Groep van Droep

The **Groep van Droep** is an adventuring party operating in Northwest Faerun. The party is a diverse bunch of people from different backgrounds that work together in the pursuit of primarily money, fame, knowledge, spiritual journey, and adventure. As of 6 Boptober 1770 DR, they have rebranded themselves as the **Dappere Dobbelaars**.

## Origins

The group was founded by Gundren Rockseeker in 1769 DR in order to assist him with his enterprise that would lead to the reopening of the Phandelver Mine. The original members of the party were Hagrid, Uwiphyx, Dei Wolfrunner, Bonzu Pippinpaddle Oppsokopolis III, and Grimduhr. While these 5 people did not know each other, they were all old friends or acquaintances of Gundren.

## History

### Before the Ashes End Incident

The party's original function was that of an armed force that could assist the Rockseeker brothers establish their operations in the Phandelver mine. Little did they know that the mine had been taken over by Nezznar the Black Spider and his hobgoblin allies. The party arrived with mining supplies in Phandalin where they were supposed to meet Gundren Rockseeker and his escort, Sildar Hallwinter. Upon arrival, they were notified that both had been captured by war bands of goblinoids operating in the forests north of the Sword Mountains, and that Phandalin was being terrorized by ruffians known as the Roodbaarden. Here they also met Sister Garaele and Halia Thornton.

The group decided to face the Roodbaarden by defeating them in public combat, and then sieging their hideout in the basements of the old Tresendar Manor. After setting fire to building, the group delved into the basements and started defeating the remaining Roodbaarden, freeing their captives, and capturing their leader Iarno 'Glasstaff' Albrek. Among the rescued captives was a goblin named Droep, which the party adopted as their mascot. Around this time, the name 'groep van droep' was also thought of and adopted as the unofficial party name.

After delivering Glasstaff to justice in Phandalin and leaving the now burnt-out ruins of the Tresendar Manor behind, the party decided to take on one of the local goblin warbands in the hills north of Phandalin. Here the party rescued Sildar Hallwinter from the warband of the bugbear Klarg.

Upon returning in Phandalin again, the group accepted multiple job offers in the region after spending some time with the locals.

### Ashes End Incident

One of these jobs was the retrieval of an enigmatic obelisk in the Moor of Dead Men, offered by Halia Thornton. The obelisk was infamous in the region as it was seemingly unmovable, and it gave off fiendish energies. Despite that, the obelisk was embedded with precious gems and ancient runes, which interested Thornton.

Despite the reputation of being unmovable, Hagrid managed to topple the obelisk with the help of Uwiphyx and Dei. This shattered the obelisk however, unleashing a fiendish ash monster that was contained within. During the following fight for survival, both Bonzu and Grimduhr were killed by the ash monster before the remaining party managed to destroy the ancient foe. This marked the first time time that Uwiphyx dabbled in accidental necromancy, as she called upon her gods to ressurect Grimduhr. While succesful, as Grimduhr was granted false life to aid in the fight, it was only a temporary feat.

After the ash monster was defeated, the party found the magical sword Excalibur embedded in the remains of the obelisk. The sword reacted to Hagrid and recognised him as its new master.

Both Grimduhr and Bonzu were buried as military forces from Neverwinter came to investigate the fiendish and celestial energies emanating from this site.

### After the Ashes End Incident

With the party now hollowed out and unsuccesful in their job, they returned to Phandalin. Here they learned that Halia Thornton had bought the hill on which the ruins of Tresendar Manor stood, and that she was planning to restore the manor for herself. The group also met two travellers, the Dwarf Gamra Renas and the Kenku Ripper. After initial introductions, the two travellers decided to join the Groep van Droep as their goals were aligned.

Together they started to work on the other job offers. The party swayed the banshee Agatha in exchange for information; investigated the Old Owl Well and met necromancer Hamun Kost, who helped the party defeat the Orc camp at Wyvern Tor. Finally, the party sieged the main goblinoid camp of the region, Cragmaw Castle. Here they defeated the bugbear King Grol of the Cragmaw Tribe, rescued Gundren Rockseeker, and learned a lot more about the plans of the Black Spider.

After this daring siege, the party decided to return to Neverwinter to shop for equipment and prepare to take on the Black Spider. Here the party received recognition for the Ashes End Incident after a master wizard of the Lords Alliance tracked down the party in a tavern.

As a few days were done spent in the city and the party had met various interesting inhabitants, the group went down and started to search for the Phandelver Mine to confront the Black Spider. Finding the mine was relatively simple, as the party had the original map from Gundren Rockseeker and additional information from Agatha the Banshee. In the mine the party encountered heavy resistance from the Black Spiders minions and the remaining guardians of the mine's original owners. After overcoming these various challenges in the dark, the phandelver mine was liberated from evil forces and obstacles and the Rockseeker brothers began restoring the mine by laying infrastructure and hiring new workforces.

### A year in between

After the Phandelver mine was liberated, Gamra Renas decided to leave the group and head for new adventures elsewhere. Dei Wolfrunner also left the group to return to her people in the Underdark, leaving her friend Droep in Neverwinter with experience and means to make a life for himself.

Hagrid and Uwiphyx returned to Neverwinter for the winter. Having developed a strong relationship during their adventures, Hagrid became an associate of the temple of Oghma in the city *and started living together with Uwiphyx (?)*. Uwiphyx returned to her original duties in the temple during the winter, while Hagrid maintained his cart-repairing shop on the outskirts of the city. Droep started a shoepolish business that quickly gained relative fame in the streets of the city.

By spring next year, the dragon Venomfang became an ever-growing menace to farmsteads near Neverwinter. As such, a bounty was posted by the interim lord of Neverwinter, Bardus Vellios, for the group that would defeat the dragon scourge and liberate the ruins of Thundertree, the birthplace of Hagrid. Compelled to liberate his old home, Hagrid began convening a new adventuring group capable of defeating the dragon. Dei and Droep returned to aid Hagrid, Uwiphyx and Ripper. Furthermore, the party received the aid of James Demesis and Slikkius III.

In Thundertree, the party encountered a variety of enemies and guiles. Venomfang the dragon had taken residence in the old wizard tower and had made it her lair. The dragon was pleased with her growing lair, as she was ready to birth her offspring there. What she did not know was that a group of dragon cultists had followed her there and wanted to enslave her to do their bidding. As she was hunting for food, the cultists stole her eggs and held them hostage. Venomfang was proud however, and refused to submit to the cultists. She however feared that the cultists would smash her eggs if she decided to confront them. This led to an impasse that would be morbidly resolved when the Groep van Droep arrived and started to fight with both Venomfang, who had disguised herself as the captured Reidoth the Druid, and the dragon cultists, who proved little match for the seasoned adventurers.

As Venomfang was caught cornered by the party, she had trouble fighting the adventurers. After a fierce fight, she decided to leave but was prevented by the magics of James Demesis and Hagrid. This caused her a lot of further damage that brought her to the brink of exhaustion. After finally breaking free, she flew up high in the sky and tried to get away. The dragon was shot out of the sky however and plummeted into the nearby fields. Here she layed until several party members came rushing to her exhausted body. While she plead for her life and the security of her eggs, Hagrid was unconvinced and slayed the dragon by thrusting Excalibur through her skull, killing her for good.

In the meantime, the remaining dragon cultists had fled the area, taking the eggs of Venomfang with them to places unknown.

With Thundertree now liberated, both the dragons remains and her treasures were distributed among the members of the party. Plans to recolonize the town were also devised, but not carried out as so far. Pleased with the first results that the party brought, James Demesis decided to become a full member of the Groep van Droep. Ripper, Slikkius, and Dei decided to go their own ways again, and left the party with their newfound treasures.

### A new beginning

With the summer now coming to an end, the party spent a good amount of time in Neverwinter to celebrate the beginning of the harvest season. Here they received fame for their defeat of Venomfang, and they met both Scipio and Natah, who would eventually become new members of the party.

Lord Vellios was impressed with the feats of the party, and offered several autumn jobs for the Groep van Droep. Among these was a request from Gundren Rockseeker to once again aid him in his enterprises.

The Rockseeker brothers had been busy reopening the Phandelver Mine over the year, and while it was a great succes, it was not completely without problems. Gundren Rockseeker once again approached Hagrid and Uwiphyx, along with the other members of the party. A large caravan of mining equipment and construction material had never arrived, and Rockseeker hired the party to find out where the caravan had gone and to retrieve the vanished goods. The party accepted this job offer after inquiring for information about the possible thieves.

In search of the vanished caravan, the party travelled past Ashes End towards Leilon, Scipio's city of origin. During this trip they also encoutered the mysterious man with the giant hat, who they suspected had murdered an officer of the Lords Alliance. After resting here for a bit to see the city and invest gold in the fishing fleets of the city, the group continued south.

Here they employed various methods to search for the missing caravan, which eventually led to a trail heading deep into the Sword Hills. Here the party was ambushed by a group of roving bandits, but these petty thieves proved no match for the party. After capturing and torturing the assailants, the party gained valuable information about the location of the missing caravan. The caravan had been commandeered by a group of Dwarves and had been taken to a camp where the Dwarves were constructing a large scaffolding tower.

This construction project was led by Brutmuri Staalkop and his wife Dara Staalkop. Brutmuri had gathered quite a following of fellow dwarfs who he convinced of the mining opportunities waiting on the Sun. After concocting a battle plan, the captured tradesmen of the caravan were freed by Hagrid, Scipio, and James. Here they met Viktor the buff, one of the only warriors on the traders caravan. Together with the tradesfolk led by Viktor, the party launched an attack on the dwarven camp where they captured Brutmuri, although his wife Dara managed to escape. While in captivity of the party, Brutmuri requested that the party destroy a cursed book in the well of Ampheel as the party travelled back to the Phandelver Mine to meet their employers.

### Return to Phandalin

After returning a great deal of the construction supplies back to the Phandelver Mine, where Brutmuri was handed to Gundren to further settle their disputes, the party returned to Phandalin to collect a reward for their troubles. Here the party re-encountered Halia Thornton, and learned that the woman had done well for herself in the past year, to the dismay of Uwiphyx and Hagrid.

While Natah, Scipio, and James went around to sight-see the small town, Hagrid and Uwiphyx learned that they old friend, Sister Garaele, had been missing for half a year. Old man Jan Janssen described how she was taken away by a group of mysterious figures around the midwinter feast. She was not heard of since. This news concerned Hagrid and Uwiphyx, and together with the rest of the party they investigated around for clues. Here James met Daran Edermath, who told him that Garaele was part of the Harpers.

The following day, the party continued their investigation into Garaele's disappearance and the background of the Harpers. James, Scipio, and Natah further investigated Garaele's home, while Uwiphyx and Hagrid went to meet Halia Thornton on her free day to talk about looking through Garaele's belongings. Halia refused, but did tell Hagrid and Uwiphyx that she had more job offers, were they interested. In trade for these errands, the belongings of Garaele would become available. Hagrid and Uwiphyx were not interested however, and decided to leave this path alone for now.

In the meantime, James had discovered that a permanent illusion enchantment had been cast on a wall in Garaele's cellar. With his arcane insight, and the help of Scipio and Hagrids actions, the three concluded that this enchantment hid a secret door to a sealed-off room under Garaele's house. After picking the lock of this door, a small library worth of books were discovered. These books held detailed information about the day-to-day life of many citizens and habitants of Phandalin, as well as information on important people in the region. In this library, the party learned a lot more about Halia Thornton's background, as well as the name and location of another Harper agent, Jacqueline Thistle.

During this investigation, the people of Phandalin had been convinced that the party were in fact members of the Lord's Alliance. This attracted attention from both the habitants of Phandalin and the Zhentarim hired guards that were tasked with protecting the village. Not looking for trouble, the Groep van Droep decided to stealthily leave town and set off to find miss Thistle in Triboar, where she was supposed to live.

Narrowly avoiding Thornton's attention, Scipio and Natah recovered the party's cart while James, Hagrid, and Uwiphyx had already snuk out.

Now back on the road, the party headed east over the Triboar Trail towards the city of Triboar. On this six-day journey, they met a few wandering traders with whom some party members did some trading and talking.

As the party arrived late on their sixth day of travel in the city of Triboar, they were greeted by the noise of the city's husbandry practises. Deciding to sleep cheaply, they arrived at the Snailhouse Tavern. Despite the tavern being overrun by travelling dwarves, the party managed to acquire a single room for them to share. In the tavern, Hagrid managed to befriend the bar-tending dwarf before resting from their long journey.

### Triboar Tales

#### Niffo the Burkish Bartender

Having arrived in Triboar and rested in the snailhouse tavern, the party decided to take up some errands the following day. Hagrid, Natah, and Scipio would investigate further into Garaeles dissapearance by talking to librarian and Oghma priestess Jacqueline Thistle, while James and Uwiphyx would tend to their wizard studies by going shopping for paper and inks.

During their chat with Jacqueline, the three uncovered that the mysterious man with the giant hat is actually known as Mr. Petasum, a member of the historical human-trafficking mafia. His Petasum Operation acts as a subsidiary of the Zhemtarim, alongside the White Wolves. His operation has a stronghold in the Yataran Hills southeast of Triboar. However, the garrisoned strenght would probably be too much for the Groep van Droep to take on. Either stealth, trade, or hired help would be advisable.

Aside from chatting business, Jacqueline and the three got into serious talk about relationships, political views, religion, and heritage. During these talks, Natah discovered that Thistle actually was an undercover Elf instead of a Human, as she had claimed. This discovery made the three wary, questioning the legality of the Harpers. Eventually, Jacqueline and the three decided that both enough information for now, and parted ways now the midday, but agreed to meet again on the Artisan Plaza in the evening.

In the meantime, James and Uwiphyx had acquired the goods that they were after. James went to work on his own spell, while Uwiphyx went to the local jeweler to sell a gemstone she had recently acquired from Halia Thornton. Here she met the young jeweler Lily, who was impressed by Uwiphyx's adventures and elvenhood. After striking a deal for the gemstone, Lily had 180gp deposited on Uwiphyx's bank account. After this, she too returned to the snailhouse tavern to assist James in his endeavour to create a spell.

The three were on their way back to the snailhouse tavern as well, but news cried by the towncrier made Scipio run away to the Bathhouse, leaving the other two behind. Hagrid decided to buy some leather, while Natah decided to take an extensive walk through the city,

As the evening began, a gaming evening was held in the Snailhouse Tavern, in which the party participated and won some money.

The following morning, barman Niffo gathered the party and tasked them to check up on his pal Cornelis Flint, who had been missing for some time. Promising a reward not in coin, but in friendship and favor, Niffo swayed the adventurers. Before the party went underway, Scipio announced his retirement from the adventuring party, as he planned to continue pursueing his vision of the establishing of a half-elven village.

Around midday, the adventurers arrived on Flint's Farm south of Triboar. They were quickly ambushed by terrifying animated scarecrows and a cohort of zombies. The real danger of Flint's Farm however, turned out to be a giant animated pumpkin that Flint had created in a madness to win the local pumpkin festival contest. After defeating the abberations, Cornelis Flint awoke from a madness that had consumed him, and he thanked the adventurers for rescuing him from the dark confines of his own mind. The adventurers received some coin and carious magical trinkets for their troubles.

#### Antlion troubles

During the afternoon, the magic-wielders of the party decided to pay a visit to the Arcana Abode of Triboar to trade for magical information and trinkets. On the great square of the city, they witnessed the announcements of dwarven crusade leader Akana Zilversteen, supposed heir to the locked-away throne of Valabar. In the Arcana Abode, the adventurers met the wizard Hans Bimmer. With the debt that was owed to Niffo, and some of James' collection of venomfangs remains, the party traded for some spells and information. Natah inquired with Bimmer on the nature of the mysterious sword that the party received from Cornelis Flint that day. In the meantime, Hagrid visited the Bolbo Bemir Cartwrightry. During Natah's discussions with Bimmer, he met up with an acquaintance of his, the dragonborn Gert.

The following day, on the first of the new month Boptober, the party decided to take up some jobs for coin. After some back-and-forth, the party accepted a job to exterminate a nest of giant ants located in an abandoned mine southwest of the city. After loading up their cart with bottles to store the precious nectar of the giant ants, the party began their journey to the nest.

Having arrived near the nest in late evening, the party made camp. In the earliest of the morning, the party was attacked by several ant guardians, but the party disposed of them without too much difficulty. Following this, the party went to the abandoned mine where the antlions had their nest. After an investigation of the mining encampment, the party descended into the nest, where they were ambushed by a horde of ants. While victorious, Hagrid and Natah were severely injured during this confrontation.

After taking a midday break and recovering from their most severe injuries, the party descended once again into the depths of the antlions nest, where they discovered and killed the queen of the antlions.

After retrieving the heart of the queen, several party members started to become uncomfortable in the caverns, having the feeling of being watched. As they continued on their way and located the eggs they were after, the party encountered the nothic Karr, who offered the party a deal: the queen's heart in exchange for dark information about the hidden secrets of the mine and secrets about each other. While most party members scoffed the nothic away, Natah was intrigued and secretly accepted the deal.

begrudgingly, the fellow party members followed Natah into the hidden depths of the mine, discovering an elven structure venturing deeper below the ground. Here they puzzled and fought through obstacles to find an altar and mausoleum for the blasphamous deity Cyric, goddess of lies. Both James and Uwiphyx triggered something with the altar and received a vision of being 'seen' by Cyric, before the party uncovered three dead worshippers laying in the tombstones, beladen with magical treasure with nefarious energies.

#### Return to Triboar

After concluding their exploration of the antlion caverns and the hidden temple of Cyric, the Groep van Droep returned to the surface, finding themselves in the middle of a new windy day. Here they found Karr the Nothic guarding their cart from further antlions, in exchange for a substantial amount of food. After tolerating Karr and reluctantly thanking him by offering some more food, Hagrid, Uwiphyx, and James set out to return to Triboar. Natah and Gert revealed that they had to tend to other business in the Neverwinter Woods, and that they would meet up with the Groep van Droep later.

Travelling north-east for the rest of the day, the remaining Groep van Droep members discovered the ruins of Corin, a abandoned farming town in the Dessurin Plains. Here they met a group of previous inhabitants that were collecting belongings and materials, and generally tending to the ruins. One of the inhabitants, Pieter Vaak, mentioned that his son, Klaas, was missing. This alerted the adventurers as it related to their missing friend, Garaele.

Arriving in Triboar in the late evening, the three adventurers split up for their dwellings. James sought a decent tavern, while Hagrid and Uwiphyx sought after the softest bed in Triboar, eventually arriving at old Gerda's house. In exchange for staying at her house, Hagrid offered to fix old Gerda's leaking roof. The following day, the adventurers collected their rewards for exterminating the antlions and negotiated some with Hans Bimmer for magical trinkets and spells. The adventurers agreed with Bimmer to investigate the missing people problem and keep him up-to-date in exchange for some magical spells. The adventurers concluded the day by volunteering to fight in the arena on the second day of the pumpkin festival. Going back to their respective dwellings, the adventurers slept peacefully and awoke to the first day of the the pumpkin festival.

During the first day of the festival, the adventurers enjoyed the various festivities, including games, dances, and drinks. They met the enigmatic merchant Zum from who they've bought curious magical trinkets.

During the second day of the festival, the adventurers fought as gladiators in the newly opened Coloseum of Triboar. In a tournament-format, they first fought the party of Ronalds Razende Rakkers, and later the Uilberen Troupe. During the Troupe fight, Gert unleashed a swarm of hungering demons from beyond the material world, which spooked the arena. Emerging victoriously from the team vs team fights, the adventurers also fought the guest fighter Badur, a travelling stone giant. After defeating the giant as well, the adventurers received their rewards and a trophy as token of their victory, and were lauded by the new name of their party: The Dappere Dobbelaars.

### Dappere Dobbelaars

Immediately following the tournament, Hagrid sought after something to blow off steam and ended up at a sawmill where he sawed wood with a local carpenter. Meanwhile, Uwiphyx, Natah, and Gert raced back to enigmatic merchant Zum where they went on a shopping spree, spending their hard-earned money on a plentitude of magical items. As the afternoon progressed towards the evening, the party made their to the Steigerende Satyr Tavern, as James had received an invitation from the Uilberen Troupe to celebrate the second evening of the pumpkin festival together in cameraderie. In the sweaty and loud tavern, arms were wrestled, meals were enjoyed, and titanic amounts of alcohol were consumed.

#### Crossing the Dessurin

Wrapping up their business in Triboar, the Dappere Dobbelaars set out to search for Sister Garaele in Yatar and the Yataran Hills. They travelled along the eastern Triboar Trail on the south side of the Evermoor, where after a few hours of travel they encountered the mighty Dessurin river, and the crumbeling bridge crossing it. The bridge itself was heavily guarded by a platoon of soldiers and various heavy weapon systems. These defenses were to protect the northern lands against goblin and orc raiders from the south, who regularly assaulted the bridge.

Arriving in the run-down village of Yatar, the adventurers were quickly greeted by Johnny de Mar and his goons, who wanted tribute in exchange for access to the town. Eventually entering the town, the adventurers noticed that most of the villagers were hesitant and apprehensive towards outsiders, and that the town seemed tense. They made their way towards the mill of their contact Josef Bolen. The impatient old miller provided the adventurers with the state of the town, as well as giving them several leads and access to his mill as a safehouse.

Sensing their unwelcome in the town, the party rented a (single) room from miss Helena in the Flying Fish Tavern where they spent the evening and night. Using magics, they established contact with Garaele, which proved she was alive at least, and provided several more clues. Early in the morning, the party made their way out of town towards the Yataran Hills in search for the ruins of Castle Petasum in the hopes of uncovering more of the secret. In the hills, the party encountered more intact elven ruins, like the ones found closer towards Yatar itself. Late in the afternoon, the party encountered a Hobgoblin scout party that immideatly attacked the adventurers. The adventurers made quick work of the Hobgoblins and their Worg mounts however, and managed to capture one of the assailing Hobgoblins.

After using mind-altering magics, the Hobgoblin Zaran was eager to tell the adventurers whatever he knew about Frederiek Petasum, and where to find his hideout. Fearing that the Hobgoblin would turn hostile and hinder their search, the adventurers debated and finally decided to execute the Hobgoblin by thrusting Excalibur through its back. Following this, the adventurers took a moment to neatly lay the assailing Hobgoblins to rest away from the path.

Now armed with information, the adventurers continued their search for Castle Petasum, which they eventually found. After making camp a good distance from the fortification, Uwiphyx went out on a scouting mission to search for entrances and the number of guards defending the castle.

#### End of the line

In the morning, the adventurers started their assault on Castle Petasum. Using Luna and several magical shenanigans, they managed to pick off several guards before general alarm was sounded. Using her destructive lightning bolt, Uwiphyx quickly desintegrated a good number of guards while James and Hagrid were frantically burning and hacking away on the cellar door, where they believed Garaele would be kept. After a sizeable hole was created, the adventurers jumped through the flames of the burning doors into the dark cellars of the castle.

In the cellars, the adventurers were reunited with Natah and Gert, who were attracted to the ruckus made outside. As the cellars started to fill with smoke from the burning doors, the adventurers were preparing to plunge deeper into the cellars. Before they could truely start, Natah noticed how several archers and heavy infantrymen began to group outside the cellar doors. As he and Gert prepared themselves to shoot the assaillants when they would come closer, Hagrid jumped back out of the burning doors with righteous fury to fight these assaillants. This proved to be a tactical error, however, as Hagrid was overwhelmed by the rogueish cunning of the archers and the brute force of the infantrymen. With a blade to Hagrid's throat, the guardsmen of Petasum castle demanded that the adventurers would cease their attack, or their friend would die.

Faced with a heavy choice, James Demesis ultimately proclaimed surrender for the group. The adventurers dropped their weapons, went outside as ordered, and were restrained by the guards using manacles. They were brought before the big boss of the castle, Frederiek Petasum, and his hill giant bouncer, Thonk. After demanding awnsers for why the adventurers were attacking his castle, and receiving few, Petasum ordered the adventurers to be thrown in the dungeons.

In the dungeons, the adventurers were finally reunited with Sister Garaele, although in unfortunate circumstances. After recollecting themselves over the course of a long rest, plans for escape started to brew.

Only young Demesis had the means of getting out of the jail cell, so he misty stepped out of the cell and tried to charm the guards that were supposed to watch them. While initially succesfull, one of the guards managed to alert the castle guard of the ongoing shenanigans before succumbing to James' magics and persuasions.

Trapped in their cell block, and with no weapons and little magics, began a fight to escape for the adventurers. This did not go well, as the castle guard was heavily armed and prepared for the corridor-to-corridor fighting that took place. One by one the adventurers started to fall, momentarily being revived by Natah, but it would not be enough in the long run. Natah had encased himselves in the walls of the dungeon, escaping the eyes of the guards, who had thought the mycelial elf had simply vanished.

After defeating the rebellious adventurers, the guardsmen asked Petasum what to do with them, to which Petasum replied to kill them all, as they were more trouble than they were worth. With that order given, the lives of Hagrid, Uwiphyx, James, and Gert came to a quick and unceremonious end, as Natah watched his friends die one by one from his stone sanctuary.

As night came, Natah assumed a gaseous form and quietly floated out of the cellars, and making his way away from the castle. As he went, he vowed to look for ways to ressurect his friends with the eventual help of Triboar mage Hans Bimmer.

With their souls detaching their bodies, the deceased adventurers found themselves in a void of pure white, before regaining their sense of self. As they regained enough conciousness to notice each other in the white void, they were brought before a majestic golden gate. Beyond the gate was an unimaginable landscape with mighty mountains, lush fields, and incredible buildings.

The adventurers looked at each other, and stepped through the gate.

## Party members

### Sentient creatures

* Hagrid de mens de mens (deceased 1770 DR)
* Uwiphyx (deceased 1770 DR)
* James Demesis (deceased 1770 DR)
* Scipio (former member)
* Natah
* Droep (former member and ex-party mascot)
* Dei (former member)
* Gamra Renas (former member)
* Ripper (former member)
* Bonzu Pippinpaddle Oppsokopolis III (deceased 1769 DR)
* Grimduhr (deceased 1769 DR)
* Slikkius (temporary member)
* Dathan/Gert (deceased 1770 DR)

### Non-sentient (?) creatures

* **Poekie**, Hagrid's cat. Found in the Bonzu cave, and was eventually released into the Yataran Hills shortly before Hagrid's death.
* **Luna**, James' Familiar hawk. After James' death, Luna was accepted as companion by Hans Bimmer.
* ~~**Victor** the orphaned riding horse, often ridden by Scipio during casual travel~~, sold to Scipio as he left the Groep van Droep.
* Two (2) unnamed draft horses pulling The Cart.

### Other equipment

* **The Cart**, often manned and maintained by Hagrid during casual travel.
* **The Trailer** (as of the Triboar pumpkin festival)
* ~~Scipio's 250 GP share of the Leilon fishing company~~

### Locations

* Hagrid's cartwright shop on the outskirts of Neverwinter city
* Uwiphyx's accommodations in Neverwinter's temple of Oghma

## Allies & Rivals

During their adventures, the Groep van Droep has made several good friends, but also several enemies that rather see them gone.

### Allies

These people can be considered allies or friends of the Groep van Droep. These people will try to help the GvD where they can.

* Sildar Hallwinter, human lord's alliance agent who the GvD rescued from goblin captivity in 1769 DR.
* Gundren Rockseeker, entrepreneur of the Phandelver Mine. Employer of the GvD.
* Sister Garaele, shrinekeeper of Phandalin and Harpers agent.
* Otto Derek, commander of Winterian armed forces. Thankful for the GvD's contributions to the safety of the region.
* Reidoth the Druid, protector of the Neverwinter Woods. Thankful for the GvD's contributions to the liberation of Thundertree.
* Barman Niffo Bemir, tavern-owner in Triboar.
* High Mage Hans Bimmer of Triboar.

### Rivals

These people can be considered rivals or contemporaries of the Groep van Droep. These people often have complex relationships with the party, which can result in either positive or negative experiences.

* Halia Thornton, entrepreneur of the Phandelver Mine, mayor of Phandalin, Zhentarim agent. Has a complex relationship with the GvD due to deaths of party members and general mutual distrust.
* Hamun Kost, necromancy wizard operating in Northwest Faerun. Worked together with the GvD in the past due to pragmatic reasons.
* Dara Staalkop, wife of Brutmuri Staalkop which the party apprehended for stealing mining supplies.
* Jacqueline Thistle, harper's coordinator.

### Enemies

These people are active enemies of the party, and will try to hinder them where they can.

* Zaran the hobgoblin
* Dragon Cultists Boris & Herbert
* Terrin Montagu, Half-Elf Necromancy Wizard and ex-member of Ronalds Razende Rakkers adventurers that was burned by James Demesis.