Barty's "Lost Mine of Phandelver"

Nemean gawked at Iarno as he clasped his throat and fell to floor, blood sputtering from his mouth. He felt an astonishing rush at the clean and efficient kill, as he watches the life slip from his vanquished foe. He hadn't expected to fell the great and terrible Glasstaff so quickly.

When he hears Slidar yell, he freezes, and then looks to the ground, ashamed. He takes few moments of reflection after Sildar confirms the wizards fate.

Cut off the head and the body will follow...

He then turns to his companions, emboldened, "I'm glad he's dead Sildar. He deserves to die for what he did to the people here." He roughly grabs the glass staff out the dead man's hands, "I say we take this and display it in the town with a message!" He holds the staff proudly in front of them. "The Redbrands have until sundown to either renounce and surrender, or choose exiled! But now, with Glasstaff gone, maybe it will mean that nobody else will need to die."

OOC: lol, that was pretty cold blooded, but I'm into it, what a take down!

Also, is it just me, or is the feature that lets you search just this particular thread broken? I tried to look up "Iarno Albrek" and couldn't find anything, and then I realized I couldn't even get it to find "Nemean" when I tried? 

"Well, I honestly thought Glasstaff would put up a lot more of a fight. A shame we couldn't bring him to justice. Do you think we can get the rest of the bandits to surrender?" he enquires of the group at large. Turning to Sildar he says "Is there is anything around here that could give us a clue to his motives?".

Tarok sheathes his sword and searches the room to try to discover any clues or objects of interest.

Perception: 10

Various papers and notes are stacked neatly on the desk, mostly consisting of Iarno's written orders to apothecaries and alchemists in nearby settlements for more materials for his workshop. Of particular note is a signed with a symbol of a black spider.

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, Iarno. Don't disappoint me.

The chest at the foot of Iarno's bed is unlocked, and contains:

180 Silver pieces
130 Gold pieces
1 Silk pouch containing various gemstones: 5 carnelians, 2 peridots, 1 pearl
2 magic scrolls

The scrolls are only legible to Cinis, who can discern that one is a scroll of charm person, and the other is a scroll of fireball.

The only item of interest on Glasstaff's body is the staff he was holding, now in the hands of Nemean. The staff is hollow and slender, made of glass yet strong as an oak. It weighs only 3 pounds.

Sildar smiles in response to Nemean and shakes his head, "There is no question that death is what he deserved, I only wish that he had answered to the Lord's Alliance first. I'm certain the town's woodcarver isn't the only blood on his hands...didn't know he had this in him."

OOC: This was a much longer, more dangerous fight the other times I've run this campaign, well done! 

Claim any interesting loot and we'll pool all the money until we're back in town. The staff is a magic item, and should you choose to take it over displaying it in town as a message, we'll follow the attunement rules for it and any magic items following - one short rest concentrating on the item to discern its properties, and a second short rest to attune to it.

Cinis pockets the two magic scrolls, seeing as he is the only one to know how to use them. 

"It might be best if the Redbrands see someone using his staff. I can take it to strike a bit of fear into their hearts." Cinis said, making his eyes glow red as demonstration. 

 "I'm not interested in taking the staff, but those gemstones look mighty fine. I'll take those gemstones for safe keeping until we have time to sort out all the loot. The coins we can come back for later." Argos pockets the pouch of gemstones.

Argos looks over the note with the symbol of a black spider. "This note, it's about us! They were planning to capture us and do who knows what. And this symbol of a black spider, it must be in reference to the 'Black Spider' we heard about back on the trail. There has to be something in this hideout that tells us where they took Gundren."

After hearing about the idea of letting the Redbrands run away, Argos interjects. "No, we need to eliminate the Redbrands. We can't allow their kind to run off and hurt others, we need to put an end to their tyranny here. We either throw them in jail or finish them off for good."

"That is a troubling development. Should we clear out this viper's nest, and maybe check back on that battered chest for any treasure before continuing on?" Tarok asks of the group.

Nemean grins at Cinis and tosses him the staff. “Here you are Cinis, I’m sure you’ll find a way to make better use of it than he did.”

 He then turned to Argos, “I would prefer to end this without further bloodshed, but if we are determined to clear out these bandits I won’t stand in the way. Should we press on tonight?  Or let the Redbrands contemplate the loss of their leader and confront them tomorrow?“

OOC: Cinis - The staff has a quarterstaff's stats for now, until you identify and attune to it.

Tarok - If you're referencing the chest in the crevasse, that would be metagaming, only Cinis knows about it IC.

Tracking:
There is a closed wooden door on the west side of this room.
The hidden door you entered from exits this room to the east.

"Let's press on. The Redbrands can contemplate the loss of their leader while we attack."

When everyone is ready, Argos draws a shortsword and opens the wooden door at the west side of the room, entering the room if it seems safe.

OOC: Ah, yes, sorry. I forgot we didn't see it.

Cinis gripped the transparent staff carefully and followed behind the cocky dwarf, lost in his thoughts regarding the clearly magical item. 

Argos opens the door to a room that appears to be a wizard's workshop. In the middle of the room sits a large worktable set up with alembics, retorts, distillation coils, and other alchemical devices, all of it stewing and bubbling away. Bookshelves are crowded with sheaves of parchment and strange-looking tomes.

Tracking:
One door exits this room to the south.
The other door exits this room to the east, from where you entered.

Cinis takes a look at the experiments on the worktable and walks on past them, not one to be overwhelmed by scholarly pursuits. He opens the door to the south with the others right behind him.

Nemean stands ready with his scimtars as they scan the room. 

He quickly checks to see if there is anything of interest beyond the alchemy experiments, 

Perhaps this Glasstaff finished some potions and kept them here?

Perception: 17

Nemean finds a number of materials on the workshop desks. Most of the materials are of no value, but three small bottles hold rare reagents: mercury, dragon bile, and powdered nightshade. 

Directly across a narrow hallway from Cinis as he opens the door is another closed wooden door. This narrow hallway continues to the east, up a set of stairs.

Cinis waits for the others to follow him into the hallway. Only now did he realize how foolish he was being by rushing in ahead of his more durable companions. He signals for them to be quiet with a finger to his lips and listens at the door for any movement.

Tarok pulls his Maul, getting a feel for the weight in his hands and following along with the group as silently as he can.

Cinis Perception: 4

Cinis is met with silence through the wooden door. A chill breeze flows toward the group from the top of the stairs further down the hallway.

Argos tries to discern what exactly was being worked on at the worktable. He then joins his companions at the next hall.

It's obvious to Argos that the equipment on the worktable is used to brew potions, but he cannot tell any more than that.