So, This Is Phandalin

Party on!

The group, beaten and bruised and back from the (almost) dead, gathered themselves the best they could and made their way to Phandalin.  I failed to mention that previously, they tied their oxen to a tree but l was a good DM and let the cart still be there when they came out of the cave. 

So the group gets to Phandalin with Sildar who immediately heads for the constable to see what's going on and gather as much information as he can.  The rest of the party decide to stop in at Barthen's Provisions seeing as that is where Gundren gave orders for them to delivery his stuff to.  They chat it up with Barthen who is genuinely sad to hear about their mishap and the suspicion that something bad has happened to Gundren.  He makes sure to point out the Redbrands and their harassment of the townsfolk here in Phandalin and they can usually be found at the Sleeping Giant tap house. 

From there, they make their way down the road a building or two and see the Shrine of Luck on their right hand side.  Seeing as how they are in much need of healing, they say "hey!" and stop in for a visit.  They meet Sister Gareale there who herself seems to be recovering from some mishap - almost looks like she's been in a fight with someone.  She explains that she is too weak to heal them today but does make small talk - enough to lead into a proposal for the party.  She needs to know the status of a certain magical spell book and on her travels to see Agatha in Conyberry to inquire about the book, she almost had a run in with some orcs but managed to evade them but then got lost in the woods eventually finding her way out but worse for wear.  She offers them some healing potions if they would do this favor for her.....(well, there's a hook!).

Continuing through the town to The Stonehill Inn for some much needed food and rest was the next most logical thing to do seeing as they received no healing from Sister. Farron decides to be the entertainment for the evening with a round of songs and dance which gets him a free meal and lodging for the night.  The party (sure be glad when they name themselves) order food and drink and talk with patrons eventually receiving the full gambit of rumors as detailed in the adventure book.  

• Sister Gareale recently returned from a short trip all wounded and exhausted
• Duran the orchard keeper is a former adventurer
• The east end of Triboar has seen some Orc raids
• A local gang murdered Thel Dendrar and now his wife and kids are missing
• Mr. Alderleaf's son found a tunnel in the woods and was almost caught by the local gang
• The local gang, the Redbrands, harass everyone except Halia at the Miners Exchange

The next morning (19th day of Kythorn) the party talks to the barkeep at breakfast and finds out where some local establishments are in order to pursue some of the rumors.  Fortunately, Carp Alderleaf was making a morning delivery to the Inn and engaged the party with conversation.  Here the party learns of a tunnel that Carp found while playing in the woods just south of the old Tresendar Manor.  He probably shouldn't have been there as he was almost caught by those Redbrands coming out of the tunnel!  He was really scared and could probably get the party close to the tunnel if they needed his help.

They depart the Inn and occasionally notice here and there some men with red patches on their sleeves that give the party glaring stares and and they soon come to realize these are the Redbrand gang members. Coming to the center courtyard adjacent to the Shrine of Luck, they hang a left and head to the Lionshield Coster which as they recall was the name on some of the loot they found in the caves.  They meet the owner, a lovely middle-aged woman named Linene Greywind who cordially addresses them but once she finds out their story and that she may get her merchandise back, she quickly offers them 100 gold if they can return her stuff within 2 weeks. She also proceeds to bash the Redbrands whom she thought was behind the raids on her companies caravans and offers the party (geesh! get a name already!) 10 gold for each Redbrand patch they can bring to her and she doesn't care how they get them either!  The party is in agreement, though they know very, very little about the Redbrands and strike a bargain with Linene.  She has offered to be their "book keeper" of sorts negotiating an impromptu deal to mind their gold in exchange for goods and services for the betterment of Phandalin.....(well, there's another hook!).

Seeing the  Miner's Exchange just down the road and playing on the rumors that the Redbrands never harass that business, they decide on behalf of their new business partner, to pay a visit and see what may be taking place.  They enter the Miner's Exchange and take notice of the proprietor Halia Thornton, a middle-aged human with spectacles on the tip of her nose, grey streaked hair haphazardly pulled back into a bunch allowing her full round cheeked face to show her youthfulness.  The facility seems to hold many records of small claims in the nearby mountains or stream-side panning operations - not that Phandalin has any level of gold rush going on.  They have a somewhat tense exchange as the party presses for answers regarding her perceived relationship with the Redbrands up to the point that she asks them politely to leave if they have need of her services.

Once outside, they see several Redbrands have taken positions on the porches of the fronts of buildings and businesses.  Three of the Redbrands are standing in the street and one of them shouts "throw down your weapons or you might get killed!" and spits in their direction.

This might not work out well for them......(a name would be nice!)

DM Dave