Session 1: The Adventure Begins — On the Road to Phandalin
Played: (Session 1 — the campaign opener) Setting: Year 1491 DR, the Triboar Trail, approaching the turnoff to Phandalin
Recap
The campaign began with five strangers who had answered the same job posting in Neverwinter. A dwarf named Gundren Rockseeker had hired them to escort a wagonload of provisions south along The High Road and Triboar Trail to a frontier town called Phandalin, delivering the cargo to a man named Elmar Barthen at Barthen’s Provisions. Payment: 10gp each on delivery. Gundren himself had ridden ahead with a warrior escort named Sildar Hallwinter, saying he needed to “take care of business” in town first.
After a few days on the road, the party stopped for the night at The Weary Wheel, a squat timber-framed roadhouse at the junction where the Triboar Trail begins. They sat down to a hot meal and the first proper introductions of the campaign.
Introductions at the Wheel
- Versace Vaffelhelm — Forest Gnome druid, dirt- and berry-juice-stained, traveling with a grumpy badger and a flock of gossiping magpies.
- Fleck — Half-Elf, hard to place at first glance, eyes constantly moving. Tended to appear in conversations rather than enter them.
- Orla Moonpebble — Rock Gnome druid, bright-eyed, carrying a mushroom staff hung with small bird-bone charms and a hammered jeweled gnome trinket.
- Grom Strongheart — Half-Orc cleric.
- Thea Silvermere — Moon Elf sorcerer, polished and slightly formal.
The tavern keeper, Mags Holloway, brought their food and warned them about the local trouble. Three loud men at a back table — dirty scarlet cloaks, drinking heavily, slapping each other over a game of dice.
The Redbrand Encounter
The three men in red cloaks eventually staggered outside and began rifling through the party’s wagon. The party confronted them; the situation went to violence.
The party killed all three Redbrands outside the Wheel. They interrogated the only one left conscious — a man named “Lawrence” — who gave up two useful pieces of intel before the night ended:
- The Redbrands have been running a protection racket out of the area: terrorizing local businesses, looting caravans on the Triboar Trail, and demanding payments from anyone they decide owes them.
- Their leader is known as “Glasstaff”. Location unknown.
The party recovered 50 copper pieces (left with Mags as compensation for the trouble) and two Redbrand cloaks (kept for possible later use). Mags, who clearly wanted no part of the bodies, asked them to leave. The party made camp outside the tavern that night and set out at first light.
What the Party Walks Away With
- 10gp each promised by Gundren on delivery to Barthen’s Provisions in Phandalin
- Two Redbrand cloaks (shared inventory)
- A name: Glasstaff — leader of the Redbrand gang
- The knowledge that the road ahead is more dangerous than it looked
DM prep / session plan for this session: see DM notes.