The friends come out of the Sleeping Giant having beaten several of the Redbrand ruffians as the last one runs away on the road toward the east. The friends see a large golden dragonborn man with a staff and sword on his side across the street. He says that he is Brunig the Champion, a gladiator who just came to Phandalin a short while ago.
Quinn asks if Brunig would like to come along with them to explore where the Redbrand ran off to, and he agrees, seemingly eager for adventure. The friends and their new companion head up the hill to the old manor house and see lots of tracks heading toward the cellar. The house itself is a total wreck and most of it is open to the elements.
Pushing inside the cellar they see a room with supplies and a cistern here. Finding nothing of interest they check an adjacent room and there are three Redbrands resting here. A fight ensues and the Redbrands are defeated, but Rhys is knocked unconscious. The friends find some gold pieces on them but little else. They help Rhys regain consciousness and rest here to recover for a while.
Moving back into the cistern room, Rhys sees a rope going down into the water. Pulling on it, they find a stash in a waterproof bag with many more gold pieces, some jewels, healing potions and adventuring clothes. Rhys is so excited about the find that he falls backwards and pushes into a secret door that slides open. The friends decide to check it out.
This is a large, dank room with bridges across a crevasse. As they move through this room they start to hear strange whispers in their heads, but they fade quickly. As they cross the bridge they see a strange creature with a huge green eye behind a rock. It tells them that they should leave, they are not welcome here. Brunig says that he should not be trying to read their thoughts, and it replies that they are trespassing so it’s no different for him to trespass.
The friends start to attack the thing, Quinn hitting with his crossbow and Brunig lashing out with fireballs. Rhys strums a blast from his lute but does not have much effect. Quinn advances on the thing to strike it with his sword but it slashes him with its claws. Rhys runs to help his friend, hitting the thing with his rapier but only barely. Finally Quinn hits the thing solidly with his sword and it goes down.
Searching around the room, Quinn finds a chest underneath one of the bridges that holds a bunch of gold, more jewels, potions and an extremely nice longsword. It has a silver scabbard emblazoned with the image of a bird with outstretched wings, and has the word “Talon” on it.
+187xp, total 612xp