After their battle with the thugs, the adventurers find a safe place to rest for the night. The night is uneventful, but the next morning is not. Dare notices that the pain in his chest has lessened considerably. He checks to see if the bruise has gone away, but it has not. Quite the contrary. It’s grown considerably and has taken the form of a gnarled hand poised directly over his heart. Dare shares the news immediately with his friends.

“Is this bad ass or what?”

The group has their reservations. They tell him that maybe he should maybe get it checked out. Dare shrugs. He knows they’re right, but in a way he likes it. It gives him a powerful feeling inside.

The rest of their journey is uneventful, and they reach Phandalin three days later. The first thing they see are two guards dressed in chain shirts and steel helmets. They carry spears and shields with a weeping eye sigil on them. Lilvari explains that the symbol is that of the Neverwinter Guard and that these must be the soldiers Sildar has called for. 

They first head to the Townmaster’s Hall to deliver the news about the Orcs of Wyvern Tor. As they approach, they see a new notice out front. On it is a sketch of a dwarf named Hedrar Drawning, the local Blacksmith. It’s a Missing Person’s notice. According to the details he’s been missing for several tendays. Lilvari gets an unsettling feeling in her gut.

Dare, Lilvari, Mystic and Mercarri enter the Townmaster’s Hall with Traubon trailing behind. Townmaster Harbin Wester is at his desk writing, while Sildar is standing across the room, talking with a man dressed in fine armor. He’s got short black hair and a trimmed goatee. Sildar introduces him as Sir Adelard Chase. Sir Adelard is excited to meet the adventurers. He’s heard of their great deeds and promises that he and his men will keep the town of Phandalin safe.

The adventurers collect their reward from Harbin, but before they go, Lilvari gives Harbin a gift. She hands him gold. “This is to help pay for your grand daughter’s horse,” she explains.

“The ones we–” Dare begins, but Lilvari shoots him a look that could cut through iron. He immediately shuts up.

“Anyway, here. Please take it.”

Harbin is overjoyed. He tells Lilvari that he’s been trying (unsuccessfully) to raise funds for new horses. Hedrar the Blacksmith is missing, which is causing the town to sink further into debt. Normally Hedrar would sell his wares near and far and make a good profit for the town, but he’s been missing for quite some time. Harbin fears the worst. Lilvari only nods. 

“How about this guy,” Dare says. He gives Traubon a small nudge, and Harbin looks the dwarf over. “He’s a Blacksmith,” Dare continues.

“Well, an aspiring one,” Traubon corrects him. “I have my own tools, and I–“

Harbin holds up a hand. “I don’t see the harm in helping out… at least until Hedrar returns. You’ll have to go see Freda, Hedrar’s wife. She has the key to the Smithy.”

So the party stops at Freda’s. Lilvari’s the one to knock at the door. Freda opens the door looks at Lilvari as if confused to see her. Freda begins to speak, but then she sees the others and thinks better of it. Lilvari explains the situation and introduces Traubon. Freda still seems at a lost for words but leads them to the Smithy. Everything inside has garnered a thin layer of dust in Hedrar’s absence. Traubon immediately gets to work. He asks Mercarri for her armor and promises to have it fixed up for her by tomorrow.

While in the area, they decide to pay Sister Garaele a visit. She’s at the Shrine of Luck and is glad to see that the group has returned safety. Her left arm is in a sling. She barely welcomes them back before Dare takes off his armor, pulls open his tunic and says check out my tits. Sister Garaele blushes for a moment then turns pale. What is that? She points to Dare’s chest. He tells her that he got it when they fought the Banshee.

From behind him, Lilvari sighs.

“What?” he says, turning around. Lilvari rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

“Banshee?” Sister Garaele asks. “What Banshee? Agatha?”

“Yes,” Lilvari says. “I forgot to mention that last time.” She elbows Dare in the gut as she passes him. “Sorry,” she tells Sister Garaele, “I just wasn’t sure how you’d take it. We ran into trouble with Agatha. A battle ensued.”

Sister Garaele nods gently as Lilvar explains.

“The Harpers don’t have any friendship with banshees,” Sister Garaele says. “Our job is to look for items of power that may cause harm if in the wrong hands. You gave me the last known location of the spell book and that has helped our cause tremendously. So it’s fine. This on the other hand,” she says pointing to Dare’s chest, “should be looked at. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

She promises to ask around for Dare — both to find if anyone can help diagnose it further and to see if anyone knows how it can be removed. After they thank her, the party heads home.

Droop, the Unexpected Guest, and Lilvari Comes Clean:
The adventurers are surprised (and a little concerned) that Droop isn’t waiting for them at the entrance to the manor. In fact, he’s nowhere to be found. They call out his name as they start searching the downstairs. There’s the sound of movement coming from inside one of the tall cabinets. They ready themselves for anything, but its Droop who pops out.

“Oh, thank the gods. You’re back! You’re back! I was so scared!” He tells them that he was upstairs in his room, minding his own business when he heard a racket coming from Dare’s room on the third floor. Thinking it might be the bugbears, he hid in the cabinet. “That was two days ago!” he yells. “I’ve been in there ever since!”

Dare immediately heads upstairs to the third floor while the others stay with Droop. At first he sees nothing out of the ordinary, but after he calls out if anyone is here, the room drops in temperature. A blue mist swirls near the corner and takes the form of a halfling.

“Friend or foe?” it asks.

“Friend.”

The ghost ponders this then seems to agree. He points to Dare’s back. “I see you have my master’s sword.” He explains that his original master was Sir Aldith Tresendar, a great knight known as The Black Hawk. He tells Dare that Sir Aldith left with Talon to fight off the Orcs one day and never returned. 

He tells Dare the story of how he died, that it was directly below, in the basement of this house. Several robed figures captured him and the Mr. and Mrs., and tied them together. The robed figures lifted crystals above their heads which started to glow as they chanted. Soon, the Mr. and Mrs. disappeared. The halfling, however, did not. Seeing that something went wrong with the spell, one of the robed men pulled out his sword and shoved it through the halfling’s neck. The halfling’s eyes are burning with rage as he retells the tale.

“That happened right below this house,” he says. “I’ll never forget those robed bastards with the weird scars on their arms.”

Dare thinks back and remembers the robed figure that offered to buy Mystic’s flute before it got stolen. That guy had a bleeding wound on his forearm in the shape of some strange symbol. Dare also remembers the cultists in Thundertree. Several of them were scratching at their arms though Dare couldn’t see what they were scratching at since their robes covered their arms, but if he had to guess, he’d guess he’d see the same symbol carved on them.

Dare asks the halfing why he haunts this place, to which the halfling shrugs. He says that the youngest Tresendar, Hampton, disappeared one day. “Heading off on some adventure,” the halfling says. “His mom and dad were besides themselves, but they couldn’t change Hampton’s mind. He wanted to be an adventurer like his great grandfather. Anyway, since halfling’s live much longer than humans, I promised that I’d stay here always, until Hampton returned. I guess those words had more truth to them than I knew.” He’s thinking that perhaps finding out what happened to Hampton would put his soul to rest. He tells Dare that Hamptom’s room is below, and with that the halfling disappears. 

Dare tells the rest of the group about what the halfling said. In Hampton’s old room, Lilvari finds a loose board. Underneath is a small compartment with a map. It marks the spot near the coast. In addition, there’s some writing on it that all of them struggle to recognize the language of. Mercarri’s able to discern that it’s Thieves’ Cant. It looks like they’ll need a thief to translate it for them. Mystic mentions that that’s all well and good, but it’s been a long day, and she’s famished. They decide to head to the Stonehill Inn for dinner. Before they do, Lilvari decides that now’s her chance to come clean.

She tells them, first, that she’s the one responsible for the Blacksmith’s death. The others look at her in surprise. She scuffs her foot against the ground and explains that he was a wife beater. She met Freda, his wife, shortly after arriving at Phandalin, and Freda’s ‘problem’ came up. Two days after Lilvari’s arrival, Freda was without a husband and Phandalin, apparently, a Blacksmith. Dare, Mystic and Mercarri tell her that it’s alright, that they understand. And Lilvari decides to tell them everything. At length, she tells them the story of her upbringing and how a rich super bitch named Ilbis had it in for her. Lilvari bested her in a horse riding competition and in the fight that followed, but the fight didn’t end in the arena. Ilbis and her friends and the rest of the nobles of Ely torched Lilvari’s house and murdered her adoptive parents and horse. Lilvari then heard a dark voice that promised not only power but revenge. That was the day Lilvari made a pact with a dark power and ended the entire village. 

The others stare at her in awe and silence as she finishes her tale — at least until Dare says, “Well, we going to eat or what?”

News of Halia and the Strange Man with Red Eyes:

So they go. They sit at their favorite table at Stonehill Inn. Shortly after their drinks arrive, Daran Edermath enters. He immediately heads towards their table and takes a seat. “I heard that not only did you take care of the Orcs but cleaned out Old Owl Well too.” He thanks them and offers to pay for their meal. He also has a bit of information for them.

“I was out walking the other night and remembered something that might be of interest, since you’re looking for dirt on Halia.” He tells them that about two months ago he was walking around town late at night and saw a cart loaded with six or seven burly men and a very large crate pull up to The Miner’s Exchange. Halia was there too, waiting for them. He didn’t know what was in the crate, but it took every single one of those men to carry it inside. “The kicker,” he says, “is that ever since then, her two workers, Laral and Scoff, had their access to the back storage room taken away. I heard them complaining about it shortly after the crate came.” Daran doesn’t know if any of his story is important, but he figured they’d want to know. 

They thank him, and he stands up to leave. Before he can get very far the Inn’s door slams open, and in hurries a finely dressed nobleman. While he is dressed in a nice fashion, his clothes and hair are unkempt. He wildly looks around the tavern. His eyes glow bright red. “I’m looking for The Lord’s Alliance. Please! Can anyone tell me where I can find someone from the Lord’s Alliance.”

Lilvari and Mystic offer to take him to see Sildar. He graciously accepts. They can tell something isn’t right with him. He seems very skittish, and the red eyes are beyond strange — almost as if they burn with fire. The man bursts into the Townmaster’s hall and immediately starts talking fast. Sildar greets him. Sir Adelard is still there. Mystic sees Sir Adelard put a hand on his sword, ready for anything. Once the skittish man learns that Sildar is part of the Lords’ Alliance, he hands him a parchment. Lilvari and Mystic can see Sildar’s eyes grow concerned as he reads it over.

“So can you help me?” the man asks.

“Tell me where you found this,” Sildar replies.

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I know people. With your help, I’m sure we can find this and get the money. What do you think?”

Sildar thinks it over for a few moments. “I’ll see what I can do, but it won’t be tonight.” He tells the man to head back to Stonehill Inn for the night, and that he’ll make contact with him tomorrow. The man smiles and hurries out the door. Sildar shows the parchment to Sir Adelard as well as Lilvari and Mystic. It’s a reward poster from Waterdeep. A ring has gone missing, and Open Lord Laeral Silverhand is offering a great reward for its return. Sildar explains that if the Open Lord is involved, the ring must be of great importance. Lilvari and Mystic head back to Stonehill Inn to eat their dinner. Sildar goes as well, citing that he’s tired and wants to head back to his room. 

Lilvar and Mystic eat what’s left of their dinner. Dare apparently was extra hungry and took a few bites before they returned. Lilvari and Mystic discuss the strange man and what his motives might be. The group decides to ask him. They find out which room he’s staying in and knock. There’s no answer. Dare tries next, knocking so hard that Sildar comes out of his room to see what’s going on. After several minutes of getting no response, Dare decides to break in. He easily picks the lock. They find the man on the floor in a sitting position, leaning against the bed. Dead. Sildar immediately heads off to find the guard. Dare checks the man and finds no wounds. Upon searching him though, he finds a note as well as a vile with two grains of a red substance. It resembles sand. They read the note. “Travel Dust ain’t free,” it says. “Time to pay up for yur fun. Bring the munny to the Dead Dog in Rivington. You have a tenday. If we don’t see you by then, the fun’s over for good.” It’s signed, “S.S”.

As the others are pondering the note, Dare takes one of the granules and snorts it. Immediately he drops to the floor. All conversations cease and everyone stares down at his lifeless body. None of them are surprised.

“Seriously,” Lilvari sighs, kneeling down to check Dare. He’s breathing but barely. Mystic and Mercarri are discussing what they should do. Meanwhile, two guards show up and start asking questions. The scene is utter chaos.

“Quick,” Lilvari shouts, “we’re losing him.”

Mystic kneels down and touches Dare’s arm. She utters a phrase, and suddenly Dare takes a gasping breath. Lilvari checks his eyes. They aren’t red.

“That’s… that’s some good shit,” Dare says. Lilvari slaps him.

“What the hell?” Dare yells.

“Just to make sure you’re okay,” Lilvari responds. 

The guards remove the body and take the evidence. When Lilvari asks about the Dead Dog and Rivington, one of the guards says he knows of it. Rivington is a town belonging to the Outer City of Baldur’s gate. The Dead Dog is a dive bar. “Shady place,” he says.

With that, the group helps Dare back to Tresendar Manor. Toblen Stonehill assists. They take Dare as far as the entranceway and leave him there in his stupor. Everyone else heads to bed.