Lost Mine of Phandelver Story

Chapter 5.8: Redbrand Barracks

Peri, Sonny and Viola climbed out of the crevasse, rejoining Rose and Verne at the top. They shared their findings, and Verne offered no argument that Sonny should hold onto the sword. When Peri pulled out the spell scroll, Rose, having recovered from her shock, rushed forward.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked, excitedly.

"I think so. Check it out," Peri smiled as they held it out to her. Rose snatched it up and began analyzing the inscriptions on the ribbon and the side of the parchment. Her eyes widened as she took in each rune.

"This is fantastic," she whispered, "it's a scroll of augury!"

"Isn't that a fancy name for an eggplant?" Peri tilted their head in confusion.

"No, not 'aubergine', 'augury'," Rose explained. "It's a spell that allows me to predict the future."

"Wowee, that's impressive." the tabaxi mewed.

"I agree. Thank you for finding this for me, Peri." Rose smiled.

"Actually, Viola's the one who found the chest," Peri offered.

Rose turned to face the rogue, who flushed and avoided eye contact. The witch's mouth formed a hard line, but after a moment she said, "Thank you, Viola. I really appreciate it."

"Yeah, sure. You're welcome." The rogue grumbled.

The others sighed inwardly, accepting that it was probably the best outcome they could have hoped for. With that resolved, the party continued down an adjacent hallway, exiting the cavern. As the natural stone gave way to flagstone, Verne held up his hand, pointing to a nearby door. Through it, the party could hear gruff voices shouting.

"Lick the floor!" "Roll like a dog!" "Eyes to the floor, worm!"

Each of these commands was followed by cruel laughter. Sonny scowled and moved towards the door, but the elf grabbed his arm. "I understand your anger, my friend, but we must proceed strategically. Allow Viola and I to scout ahead and get into position. We will signal the rest of you when the time is right."

Verne quietly opened the door and peered into what appeared to be barracks. At the center of the room were three bugbears, all of whom were tormenting a lone goblin by barking orders at it and threatening or striking it when it didn't comply fast enough. While they were distracted Verne stepped through the door and slinked around to the opposite side of the room, silently knocking an arrow and aiming for the largest bugbear.

Viola soon followed, quietly striding through the door. But as she turned to find a place to hide, a silver coin dropped from her overstuffed pocket, landing with a treasonous clink. The bugbears snapped their heads around, all staring at the startled rogue, who smiled sheepishly as she scrambled to recover the coin. Before any of them could make a move, Verne let his arrow fly, landing squarely between the bugbear's shoulder blades. The bugbear roared, and chaos broke out.

The bugbear turned and dashed towards the elf, its mouth frothing with rage. It pulled a morningstar from one of the nearby beds and swung it, slamming hard into the elf's ribs. Seeing this, Viola ran at the attacking bugbear, slashing at its legs with both blades. The attack was shallow, but effectively drew the attention away from Verne. Unfortunately for the halfling, it also drew the attention of the other bugbears, one of which ran to the halfling and slammed its morningstar into the back of her head, sending her crashing to the ground.

Rose rushed into the room and, seeing the direness of the situation, drew a fistful of rose petals from her component pouch. With a pulse of pink energy, all three of the bugbears grew drowsy, their limbs growing heavy with slumber. Peri saw Viola on the ground and revived her with a healing word before firing a burst of sacred flame, which the bugbear, despite its drowsiness, managed to barely evade.

Sonny dashed through, interposing himself between the bugbears, Verne and Viola. As he ran, he attempted to slash at one of the bugbears, but in his haste, he mistimed his strike, missing entirely. Thankfully, it ended up not being necessary, as the furthest bugbear slumped to the ground as Rose's enchantment took its full effect. The beast began snoring loudly, its arms folded beneath it.

Now confined to close quarters, Verne abandoned his longbow in favor of his short sword and scimitar. He thrust in with the short sword, plunging deep into the bugbear's chest. He attempted to make an additional strike with his scimitar, but the pain from the earlier blow racked his ribs and threw off his aim. He ducked back behind Sonny, gasping for air. The bugbear, brought back to lucidity from the pain of Verne's attack, swung his morningstar at the elf, but instead found Sonny's shield, which easily deflected the blow.

Viola sprang to her feet and gritted her teeth, glaring at the bugbears. She slipped behind Sonny, watching the bugbear's feet for just the right moment before springing forward and plunging her short sword into the monster's belly, dropping it to the ground in a pool of viscera. She then darted forward and swiped at the bugbear that had struck her with her scimitar, cutting deep across the knee before scampering to join Verne behind Sonny.

The bugbear ran forward, trailing blood from its knee as it swung, but it met the same frustrating obstacle that its fellow had, as Sonny effortlessly shrugged off the heavy blow. Seeing the bugbears agitated awake, Rose grumbled under her breath, "For goodness' sake, why do I even bother?" The witch stowed her component pouch, and drew her wand, letting loose a fire bolt that exploded on impact, filling the room with the stench of burning hair.

Peri ran into the room, yowling with their mace held high. They leaped at the bugbear, swinging at its head, but it managed to sidestep fast enough to avoid the potentially fatal blow. The bugbear swaggered, ducking and sidestepping a barrage of sword strokes. Getting cocky, he leaned forward and sneered, not noticing the halfling who had darted in just beneath its chin. She thrusted up with her short sword, piercing through the bugbear's throat, and dropping the beast to the floor into a pool of its own blood.

Chapter 5.9: Droop

The party panted, battered and bruised from their battle. Viola wiped the bugbears' blood off of her blades, but no sooner did she move to store them than the goblin stood up from the floor and rushed towards her with arms outstretched. Viola got ready to strike, but stopped when she heard the goblin yell, "Oh, thank you, thank you!" as he wrapped his arms around the halfling in a tight embrace.

"Ahh, guys? It's hugging me." Viola held her blades above her head and looked to Verne, who shook his head in mild amusement. The rogue, having had more than enough, pushed the goblin away.

"Apologies, miss," the goblin squeaked, stepping back, holding their hands up in surrender. "I did not mean to overstep. I'm just so happy to be free of those brutes."

"Yeah, no problem, just don't touch me again, 'kay?" Viola frowned, stowing her blades.

The goblin flinched, but said, "Yes ma'am, of course, ma'am."

"What is your name, friend?" Verne asked, sitting on one of the nearby beds.

"Droop, at your service, sir." The goblin stood at attention and bowed low, his long ears nearly touching the floor.

"You need not bow to us, my friend," Verne offered, but the goblin shook his head.

"I must, sir. 'Tis the code of the goblins. He who defeats the old chief becomes the new chief, and I am honor bound to serve." Droop gestured towards Viola.

The halfling grinned mischievously. "Ooh, I've never had a minion before. So, if I were to ask you to go find me some treasure-" Before she had even finished the sentence, Droop dashed over to one of the fallen bugbears, plucked his head up from the pool of blood on the floor, ripped off its gem-encrusted eye patch and slapped it into the rogues hand. Viola's grin vanished and she stood, stunned and more than a little disgusted at the dripping wet token. "Alrighty then," Viola mumbled, shaking the blood from the eyepatch and inspecting the inlaid stones.

"How did you come to work for the Redbrands, Droop?" Verne asked. 

"It isn't the Redbrands I worked for, really, I served Was-chief Mosk," the goblin explained, gesturing to the bugbear he'd taken the eyepatch from. "Was-chief Mosk received orders to scout Phandalin from one called The Black Spider, and I went with."

The party looked at each other, recognizing the name from their interrogation of the Rebrands back at the Sleeping Giant. "Did you meet this 'Black Spider'?" Verne asked. Droop shook his head sadly and said, "No, sir. Only Was-chief Mosk spoke with them. I was simply told where to go and what to do, as is my station."

"You shouldn't say that, man," Sonny frowned. "don't let people make you feel less than just because of some stupid code."

Droop winced, and grumbled under his breath, clearly torn between wanting to argue and not wanting to offend his new chief. Finally, he said, "Perhaps, sir."

"So if you've been working here for a while, can you get us around the place?" Viola asked.

Droop smiled and said, "Yes, ma'am. I know where most all of the Redbrands are and where all secret passages lie. It would be an honor to help you dispatch them. They have been...not very nice."

"Well then, lead the way, Minion Droop." Viola pointed to the door and marched in place with mock-authority.

Droop brought his hand to his forehead in a salute and said, "Yes, Chief!" and scampered into the hallway

Viola grinned, pocketing the bloodied eyepatch before following her new minion into the hallway. The others looked to each other and sighed, hoping this new power wouldn't go to the rogue's head.

Chapter 5.10: The Common Room

Droop led the party to the Redbrand common room, just down the hall. Through the door, the party could hear some of the ruffians shouting, and Droop informed them that when the room wasn’t in use for meetings, the Redbrands often played knucklebones on the table. Viola asked the goblin to go inside and make a distraction so that they might take them unawares, and the goblin obliged, pulling open the door and walking through. 

Viola stuck her foot in the door, stopping it from closing all the way. She opened it slightly, chancing a peak inside, and saw several worn tables and chairs scattered around the room. Wooden benches were drawn up against walls decorated with draperies of brown and red, and several kegs were propped up and tapped. At the table, four tough-looking Redbrands were gathered around a stack of coins and trinkets piled in a heap. From the looks of the pile, one of the ruffians was making out far better than the others, and his fellows didn’t seem thrilled about it.

Droop walked into the center of the room, not drawing any attention from the Redbrands. He turned to them nervously, but before he could say anything, one of the Redbrands at the table noticed him and shouted, “Hey, goblin! Make yerself useful and get me a drink.” the ruffian threw his empty mug across the room, narrowly missing Droop’s head. The goblin let out a shriek as he ducked out of the way, drawing a wave of laughter from the ruffians. Droop wrung his hands nervously, picking up the mug from the floor and walking over to the nearest keg. The goblin looked over to the doorway as he fumbled with the tap, his small hands shaking. Viola pointed to the keg and made a pushing gesture. Droop’s eyes widened, and he shook his head fearfully. The rogue frowned and jabbed her finger at him. “Hey, what’s taking so long with that drink?” the ruffian snarled from the table. Steeling his resolve, Droop hopped up onto the table and shoved the keg over, sending the barrel crashing loudly to the ground. The redbrands rose in a fury, blades drawn, ready to punish the goblin, but before they could take so much as a step, the party attacked.

Verne stepped into the door frame, firing off a shot at one of the Redbrands that clipped the ruffian in the shoulder before slowly backing away, making eye contact as he went. The Redbrand, in his fury, rushed through the door after him, but instead found Sonny, who bashed him with his shield while Viola slashed across his legs. The ruffian, drunk and bleeding, staggered on and feebly slashed at the air while the elf effortlessly dodged his attacks.

Another Redbrand, seeing the attack that had befallen his friend, ran to the door and struck out at Viola, slashing her across the arm with his blade. In response, Peri leaped over the rogue, swinging at the Redbrand with their mace, but missing their mark. Thankfully, Viola was more practiced with weapons, scoring deep gashes across her assailants chest and stomach before jumping back and retreating a ways down the hall.

Seeing Peri in the doorframe, the third ruffian charged through and swung his sword, thinking the cat to be an easy target. Unfortunately for him, the agile cleric wouldn’t be taken so easily, ducking the first strike and quickly shrugging off the second. Wanting to protect her feline friend, Rose shot a fire bolt at the brute, but in the chaos, missed her target.

The final Redbrand ignored the fracas, still more enraged by the spilling of the ale. He staggered over to Droop, raising his shortsword high before taking two wide swipes at the poor goblin, who froze at the sight of the blade, then promptly dropped unconscious to the floor.

With two enemies in front of him, and another down the hall with Verne, Sonny had his pick of targets. He slashed down at the first, easily dispatching the ruffian that had attacked Viola, before grabbing the foe entangled with Peri by the collar and throwing him onto his back in the common room, stepping into the doorway and clanging his sword loudly against his shield.

Down the hall, Verne ducked and dodged the ruffians wild slashes before taking a quick backstep and firing an arrow directly between the man’s eyes, downing him in an instant. The wizened elf stepped over his enemy, not paying him any further mind as his attention shifted to covering his allies.

Back at the doorway, Peri grabbed their holy symbol and extended it, firing a burst of sacred flame at the Redbrand Sonny had just thrown on the ground. From his prone position, the ruffian was helpless as the radiant flames burned his flesh. Viola, also wanting to take advantage of their position, rushed back to the door, stowing her blades in favor of her new crossbow. The rogue picked up the weapon and aimed for the downed enemy, but stopped as she saw Droop on the ground, about to be hacked to pieces by the remaining Redbrand. She shifted targets, aimed, and fired, piercing the ruffian just beneath the rib cage.

The redbrand on the ground slowly rose to his feet. He snarled, glaring at the cleric whose holy symbol still glowed with remnants of the flame that burned him. He stepped in, thrusting his sword at the cleric, but Sonny intervened, and swatted down the strike. In response, the ruffian jerked their sword back, clipping the fighter beneath the arm on the backswing. Sonny gritted his teeth, but held fast to his position at the door. In an attempt to help, Rose loosed another fire bolt, which landed, but unfortunately due to aiming around Sonny, didn't do much damage.

Inside the common room, the other Redbrand pulled the bolt from his ribs, dropping it to the floor. In his rage he turned to the unconscious goblin at his feet, the easiest target in the room, and slashed down with his sword, cleaving into the goblins chest in a spurt of blood. Viola screamed from the doorway, angry tears streaming from her eyes as the ruffian turned to the party and sneered, his lips pulled back in a snarl of pure, unrepentant cruelty.

Sonny’s mind went blank, the cruel act setting off something primal in the young warrior’s chest. He sprinted forward, effortlessly shoving aside the foe he’d been tangling with and making a beeline for the brute before him. The Redbrand’s eyes widened in shock as the fighter slammed into him with the force of a charging bull, knocking him to the ground before plunging his sword through his chest, pinning him to the wooden floorboards in a rising pool of his own blood. Sonny rose to his feet, breathing heavily with equal parts emotion and exhaustion. The remaining Redbrand, seeing the fighter’s back turned, took the opportunity to rush him from behind and hopefully catch him unawares, but he took hardly a step before an arrow thunked between his shoulder blades and a burst of sacred flame consumed him.

The party rushed into the common room and Viola ran to Droop, who lay bleeding on the floor. She delicately lifted the goblins head and cradled it to her chest, desperately sobbing, “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m sorry…”

Nice touch making this charter's intro-diary a prayer. Cleric or Paladin?

Nice idea turning campaign sessions into story chapters. I've though about doing this myself so it's nice to see it out there. Also fun reading a story about an adventure I've gotten to play though (not too far past this intro point). 

Peri is a Life Domain Cleric, specifically a follower of Lathander

Chapter 5.11: Pursuit

The party gathered around Viola, who held Droop close to her chest. "C'mon, man, please be ok," she said, trembling.

"Viola, he's gone." Peri said, gently.

"Can't you, I dunno, do something about that?" Viola turned to the cleric, tears in her eyes.

Peri shook their head sadly. "Lathander's magic can sometimes revive the dead, but I don't have the power to do that yet."

"Then what good are you?" the rogue snapped. Peri winced, but said nothing.

"Viola," Verne chided, "I understand your grief, but-"

"No, you don't." Viola snarled. "None of you do. He's dead because of me!"

"So are half of the Redbrands and about a dozen of the goblins we fought a few days ago. How is this different?" Rose asked.

"He was my goblin!" Viola shouted. "He trusted me, and it got him killed. What if…what if you're right, and you guys shouldn't trust me? I don't want to kill you, too." The halfling dropped her eyes to the floor, her shoulders slumped.

Rose felt a pit drop in her stomach. She reached out toward the rogue, but halted at the blood and grime on the rogue's clothes. Accepting that this was something she had to do, the witch took a deep breath and placed her hand on the rogue's shoulder. "Viola, sometimes when wizards gather material components, they make mistakes. Maybe they take a locust leg when they need a cricket's or they get a crow feather and not a raven's- totally innocent mistakes that could happen to anyone. They don't happen often, but they do happen."

"Is this supposed to make me feel better somehow?" The rogue blinked.

"I'm getting there," Rose sighed. "What I'm saying is, I believe I may have misjudged you. If you care this much for Droop after just meeting him, then you must care for us as well."

Viola looked up at the witch and wiped her eyes. "You guys are alright." She set Droop gently down and straightened her armor. "So what now?"

"Easy. We find Glasstaff, bash his stupid brains in and take him off to Sildar so he can spend the rest of his life in chains." Sonny growled, yanking his sword from the torso of the dead Redbrand.

“That’s…descriptive,” Peri said. “Sonny, are you feeling alright?”

“No, I’m not,” the fighter snarled, flicking the blood to the floor, “All this bloodshed, all this cruelty, and for what? What did these guys think they would gain from doing this?”

“It is hard to say what lies in the hearts of men,” Verne mused, “but we cannot control the actions of others, merely trust that our own path is more enlightened.”

“I don’t know about all that. But I intend to make Glasstaff pay for what he’s done- what he’s inspired. That man does not leave free tonight, mark my words.”

“I am with you, my friend,” Verne replied. “The threat of the Redbrands is nearly finished. And now, it falls to us to end it.”

The others nodded, quaffed their healing potions as-needed and proceeded down the hall to face their final foe. Before she left the room, Viola grabbed one of the Redbrands cloaks and draped it over Droop’s body, placing a hand on the goblin’s forehead and saying, “I’m sorry you never got to taste real freedom, Droop. I hope wherever your journey takes you next, you get to fly there on your own power.” Then, with a tight grip on her short sword, Viola ran to join the others.

The final hallway led to a room that appeared to be Glasstaff's workshop. A rat scurried across the floor and took refuge under a large work table set up with alembics, retorts, distillation coils, and other alchemical devices, all of it stewing and bubbling away. The walls were lined with bookshelves crowded with sheaves of parchment and strange-looking tomes. Rose walked over to the desk, casually perusing the bottles and looking over the formulas. “Say what you will about the man's ethics, but this is quite the setup,” she said, running her finger along a set of well-organized glass beakers. “Though his work is shoddy. He's clearly trying to make a potion of invisibility, but he's using xanthan gum instead of gum arabic.”

“Yeah, what an idiot,” Viola rolled her eyes.

“Can we focus?” Sonny frowned. “He's clearly not here, so we should move on.”

“Hold on, hayseed, let's not forget the other reason we're here. We're looking for correspondence and other evidence, remember?” Viola chided.

Sonny offered no argument, but moved to the door, clearly agitated. His hand tapped at his side impatiently while he half-heartedly checked around the room. Verne moved to one of the bookshelves, drawing a leather-bound tome. Leafing through it, he called for his friends’ attention, “I believe I may have found something useful. This is a journal of a dwarven adventurer named Urmon who wrote a detailed account of his experiences with Wave Echo Cave and the Forge of-”

At that moment, a loud poof and a wisp of purple smoke appeared at the center of the room as Peri came up coughing, “Sorry,” they rasped. “I was trying to catch that rat and it just exploded in my hands.”

“Don't eat rats, Per-” Rose began, but her eyes widened. “Wait, did the rat explode when you picked it up, or did you damage it in some way?”

“Well, I may have pricked it with a claw or two,” Peri admitted.

“That was no ordinary rat,” the witch's face grew deadly serious. “We have to move- Glasstaff knows we're here.”

“What, really?” Peri's eyes widened.

“I've seen this before. It wasn't just a rat, it was a familiar. Wizards use them sometimes for scouting, battle, loads of things.” Rose explained, grabbing loose vials from off the table and stowing them for later. Sonny, receiving all the signal he needed, threw open the door and ran in, with the others quickly following, Verne tucking the book into his pack as he ran.

The party spilled out into a bedchamber whose walls were covered with drapes of scarlet cloth. The furnishings included a small writing desk with matching chair, a comfortable-looking bed, and a wooden chest at the foot of the bed.

Viola ran over to the chest, opened it and whistled, “Man, what a haul.” Inside was a pile of coins and gems, the spoils of the Redbrands criminal activity for the past two months.

“Dammit, where is he?” Sonny growled, slamming his fist against the bedpost.

“Not far.” Verne asserted, pointing to a well-hidden door on the south side of the room that was slightly cracked. The elf ran to the door, pulled it the rest of the way open and disappeared down the passage beyond. Sonny followed soon behind, along with Peri and Rose, but Viola lingered a moment, walking over to the desk and snatching a letter that caught her eye: a letter emblazoned with a large black spider. The rogue's eyebrows raised and she hastily stuffed the letter into her pocket before taking off down the tunnel to catch up with her friends.

Chapter 5.12: Glasstaff

Running down the passage, Verne saw a robed figure dashing ahead of them, a large glass rod in one hand and a handful of scrolls in the other. The figure stopped a moment, leaning against the stone wall of the tunnel, before turning to his left and shouting something. With his enhanced hearing, Verne could just make out the phrase, "-thic! Where are you, you miserable beast...I need you to protect me!" The figure turned, and Verne caught a glimpse of a dark beard before they took off running down the passage once more. The party continued running and, passing the point where the figure had stopped, found an opening to their left that led to the cavern in which they'd defeated the Nothic.

Rounding a corner, the party saw light pouring into the passage from an open door- the same secret door Rose had found in the cellar. All of a sudden, they heard a metallic clatter followed by a slam and a yell. Viola grinned- apparently Glasstaff had found her ball bearings. This gave the party the time they needed to close the rest of the distance, spilling out into the cellar to find a short, dark-haired man scrambling to regain his footing as he moved toward the cistern. The man turned to the party, a brief look of fear flashing in his eyes before melting into a veneer of false confidence. "Hello, strangers. How wonderful it is to have guests," he smiled, finally reaching the edge of the cistern and taking a seat. "I am called Glasstaff. I'm sure the pleasure is all yours."

"I suppose you are called Glasstaff by some," Viola replied coolly, "but that's not really your name, is it, Iarno?" The rogue pulled out the letter and showed it to the party. It 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, Iarno. Don’t disappoint me.

The Black Spider"

The rest of the party's eyes widened, but the wizard looked unimpressed. "I don't deny it." he crossed his legs and sneered. "So, what now heroes, are you going to clap me in irons? Take me back to the Lord's Alliance and that fool Sildar?"

"That's the plan," Sonny growled, "unless you're fixin’ to make this fun."

"Ooh, how terrifying," Iarno sneered. "While I'm sure such a fracas would be absolutely riveting, I do have business to attend to, so if you will excuse me-" the wizard leaned back into the cistern and reached beneath the water, but his confident sneer quickly vanished, replaced by a look of confused frustration.

"Where is it...where is it?!" he shouted, turning and splashing his hand through the water, frantically looking  for something.

"Oh, are you looking for your boogity bag?" Peri smiled and pointed to the discarded satchel on the floor next to the cistern. "It's over there. We already went through it though. Did you know you packed it without any snacks? I thought wizards were supposed to be smart."

Iarno leaped up from the cistern, his face contorted in a look of absolute fury. "You dare mock me? You dare come here, threatening me, threatening all that I have built and sacrificed for? Die, you impudent vermin!" The wizard slammed his staff on the ground and a shimmer of blue arcane light passed over his body, briefly taking the form of ornate armor before disappearing in a pulse of arcane energy that sent the ball bearings flying.

Verne, ever-quick on the draw, slung his bow from his shoulder and fired off an arrow, which pierced deep into the mage's right breast. The mage snarled and raised his staff as Sonny came running in, swinging his sword in a wide arc, but the wizard simply batted the strike away and said, "Your paltry brute force is no match for my power!" Peri responded with a burst of sacred flame that licked harmlessly off the wizard's magically fortified robes. Viola rushed in, flanking the wizard opposite of Sonny. She swung her shortsword, nearly hitting her mark, but at the last moment, Glasstaff threw up a magical barrier that deflected the strike. Viola spun with the deflection, accelerating into a backhanded slash with her scimitar that caught the wizard under the ribs.

Snarling, Glasstaff struck out at the fighter, muttering an incantation as he grasped the front of Sonny's metal armor. Then with a crackle of spectral blue light a burst of electricity coursed through the fighter, momentarily stunning him as the wizard teleported to the other side of the room in a puff of pink mist. Not waiting to see the results of his handiwork, Iarno took off up the stairs.

Rose ran after him, drawing her component pouch and using the last of her magical energy to let loose a pulse of pink energy and a flurry of rose petals that slowed the wizard's movements and made his eyelids grow heavy. His footfalls became more and more labored as he tramped out into the night air, staggering to the center of the field before falling to ground, slipping into a deep, magical slumber.

The party rushed up the stairs and surrounded the sleeping wizard, breathing heavy and making sure that everyone was unharmed. Verne pulled a rope from his pack and carefully bound the wizard after Viola had gone through and removed any arcane focuses or components he might have used to cast spells. Sonny lifted the unconscious wizard and slung him over his shoulder, taking no care to do so gently. "So, what now?" he asked. "Off to find Sildar?"

"I believe that would be a wise course of action." Verne replied, exhausted.

"Yeah, the sooner we turn him in, the sooner we can go to bed," Peri sighed. "I think my bruises have bruises."

"Yeah, we could do that," Viola pondered, "or we could head back in and pick up all that now-ownerless treasure!" She smiled hopefully at the others, but was met by a panel of exhausted and unamused faces. The halfling puffed out her cheeks and sighed, kicking a pebble in frustration.

"How's about we come back tomorrow?" Sonny offered. "That way we can rest up and come back with some things to carry all that gold with."

"Gods bless you, hayseed, I knew there was a reason I liked you!" the rogue laughed.

"Oh, come now, don't encourage her," Rose sighed. "Are we all going to become thieves now?"

"That depends: you plan on giving the staff and scrolls back to Glasstaff when he comes to?" Sonny grinned as Rose blushed, clutching the magic items to her chest.

"W-well, that's different," she stammered. "I'm confiscating these from a known criminal. It's not thievery if you use them for a better purpose."

"Yeah, you're basically recycling. Thanks for your service, hero." Viola scoffed, and though Rose bristled slightly, she smiled in spite of herself. The others laughed as they walked through the forest, having grown closer through their ordeal.

Interlude: Preparations (Rose)

17 Tarsakh 1491

Prepared Spells

Level One

• Disguise Self

• False Life

• Magic Missile

• Sleep

Level Two(!)

• Hold Person

• Misty Step

Component Pouch

• 1/4lb charcoal

• 5 sticks incense

• 1 pkg herbs

• 15 rose petals

• 1 feather (raven)

• 50mL dwarvish whiskey

• 10mg multi-colored sand

• 2 inch stick of iron (straight)

• 1oz gum arabic w an eyelash

• 1 2in×2in silk square

Dear Diary,

Today is the day I've been waiting for. After a month of searching, I finally found some spell scrolls- three of them! One is of a level I can't quite utilize yet, but I'm so excited that I'm finally making progress. So today I need three things: my spell book, some parchment, and a possibly questionable amount of coffee.

The first spell I'll be copying is charm person. I shudder to think what that ‘Glasstaff’ planned to use it for- likely something foul. But I believe that with some proper focus, I can put it to good use. And utilizing magical theory, I believe that if I strengthen the charm, I can use it to temporarily stupefy creatures, so long as they're mostly humanoid. 

Another addition I'm excited to begin testing with is misty step: a spell I've seen Brunhilde use dozens of times, but now that I've heard the verbal component more clearly (it helps to have pompous foes, I suppose) I believe I can mimic it for myself. I mistakenly assumed that it was of the evocation school, eliciting an outward effect (creating mist with transportive properties) but in actuality, the mist is a byproduct of discorporation and reconstitution of the user's molecules, so utilizing conjuration inflection should be more effective.

Last is augury, one that will be very useful, I think. Divination is admittedly not my strong suit (I excel in creating illusions and charms, not revealing or breaking them) but it will be useful to be able to learn information more easily. Especially as we will soon be searching for Cragmaw Castle in order to rescue Gundren. Also, it may help to know if Brunhilde is near…

Well, diary, it's clear I have a lot of work to do, and possibly only one day to do it. Sonny is adamant that we rescue Gundren as soon as possible- something I'd like to tell him is stupid, but I think may need to wait. I wasn't very kind to him yesterday, and you and I can't exactly afford to lose any friends. But for now: I must learn.

Until next time,

Rose

Interlude: Preparations (Sonny)

Sonny,

What the hell do you think you're doing boy, sending your uncle Jack's sword back to the farm like that? Your mother nearly had a heart attack before she read the attached letter. We raised you with more common sense than that, so try to use it.

Speaking of your letter, don't worry about rushing back to Goldenfields just yet. We've got plenty of neighbors pitching in from around town to pick up the slack during planting season. You made a promise to help Rosie when the two of you set out with Mr. Verne, so make sure you mind them and keep it.

As for your dustup with those Redbrands, I wouldn't pay it too much mind. Based on what you've told us, you didn't give those boys anything they didn't buy and pay for with how they treated the people of Phandalin. The gods gave you your strength so you could be a guardian, son. So long as you use your shield to protect as much as you use your sword to punish, I reckon you'll be alright.

That's it for now. Gotta get back to choring. But I love you, and I look forward to hearing more stories when you get back.

Pa

PS - I've returned the gold you sent us. Much as I appreciate you wanting to contribute, it doesn't feel right to receive charity from my son. Besides, you're not gonna get too many chances to travel the world. Enjoy it while you can, before life brings you back down to earth.

Enclosed: 15gp

Interlude: Preparations (Verne)

My Dearest Anais,

I must forewarn you; the details of this tale are of a different nature than my previous two. Battles with goblins, while perilous, are rather simple affairs. Their culture, foreign as it is, is easy enough to understand if you are familiar with their hierarchies and proclivities. Humans, on the other hand, are as varied as the clouds in the sky. And much like clouds, men can sometimes take on forms that are dark and twisted. Such were the men who donned the scarlet cloak of the Redbrands.

Our conflict began as soon as we entered Phandalin; hearing whispers of their nefarious deeds from multiple townsfolk. Most disturbing of these was a tale that Peri heard from Trilena Stonehill, wife of Stonehill Inn proprietor Toblen Stonehill. According to her, the Redbrands had started an altercation with a local woodcarver before murdering him in broad daylight. And not long after, his wife and children went missing. Unable to ignore their threat any longer, Sonny insisted we take action. 

We trekked over to the Sleeping Giant Taphouse, where we found four of the ruffians drinking on the porch. I don't recall precisely what was said, but one of them called out an insult and no sooner had he done so than Sonny charged the man and headbutted him. I believe you would have liked Sonny- he often reminds me of your wife Thalia: very kind, but with a terrifying propensity for violence in the face of injustice. We quickly dispatched the ruffians, leaving one alive so we could interrogate him. He informed us of the general structure and armaments of the Redbrands hideout, and with that settled we headed over to Tresendar Manor.

While there, we steadily worked our way through the place room by room, dealing with all manner of opposition: skeletons, bugbears, the Redbrand ruffians, obviously, and a terrifying one-eyed creature called 'the nothic.' In that particular battle, Rose was injured, and required medical attention while the others investigated the surrounding area. I must confess, though it was a dire situation, I am guilty of almost enjoying the opportunity to care for someone again. It reminded me of when your great-aunt Gwendolyn would fall ill as a girl and Rosalie and I would give her soup and read her stories. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

Once Rose had recovered, we made the final push to hunt down Glasstaff, the mysterious leader of the Redbrands. We investigated his wizard's lab, where I found a journal chronicling an adventurer's journey through the same Wave Echo Cave we now seek. I kept it, but so far have found little of interest or that we did not already know, other than the presence of an artifact that was of particular interest to Peri. Thankfully, that delay did not cost us much, as we were able to close in on the scoundrel and catch him thanks to some impressive foresight on Viola's part. After a brief struggle, we captured Glasstaff, who revealed himself to in fact be Iarno Albrek, the missing member of the Lord's Alliance that Sildar asked us to find. 

Mr. Albrek has been in custody two days now, and in that time he has divulged the following:

The Black Spider is a drow searching for the lost Forge of Spells

The three bugbears we encountered were sent to keep the population of Phandalin under control while the Black Spider's operatives searched Wave Echo Cave.

Those bugbears know the location of the cave, something that would have been a staggering loss if Rose had not opted to render one unconscious rather than slaying it as we did the other two.

As luck would have it, Sonny and Viola re-encountered that bugbear while pilfering the now "ownerless" treasure of Tresendar Manor (Viola's words, not mine.) After what I am sure was a completely peaceable conversation, the bugbear agreed to show us the way to not only Wave Echo Cave, but to Cragmaw Castle, where our friend and employer Gundren Rockseeker is being held. I do not know if trusting him is wise, but at this juncture we have little choice. Gundren's life hangs in the balance.

I apologize if this retelling was over-long. You must forgive an old man his prattling. But for now, I must prepare and rest. We have a long trek to Cragmaw Castle, and a perilous mission once we get there. I look forward to telling you all about it.

With Love Everlasting,

Verne

Interlude: Preparations (Peri)

17 Tarsakh

Prayer

“I gratefully thank You, O Morning Lord, for empowering Your believers, that we may smite the wicked. ”

Thanks

Thank you for guiding me to a place where I can do good.

Thank you for giving me allies that I can fight evil alongside.

Thank you for illuminating my path with the journal. I swear to find the Lightbringer, that it may bring me closer to your radiance.

Blessings

I pray for blessings for my allies, who keep me company on the road:

I pray that your light reaches the red one. She's been cooped up in her room for two days with nothing but books and coffee. Hopefully she hasn't already forgotten what the sun looks like.

I pray for Sonny, that he may find his smile again. He kinda scares me when he's angry.

I pray for the peaceful rest of Verne's children. He must have loved them very much.

I pray for Viola, that her tiny little legs don't buckle from carrying all that gold around.

I pray for the fallen innocents: Thel Dendrar and Droop the goblin, gone before their time.

And I'll also pray for my enemies, who we felled in battle. I hope in the land beyond, they are able to reflect on their choices and make peace with them.

Closing

Thank you Lathander, Inspiration’s Dawn, for all you do. For the warmth and light you wash over us. Till the next dawn comes.

Amen.

Interlude: Preparations (Viola)

Total Treasure From Redbrand Hideout

Coin

327gp, 37ep, 456sp, 75cp

Items

Potion of healing (3)

Potion of invisibility

Garnets (2) - worth 10gp each, per Peri

Platinum signet ring - worth 50gp, per Halia

Beaver pelts (30) - worth 2gp each, per Halia (DON'T TELL VERNE)

Malachite gems (5) - worth 15gp each, per Peri

Spell scroll of augury

"Talon" (magic sword)

Bejeweled eyepatch - gross. But worth 50gp, per Peri

Gold earring w ruby - worth 30gp, per Peri

Bottles of assorted 'wizard stuff' (3) - worth 25gp each, per Rose

Carnelians (5) - worth 10gp each, per Peri

Peridots (2) - worth 15gp each, per Peri

Pearl - worth 100gp, per Peri

Scroll of charm person

Scroll of fireball

Staff of Defense

Other

Bugbear guide (1) - pretty much worthless, but agreed to take us to Cragmaw Castle after some "diplomatic encouragement" when we found him trying to make off with some of my treasure.

Value Total

867gp, 37ep, 456sp, 75cp

Split

173gp, 37ep, 99sp, 19cp each

Rose: spell scrolls (3), staff of defense

Sonny: Talon

Verne: potion of healing (2)

Peri: potion of healing

Viola: potion of invisibility

Chapter 6.1: Cragmaw Castle

The party tramped through the forest, led by Krustt, their bugbear guide. The road had been long, but fairly uneventful; the rolling hills and rocky terrain providing the only resistance in their journey. After a few hours of walking, they finally arrived at their destination. The castle consisted of seven crumbling towers of different sizes and heights, all in varying states of collapse. A short flight of steps led up to a terrace in front of the main entryway. Past the wreckage of a pair of sundered doors was a shadowed hall. Round towers loomed over the entranceway, with dark arrow slits looking down on the terrace.

Verne looked at the two arrow slits and frowned. "We may have more trouble than we anticipated. I cannot see through those windows, but I would wager they are not unguarded."

"So, what's the plan?" Sonny asked, adjusting the sword at his hip. "Rush in fast, take 'em by surprise?"

"I'd prefer not to be turned into a pincushion if I can help it," Rose sniffed.

"For once I agree with the bookworm. We need to be careful with this." Viola stroked her chin. "What if we ran a trick play? Maybe get fuzzy here to pretend that we're his 'captives' and take us inside. Hell, it'll probably get us to where Gundren's being held."

"Yer outta yer mind if ya think I'm doin' that." Krustt growled. "I ain't gettin' myself killed for ya. The deal was, I get ya to the castle and ya let me go."

"The deal is whatever I say it is, creep." Viola snarled. The rogue reached for her short sword, but Sonny stepped between the two of them and folded his arms.

"You don't have to help us anymore if you don't want to. We appreciate you taking us this far, Krustt." The fighter said, his demeanor calm.

"At least one of ya's got some honor." Krustt grumbled.

"Speaking of honor, I have a request before you leave." Sonny said, locking eyes with their guide. "I want you to swear you'll never use your strength to hurt someone weaker than you again."

The bugbear sneered at the request, but upon seeing that the fighter was sincere his face fell. "Ya can't be serious."

"I'm not really the funny one of the bunch," Sonny smiled. "I just think someone with your strength could do a lot of good if you tried."

"Ugh, spare me." The bugbear spat. "I'll swear whatever ya want, just lemme go already."

The fighter turned and gestured to the path they came from. Krustt shouldered his way past, snarling at Viola as he went. "Yer gonna get yerselves killed goin' in there." he said. "Best to go home now and spare yerselves the trouble."

"Not our style, you overgrown throw rug." Viola called.

Krustt scowled, but kept on walking until, with one last confused look at Sonny, he disappeared into the brush.

"There goes our decoy," Viola sighed. "I hope it was worth it, hayseed."

"I don't want anyone putting themselves at risk on our account. We've gotten by on our own just fine till now." Sonny replied.

"It's just as well," Rose offered. "An unwilling ally is more likely to betray us than help."

"I guess so. So what now? Stealthy approach?" Viola asked.

"I believe that is our best course of action for now." Verne nodded.

"I dunno guys," Peri mused. "Sonny's not exactly the stealthy type with all this armor on." To illustrate their point, the tabaxi reached over and rapped their knuckles loudly against the fighter's heavy iron greaves.

"That's a good point." Viola sighed. "And we can't very well leave you or your armor outside, so..." the rogue pulled out the potion of invisibility from her bag.

Sonny held up his hands, "I can't take that, Viola, it's yours."

"We don't have much of a choice here," Viola frowned. "It might not cover up the sound, but at least they won't see you coming. At this point we either storm the castle, potentially getting filled with holes, or you take the potion, and we sneak in. What's it gonna be?"

"When you put it that way," the fighter grumbled, but gingerly picked up the bottle. With one last apologetic glance to Viola, Sonny tilted the bottle back and drank the liquid, slowly vanishing as he did until he disappeared completely.

"Sonny? Are you still here?" Peri asked nervously, looking around.

"Yeah, I'm here." the fighter's voice responded from thin air. "This is crazy, though. Can't see my own hand in front of my face."

"Glad you're having such a fun time with my potion," Viola grumbled. "Can we get going please? I dunno how long that thing'll last."

"The potion should last an hour, but I'd prefer we get started all the same." Rose agreed.

With Viola leading the way, the party quietly crept across the field up to the decrepit castle. They each approached the door one at a time, taking care to keep low and out of sight of the arrow slits. Once the last of them had made it across the courtyard and to the steps, they let out a quiet sigh of relief and entered the foyer of the castle.

Inside, doors stood closed to the north and south, with a crumbled mound of rubble partially obscuring the southern hall. To the east, a broad corridor ended in two more doors leading south and east. The corridor was cluttered with dusty rubble and fallen plaster from a partial collapse of the ceiling overhead.

"Where to now?" Peri whispered, their eyes shifting from left to right, as though expecting a goblin to pop out of the wall at any moment.

"I say we take out whoever's manning the archer posts. Thin their numbers a bit." Viola suggested.

"A shrewd idea," Verne nodded. "Let us split into two groups, that we may contain them to the archery posts. Rose and I shall take the northern post, Viola and Peri, you take the south."

"What about me?" Sonny's voice whispered from thin air.

"You're the lookout, hayseed." Viola grinned.

"The invisibility effect dissipates if the user's heart rate elevates too much," Rose explained. "If we want to maximize the efficacy of the potion, it's best you hold back for now."

"I understood most of that, I guess," Sonny sighed. He walked over to the pile of rubble, picking up two stones, which to the others appeared to float on their own. "If I see anyone coming, I'll toss these in your direction. So keep your ears open." The others nodded and split off to opposite sides of the foyer. 

Verne approached the northern door silently, gracefully turning the knob and swinging the door open, completely undetected by the two goblins who stood with their backs to them, completely unaware they were being observed. Verne readied his bow and knocked an arrow, taking aim at the first goblin and firing his shot which embedded itself between the goblins shoulder blades. Before the second goblin could react, Verne quickly loosed another arrow and dispatched it, leaving the two of them bleeding on the floor.

At the southern door, Viola had similar fortune in getting the door open. She crept in, Peri opting to keep tight to her as she went. Getting as close as she dared, the rogue drew her blades, cutting down the first goblin with a single slash, then following up with a second stroke that bloodied the other before Peri put it out of its misery with a burst of sacred flame. Their quarries dispatched; the party reunited in the foyer to plan their next move.

Chapter 6.2: The Right Way

The party stood in the foyer, weighing their options. To the north and south were closed doors whose contents were a mystery, and ahead of them was a large pile of rubble with a passage just beyond. 

“Where do y’all think we should go next?” Sonny asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Hard to say,” Rose mused. “The archery posts are equidistant, so there's no clear favor of protection to one side.”

“So I guess the treasure hoard trick is out this time.” Viola grumbled. “I guess we just pick a direction and hope for the best.”

“Ok, let's go that way, then.” Peri said, walking over to the door to their right.

“Why do you reckon that's the right way?” Sonny asked.

“Well, it's there in the name, isn't it?” Peri grinned. “It's the ‘right’ door, geddit?” The tabaxi pulled opened the door, their smile fading as they were met with three startled goblins who immediately dove for their weapons.

Worried the goblins may catch Peri flat-footed, Sonny charged into the room. He swung his sword in a wide arc as the potion of invisibility wore off, seeming to materialize out of thin air as he felled a goblin in a single strike.

Rose, who had begun aiming a fire bolt as soon as the door opened, was thrown off by Sonny’s sudden appearance in the room, and dashed her wand to the side, narrowly avoiding the fighter’s head with the magical burst. “There goes the invisibility,” she grumbled under her breath.

The remaining goblins, still stunned by the sudden intrusion, tried to slash at Sonny, but found the fighter’s splint mail and shield to be impenetrable. While they were thus engaged, Peri tried to blast one of them with a burst of sacred flame, but found their target to be nimble, even in surprise.

Viola charged in next, standing astride Sonny and feinting with her short sword before slashing across one of the remaining goblins chests. Her presence did have the unfortunate byproduct of obscuring Verne’s shot, which instead of finding purchase in its target, shattered against the crumbling stone wall.

At that moment, summoned by the noise, a fourth goblin wandered in from a crumbled tunnel that made up the east entrance to the room. It looked around curiously, then with a yelp at the sight of the blood, screamed for its allies to join in the fray, and soon the party was swarmed by eight more goblins, one of them wearing a tall chef’s hat and wielding a meat cleaver.

Two of the new goblins rushed towards Sonny, slashing with their scimitars, one of which Sonny was able to deflect with his shield, but the other nicked across his calf. The fighter grimaced, but otherwise maintained his footing. Returning the strike with two of his own, he killed both of his would-be assailants in short order.

Rose stepped into the doorway and, seeing themselves outnumbered, resolved to take multiple enemies off the board at once. She drew her component pouch, retrieved her trusty rose petals, and with a swirl of pink mist, lulled three of the goblins who were rushing in through the tunnel into a drowsy trance before quickly retreating back to the foyer as two of them slumped to the ground unconscious.

One of the goblins, shrugging off the witch’s spell, rushed Viola, blade drawn, but found the rogue to be far too agile for its attacks to land. Another of its fellows, looking to follow in its footsteps, ended up doing just that: missing the halfling completely and colliding solidly with another goblin.

Peri, frustrated that they had gotten their friends into this mess, raised their holy symbol to the sky and recited a prayer, summoning a golden ball of light which bounced across the ground, crushing one of the goblins near Sonny before a burst of sacred flame singed another.

Viola, entangled with her two goblin foes, ducked quickly behind Sonny’s legs, using them as a brief cover before piercing through one of the goblin’s throats with her short sword. Unfortunately, the tight quarters created by the fighter, three goblins and a giant bouncing ball skewed her scimitar strike, narrowly missing her intended target.

In an attempt to ease the pressure off of his allies, Verne fired off two arrows, one finding purchase in the ample belly of the cleaver-wielding goblin, and the other in the head of another.

The last goblin, enraged at the slaughter, aimed its scimitar forward and charged, scoring a large gash across Sonny’s leg, which the fighter repaid in kind with a sword stroke of his own which slew the goblin instantly.

Rose, peeking back into the door, let loose a burst of fire which had much the same effect as the last, but had the added downside of giving away her position. The last remaining goblin saw the witch and, assuming her to be the weak link due to her retreat, attempted to pursue, but was swiftly cut down by Sonny, who saw the creature’s intent and put a stop to it with a decisive chop. With the threat ended, Peri, Rose and Verne joined Sonny and Viola in the goblin barracks.

"'It's right in the name,' huh?" Viola scoffed, wiping goblin blood from her swords.

"How was I supposed to know there would be goblins behind the door?" Peri mewed.

"How were you supposed to know there were goblins, in the goblin castle, filled with goblins? Gee, I'm not sure." The rogue rolled her eyes.

"What's done is done," Sonny said. "Let's not waste time fighting about it."

"Peri, what exactly is this?" Rose asked, gesturing to the large golden sphere which now lay in the corner.

"That's my spiritual weapon!" Peri said, proudly.

"It looks like a ball," Viola said flatly, poking it with her scimitar.

"Shaping spiritual energy is hard," Peri pouted, "I just need some more practice."

"I do not expect there will be a shortage of opportunities, my friend," Verne sighed, looking at the heaps of goblin bodies.

Peri followed the elf's gaze and swallowed hard. "Is anyone hurt?" they offered.

Sonny moved his tunic aside and showed Peri the cut along his leg. "It's not very deep, but one of 'em got me. What do you think?"

Peri took a look at the cut. "Hm, you're right, it's not very deep. Can you put weight on the leg ok?"

Sonny took some steps back and forth across the barracks. "Yeah, no problems there."

Rose stole a disapproving glance at Sonny, but said nothing, instead jotting down notes on Peri's spiritual weapon in her journal. Peri, taking notice, said, "Maybe I should patch it up, just in case. Best not to chance an infection with all the...you know." They gestured to the dead goblins littering the floor. Sonny shuddered, and nodded, lifting the leg so the cleric could better access it. Peri uttered a prayer, and their paws began to glow with a light golden aura. They waved across the wound and the cut magically closed.

"Good as new," Sonny grinned, stomping his foot on the ground. "Thanks, buddy." 

Peri smiled and nodded, looping their holy symbol back around their neck. "Where to next? Somebody else pick this time."

Viola walked to the west end of the barracks and looked down the lone twisting path that led through the ruins. The halfling stroked her chin in mock contemplation, "Well, I suppose we could go 'forward.' I hear it's the direction named after going forward- it's right there in the name." Peri's nostrils flared, but the rogue crossed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks, causing the tabaxi to burst out laughing.

"I'm just kidding, fuzzball," Viola grinned, scratching Peri behind the ears. "But I do think we should go this way instead of backtracking. If anyone heard our fight here on the south side of the castle, they would've come already, so I'd wager the path forward is relatively clear."

The others offered no argument, and pressed on down the narrow passage, which opened into a large hall, the western portion of which ended in a wall of rubble. The ceiling arced high, nearly twenty-five feet, and the room was furnished with two large, wooden tables with plain benches at the center and a brass brazier full of glowing coals tucked into the corner. Dirty dishes, half-full stewpots, moldy heels of bread, and gnawed bones covered the tables. 

Rose wrinkled her nose at the rotten food on the table. “Ugh, that's absolutely vile,” she said, covering her mouth with a kerchief. 

“Yeah, it's not the cleanest,” Sonny agreed, walking up to the stew pot. He picked up the ladle leaning against the side and gave it a stir. “This is kinda neat though. I'll admit, I'm a bit curious- I've never had goblin food before.”

“You can't be serious.” Rose's eyes widened in horror.

“What's the problem?” The fighter shrugged. “It's on an open flame, so it's hot enough that it'll kill whatever could make you sick.”

“If it were only bacteria we were worried about, sure,” Rose insisted. “But we don't know what that meat is, or the quality of the vegetables they used either.”

“Seriously, hayseed. You can't smell, so trust us- that stew is bad news.” Viola warned.

“Alright, fine.” Sonny stepped away from the stew pot. “Let's move on then. Pretty sure we're by our lonesome here.”

“How very mature of you, Sonny,” Verne smiled, amused. The elf strode to the east end of the ruined dining hall and tilted their ear to the door. Signaling that the coast was clear, he led the party down another hallway with piles of rubble stacked high on either side. At the end of the hall was a large curtain, partitioning the southern wing of the castle from the rest of the structure. Once again, Verne tilted his head up and listened closely, but heard nothing.

“I believe there are no goblins beyond this curtain, though I cannot say whether or not there is a more silent threat in their stead,” he said, taking hold of the thick material.

“We've come this far, haven't we?” Viola snarled, gripping the hilt of her short sword.

Verne nodded, and with a quick pull, the elf parted the curtain, giving way for the party to pass through.

Chapter 6.3: Hobgoblin Barracks

The curtain parted to reveal the interior of a tower that had almost completely collapsed. What little space was left on the ground floor was occupied by rotting crates and ancient barrels that once held provisions. To the left and right were intact doors, and to the north, a short passage through the rubble ended before a screen of canvas.

"Ughh, more choices?" Peri whined.

"Just be thankful there aren't more goblins, fuzzball," Viola remarked.

"It doesn't seem like there's too much of a ‘choice’ anyway." Sonny said, pointing out the two doors. "We know the western door leads back to the entrance, so our only other option is the door on the right."

"I would not be so sure," Verne mused, walking toward the canvas screen.

"What's up, Verne?" Sonny asked, following close behind.

"Do you not find it odd that there is a pathway that leads to the wall and then stops?" the elf asked, pointing to a discolored swath that cut through the middle of the floor and extended to the canvas wall at the end of the passage.

“Guess I didn't notice,” the fighter shrugged, inspecting the canvas screen.

“These eyes may be old, but they at least retain some sharpness.” Verne smiled. Pressing his ear against the screen, he listened carefully, and after confirming it was silent beyond the barrier, Sonny slashed through the screen with his sword, revealing an exit through the northern wall.

“Dang,” Sonny frowned. “Kinda hoped there was a hidden cellar or something behind that.”

“Do not lose heart, my friend,” Verne placed his hand on Sonny's shoulder. “For we now have an exit by which we may escape once Gundren is recovered. We need not pass through extraneous dangers.”

“I guess that makes sense,” the fighter replied. “So are we going through the eastern door, then?”

The others nodded, and the fighter walked carefully to the door, his sword at the ready. With a decisive turn and tug, he pulled open the door to find a small barracks with a stone brazier full of coals glowing in the middle. Four straw pallets were lined up along the east wall. The wall to the south had collapsed, but there was a barred wooden door in that direction, and a curtain hung in an archway to the north. More pressing than that, however, were the two hobgoblins in the room, who drew their swords the moment the fighter opened the door.

Before any of them could react, one of the hobgoblins took off to the other side of the room, pulled aside a curtain and took off down the hall. Instinctively, Sonny dashed after him, easily deflecting a sword stroke from the other goblin as he ran. 

“Sonny, don’t separate from the group!” Rose huffed. “For goodness’ sake, I guess we’ll need to make this quick then.” The witch drew her wand, and with a flick of her wrist and a quick incantation, three magic missiles erupted from the wand, pulverizing the hobgoblin into a pulp. Keeping her wand out, she ran to the curtain Sonny had disappeared through, with Peri and Viola following close behind. 

Verne, however, paused once he reached the midway of the room, hearing something strange coming from behind the wooden door to the south. The ranger knocked an arrow and slowly approached  the door, listening carefully to see if the sound would recur, and sure enough it did: a low-pitched moan followed by several scratches on a wooden floor. Verne eased the tension on his bowstring and placed his hand on the door. “Not to worry, my friend,” he whispered gently, “when this is over, I shall free you from your bonds.” That decided, Verne turned and ran after his comrades.

Chapter 6.4: King Grol

The hobgoblin sprinted down the hall, with Sonny in close pursuit. At the end of the hall, they reached a curtain, which the hobgoblin wrenched open and called out, "King Grol! We have intruders-" before Sonny slammed into him, knocking him to the floor. Beyond the door was a chamber that had been set up as a crude living space, with thick furs thrown on the floor to serve as carpets, old trophies hanging on the walls, a large bed to the north, and a brazier of coals burning brightly. A round table with several chairs stood to the south near the door, and near the table, on the floor, was the badly-beaten form of an unconscious dwarf.

"Gundren!" Sonny shouted; he stepped forward, but was stopped by the hobgoblin, who leaped to his feet and clashed his sword against Sonny's driving him back. Peri and Viola quickly caught up, and seeing the scene before them, readied their weapons.

Also in the room, on either side of the table was an old bugbear with stooped posture holding the leash of a large wolf, and a drow in black leathers. The bugbear, apparently called 'King Grol,' followed Sonny's gaze to the unconscious dwarf on the floor and sneered. He stooped down and grabbed Gundren by the collar and growled, "Friend o' yers?"

"Let him go, you flea-ridden trash-sack!" Viola snarled, drawing her blades.

"Watch yer tongue, runt," King Grol snarled, flashing a set of mossy green teeth. "Yer in the presence of royalty. Now what say you all back off before I snap this one's neck, eh?"

Sonny, Peri and Viola tensed their muscles, unsure of what to do, but the bugbear wrapped his hands around Gundren's chin, and with a pointed look, the party lowered their arms. At that moment, Rose and Verne caught up with the others and joined them in the doorway. Quickly getting a lay of the situation, Rose snuck her hand into her component pouch and drew a small piece of iron and pointed it at the bugbear. King Groll looked at the trinket and laughed, "Ye've lost it. What's that supposed to-" the bugbear stopped, his face frozen in a wicked sneer as Rose's magic held him in place.

The hobgoblin's eyes widened in fear and anger. "You'll pay for that, witch!" he shouted, swinging his sword in a wide arc. As the blade closed in on the witch's neck, Rose threw up a magical barrier, which easily deflected the strike. In retaliation, Sonny attempted a sword strike of his own, but the hobgoblin parried it away. Wanting to secure Gundren, the fighter skirted around the hobgoblin and dashed for the dwarf, ducking under a retaliatory strike as he ran. It didn't take much to pry the dwarf loose of the magically paralyzed bugbear, and Sonny carefully hoisted Gundren onto his shoulder, stowing his sword and leveling his shield at the opposition. 

Rose, wanting to extricate herself from the hobgoblin's reach, disappeared in a swirl of pink mist, reappearing a ways down the hall before firing off a fire bolt at the hobgoblin, who deftly avoided the blast.

Inside the room, the drow ran up to Sonny, clasped its hands together and swung at the fighter. Sonny lifted his shield to block the blow, but the drow struck with such force that it flung the shield aside before swinging up and clocking the fighter beneath the jaw with a staggering double-handed uppercut that belied the drow's light frame.

Viola's eyes widened in shock, and she moved to aid the fighter. She lunged forward, piercing through a gap in the hobgoblin's armor and deep into its belly. The agile rogue sprinted across the room as the hobgoblin pitched forward, swinging her scimitar as he crashed to the ground. The strike landed across the drow's leg, but barely phased her; her eyes locked on the dwarf slung over Sonny's shoulders.

King Grol's face tensed, then twitched, and finally moved as he broke free of Rose's spell, letting out a furious roar that echoed through the castle. Frightened, Peri held up their holy symbol and fired a guiding bolt of light, which the bugbear effortlessly side-stepped. King Grol locked eyes with the tabaxi, who began to shake uncontrollably, completely unaware of the wolf bounding up to them before it snapped its jaws around their arm with a sickening snap. Peri let out a shriek of pain, and Verne, on instinct, drew his bow and fired an arrow at the beast, piercing into its furry hide.

Sonny, still dizzy from the drow's strikes, tucked his chin, raised his shield and charged for the door, fending off blows from the drow and King Grol as he went. And though the bugbear managed to clip his back with a morningstar, the fighter managed to reach the door, where he gently lay the dwarf on the ground before turning back to his foes, drawing his sword as he did.

Rose approached the door once more, frustrated that her new charm had been broken so quickly. She launched another fire bolt, but King Grol was too quick, ducking underneath the burst of flame with a taunting sneer.

The drow sprang for the door after Sonny, effortlessly swatting away a sword stroke from Viola before slamming into the fighter again with a bone-rattling thud. Assessing the threat, Viola opted to shift her efforts to King Grol and let the others handle the drow. The rogue dove for the table, slinking underneath it before stabbing up into the bugbears stomach and piercing deep, sending a cascade of blood to the floor. Viola twisted her hips, slashing across her foe's legs as she withdrew her blade and slunk back beneath the table.

King Grol, enraged at the injuries he sustained, grabbed the table and flipped it, dropping a heavy barrier behind the rogue. Viola's heart hammered in her chest, the vast difference in size and strength now abundantly clear. With a wicked snarl, the bugbear lifted its morningstar before slamming heavily into the halfling's chest, smashing her into the table. 

Peri let out a desperate cry, their eyes filling with tears upon seeing their friends in pain. They held up their holy symbol and uttered a healing word to mend Viola's wounds before firing off a burst of sacred flame at the bugbear, singing the brute, who gritted his teeth in pain. So focused was Peri on Viola, however, that they couldn't avoid the snapping jaws of the wolf, who crunched down on the tabaxi's arm once more. Quick as thinking, Verne fired off two arrows, one at the wolf, and one at the drow, both of which hit their targets, but neither doing much damage.

Sonny gritted his teeth, straining against the onslaught of the drow. He swung his sword, but the strike was effortlessly swatted away, the strength of his foe clearly surpassing his own. He tucked his arm, hoping his shield would provide him and his allies some measure of defense from the monster before him.

Rose attempted to magically lull the drow and wolf to sleep, but in the tension of the moment, she stammered her words, disrupting the spell and dropping the rose petals to the floor. The drow, unphased, sent two more strikes against the fighter, the first one rattling against the shield and the second knocking the fighter back across the stone floor.

Over by the table, Viola gripped her blades, the hulking form of King Grol looming over her. The halfling felt the hairs on her neck stand up, fear beginning to creep into her mind as her eyes passed over the heavy morningstar in the bugbear's hand. Despite her fear, the rogue steeled her resolve, squatting down before lunging forward, piercing her shortsword into King Grol's stomach, causing the bugbear to pitch forward just long enough for Viola to slash across the brute's throat, bringing his threat to a violent, bloody end.

Back at the door, Peri struggled to remove their arm from the wolf's jaw. Finally, they drew it back, blood seeping from deep puncture wounds left by the beast's fangs. They fought back tears of fear and pain, feebly swinging their mace and barely making contact with the snarling beast, whose jaws snapped wildly, just missing their face. Peri yowled, tears now freely flowing as they flinched away from the beast.

Peri's cry echoed through the hall, awakening something primal in Verne. The ranger's eyes flashed green, and with blinding speed, he fired two arrows: the first piercing through the wolf's head, killing it instantly, and the second landing solidly in the right breast of the drow, who staggered back, surprised at the force of the blow. 

Taking advantage of the shift in momentum, Sonny stepped back into the doorway, slashing at the drow with his sword, scoring a deep slash across her chest. The drow stepped back, the first sign of fear flashing across her face as Rose stepped into the doorframe, setting off one last fire bolt which exploded on impact, sending the drow careening to the floor, dead. As the drow came to stillness, its features began to ripple and shift, the obsidian skin giving way to mottled gray; the silken white hair fading to smooth, rubber-like skin. "A doppelganger," Rose gasped, pulling out her journal.

"A what?" Peri asked, gingerly nursing their arm as they walked back to the door.

"A doppelganger," Rose repeated, "a shapeshifting creature. I don't know what it means that it's here, though."

"Seems like it was impersonating the Black Spider," Viola mused, nudging the creature's head with her foot. "Glasstaff said they're a drow, right? Can't say I'm surprised. I wouldn't want to come here unless I absolutely had to. Speaking of which-" The halfling peeked her head around the door to observe the unconscious form of Gundren where Sonny set him down, his breath shallow as he lay against the wall.

"He is stable for now," Verne assured her. "But we must get him back to Phandalin soon, so he can get proper medical attention."

"Sounds good to me." Sonny said, moving to pick up the dwarf once more, but the elf placed a firm hand on his chest.

"'Soon', my friend," Verne said, gently, "but not 'immediately.' I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I believe I speak for all of us when I say we could use some rest."

The others nodded their agreement, and though he was reluctant to do so, Sonny eventually agreed. He gathered Gundren, moved him back into King Grol's quarters, and Verne closed the curtain, hiding them from any onlookers that may happen by.

Chapter 6.5: Of Swords and Shields

Sonny set Gundren gently down on the bed in King Grol's quarters. The dwarf was in bad shape; his face bruised and badly swollen. The rest of the party stayed close, stealing occasional glances at the curtain which served as the only barrier between them and the remaining goblins. 

"Peri, you wanna fix him up before we get outta here?" Sonny asked.

The tabaxi wrung their paws nervously and said, "Actually, I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

The others turned to the cleric in surprise. "You feeling alright, fuzzball?" Viola raised her eyebrows. "In case you haven't noticed, the guy's face looks like raw beef."

"Sure, but for the moment, he's stable." Peri stated, carefully. "Rose, I don't know about you, but my magic is nearly tapped. And we still need to get him back to Phandalin. I'd rather not heal him just to have him go down again."

"I suppose I don't have much left either," Rose sighed.

"I won't lie, I don't feel great about it," Sonny mused. "But it's your power, so your call. Let's just try to get him back to Phandalin as soon we can."

Peri, Rose and Viola voiced their agreement, but Verne stared at the curtain, his mind clearly elsewhere. "I am sorry, my friends," he said, in a soft voice. "But there is something I must do before we depart. I apologize, but I believe the Cragmaws have a beast held captive in the tower just south of the hobgoblin barracks, and I wish to set it free."

"Have you lost it, old man?" Viola squeaked. "We've been beaten half to death, we're hauling around an unconscious bearded meatloaf, and now you want to add 'animal rescue' to the task list?"

"You do not have to aid me if you do not wish to," Verne stated, seriously. "But as a warden of the wilds, I cannot abide by animals being confined and mistreated. I must help this creature, and I shall."

The others stood, stunned at his words. Not waiting for any of them to respond, the elf turned for the curtain and drew it aside. Before he could step through into the hallway, Sonny ran forward, "Hang on a sec, Verne,” he said, placing his hand on the ranger's shoulder. “You can't do this alone; we don't know what this critter is, and there are goblins all around besides. If it means enough to you that you'd delay the rescue mission, it must be important. You got me if you need me."

Verne smiled over his shoulder. "I appreciate that, my friend. You have my word we shall not be long-delayed."

"Sonny, you can't be serious," Rose frowned. 

"It's not a big deal, really." Sonny said, adjusting his gauntlets. "Basically just opening a door and guiding it down the hallway, right?"

"I guess so, but-" Peri started, but Sonny waved them down.

"We'll be alright, guys, honest. Just make sure to watch Gundren while we're gone."

Much as the others wanted to argue, they knew that to do so would be pointless. Instead, they closed tight around the sleeping form of Gundren, Peri and Viola drawing their weapons. "Get back safe, you two," Peri said, nervously. Sonny and Verne nodded and strode into the hallway, leaving the curtain swinging in their wake.

Once they'd progressed a ways down the hall, Sonny turned to Verne and asked, "So what kinda critter do you reckon is in there?"

Verne pondered for a moment, then said, "I am unsure, but its breath was deep in pitch, and its claw strokes fairly heavy on the wood. So I would imagine it is large."

"Great," Sonny sighed. “Big thing with claws. Great."

Verne smiled sympathetically. "You cannot judge a creature by its size," he said. "A fearsome build may belie a kind heart. I would think you of all people would understand that."

"Yeah, maybe," Sonny frowned. "Lately I've been wondering how 'kind' my heart is anymore, to be honest."

Verne stopped walking and tilted his head, confused. "What would make you believe that?"

"Ever since we got to Phandalin, we've had to do so much killing," Sonny replied, "And the more we do it, the less it seems to phase me. What does that say about me as a person? What does that say about my soul?"

Verne narrowed his eyes, measuring his response carefully. "It is a difficult path we walk, as adventurers. I believe that the men who took up the cloak of the Redbrands were already on a dangerous path- one that doomed them to a violent death whether we had met them or not. I also believe that we had a choice when we heard about what they had done to Thel Dendrar- to act with the possibility of violence, or to ignore injustice in the name of peace. I wish I could give you a simple answer, Sonny, but I do know this: if you search within yourself each time you take up the sword; asking whether it is better to fight in the name of justice or to abstain for the sake of peace, then I believe you will find your own truth."

Sonny blinked, surprised at the earnestness of the answer. “That's definitely something to think about,” he mused aloud. He didn't have much time to ponder, however, as they soon reached the bolted door. Through it, the two of them could hear the low, rumbling breath of the creature, just a few feet away from the door.

Sonny placed his hands on the heavy wooden bar and looked to Verne for reassurance. The ranger nodded sagely, drawing a sprig of holly from a pouch on his chest. Sonny swallowed hard, and with a quick motion, lifted the bar from its hold, sending the door swinging out toward them, revealing the inside of the tower.

The upper floors had collapsed to create a hollow silo at least thirty feet high, the upper reaches of the room lost in shadow. Dust, rubble and broken glass covered the floor, and old work tables and bookshelves lay strewn across the floor. In the middle of the room was a hulking beast that looked like a mangy bear with an owl's head. As the swinging door collided with the stone wall of the hallway, it raised its large head, eyes trained on the stunned fighter in the doorway. It reared up onto its hind legs and let out a bellowing roar.

Sonny's eyes widened and he quickly tossed aside the heavy wooden bar, drawing his sword and shield. The fighter looked at the hulking form of the creature; it's broad shoulder, wicked claws and razor-sharp beak. He knew that it was unlikely that he could overpower the creature by himself, and so he pivoted to a different strategy. He slammed the hilt of his sword against his shield and yelled, creating as much noise as possible before turning around and sprinting down the hall, shoving Verne to the side, out of view of the door as he ran. The beast growled, dropped to all fours and took off after the fighter, its huge body taking up nearly the entire hallway. Verne watched as both figures rushed past him, the force and speed of their movement slamming the wizened elf against the wall as he went.

Sonny and the owlbear charged through the hobgoblin barracks, Sonny leaping over the sprawled cots before the owlbear smashed through them. As they rounded the corner, passing King Grol’s quarters, Peri drew back the curtain, curious what was going on, but as he passed, Sonny threw it closed again, shouting, “C’mon, ya overgrown barn owl, I've seen slugs faster’n you!” The owlbear roared, drawing closer to the fighter with each heavy footfall. 

Finally, Sonny burst into the northern tower, the sunlight from the torn canvas seeping into the room. At that moment, the owlbear finally closed the distance, slamming a heavy shoulder into the fighter's back that sent him tumbling forward into the room. He turned over twice, landing on his back with his legs hanging over his head. From his upside-down vantage point, Sonny watched in horror as the hulking beast rose onto its hindquarters again, stomping towards the young warrior. Sonny closed his eyes, bracing for the owlbears claws to tear into him, but they never came. He chanced an eye open and saw the beast staring out at the field beyond the northern entrance. It dropped back down to all fours, having forgotten entirely about Sonny as it quickly trotted down the passage and out to its freedom. Sonny righted himself, pulling into a seated position as he watched the beast trundle off into the distance. “A beautiful sight, isn't it?” Verne's voice startled Sonny, the elf seeming to appear out of thin air, holding out a hand which the fighter graciously took. 

“Something like that,” Sonny sighed, nursing a set of increasingly sore ribs.

“Are you hurt?” Verne asked, pulling out a handful of goodberries.

“Nah, I’m alright,” Sonny stretched his back. “Just a bit sore. Not everyday you do a hundred meter dash and a gymnastics routine at the same time.”

Verne laughed, “You don’t give yourself enough credit, my friend. You can be ‘the funny one’ too, sometimes.”

Sonny cocked an eyebrow, “I’m sorry?”

Seeing the fighter’s confusion, the elf shook his head, “My apologies- it was in reference to something you said earlier. I sometimes forget that moments are further apart for the rest of you.”

“Gotcha.” the fighter said, dusting off his armor. “So, what do you say? We good to head back?”

“Actually, there was something I’d like the rest of you to see.” Verne smiled as he turned and walked down the hall toward King Grol’s quarters. When he arrived, he gathered the others, and after filling them in on what had transpired, had Sonny carry Gundren as they all walked down to the southern tower. Once inside, the ranger pointed to an elevated platform, upon which was a barely visible wooden chest. Peri climbed up the rock wall, grabbing the chest and tossing it down to Verne, who set it gently on the ground before opening it. Inside were several coins, a potion of healing, and two spell scrolls. Rose immediately snatched them both up, but upon looking them over, realized she couldn’t read them.

“That’s strange,” she grumbled. “Even the most complicated of spell scrolls will at least tell you what they are.”

Peri craned their neck curiously, looking at the inscription along the side. “Ooh, I can help!” they cried. “This one says ‘silence’ and that one says ‘revivify’- they’re just written in celestial.”

“You read celestial?” Rose furrowed her brow, suspiciously.

“Who doesn’t?” Peri shrugged. “It’s what all the ancient holy texts are written in back at the temple.”

“Well then, I suppose these belong to you,” Rose sighed, reluctantly handing the scrolls over to Peri, who smiled sympathetically.

“Don’t worry, Rosie, I’m sure we’ll find some more for you if we keep looking.” Peri patted the witch on the arm.

“Yeah, in the meantime you’ll just have to be satisfied with four-ninths of the magic items we got from the Redbrand hideout.” Viola rolled her eyes as she packed away the coins from the chest. Rose said nothing, but scowled at the halfling. Picking up the potion of healing, Viola continued, “We actually found a few more of these in King Grol’s room. Turns out the guy had a stash in his mattress. Can you believe that? How cliche can you get?”

“Where do you keep your coins?” Peri asked, curiously.

“A lady never tells, my feline friend,” the rogue winked. “Back on topic though, we also found this-’ she pulled out a faded piece of parchment with a detailed image of a mountain region with several locations marked in black ink.

“It’s the map to Wave Echo Cave,” Rose said matter-of-factly. “This is why the Black Spider had the goblins take Gundren.”

“So now that we’ve taken it back, have we painted an even bigger target on him?” Sonny asked, resigned.

“If so, that is all the more reason to get him back to Phandalin as quickly as possible.” Verne stated. The others nodded, gathering up their treasure and heading back the way they came, but when they arrived at the hobgoblin barracks, they heard voices coming from the direction of King Grol’s room.

“-heard him roar like that. Would have come faster if not for Lhupo and that stupid ‘pet’ of his.”

The party heard the sound of a curtain being drawn and a shout of surprise, followed by orders to fan out and find any intruders. To the west was an open door leading to a dark room that had been closed the last time the party had come through. Assuming the goblins had come through that way and would be unlikely to backtrack, they ran through as quickly and quietly as they could.

Chapter 6.6: Lathander's Light

The room beyond the door was dark, having no exterior light other than the open door leading back to the hobgoblin barracks. When they'd entered a ways in, Peri held up their mace, illuminating it with light and revealing a high, narrow hall that looked as if it might have been part of a shrine or chapel at one time. Angelic figures were sculpted along the room's upper reaches, looking down on the floor below. To the north, heavy curtains blocked a matching pair of archways, and between those archways was a cracked, but ornately carved stone brazier.

"Wow," Peri gasped, looking at the smudged iconography and cracked stone. "This is awful."

"Yeah, the rest of the castle has been so plush, what could have happened?" Viola rolled her eyes.

"You don't understand," they frowned. "I can't leave it like this. I have a responsibility as a priest of Lathander."

"You've got to be kidding me," the halfling moaned, rubbing her temples. "Why do all of you insist on taking these stupid titles and side jobs while we're literally being chased by murderous hobgoblins?"

"It won't take long," Peri mumbled, wringing their paws. "It's one of those 'credit for trying' things, so I just need to fix it up a little, and we can go."

"Ugh, fine!" Viola hissed. "But after that, we are gone, you hear me? I don't care if Sonny's a knight in the order of the corn cob or if Rose has some fairy princess whatever-the-hell going on that she has to take care of- we are leaving."

"Order of the corn cob?" Sonny asked, amused.

"Shut up and clean, already," Viola grumbled, stomping over to a statue and slapping the dust off of it. The others quickly set to various tasks helping Peri in their efforts to restore the shrine. Rose and Verne used low-level magic to remove dirt and grime from the images on the wall, revealing the forms of Oghma, god of knowledge, Mystra, goddess of magic, Tymora, goddess of luck, and of course Lathander, god of the dawn. Peri walked up to the stone brazier and magically mended it, clasping their paws together, closing their eyes and saying a short prayer after they had finished. Sonny, who still held Gundren on his shoulder, opted to hang back and watch the door, in case the hobgoblins returned. 

So trained were his eyes on the door, however, that he didn't notice the slithering, tentacled creature that lurked in the shadows above. It sat, perched on a ledge, looking down at the party as they worked, carefully selecting its prey before settling on Peri, who still knelt at the stone brazier. Coiling its long form on the perch, it widened its jaws before springing down, wrapping its tentacles around the cleric as it plunged its teeth into their shoulder. Peri let out a muffled yell, the tentacles of the monster slowly crushing the poor tabaxi as they desperately tried to claw themself free.

Sonny rushed forward, trying to pull the creature off of them, but found its skin to be too slippery to grab a hold of. In their panic, Peri raked the creature’s skin with their claws, yowling loudly as they swung around. Taking aim, Rose shot a fire bolt at the creature, singing its skin, but doing little to belay its attack.

Viola drew her swords and approached the creature, but due to Peri’s erratic movement, she couldn’t find a suitable opening. “Stop squirming, fuzzball, I don’t want to hit you by accident.” she growled. The creature tightened its grip, and Peri screamed, “Ahhh, just get it off me already!”

Verne drew his bow, taking aim at the creature, but stayed his hand, fearing he may strike Peri by accident. “My friend, I fear you must extricate yourself from this creature, or we can not fight it.” 

“Good idea,” the poor tabaxi sobbed, “why didn’t I think of that?” Peri and Sonny both tried their best to remove the slimy beast, but the harder they pulled, the tighter the creature seemed to squeeze. 

“Stand aside, Sonny.” Rose shouted, drawing her wand. With a flick of her wrist, she sent three magic missiles careening into the creature, but despite their impact, the creature persisted, damaged though it was. “Damn, that thing’s resilient.” the witch muttered under her breath.

Viola moved forward, positioning herself behind Sonny and waiting for the creature to turn. As it turned its beaked face in the direction the magical attack had come from, Viola sprung forward, inserting both her short sword and scimitar between it and Peri. With a dexterous flick of both wrists, she swung both swords upwards, slicing through the creature's body and dropping it to the floor in three pieces.

Before they could celebrate their victory however, a high, raspy voice shouted, “Noooo! How dare you hurt my precious pet- Maglubiyet damn you!” The party turned to find three goblins, each wearing a filthy robe over leather armor, charging from a shrine that had previously been covered by a curtain. 

Peri shakily rose to their feet and clenched their fists. “Are you the priest who tends this shrine?” they coughed.

“I am- not that it's any of your business.” the goblin sneered. He made a show of holding up his hand and closing his eyes, swaying on his feet before proclaiming: “Maglubiyet tells me you are wicked, and must be destroyed. And what Maglubiyet commands, Lhupo does. Smite the heretics, my acolytes!” the goblin pointed with a gnarled finger and the two other robed goblins drew shortbows, quickly knocking arrows and firing at the party.

Sonny threw up his shield, deflecting a shot. He approached the nearest goblin in an attempt to bash them with the shield while it was raised, but found that he couldn’t move effectively while still carrying Gundren. The goblins easily avoided his strike, sneering as they drew more arrows.

Peri drew their holy symbol, raising their paw to the image of Lathander on the ceiling before letting loose a burst of sacred flame that scorched the robes of the goblin priest. The goblin scrambled to swat the flames, its eyes wide in panic, completely unaware of the fire bolt Rose shot at him until it burst on contact, killing him.

Viola ran up to one of the remaining goblins, stabbing in quickly with her short sword. As she pivoted to follow up with her scimitar, however, the goblin staggered back, tripping on its robes and falling just under the deadly swing. In response, the goblin dropped its shortbow, springing to its feet and lunging forward with a dagger from its hip, barely nicking the halfling’s arm. Verne fired an arrow at the goblin, piercing it in the chest before knocking another and launching directly between the eyes of the final foe. Their enemies defeated, Peri stood over the burning remains of the goblin priest and closed their eyes. “May the light of the land beyond illuminate the darkness in your soul.”

They padded past the dead goblins and through the archway into the shrine proper. A stone altar stood in the middle of the room, covered with bloodstained black cloth. Golden ritual implements- a chalice, a knife and a censer- were carefully arranged on top of the altar. Peri gathered these and placed them in their pack, before grabbing the bloodstained cloth, pulling it off and throwing it to the floor, revealing a series of intricate etchings along the stone surface of the altar. These depicted images of the same gods shown in the dark hall, and when Peri found the image of Lathander, they pressed their paw against it and smiled. “Till the next dawn comes…” they whispered, closing their eyes, and for a moment, Peri felt a warmth emanate from the stone, sending a ripple through their skin that made their fur stand on end. 

Viola's call brought the cleric back down to earth, “Alright, kitty, you've had your spiritual journey, now let's get outta here before more goblins show up, huh?”

“Yeah, ok,” Peri said, pulling their pack back onto their shoulders. With one last look at the stone altar, Peri turned back to their friends and bounded out of the dark shrine.

Chapter 6.7: Escape From Cragmaw Castle

Viola slowly pushed open the door to the dark hall, peeking into the foyer as she did. The rogue's eyes darted side-to-side- making sure that the coast was clear before the party made their escape. It was fortunate that she did so, as her scan of the area revealed a thin tripwire connected to linchpins hidden in the ruined ceiling. Viola slinked through the door and quickly disabled the trap, storing it in her pack for later. 

Their path unobstructed, the party made their way carefully through the piles of rubble, across the foyer and out the front door. For a moment, it seemed like their adventure at Cragmaw Castle was over, but at that moment, from out of the brush came a hobgoblin hunting party: three hobgoblins and two wolves, apparently returned from a successful hunt. Upon seeing the party, the hobgoblin at the front held up his hand to stop the others.

"Well, well, well," the hobgoblin sneered, flashing cracked yellow teeth. "Seems like the hunt continues, eh boys? Got a pack of rats sniffing around the castle." The other hobgoblins sneered, shaking two bloody sacks at the party.

Verne took a deep breath and stepped forward, "Gentlemen, I apologize for the intrusion. We mean no disrespect, and should you give us leave, we will gladly be on our way."

"Oh, but why the rush, little rabbit?" The hobgoblin folded his arms, amused. "We just want to play with you and your friends here."

"We've already 'played' plenty with your boss." Viola boasted. "Left that flea-ridden bastard dead in the dirt. And if you don't want to join him, you'll get out of our way."

"What're you on about?" The hobgoblin's sneer faded, replaced by a look of anger and confusion. "You expect me to believe you killed King Grol?"

At that moment, the hobgoblins who had been patrolling the castle appeared in the doorway behind the party, gasping for air in a panic. Seeing the hobgoblin one of them called out, "Targor! These intruders- they killed King Grol. They killed everybody!"

The lead hobgoblin, apparently named 'Targor' snarled. "So, the rabbits have some bite, do they? Well, what's one more dead elf, eh boys?" The two hobgoblins at his side laughed, upturning their sacks to reveal two severed elf heads, seeping blood onto the ground. Verne's back tensed, and a look of fury flashed across the elf's face.

"My friends," the ranger said, his voice strained, "I fear I must make one more detour before we take our leave of this place."

"We're with you," Sonny said, slamming his fist against his shield.

The others drew their weapons, and in an instant, all erupted into chaos.

Verne moved first, firing off two arrows. The first shot was aimed at Targor, who deflected it easily, but his fellow was not so lucky, the arrow piercing into his shoulder.

Peri quickly followed, raising their holy symbol and sending out a pulse of divine light that empowered Sonny, Verne and Viola.

Rose went next, turning to the four hobgoblins standing on the castle steps. She withdrew her component pouch, pulled out a fistful of rose petals and sent them flying in a swirl of pink mist. Three of the hobgoblins slumped forward, two of them falling to the ground unconscious.

Next came Sonny, who stooped down, gently laying Gundren on the ground before drawing his sword and sprinting at the hunting party. The fighter swung his sword in a long arc clanging loudly against the blade of Targor, who parried his first strike. Following the momentum of the stroke, Sonny turned and struck again, scoring a gash across the hobgoblin's sword arm. Targor gritted his teeth and snarled, "You'll regret that, human. Kill him, boys!"

On Targor's command, one of the nearby hobgoblins rushed forward and slashed. Sonny, embroiled in battle with Targor, could do nothing as the blade raked across his back, blood seeping from the fresh wound. The second hobgoblin attempted to follow up with a strike of its own, but the fighter, now aware of the threats around him, threw up his shield, batting away the sword strike and fending off a lunge from one of the wolves.

Seeing the dire situation forming around Sonny, Viola sprinted over to the fighter. She ducked between his legs before springing out at the wolf, piercing her short sword through its skull before turning and nearly slicing the hamstring of the hobgoblin who'd struck Sonny's back.

Over by the stairs, the hobgoblin who'd resisted Rose's sleep spell drew a longbow from their shoulder and fired an arrow at the witch, who deflected the shot with a shimmering arcane shield.

Back in the scrum, the second wolf leaped at Sonny, clamping its jaws around his iron greaves, but not with enough force to pierce it. The fighter kicked his leg free of the wolf, sending it sprawling in the dirt. Targor, not expecting such resistance from the young warrior, tightened his grip on his sword and stepped in with a two-handed thrust that the fighter side-stepped, but not before the hobgoblin flicked up his wrists, clipping the fighter under the arm holding his shield. Sonny hissed in pain, bringing a wicked smile to Targor's face as he smiled, tauntingly.

Verne drew two more arrows, but in the tight quarters and rapid movement, was unable to properly aim his shots, sending two shots spiraling through the air.

Peri, seeing all of the enemies surrounding Sonny, grabbed their holy symbol and shouted a healing word knitting the fighter's wounds on his back and side before firing a burst of sacred flame that blinded Targor, sending him stumbling back from the fray. Taking advantage of the opening, Sonny lunged forward, running the hobgoblin through the chest before kicking him to the ground, collapsing in a pool of his own blood.

Behind them, Rose followed with a magical burst of her own, sending a slew of magic missiles at the two hobgoblins on the steps, obliterating one and knocking the other back several feet. In response, the hobgoblin drew its bow once more, waiting for the precise moment that the witch's arcane shield disappeared before firing an arrow that landed in the witch's right arm. Rose gritted her teeth, desperately trying to maintain focus on her sleep charm. She knew that they could win, so long as they kept the enemies' numbers as low as they could be. And so, drawing upon all her focus and training, the witch maintained.

In retaliation for killing their leader, the hobgoblins rushed Sonny, who deflected one sword stroke with a shield and parried the other with his sword. Viola, wanting to take advantage of the hobgoblin's distraction, tried to attack the one who was engaged with Sonny's shield, but found it difficult to navigate the large, stomping feet while avoiding the feral wolf, who bit into her arm, dragging her away from the remaining hobgoblins. With Viola and the wolf removed from the fray, Verne was able to get a clearer shot, felling one of the hobgoblins with an arrow through the chest. Immediately behind Verne, Rose fired off a fire bolt, finally putting an end to the threat of the hobgoblins in the castle entrance.

Meanwhile, Sonny and the last remaining hobgoblin continued their brawl, their swords clashing with a sonorous clang of steel. The young warrior held the advantage in size and strength, but the hobgoblin's technique was well-honed, nearly flawless. He matched Sonny's heavy blows with deflective grace and speed. Viola, hoping to tip the scales in Sonny's favor, slashed through the wolf's jaws, freeing herself before diving at the hobgoblin's legs, attempting to cut him down at the knees, but unfortunately, the hobgoblin was too quick, side-stepping her efforts while still applying pressure over the top towards Sonny. The two fighters pivoted around each other, the guards of their swords in a deadlock until Sonny, with one last surge of strength, shoved the hobgoblin back, giving Verne the opening he needed to let loose an arrow that pierced the hobgoblin between the eyes, bringing the battle to an end.

The party gathered around Gundren, and Sonny gently lifted the dwarf, placing him on his shoulder once more. “The day is won,” Verne sighed, stowing his bow on his shoulder. The others didn't reply, but nodded their agreement, exhaustion hampering their ability to do anything but walk. With their ally secured, and their enemies defeated, the party began the long trek back to Phandalin.