Dungeons & DiSers Parts seventeen and eighteen: Rogue Wave, Cave In and Mega Death, Old Blue Last, 4gp, 3gp NUS.

sadpunk · 26 October 2020 18:24

The latest in the glorious adventures of The Heroes of Phandalin. This is the last chapter of the current campaign and an effortless slide into the next.

For anyone who does usually enjoy my recaps, I’m struggling for time to write them up properly at the mo so these ones are a bit less of a story and more of a list of things that happened.

As always, apologies for any errors.

The cast

Zana Dalanthan (@anon75298087) Wood Elf Druid
Da’shiel Falconer (@HobbesWhenHeWasNew) Half-Elf Rogue
Gloran Hopback (@grievoustim) Dwarf Monk
Fannloy Roade (@anon67149139) Human Cleric
Sir Curtas Sulazar (@keith) Human Fighter

The story so far

The dwarf Gundren Rockseeker, a close friend of the party, had recently found a map he thought would lead him and his two brothers to Wave Echo Cave; a magical cave that most people assume is a myth. A place where magical weapons can be made in the Forge of Spells.

Gundren and his bodyguard, Sildar, were ambushed on the way to the town of Phandalin, by order of The Black Spider. The party rescued Sildar but Gundren had been kidnapped and was sadly killed during the party’s rescue attempt.

The Black Spider is a dark elf who wants Wave Echo Cave for himself. He’s arranged every setback the party have faced since leaving the city of Neverwinter.

Now deep in Wave Echo Cave, the party have killed The Black Spider. They’ve also found an odd workshop room guarded by a creature called The Spectator. Fannloy lies dead from spider venom.

Parts seventeen and eighteen: Rogue Wave, Cave In and Mega Death, Old Blue Last, 4gp, 3gp NUS.

After a good night’s sleep in a storeroom beside the odd workshop, the party awoke and stepped back into the cavern. They were greeted by a rakish looking half elf rogue who, it turns out, was a friend of Sister Garaele back in Phandalin. Da’shiel Falconer said he was sent by her to check on their progress.

Da’shiel had followed the trail of dead bodies and broken doors to easily find the party. He agreed to join them as they explored the rest of the cave - making a barbed comment about them needing someone who was better at sneaking.

Moments later, Da’shiel (Dash to his friends and people typing up recaps) tripped over himself and made a noise loud enough to attract a pack of ghouls. Luckily, the Heroes of Phandalin took them down fairly easily. Their new friend helping to weaken the undead menace before Sir Curtas literally lopped the head off each one.

The party headed back to the room where they first met The Black Spider and found a bunch of letters among his stuff. They were all kept together, none signed, but all stamped with a purple star.

Spider,

Promising news about the cave, do let me know how things proceed. A reliable supply of magical weapons would be advantageous.

From your letter, it seems the town of Phandalin is nearby. All but a ruin until recently. We’ll investigate and make you aware of any threats to your progress.

Through service we ascend.

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Spider,

Firstly, I have news that it is imperative you act on. Three dwarven brothers, the Rockseekers. They claim to have a map to Wave Echo Cave. I don’t need to tell you that the cave is better remaining a myth to anyone but us. Kill them.

Now, Phandalin.

We’ve already secured the usual arrangements with its two inns allowing our carts to enter and leave without suspicion. A local wizard is open to acting in our interests. He runs a small militia in the town and we can expand his operation to skim a few of the population and put them to work. Iarno Albrek. Use him as needed.

The town has gathered plenty of interest from other factions. The Order of the Gauntlet have an old hand living out his days there. He’s of no concern. The Harpers are there too, but without number. They will spy and report, but will be hesitant to act without being sure and by the time they’re sure, it’ll be too late. The Zhentarim are also there, which is more concerning. Although their shadowy manipulation and cruelty is a delight, they’re disappointingly short-sighted. Focussed on politics and other pedestrian measures of power. There’s little to be gained by having them as ally or enemy. They won’t want to show their hand, but they won’t be able to resist meddling, so they’ll likely use some hired hands. Be on the lookout.

Through service we ascend.

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Spider,

I hear the Rockseeker brothers are all missing. Excellent work.

One of The Lord’s Alliance is making noise but we’ll see to it no one listens.

Through service we ascend.

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Spider,

By now, news should have reached you that our operation in Phandalin has been compromised. Although we’ll miss the extra labour the supply of slaves gave us, it’s of little concern. Iarno surrendered but someone has already killed him, which wraps that up neatly. If this was your doing, it’s good work.

A group of brittle adventurers are apparently responsible for the disruption. I’m not sure who they’re working for so if you get a chance to pull that information from them before you slaughter them, do let us know.

For now we’ll leave Phandalin to forget about the cave. If they don’t, we’ll poison them all and massacre anyone who survives. I hear orc raids are not uncommon in the area.

To be clear, your instructions are to find the forge then kill those adventurers.

Through service we ascend.

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Spider,

I trust the bugbears arrived. I’m hoping now you’ll be able to clear the cave and find the forge of spells.

Regarding the undead. They are a menace, remove them without pause, but send a full report. We’ve gotten wind of something new happening involving the dead. This could change everything so spare no details. Scorpion is investigating.

Through service we ascend.

The letters neatly summed up the story so far from The Black Spider’s side of things. A worrying threat to the town of Phandalin (Purple Star brewery being the sole supplier to the town suggests the poison threat could easily be carried out) and a signal to something involving the dead, something which ‘Scorpion’ was investigating.

(maybe they should ‘get over there’ hahaha, that’s a reference)

In the adjoining room, the party found Nundro Rockseeker. Last surviving brother of their old friend Gundren. He explained how he had been taken prisoner by The Black Spider and asked the party if they could take him to see The Forge of Spells.

So they tootled back to the odd workshop to take on The Spectator - a floating spherical creature with four eyes on tentacles who communicates telepathically. The creature said it was tasked by the dwarves with guarding the workshop and clearly still believed the cave was in normal operation.

The team decided a good idea was to send Gloran in. As he’s a dwarf, maybe the Spectator will listen to him and negotiate.

In Gloran went and told The Spectator that his guard was no longer needed. The Spectator said “ok” and vanished.

Nundro identified the glowing green brazier in the centre of the workshop as the Forge of Spells and became all emotional at finally seeing his life’s goal before him. The party all dipped weapons into the forge which became magical, but only for a short period of time. It seems the power of the forge was fading. It was all but gone.

So they gathered the corpses of Sir Kelross and Fannloy and headed back to Phandalin. As they arrived, they saw the town had continued to grow. New walls surrounding the town had been completed and there was a guard post. They stopped the party and asked what they were doing in town etc. After realising they were talking to The Heroes of Phandalin, the guards ushered them in and told them that Halia Thornton (former head of the mining exchange, now leader of the town) wants to see them.

Gloran and Sir Curtas went to see Halia who tried to convince them to mark the location of Wave Echo Cave on her map. Gloran tried to trick her with a false location, but she saw right through that and turned a little sinister. Gloran left and Sir Curtas sang like a canary. He marked the location on her map and couldn’t tell her enough about himself.

Meanwhile, Dash and Zana took the bodies to Sister Garaele. On seeing the corpses, she called her friend Syndra to take a look. Syndra confirmed that Sir Kelross had died from the same thing that she’d seen before: The Death Curse! DUN DUN DUNNNNN

And that Fannloy could be saved. HOORAY.

They dragged the bodies into Sister Garaele’s house and were told to check back in the morning.

THIS IS WHERE EPISODE SEVENTEEN ENDED

The next day, Fannloy awoke alive and well in Sister Garaele’s house and the party all made their way there.

Once everyone was together, Syndra cast a spell that seemed to seal the room in a blue glow. She said no one outside the room would now be able to listen in. In this secrecy, Sister Garaele revealed that she was actually an agent of The Harpers. An organisation that sought knowledge and secrets in order to protect life and preserve natural harmony. Syndra was also an agent of The Harpers and had recently been afflicted by some kind of wasting disease. Although she has been able to delay the effects with magic, she cannot stop it. And it will kill her. Through her research she has found that this new affliction is being called The Death Curse and seems to be affecting anyone who has been brought back from the dead. This is what killed Sir Kelross and this also means Fannloy is now at risk!

The Death Curse is also stopping necromancers and lichs from trapping souls. The curse seems to be the work of an artifact called The Soulmonger. And while no one knows exactly where it is, it’s located somewhere in the jungle of Chult.

Syndra teleported the party to Chult and they arrived in Port Nyanzaru. The heat was scorching and the city was vibrant. Flags, murals and plant life seemed to decorate every corner of the bustling port.

Syndra told them she would stay with her friend Wakanga who was one of the seven merchants who ran Port Nyanzaru. She also warned them against trading with anyone who wasn’t affiliated with the seven, and suggested they find lodgings for the night and hire the services of a guide for their exploration of the frankly fucking HUGE area of jungle. To be clear, in this scenario, jungle is massive.

The team found a noticeboard at the harbour and read advertising cards about eight different guides. They decided to consider which one they would hire as they looked around the city.

They made their way to the merchants hall where they found Wakanga. Once he realised they were friends with Syndra he was very helpful and supplied some local knowledge.

They also met two other members of the seven merchants, but they were less cordial.

Finding themselves in a noisy bar called The Thundering Lizard, they heard a rumour about some ‘terror folk’ at a place called Firefinger. They were told to stay away unless they fancied a fight.

So, what is this Death Curse all about? Will they find The Soulmonger? Welcome new kid, Da’shiel. Which guide will they take? Are there any more rumours in the town? What now for the Heroes of Phandalin who are no longer in Phandalin?

Kill count:
36 goblins
13 bugbears
11 hobgoblins
10 ghouls
9 redbrand thugs
8 zombies
7 orcs
7 skeletons
5 wolves
4 giant spiders
2 doppelgangers
1 jelly
1 wraith
1 ogre
1 grick
1 nothic
1 flameskull
1 The Black Spider