Circa 1489 DR, Gundren and his brothers located Wave Echo Cave, the legendary home of the Forge of Spells. He excitedly rushed back to Neverwinter, Jewel of The North to gather supplies and gear, and hire a party of adventurers—Gunter Grumbleton Jr, Farryn Phirie, and Ialtóg Ulchabhán—to haul the equipment to Phandalin. However, Nezznar, under the guise of the Black Spider, sent orders to King Grol of the Cragmaw Tribe to have the pair waylaid by those of the Cragmaw Hideout. King Grol ordered Klarg, the chief of the hideout, to have his minions carry this mission out.
Gundren and Sildar Hallwinter rode two horses across The High Road Road, but were ambushed and captured by the Cragmaw tribe and Gundren was taken to King Grol of Cragmaw Castle.
The Party managed to hunt down and rescue Gundren from the castle. Gundren formed a business partnership with them, and they traveled to Wave Echo Cave where they discovered that Gundren's brother, Nundro Rockseeker, had been killed. After the party defeated the The Black Spider in the cave, Gundren began to rebuild the mines with his brother Tharden Rockseeker.
While theines were under construction, a pair of Zhentarim scoundrels posed as ordinary mine workers and infiltrated deeps within the mines. The scoundrels accidentally disturbed a locked-away Wraith, and they were killed. Gundren called upon Ialtóg and Gunter once more for help, and the wraith was swiftly dealt with.
During the Raid of Phandalin, a large shipment of ore from the mines was stolen in Phandalin, dealing a massive financial blow to Gundren.