The Story So Far

Chapter one

The First Job

In Neverwinter, Gundren Rockseeker assembled an unlikely band of adventurers: Drogath, Kalaris, Merus, Morrik, and Yoree. Their first task appeared simple—escort a wagon of supplies south to the frontier town of Phandalin. Before they could leave, however, Gundren asked them to recover something from an abandoned alchemist’s laboratory.

Deep inside the ruined laboratory, the party discovered an iron machine powered by a strange artefact. Removing it revealed the object to be a mysterious puzzle box, though neither its purpose nor its true value was clear. Nearby, they found a letter connecting the artefact to two unfamiliar names: Arkasis and Glass Staff. With more questions than answers, they took the box and began the journey south.

On the road to Phandalin, the party came across the dead horses of Gundren and his escort, Sildar Hallwinter. Before they could properly investigate, goblins attacked from hiding. Brendan was killed in the ambush, and Gundren was nowhere to be found. Refusing to abandon him, the survivors followed the goblins’ trail into the wilderness and discovered their hideout.

Within Cragmaw Hideout, they found the goblins divided by their own struggle for power. Rather than fight every creature in the cave, the party struck a bargain with Lieutenant Yeemik and helped him turn against the bugbear Klarg. They rescued a badly beaten Sildar, but Gundren had already been taken away. Their only lead was the name of his destination—Cragmaw Castle—and the shadowy figure who had ordered his capture: the Black Spider.

Chapter two

Agatha and the Redbrands

Phandalin proved to be far less peaceful than the party had hoped. The town lived under the threat of the Redbrands, while Sister Garaele suffered beneath a curse placed upon her by Agatha, a powerful spirit dwelling near the abandoned village of Conyberry. Hoping to help her, the party travelled into the surrounding wilderness in search of Agatha’s home.

They found the area overrun by undead and encountered Hamun, a Red Wizard intent on claiming Agatha’s spellbook for himself. Faced with a choice between the spirit and the necromancer disturbing her domain, the party sided with Agatha. Hamun was killed, the undead threat surrounding her home was ended, and Agatha lifted Sister Garaele’s curse. In gratitude, she entrusted the party with the spellbook the Red Wizard had tried to steal.

When the adventurers returned to Phandalin, the mystery surrounding the puzzle box followed them. Kalaris was approached by a woman named Nezzar, who offered almost anything in exchange for the artefact recovered from the laboratory. Her interest made it clear that the box was far more important than the party had first realised, though she revealed little about what it actually contained.

At the same time, the party moved against the Redbrands beneath Tresendar Manor. Inside their hidden base, they fought through the gang and captured its leader, Glass Staff—the same name found in the laboratory. Evidence within the hideout revealed a much larger alliance linking the Redbrands, the Cragmaw goblins, the bandits of Wyvern Tor, Hamun, and the Black Spider. The party handed Glass Staff over to Halia Thornton, believing one enemy had been removed from the board. They would later learn how temporary that victory truly was.

Chapter three

The Black Spider’s Bargain

Before answering Nezzar’s offer, the party travelled to Wyvern Tor in search of Drogath’s brother, Bolo, who was being held by the bandits there. They defeated his captors and brought him to safety. Among the belongings recovered from the camp was Hew, the axe once carried by Bart during his own adventuring days. When the weapon was returned, Bart chose to entrust it to Morrik.

The party then arranged to meet Nezzar at the Crossroads Saloon. She arrived with Gundren bound at her side and offered a simple exchange: the prisoner for the puzzle box. Desperate to recover their employer, the party surrendered the artefact—only to discover that the captive was not Gundren at all, but a doppelganger named Monteith.

With the deception revealed, Nezzar announced that she was the Black Spider and attacked. The battle turned against her, but invisibility and magical smoke allowed her to escape with the puzzle box. The party returned to Phandalin wounded and humiliated, with Gundren still missing and their best chance of finding Wave Echo Cave taken from them.

Chapter four

Wave Echo Cave

As the search for Gundren continued, Bart introduced Amira Kreega to the group, hoping her talents would strengthen them for the dangers ahead. Around the same time, Drogath was finally reunited with Bolo. With his brother safe, he chose to leave the party so the two of them could travel together.

The remaining adventurers pressed onward, first pursuing the trail through Cragmaw Castle and eventually reaching Wave Echo Cave, the lost mine containing the legendary Forge of Spells. There they confronted the Black Spider and brought her plans to an end—but their victory came at a terrible cost. Gundren was murdered, and Merus fell during the final confrontation with Nezzar.

Outside the Forge, Glass Staff had survived, seized the puzzle box, and escaped, transforming himself from a minor bandit leader into one of the party’s longest-running enemies. Even in defeat, Nezzar’s schemes were not finished. A letter recovered from Nezzar’s body pointed toward a much greater threat: Duke Zalto believed the Forge of Spells might be capable of repairing something known as the Vonindod.

Chapter five

Gathering Omens

The events at Wave Echo Cave ended the Black Spider’s immediate threat, but the aftermath drew the party into conflicts far larger than Phandalin. Old allies called in their debts, criminal enemies resurfaced, and scattered reports suggested that giant activity across the North was becoming increasingly organised.

Kalaris returned to Neverwinter and discovered that the Coinmaster’s influence had grown in his absence. A bounty had been placed on his head, making his former connections more dangerous than ever. Halia Thornton also used her leverage over the party to force them into another crime: the theft of The Sorrowful Lady, a famous painting owned by Balthazar Kern at Goldenfields.

Meanwhile, evidence emerged that giants were gathering vast quantities of obsidian for an unknown purpose. Morrik began suffering prophetic dreams, some showing attacks that had not yet occurred. One name surfaced again and again in the stories surrounding the unrest: Harshnag the Grim, a legendary frost giant who appeared to be hunting others of his kind. The party did not yet understand what tied these events together, but the signs all pointed toward a storm gathering across the North.

Chapter six

The Siege of Bryn Shander

The party regrouped in Bryn Shander, the frozen city Professor Illeus once called home. While exploring the remains of the ruined Arcane Library, Illeus discovered two strange objects among the wreckage: the mark of a coiling leviathan and a wooden coin bearing the image of a golden goose. Before the group could learn what either symbol meant, alarms rang across the city.

Frost giants under Commander Drufi had marched upon Bryn Shander, demanding that the people surrender Artus Cimber—the absent father of Sirac of Suzail. Illeus’ Angels helped arm the defenders, pulled civilians from danger, and fought through frost wolves and towering giants as the city descended into chaos. Drufi eventually attempted to flee, but Professor Illeus brought her escape to a sudden end with a fireball.

Among Drufi’s belongings were orders from Jarl Storvald instructing her to recover something called “the Ice that Never Melts.” Sirac explained that giantkind had been thrown into disorder since the disappearance of King Hekaton and the breaking of the Ordning, the ancient hierarchy that governed their kind. Hoping to learn more, he directed the party toward the Harper Dral Thelev in Everlund.

The danger was not limited to the giants. During their stay, Yoree’s forbidden tome dragged her consciousness before an entity named Erazhul. He offered her power in exchange for pieces of her soul. Yoree refused, but his warning made it clear that whatever was approaching would reach far beyond Bryn Shander.

Chapter seven

Secrets Beneath Yartar

The road to Everlund brought the party to Yartar, a city of wealthy nobles, criminal factions, and carefully guarded secrets. After rescuing Artan Rossolio from the river, and a seemingly uncurable disease, the group became entangled with his influential family, Waterbaron Nestra, the Hand of Yartar, and the luxurious casino ship known as the Grand Dame. Several nobles had vanished without explanation, including Lady Atalia, and the growing list of disappearances led the party beneath the city.

In the sewers, they found more than ordinary kidnappers. Fish-like servants moved through the tunnels under the influence of an aboleth, an ancient creature capable of invading and controlling the minds of others. The party drained the monster’s flooded chamber and killed it, but victory came at a cost: several members were infected by its unnatural touch. Lord Huron, the Rossolio family’s elderly priest, eventually cured them—for a considerable fee.

The bodies of several missing nobles were recovered, but Lady Atalia remained unaccounted for. Rather than allow the investigation to continue, Waterbaron Nestra ordered the party to abandon it. The decision only deepened the mystery, especially when the coiling leviathan appeared once again, connecting the horrors beneath Yartar to the ruins of Bryn Shander and to Yoree’s missing brother, Trystan.

Chapter eight

The Temple of Tyr

With the investigation in Yartar brought to an abrupt end, the party continued to Everlund and sought out Dral Thelev. The one-eyed Harper possessed access to a secret transportation network that could carry the group between distant cities, but he was unwilling to entrust it to strangers. Before revealing anything, he demanded proof that they could be relied upon.

Their test was to enter an abandoned Temple of Tyr and recover the preserved heart of an ancient red dragon. The temple was no longer empty. A medusa had made the sanctuary her lair, surrounding herself with the petrified remains of those who had entered before. During the battle, Kalaris met the same fate and was turned to stone, but after the creature was defeated, the party discovered that the temple’s healing fountain could restore him.

They recovered the dragon heart and, despite considering the value of a pristine statue within the sanctuary, chose to leave the temple’s treasures undisturbed. Satisfied with their success, Dral welcomed them into the Harpers’ confidence and led them beneath Moongleam Tower, where hidden teleportation circles connected Everlund to cities across the North.

Chapter nine

The Dragons of Ascore

While travelling across the Evermoors, the party was recognised by a Zhentarim caravan. Kalaris’ past had caught up with him once again, and the encounter quickly turned violent. Before the caravan could overwhelm them, a bronze dragon swept down upon the battlefield and incinerated their attackers. The dragon introduced himself as Felgolos, better known as the Flying Misfortune, and his cheerful manner soon made him an unlikely friend.

Felgolos asked the party to help recover a legendary pouch of pipeweed known as Yondolla’s Delight, which had been lost within the ruins of Ascore—the lair of two blue dragons. Before setting out, old enemies resurfaced in Everlund. Glass Staff demanded the return of his staff and Morrik’s unusual gloves, while Arkasis claimed ownership of the original puzzle box and demanded either its return or ten thousand gold pieces. The party ignored both demands and departed with Felgolos.

Amira’s magic carried the group silently across the dunes and into the ruins, allowing Kalaris to locate the pouch. Their escape was less subtle. The blue dragons discovered the intruders, forcing the party into a desperate retreat through the tunnels beneath Ascore. Yoree called upon her patron’s power to collapse a passage behind them, while a nearby gargoyle spoke with the voice of something calling itself the Doom of the Desert.

The party escaped with Yondolla’s Delight, but Felgolos remained behind to draw the dragons away. He was last seen fleeing across the desert with both blue dragons in pursuit.

Chapter ten

Fire Over Triboar

Morrik’s dreams had grown increasingly difficult to dismiss. In one, he saw fire giants descending upon Triboar and tearing through the town in search of something beneath it. The party set out to investigate, but their journey first carried them through Sundabar, where children had begun disappearing under the watch of a newly appointed sheriff.

The sheriff and his wife were eventually exposed as oni—intelligent, shape-changing ogres that had been preying upon the town. Illeus’ Angels killed the creatures and rescued the last missing baby, receiving a Medallion of Thoughts as thanks. Soon afterward, Yondolla’s Delight began calling to members of the group in their dreams. Kalaris finally answered and found himself transported to a strange temple, where an unknown goddess presented him with a bow. Later, on the road, he confronted and defeated a knight who had murdered three tieflings in the name of a supposed holy mission.

When the party reached Triboar, Morrik’s vision had already begun to come true. Fire giants occupied the town and were excavating great quantities of obsidian. Glass Staff fought at their side, revealing that he had entered the service of Duke Zalto. The battle shifted only when Harshnag the Grim arrived and helped drive the giants back.

From the survivors, the party learned that Zalto intended to use the obsidian to rebuild the Vonindod, an ancient colossus designed to kill dragons. Harshnag also confirmed that Annam, the father of giantkind, had personally shattered the Ordning. Believing that the Oracle at the Eye of the All-Father might hold the answers they needed, he agreed to lead the party north.

Chapter eleven

The Eye of the All-Father

Harshnag led the party deep into the Savage Frontier, where they were joined by his friend Sable, a sheltered monk whose monastery had recently lost a relic known as the Ring of Ages. Their northern journey also brought them into the path of a wizard researching a mysterious regional illness. His proposed cure required a living yeti tyke, leading the party into the mountains on an unusually dangerous hunt.

They captured the creature, but escaping its tribe proved far more difficult. The retreat involved magical flight, a dead yeti used as a sled, and Harshnag throwing himself down the mountain like a frost giant toboggan. Somehow, the group survived and continued onward to the Eye of the All-Father.

Within the ancient giant temple, Illeus’ Angels defeated the Wyrmblood of a wildling tribe, explored chambers built for creatures far larger than themselves, and solved an elemental puzzle that opened the way to the Oracle. Its answers gave the party direction, but little comfort. Professor Illeus’s apprentice Afaris was being held by an unknown lord. The Ring of Ages had been stolen from Sable’s monastery. King Hekaton remained missing, and three giant conches would be needed to reach his court at Maelstrom. The nearest belonged to Duke Zalto at Ironslag.

As the group left the Oracle, the storm giant they had encountered within the temple revealed her true form. She was Iymrith, an ancient blue dragon. Harshnag remained behind to confront her, striking the statue of Annam and triggering a collapse that brought the temple down around them. His sacrifice gave the party time to escape, though none knew whether he survived.

During their flight, the party rescued Bothi from a nest of giant spiders and reached the temple’s outer edge. There, they found themselves trapped between Iymrith and a sheer cliff—until a red airship rose from the fog below.