(Following: The Adventure Begins )
Neverwinter
The party spends some time in the large city of Neverwinter, following the Neverwinter River heading west out of Thundertree. Yeet Longshade facilitates the exchanging of the heavy coins and loot to lighter gems plus spending coins. Ujio and Mon-Kei seek out information on Askelon the Adept and that will be a hook for another day’s adventure.
Willow spends time outside of the city, calling to her a Wolf Companion which she names Shadow. He joins the party as an official member.
The party returns to Phandalin via the coast road with no incident. In Phandalin, they are greeted with enthusiasm at the Stonehill Inn by the owner and his family as well as Sildar Hallwinter, who is still there. They enjoy the story of the adventure as told with some embellishment by Tallon the Tall.
Sildar is pleased to hear of the clue toward Cragmaw Castle, concerned with how long his friend Gundren of the Rockseekers clan has now been held prisoner. Before the party sets out with the directions from Reidoth, the mention of Belcoria triggers an option.
Seeking the Paladin Belcoria
Belcoria was mentioned by Reidoth as someone who knows the location, if she could be found. As it turns out, she has only just recently been through Phandalin, and headed north to investigate the Orc raids that have been harassing the travelers on the Triboar Trail (which connects Phandalin westward to the coast road and northeastward to the ruined town of Coneyberry.) These raids have mainly been on this northern end.
Choosing to get Belcoria’s assistance, the party heads out and finds her just as she is attacked by a group of six ghouls who were feeding on the dead animals and bodies killed in an Orc attack on a trade caravan. The ghouls are defeated and Belcoria joins the group, agreeing to help them find the castle, perhaps not going in. She implies afterward perhaps they can re-investigate the Orc situation to the north, there is a reward for information.
Into The Woods
Heading into the Neverwinter Wood once more (this was how Willow led the party to Thundertree previously), Talon is repeatedly perturbed by acorns and nuts and poo aimed at his head from above. Branches seem to find ways to similarly knock his head more than his height would explain. To halt Talon threatening to clear cut the forest with the axe Hew, Willow reveals that Reidoth explained to her that Hew’s magics that make it so good at wood-chopping also create a hostile response from the spirits of the forest.The party finds that on the trip to Thundertree, they nearly ran past the well-hidden Cragmaw Castle. Ironically, Willow’s deft skill in avoiding patrols contributed to that miss, but that same skill this time allows the party to find the castle without encountering any patrols. The castle is in ruins, much like the Redbrand Ruffians’ base, the Tresendar Manor, and heavily overgrown with vines and trees - an excellent hideout for King Grol and his bandit army of goblins and hobgoblins.
Castle Plan
Yeet is tasked with sneaking into the castle through a side entry door. He is supremely successful in this, picking locks and exploring the middle hallways without being detected. He notes several doors, optional entries/exits and commotion (goblins arguing) coming from what must be a dining hall.
The castle has several towers, its main entry from the west, one to the south (investigated by Yeet) and a crumbled wall to the north that Yeet thought might be passable. Overall, the ruined castle stands no more than 15-20 feet high, so the goblins and hobgoblins and Bugbear who calls himself King Grol inhabit the ground floors (and perhaps the basement if there is one).
The party then debated several strategies to enter and ultimately chose to use some bright red cloth Belcoria had in her packs to disguise Ujio, Talon, Belcoria and Yeet as members of the Redbrand Ruffians, with Yeet posing as their leader. Mon-Kei and Willow would pose as prisoners, hopefully to be brought to where Gundren Rockseeker would be held inside. (And not fed to the Owlbear supposedly captured by these scoundrels for entertainment.)
Willow sends Shadow into the forest to hide and hunt. The party’s excess gear is hidden with the horses purchased in Neverwinter, including Willow’s leather armor, bow and arrows. Her quarterstaff is carried by Ujio. Yeet will talk the party’s way into the castle, thinking on his past experience in criminal organizations, and what you learned in Phandalin about the Redbrands (how they look, their base, their leader is Glasstaff, who is really the wizard Iarno Albrek, one of the Lords Alliance members in Waterdeep).
If Gundren Rockseeker can be rescued and returned safely to Phandalin, Sildar and Gundren can probably form a plan to find out more about the Black Spider behind all these gangs and Gundren’s capture, as well as the location of the Wave Echo Caves entrance, where Gundren and his brothers Thundren and Nundro seek to re-open the Phandelver Mines.
(Next: Cragmaw Castle)