Lost Mines of Phandelver – Session 4

John – Last we left our party, Eve was giving Wendel the time of his life whilst the remaining party members were having a social drink at the Craven Dragon. Proving that they were not there to cause any trouble the rest of the party was requested to re-join Griska in his office. Griska enquired as to the group’s next move concerning the Redbrands considering that they would now be on the Redbrands’ hit list.

Volunteering information on the location of the Redbrands’ hideout, Griska advised them that he was chasing the deed to the Tresendar Manor which he had heard was in the possession of Glasstaff, the leader of the Redbrands. If the group were to retrieve the item, he would pay them handsomely. He refused to disclose his reasons behind desiring the deed.

Leaving Griska’s office, Aurelia was once again visited by her patron who directed her towards one of the girls as a potential ally, the one known as Meredith. Her attempts to approach Meredith were largely rebuffed, as Meredith did not know whether she could trust Aurelia as she viewed her as a stranger.

Gathering Wendel from the arms of Eve, who seemed quite impressed with the little halfling, the group made their way back to the Stonehill Inn to prepare for their assault on Tresendar Manor. With a partial map in hand the party made their way through the initial areas of the complex, avoiding the barracks guards. However, Wendel inadvertently stumbled upon a hallway trap and failing his save he fell into a 20 ft pit taking damage. Merric was quick to offer rope to assist his fellow halfling.

More cautious now the group took it slowly, and thoroughly examined the door at the end of the hall. The elvish emblems were far too faded for the group to read so they entered the crypt. Once inside Aurelia promptly detected magic and revealed that the inert skeletons contained reanimation magic. The group was very cautious and before going any further thoroughly examined the nearby tombs.

Asterin was able to determine from the faded elvish door emblems and the tombstone writing that the tomb had been built during the time of the elvish empire known as Illefarn. Upon speaking the empire’s name, the magic in the skeletons deactivated and the group could continue without fear. Merric remained cautious and stealthily stalked across the room detecting noises from the adjacent room. Wendel however, was nowhere near as stealthy and alerted the guards to their presence.

The door slammed open and the guards attacked the party. Aurelia scored a direct hit and retreated, allowing the two halflings to make short work of the two guards. Unnerved by the sudden nature of the attack Wendel dealt the final blow and inadvertently killed the last guard. This didn’t sit well with Wendel and the group discovered that Wendel had been dealing non-lethal damage to all the Redbrands.

Within the room lay the slave pens where the group discovered the missing Drendar family. Quickly freeing Mirna Drendar, her daughter and son the party decided that their first priority was to get the family to safety. Aurelia and Merric decided to first scout out the remaining doorway but discovered that the door to the armoury was locked tight so they re-joined the group.

Traps certainly test the party as the exposed pit once again caught both Mirna and Asterin, this was even despite the party securing a guide rope. After retrieving everyone from the pit the party successfully sneaked their way back to the surface and took a moment outside to think on how to proceed. Mirna thanked the group profusely and although she had no money told the party about a treasured heirloom that had been left in the now ruined town of Thundertree, complete with directions how to find it.

Wendel still battled with guilt over taking a life, and upon hearing of Mirna’s lack of finance quickly offered her 40gp to assist her and her family. Mirna was most grateful and embraced the halfling. The group took a moment to collect their thoughts and made themselves ready to return to the manor’s cellar.

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