The Tower of Storms. Plus shark surfing.

 Moesko meets his makers

Off the Sword Coast is a lighthouse, eerily pulsing with green light

[14 min read]

THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE DRAGON OF ICESPIRE PEAK AND THE LOST MINE OF PHANDELVER

As we approach the holidays, the group has decided to pursue Frontier Forays until a logical place to pause before restarting our Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign. So consider this a sprint towards Wave Echo Cave and the climax of the Lost Mine of Phandelver! 

Gundren wasn't quite ready to launch that expedition at the start of the last session, so in the meantime our heroes cleansed the Thundertree Ruins of the corruption that lurked there, and are heading south to a rumoured Tower of Storms off the Sword Coast, as suggested to Terach by the mysterious half-orc shaman they met near Butterskull Ranch.

The Wayside Inn - a welcoming place where the patrons are only too happy to spread rumours

The party stops briefly in Neverwinter to collect their dues, in the form of praise from Sildar's boss, Sir Edmund Boulderdown, and a chance to utilise the sweet, 33% Lord's Alliance discount on some equipment. They learn that Glasstaff, the former Lord Iarno Albrek, has been summarily executed and his estate plundered to fund the defense of Phandalin. Terach goes off searching for Johnson (his criminal contact), who tells them that the Black Spider is not only a drow, but one that has been shunned from his society. Alas, no further details on the nefarious Zhentarim spymaster can be turned up.

Heading south along the High Road, the party stops at the Wayside Inn, where the young innkeeper Maria Lunadream is only too happy to try and dissuade them from the Tower of Storms given the rumours it is haunted. This is supported with 'real evidence' from the local yokels who have heard of ships being wrecked off the coast after being drawn to the strange green light emanating from the tower, and a talking, giant crab who asks for passersby to help out its master. All very plausible. After being bribed with herbal tea made by Wiggity from his own store of fungi, the local forest gnome scholar, called Pana for short (his real name has too big an impact on the word count of this recap) directs them 10 miles south-west to where the tower supposedly stands.

Worried about the potential for getting dunked in the ocean on this mission, Alucard takes his leave to escort Reidoth, the venerable druid, back to Phandalin, accompanied by the newly accomplished Droop the goblin. The three remaining heroes, Terach, Wick and Wiggity, ride off towards the coast, the brush of the plains giving way to the scree of the coastal cliffs, as a booming thunderstorm rolls in.

Can you find my conch?

Miraal's conch was sought after, and she wants it restored
Image by Wizards of the Coast

The party sees their destination, a lighthouse with an intermittent green glow and the faint sound of a heartbeat, surrounded by the sea and connected to the cliffs with a winding causeway. After navigating a narrow staircase with the horse in the pelting rain, the party comes down to the beach and tethers their mount to some rocks. Haunted towers are no place for horses, nor Wiggity's bear companion. On the way to the lighthouse, the causeway moves through a small cave, moist and covered in lichen. 

A spectral form appears, seemingly an elf maiden but with webbed hands and gills, and seems to be mourning. "My Ulmo, my beloved crab, I can't hear his voice anymore...". The party suspects foul play, since they saw the scorched carcass of a giant crab washed up on the beach nearby. After the others draw baleful looks and a frightening visage from the banshee, the convincing Wick manages to placate her and agrees to return the opalescent conch that was taken from her by Moesko, current inhabitant of the tower, which will allow her to reach her final rest. Thus Wick cements his place as the party wooer, by not only demonstrating his charm on older ladies, but dead ones too...

A date with harpies

The siren song of the harpies was silenced by our heroes
Image by Wizards of the Coast

But Moesko is not the only inhabitant of the tower. Terach, in an unusual display of subtlety, tries to avoid the the front door and scale the cliffs next to the base of the lighthouse, and enter via the back door, if you will. In an incredible display of athleticism he not only manages to scale the 50 feet sheer cliff with his craggy hands and metal pitons, but crest the top without unduly alerting a nest of five harpies. Inevitably, the party is discovered as they try the ascent and the harpies take to the air, to swoop and dive on them. For a moment, Terach and Wiggity are drawn in by the beautiful songs of these aerien attackers, but it soon passes, and they return to the fray.

In a stunning display of teamwork, all but one of the harpies are destroyed. Wiggity transforms into a giant spider, effortlessly scaling the cliff, and bringing down the flying females with his web. Terach shirks any further subtlety and makes good use of his twin longswords, attacking recklessly in one of his trademark rages. And Wick, mostly staying at range to finish them off with Hex and Eldritch Blast, also gets to use his new magic battleaxe when one of them comes up close and personal. One of the webbed harpies crashes down into the ocean, whereby it is devoured by a huge maw full of razor sharp teeth. Maybe Alucard was on to something by avoiding the water altogether?

Seeing they were overmatched, two of the harpies attempt to take to the air and find higher ground. The first hapless harpy discovers that a barbarian, fueled by rage, can hurl a javelin with great force at distance. That harpy's corpse lingers still, pinned to the side of the building by said javelin, a warning to any others that might try to come and roost there.

The second harpy does get away and alights on the tower proper, out of view of the heroes. But scaling the sheer walls is not a problem for a giant spider, and Wiggity cannily tracks it. While Wick and Terach decide how to climb up, Wiggity engages the harpy and brings it down from a great height with his web, smashing it on the stones of the rooftop balcony. In the process he also discovers that the metal rod protruding from the floor below and up towards the sky also makes for a good conduit of lightning in a thunderstorm. More on that later.

Ride the lightning!

Moesko calls upon the thunderous power of Talos!

The heroes have now regrouped on the rooftop balcony, and are pondering their next move. Should they drop back down to ground level and enter the back door? Scale the tower? Or head in the door right in front of them here? Before they can decide, it seems that the loud crack of lightning striking the rod earlier has drawn the attention of the true master of the tower, Moesko!

Emerging from the door, this half-orc shaman is covered in armour made from the hide of a large sea creature, and has a necklace of shells draped over him, with two wooden clubs attached to his forearms. Behind him, the supple form of a giant octopus squeezes through the doorway to start menacing the party. After a short stand-off, battle ensues, and Moesko harnesses the storm to fire off a Lightning Bolt! The half-orc revels in his power, gloating to the party through the fight:

"I am Moesko, bringer of storms and the doom of ships!"

"Terach, you are already like us - mixed blood and the soul of a beast"

"Embrace the rage, become one with Talos"

"The lightning will reward us with immortality and dominion over the weak humans"

"Yargath and the dragon will stop your meddling, you are now marked!

"Orcs will wash over the world like a tidal wave!"

But the three heroes pull out all the stops to deal with Moesko and his pet. Wiggity, resident zookeeper, combines the summoning a honey badger with himself turning into a dire wolf, a one-two punch of menagery mayhem. Wick stays at range to damage the octopus, and Terach bridges the distance to Moesko, his hatred of his orcish heritage fueling his rage as he engages the shaman in close quarters. The battle turns in their favour, but not before the tenacious honey badger is grappled by the octopus and hurled from the rooftop, smashing on the rocks far below. Moesko is desperate when, prone and heavily damaged by Terach's twin swords and Wick's Hex and Booming Blade combo, he assumes boar form and dashes to the lightning rod. Using the last of his life force, he channels another Lightning Bolt from the rod, seriously wounding the party before expiring.

Having defeated the boss unexpectedly early into the excursion, the party explores, looking for a resting place. The sound of the heartbeat and the light intensifies as they climb the final floors to the top of the tower, and when Moesko's heart is blasted by Wick, it's sickly green effusion is snuffed out, never again to lure another ship to the rocks below.

Recovering the beautiful giant conch shell from Moesko's person, they return it to Miraal, allowing her to finally rest. The party also takes a long rest in the cave, since on the morn they intend to take the banshee's final words of advice and search the wrecks for treasure.

Free diving, shark surfing, dolphin riding

Terach hitches a ride, surfing the sharks as they try and escape his blades

The party awakes to a beautiful Flamerule day, the storm having subsided through the night, and their rest aided by the sound of small waves lapping the beach nearby. With a Potion of Water Breathing in hand, Wiggity in the convenient form of a giant octopus, and Terach wearing naught but a breastplate, the heroes search the wrecks.

The treasure hunt is going well until, in a surprise to no one, the three hunter sharks that infest the waters around the sunken ships come to feast on human, half-orc and octopus flesh! What follows is best imagined in a montage of deadly, and hilarious, moments as:

• The sharks become frenzied after Wiggity's octopus blood suffuses out in the water
• Terach leaps onto the back of one, hacking it until it dies, then promptly leaps onto another!
• Wick balances like a ninja on the tiny amount of stern poking above the water, Eldritch Blast-ing
• The sharks try to flee but Terach holds on grimly to one as it dives beneath the waves
• Wiggity summons a small dolphin, then rides it (Sea World style) to get closer to Terach
• Wick lags far behind, swimming to the action whilst dragging a chest full of booty
• Having vanquished the sharks, all three getting to the shore, spluttering and catching their breath on the beach next to the carcass of the giant crab, "Oh Ulmo"

Alucard, there only in spirit, would have saluted the party's efforts, since amongst a wealth of riches they also found a magical rapier, which the rogue is best-suited to wield.

On the way to Wave Echo Cave

The three triumphant party members return to Phandalin to regroup with Alucard, Sildar and the others. Phandalin is a hive of activity - guards patrolling, barriers being erected, sandbags being placed, and locals hurrying about their business. The party is greeted as heroes as they stroll through the town, and as they walk past they can often catch some quiet remarks:

"That Terach - he might be built like a beast, but he is so well-spoken and sharp as a tack!"

"Did ya see Wiggity's pet bear? He's cuddly around the little guy but watch out, he might bite yer 'ed clean off!"

"Alucard is scary looking, but his fashion is so on point! You don't get much haute-couture out here on the frontier"

"There goes Wick, the silver-tongued devil, lock up your grandmothers!"

Tresendar Manor, the party's homebase, is also in the process of being upgraded. Sildar greets them warmly in their newly appointed barracks, and bids them dust themselves off before he has a gift for each. He speaks excitedly about the magical requisitions he made for the characters, which just arrived! A set of gauntlets for Terach, a creepy rod for Wick, a bear claw insignia for Wiggity, and a suit of glamoured armour for Alucard. "You now truly wield the power of the Lord's Alliance on your persons, may these aid you in our quest to defend the town".

Gundren Rockseeker, the esteemed dwarven prospector and purveyor of fine metals, bursts into the manor having blustered his way past the guards. "Tis time, me brothers have been gone a month, an' I got me map, an' I got me an expedition together. Tis high time we get ourselves to the lost mine and reclaim it! And find me brothers, of course".

Sildar agrees. "Alucard's masterful interrogation of that shapechanger tells us the Black Spider is already there. And he is trying to claim the Forge of Spells no doubt. Powerful magic like that could really aid us in defending Phandalin, plus getting the mine back up and running will bring prosperity to this whole region! To Wave Echo Cave you go!"

The foothills around Phandalin give way to the Sword Mountains

And so it is that the party is fully reunited, including Droop the goblin, but not including Carp the precocious halfling that was found to not be in league with the party's enemies, but has not been allowed out by his mother nonetheless. Walking through the mountains with Gundren, his prospector friends Dazlyn and Norbus, and two dwarven warriors guarding a cart full of equipment, the excited dwarf regales them of the history of the mine:

• 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.
• 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.
• A powerful orc horde of united tribes reinforced by evil mercenary wizards attacked Wave Echo Cave to seize its riches and magic treasures.
• In the centuries since, countless prospectors and adventurers have searched for the lost mine, but none succeeded until the Rockseeker brothers found the entrance a month ago.

In the later stages of the voyage, through the highest passes of the Sword Mountains, the journey becomes more difficult. Many a time Gundren must consult the map, given to him by his brothers to help navigate the twisting paths, stolen from him by the Cragmaw tribe two tendays ago, then recovered by the heroes. Even with this fated map, the expedition at times needs to double back to find the right path, before eventually arriving at the entrance to Wave Echo Cave.

After careful consultation of Gundren's map, the cleft beckons

Travel weary, the group enters through a narrow tunnel into a large natural cavern, where the remains of Tharden Rockseeker are found amidst a makeshift camp. "No! me big bro, Tharden, dead!" Gundren is distraught. 

Before the party can investigate the two tunnel entrances leading out of the huge natural depression in the cave, a husky female voice calls out in a sinister tone. "So, you have made it in the end. No matter, the Black Spider has a lead on you, and this will slow you down!"

Terach catches a glimpse of a very attractive, raven-haired, human woman dressed in a lace-up white peasant shirt, a red and gold hooded cape and tight leather breeches, lurking in one of the tunnels. 

Something tugs at his memory - could that be Halia Thornton, proprietor of Phandalin's Miner's Exchange? He only visited the establishment once, but she seemed a no-nonsense, shrewd operator, until, it is said, she disappeared not more than a tenday ago. 

The figure then seems to tug at something out of sight, and the two tunnels collapse in a shower of rocks and dust, closing off the only apparent exits, and smothering a hoarse, throaty laugh trailing off deeper into the cave.

And so the party find themselves at an impasse, in a race against the Black Spider to recover the Forge of Spells, find the remaining Rockseeker, and restore the Lost Mine of Phandelver. Can they do it?

Find out next time on Frontier Forays, featuring Phandalin's Finest, the Hammer of the Lord's Alliance, Friends to Goblins, Fellers of Flowers and Surfers of Sharks...