Session 17: The Aftermath

The adventurers and their fellow townsfolk pick up the pieces after the attack on the town.

Summary
The adventurers had successfully fended off the white dragon with the help of a surprise entrance by Shanjan and Davos Seafarer. Shanjan, now with the look of a seasoned adventurer, greeted his old companions with warmth and gifts from his journeys.

Shanjan presented Alagondar's Dragon Slayer to Quoorin, which he and Davos had retrieved it from Dragon Barrow. He gifted Moneux a quiver given to him by elves he fought with on Unicorn's Run. Varien was presented with a magical necklace of a pink shard that turned a deep red when the warlock grabbed it. Latham received an exquisite shield of Lathander; Shanjan claimed that he and Davos traveled to "the end of the world" in order to retrieve it.

The Sentinels Arrive
In the distance, Quoorin saw a group led by Robard of Red Sentinel. Robard and his companions headed to Phandalin in an attempt to defend it from the dragon. Robard regretted not being able to fend off the dragon alongside Quoorin but he had something that could help them root out the beast.

One of Robard's companions, a swiftstride warrior, led a captive orc to the adventurers. Robard told the adventurers that they caught the orc fleeing with pilfered goods before the orc revealed it knew how to find the dragon.

The swiftstride sentinel caught a glance of Moneux and stepped forward, away from the captive orc. Moneux did not recognize the warrior until she looked into his eyes. The sentinel was Pureaux, Moneux's twin brother that was taken from her home tribe.

A Castle in the Sky
As Robard and Quoorin took stock of the situation, a shadow was cast over the town by a large figure in the sky — a castle sitting atop an earthen platform. The castle hovered nearly a foot above the ground and stopped its movement just outside the area of Phandalin. Moneux asked Varien to cast fly on her and took off toward the castle as her companions moved into town to help the others.

As Moneux closed in toward the castle she saw figures standing at the edge of the castle, they looked regular sized from a distance but it became apparent that they stood over twenty feet tall as Moneux got closer. From afar, Moneux asked if the denizens of the castle were friendly. They did not respond to Moneux question, instead they told the ranger that they were looking for criminals by the names of Ai, Cielle, Khulvinder, Krieger, Ib and Eigeron. When Moneux told the giants she had never met the criminals, the giants asked about travelling merchants known as Pavel and Kriv.

Moneux told the giants that Pavel and Kriv had been to Phandalin in the past. With that information, the giants bid the ranger farewell as the castle began drifting to the north.

Picking up the Pieces
The townsfolk returned from the basement of Dawn's Shield Keep to see the destruction left from the battle. Black pillars of smoke flowed from the townmaster's hall, Tibor was informed by the adventurers that Harbin died during the battle before the man rushed into town in an attempt to find Harbin. Qelline and Carp Alderleaf stepped out of the keep to express the town's gratitude to the adventurers. L'aela and Spills the Stew guided the townsfolk and the rest of the adventurers into town take account of the damage.

As the adventurers made their way into the town they saw Tibor in front of the townmaster's hall and clutching Harbin's body which was covered by a piece of cloth. Tibor said Harbin's face looked beyond recognition and his body looked strange, he asked that the adventurers help him move Harbin's body to the keep and away from the view of the townsfolk. Spills the Stew helped Harbin to the keep while Quoorin and Varien helped give out supplies and aid to others.

Moneux returned from her encounter with the castle in the sky and informed her companions of what transpired. Adabra Gwyn took to handing out supplies with Varien and the woman offered to create a potion that would help the adventurers against the dragon in the future. Adabra would simply need the eyes of a dragon for her concoction to work.

The party was eventually relieved of their duties by L'aela as the sun set on Phandalin. Dawn's Shield Keep and the Stonehill Inn would be available for the injured and displaced during Phandalin's recovery. Robard and his fellow Red Sentinel members offered their protection and would patrol the area around Phandalin as the town put itself back together.

The Ironhand Dwarves
The following day, the adventurers were greeted by Adabra and Godwin in the main hall of the keep. The blacksmith was set with the task of shoeing Moneux's horse and Adabra, having received a set of dragon's eyes from Varien, began brewing a potion of invisibility for the party. When Godwin finished shoeing Moneux's horse, with the horseshoes the party found in the crypt, it was revealed that the horseshoes made it so the horse would float above the ground, even when mounted by Moneux.

A loud knocking banged against the doors to the keep, when the party opened the doors they were greeted by a group of dwarven warriors wearing black, cast iron gauntlets. The leader identified the group as the Ironhand Dwarves and introduced herself as "Crag, daughter of Grim, heir to Clan Mountaincleaver and Axeholm." Crag presented the shield of Axeholm that Shanjan once wielded and the party learned that Shanjan told the dwarves about how they cleared out Axeholm.

The dwarves were intent on reclaiming Axeholm and establishing an alliance with the adventurers if their goals and qualities were in line with each other. To this end, The Ironhand Dwarves had one of their own, Morgan, to stay in Phandalin to secure supplies for the Ironhand. Quoorin offered Morgan a bed in the keep to which the dwarf happily accepted.

A Stone-Cold Reaver
Later in the day, the adventurers encountered a man riding into town looking for supplies. He identified himself as Dobin Noreth, a sellsword and member of the Stone-Cold Reavers. Dobin surveyed the damage around Phandalin and was quick to advertise his group's services as sellswords to defend the town.

The adventurers took Dobin's offer into consideration as the sellsword took off to gather supplies for a job that he and his fellow Stone-Cold Reavers were working on.

The Fool's Errand
A tenday after the adventurers defeated the dragon, the town was dismayed to find that Harbin was the only one from the town to perish in the battle. A closed-casket service was held on the town green before Harbin's sarcophogus was lowered into the earth at the center of Phandalin.

As the sun set over Phandalin the adventurers saw a group of adventurer-looking types pour into the Stonehill Inn. The adventurers followed in suit and made their introductions. The group was none other than The Fool's Errand, a crew of adventurers the party had encountered at Axeholm. The members of the group were Anduin, a drow warrior; Ezra, a cloaked and masked archer; Pavel a young robed spellcaster; and Kriv, a hulking dragonborn of few words. Moneux and Varien examined Pavel and Kriv but they looked considerably younger than the Pavel and Kriv they had encountered in the past.

The party from Dawn's Shield Keep identified themselves as Phandalin's Finest. The Fool's Errand told the adventurers that they were headed toward Neverwinter because activity in the area was dying down due to increased attacks by the white dragon. Phandalin's Finest described how they defended the town from the dragon and the two parties toasted to their respective accomplishments. The Fool's Errand eventually retired from their revels and bid the others farewell as they did not expect to work in Phandalin for a while.

The Dragon Problem
Days after Harbin's funeral, the town finally started to resemble its former self, with all of the injured and displaced returning to their homes. Robard and his companions arrived outside the keep, they had been taking the captive orc on scouting routes and Pureaux even began to take a liking to the orc. Robard delivered the news that the dragon's attacks had spread to Red Sentinel's nearby encampment and if they persisted, he and his companions would need to leave Phandalin to protect their guildmates.

Moneux spoke to the orc as it promised information about getting to the dragon. It was revealed that the dragon had taken up its lair in a fortress that the orc and his tribe, led by White-Eye, occupied for many years. The fortress was located to the east of Phandalin in the Sword Mountains and could only be accessed via old, forgotten mountain paths. Moneux and the orc struck a bargain; if the orc led the party to the fortress, they would return the fortress to the orc and his allies. The orc took a liking to the idea and introduced himself as Darokha.

The adventurers had a direct path to the dragon's lair, all they needed was a plan of attack before leaving for the Sword Mountains.

Player Characters

 * Moneux the shifter beast master
 * Quoorin the wood elf battle master
 * Varien the half-elf warlock of the fiend

Non-Player Characters

 * Adabra Gwyn, the female human alchemist in service to Dawn's Shield Keep.
 * Anduin, the male drow member of the adventuring group known as The Fool's Errand.
 * Carp Alderleaf, the young male halfling son of Qelline Alderleaf.
 * Crag, the female dwarf leader of The Ironhand Dwarves and heir to Clan Mountaincleaver, the rightful owners of Axeholm.
 * Daran Edermath, the gray-haired male half-elf owner of the apple orchard in Phandalin.
 * Darokha, the male orc captive of Red Sentinel.
 * Davos Seafarer, the human monk of Ilmater and one of the founding members of The Shielding Hand.
 * Dobin Noreth, a male human member of The Stone-Cold Reavers.
 * Don-Jon Raskin, the male human overseer formerly employed by the Neverwinter Consortium. He is now the chamberlain of Tresendar Manor.
 * Elmar Barthen, the male human owner of Barthen's Provisions.
 * Ezra, the female human member of the adventuring group known as The Fool's Errand.
 * Godwin, the male human blacksmith of Phandalin that has pledged his service to Dawn's Shield Keep.
 * Harbin Wester, the male human townmaster of Phandalin and doppelganger in disguise.
 * Kriv, the male drow member of the adventuring group known as The Fool's Errand.
 * L'aela, the female elf sister of Tymora in Phandalin
 * Morgan, the female dwarf of the Ironhand Dwarves tasked with staying in Phandalin to secure supplies for the others in her group.
 * Morgana, the panther animal companion to Moneux.
 * Pavel, the male human member of the adventuring group known as The Fool's Errand.
 * Poe, the raven familiar to Varien.
 * Pureaux, the male swiftstride member of Red Sentinel and Moneux's brother.
 * Qelline Alderleaf, the female halfling owner of Alderleaf Farm.
 * Quoorin's Devil, the devil that appears to torment Quoorin.
 * Ravana, a female elf that was summoned by the Deck of Many Things to serve Quoorin.
 * Robard, the male human senior member of Red Sentinel.
 * Shanjan, the male human wizard/fighter and member of The Shielding Hand.
 * Spills the Stew, a male tabaxi bard and adventurer looking to catalog the adventures of heroes.
 * Tibor Wester, the male human contractor and half-brother of Harbin Wester. He now runs the Phandalin Mining Exchange.
 * Toblen Stonewhill, the male human innkeep of the Stonehill Inn.