@ The Unnamed Party

Beginnings

The adventure began when Birdman, Elbereth, Lonely, Harlow, Zander, Tor, Garthax, and Greg met in the Lucky Gryphon Tavern (also commonly known as Quincy’s Tavern) in Neverwinter. They had all been hired by one Gundren Rockseeker, a dwarf who claimed he was onto “something big” and needed them to transport a cart full of supplies from Neverwinter to the small town of Phandalin, to the southeast. The promised payment was gold on arrival, and an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of this “something big.”

Gundren left a day prior to the party beginning their adventure, with his hired protection, a man named Sildar Hallwinter, to arrive early and take care of some business before the party arrived.

As the party traveled, they found the ruins of an old inn on the road between Neverwinter and Waterdeep. Here is where they first met a goose with a distinctive band of black feathers around its neck. It promptly began digging around in Loney Redbeard’s pack, trying to steal something, but ended up not doing so. Harlow produced a kazoo, and proceeded to bond with Goose thanks to mutual honking.

Cragmaw Hideout

The party discovered Gundren and Sildar’s horses dead in the road, forming a roadblock that goblins used to ambush them. Tracing the goblins’ path back to their hideout on the outskirts of the Neverwinter Woods, they quickly subdued Gurg, a lookout, and upon both pain of death and the promise of free dental, convinced him to give up the rest of the goblins.

Gurg informed them that they were the Cragmaw Goblins, a tribe of goblins that filed their teeth down into points, hence both the name and the desire for better dental care. Their boss had instructed them to capture a dwarf matching Gundren’s description, and send him and any maps he may have been carrying onto the Castle. Gurg didn’t know where the castle was, only that it was deeper in the woods.

The party set up an ambush and dispatched most of the rest of the goblins, and rescued Sildar, who had been held captive in the cave. Sildar explained that what Gundren and the other Rockseeker brothers had found was the legendary Wave Echo Cave.

More than five hundred years ago, clans of dwarves and gnomes made an agreement known as the Phandelver’s Pact, by which they would share a rich mine in a wondrous cavern known as Wave Echo Cave. In addition to its mineral wealth, the mine contained great magical power. Human spellcasters allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into a great forge (called the Forge of Spells), where magic items could be crafted. Times were good, and the nearby settlement of Phandalin prospered as well. But then disaster struck when orcs swept through the North and laid waste to all in their path.

A powerful force of orcs reinforced by evil mercenary wizards attacked Wave Echo Cave to seize its riches and magic treasures. Human wizards fought alongside their dwarf and gnome allies to defend the Forge of Spells, and the ensuing spell battle destroyed much of the cavern. Few survived the cave-ins and tremors, and the location of Wave Echo Cave was lost.

That is, until the Rockseeker brothers found it, according to Sildar. He requested an escort the rest of the way to Phandalin, and promised payment on arrival, however the main payment for the original task was going to come from Gundren, wherever he was.

Meanwhile, critically, Tor and Garthax had stayed behind with the cart, and Goose came up to bother them. A well placed shot from Tor, and Goose fell, and they enjoyed a lovely late lunch of gooseflesh.

Arrival at Phandalin

Continuing to Phandalin, the party lodged at the Stonehill Inn, and participated in the Dragon Flagon Challenge. No one succeeded that first night, but several people, especially Zander, got quite sloshed. I believe Garthax saw Goose once again and took him out.

The next morning, Garthax and Zander woke up late. The rest of the party proceeded to explore the town. Sildar paid what he promised, and requested that the group investigate the Redbrand Ruffians, based out of the old destroyed Tresendar Manor. His friend Iarno Albrek had been sent to investigate them, but hadn’t been heard from in a month.

Other party members met Halia Thornton at the Phandalin Miner’s Exchange. She introduced them to Mok, a shapeshifting rogue, and also asked them to take care of the leader of the Redbrands, a man going by the name Glasstaff. If he was taken care of, and any documents he had in his possession or on his desk were brought to her, she would pay the party handsomely.

Looking for healing potions, the party was directed to the Shrine of Luck, dedicated to the goddess of luck, Tymora. Sister Garaele had a few, and offered to give the party several more for free if they would help her out. She gave the party a silver comb, and asked them to take it to a banshee named Agatha near the town of Conyberry. She hoped that if presented with the gift, Agatha would be willing to give the party information on the location of a spellbook belonging to a legendary mage named Bowgentle. The party accepted the comb and has yet to make this journey.

Tresendar Manor Ruins

During their travels, the group was accosted by the Redbrands. Swiftly dealing with them, the party went to the Sleeping Giant Taphouse, where the ruffians seemed to frequent, and proceeded to get into a scrap that ended with the entire Taphouse burning to the ground.

Carp Alderleaf, the young halfling son of the local farmer, guided the party to a secret tunnel (SECRET TUNNEL!) leading into the basement of the Tresendar Manor.

The first creature that the party laid eyes on was a Nothic, a one-eyed humanoid aberration that poked around in their minds and whispered vague secrets to the group that had yet to be revealed (Hey guess what I don’t remember everything the Nothic taunted people with so that’s gonna be on all y’all to remember). The Nothic was slain as he was bringing forth a box with some treasures, intending to trade it to the party for something that was quickly forgotten by the group.

The party split and explored, one group quickly discovering Glasstaff, also known as Iarno Albrek, and knocked him unconscious and tied him up. Among his papers was a message written to him, warning him that the party was coming into town, and instructing Iarno to deal with them and ensure any dwarven maps in their possession were delivered to this strange entity. The message was signed only with a drawing of a large spider.

Continuing to explore, the party regrouped (still missing Zander, Garthax staying behind to nurse a headache due to being knocked unconsious, Mok staying behind to “cover the exit” and totally not try to find more loot from the poker game they had broken up and/or attempt to rob Garthax), and proceeded to explore and continue to eliminate Redbrands, having heard from the Nothic that they had some prisoners. War Crimes were very explicitly not committed because formal war had not been declared and none of the party had ascribed to any sort of convention, and Geneva is a place in a different realm of existence.

The party discovered Goose at the bottom of a pit trap, and he was swiftly dispatched by Birdman again. Harlow, however, heard a voice reassuring her that Goose would be back soon enough. They entered a crypt and defeated several undead within, and opened a door to the prison area, whereupon one of the prisoners, a young human woman of 18, screamed “They know you’re coming, it’s a trap!”

The Rest Of The Party Catches Up

Garthax woke up fairly early, and met Goose. He promptly killed him, and then went downstairs and began to follow the party’s trail. And met Goose again. And killed him again, whereupon the previous corpse of Goose began to fade from existence. A little weirded out, he followed the party and eventually stayed behind to nurse some headaches from previous fights, accompanied by Mok.

Zander woke up much later, and proceeded to follow the party’s footsteps, learning about how the local woodcarver, Thel Drendar, had stood up to the Redbrands for accosting his daughter, and was murdered for his trouble. It was reported that Thel’s body had been taken into the Manor, along with his still living family; wife Mirna, his 18 year old daughter, Nilsa, and his son, 13 year old Nars.

Zander arrived at the location of the dead Nothic, and a small humanoid resembling a cross between a gnome and a halfling decided to get a good laugh out of it. Tasslehoff Burrfoot the 12th had appeared in the manor from his own world after fiddling with some gizmo, and was going to make the most of it. Using illusion magic, he made it appear as if the Nothic’s spirit or soul was rising and attempting to attack Zander.

Once things calmed down, the pair made their introductions, and found Garthax and Mok. Regrouping, the Other Half went to catch up with the party and check rooms that hadn’t been checked yet. Behind one, they found two bugbears taunting and teasing a goblin, who promptly fainted when the Other Half opened the door. Garthax threw Tasslehoff into the fray, and Zander followed quickly of his own accord. Swiftly, however, the fight began to turn against our heroes.

A voice rang out from the corner, stating that things were getting out of hand, and it was time for her to step in. Appearing from invisibility came a red tiefling, with black hair and curled ram’s horns, wearing what could only be described as the Party City version of cleric’s robes. She introduced herself as Nancy, and proceeded to heal the party from a scroll she carried, and with some magic she possessed took out the remaining hostiles.

She informed the group that there was someone that had a vested interest in seeing the party succeed, and she’d been sent by “the Boss” to make sure things didn’t go screwy before they got where they needed to be. She turned invisible again, promising that she’d be around to keep tabs on the group.

The group proceeded to hire the goblin, named Droop, and sent him to sit with Gurg outside.

Moving forward, the group quickly began to catch up to the rest of the Party. Nancy, still invisible, gave Tasslehoff the gizmo he’d had prior to appearing, which caused him to vanish once more. The two groups reunited right as Nilsa’s warning rang out.

Things Get Weird(er)

At that moment, time seemed to freeze. A horrendous screeching sound filled the air, and Garthax, Birdman, Elbereth, and Greg vanished, and in their place appeared clear octahedron gems with an inky black liquid inside. Simultaneously, three additional octahedral gems with inky liquid inside appeared, and in a flash became three new people. A very pale female human, a female fairy, and a female elf unlike any the rest of the party had seen (Soon the group would know them as Gengen-Wer, Marin, and Faylen, respectively).

The two Redbrands that were waiting to ambush the party quickly surrendered when they saw exactly how many people they were trying to ambush. The party freed the prisoners and pushed the Redbrands into a cell,and were discussing what to do next and trying to figure out what the heck just happened and who these new people were.

That’s when the honking started.

Swarming in came an army of clowns, that proceeded to herd the group into the cell, with a sinister rhyme that was familiar to Tor.

Giggle and laugh, or scream and run! Today’s the day, unless you’re the one You’re going to die, but if you give us a pun, You’ll live to work for Doctor Chucklefun!

A portly male elf clown entered in, and seemed to take great delight in the group’s attempts at puns, with all the rest of the clowns screeching in demonic laughter as they did so. Eventually, six more gnome clowns ran in carrying a Portable Hole, set it up, and the true Doctor Chucklefun entered in, a tall, thin elf with slicked back green hair and a pristine purple suit.

After taunting the party some, talking about how “The Game” was starting to get interesting now, Tor broke free and made a vow, declaring that he would take power and protect the world from people like Doctor Chucklefun by ruling it in opposition. Power surged through him as his Paladin vow took effect, and Tor took out several of the clowns, their corpses bleeding black ichor.

Chucklefun decided to cut his losses, had his crew forcibly convert the two Redbrands into members of his troupe by feeding them some elixir (a bottle of this liquid known as “Thrill-Joy” he tossed to Mok who had been hiding in the crowd, encouraging him to truly join them), and proceeded to take Nars Drendar and abscond through the portable hole and have his crew abscond, telling the party that they could find him at the Thundertree ruins if they wanted. The clowns quickly left, with little trace.

Goose returned when Harlow called for him, helping get the party organized, and Zander found a Hither-Thither staff in the aftermath, then promptly lost track of it to Gengen’s sticky fingers. A few of the Space Clowns’ ray guns were stolen as well.

A Midwinter’s Carol

The group calmed down, and proceeded to deliver Iarno to Sildar Hallwinter, who was very disappointed with the choices his friend had made, and told the group he would have to deliver him to Neverwinter for questioning and judgment later. Lonely discovered that four gold was missing from his purse, and embraced his rage. The party got paid, and proceeded to deliver the goods to Halia Thornton at the Miner’s Exchange as well. Another octahedral gem appeared, this time bearing Paul, a paladin claiming to serve the One True God, and Mok vanished and a gem took his place

And that’s when Merrin found the Deck of Many Things, just prior to bed. Declaring that she would pull two cards, the first summoned an Avatar of Death that she had to defeat on her own. The second gave her increased vitality (mechanically, in the form of a +2 to one of her stats).

Lonely found a similar magic deck, and pocketed it, knowing the danger it could pose.

That night, Lonely, Harlow, Gengen, Garthax (who briefly returned), and Tor were woken up by Goose, to discovered that they could understand him, and had been all transformed into geese!

Goose informed them that they had been made honorary members of the Goosefeathers Crime Family, serving the Honkfather, and that they were on a critical mission. Their mortal enemy, the Quackuza, led by the Don, had somehow gained the ability to travel through time, and the Don’s three Lieutenants (who wanted to be called Jet, Turbo, and Rebel, but everyone just called them by their given names, Hubert, Dewford, and Lewis) were using this ability to attempt to make geese extinct by making them the only traditional meal for Midwinter’s Day.

Goose had hijacked a sleigh and nine reindeer from a jolly old elf who totally didn’t need it that night, and had Lonely outfit it with an Aetherflux Capacitator he had been given by the Goose Mother, and proceeded to trail the ducks of the Quackuza through time. They arrived in Waterdeep on a Midwinter’s Eve several years ago, and proceeded to traumatize a young Tor as they began battle with the Quackuza. They chased the quackers through time again, and eventually faced down with them on a barren, cold landscape, a dark future for Toril, filled with crystal vines.

Targeting the Aetherflux Capacitators that Huey, Dewey, and Louie were wearing on their back to augment their abilities, the party caused them to explode in a blast of white light…

And then they all woke up back in Phandalin, as their normal selves, and not geese. However, Harlow had a note and a pendant from Goose thanking her for their help.

Shenanigans

First, Tor convinced Marin to sell him a pull from the Deck of Many Things, and he gained two wishes. The party met the magic item salesman Barnaby Berenstien (or is it Bearnstien?), and proceeded to buy several items, including GunJar, the Sentient Cloak, who became Merrin’s best friend. Gengen also got Bagnes, the Bag of Keeping, a sentient bag of holding that required polite manners to retrieve items from it. Paul convinced Lonely to sell him a pull, and the entire party was teleported into a minotaur’s maze. Traveling through the maze and defeating the creatures quickly, they returned to find the area in front of the Stonehill Inn in Phandalin had become a wild magic area from all the powerful magic being used in the vicinity.

Lonely left and attempted to destroy the deck he had on a shrine to his god, but the cards just appeared back in his bag. During which attempts, Tor found a totally cursed totally uncursed ring.

Regrouping, the party began to make plans for where they needed to go next. Paul convinced Marin to sell him another pull, but Marin made the stipulation that they would both share in the effects. Pulling the Void, Paul and Marin’s souls vacated their bodies, appearing to enter similar clear octahedrons to the ones seen before (and that a few members of the party were carrying), and flew off towards the northwest, leaving Paul and Marin comatose. Getting a cart and a donkey, and pulling more supplies together, the party set off toward Neverwinter and the direction their associate’s souls left.

The Road to Neverwinter

As they traveled, they encountered a man painting landscapes who looked remarkably similar to Bob Ross, who offered to paint the group into his paintings. Noticing that one painting had Merrin and Paul in it, and every figure in these painting had an expression of agony and terror on their faces, the party entered combat. Upon destroying the painting, Marin and Paul’s souls were restored, and they swiftly destroyed Bob the Spined Devil’s form and banished him back to the Nine Hells.

As they continued on, and neared some ash flow from Mount Hotenow, which had erupted 30 years earlier, Gengen began acting strangely, a halo of that static the group had seen when party members appeared and disappeared around her head, and she eventually attacked Tor.

Gengen was no match on her own for the full force of the party against her, and was killed violently, Tor splitting her upper torso in half vertically. As she died, her repressed memories fed back into the rest of the party, and they witnessed happy goose Gengen be driven into a vicious frenzy by another goose, one wearing clown makeup, and kill her parents.

Gengen’s body landed in a pile of ash, which instead of dissipating began to flow into her corpse, pulling her body back together. Eventually she sat back up, and told the party they could call her Athanasia.

NPCs

• Quincy - Owner and operator of the Lucky Gryphon Tavern, known colloquially as Quincy’s Tavern. He introduced the party to Gundren Rockseeker and sent them on their way.
• Gundren Rockseeker - The dwarf who claims to have found the legendary Wave Echo Cave with his brothers and initially hired the party. He was kidnapped by the Cragmaw Goblins, and taken to their castle somewhere in Neverwinter Wood, together with the map he had.
• Sildar Hallwinter - A human warrior who is an agent of the Lord’s Alliance. Having business in Phandalin himself, he agreed to be Gundren’s bodyguard on the trip from Neverwinter to Phandalin. It didn’t go well, and the party rescued him from the Cragmaw Goblins’ hideout near the Triboar Trail. He’s set up in Phandalin’s Townmaster’s Hall, trying to get things sorted out there before bringing Iarno Albrek back to Neverwinter for trial.
• Goose - A goose that has taken a liking to some members of the party. Apparently can come back if he dies. Also apparently an agent of the Honkfather and the Goosefeathers Crime Family???
• Elmar Barthen - Runs Barthen’s Provisions, the General Store in Phandalin.
• Linene Graywind - Operator of the Lionshield Coster in Phandalin, that sells weapons and armor. Gave the party some discounts because they recovered some of the shipment intended for the Coster from the Cragmaw Goblins.
• Halia Thornton - Operates the Phandalin Miner’s Exchange. Also seems to have some “friends” in low places. Asked the party to “take care of” the leader of the Redbrands, Glasstaff, whoever that may be and however they might interpret that, and bring any documents in his possession to her. The party did so.
• Sister Garaele - Elven acolyte of Tymora, and member of the Harpers. Asked the party to take a silver comb to a banshee named Agatha near the town of Conyberry, and ask the banshee about the whereabouts of a spellbook belonging to a mage named Bowgentle. She promised several potions of healing and 500 gold for this quest.
• Harbin Wester - Townmaster of Phandalin. Completely useless in the face of the Redbrands, Sildar has basically taken over running the town until he whips Harbin back into shape.
• Iarno Albrek - “Glasstaff” - Former agent of the Lord’s Alliance, sent to Phandalin to check on them. Vanished into the Tresendar Manor and started the Redbrands. A note giving him instructions was found among his things, signed by a drawing of a black spider.
• Quelline Alderleaf - Halfling woman who runs Alderleaf Farm with her son, Carp. Carp showed the party the secret tunnel (SECRET TUNNEL!!!) into the Tresendar Manor. Lonely has bought several pounds of barley and rice from her.
• Gurg - Former Cragmaw Goblin hired by the group with the promise of free dental. Apparently wasn’t a big fan of them in general, since he assisted in their murder.
• Droop - Another goblin hired from the Cragmaws with a dental promise. Was clearly getting bullied when found.
• Daren Edermath - Former adventurer, retired after he took an arrow to the knee. Runs Edermath Orchard in Phandalin. Asked the party to investigate people digging for Netherese ruins by the Old Owl Well east of Phandalin.
• Nancy - Mysterious tiefling woman who was apparently sent to “watch over” the party by a mysterious benefactor.
• Doctor Chucklefun - Evil space clown. Was Tor’s former employer (not by Tor’s choice). Actively engaged in the slave trade, kidnapped a kid… Who knows what else?
• Reidoth the Druid - An apparently knowledgeable druid and member of the Emerald Enclave. Said to be investigating ash zombies and a dragon up at the ruins of Thundertree.
• Thel Drendar - Local woodcarver murdered by the Redbrands for getting “uppity” (read: defending the honor of his wife and daughter).
• Mirna Drendar - Widow of Thel Drendar. Was captured by the Redbrands to be sold as a slave, freed by the party along with her daughter, Nilsa, and her son, Nars. Told the party of the location of an emerald necklace in Thundertree that they could have as thanks, especially so if they rescued her son from Doctor Chucklefun.
• Nilsa Drendar - 18 year old daughter of Thel and Mirna. Attempted to warn the party of a Redbrand ambush. The ambush was only two people attempting to ambush like, 8 adventurers, but good on her for looking out.
• Nars Drendar - 13 year old son of Thel and Mirna. Was captured with his sister and mom by the Redbrands. Freed by the party, only to get kidnapped by Doctor Chucklefun. Chucklefun said he’d be at the ruins of Thundertree, for however much you can trust an evil space clown.