Flamerule 9 - 13, 1491 DR
The PCs headed out to the old mill that served as Adabra's residence escorting Adabra and Garael. Adabra was not happy to see the damage that had been done to her home and began sifting through her belongings in earnest, trying to determine what may have been taken. Finder and Garael helped while Nash patrolled the perimeter looking for any signs of new tracks. Bronn and Farooq stayed out of the way outside the front door, talking in dwarven.
After a short time, she noticed that a particular artifact she has found a couple of years ago was missing. It was a roughly square piece of brass embossed with a strange glyph. She never knew what it was, but it was a nice, interesting object so she kept it. She described it to the PCs and Finder thought that the symbol was close enough to the rune that they found on the floor in the statue room in the fiendish temple, that it could belong to the same family of arcane runes.
She continued to search and pick up the remaining areas of her home to see if she could identify anything else that might be missing. After a couple of hours, she was finished a quick tidy. The PCs asked her to take them to the spot where she had found the item 2 years ago. She agreed and led them along a few almost unnoticeable animal paths and took them to a field about a mile away. She did not remember exactly where but it was there somewhere.
The group spread out to look for anything interesting and eventually they came upon pieces of bone sticking up through the earth and excavated a skeleton. It only had scraps of rotted clothing left and five old looking platinum pieces. They took the treasure and the skull of the long dead person. Bronn mentioned that the next day he could perform a holy ritual that would allow him to speak with the spirit of the deceased.
When they got back, Finder, Keeper, Farooq and Garaele took the miner's trail back to town while Nash bribed Bronn with what remained of the dwarven brandy and the two of them sat and watched Adabra's home. Nash was suspicious that they had not gotten all the story and wanted to make sure there was no evidence that Adabra was involved in this more than what was apparent.
Farooq went to get a hot meal and ale at the Stonehill tavern while Finder and Keeper retired immediately to the Hideout. The regulars at the bar were pleased to be bought a free round of ale or two and surrounded Farooq to hear the latest details of the Phandalin Five's adventures. After drinking a bit and entertaining the locals, Farooq went back to the hideout as well for the night.
From what Nash could tell, Adabra just remained inside cleaning up her home and went to bed shortly after dark (Around ten in the evening). Nash wanted to continue his watch and around one in the morning he woke up a sleeping Bronn and they made their way back to the hideout.
In the morning, Bronn cast his speak with dead spell upon the skull of the unfortunate remains they found and from what they could tell this was just the remains of a person who had been betrayed and murdered by someone named Marcus. The spirit knew nothing about mines filled with fiends or anything they were interested in learning.
After this the topic shifted to what their plans were for the day. They talked about how ineffective their weapons were against the devils and the thought occurred to them that enchanted weapons might be the solution they would need if they were going to be fighting any more fiends. The decision was quickly made to just head out to the major city of Neverwinter in search of magic shops where they might be able to use some of their treasure to purchase such items.
They gathered what gear they needed, Bronn fashioned a platinum emblem upon Farooq's spear-head to match the emblem on his enchanted shield, they gathered their mounts and Bronn's pony Stinky and were soon on the track leading to the Triboar Trail.
The first day of travel was uneventful except for a few travelers they saw going by in the opposite direction. They day was beautiful with a refreshing strong breeze coming out of the north that made traveling quite enjoyable. By the afternoon they were well on their way west on the Triboar Trail, and as they crested a hill, they saw a beautiful pastoral scene of the countryside laid out before them. Sitting there beside the road was a colorfully dressed man painting the scenery on an easel. He was delighted to meet the group and was so taken with the appearance of the heroic adventurers that he asked them to pose for his painting.
Upon learning that they were the Phandalin Five that he had been hearing about recently, he was more than thrilled to meet them. His name was Aurelius Flamboyous and he was an artist and sort of a Fashionista who hailed from the posh parlors of Neverwinter. He begged to be allowed to travel with them to Neverwinter and hoped that they would encounter some fantastic danger that he could sketch and paint on the way. They reluctantly agreed and Aurelius mounted his white mare named Teddy and the group continued their way west to connect with the High Road.
They made camp and had a good meal while learning a bit more about Aurelius and the history of Neverwinter and the surrounding area and answered a few of his questions as well. Watches were soon set and all retired for the evening. The night passed warm and peaceful for the travelers.
The next day saw a bright warm day greet them and after morning meal they broke camp and were off with a light heart and a spring in their step. They passed by the goblin ambush spot from a month ago without any issues, their minds wandering back to that day and their bloody encounter and the rescue of their new friend, Sildar.
By noon they had connected with the Highroad and began their journey north. By late afternoon they came upon a rather obvious ambush. Metal caltrops were laid across the road and the cart was forced to stop. Scanning the area, the more perceptive in the group were sure they were being watched and sure enough, bandits called from the nearby trees demanding they drop their weapons and give over their goods.
Having recently dealt with goblin tribes, orcs, red wizards, Banshees, ghosts, ogres, owlbears, fiends and all manner of other dangerous things, they were somewhat less than impressed with being harassed by mere bandits. Besides, there was something weak in the voice and appearance of the bandits as they showed themselves at the tree line on both sides of the group, bows nocked and ready.
They sounded somewhat unsure of themselves when the PCs did not immediately do as they were commanded, and they tried to speak more forcefully but the heroes weren't buying it. The bandit leader kept posturing and as Farooq casually started moving the caltrops off the road the bandit shot an obvious warning shot at Farooq, which he casually whacked away with his shield.
Bronn got off the cart, casually donning his helmet and shield, hefting his battle axe in one hand. Farooq returned to the cart after clearing the road and it was time for him to explain to them how this was going to go, in no uncertain terms. Soon, the bandit leader was by himself as those beside him turned and ran. Nash shot an expert arrow at the bandit's shoulder and pinned him to the tree behind him.
He was humiliated and was made to promise that he would give up banditry or they would hunt him down like a dog. Farooq decided to give him some of their rations, gave him some helpful tips on how to get himself un-stuck from an arrow and the group continued their way north for the rest of the day.
The evening camp was made at a well-used caravan stop with several wagons already broken down and meals being prepared around fires. They were just small merchants selling their wares of textiles and pots and pans and such. Nash moved between the camps greeting those who would talk to him and shared news of the bandit situation to the south. The night was restful and uneventful.
The morning was warm but cloudy and overcast, promising rain to come. They continued north and by afternoon they heard a bit of a commotion up ahead. Rushing to investigate they soon discovered a somewhat darkly humorous situation. A man was buried up to the neck on the side of the road, swearing every curse he could think of at unseen tormentors.
It seemed the man had fallen victim to a malicious scam concocted by a woman who lured him to the countryside with the promise of a wonderful tryst only to be led into an ambush by her cohort, a rather burly looking ruffian. He was robbed of all his goods worth anything and buried up to his neck as they had found him. He had been there since the previous day.
The man bargained a reward for saving him and even more if they would escort him back to Neverwinter. He was a well to do young merchant by the looks of his now dirty clothes. They agreed, Farooq gave the man an extra pair of shoes he had, and they were soon on their way, wondering who else they would manage to pick up on the High Road north.
They made camp under the cloudy skies and set their watches. Farooq charitably gave his tent to the merchant and slept on the cart himself. Oddly, for this group, they had another uneventful night without being attacked by beast nor goblinoid. No doubt their luck wound soon run out.
The next morning, Flamerule 12, they got the rain that they had been expecting and the morning started with a drizzle and dark skies. It continued to drizzle off and on during the day and stopped by late afternoon. They did not pick up any hitch hikers during the day but learned that Aurelius was a complete gossip and would talk their ears off about the goings on of this person and that within the well to do crowd of Neverwinter. It was a bit over the heads of the Phandalin Five. Farooq seemed to grow quiet when all of this talk was going on and stayed to the fringes of the group.
By evening they were looking for an adequate campsite when Aurelius pointed to the distant east and a huge citadel could just be seen in the distance. He informed them that this was Helm's Hold - a mighty bastion of the faith of Helm, the Guardian. Many of those who suffered under the spell plague in Neverwinter were sent to Helm's Hold and many remain there still.
If the group continued, they could reach the city of Neverwinter today, but after dark and they would not likely find entrance into the city at that hour. So, they made camp again and good fortune was still in their favor as it was another pleasant night's sleep.
On the fifth morning of their trip they were soon approaching the great city. They could see dozens of mighty ships in the ocean to the west in them, coming and going from the massive harbor of Neverwinter. Soon the great gates of the city loomed ahead of them as they followed the long line of citizens entering the city to do their business for the day. This was going to be an interesting trip, full of possibilities.
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