Special Tasks Unit

Caravan's End and Fond Farewells The caravan entered the great city (and Tsara managed to successfully hide her identity from the city magisters registering arrivals at the city gate) and made its way to the central market, where the caravan broke up.  The STU accepted their payment from their respective employers.  Dannar, noting that many of the caravan members had pitched in to reward the STU for their services to the caravan, presented the group with a clockwork toy resembling a nutcracker, which Dannar explained to the party had been infused with 10 charges of the shatter spell, and which Dannar called "Little Boy." Elhedri explained to the elven prince (which had been cursed to become a golden stag whenever he left the ruins of his castle) that she would take him to the Blackstaff Tower to see if they could help him. While the STU was saying its farewells and taking payment, and amongst the general commotion and confusion of the breakup of the caravan and the busy ...

Payback On closer observation, the head in the road turned out to be the visible portion of a person buried up to his neck in the road, with the word "Oathbreaker" written on his dehydrated and sunburned forehead. After some discussion and disagreement, the sense of the caravan favored saving the unfortunate person and digging him up.  The person, named Carlon Amoffel, turned out to be a Harper agent, and he confided to the STU that he had also beed tracking a shipment of Cult of the Dragon loot, but had been overseen passing information to another Harper agent at the previous roadhouse, and the Cultists convinced the rest of his caravan that he was colluding with bandits to ambush the caravan.  Carlon was grateful to find another Harper agent in your party and for his rescue, and asked the STU to see him at the Yawning Portal in Adelstad when the arrived there.  He then left the caravan at their next stop, in the village of Inegos. Missing Map On the morning of the 15th ...

Thefts and Discoveries Items continued to disappear during the next days on the road, with Eloneth's ring going missing, and -- a couple of days after Lord Angesstun's daughter Dathra had expressed a lot of interest in it -- so did Tsara's family signet ring.  The lawyer Aldor also appeared to lose something valuable.  Tensions were beginning to rise in the caravan. With Tevana's help, Flippy explored Lucinda's wagon and discovered that it seems to contain some kind of animals, rather than the wool she claims to be peddling.  Flippy also talked a bit with Lucinda's melancholic daughter Grusinda, who seemed distraught when the conversation turned to animal welfare. Flippy also managed to use the distraction of the Golden Stag (see below) to slip into the wagon of porcelain dealer Bendragon Jaesor, where he discovered that at least one of the crates inside contained a wealth of jewelry and other treasures, hidden under a layer of tableware and straw.  Part of the ...

  Caravan Members Merchants and Travelers Aldor Urschorn : male human lawyer from Triboar.  Looking to relocate to Adelstad. Around 40. Bendragon Jaesor : male human noble, 40s. Proprietor of Jason’s Fineware in the Blacklake District of Neverwinter.  Employs Larion and 2 other guards. Dai Angesstun : male human horse baron from Longsaddle, 56, relocating his family and stock of horses (20 riding horses). Employs Audhild Elderkin.   Shayla Angesstun, Dai’s wife, 34 Dathra Angesstun, Dai’s daughter, 14,   Dannar Murnig : male rock gnome commoner, 180, proprietor of Dannar’s Mechanical Marvels in the Blacklake District of Neverwinter.  Heading to Adelstad with a sample of his goods, and to purchase more there.  Employs Oliver Esseren, Grunk, and Tevana  Elhedri Lewel : female high elf from the High Forest, selling exquisite wooden carvings. Employs Sulesdeg the Pole, Aukan, Flippy, and Micah Lucinda “the Silent” : human merchant, 42, shipp...

On the Road During the first few days and nights of the southward journey from Triboar to Adelstad, the STU spent much of their time getting to know the other members of the caravan and to try to gain more insights on which wagons belong to the dragon cultists.  Notable encounters included: Flippy's middle-of-the-night meeting with Larion, a half-elf guard in the employ of Bendragon Jaesor; Several instances of Lord Dai Angesstun either abusing or improperly caring for his horses, much to the consternation of teamster Eloneth Tobun Losvius Longnose, the caravan's halfling teamster, seemingly asking about everything the STU owns Lord Angesstun verbally abusing his wife, Shayla Shayla complaining of some kind of object of value going missing, with Dai dismissing her concerns Dai's daughter - Dathra - taking an intense interest in a signet ring Tsara wears, followed by Lord Angesstun offering to buy it from Tsara The party noted that the two cultists Tevana remembered seeing i...

The Special Tasks Unit spent the next four days in Triboar, dividing their time between searching for evidence of the cultists and participating in some of the events the festival had to offer.  Ex-Guardian Onthar Frum, while maintaining his front of a vainglorious blowhard, proved - after the STU displayed some prowess in the festival activities and located some of the cultists - to have a more serious side to him, pushing the group to locate and track the cultists to wherever they were taking their stolen hoard. Among the highlights of the festival were:  observations of the nightly antics of Tolmara Hysstryn, the innkeeper of the ramshackle boarding house, The Six Windows, where the group quartered during the festival; Grunk making it through several rounds of the fighting tournament before falling in what seemed an even match with Sulesdeg "The Pole" Vallankalli, a Goliath Gladiator; Tevana having a streak of bad luck in the archery competition; Tsara holding here own in ...

On the Road The Special Tasks Unit, for now including a dazed and confused Melori, spent 4 days on the Triboar Road, heading east.  The trip was mostly uneventful, though the party did notice, and successfully avoid being noticed by, a Chimera out on the hunt over the hill country to the south of the road.  The STU also realized that some type of travelers were following them on the road, usually one or more miles behind them.  On the morning after the Chimera encounter, Flippy crept up on them and discovered that the travelers appeared to be some type of circus, being drawn by 8 elephants (which Flippy had never seen before). Triboar Nights Pushing themselves a bit, the group arrived in Triboar at night, to find the town filled to the brim with all manner of folk, merchant wagons filling the various caravan yards, and seemingly everyone in the midst of celebration and revelry, with music and dancing in the streets and overflowing taverns. Making their way to the Triboar ...

Into the Forest The morning after the battle with the hunting party, the Pixie Glowbeam led the Special Tasks Unit through the Neverwinter Wood to the stream that would lead to the enchanted spring.  She told the group to follow the stream no matter what transpired, and that Dryads may try to keep them from progressing.  She, meanwhile, would go ahead to let the other Pixies know that the group was coming and that they had helped her.   The first night in the Wood, Micah was once again visited in her dreams by a presence that claimed to be a deity, and the true source of Micah's divine magic.  This being, who claimed to be Mishakal, a goddess of healing, whose aspects were known by other names by the various races and peoples of this world.  Mishakal told Micah that Mystra had been murdered several hundred years ago by an evil god called Cyric, who had since usurped and impersonated Mystra to wield power over Fronland.  She mentioned some kind of gate ...

Fancy Meeting You Here As the Special Tasks Unit returned to Phandalin from the dragon hatchery, they encountered another party heading the opposite direction on the Triboar Road.  This turned out to be none other than their old companion Tsara Reedlocke, who was traveling to Triboar with her hired bodyguard, a half-orc named Grunk.  After the roadside reunion and the sharing of the news of Melori's death, they agreed to travel together to Phandalin, where the party hoped to find some way of contacting someone who could help them find someone who may have magic powerful enough to return Melori to the living. Helpful Hints The party paid a visit to Sildar Hallwinter at his manor house.  He informed them that, before he had departed, the monk Leosin Erlanthar had arranged for horses for the party, to aid the journey to Triboar. Sildar had no clues to bringing back Melori, however.   The party sought out Sister Garaele, who was overseeing repairs to the town's new ...

Melori's End? Following the battle in the room that appeared to be some sort of shrine, Tevana disappeared once more - drawn back through a planar portal to somewhere beyond this dimension. The Special Tasks Unit returned up the stairs to the Kobold barracks for a short rest. After regaining some health, they returned to the shrine room, where they examined the carved dragon reliefs on the walls, the large statue of a five-headed dragon emerging from a volcano, and a small chest placed in front of it. Flippy ascertained that the chest was trapped somehow. Inspecting the bodies of the fallen enemies, however, a key was discovered carefully hidden in the folds of Frulam Mondath's robe. Using the key seemed to disarm whatever trap there was (the STU also discovered small holes in the gullets of many of the black dragon heads around the room), and the chest revealed a string of pearls (300 gp), a gold-and-sapphire ring (900 gp), and a pouch containing a half-dozen masterfully ...

Exploration The STU examined Frulam Mondath's bed chamber, discovering an extra set of her purple robes.  You realized that the robes are somewhat personalized; i.e., with distinct decorative notes that differ from the set you had acquired previously. Leaving her chambers, you determined which step into the fungus-filled cavern was trapped, and which of the two paths through the fungus field was more trodden.  Following that path, you entered another large chamber which hundreds of bats were using as a nesting location.  You tried to avoid disturbing them, but heavy armor makes stealth difficult, and they swarmed around you for several seconds, during which time you were set upon by several stirges.  After taking some blood loss, you were able to deal with the stirge nuisance and moved on. You discovered steps that led down to a curtain made with hundreds of overlapping leather strips.  Beyond that, Flippy spied what appeared to be some kind of meat storage loca...

Leosin After taking a needed rest and healing the monk Leosin Erlanthar with the help of Sister Garaele, the STU spent some time the next day conversing with Leosin.  You learned that he was a monk of the Candlekeep Library, and had realized earlier than others that a Dragon Cult dedicated to Tiamat -- the evil Mother of Dragons --  was behind the raiding and pillaging that had been taking place across the Regency of Fronland (i.e., not druids).  He was able to track them and, reading their patterns, had deduced that their next raid would be in Phandalin.  Hoping to infiltrate the cult and gain more information about their plans and intentions, he joined the cultist forces as they moved out of Phandalin.  However, the leader of this group of cultists - who he described as a female black half-dragon named Rezmir - seemed to have been aware of him and he was caught relatively shortly thereafter. Leosin told you that Rezmir was using a cave in the raiders' camp to ...

Stragglers The STU surprised a group of straggling humans and kobolds who had stopped in what they thought was a secure area for a meal.  After dispatching most of them, you took on cultist captive and interrogated him, learning that standard practice after a raid like the one on Phandalin was to set up a rearguard in an area that formed an easy ambush site.  You then released him, after urging him to rethink his life choices. Rearguard Forewarned about the rearguard, you were able to sneak up on their position, in rock outcroppings overlooking the trail to the raiders' camp.  Successfully posing as a cult leader by wearing the purple robes taken from a fallen priestess in Phandalin and rolling a very high deception score, Melori badgered them into a lineup for a surprise review.  Once in a line, she cast lightning bolt on the lot of them, bringing them all down but one, who did not survive the follow up attack. Raiders' Camp You made your way to the cultists' camp....

Dragon! The STG arrived in Phandalin to find you were already too late: the town was being raided by an large assortment of bandits, comprised of Kobolds and humanoids, who were burning, pillaging, and -- above all -- looting.  The bandits, who wore nondescript clothing, seemed to be being aided by a huge, adult blue dragon, which was circling the manor house/keep under construction, strafing it periodically with its lightning breath and keeping the town militia in place.  Residents of the town were trying to flee to the relative safety of the manor house and its cellars. On your way to the manor, you were joined by a woman - an archer - who appeared out of a rift that seemed to open in the fabric of reality itself.  She aided you in a rescue of the halfling farmer Quelline Alderleaf (whom you had met in your first visits to the town), her child, and the small group she was with. You distracted and overcame a second group of attackers, allowing the civilians to reach the ...

Keeping Busy Over Winter      The STU spent the cold winter months learning new skills and engaging in various activities. Aledwyn spent time in the forest researching and developing a new spell of her own creation, Aledwyn's Blinding Fungi.  Seething with bitterness and anger over the execution of Reidoth and the increased persecution of druids, she also spent much time staking out and observing High Cleric Adelaide, discovering her residence and her routines. Aukan learned Gnomish and Elvish, and sowed rumors throughout Neverwinter that damaged the reputation of Malgitor, possible making it more difficult to find contracts. Melori became proficient in the art of deception, and - borrowing Micah's gauntlets of ogre strength - participated in several rounds of pit fighting (with mixed results). Micah learned Gnomish [and and additional skill TBD] and spent some time carousing, where she made some new allies: Craven, the one-armed goblin bartender of the Beggar's ...

As the northern autumn begged for mercy … and eventually fell … before winter’s implacable advance, news of Aukan’s and Micah’s heroism in the courtroom spread quickly through the city of Neverwinter, lifting the pall that had descended on the city in the wake of the attempted disruption of the execution of the Druid Reidoth, which had shaken the city’s confidence in its security and awakened long-dormant memories of the Druid Rebellions centuries past. Aukan, Micah, and Melori were feted by the upper crust of Neverwinter and presented by Lady Governess Dagult Neverember herself with the Order of Hotenow’s Wrath, a golden medal emblazoned with a sigil depicting an erupting Mt. Hotenow, the city’s highest mark of valor.   The mage Iarno, who had terrorized Phandalin as “Glasstaff” was released from prison after a mistrial was declared due to a lack of evidence, which had been stolen and never recovered when the Court Archivist was murdered several months prior.  Her curren...

Confrontation at the Inn In the wake of the botched rescue attempt, Flippy made it first to the Croaking Timber Inn, where a visibly upset Malgitor was castigating the manager of the locale for not clearing the room quickly enough.  Malgitor then attempted to dress down Flippy for the failure at Lurkwood Square, arguing that the STU had not continued their efforts long enough and had stopped just when everything was starting to work.  The wagon guards had not gotten far enough away from the wagon, he argued, for him to slip in unnoticed and free the druid. Flippy argued as good as he got, and was soon joined by Melori.  Malgitor let them know that he had been intrigued by the STU because larger things were brewing in Fronland, with the bandit attacks and dragon sightings, and he thought the STU was among the few capable of an adequate response.  He did not believe the Regency's claims that druids were behind it.  However, his faith in the group's capabilities ha...

On the 20th of Tenmonth, the STU got an early start and scouted out Lurkwood Square, where they had planned to stage their attempt to free the Druid Reidoth along the "parade route" between the Cathedral complex and the River Market, where the public execution was set to take place. Finalizing their plans and spreading themselves in tactical locations around the square, the STU waited for the arrival of the "parade" before springing into action to create a distraction significant enough for Malgitor to break the druid out of his cage.   While Melori failed at her attempt to set fire to the Temple of Tyr and got into a tussle with a suspicious monk of the temple, others had more success.  Aledwyn created a lightning storm above the square, with lightning striking down a few participants, causing the beginnings of a panic.  The panic was increased with Aukan running through the square screaming "Druid attack!" Micah added to the panic by making use of beasts...

A Reward The group checked on Falthrax Loderr at his home to make sure all was OK, whereupon he presented you with a large emerald worth 2000 gp as a reward for rescuing him.  You met his wife Loriss - a human - who had indirectly sent you on the mission by contacting her friend, D.I. Dianys Thistlehand.  She promised to let Thistlehand know of your success. A Funeral The STU, minus Adelwyn, attended the funeral for Gundren's brother Tharden.  There you met his other brother Nundren, who had been reincarnated by clerics at the Cathedral.  In his reincarnated form, Nundro has become a half-elf (half-human), which is still taking him some getting used to.  Gundren informed you that the Lost Mine of Phandelver was swinging into operation, and the town of Phandalin was already growing rapidly, with people attracted by the lure of wealth and employment. Some Planning The group ventured to the Croaking Timber Inn - a downscale tavern, inn, and equal-opportunity brothe...

 A Battle The STU, after making short work of Morganna and Saeth (with the assistance of Malgitor and Elodia) and being joined by Kang Li, entered the tower.  Proceeding room by room and level by level, they discovered the studio where the sisters painted cursed portraits of their victims, as well as two more victims - a frail, weak human, and an ancient dwarf, who turned out to be Falthrax Loderr, the person they sought.  The group defeated a gargoyle and then climbed up to the top level, where - after being doused by acid due to an undetected glyph of warding - they faced the sister known as Greensong, as well as her mastiff, which turned out to be a Hell Hound.  Despite her toughness, Greensong and her hound were in the end no match for such a large group, even after being joined by the second gargoyle.   A Betrayal and a Favor Called In Following the death of Greensong (who turned out to be a hideous creature similar to Morganna), the third sister - Azi...