orcs hears a scuff on a rock, and pulls ahead to observe the trail, but the party is already past them. Continuing their journey, the party wonders at the boldness of the orcs moving around in broad daylight, carrying weapons of war towards the only light of civilisation in the region,  their adopted hometown of Phandalin...

Debrief with Sildar and Gundren

The map recovered safely, Gundren is buying

Weary from lack of sleep and adventuring over many days without any downtime, the party stumbles back into Phandalin and their cozy cellar of the ruined Tresendar Manor. Sildar meets them there with Gundren, who is ecstatic to see his map returned. Now he can find his brothers and reclaim the lost mine! Well, not on his own of course. He asks the party for help, offering 10% of the future mine profits as reward.

After a long rest, the party gets a thorough debrief from Sildar on what has happened in their short absence. Thanks to the party's efforts over the last two ten-days, Phandalin is thriving once more:

• The Redbrand threat has been defeated, and Glasstaff is captured
• Grista has started making improvements to the Sleeping Giant tavern thanks to Terach's and Wick's donations
• Townmaster Harbin is on better terms with the party and will open the door for them
• Adabra has set up at the Shrine of Luck and will sell healing potions for 40 gp to the party
• Norbus and Dazlyn are at the Mining Exchange and will appraise things for the party
• Linene recovered her supplies by being compensated by Wick & Sildar
• Barthen can recover some of his extorted business supplies to get back on his feet
• Big Al has started a dairy farm with his prized cow, Petunia, within sight of the main town 
• Sildar has acquired the deed to Tresendar Manor for a base of operations

Free of the Redbrands, Phandalin is thriving again, but for how long?

When the party have rested and have their presence of mind back, Sildar shares with them a book recovered from Glasstaff's workshop. It is the journal of an adventurer named Urmon, it describes the history of the Lost Mine of Phandelver and the Forge of Spells. 

More than five hundred years ago, the dwarven civilisation and nearby gnomes made an agreement known as the Phandelver’s Pact, by which they would share a rich mine in a mythic cavern known as Wave Echo Cave. In addition to its mineral wealth, the mine contained great magical power. Human spellcasters allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into the great Forge of Spells, where wondrous magic items could be crafted. Times were good, and Phandalin prospered as well. But then disaster struck when Many Arrows orcs swept through the North and laid waste to all in their path. Phandalin was raided by orcs in 951 DR and subsequently abandoned. It was eventually resettled, however, and Phandalin became a frontier settlement of farmers and prospectors looking for wealth in the Sword Mountains in the late 15th century DR.

A powerful orc horde of united tribes reinforced by evil mercenary wizards attacked Wave Echo Cave to seize its riches and magic treasures. Human wizards fought alongside their dwarf and gnome allies to defend the Forge of Spells, and the ensuing spell battle destroyed much of the cavern. Few survived the cave-ins and tremors, and the location of Wave Echo Cave was lost. The orc tribes splintered due to infighting, settling across the region. The Dwarven holds diminished and fell into ruin. The Gnomish kingdoms secluding themselves into isolation. Only the heartiest of human and halfling frontier's folk dared to live the harsh life in small hamlets and communities.

Where to next?

The party and the Lord's Alliance have some decisions to make. The goal of restoring Phandalin to prosperity and bringing civilisation is under threat from all sides:

• Orc warbands are heading out of the mountains and attacking settlements close to town, seemingly led by mysterious half-orc shamans
• The Black Spider, a Zhentarim, is manipulating brigands and goblinoids in the region, somehow connected to Wave Echo Cave
• A large white dragon is settled nearby, terrorising the landscape and displacing other monsters

With all these threats around, is restoring access to the Lost Mine of Phandelver the right next step? 

Sildar has ordered men-at-arms from Neverwinter to help shore up the region's defenses, where should they be stationed?

Townmaster Harbin Wester is calling for aid to bring key members of the community back to the town and nearby potential allies contacted. Should they venture out to the reclusive gnomes?

Should the party search for answers about the half-orc shamans at the Tower of Storms? And should Terach butcher them all for insinuating his orc heritage was stronger? 

Or should the party pursue more personal goals? Wealth, power, belonging, or the love of a good older woman?

These answers and more, coming next time on: Frontier Forays, featuring Phandalin's Finest, The Hammer of the Lord's Alliance, Friends to Goblins...