The human spellcaster steps back from the campfire, shifting his hands and muttering something under his breath as three illusory figures of himself appear around him. Shouldering Rissa aside, Hrothgar charge into the midst of the action. He swings his greataxe at the blue-haired female (“Blue Hair”) but misses. He grunts and raises his axe, swinging it a second time, harder, and just missing his target again. The half-orc member of the rival party takes several steps away from the fire, drawing a longbow and nocking two arrows. Drawing back the bowstring, he aims towards Hrothgar and fires. One arrow sinks deep into the dwarf’s shoulder while the other whizzes off harmlessly.
Shaping his magic to avoid the members of his party, Ramarcus casts a sleep spell towards the rival combatants; “Blue Hair” smirks at his effort, commanding the rest of her party: “Get the spellcaster!” In response, Ramarcus hurls a fire bolt towards her, missing her and almost striking Hrothgar. With a look of disdain, Ramarcus retreats deep into the trees around the camp.
The dwarf enemy readies a massive golden trident, jabbing at Hrothgar twice. The trident drives into Hrothgar’s ribs. Hrothgar falls to his knees as the other dwarf withdraws his trident. He looks Hrothgar in the eyes. “Sorry, friend,” he says in a sarcastic tone as Hrothgar falls face first to the ground. The rival steps away, peering into the woods where Ramarcus retreated.
“Blue Hair” starts to step towards the trees, avoiding opportunistic strikes from Sister Poppy and Rissa. Rakhi lunges towards his enemy, sinking his teeth into her calf and dragging her to the ground as she cries out in pain and curses at the wolf. Rissa raises her shortsword and drives it into “Blue Hair,” gashing her arm as she struggles to free herself from Rakhi. Rakhi releases his victim for a moment then lunges again, grasping the blue-haired lady’s ankle in his jaws, viciously snarling and shaking his head in an attempt to render the woman immobile.
Stepping between “Blue Hair” and “Red Hair,” Qurion shouts another word of radiance, burning both of the enemies with his divine power. Sister Poppy drinks a potion of healing, drops the empty bottle, and swings at the blue-haired enemy still struggling to free herself from Rakhi’s grasp. Her eye quickly bruises as she cries out and curses. The enemy spellcaster draws a wand from his robes; the three illusions of him mimic every move. Three purplish darts fly from his direction, striking Sister Poppy, Qurion, and Rissa with magical force. “Red Hair” swings her morning star twice, striking Qurion once to the arm and again to the side of the head; the cleric falls to the ground.
The half-orc nocks two more arrows, drawing them back and aiming towards Rissa. Both arrows find their mark in the ranger’s chest. She reaches up, attempting to withdraw one of the arrows. She looks around at her defeated companions, at her wolf companion, and into the woods where Ramarcus hides as she slumps to the dirt.
“Enough!” Ramarcus shouts, walking to the edge of the trees. “You obviously have the upper hand here; let’s talk about this and see if we can work out a deal.”
“You had your chance to make a deal! We just wanted to sell you the cow fair and square,” the blue-haired enemy responds, finally shaking herself from Rakhi’s grasp. Ramarcus hurls a scorching ray at her before moving back into the woods; she curses him as the searing pain courses through her limbs.
The dwarf opponent readies his trident and takes a stab towards Sister Poppy. She ducks and one of the prongs catches the edge of her cloak but misses her. He quickly makes another jab, this one finding the monk. She attempts to swing at the dwarf in retaliation, but he steps back as she drops to the earth. “Blue Hair” finally scrambles to her feet, muttering a couple words under her breath. From the trees on either side of the path leading to the camp, two large golden tigers emerge with low snarls. Dragging her mangled leg, she makes a couple steps towards the trees where Ramarcus hides.
Rakhi lunges at “Blue Hair” again, but she steps out of the way and watches the wolf chomp the air. The enemy spellcaster and his four illusory projections cast another spell from their wand, and three purple missiles strike Rakhi. “Blue Hair” steps into the woods, avoiding another bite from Rakhi and scanning the trees for Ramarcus, as her summoned tigers also enter the woods. The half-orc shoulders his bow and steps towards the campfire, leaving “Blue Hair” to find the remaining enemy on her own.
Ramarcus fires two fire bolts at “Blue Hair.” Both bolts miss the woman, striking trees nearby and directing her to the wizard’s location before he ducks and scrambles to another part of the woods. The red-bearded dwarf steps towards Rakhi and finishes the wolf with his trident. Hobbling on her badly wounded leg and leaning against the trees as she moves, “Blue Hair” directs her tigers to find Ramarcus in the woods.
“Hey! I’m over here!” Ramarcus’ voice resonates from a different part of the small forest, the effect of his casting minor illusion. “Blue Hair” snaps her head in the direction of the voice, but notices a fire bolt coming at her from another direction. The bolt of fire misses her as Ramarcus ducks through the trees again, scrambling to a new location. The tigers catch the sound of the wizard’s movement on the brush and charge after him. One tiger pounces at Ramarcus, swiping its massive claws at the wizard’s chest as he falls to the ground.
“It’s over, you win. Let’s talk about this,” Ramarcus pleads as the blue-haired lady limps towards him, grinning. “Maybe we can all go back to ‘Big Al,’ deliver the cow, and profit from this.” The woman places a hand on her tiger to calm it.
“All we wanted before was 70 gold pieces for the cow,” she says. “If it’s worth 100 to you, we’ll leave now and you can make your way back to your ‘Big Al.’
“We don’t have that much with us,” Ramarcus reasons. “She’s extremely valuable to Al though, he’d pay that much.” The blue-haired lady looks down at Ramarcus and removes her hand from the tiger. “Let’s look at this: you’ve wiped us out, you’re obviously stronger – ” The tiger pounces on Ramarcus, ending his sentence for him as “Blue Hair” turns and begins to hobble away.
Several hours later, Hrothgar slowly opens his eyes. He hears creaking wood and feels a light thump. Looking down to his ribs, he sees his stab wound covered with some thick, salve-soaked leaves. Glancing around, he realizes he is in a moving cart; his party members lie around him with similar leaf bandages covering their wounds and several empty potion bottles clanking together. He recognizes the massive figure driving the cart as “Big Al” and lets out a cough to get the man’s attention.
“Who’s awake?” Al asks, turning his head to look at the cart. With an unintelligible grunt, Hrothgar rolls away from the other adventurers and slides his body towards the front of the cart. “Oh, my dwarf friend! How are you feeling?”
“Uugghhhh,” Hrothgar groans, resting his hand on his patched abdomen.
“Well, that’s to be expected. I didn’t find you in the best shape,” Al answers, flicking the reins. “Get your rest, we’re headed to Phandalin. It shouldn’t be much longer now.”
A large rut in the road just outside of Phandalin jostles everyone awake. Ramarcus asks Al, “So, what happened?”
“Awake right on time!” Al answers. “Well, I cleaned up the ranch but decided it might not be best for me to stay alone out there. It had been some time since you all left so I figured you weren’t coming back with Petunia. I packed up some supplies and left the ranch, heading for Phandalin, and eventually Neverwinter.
“Along the road, I noticed some smoke rising through the trees. I thought it might be you camping, so I pulled off the road to join you. As I rolled up, I found everyone beaten badly. I used the potions and bandages I packed, and what I could create from the foliage, to patch you up the best I could. Sorry if you’re not in tip-top shape, but I did what I could. I didn’t see anyone else or Petunia, so I gathered you all onto the cart and put out what was left of the fire.”
Ramarcus explains that the adventurers encountered another party in possession of Petunia. While the adventurers attempted to recover Petunia, the other party overpowered them and seems to have fled with Petunia.
“Well I greatly appreciate your efforts to help me and my ranch. After I cleaned up, I determined I didn’t have much of a ranch left and it was probably time to move on,” Al tells the party. He pulls his cart up to the front of the Stonehill Inn, unhitches the back and helps the adventurers to exit the cart. As Al closes the back of the cart, Qurion raises a finger as if to say something; the cleric looks around and lowers his finger without a word as the cart’s door slams shut. “I’ll be headed up the road to Neverwinter; if you’re ever around the city, ask around and perhaps we’ll reconnect.”
As the party enters Stonehill Inn, the proprietor Toblen greets them warmly. “Oh, my friends, welcome! Come on in!” he exclaims. The innkeep notices their scuffs and bandaged wounds. “Are you alright? Please, sit here by the fire!” He directs them to several chairs arranged around the fireplace, quickly bringing them five tankards of mead. Looking around, the adventurers see several groups of people enjoying Toblen’s hospitality, but they particularly notice a pair of familiar looking dwarves seated at the bar. Hrothgar recognizes them as Norbus and Dazlyn, the dwarves the adventurers helped in the temple a couple weeks ago.
“Norbus and Dazlyn!” Ramarcus announces as he walks up to the bar. “What brings you to Phandalin?”
“Well, you did!” Dazyln answers. “You told us about a dragon on the loose, and- and orcs! We had to come back to Phandalin and find Toblen!”
After some back-and-forth between the two dwarves and some convincing by Ramarcus, Dazlyn dumps a pouch of gold pieces on the bar. Splitting it down the middle, he offers the party 75 gold pieces, half of the dwarves’ spoils from the excavation site. Ramarcus beckons to his companions, and asks them if they feel it fair pay for their work. The party agrees, but as they put their gold pieces away, they notice some missing items: the boar tusk from Butterskull Ranch and the pair of sending stones are gone!
The party steps away from the bar, back towards their seats by the fireplace. “Hey,” Ramarcus says, “what happened to the tusk and our sending stones?”
“What if ‘Big Al’ took them?” Rissa speculates.
“I don’t think he’d take them; he gave us the tusk,” Ramarcus answers.
“He used his potions to bring us back, too,” adds Hrothgar, taking a long sip from his tankard.
“The blue-haired girl took it!” announces Rissa after a moment. Ramarcus nods in agreement as Toblen walks by, a tray full of empty glasses in hand.
“A blue-haired girl?” the innkeeper interjects. “Do you know her?” Toblen explains that “Blue Hair” and her companions came into the Stonehill Inn several nights before, looking for work and a place to stay. He directed them to the job board outside the townmaster’s home, but told them he didn’t have a room for them to rest. Toblen explains that the other party called themselves the “Reavers” and that they seemed like a nasty bunch; they paid their tab, but left no tip. Toblen overheard them mentioning Butterskull Ranch, and that it sounded like they might have headed that way to find work.
The party determines that the rival party, the “Reavers,” made their way to Butterskull Ranch, stole Petunia, and left, and that the adventurers encountered them shortly after. The adventurers weigh their options: head back to the ranch to search for the Reavers, or move towards the Tower of Storms, the other location they learned about from the job board. They rest for the night, relaxing, enjoying their beverages, and mending their wounds.
In the morning, they leave the inn. They pass the job board and notice a couple sheets of parchment, along with another piece that has been torn off. The posting about the lighthouse remains, two others have been added, and the remnants of a third hang on the board. The two new postings read:
- “Within a mountain fifteen miles south of Phandalin stands the ancient dwarven fortress of Axeholm, which has been sealed for years. If a dragon attack is imminent, the people of Phandalin might need to evacuate and take refuge in Axeholm. To that end, someone needs to open the fortress and make it safe for habitation. Once you accomplish these tasks, return to Townmaster Wester to collect a reward of 250 gp.”
- “Orcs have fallen under the sway of evil spellcasters in Neverwinter Wood, and have been sighted in growing numbers near Falcon’s Hunting Lodge. The spellcasters dwell in a ruined manse. Falcon needs someone to make a preemptive strike against it. Destroy the evil in the manse, then expect him to reward you.”
The other posting, that the adventurers had seen previously, reads: “West of Phandalin, on the coast, is an old stone lighthouse. While it should be out of commission, travelers have reported an eerie green light appearing at the top, drawing ships in like moths to a flame and dooming them to crash on the rocks. Investigate the cause, eliminate the source, and return to Townmaster Harbin for a reward of 100 gp.” The party speculates on their next move.