6. Cragmaw Castle

It was a new beautiful morning, Smippeth was still upset about the lost frog but overall they got a good deal out of the Redbrand hideout. They got also a lot of good stuff to sell, stones, earrings, and other valuable pieces. They decided to go to Phandalin’s Miner Exchange to sell it all. The warlock managed to trick the owner into buying everything at full price and everybody ran away before she could realize she was tricked.

The group’s new mission was to find the Cragmaw Castle, but not before buying some healing potions at Barthen’s provisions and sme new armors at the Lionshield Coster. They asked Linene at the Lionshield Coster if she knew the Cragmaw Castle. She had heard of it but she didn’t know about the location.

The paladin went to talk to Sister Garaele at the Temple and she was able to share the location of the Castle. It was in the southwest corner of the Neverwinter Wood.

Full of energy, the adventurers walked towards the Cragmaw Castle, without making any encounters along the way. When they got there they saw that the Castle consisted of seven crumbling towers of different sizes and heights, but the upper stories were all in varying states of collapse. A short flight of steps led up to a terrace in front of the main entrance. The main door was wrecked and past it they entered a hall. Round towers loomed over that passageway and clearly visible there were arrowslits.





Passed the main double door, they saw two more closed doors to the north and south, with a mound of rubble partially obscuring the southern hall. To the east, a broad corridor ends in two more doors leading south and east. The corridor was cluttered with rubble and fallen rocks from a partial collapse of the ceiling overhead.

5. Tresendar Manor

 

Early in the morning they went to the Manor on the east edge of town.

Plenty of tracks were leading to a stone staircase on the side of the ruins.. At the bottom of the stairs they found an unlocked door with a cellar beyond. The door opened onto a short landing above a large cellar, with stone steps descending to the floor in two short flights. Another door was beneath the stairs to the north. A large stone cistern filled with water occupied the western part of the room. Along the walls there were lots of kegs and barrels. This seemed to just be a storage room and the barrels were full of food and supplies like salted beef, flour, sugar, apples.



Exploring the first door on the north, they found what seemed to be barracks, with three ruffians that started battle as soon as the door was opened. The party killed them quickly and got some nice gold out of them.

A thorough exploration of the room with the water cistern revealed a secret door. They went through that door to find a corridor. Some of them started hearing an undefined voice inside their head, then they arrived at a large natural cavern, filled with cold breeze and smelling of rotten flesh. A crevasse divided the cavern and two arched wooden bridges spanned the crevasse.

A glimpse of something shiny in a corner and some member of the party saw a creature lurching in a corner. This creature was an one-eyed creepy monster that could have been human in a past life but was reduced to a this aberrant shell craving treasures and maybe knowledge. The voices in the adventurer’s heads became clearer: the creature was asking for food.

The paladin, not thinking about consequences, just grabbed the little thief by the scruff, offering her as food. Serafina was heard from miles yelling <<Hey! What the hell!>> The scene was quite hilarious but the creature, that they later discovered was a Nothic, was not amused. <<Food! Give me food!>>. Everybody sacrificed a few rations until the Nothic was satisfied and gave out information. He pointed out of the cavern and revealed that there are more people and one of them is Glasstaff, the boss of the Redbrands.

Smippeth had to sacrifice her little precious golden frog previously found in order to pass the cavern without fighting. She did so reluctantly but it was a small price to pay.

Following the direction pointed out by the creature, they arrived at a closed door. They could hear bubbling and dripping of some kind. The door was not locked and they opened it, to find a wizard’s shop. The boss of the Redbrands was a wizard! No one was in there but they found lots of potions and equipment for making potions. On a table there were books and also a note about a potion of invisibility. One of the books was the Dwarvish Compendium on the Lost Mines of Phandelver. They found three small bottles with rare reagents: mercury, dragon bile, and powdered nightshade.

The room adjacent to the wizard’s shop looked like an office and a bedroom. The walls of this room were covered with drapes of scarlet cloth. There was a small writing desk, a bed, and a wooden chest at the foot of the bed.

There was a note on the desk, signed with a black spider.The note read: “Lord Albrek,

My spies in Neverwinter tell me that strangers are due to arrive in Phandalin. They could be working for the dwarves. Capture them if you can, kill them if you must, but don't allow them to upset our plans. See that any dwarven maps in their possession are delivered to me with haste. I'm counting on you, larno. Don't disappoint me.”


The rogue decided to open the chest and tried to get his content without being seen, without success. Everybody noticed and, frowning upon the rogue, the findings were equally divided. In the chest they found gold coins, a few precious stones and 2 scrolls that could be useful, a scroll of charm (that promptly went to the bard) and a Fireball spell (that went to Thyas, the warlock).

Another door lead to some kind of storage room. They found barrels full of beaver’s pelts. For some reason Thyas decided to put them on fire.

They discovered another secret door on the other side of the room, leading to a corridor. 2 different doors were opening from the corridor. One of them led to an armory. The weapon racks had spears, shortswords, longswords, light crossbows, and quivers holding twenty crossbow bolts each. They grabbed what they could from the armory. A few red cloaks were hanging from hooks by the door, and they took one each to wear, to disguise themselves.

The other door led to a crypt, where they found three large stone sarcophagi. Propped up against each sarcophagus was a human skeleton clad in bits of rusty mail. The place was creepy and the ground decided to pass without touching anything or disturb the dead. On the other side of the crypt there were 2 other doors, one small in a corner and a double door on the other corner.

They opened the small doors first, to find a jail. This long room was divided into three areas with iron bars, making two cells for holding prisoners, with hinged doors secured by chains. Dirty straw was on the floors of those cells. Two human women were held prisoner in the cell to the south, while a human boy was confined to the north. All were dressed in plain gray tunics.

Two ruffians were standing guard there but they were easily defeated. Serafina picked the cell locks to free the prisoners.

The oldest woman introduced herself: <<Hi, my name is Mirna Dendrar. Thank you, thank you very much for saving us. These two are my children>>

<<What happened?>>

<<A few day ago the Redbrands murdered my husband for defying them and abducted us from our house. We have been kept here for few days, I heard the Redbrands were planning to sell us out as slaves somewhere. We know their boss is a wizard but we haven't seen him. We have see the tall, furry monsters with big ears that work for him though>>

<<They are bugbears>> Somebody explained.

Then they asked the woman if she knew anything about a map. They knew nothing.

<<We don’t have anything to give you but when I was a young girl my family and I fled from the town of Thundertree after an invasion. My family had an herb and alchemy shop in the southeast part of the city. A case containing an emerald necklace was hidden on a storage shelf in the shop. I never dared to return there but I bet the necklace is still there if you ever stop by>>.

Mirna and the two teenagers ran away to get out of the Manor and the adventurers went back to the crypt room. They opened the double door to find a hallway. The hallway was decorate with fake columns, They started walking but they fell in the trap pit that was hidden in the middle. The scrambled out of it and kept walking towards the other end, to find themselves back to the storeroom with the big water tank. Morgan decided to look into the water tank to find an empty pouch hidden inside it. SHe was pretty sure that there was some kind of potion in there, maybe an invisibility potion since they saw the note in the studio. They went out the Manor to try and find some tracks in an attempt to see where the wizard could have gone and maybe follow and capture him but they had no luck.


They went back inside to finish exploring the place. They went back through the wizard’s shop. Thyas decided to try one of the unknown potions and upon drinking it he felt sick for a short while. They never found out what that thing was.

They kept exploring until they arrived at a common room with a big table and chairs and wooden benches. Several ale kegs are grouped along the walls. Four Redbrand ruffians are gathered around the big table drinking and playing cards. They were all drunk and easily defeatable; Smippeth transformed herself again into a bear and the paladin instantly massacred one ruffin with his Smite power. A couple of them fell asleep under the bard’s spell song and, after killing the other three, one of them was kept alive to question him about the whereabouts of his boss. He talked about the Cragmaw Castle and that his boss has a patron there so he’s probably just going there and that’s the place to go to find out more. Then he also was killed.

On the table there were lots of coins that were used to play the game and that were promptly shared between the party members.

The plan was to go back to the Nothic and kill him and find out if he were hiding a treasure and retrieve Smippeth’s frog. But in one of her stupidest moments, the bard went back to the wizard’s shop and set it all on fire. Flames started coming out of the room and potions started exploding. They all rushed out of the hideout while things kept exploding and walls crumbling behind them.

It was night outside and everybody was super tired. They headed back to the city of Phandalin to go to sleep at the Inn.

4. The Banshee's Lair

The following morning they decided to go see the banshee first, so they went in the woods, following the Triboar Trail, passing the abandoned town of Conyberry, according to the directions of Sister Garaele. Unfortunately they had to fight not one, but two goblin patrols along the way.

They reached the place in the forest that was supposed to be the banshee’s lair. There were heavy vines and thick layers of moss that draped the branches, and the air was noticeably colder than before. Warped branches of trees, all close together, made out the shape of a shelter, with a door.

The group went inside, Even and Morgan leading the way. The placed looked vaguely like a home, sparsely furnished with chests, shelves, a table, and a reclined couch, all of it very old. Shortly after, the air grew cold, and a powerful feeling of dread gripped everybody. A pale light flicked in the air, taking on the form of a female elf, her hair and robes waving in a spectral wind. A hateful expression twisted her features

<<Foolish mortals, what do you want here? Do you not know it is death to seek me out?>> she said, in a dreadful spectral voice.

Even took the lead on this one, he told her she was beautiful and gently asked her for help, and gave her the silver comb.

<<Very well. Ask me one question, and I will give you an answer>>.

<<We want to know about Bowgentle's spellbook>>

<<I traded the book to a necromancer named Tsernoth from the city of Iriaebor more than a hundred years ago. I do not know what became of the book afterward.>> Her face was truthful but her features became distorted shortly after. <<Now there is something else I need. I am lonely, I seek some company>>

Even answered <<I can be company for you>>

<<Very well, then>>. And a sudden cold pervaded the space, the banshee kissed him and disappeared and the cleric suddenly fell on the ground.

Like the bunch of selfish people they were, the started searching their friend’s body for stuff to keep and then they walked out and dug a hole in the ground to leave the body to rest, while the bard sang a sad song.

The group went back to Phandalin, this time fortunately with no random encounters along the way. They went back to talk to the nun and gave her the information she requested.

She privately talked to the paladin and the bard and revealed them that she is part of the Harpers, a semi-secret organization dedicated to promoting good, preserving history (including art and music of old), and maintaining a balance between civilization and nature by keeping kingdoms small and the destruction of animal and plant life to a minimum. Harpers gather information across Faerûn, discerning the political dynamics within each region or realm, and promoting fairness and equality by covert means. Members of the order oppose tyranny—as well as any leader, government, or group that grows powerful enough to threaten tyranny. They aid the weak, the poor, and the oppressed while maintaining the order’s legendary secrecy, acting openly only as a last resort. Harper agents adhere to a strict Code of the Harpers.

She asked the two member of the party to join the Harpers. The paladin gladly accepted but the bard was not the right person for it.

The adventurers decided then to pursue the Redbrand in their hideout, that was clearly at the abandoned Tresendar Manor. They spent another night at the Inn to recovery their full energy

3. Phandalin

The town was very small, with a few shops. Everybody was pretty tired but it was not the end of the day yet. They also had a cart of supplies to return. The cleric decided to go to the Shrine of Luck, the temple dedicated to Tymora, the goddess of luck and good fortune. Here he found a nun, Sister Garaele and they got to talk about a few things in town, most importantly the fact that some bandits named Redbrands are causing a lot of trouble and that her superiors asked her to undertake a delicate mission, They wanted her to talk to a banshee living nearby to answer a question about a spellbook. The nun tried herself but the banshee did not appear to her so now she seeks someone else as intermediary to bring the banshee a gift, a special silver comb, and talk to her about the location of the spellbook that once belonged to a mage named Bowgentle. SHe gave the comb to Even and thanked him for his help.

Everybody else went to Lionshield Coster to deliver the recovered crates sitting on top of the cart. There was a wooden shield-shaped sign with a blue lion on it, impossible to miss. Lionshied Coster was actually a big company based in another city and they always shipped goods to smaller posts in smaller cities like Phandalin. The master of the Phandalin post was this woman in her thirties called Linene. She greeted the adventurers and when Yarrick explained we found the crates and we were there to return them she looked really grateful.

<< I knew that bandits had raided Lionshield caravans, but I had no idea who was responsible or where the crates ended up. Thank you very much for returning these to me. I want to offer you a reward for it.>>

And like that she gave the adventurers 50 gold pieces.

<< You seem like good people, can i interest you in any supply?>> And she brought them in the back room, small but full of supplies, weapons, armors, any kind of gear.

<<Since you are new in town, I have to warn you>>, She added <<please stay away from the Sleeping Giant tavern, That is where the Redbrands spend most of the time, they are ruffians who are causing trouble all over the city>>.

Sebastian bugh a new hammer and Morgan got some crossbow bolts and some adventuring supplies like torches (she never wanted to use candles again!), then everybody left to go to Barthen’s provision, that is where originally the cargo from Gundren was to be delivered. They still had half of it and Sildar was still with them, very anxious to reach the place.

They arrived there, the biggest trading post in Phandalin. The owner of the shop immediately recognized and greeted Sildar and he explained what happened with the Goblins and why he is alone and not with Gundar.

The adventurers still got some gold pieces for returning half of the supplies.

Even if the owner and SIldar were talking secretly in a corner, the adventurers still managed to understand that Gundren and Sildar were on a mission. They found the location of the famous Wave Echo Cave, which everyone thought was lost a long time ago. The Cave was located in the Phandelver’s Mines. This Cave contained precious minerals but was also a source of magical power, that wizards channeled into the creation of magical items. But an army of orcs, with the help of evil wizards attacked Wave Echo Cave to seize its riches and magic treasures. The battle destroyed much of the cavern and the location of Wave Echo Cave was lost.

Barthen talked to Sildar about two men sent on an expedition a week before that should have been back already but they are not.

Barthen asked the party to help find Gundar. He will give them money if they rescue him.

It was night almost and everyone was tired so they went to what seemed to be the best place in town to get a room for the night, The Stonehill Inn. Lots of people were there, everybody enjoyed food and beer. Morgan tried to sing as usual but, perhaps because she was dirty, smelling and tired, she gave a shitty performance this time.

At the counter, one waitress was heard whispering to the innkeeper that the last shipment of ale was lost, probably because of the Redbrands.

The adventurers got to their rooms and rested for the night. The following morning Even and Mornag wanted to go see the nun to ask more about the banshee, but everyone else decided to go to the Sleeping Giant. They really wanted to get in trouble.

The nun gave the two adventurers information about the location of the banshee’s lair and told them that she might be persuaded to talk to someone that flatters her, hence the silver comb. SHe said she didn’t have much money to offer them as a reward but she gave them three healing potion to thank them.

Meanwhile the others walked towards the Sleeping Giant. Ruffians outside were making fun of them. They went inside and asked for a beer to drink. Everyone seemed suspicious, even the dwarf woman that served them.

After drinking their pints and just looking around they went out again. The ruffians were waiting for them. The adventurers did not want to engage in a fight so they tried to just run away but the ruffians chased them and got them so they had no choice but to fight. Smippeth was grabbed by two of them but she unleashed her druid power and transformed into a big brown bear that just slashed them.

In the end, they killed 3 of 4 ruffians. One just ran away towards the abandoned mansion. They left the three bodies on the porch of the Sleeping Giant and walked away towards the main town square.

Even and Morgan were at that point back from the church and going to the Sleeping Giant to meet the others, when they saw blood, the paladin moving dead bodies, the rogue putting on a fake mustache and a bear slowly transforming into Smippeth. Needless to say they were a little surprised by it all.

It was still not late in the day but obviously most of the group needed to rest after the encounter with the ruffians so they spent the day again at the Inn.

2. The goblin cave

Sebastian, the paladin, was obviously in front of the line, checking for traps and hidden tricks. He had no problem seeing the first trap, a snare that would have caught his foot and suspended him upside down on a tree. Serafina was able to take care of the snare, disabling it and allowing everyone to pass safely.

The paladin was almost caught in the second trap, a covered pit, but he was nimble enough to not fall in.

Following the trail for a few miles, the group came across a large cave in a hillside. A shallow stream was flowing out of the cave entrance, screened by dense bushes. On the right side of the stream, across from the adventurers, they saw a narrow dry path that led into the cave. Trying to be as quiet as possible, they all walked through the stream to get to the other side. And right there, partially hidden, there were 2 goblins, supposedly guarding the cave entrance, but they seemed lazy and distracted and din;t notice the adventurers. Morgan and Serafina sneaked up behind the guards and knocked them out unconscious, before dragging them into the woods. They tried to ask them questions, to figure out more details about the hideout and the kidnapping but none of these goblins would speak common and none of the adventurers would speak goblin, so they had no choice but to kill them before they could alert their companions.

They had not much on their bodies, except a few silver pieces and the weapons, two scimitars that Morgan decides to keep.

The adventurers had no idea how big the cave was or what they could find in there, so they asked the little thief Serafina to sneak in and report back what she saw. After what felt like a very long time but it was only a few minutes, Serafine came back of the cave reporting of two chained wolves in a room right at the entrance but nothing much else because going further the cave was so dark and she couldn’t see much except for the river that kept going inside the cave.

They all went into the first room with the chained wolves. They managed to be stealthy enough not to alert the wolves except Smippeth, who stumbled down making noise, alerting the wolves. They started snarling and pulling the chains. A few unsuccessful tentatives were made by Smippeth to try and calm the animals down without having to kill them, but the wolves were so aggressive. Eventually she poisoned one of them. The other managed to loosen the chain from the wall before having his head ungracefully smashed by the paladin’s mace.

No goblin rushed out, so the guess was that they were used to the barking and snarling of the wolves and they did not pay any attention to it.

In the wall next to where the wolves were chained there was a narrow opening that went up. At the base of the opening there was lots of rubble and dirt. That opening may have led somewhere but only Smippeth and Serafina could actually fit in there so they decided to go all ahead on the main passage.

The main passage climbed steeply upwards. In the shadows, they saw a side passage across the other side of the stream. Smippeth, the only one that could see in the dark, told the others that not much further she saw a wooden bridge crossing over the main passage, twenty feet above the floor, connecting another passage. She saw a guarding goblin on the bridge.

There was a roaming sound of a waterfall coming from somewhere deeper inside the cavern, the source of the stream.

The best thing would have been to shoot an arrow at that goblin but, oh well, the only member of the party with darkvision didn’t have any ranged weapon! Should they all have given up and left and adventured elsewhere? No, they did the most insensate thing ever, They split. The two little ones, the halfling carrying a lantern, climbed up the side passage across the stream, ending up in what could have easily been the breakroom of the goblin’s cave. Three goblins were just there. So the two little ones just ran away on the bridge.

The other three lit a candle each and tried to go under the bridge. Two humans, one of whom heavily armored, and a giant dragonborn. Carrying a candle. In a goblin cave. In hindsight, not the best choice they ever made!

Obviously the goblin on the bridge saw them, and didn’t even bother attacking them, he just ran away, probably alerting other goblins.

While Morgan, Sebastian and Even kept walking upwards through the tunnel, a huge flood of water rushed down from above. The two humans managed to grab some rocks on the wall and they lost their candle but they were not washed away. The dragonborn was not so lucky and he found himself soaked, back at the cave entrance. The bard and the paladin, after the water flood had passed, could see a dimly lit cave with one empty pool and another filled pool of water. The goblins had built rock dams to control the flow of water coming from a loud waterfall on the eastern wall. Two goblins were just next to the first empty pool (they opened the dam to try and wash away all the intruders). Without any hesitation, Yarrick mauled the first goblin next to him. Two more goblins are at the other end of the cave, one of them presumably the same one that was on the bridge and just warned the other three. Morgan plays her sleep melody and two of them just fall asleep.

Even reached the two humans, panting but ready to fight.

After a few seconds Serafina and Smippeth also arrived, just in time to hear: “I’d spit on you, but you’re so filthy no one would be able to tell the difference” said out loud by the bard, in an attempt to emotionally crush the remaining non-sleeping goblin. With the help of the druid, the second goblin was killed, his face sucked away. It was then the turn of the two asleep goblins, that got their head smashed by the paladin.

After a short rest to recover some energy, the group went to check the goblin bedroom. Nothing there except dirt and the smell of filthy animals. At the other end of the room there was a steep natural staircase going up to another portion of the cave. There was no trace of the three goblins initially seen by the gnome and the halfling, but they had to be nearby. The group adventured on the staircase. At the top of it there was another small cave room. They all saw 2 big cages holding two prisoners. One of the prisoners is clearly Sildar, even if he is severely injured and almost dead. The other one is a tiefling, apparently without a scratch. The three goblins were there, one of them bigger than the others, could have been the goblin leader. It was this big one that grabbed the cage holding Sildar and moved it over the edge of the room, next to the stairs.

<<Who is captain?>>

Everybody, for some unknown reason, pointed at the bard.

<<I want captain. You kill Klarg. Kill captain. I don’t kill human. I want be captain. Deal?>>

So, this goblin was not the leader but he wanted to be the leader and just asked the group to kill the actual captain so he could take his place. He would free the prisoner in exchange.

Morgan agreed but Serafina came forward and tried to negotiate to release at least the tiefling prisoner since he was not hurt and could be useful in the killing of the captain. She was very convincing so the tiefling was released.

There was not much time for pleasantries, the new guy seemed like he could be a good aid in battle, so off they went to find the actual goblin boss in the back of the cave. They found him in the room adjacent to the pools cave. It was a bugbear, a big goblinoid kind of creature, with two regular goblins behind him and a wolf next to him. They were easily taken out by the group, which was becoming more skilled by the hour. In that cave they found the goblin’s stash.

In addition to some money they found some nice healing potions and a few crates with the symbol of Lionshield Coster, a trading post in Phandalin. They also tried to look for the missing map.

The adventurers went back to the wannabe boss goblin that was still holding Sildar hostage, and managed to get Sildar released. He was pretty beaten up but still alive. He refused to give much explanation. He was clearly in a rush to go back to Phandalin and he did not know where his partner Sildar was. He only knew that the goblins took both of them after killing their horses but they were separated.

They got the Lionshield crates out of the cave and back to the cart they left on the side of the road. Unfortunately they only recovered half of the supplies but the cart itself and the oxen were in good shape. So they loaded the new crates on the cart and started back to Phandalin.

1. The adventure starts

Like most nights, they all were gathered at the Laughing Bean Tavern in the Trading District of Neverwinter. That was, after all, the only district of the city where such a diverse group of friends could pass unobserved. Morgan was as usual playing some music and the others were happily drinking.

That day, a dwarf entered the tavern, and he seemed in a rush to find someone. He found the table where the friends were sitting and started talking:

<< My name is Gundren. I heard you are looking for adventure. I have been in the city for a few days and I have seen you guys around, talking about your skills and your desire of adventuring. While this may not seem like a big adventure, it may be a start for you. I am in need of somebody that escorts supplies safely from here to Phandalin.>>

He looked all excited and secretive. Lowering his voice he added: << I can tell you that my brothers and I found something big, something rewarding and I will pay you 10 gold pieces each if you are able to escort my wagon to Phandalin without asking questions.>>

<< I can’t take the supplies myself because I am in a rush and my friend Sildar and I will leave by horse to get there as soon as possible, to take care of some business. I will meet you there>>

Everybody looked a little puzzled but they all were in need of money and they all wanted to adventure out of Neverwinter, even if only to travel without incidents.

So they agreed to go on the mission, and the day after, quite early in the day, they all met at the south gate to start the journey. Gundren left them with the wagon, he told them once again that everything had to arrive safely at the destination to get the money. The cart, trained by two oxen, was full of crates but they couldn’t figure out what was in the crates and Gundren told them not to open them.

Gundren and Sildar rushed away mounting their horses.

That seemed like easy money to the adventurers, and in fact, for a few days they traveled south of Neverwinter following the High Road and nothing noteworthy happened. It was almost too easy. Why was Gundren so secretive? What was in the cart that was so important? And why did he have to go ahead?

On day 4 they turned from East from the High Road, taking the Trail that leads to Phandalin, and it was about lunchtime when Sebastian, driving the cart, and Even, sitting next to him, spotted two dead horses right in front of them on the trail and they stopped the wagon immediately, quite abruptly.. Serafina, Smippeth and Morgan, sitting in the wagon, looking the other way, singing and chatting, were startled. Everybody got off the wagon to go see what happened. Upon close inspection, they found that the horses were the same horses that Gundren and Sildar were riding when leaving Neverwinter. The horses have several black-feathered arrows sticking out of their bodies . The saddlebags were completely empty and nearby lay an empty map case. Whoever did this, was clearly interested not only in Gundren’s possessions but in him personally, or he would be dead there, not kidnapped. They knew something about this big discovery Gundres was talking about. The horses had been dead for 2 days.

The woods were thick here and bandits were said to roam the Trail. The Paladin, always on alert, was the first one to see them. The goblins. 4 of them just jumped out of the bushes and started shooting the same black-feathered arrows they saw on the horses.

The reaction was immediate. Even if our little thief was severely injured, they managed to kill 3 goblins and the last one ran away. A little post-battle investigation revealed goblins tracks that lead into the woods. It looked like that goblins would go there often to ambush travelers, so much that the trail of tracks could be followed into the woods.

Not everybody agreed to follow the goblin, Smippeth and Even wanted to follow the road to Phandalin and bring the cart there like the mission called. But the dwarf that hired them was captured, there was no reward for them. And no adventure. There was still the question of what to do with the cart and the oxen. They decided to open the crates to at least see what kind of provisions and supplies they were talking about and it was all mining supplies. After a heated discussion, Serafina was finally convinced to follow the goblins so in the end they moved the cart aside in the woods and went to follow the goblins tracks.