After defeating the skeletons, the friends continue to the next room and defeat two more Redbrands. They are holding a woman and her two children hostage and the friends break them out.

The woman is thankful and says that her husband was killed by the Redbrands a week ago and they’ve kept her and her children captive since then. The friends let her know that they found his body in the crevasse. She has nothing to offer them but says that if they go to the ruins of Thundertree, her family had an herb and alchemy shop there and a family heirloom may still be there. It is an emerald necklace. The shop was on the southeast side of town.

Looking down a nearby hallway, Quinn and Nylian spring a pit trap but don’t fall in. They try to jump to the other side and fall in anyway. They see that this is the cistern where they entered so they have looked through all of the rooms on this side of the hideout. They decide to go back to the west side and clear out the rest of the Redbrands.

Droop and the family follow behind at a distance as the friends open the door to the guard room. Rhys comes forward and says “Hello gentlemen,” playing a loud note on his instrument. It blasts them back and knocks one of them out. The other three are knocked unconscious quickly as well. Some treasure is found in this room.

It’s determined that the friends have looked everywhere in this place, so they head back to Phandalin for a good night’s rest. The next morning they go to the townmaster’s hall and meet Harbin Wester, a large man who seems self-important. He is surprised to find out that the friends already drove off the Redbrands and is very impressed. Sildar comes into the room and is also happy, awarding the group with 200 gold pieces. Quinn tells them about the letter that was found, and after reading it Sildar says that Iarno must have turned to evil, but he doesn’t know who signed the letter with a black spider. He wants Iarno to be taken back to Neverwinter to stand for his crimes. He says if the party finds Cragmaw Castle and Gundren along with his map, he will give them 500gp.

Leads:

• The ruins of Thundertree may have a valuable necklace in a building in the southeast side.
• Sildar said he would pay the group 500gp if they found Cragmaw Castle, Gundren, and the map to Wave Echo Cave.
  • If they are looking for the location of Cragmaw Castle, in town they are pointed to Alderleaf Farm as the owner “knows everyone around here.”
• The Edermath Orchard is run by someone who used to be an adventurer.

In town, the group sells the eye patch, wizard’s ingredients, 3 platinum rings, 5 gems, more gems, 2 gems, gold earring for a total of 475 gold.

That brings the group’s coffers to 287gp per member (added in DDB).

900xp – level 3

Brunig takes the longsword and studies it. He remembers a warrior known as the Black Hawk who died fighting off the orcs that attacked through hidden caverns below his manor. His sword Talon must have been lost here and the nothic kept it. Brunig takes the sword to use.

The friends head through the west corridor and there is a room to the left and a hallway to the right. Brunig throws the door open and there are three bugbears here taunting a small goblin. The goblin passes out cold on the floor when he sees the warriors enter. A fight ensues and the bugbears are defeated, but the friends are badly wounded. They opt to rest here for a while to regain strength. As they begin to stir again, the goblin wakes up and says that his name is Droop. He’s afraid that the friends will hurt him, but they say that they came to save him and he seems happier. Droop says that he knows his way around the hideout and that a wizard is here who bosses around the men in red cloaks.

Nylian checks the room and the bugbears, and they have some treasure and an iron key. Droop says that the key will open all of the doors in the hideout.

The friends decide what to do next and Droop says that there is a room with Redbrands across the hall, this is where they normally congregate. The friends ask if they could get around that room and go to where the wizard is, and Droop leads them back through the crevasse room and then north.

The door to the wizard’s study is locked, but the key opens it. A rat scurries under the table as the friends enter. They check around and see lots of alchemical supplies and papers. They take some of the supplies and also a book in dwarvish that they can’t read.

In the next room they see a bed chamber and desk. Some valuables are found here and also a secret door that leads to another room. It was slightly open, which may mean that someone just escaped quickly.

Through the secret door, there is another corridor and a supply room. Next to this is an armory. Nothing much is found here.

To the south of the armory is a room with three sarcophagi and some dusty skeletons. As soon as the friends enter, the skeletons animate and attack them! After the skeletons are dealt with, the friends search the crypt and find three platinum rings.

+238xp, total 850xp