Becoming The Dragonslayers
While taking little interest in Our Party, the ambitious banker and original Townmaster of Phandalin, Harbin Wester had been funding the adventures of another party - who would later call themselves "the Dragonslayers" (and then learn to regret that decision!) While Our Party was chasing down leads to the Wave Echo Caves and dealing with the Redbrands, King Grol, and ultimately confronting Nezznar Baenre "The Black Spider" - the Dragonslayers had been been busy in many of the areas where we had also been doing things around Phandalin, the Neverwinter Wood and the Sword Mountains.
This group happened to return just one day before we got to town with Nezznar Baenre as our prisoner, with carts carrying the treasure and even the head of the Unknown called Cryovain they just killed up on Icespire Peak in the Sword Mountains - which sounds like it’s not too too far from the Wave Echo Caves entrance. This head is now joining the scorpion tail they got off a manticore at Umbrage Hill as decorations in Barthen’s Provisions store.
See: Early Deeds of the Dragonslayers
So the Dragonslayers group was celebrated in a grand festival and feast put on by Mr. Wester and the town of Phandalin. Their party lavished the townsfolk, generosity giving out coins to everyone, dragon scales to the kids, becoming the celebrity heroes in the town, especially with no Sildar Hallwinter around. Despite all our own successes, we could not compete with their fanfare.
Karma Came to Visit
Following their successes and putting the wealth won from the dragon, which the dragon had first compelled its own servants to pull from the Dwarf fortress vaults to use - the Dragonslayers purchase the ruined mansion on the rise to Phandalin's east: "Tresendar Manor." Seeking a great restoration of the place to prior glory, they bring craftsmen from Neverwinter and Cormyr - and the delighted Townmaster Harbin Wester puts these same to work upgrading the Townmaster's Hall as well as his own home.
The heroes remained quite popular and genuinely sought to help out everyone, not really knowing what to do with the wealth. Striking out on additional adventures led them to another success plundering Castle Naerytar in the Mere of Dead Men, taking down its forces and keeper Dralmorrer Borngray, a maniac High Elf wizard in service to Rezmir a purple-robed Wyrmspeaker of the Cult of the Dragon. The purple-robed half-dragon was enraged by this alone, but as she learned more of the group, she brought a devastating attack to the small mining town that included a Kobold battalion and fanatics of cult -- and fatefully, a Unknown.
The "Dragonslayers" fought these forces mightily from the reinforced Tresendar Manor, but were overpowered, forced to flee and hide to survive, losing much of their adventuring gear and magic items to the forces under the command of a purple-robe. The town would have been burned to the ground if not for a lucky turn of events, bringing town the dragon (who had been weakened by the group).
See: Phandalin in Flames
Becoming Anything BUT Dragonslayers
After their outrageous pride and success brought down evil attention on their adopted home, the group has distanced itself from the "dragonslayer" claims and now calls themselves "the Favored Few."
See: 6. Return to the Tower of Storms and 5. Darkness All Around
Onward...