Murder Hobo Squad: A Lost Mine of Phandelver/Dragon of Icespire Peak & Beyond D&D 5E record (Beware Spoilers!)

The hail outside was proving too much for the trees to shelter Thorovir and Gundren (DM: Plus Thorovir’s player had turned up this week.  We had an unexpected full house) so they entered the house with the others as they explored the stairway room, and sat Gundren on the sofa.  They looked around themselves and saw a spiral stairway leading up and down, with both routes blocked by immovable gates.  Beside the stairs was a statue of a griffon with one arm raised.  Ahead they could see an abandoned tea room, with three small sets of tables and chairs, all covered in dust.  On the sofa besides Gundren was a dirty old doll that Devere stopped to investigate as the party explored further.

The party entered the Tea Room and looked around.  Through the next doorway they could see an old empty dinner table, covered in dust and cobwebs.  Melandrach went ahead while the party watched from the tea room.  As he stepped up into the dining room from the sunken tea room, the air grew warm. Suddenly the room came to life, as ghostly apparitions appeared seated at the once empty table. A large dinner party was being held it seemed, as a roasted hog materialised, along with plates of all varieties of food. Jugs of foaming ale were being shared between ghostly companions. A large spectral human man stood at the head of the table, saying nothing, a serious scowl and frown is cemented over his face as he overlooked his guests who seemed to be enjoying themselves.  Melandrach called out from near the doorway, but got no response.

Devere caught up with the group, showing them the doll he had found, explaining his concerns that its eyes, though dull and lifeless, were a similar blue to the eyes they had briefly seen from outside the building.  Ramond used his Divine Senses to check the doll and the area for evil and while the Doll registered, he was surprised to find that the whole area was evil.  The walls were infused with evil.  Even the air itself carried evil floating within it.  The party had a discussion about what to do with the doll, fearing what it could be.  Could it be watching or listening to them?  Could it be an evil totem?  Should the burn it (They checked the fireplace.  It had no wood).  Devere handed the doll to Melandrach, who tied it in to a sack, and eventually left it on the dining table, once the party was over.

As the explored the dining room they tried to listed to the voices.  While they could hear chatter, they could not make out words.  Perhaps they were not speaking common, or perhaps the voices were coming through the veil and losing something on the way? (DM: Or perhaps the module didn’t cover this and I didn’t want to make up a dozen dinner party conversations)  Ramond advanced to get a much closer look at the standing man at the head of the table.  The room abruptly became quiet, all talking and laughter ceased. Every ghost in the room turned to face Ramond when the man at the head of the table rushed toward him, floating right through the hard wooden dining table. “You should not be here! LEAVE THIS PLACE!!!!” He screamed as he rushes closer. Then as quick as the party had started, the room was empty, dark and cold again. The ghosts were nowhere to be seen.

Araloth brought Gundren up to the now empty Dining Room, as the party decided it best to keep him one room behind them at all times.  Gundren is barely mobile right now, only capable of walking slowly with aid.  As the party moved towards the double doors in front of them there came a loud crashing sound from behind them.  When they turned around they could see Talindra stepping out of the Tea Room, having narrowly avoided the chandelier that had dropped right where she had just stepped.  Upon inspection, it seemed to have been held up by a chain used to raise and lower it so the oil lamps could be refilled.  The chain was undamaged so it had somehow come away from its anchor.

They opened the double doors ahead of them, and a large room opened before them. A large chandelier hung from the high ceiling, and an old dance floor stretched before them. A large glass folding door opened onto an alfresco area on the east wall. Materializing from thin air they saw the man who had rushed at Ramond, ending the ghostly dinner party in the dining room. He seemed younger somehow, as if this is a vision into an earlier time in his life.

A beautiful woman entered from nothingness, dressed in a flowing black gown, her eyes dark and dangerous. He held her and looked into those eyes, and she looked back into his.

“We will disappear, just the two of us, my love” the man said dreamily.

“Oh, General Montharthas, but what of your wife? And we have work to do.” She reminded him.

“Never mind her, she will cope. And your army of undead… Let us not talk of this tonight” he replied as their apparitions faded and the room was once again empty.

They recognised that name.  Melandrach had been reading a 500 year old Journal he found in Glasstaff’s lab and one of the later entries had mentioned General Montarthas as being the man in charge of the defence of the area around the time of the fall of the Mine and Phandalin.  He had been a good leader, but he had become distant, and often absent.  No one knew where he had been disappearing to, and without a reliable leader, morale and discipline had been dropping within the ranks.  (DM: I’m impressed they remembered this.  I’d dropped this nugget weeks ago and they’d made no mention of this in their quest notes on Discord.  I’m really glad Melandrach read that book.  There’s almost no information on what’s in it, but it’s let me drop all sorts of tidbits and tease future stuff.)

They had a look around the ballroom, and Melandrach peered out through the dirty rain soaked patio doors.  He could see a murky swimming pool, overrun with algae, and 3 old wooden sun loungers all being battered by the rain and hail.  As he was about to turn away from the walled garden he noticed the glint of metal on the far side of the pool.  They decided to investigate the pool area and had Gundren move up to the entry to the ballroom.  Melandrach and Devere stepped in to the garden as the others filed in to the ballroom.  As they moved around the pool, the water started to bubble and something huge rose out of the depths.  As the waters were disturbed, and awful smell of damp rot arose from it.  Wrapped in sheets of algae it was hard to identify but as sections of it slopped off back in to the waters, four eye stalks popped up, and one big dead white eye could be seen in the centre of its mass.

Araloth stayed with Gundren initially, as Talindra stepped forward and blasted it from within the ballroom.  Karson and Ramond stepped forward to attack it with their swords.  Thorovir fired over their heads.  Devere shot three scorching rays in to it, which only added to the foul smell as its damp rotting flesh got charred.  Bilba sunk an arrow in to it from the ballroom, as Melandrach attacked it from the other side of the pool.  Three zombies pulled themselves out of the pool as the floating beast focused its attention on Karson, sending a single beam of green light from an eyestalk at him (DM: Should have reduced him to 0hp in one hit, but he’d forgotten to update his HP in roll20.  I got a little worried there.  The black ray was much worse though.  Ray 4 had given me sleepless nights up to this point.  It can insta-kill with no chance of resurrection).  The zombies attacked Melandrach, Karson and Devere.  Araloth stepped up, stabbed the nearest zombie and retreated back in to the ballroom.  Talindra channelled a healing spell through his familiar to help out Karson, who was close to death, and also landed a critical hit with an eldritch blast.  Karson then pulled out and chugged a healing potion.  Ramond stepped around the zombie and swung at the Beholder, but missed.  Thorovir fired an arrow over his head straight in to the Zombie Beholders main eye.  It held its ground, gritted its teeth and started to growl, but then its eye popped, and it fell, lifeless back in to the filthy water, splashing everyone out there (Karson, Devere, Melandrach and Ramond) with slime and sludge, and most importantly, that god awful smell.  With the beholder dead, the party made short work of the remaining zombies.

Melandrach then investigated the shiny and found a Sabre that the plants had mostly swallowed up.  The party were curious what else could be hiding in the pool and discussed who would be going in to check the bottom.  As they were tying a rope around Talindra to lower her in, she remembered she could use a ritual to summon an unseen servant to do it for her.  While she was doing that, they checked the ballroom for secret doors (nothing) and investigated the side door from the dining room, while Gundren rested in the chair at the dinner table.  It went in to a small serving area with a ruined dumb waiter leading to the floor above.  They decided against climbing up it.  Once Talindra had set her Servant to spend the next 55 minutes checking the pool before bringing any finds back to her.

They party gathered at the foot of the stairs after deciding there must be some secret doors they had missed, noticing that the gateway down was now open.   They went down the stairs and found themselves entering a small room.  Suddenly the door slammed shut behind them. A locking mechanism with a 4 digit code blocked the door and green noxious gas began to fill the room.  In the room they could see a half made flesh golem lying on an operating table.  It was missing only hands, feet and a brain. A large mechanism with a crank and coils sat behind it with rods connected to each of the golem’s temples.  To the left of the golem were three large buckets holding many feet, hands, and brains. Some rusty operating tools and a needle and thread sat on the table next to it. To the right of the golem sat a desk with a waxed scrap of paper that looks to be a diagram of a humanoid body. It had notes scribbled all over it.

DM: I explained to the group that they were on a real world time limit and needed to work together to escape the room.  I shared the handout over discord so everyone could see it and every so often mentioned how high the green gas had risen from the floor.  They successfully identified all three body parts with only 2 failures (I had them try to sew them on to eat up time, but they didn’t quite fit).  Devere sewed on the parts with an assist from Thorovir, while Talindra cast Guidance on him repeatedly. With 4 minutes left on the 20 minute clock they could not see, and the green gas causing them to cough as it rose above chest height, they finally flicked the switch.

As the air energized and they could feel static energy tingle around the room, the now completed golem began to move. It awakened, straight away sniffing the air. It moved quicker than expected and rushed towards the locking mechanism on the door. Pushing 4 digits, the door opened and the gas cleared.  Araloth wedged the door open with a piton, just in case.  They decided to investigate this workshop/operating room before leaving, while the golem stood there silently.  Karson found a draw filled with interesting parts for unknown machines.  Lots of doohickies and whatsits and thingummies.  All deeply interesting and must serve a purpose.  He became focused on this draw and spent some time going through it (DM: Natural 1 on perception so he stumbled on the mad scientist equivalent of that one box or draw we all have full of “useful” things we don’t need any more but the moment we through them out we will and won’t be able to replace).  The others found a freshly made bag on the table which had been hidden by the Golem.  It was made patches of strange leather.  The different shades and the stitching put everyone in mind of the Golem.  Devere picked it up, despite the suspicion that it’s made of human flesh.

They all went back up the stairs to join Gundren on his sofa, except for Karson who was still going through his draw. (DM: And Thorovir left the game for the night as he has an early start)  They discovered the way up was no longer blocked.  Talindra did a thorough search of the Gargoyle room, hoping to find a secret door, but did not.  He then set about ritually casting Detect magic.  Devere opened his new bag and looked inside.  Upon opening, the smell of rotten meat escaped.  When Devere looked inside all he could see was darkness.  Even his Darkvision could not reveal more.  Araloth went back down to talk to the golem, but despite his best attempts he got no reaction.  While down there he did see Karson surrounded by the unpacked draw contents and persuaded him to come upstairs.  On their way back up Araloth closed and secured the gate to the stairs down using a strip of “leather” he had found downstairs to tie it closed.  Talindras detect magic revealed that the skin bag, the sabre from the garden, and the statuette from Cragmaw Castle were magic.  The party debated ritually identifying these items, but it would take a long time and no one felt entirely comfortable resting here, especially near the unexplored stairs up.  They decided to proceed up the stairs.

Once up the stairs, the hallways had a soft green glow to them, although no source of the light was evident.  Confronted with a crossroads, the party did the one thing you never do, especially in a horror setting: They split up.  Melandrach went north, while Araloth and Karson explored the door to the west.  They opened their door and found a seemingly abandoned bedroom, which they searched, finding nothing, but rotted linen in an old ottoman.  Araloth did a Scooby doo ghost impersonation with a sheet that collapsed before he could even raise it, leaving little more than a napkin for him to hide behind.  Meanwhile, Melandrach headed down his corridor, and was joined by Ramond, while the others waited near the stairs.

As Melandrach enter the room he noticed something that seems very unnatural, though not unexpected in a place such as this. It was a skeleton busy at work behind a writing desk, frantically writing notes in a translucent ethereal ledger book. It looked up at him with empty eye sockets, its jaw started to move as a hauntingly high pitched voice said “ahh, you are here! He has been waiting for you!… You may proceed Advisor Gertrude!”

From behind, Melandrach felt something evil and dark trespass through his body, as the aspect of a dangerously beautiful woman with dark and deadly eyes walked straight through him a smirk on her ghostly smile. She walked straight through the closed door opposite, and disappeared, whilst the skeleton clerk went back to his duties, ignoring the two intruders.  Those chose to ignore the busy skeleton and investigate the next room.  Meanwhile, Talindra moved up to watch them from the doorway behind them.  At this point I added an extra sound to the haunted house music already playing:  A creepy child laughing and running.  Someone asked it that had always been there or if it was new and their characters could hear it.  This was followed by a cry of, “Oh great.  Now everything’s haunted!”  From this point on I was dropping this sound file in now and again throughout the evening.

Devere and Bilba moved up to the crossroads to watch Araloth and Karson move south to the nearest door.  They opened the door to find a ghostly figure inside doing laundry.  Araloth offered to help her with the washing, and she looked up at him and faded away in to nothing, as did her laundry.  Meanwhile Ramond had come back to get Devere and Bilba to come join him.  Araloth and Karson saw this and went to see what was happening.  Thorovir stayed back with Gundren.

With the party mostly gathered by the skeletal clerk, Melandrach opened the door.   As they looked around the room, it appeared empty at first, but within the blink of an eye, a small pretty girl, no more than 5 or 6, was suddenly sitting on the long bench that stretched the northern wall. She seemed to be waiting patiently. The dark and deadly looking woman appeared in the room, smiled at the child, and offered her a children’s doll. The girl smiled with joy as the woman evaporated. The child’s smile turned to pain and anguish as blood soaked stab wounds began to appear on her silky white dress. She fell limp and tumbled to the floor before disappearing. They noticed that the doll was left lying on the bench, a knife in its hand and a grin on its face.

They chose to ignore the doll, and get ready to open the next door.  As they listened at the door, they could hear the storm raging a little clearer than usual from beyond it, and they slowly became aware of a child’s voice singing a creepy nursery rhyme from behind them. (DM: I’ve never seen so many people fail a fear save before!  Everyone started insisting that the evil doll was tied up down stairs.  It was, yes.) As they turn around to see the source of the song, the doll launched itself through the air at Ramond, dragging its empty doll hand down his face, drawing blood like its fingers had been sharpened to points.  Ramond brought his greatsword down towards the doll, but missed, hitting the bench and sending a puff of stuffing and dust in to the air.  Bilba retreated from the doll, and put an arrow in the skeleton, who crumbled to dust.  Fear overcame her and she stood paralysed in the corner.  The doll slashed at Ramond with its knife and its clawed hand, drawing blood with both.  She then rolled backwards and vanished behind and under the bench.  Karson looked for her but could not see her.  He held his weapon ready to strike when she reappears.  Melandrach, Araloth and Talindra did the same, until Talindra and Melandrach became paralysed with fear.  Devere healed up Ramond, who then inspired Talindra with Heroism.  As the dolls initiative slot came and went, they decided it was time to move forward and those who could, gathered around the double doors.

Devere announce, “Right, I ain’t sticking around here” and opened the door.  The moment he turned the door handle, the doors slammed open and everyone nearby felt an overwhelming force pulling them in to the room(DM: Strength checks all round to resist).  Devere, Araloth, Ramond and Melandrach found themselves sucked in to the room, falling flat on their faces, before rising to their knees or rolling on to their backs.  They heard the doors slam shut behind them, cutting them off from their allies.  A great gust of wind blasted the room around them, sending dust, paper and curtains flying around the room. Piles of rotting corpses littered the creaky wooden floor. Then they saw him, on the ceiling, a shell of a man, shrivelled, tortured and used. His body and arms semi moulded into the blackened muck that replicated a ceiling. Slimy black vines crept through his flesh pinning him to the ceiling, as the ends of the vines expanded into drooling suckers that fed from his life force. A glow of green hue emanated from his chest where a green emerald spewed out evil energies into the mansion distributing the feed to all areas of the living building. The most potent looking of these green energies flowed directly into a lifeless body slumped with its head flung back over a wooden chair.

DM: it was 11 at night with tomorrow being the first day back at work after Christmas.  We all really wanted to continue but there’s no way this encounter resolves quickly.  So this week we end with the party split in half, with an evil doll on the loose nearby, and half the party prone in a pile of corpses under a mass of black life sucking tendrils lit up by a glowing green gem embedded in someone’s chest while they are hentai glued to the ceiling.  Unsurprisingly, I don’t think I got any sleep last night after that.  My mind was buzzing. 

With the door slammed shut behind them, separating them from their allies, Ramond picked himself up off the floor and advanced to the body in the chair.  As he got closer the body snapped its head back from over the chair and back into position. He recognised her from the apparitions of the manor. It was the dark advisor Gertrude. She grinned wide and evil, then cackled a haunting laugh as her features grew long and haggard. Her skin turned midnight blue and her pupils turn the red of the 9 hells.  She was mumbling under her breath and Ramond was now close enough to hear it.  As her speech reached its crescendo she raised her arms in the air.  As Ramond brought his greatsword down to Smite her, three Ghouls rose out of the piles of corpses and she called out, “Attack them!”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Bilba tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.  It didn’t appear to be locked either.  It just didn’t want to open.  Karson decided to ram it down with his shoulder.  The door didn’t move, as if held in place by something more than hinges and a frame.  The wood was old a rotten and weak, and had given partially where he had impacted.  A small dent had formed, and along the cracks at its edges small beads of a black liquid were starting to ooze out, as if the door was bleeding from its wound.  Talindra sent her familiar to watch over the wounded and weak Gundren, and followed Karsons example and Eldritch blasted the door.  Wood splintered, but the door held.

Araloth remained on the floor panicking.  This whole experience was too much for him (DM: He failed his fear save like 6 times, even with advantage once). Devere cast Silence to prevent more summoning, covering most of the room and silencing Araloth’s screams.  Melandrach picked himself up and attacked the nearest ghoul.  The ghouls then lashed out at Ramond, and Melandrach.  Ramond swung at Gertrude and missed.  She tried to cast a spell but the Silence stopped her so she moved to flank and dragged her claws across his chest.

Outside, Thorovir stepped forward and used Druidcraft to ignite the door.  Gundren moved slowly forward towards the party and Bilba threw a flask of oil at the burning door and the small flame engulfed the whole door.  Karson smashed at the door with his sword, but got his sword briefly stuck between the doors.  Talindra showed him how it was done with a second Eldritch Blast, and a large panel gave way.  For a moment they could see inside the room, but then black goo from inside the woodwork grew out and formed back over the hole.

Devere stepped out of his Silence, climbing on to the desk in to the North East corner, and cast a heal spell at Ramond, who was close to death.  Melandrach moved out from between two Ghouls and continued to lay in to his target.  The Ghouls lashed out at their nearest targets, hurting Ramond badly. Gertude finished him off (DM: with a scary crit.  When I rolled the damage everyone laughed when they saw the look on my face).  With no one threating her she followed Devere’s example and backed up in to the South East corner until she could hear herself again.

The fire finally consumed the door and it fell to the ground.  Thorovir took the opportunity to fire an arrow in to Melandrachs target, felling it.  Bilba stepped in to the doorway, Fired at Gertrude but missed, before retreating back to cover.  On the floor, still cowering in terror, Araloth became aware of a dark shape under the bed.  It took shape as he noticed its head slowly turning to look at him with an evil grin on its face.  The doll got to her feet and ran straight to him, attacking with its clawed hand and its wicked knife.  He lost consciousness and lay there, bleeding out where so many others had before.   Seeing this, Karson ran in to the room and attacked the doll (DM: He hit and everyone was horrified how little her health bar moved).  Talindra poured his Healing Light in to Ramond, waking him back up, and fired an Eldritch blast in to the doll.

Devere let the Silence end and called out, “By the light of Lathander I will end you!” and summoned a Spiritual Flaming Mace to attack Gertrude, which hit her hard as he launched himself off the end of the corner desk, bringing his mace down on her head.  Melandrach beat in to the nearest Ghoul and shouted insults at the other, trying to bait it.  The Ghouls attacked Melandrach and Karson to no effect.  Ramond picked himself up off the floor and drank a healing potion and then got up on the other desk to engage Gertrude, boxing her in to the corner.  As he approached, she chanted and three Magic Missiles flew out of her finger and damaged Devere, Ramond, and Melandrach.  Thorovir missed his shot at Melandrachs Ghoul as Gundren made himself comfortable at the skeleton clerks desk.  As the fire in the doorway went out, Bilba put an arrow through the Doll.   The doll scratched Karson, but missed with her knife.

Finding himself between two Ghouls and the Doll, Karson killed the weakened Ghoul, and missed an attack on the Doll.  Talindras Endritch Blast thudded in to the Doll as she used golden radiant light to bring Araloth back to consciousness.  Araloth came to his senses, jumped up, moved to flank the doll and missed with his shortsword but hit with his dagger.

“I do not believe you heard me, foul wench.  I will end you!” Devere said, as he burst in to golden light, illuminating the dim room for a moment.  As the light subsided he had golden glowing eyes and wings made out of light.  He smacked at her with his Spiritual Weapon, but missed.  Melandrach flanked the remaining Ghoul and wailed on it hard.  The Ghoul tried to retaliate without success.  Ramond swing his blade at Gertrude, but missed, sinking it in to the desk he was stood on.  She responded by raising three more Ghouls.  She turned to face the Celestial threat and said to him, “I’ll swallow your soul!”.  The green glow tethering her to the mass of tendrils on the ceiling began to pulse and she appeared revitalised and healed somewhat (DM: Regained 3d6HP).

Thorovir finished off the damaged Ghoul as Bilba fired at one of the new ones near Devere.  The doll stabbed Karson almost to death.  Karson retaliated, hitting with his main hand only.  Talindra hexed the doll, shouting out, “No one else is allowed to die.  I’ve run out of healing!” before critically Blasting her.  Araloth stabbed at the doll, and figured out his non magical weapons were not being as effective as he would expect, before retreating from the room.  Devere killed the Ghoul behind him as he brought his Spiritual Weapon to bear on Gertrude.  The blow sparked with a divine glow.  Melandrach almost killed one of the two remaining Ghouls, who then both flailed ineffectually.

Ramond swung at Gertrude who effortlessly deflected his blow, before lunging for Devere.  However, she was thrown off by a blinding flash of light and missed.  Thorovir tried to kill the ghoul behind Ramond, but fumbled his shot, landing his arrow harmlessly in to Ramond armour.  Bilba put an arrow in to Gertrude, who glared menacingly at her in return.  The doll critically wounded the already battered Karson, who now lay bleeding out on the floor.  She then moved to attack Melandrach, nearly downing him too.  Talindra blasted the doll again and cast shillelagh on his staff.   Araloth ran back in to the room and slashed and stabbed at the Doll, before moving back out again.  Devere side stepped to finish off a Ghoul while his Spiritual Weapon hit the Night Hag.

Melandrach shouted out, “I’ve got healing potions on me.  Can someone give me one when this goes wrong” and whacked at the Doll and missed with his staff, but landed a solid kick.  The remaining Ghoul hit Ramond, who became paralyzed as a result, but shrugged it off at the end of his turn.  Gertrude lashed out at Devere and once again was distracted by a blinding flash of light.  Once again, the green beam started the pulse and she looked refreshed and healed.  Thorovir moved up to the end of the bed and shot a Grasping Vine arrow in to the doll.  Bilba fired at the Doll, but missed.  The doll slashed twice and Melandrach and to everyone’s surprise missed.  The doll then turned around and vanished under Karsons unconscious body.  Readying her staff, Talindra rolled over the body to look for the doll, but could not find her.  Araloth pulled a potion out of his pocket and ran over to heal Karson.  Devere hit Gertrude with both his mace and his Spiritual Weapon.  Melandrach moved to flank the last Ghoul and hit it twice.  The ghoul retaliated but missed.  Ramond missed another swing at the Night Hag, and despite another Warding Flare, she slashed her claws across Devere.  Thorovir put an arrow in to the last Ghoul, nailing its dead body to the open window frame.

Bilba also fired her bow, landing a critical wound on Gertrude.  She was then surprised by a sharp pain in her ankles and looked down to see the Doll stabbing her from under the desk she was pressed up against.    Karson stood up and knew he couldn’t reach Gertrude so he turned his sword in to a hawk and had it attack her from a flanking position behind her.  She turned around to defend herself, but it was already too late.  The hawk was in her face, and scratched a claw straight through one eye, pulling it out. The pain and the blood loss was too much and she fell to the floor, while the bird pecked out the other eyeball.  After a moment, her body dissolved in to black gloop, soaking through the pile of her clothes in to the wooden floor.  Talindra stepped up real close and Blasted the doll in the face.  Araloth ran back in to the room, ducked down low and shoved his shortsword straight in to and through the dolls face, pinning her to the back of the desk.  He then spent the next few rounds pulling her apart to make sure she should not get back up again.

As he looked around for the next threat he noticed the vines release the emaciated victim on the ceiling.  He fell heavily to the floor, landing on his back with an ‘oof’. He breathed shallowly and they looked over him he smiled, and whispers ‘thank you’ before breathing his last breath. The emerald in his chest lost its glow as he passed away.  Ramond investigated the Night Hags remains and found a small pouch, a curved jewelled dagger and a black stone pendant.  Talindra investigated the body from the ceiling and looked at the gem, but didn’t touch it.  Instead, she started ritually casting Detect magic while Karson created some Goodberries and handed them round to everyone patching up their wounds.  Araloth tore the doll to pieces and pocketed her knife as Gundren entered the room and sat on the bed.  Melandrach started to do a thorough search of the room, but was interrupted when all of a sudden the room started to rumble, as dust fell through the cracks and holes in the ceiling. Then, suddenly, the entire manor began to shake, as the walls started to decay and erode.  The manor, it seemed, was caving in on itself, and would likely be nothing but a pile of rubble before long.  They had put everything in a pile ready for the detect magic, so all took a moment to pick this back up again, but then debated who would grab the emerald from the man’s chest.  Karson headed over to assist Gundren.  Debris started falling in larger chunks from the ceiling, hitting Mellandrach, Ramond, Devere for 1d10 damage.  Devere and Araloth said they were going out over the balcony, noticing that the hail storm had relaxed in to regular rain during the fight.

Araloth lowered himself over the balcony safely and Karson was able to lower Gundren down to be caught by him.  Ramond pulled the gem from the chest, removing some flesh with it as everyone lowered themselves off the balcony.  Melandrach stayed behind to ensure everyone else made it safely and caught a bit of falling lumber as he jumped, knocking him out.  The dragged him to safety and patched up his wounds with a med kit back at the horse as the building collapsed.  Exhausted and all near death, the party was keen for a rest.  They put some distance between them and the house just in case and set up camp for a short rest and a round of Detect Magic and Identify rituals. (DM: details at end of section)  Mr Clipperty, their horse, also needed healing.  He had suffered multiple wounds from the hail stones.  After setting up his tent and before adding his loot to the Detect magic pile Ramond opened the Night Hags pouch to see if it was worth identifying.  A small black cloud puffed out of it, and he coughed and went a little bit dizzy, a little feint for a moment.  The pouch appeared to be empty after.  He added it to the detection pile anyway.

Exhausted and on single figures, the party has decided to stay here for the night.  Its early afternoon and it is still raining, although the weather has definitely eased up.  They have the afternoon to themselves and will have a long rest overnight before working out how to get back to town.

Curved jeweled dagger is not magic.  Araloth priced it up for around 500gp

Doll dagger is not magic

Cavalrymans Sabre, +1

3 times per day: Can gain advantage on an attack if you have moved at least 25 feet under your own control that round immediately before attacking.  This does not count against daily total if performed on horseback.  Such attacks gain an extra dice of slashing damage.

Heartstone Amulet (Necromantic magic)

This lustrous black gem allows a night hag to become ethereal while it is in her possession. The touch of a heartstone also cures any disease.  3 charges only.  Does not recharge.

Skin bag = Bag of holding but stinks of rotting meat inside

Soul bag (Necromantic magic).  This pouch made of human flesh is made and used by Night Hags to store captured souls in.

Sun Elf Statuette (From Cragmaw Keep) (Divination magic)

Any non-evil creature grasping the statue can ask it a question and receive a telepathic response, as though it had cast augury (see the rulebook for a description of this spell). Once a creature has asked its question and received a response, it can never activate the statuette again.

The Leacher’s Emerald (Strong Necromantic magic)

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

This green emerald is an ancient relic imbued with necrotic energies by an evil necromancer long ago. Its master and wielder, once attuned, can attempt to magically implant the emerald into the chest of any living creature. The creature must successfully win a Grappling (PHB, pg. 195) contest to be able to resist the attempt.

As a bonus action the emerald’s master can use it to transfer 3d6 Hit Points from the victim to them-self if it is within 60 ft. The emerald has two charges per day and regains all of its charges at dawn.

The gem exerts no control over the victim otherwise, but the master of the emerald knows it’s direction and distance at all times. If the emerald crosses into another plane, the owner knows which one.

Extraction. A skilled physician can remove the gem on a successful DC 17 Intelligence (Medicine) check, but the patient suffers 4d10 piercing damage on every attempt. A greater restoration spell can be used to eject the gem. The emerald radiates evil.

The party set up camp half an hour away from the collapsed house and took the afternoon and night to fully recover from what had happened.  The next morning, still raining, Talindra sent her owl up above the tree line to get an idea where they were and then the group headed towards the nearest edge of the forest, to the south east.  Once clear of the trees, the group discussed what to do with their new treasure.  Araloth took the sabre, and the group agreed the Soul Bag and Leachers Gem should be kept safe until they could find a way to destroy them.  They put them inside the Bag of holding, which Thorovir will be holding on to for now.

After two days on the road they arrived back in Phandalin, late in the afternoon.  As they pulled up in the Town Square Talindra used Message to tell Sildhar that they were back and had Gundren.  He asked them to take him to the Inn and he’d be over soon.  They went to the inn and all settled at a table with drinks and meals ordered.  Sildhar arrived shortly after and arranged a room and care for Gundren.  He got an update on the situation and Talindra returned his stolen sword and armour to him.  Gundren said he needed some time to recover before he would be ready to travel so they should take the time to prepare ready to take the mine from the Black Spider.  He offered them a 10% stake in the mine if they cleared it out and made it safe for him, and agreed to be on call should more threats be revealed.  He hungrily wolfed down his hot meal before Sildhar and Trilena, the Innkeepers wife, helped him up the stairs for a hot bath.  Talindra asked around and found out about a trade caravan heading to Neverwinter in the morning and asked to join them as she has some looted spell books she wants to sell on.  With rooms in the inn running short, the party decided to sleep up at Tresendar Manor tonight (DM: Sildhar and the Lords Alliance had taken over the property and are converting it in to a new base of operations.  The party have been given keys and access while repairs continue and saw that the basement had been renovated and works continued on the upper floors.  More secure doors had been added to the main and side entrance to the basement and the area was more habitable.

(DM: A while back I noticed this campaign was very episodic and made an offer to my group.  If anyone wanted to try their hands at DMing or DMing through Roll20 but didn’t want to commit to a whole campaign they could pick a short adventure and they could insert it and take over for a few session.  Talindra has taken me up on this and will be running the D&D Adventurers League module “Corruption in Kryptgarden”(CiK) for the next few sessions while I step in with a guest character Bard called Reginald Arthur Tremblay.  If you think you might play through CiK you should skip the next few entires)

The next morning Talindra left town early with the trade caravan before the others awoke.  While they were finishing of their breakfast at the Stonehill Inn a messenger in the livery of Lord Silmerhelve of Waterdeep with two guards and a minstrel entered the inn and asked for Sildhar.  Sildhar comes down from his room and has a chat with them and they head over to the party after he gestured towards them.  The messenger came over and said he has a message from the Lords Alliance and they are needed in Kryptgarden for an important matter of great significance to the Sword Coast.  Lord Olranth Silmerhelve has heard of their deeds from Sildhar and has requested their help.  There is a malevolent entity in the area endangering trade and local settlements.  They tried to get more information, but the messenger said he had told them all he could.  When they pushed, the bard stepped forward, introduced himself, and said he had been travelling with him for a few days and had been trying to get more information.  The messenger didn’t have anything more to tell.  Given they had some time on their hands, and are members of the Lords Alliance they agreed to help.  The bard ordered some breakfast and a round of drinks and sat down to get to know his new travelling companions while the Messenger and his guards prepared to get back on the road.

They spent five days on the road to Kryptgarden, chasing off a pack of hungry wolves one night, and avoiding a pack of orc hunters one day.  When they approached the forest early on the fifth day, they could clearly see something wrong.  The forest had an ominous air, and a sickly aura to it.  It did not appear healthy, or a safe place to be.  They were lead around it for half a day to a military encampment of several hundred soldiers with banners of both Waterdeep and Neverwinter.  There were also banners they were able to identify as from the Emerald Enclave, the Zhentarim, and the Order of the Gauntlet.  They were lead through to the command tent, and were announced by the messenger.  They were greeted by Lord Valero Brokengulf and Lady Dalia Simerhelve.  Lord Valero explained that his family has kept watch over Kryptgarden for generations as it contains an ancient green dragon, Claugiyliamatar (AKA Old Gnawbones).  She has recently gained the aid of the Zartruss clan of hobgoblins and is talking with the Cult of Dragons.  Recently trade caravan attacks in the area have risen dramatically.  The fear is the Hobgoblins are taking supplies to reinforce and develop their fortress and become a much larger threat to the Sword Coast under the control of Claugiyliamatar.

The party is being asked to intercept the stolen supplies and infiltrate the fortress so they can open it up for an attack from their main force.  Once inside we need to find a way to delay their forces from reacting to an attack, keeping them away from the walls while the main assault happens.  During the assault we need to find the leaders of the tribe and the Cult of Dragons, and disrupt their new alliance.  The last caravan assault was at the village of Westbridge, who have had many caravans ambushed.  All the good should be at the stronghold and we should aid in its return.  They are currently awaiting a Zhentarim agent’s imminent return, who should have more information.  Lady Dalia gave us a Sending Stone to communicate with the main force during our mission.

A harper agent called Windle was introduced to the group and asked to introduce us to the other factions aiding in this mission.  She escorted us out of the tent and took us to a prearranged camp we can use.  She then took us round the allied factions’ camps, starting with the Emerald Enclave, where we met a scarred older man called Hendle.  He informed us that the local fey had been corrupted by the dragon and would likely be hostile.  We should do our best to avoid conflict and where not possible, we should try not to do any more harm or damage than necessary.  They will return to normal once the dragon is removed.  Fey creatures can often be won over with gifts and flattery, and have a weakness for shiny things. They can be won over to aid against the dragon.  He advised that we do not trust the forest.  Wendle advised there have been rumours of a dark Fey lord called King Witchthorne.  Gaining his favour could be key to winning this battle.

Next we met a Dwarf Paladin of Helm, called Drom, Master of the forces of the Order of the Gauntlet.  He told us about the hobgoblin prisoners they had captured and interrogated.  There are likely to be a system of alarms and guard posts in place to warn of enemies approaching the hobgoblin stronghold.  We will need to be careful to avoid them and silence them before they can alert others.

We then were introduced to the Halfling leader of the Zhentarim, Lilith.  She told us about Yalek Snurd, her spy who has integrated himself with a band of mercenaries the Cultists have hired to attack the caravans to present as tribute to the Dragon.  He has information essential to the assault and we should find and extract him.  Red Wizards of Thay have been seen with the Cultists, and should be prevented from interfering with the assault. The Zhentarim are ready to intercept them at short notice, if given the chance.

Windle was asked what the Harpers involvement was.  They are providing information and magical aid.  Harper agents have warded the camp from scrying as the dragon is particularly skilled with divination magics.

We called it a night there as it was getting late and the DM said it was a suitable break point.

(Talindra is still currently guest DMing for us and I am playing Reginald the Bard)

We slept the night at the camp and then headed out the next morning to intercept the people who had just raided Westbridge on their way back to the Hobgoblin stronghold through Kryptgarden forest.  Early in the day we encountered a clearing with an engraved obelisk in the middle.  Melandrach scouted south around the clearing while Karson scouted north.  Melandrach found some fresh Worg prints and Karson ran in to a particularly corrupted tree, riddled with diseased vines.  When they told us there was no noticeable immediate threat Devere and Ramond approached the stone to investigate.  The runes were too weathered to read, but appeared to be an ancient form of elven we could not make out.  Then Melandrach spotted four Worgs sneaking up on him through the woods, so he and Karson moved towards the middle of the clearing.  The Worgs looked wrong, like the forest had corrupted their form and started growing over them.

Karson and Bilba shot at the Worgs as Araloth approached and braced for attack.  Then, Karsons diseased tree upped root and started walking towards the group, apparently a Treant.  As it approached it tore a large chunk of rock and dirt out of the ground and threw it.  It hit the monolith just above Reginald’s head, shattering to dust and shards.  Ramond shouted out for Melandrach and Devere to follow him and hold off the Treant and then ran towards it.  Melandrach followed the advice and ran at the Treant and tried to use his staff to smash off some of the corrupting vines, with little success.  Two of the Worgs charged at Araloth who cut one of them down, but the other hurt him badly and knocked him to the floor.  The others ran towards Karson and Devere.  Thorovir shot at Araloth’s Worg twice while Reginald Viciously Mocked Karson’s worg to throw off its attack, and then healed Araloth.  He then shouted out that there seemed to be small black blighted plant creatures up in the branches of the Treant.  Devere summoned a Spiritual Weapon to attack Karson’s Worg, and then uttered a Word of Radiance, hurting both Worgs.  Three of the Twig Blights in the Treant jumped down to attack Melandrach while the other three threw spines and darts at Ramond.  Karson and Araloth both attacked their Worgs then Araloth backed away towards Bilba while she was shooting at Devere’s Worg.  The Treant backhanded the Melandrach, leaving him bloody and sore.  Ramond moved up and joined the fight against the Twig Blights.  In a flurry of blows, Melandrach then killed one Twig Blight and beat up a second.

One of the Worgs charged at Araloth, who dodged out of the way, while the other two attacked Devere who distracted them with a Warding Flare.  Thorovir dropped his bow and attacked Araloth’s Worg with his rapier.  Reginald started insulting the Twig Blights in the branches and moved up to provide better assistance in that melee, and Devere followed him, dodging the blows from the Worgs and attacking one with his spiritual weapon.  The twig blights attacked everyone nearby with punches and darts.  Araloth killed his Worg and Karson tried to do the same but missed twice.  Bilba managed to shoot and kill the Worg that had been focusing on Devere.  The Treant lashed out at Ramond, who got out of the way and killed another Twig Blight, as did Melandrach.  The Worg jumped for and missed Karson.  Thorvir dropped his rapier and picked up his bow, shooting at the nearest aerial Twig Blights.  Ramond insulted a Twig Blight and held his ground.  Devere’s Spiritual Weapon hit the last Worg while he cast Cure Wounds on Melandrach.  The twig blights all threw darts at Devere in response.  Karson finally managed to kill his Worg and moved towards the Treant.  As Araloth ran towards the Treant, Bilba stepped out of her hiding spot and killed a Twig Blight with an arrow.  As Ramond dodged another Treant attack he jumped up and swung his blade at a Twig Blight 15 foot up in the air, killing it.  Melandrach fired Radiant Sunbolts to kill the last Twig Blight, and to attempt to burn off more corrupting vines, hurting the Treant in the process.  The party then spent some time trying to cut, smash and shoot the vines off of the Treant, with limited success, always hurting it in the process.  There was a brief chat about running away and trusting it would recover once the dragon is dead, until Ramond and Devere started grabbing fistfuls of corrupted vines and tearing them off.  With enough removed he calmed down and started talking instead of fighting.

It tore off the remaining vines from itself and removed the dead Twig Blights from his canopy.  It turned to Ramond and thanked him for his aid.  As it spoke some berries sprouted on him, which it removed and offered as assistance (Goodberries).  It said it was off to see the King about this and wandered off in to the forest.  The group handed out the berries and healed up before heading back on their path.

A while later we happened upon the path we were looking for and could hear a creaky wagon approaching.  We spread out and hid in the bushes as best we could (Not very well at all!) and waiting for the wagon to be in the middle of us.  When they came in to sight two wagons could be seen escorted by 6 human guards and an Ogre at the rear.  As they drew near the leading edge of the ambush, the two wagons scouts shouted out, “Who’s there?” and started firing their bows towards Araloth and Karson.  We all advanced and attacked the enemies leading the caravan and on the front wagon.  Expecting hobgoblins and finding humans, Reginald assumed these would be the mercenaries the spy we are looking for has infiltrated, and began looking for the tell-tale scar.  The man on the rear wagon shoved the woman next to him off the wagon and began running south in to the woods.  When she got up she shouted out, “Get the traitor!” and unloaded two hand crossbows in to his back.  Thorovir fired a Grasping Arrow in to the Ogre who chose to ignore its by walking slowly around the caravan, taking extra damage and swinging for Melandrach.  While the party worked on the mercenaries Reginald ran around behind them to try and distract the woman from killing our spy.  Araloth was faster though and ran around everyone and attacked her.  Our spy turned around and finished her off with his crossbow, before running west away from everything.  Ramond ran up to engage the ogre, finally making it in to combat from the back of the ambush.  Devere ran towards our potential spy, saw the v shaped scar, and called out, “Wait!  We are friends.  We’re here to help.”  The ogre swung and missed Ramond and the remaining two guards attacked us.  Karson knocked out one of the guards and moved up on to the wagon next to the other and the ogre.  Araloth stepped over the woman’s body to backstab the ogre and noticed her wounds had healed.  Araloth hit it with an arrow, and then Melandrach beat it down with his staff.

With all the enemies defeated, Araloth and Reginald tied up the survivors.  They were all wearing black sashes with a simple five headed dragon drawn on them.  We have taken all six of these as a disguise to infiltrate the stronghold.  Araloth looted a heart shaped ruby pendant from the woman and we found some gems and trinkets we can sell later, along with a couple of healing potions.  The rest we left on the wagons.  The horses looked emaciated so Reginald tried to offer them some rations.  They did not respond.  They appear to be on the brink of death, but held alive by some magic.  We need them for now, but they should probably be either saved or freed from this when we are done.

While this was happening, Devere and Melandrach went to talk to Yalek.  He was grateful for the rescue.  He thought his boss was getting suspicious and was looking for a way to make a run for it.  Devere explained we had been sent by Lillith of the Zhentarim to find him.  He had to get back to camp to tell them where the Red Wizards are.  We pumped him for information and then asked him to take the prisoners back with him.  The sashes should be enough to fool any hobgoblin guards as they don’t pay enough attention to who the humans are.  He gave us a basic map of the enemy encampment, showing where we can find the leaders of the Zartruss clan.  We had a discussion on distances and we decided if we took a short rest and then headed out he would arrive back at camp around the same time we started infiltrating the enemy stronghold so assaults would align.  While we were chatting, Reginald thought he saw a shimmering fist sized orb in the air for just a moment, but it vanished as her turned to look at it.  Probably nothing (poor roll to see/ID it).  We rested up and got back on the road.

It was getting late so we called it a night ready for the main assault next week.

(Talindra is still currently guest DMing for us and I am playing Reginald the Bard)

With our short rest over, we had a quick chat about the trinkets on the wagons.  Apparently the mercenaries had been told they could keep such things as part of their payment, as the Stronghold was only interested in the supplies so we took the loot.  Karson and Ramond took a heal potion each, meaning everyone has one each and the front line melee characters mostly have two.

We got back on the road and a while later we passed a ruined guard tower.  We could see two Hobgoblins and a large horn on the top.  We acted casual and 10 minutes up the road we ducked in to the woods, ditched the wagons and doubled back.  A few archers stayed at ground level ready to fire while everyone else stealthed up the 100 foot tower.  The two goblins died quite easily and didn’t get the chance to sound the alarm and I learned to ask what armour the enemy is wearing instead of assuming Hobgoblins would be easy to hit.  Chainmail with shields with partial cover means I wasn’t going to shoot them from ground level and should never have tried!  As the last Hobgoblin fell some sort of black slime creature oozed out of the cracks and attacked, but Araloth landed a critical blow early on and the creature wasn’t able to pose any kind of threat.

We took the enemies chainmail to sell later and propped them up to look like they might be alive and lazy from ground level and smashed the mouthpiece of the horn so it would be useless but look fine to those below, and then got on our way back to the wagon.

15 minutes after we got back on the wagons we arrived at the gateway to the Stronghold.  As we saw this we had a brief chat about what we were actually going to do inside.  We discussed starting a fire but we were afraid of it catching the trees alight.  Some nature etc checks revealed that the corruption had made the forest dryer and more flammable than usual and it wouldn’t take much for things to go very wrong.   Hobgoblin archers on the walls had the gates opened for us as we drew near, and we nonchalantly rolled in.   One of the Hobgoblins had us stop before we entered.  He asked how the raid went and Reginald said, “It went like a charm.  You know these villager types.  They’ve no real fight in ‘em.”  He said he wished he could see some action too and ushered us through.

As we rolled inside we were approached by a Hobgoblin we would soon discover was the Quartermaster.  He was looking for a spy amongst our numbers he had been told about.  Reginald quickly spoke up and insisted they had killed him in the woods earlier that day when he tried to run away with our loot.  He thanked us and let us park properly before having his men unload the wagons.  As we pulled up I noticed the same golden orb I had seen before floating in the air above us.  It instantly vanished and I failed my roll to work out what it was.  I chose not to react as we were being supervised by the enemy at this point.

As we looked around we could see that this Stronghold was still heavily under construction.  Near the unloading area we could see a large domed building that looked recently completed.  It had no windows but inside we could hear sounds of Hobgoblin revelry.  This was apparently some kind of barracks/bar/recreation area and a large source of reinforcements for the gate.  One of our primary goals would be to delay their response to any invasion.

We slunk off to a corner to talk in private and survey our surroundings.  Over time it became apparent that only Hobgoblins entered the domed building so human infiltration might be difficult.  Hobgoblins would come and go through the area occasionally (10-15 in the area at any given time) and the tents around the gate all appeared to contain more Hobgoblins.  We have a hand drawn map of the area that the spy Yalek gave us earlier.  It pointed us towards the area the leadership would be gathering in.  We went around and had a casual look.  It was a small courtyard with a central tower with raised rope bridges 20 feet in the air.  We also saw our first full fledges cultists in the area.  We were not going to get much of a look around without risking triggering a fight or getting caught so we backed out to discuss our plans.  After a good long chat discussing infiltrating the barracks, nailing that door shut, and trying to trigger fights between groups of mercenaries we settled on our plan and used the sending stones to call the army, who would arrive around an hour later.

55 minutes later we approached the Quartermaster to ask for our wagons back as we wanted to go on another raid.  He got grumpy because nothing was planned and told us to get them ourselves.  We parked the wagon in the courtyard and loaded it up with lots of empty boxes to put captured goods in and a barrel or two of nails from the nearby construction supplies.  We hitched up the horses badly at the front.  When we could hear the army nearby Ramond freed the horses and him and Thorovir pushed the wagon straight through the doors to the barracks, wedging them in the middle.  The rest of us then smashed in the wheels so it would not move.  We hoped that the barrels of nails would break on impact making it harder for people to climb through without getting hurt.  We then ran towards the leadership to end any chance of an alliance there.

Thorivor had an early start and Devere had been unavailable tonight and this was going to be a long fight so we called it there.  This should be the final combat before we return to camp and end this adventure, but we will see.

I have spent 5 days last week adding the rest of the campaign to Roll20.  For anyone else looking to run DoIP and the Beyond modules for it I would definitely recommend reading everything before you begin.  You can get away with not reading the Beyond modules until after DoIP, but the Beyonds are not written clearly.  There’s stuff in modules 2 and 3 that you could really do with knowing at the start of the first.  Some of the encounters are not written very clearly either.  There is some very cool stuff in there though and I’m super keen to run my players through it.

Do not click the above link if you hope to play as it contains teasers and probable spoilers.

Anyway, back to this session.  Remember, Talindra is still currently guest DMing for us and I am playing Reginald the Bard. This is an Adventurers League module so this fight plays out as if there are multiple other player groups in the background doing things that affect our fight and vice versa.  This explains a few things that happen (IE the zombies and the healing wind stuff)

Having signalled our army and blocked the barracks we ran towards the leaders of the Cult and the Hobgoblins to prevent a permanent alliance being formed.  With the sounds of battle rising behind us they were on alert and we drew weapons and charged straight in.  Melandrach punched a nearby Cultist while Devere stepped forward and blasted the area with channelled his gods divinity in to the Radiance of the Dawn, burning every enemy nearby that could see him, killing two cultists.  He then summoned his Spiritual Weapon to attack the Hobgoblin Captain, but missed.  The Captain then called out in goblin, “Get that f*£$!ing cleric!”, sunk an enchanted thunderous arrow in to Devere, and then backed off around a corner.  Hiding behind Karson, Bilba shot and killed the Hobgoblin archer in the bridge in front of the group.  The Fanatic summoned her Spiritual Weapon to attack Melandrach, and then prayed to Tiamat who blasted Melandrach with Sacred Flame before retreating behind the tower.  Karson ran towards the Captain, Hunter Marking him and Swinging at him ineffectually with both attacks.  The two Hobgoblins shot at Devere and Karson, nearly killing Devere.  Reginald stepped forward, casting Heat Metal on the Captain and then Inspired Devere to better defend himself.  One of the Cultists stabbed Reginald and the other flanked Karson, swinging and missing.  Araloth attacked the flanking Cultist and then moved to flank against the Captain with Karson.  Thorivor moved in to the open and shot at but missed the Hobgoblin above Devere.  He gritted his teeth and fired again, hitting but nor killing, before ducking behind the tree.  Ramond ran forwards, effortlessly cutting down the Cultist on Reginald on his way past.  Then, to our horror, the three dead Cultists arose as Zombies and joined the fight, attacking Reginald, Ramond and Melandrach!

Melandrach unleashed a flurry of blows on his Zombie and then chased after the Fanatic.  Devere healed himself, adding the Bardic Inspiration to it.  His Spiritual Weapon hit the Captain, who dropped his bow, drew a Greatsword and missed one swing on Karson, but hit with his second.  Bilba sunk an arrow in to the Zombie by Ramond while the Fanatic cast Hold Person on Araloth (Natural 1 on his save.  Araloth is definitely the king of failing saves).  Her dagger missed its attack on Melandrach.  Karson missed the Captain, but killed the Cultist with his offhand.  The Hobgoblins shot at Devere (Reg tried to help but failed) and Ramond.  Then a new Hobgoblin appeared on the northern bridge and shot at Melandrach who deflected part of the impact.   Reginald’s heat metal burned the captain again while he Viciously Mocked the Hobgoblin above him.  Two new cultists appeared from the West and attacked Ramond.  Thorivor missed a shot at Reginald’s Hobgoblin and Ramon Smote his Zombie, giving himself temporary hit points.  The Zombies laid in to Reginald who took the blows, failing his concentration save.  The dead cultist by Karson then rose up as a Zombie.

Melandrach beat the Fanatic with his staff and then unleashed a Flurry of Blows on her, almost killing her, and then moved around the corner away from the Spiritual Weapon.  Devere healed Karson, then stepped up to flank and smack a zombie.  The Captain took a critical hit against the Held Araloth, and then swung at Karson, but Reginald was able to distract him.  Bilba shot at a nearby zombie while the Fanatic reached out and drained the life out of Melandrach, dropping him to the ground.  She then moved up and sent her Spiritual Weapon after Reginald.  Karson critted the Captain and shoved his short sword straight through his eye and out the back, while hitting a zombie with his other weapon and taking an arrow from a Hobgoblin.  Reginald took two arrows, and Ramond took one.  A new Hobgoblin stepped out from the west and shot Thorivor twice.  Reginald hurled damaging insults at the Hobgoblin above him, then squeezed between the zombies and healed Melandrach.  The Cultists attacked Ramond.  With benefit from Ramond’s inspiring words (He has a once per day power on his sword), Araloth was finally able to overcome the Hold Person spell.  Thorivor put a Seeking Arrow in to the Fanatic and backed up down the side alley.  Ramond smote a cultist to death as the Zombies lashed out at Devere (Warding Flare for defence), Reginald, and Karson.  The sense of dread that had hung over the camp faded, and a wave of hope and optimism washed over us all.  (With this second wave coursing through us we gained the ability to use a bonus action to spend hit dice to heal just the once during this encounter.  I assume the DM thought we were in serious trouble!)

Then Claugiyliamatar swooped across the battlefield, with a deafening roar and the beat of massive leathery wings, shaking us to the core as the wind reached staggering speeds; scattering debris and bodies like trash on the wind.  “Behold, wretched ones!”  Claugiyliamatar roared with fury, “The price of your hubris is at hand!”  She then flew overhead and attacked a nearby tower with a large ballista being requisitioned by human soldiers.  The tower vanished with a cloud of her poisonous breath and none survived.

Melandrach picked himself up and chased after the Fanatic and brought his staff around the side of her head from behind, causing her neck to break, and she fell to the floor, while he healed up before stepping over her corpse.  Devere moved to flank a zombie and hit it hard, before healing himself.  Bilba killed a zombie while Claugiyliamatar could be heard tearing apart nearby soldiers.  The hobgoblins shot at Thorivor, Melandrach, Bilba, and downed Karson.  Reginald’s insults finally became too much for the Hobgoblin above him, who died as Reg healed Karson.  He then called out, “Guys, we did what we came for.  We can leave now”.  The last Cultist swung at and missed Ramond.  Araloth made a run for a ladder up the central tower while healing up.  Thorivor shot a zombie who weathered the blow while Ramond whiffed his swing against the last cultist and healed up.  The zombies went for Devere and Karson, who fell unconscious once again.  Melandrach ran to his aid and wailed on his zombie.  Devere hot his zombie and weapon hit Karson’s, but both just absorbed the blows.  Then the dragon retuned, swooping down to claw at Araloth.  Reginald tried to distract her, but she was too enraged. (The dragon was clearly being nerfed by the module, thank god!)  She flew off to murder more of the army right after as Bilba sunk an arrow in to a Hobgoblin.  The Hobgoblins fired ineffectually as Reginald healed up and insulted a zombie.  The last cultist hit Ramond as Araloth tried to attack a Hobgoblin and tried to take cover from the skies.  His Hobgoblin then died to an arrow from Thorivor as Ramond killed his Cultist and moved up.

Melandrach hit a zombie who just took it, and then Radiant Sunbolted both Zombies, finally killing them.  Devere moved up and healed Karson and then sent his Spiritual Weapon to attack a Hobgoblin.  The dragon swooped overhead but ignored us for now.  Bilba ran to the east and murdered the Hobgoblin over there.  Karson stood up and healed himself, before grabbing the Captains fancy bow from the floor.  He then used it to take a shot at the Hobgoblin, but missed.  Outgunned and outnumbered, the Hobgoblin ran away.  We then looted the bodies we could, and Ramond just grabbed the captain’s body, and we ran back towards the gates where our army could be heard.  On our way out Claugiyliamatar returned, diving down at us readying a deep breath.  As it exhaled a spectral fey creature appeared and sucked all the poisonous gas into itself and vanished in a blinding flash of light.  Claugiyliamatar roared in frustration.  Bilba plinked a shot at her before running out with the rest of us.  Once we made it to safety we shoved everything in the Bag of Holding to sort out later.

Once the battle was over and we were walking back to camp with the army, Valero came over to talk.  She thanked us for our efforts on behalf of The lords Alliance, and handed us a pouch of 200 gold as a reward.  She said the order of the Gauntlet would be happy to cast some spells for us for a Token fee, such as Identify.  Later in the day we took them up on that offer (Items below) and had a long chat about who gets what magic item.  We then camped for the night as it had been a long day.  In the monring we will likely leave camp and head back to Phandalin.

Loot

Non-Magical Half Plate – Taken by Devere

Non-Magical gemmed golden pendant of a 5 headed dragon (300gp)

Periapt of Wound Closure – Wondrous Item, uncommon (requires attunement) – Taken by melandrach

• While you wear this pendant, you stabilize whenever you are dying at the start of your turn. In addition, whenever you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, double the number of hit points it restores.

Pearl of Power – Wondrous Item, uncommon (requires attunement by a Spellcaster) – Taken by Ramond

• While this pearl is on your person, you can use an action to speak its command word and regain one expended spell slot. If the expended slot was of 4th level or higher, the new slot is 3rd level. Once you use the pearl, it can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Thundercloud Longbow – Weapon (longbow), rare (requires attunement) – Taken by Thorivor

• You have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.
• If attuned this longbow empowers each shot with a thunderous strike, adding 1d4 thunder damage to each shot.
• In addition if attuned by an arcane archer it allows the user to regain a use of their arcane shot once per day as a bonus action and improves the save DC for arcane shots by +1.

Talindra is still DMing for the first part here.  I take over again as they arrive back at town.

The party woke up the next day in the army camp and gathered from breakfast while the army dismantled the Hobgoblin fort around them.  They discussed their plans for the day and while the group needed to return to deal with unfinished business in Phandalin, Reginald wanted to stay with the army to see what happened next and gather some accounts from soldiers on the other battles involved in this victory.  He broached the subject of splitting the loot and said he had an interest in the golden jewelled holy symbol of Tiamat they had taken off the cultists’ leader.  He said he wondered if it had a greater significance and wasn’t purely decorative.  The party were more than OK with this and he waved them off on their way, saying he might stop by Phandalin at a later date for a visit.  Ramond also warned them that Claugiyliamatar had been scrying on them so they should take care.  Who knows how much she knows about them, or if she will continue to take an interest and come seeking revenge at any time.

As the party headed out along the road out of Kryptgarden Ramond spoke up.  He thought the party needed a name, otherwise how are people like Reginald, or the soldiers of the army supposed to ask for them? (DM: They’d said they were going to pick a name a month or so back when they were offered positions within the Lords Alliance, but they never did)  They bandied around a few names (DM: And spent some time on random party name generators laughing at silly suggestions) and have settled on “The Fellowship of Phandalin” (FoP) for now, with the possibility of changing it should they have a better idea.

Two nights out of Kryptgarden they camped about a mile away from the Mere of Dead Men, and during the first watch some Ghouls from the swamp wondered out from the trees and disturbed their rest.  It was a cloudy night so a short battle occurred in pitch darkness.  The Fellowship (DM: That name already belongs to another group, but what am I supposed to do?) dispatched them without too much difficulty (DM: Karson did get paralysed after charging in), but despite having time to pelt them with ranged attacks before they could become a threat, and few people ran in to melee without thought.  Ramond complained about this after the battle, insisting once again that they need to learn to think tactically and work better as a team so as not to put themselves in unnecessary risks.  They’d done this in the final battle in Kryptgarden and it had made things harder than needed.  They were too spread out and over exposed then, and they shouldn’t have been.

About ten miles outside of town as they were cutting across the plains, they encountered two Ogres arguing in Giant, which none of them understood.  The party discussed this at a distance and spread out in to a defensive formation (two spread out lines perpendicular to the path) and slowly approached the Ogres.  As they drew closer the Ogres noticed them and approached.  The party tried to look like they weren’t on the attack, while still being ready to defend themselves.  Ramond drew his sword.  The ogres demanded the Fellowship give them some food.  Ramond refused, asking why they are even here, this close to town.  They said there was a big white dragon up in the mountains near their home killing everything so they’d had to leave.  Devere said they were hunting a white dragon.  The Ogre said, “Well it’s over in the mountains.  Now give us some food”.  Ramond relaxed and went over to the wagon to look at the Fellowships supply of rations.  Devere tried to see what the Ogres had to trade for the food.  The Ogre offered not to put his club through his face in exchange.  Everyone agreed this was a good deal.  Ramond put ten days of rations in the road half way between both groups and told them to take it and move along.  He said if he heard about them causing trouble for anyone they were going to come back and deal with them.  The ogres acted unbothered and began stuffing their faces as the party gave them a wide berth and continued on their way to town.

DM: We switched DMs at this point.  I’m back in charge from now.

As the group walked back in to Phandalin around midday they could see the redevelopment had progressed in their absence.  A few building projects had finished and some new ones had started. Work up at the Manor still continued.   The sound of construction had always been there, but this is the longest they had been out of town so this is the first time they’ve really noticed any changes.

They headed straight to the Stonehill Inn for lunch and to work out what to do next.  Ramond ordered them all lunch and enquired after Gundren.  Toblen, the Innkeeper, said he was doing well.  He’d been sleeping a lot but looking healthier every day.  He should be up and about any day now.  He said he’s let him know they were back in town when he brings him some food.

The party discussed option.

• Let the Townmaster know that monsters were being chased towards town by the Dragon. They feared he would just panic even more and for no good.
• They still need to find this missing druid around Thundertree
• They still have the Lighthouse to investigate
• They thought the monsters chased out by the dragon may be a higher priority than the mine if Ogres etc are coming near town (DM: Ramond spent a fair chunk of the rest of the session pricing up the funding of a small militia in town and OOC  constantly complaining about the stupidity of PHB prices.  “10gp for a shield?  It’s a bit of wood!”  How much for a pointed stick???)
• They wanted to talk to Gundren for more information on the mine, to see why it might be a bigger concern. Just what kind of magic items can the Spellforge there create?  Useful dragon fighting stuff?  Siege weapons that could be used against Phandalin?
• They considered checking in with Sildhar

Talindra walked in to the inn and joined them for lunch.  She asked them where’re they’ve been and they all had a bit of a catch up.  Talinda told them all she had been to Neverwinter to sell off some of their rarer items (DM: Their captured spellbooks etc) and gave them their cut of the gold.  Talindra also handed Araloth a parcel, saying the mail had come while they were away.  It was a small box wrapped in paper, bound in string, with a red seal over the string.  Talindra apologised as she had had an accident and spilled candle wax all over the package.  It was a mess.  Half the seal wasn’t visible and wax was everywhere.  Araloth just accepted it and put off opening the package until he was alone later.

She then mentioned that she had recouped her expenses from learning new spells before splitting the profits.  Most of the group were OK with this, but Araloth disagreed.  An argument happened and Araloth is currently biting his tongue on this issue as he doesn’t see why he should have to pay towards someone else learning spells.

They ate their lunch in an awkward silence for a while until Gundren came down the stairs and joined them.  His movement looked uncomfortable, and he was using a cane, but he looked better.  He greeted the group and offered them a reward for rescuing him (DM: The module has him offer them 20gp when they first rescue him.  So where was he supposed to be hiding all those coins if he’s been a prisoner for a week or two and has been searched and tortured?  Does he jingle as he parps?)  They asked him about the mine and what it could make.  He said the Spellforge there could make any magic item.  Legend says it could be used to make enchanting items a while lot easier and simples and could theoretically be used to mass produce magic items.  In the wrong hands you could easily equip an army with magic weapons.  If they mine is in the hands of the Drow this is very worrying.  They asked what they might find there.  Gundren said he didn’t explore it much, but as its been abandoned for hundreds of years they should expect wild creatures and monsters to have moved in.  The Black Spider appears to be a dark elf with goblinoids under his control so it’s likely there will be some of them down there.  Beyond that he could only guess.  The mine entrance is only around 10 miles outside of town at the foot of the Sword Mountains, but is hidden.  Gundren and his brothers had to tunnel part of the way in.

Gundren is keen to get out there and meet up with his brothers.  They were camping about a mile away from the entrance and he wants to make sure they’re safe, and warn them about the Black Spider.  However, Gundren isn’t quite ready to travel.  He needs to heal up a little more and he has preparations to make.  He advised the party take a few days to prepare or take care of any unfinished business.  They discussed their options.  They weren’t going to find and deal with the dragon in this time, and Thundertree is at least a 6 day round trip, with more time potentially spent exploring.  They figured the Lighthouse was a day and a half away so would be a reasonable task to fill the time.  The party agreed the mine needs to be their main priority for now.  They wondered if the dragon had been drawn to the mine, or if it would want it should it find out about it.

After lunch the split up and did a little shopping, selling off loot and restocking consumables.  Talindra had an unusual request of Devere.  She said she had been studying up on a magic item that would help her and it needed a particular component, linked to a Celestial nature.  She needs some of his blood.  (DM: The party OOC went on comments about this for a while.  Jokes about demon worship, necromancy, selling of souls, possession, etc).  Talindra got out an intricately carved rod she had made from the Manticores thigh bone.  Devere was most agreeable, even when he found out it would be a pint and not a small vial needed.  They went somewhere private and Devere donated with the aid of a knife, and then Talindra healed him up after.  Talindra stored this sample in the rift up at the Manor (DM: It’s magical and cold.  It greatly slows down the decay of any organic matter within it)

Early afternoon they hit the road and headed towards the coast.  They drew near the lighthouse late on the next day.  A storm was brewing out at sea. They chose to camp before entering, rather than head in with the sun starting to go down.  Overnight the storm drew closer and hung heavy over them.  They could hear the rumble of thunder in the clouds overhead, and while it started to rain, the storm didn’t kick in.  Overnight, they got a close up view of the light from the lighthouse.  It appeared to have a green tinge to it, easy to miss or dismiss at a distance, but much more apparent now.  They woke up the next morning with the clouds hanging dark and threatening in the sky above them and headed towards the cliffs.

Below the high cliff that hugged the coastline, an outcropping of rock was nearly surrounded by water, with only a narrow causeway connecting it to the beach below. Atop this outcropping was a stone building surmounted by a lighthouse tower. An eerie green light pulsed from its beacon, shining westward out to sea. With each green pulse of light, they could hear the thump of a slow-beating heart.  They could see a giant crab on the shore far below them.

As they walked down the narrow stairs to the beech the crab approached them, claws waiving in the air overhead.  As people were debating Calm Animal and Speak With Animal spells, it greeted them in Common and asked what they were up to.  They said there was a problem with the lighthouse and they’d come to investigate.  The crab agreed there were problems.  He introduced himself as Mur’raih and the party introduced themselves.  Devere asked if giant crabs usually talk. Mur’raih said he was special.  He had a friend who gave him the ability to talk; a clever Sea Elf named Miraal.  He asked if they could help Miraal if they were already heading in to the lighthouse anyway.  She used to live near here, until she was killed recently by the Half Orc that has taken over the lighthouse.  She’s become a restless spirit ever since and haunts the cave on the way to the lighthouse.  She’s become much angrier and scarier since.  It’s warping her spirit and changing her.  Mur’raih asked the party to help her find peace.  In exchange he would go down to one of the shipwrecks and fetch them a bit of treasure.  They shouldn’t go diving down there themselves.  There’s sharks.  One mean shark in particular called Daggermaw enjoys making people suffer when she eats them slowly.  Talindra said it was a good deal and they shook hands/claws.  Mur’raih pointed them towards his mistress’s cave and they headed off.  As they left, he shouted out a warning about Harpies nesting up by the lighthouse and they should watch out for their beguiling songs.

Talindra and Ramond went to talk to the Banshee Miraal.  As they entered the narrow cave on the tight outcropping a ghostly female elven spirit drifted out of the rocks, her hair seemingly drifting on watery currents they could not see.  Talindra called out, “Miraal, is that you?”  “I am Miraal.  Have you come here to do more harm?”  Talindra said they had come to deal with whatever at the lighthouse has been causing ships to crash.  She said they had come to kill him then.  The man who had killed her.  Please go in there and fetch back my treasure.  He took it from me when he killed me.  My opalescent conch shell.  It’s not much, but its precious to me.  His name is Moeska.  He’s a half orc.  Talindra said they had spoken to Mur’raih and already agreed to help her so they would do their best.  She let them past and drifted off back in to the rocks.

The beckoned up the others and had a discussion about how to resist the harpy songs.  They discussed the pros and cons of a Silence spell, but opted for Ramond to cast Bless on Araloth, Carson and Bilba and let the others rely on saves and elven resistances to Charms while they spend a few rounds running up the walkway.

 It was getting late and doing anything would have triggered a time consuming encounter so e called it there for the week.

With bless cast on Araloth, Karson and Bilba the party moved quickly across the narrow causeway, hoping to get past the Harpies before it ran out.  As they headed out the Harpies on the southern platform soon noticed them and started to sing, entrancing some of them.  Araloth and Bilba were able to put a couple of shots in to the one that could be seen while everyone else tried to advance.  Ramond, Talindra, and Melandrach were charmed and tried a few times to climb the cliffs, with a lot of slips and falls.  Araloth focused on running up the path as fast as possible and made it to the tower ahead of everyone.  Thorivor was charmed at first but quickly resisted and put a couple of seeking arrows in to the wounded harpy who had retreated out of sight, killing it.  Melandrach made the climb as he reached the wall around the harpy nests and two harpies advanced to attack him.  He tried to skirt around the Harpies before vaulting the wall, but lost his grip and fell back down, narrowly missing the climbing Talindra.  He picked himself up, dusted himself of, and ran up the path, overtaking Devere.  Araloth pushed up the front door and found himself in a large empty foyer and just ran for the door in the direction of the Harpies.  He rushed straight through a room with an altar and frescoes on the walls, not stopping to look around, busting open the next door.  Stopping in the doorway he attacked the closet Harpy before retreating through the door.  Ramond channelled his divinity to turn himself in to a Peerless Athlete and then ran up the steep incline, no longer charmed.  Talindra had finally made her save so cast Shatter at the Harpies, killing another and wounding the third, before heading along the winding path.  Melandrach made it up the path and entered the Lighthouse just as the final Harpy decided this was too much and flew around behind the tower out of sight.  Araloth ran outside and saw the Harpy was gone and shouted out to the group.  He then began searching the nests.  Devere entered the building and ran towards where he had last seen the Harpies.  Meanwhile, Melandrach entered the altar room and looked out the window.  He could see the harpy so opened the window and tried to fire his bow at it, but missed.  The Harpy just flew further out to sea as fast as she could.

With the fight over for now Devere took a moment to look around the Altar room as the others came up the path.  The walls of the fifteen foot-high room were adorned with frescoes that depicted ships being tossed on stormy seas, with a dark and terrible god looming above them and smiling. Set into the west wall was a dirty, salt-encrusted window.  A stone altar with lightning bolts carved into it stood against the south wall. A metal rod descended from the ceiling above the altar, splitting in two before it embedded itself into the stone altar.  Devere tried to search the altar, but got a short sharp shock from it and then he heard a pronounced silence as a dull humming noise stopped that he didn’t even realise he had been hearing.  He said he felt a bit funny.  Melandrach turned to look at him and the occasional small spark of electricity could be seen sparking around his eyes.  Karson stood guard over the other doors in the foyer.  Having finished the climb and seen the bodies, Ramond ran through the room towards the foyer.  As the group started to gather around the lighthouse Araloth ran through and opened the double doors in the foyer, revealing a spiral staircase and another ground level door, which he immediately opened.

This 15 -foot-high room has two north-facing windows. A barnacle-encrusted chair stands against the south wall. Sitting in the chair is the Half-Orc Moesko, clad in Splint Mail armour made from metal plates over reddish-purple giant octopus hide. Resting in his lap is an opalescent conch he took from Miraal the sea elf.  Either side of the door stands two Half-Orc guards, wearing hide.  They all have unusual clawed gauntlets on.  They are styled after boars and the rusks come out in to sharp blades which could be used as weapons.  He shouted out what he had seen and then retreated to the foyer.

Karson ran through and landed a couple of blows on a guard.  Devere stepped in to the stairwell and Guiding Bolted the same guard before backing up.  Ramond moved in between the guards and Smote the same one, almost killing him, allowing Thorivor to finish him off.  Talindra scouted around the outside of the tower and peeked in through the window.  The surviving guard moved, chanted and cast Lightning Bolt through Ramond and Karson.  Karson survived purely because Bless was still active.  Moeska stayed sat in his seat and also chanted, casting Lightning Bolt at Ramond (DM: Both bolts rolled noticeable above average.  It was getting scary in there.  Ramond was on 1hp at this stage.  A full Bolt could perma-kill him at this stage).  Melandrach stepped over the guard’s corpse and flurried radiant sun bolts at the other guard while hurling insults at him. Bilba put an arrow in the guard while hiding at the back.  Araloth ran in to flank the guard with Ramond and stabbed him up.  Karson moved in and also cut him.

Having seen the lighting flying from a distance, Devere came to an understanding.  He moved in to the room and without casting a spell, fired a Lightning Bolt from his hands at Moeska.  Ramond took this opportunity to touch himself with a Lay on Hands. (DM: There were a lot of jokes about how the cleric never does any healing and the Paladin is the only one casting classic cleric spells).  Thorivor finished off the guard as Talindra peeked through the window and cast Shatter at Moeska, avoiding his allies.  Moeska stood up from his seat, putting down the conch shell and picking up his trident.  As he walked forward he shouted out, “How dare you burst in to my throne room.  Talos shall have you!”   Without casting, he then threw a Lightning Bolt through Devere, Ramon and Melandrach who were conveniently all lined up nicely (and already OOC making jokes about their bad positioning), downing Ramond and Devere.  Melandrach moved up to apply a flurry of blows to Moeska while Bilba put an arrow in to him.  Araloth and Karson stabbed him and then Thorivor killed him with one last arrow.  The group then quickly scrambled to heal Ramond and Devere.

The party gathered together in to the throne room and searched the bodies while Taildra did a Detect magic ritual.  Araloth revealed he had found a potion in the Harpy nests.  The potion, Splint Mail, Moeska’s bracelet and a ring on his trident were magical.  Araloth tasted the potion (Water Breathing) while Talindra ritually identified the rest (Splint mail of Lightning Resistance, and the ring and bracelet are paired items that let the bracelet’s wearer call to his hand whatever weapon the ring is placed around).  Melandrach picked up the Conch shell and they couldn’t help but notice that it was exceptional.  Whatever conch had grown this had apparently been dieting on some interesting materials as it had opal material built in to it.  It would likely be worth quite a bit.  Araloth wanted to appraise it, but Melandrach and the others wouldn’t let him as they were going to give it back to the Banshee.

While all this was going on the group discussed throwing Moeska’s body out of the window, but Devere wanted to inspect it further.  When they removed its armour they noticed his heart was missing and there was a hole in his chest.  Devere was concerned this was a consequence of the charge currently still coursing through him.  Devere had no idea what he was looking at though.  Ramond took a look and came to the conclusion that ribs had been broken and healed and any other damage had had plenty of time to heal over.  He decided the heart had been carefully removed on purpose, possibly as a means of controlling them.  They left the body where it was and Ramond put on the armour and they took a short rest.

Half way through their short rest they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs.  Talindra quickly cast an illusion of the door over the closed door and everyone upped weapons and got ready to defend themselves.  Karson popped open the door and peeked through the illusion and could see a naked half orc coming down the stairs with a hole where his heart should be.  He stepped through the illusory closed door and stabbed the half orc before retreating and dodging his free strike.  Araloth did his usual drive by attack, ending up in the altar room to avoid lightning.  Devere had a look up the stairs and then backed up in to the room to inform the others and to see if the new guy looked like the dead guy, but really couldn’t tell.  Meladrach flurried him and Thorivor put an arrow through him, but he unleashed a Lightning Bolt through Melandrach and Karson, almost downing Melandrach.  Ramond beat him to within an inch of his life but Bilba landed the killing blow.

Deciding resting had proven to be an unworkable idea, the group gathered themselves and head up the stairs.  The next floor up proved to be just the open flat roof, with a lightning rod reaching high in the sky above the altar room.  Further up the stairs, the pinnacle of the lighthouse beacon was partly open to the elements and surrounded by a narrow walkway topped by an iron railing. Three open archways allowed the beacon’s pulsating green light to spill westward over the sea. This light was so bright that it hurt the eyes of anyone trying to look at it.  While they couldn’t look directly at the source of the light, they noticed it looked like a heart, but ten times larger than usual and it was just floating in the air.  Araloth tried to search it for traps, but with the light in his eyes he wasn’t able to find anything with his disadvantaged check.  Talindra tried to see if she had any understanding of the magic at play here but came up blank.  While Talindra cast Sacred Flame at the heart, Araloth fished through his bag and threw a coat over the heart to partially mask the light.  Now they could look more at it Talindra cast Eldritch Blast at it.  It rattled and shook, crumpled in on itself and then dropped to the floor.  Araloth picked up his coat and the large heart was now like a shrivelled up blackened walnut on the floor.  Araloth poked it with his sword a little to no effect.  There was some talk about relighting the lighthouse at around 10.30am and about getting someone to man the lighthouse (The banshee?  The crab?  Someone from town?) but they let it drop for now and went to return the shell.

The banshee Miraal drifted out of the rocks as they approached and asked if they were done and had her shell.  They offered it up to her and she took it gratefully, visibly calming as she did.  They asked if she knew anything about Moeska missing his heart or what was going on up there.  She was none the wiser.  She thanked them and slowly faded away.  As she vanished, the conch shell dropped to the floor and the quickly scooped it up to sell later.

They then headed over to Mur’raih the Giant Crab and told him his mistress was at rest.  He had a quick look for her and then said he’d go and get them a piece of treasure from the sunken ships.  They asked if he could check the rest, but he said that if anyone hangs around the ships for too long the sharks come for them and he didn’t want to get eaten.  While he was away they discussed drinking the potion of water breathing and going themselves, but decided to leave that for another day when they could send more than one person to face the sharks.  When Mur’raih returned he was carrying a cutlass in its belted scabbard, with a small pouch still attached to the belt.  They thanked him and said their goodbyes and headed back towards town.  While sat on their wagon Talindra identified the new weapon and pulled 3 small diamonds from the pouch.

Split Armour of Lightning Resistance

Rare, Requires attunement

This split mail is made of rows of blackened metal plates attached to an unusual mottled reddish purple leather, apparently made out of Octopus Hide.  It is both tough and rubbery.  This armour bestows resistance to Lightning damage to its wearer.

Bands of Returning

This clasped metal band and bracelet are paired magic items.  The ring is placed round the grip of a weapon and the bracelet is worn by its user.  As a bonus action the wearer can command the weapon to return to their hand, passing through the intermediate space.  If the weapon is being held or restrained, treat the weapon as having a Strength of 26 (+8) and a Dexterity of 10 (+0) for the purposes of any checks.

The band can be attached to any weapon and can be adjusted to fit.

Sea Captains Cutlass

+1 Shortsword

This fine cutlass has a pocket on its scabbard containing a matching flask.  Every day at dawn the flask refills with Rum.  The scimitar grants its wielder immunity to the effects of the poisoned condition while they are touching the hilt.  On a critical hit this weapon bestows the poisoned condition to its target who becomes drunk.  They can make a Con save DC 14 at the end of each of their activations to resist this.