MC1S5

## Payment in Kind

The party destroys the Redbrand bandits, as well as their leader..

“
*"Glass-Staff, more like* Ass*-Staff!"*
”
—  Genevieve foils Glass-Staff's escape.
**Payment in Kind** was the 5th session of the Lost Mines of Colmanth mini-campaign.

## Summary

If the Redbrands want to trade in blood, the party is happy to offer payment in kind. The party continues clearing out the Redbrand hideout, finding a horrid Nothic lurking within. The Miners assault the final remnants of the Redbrand band, where--through Herbie's brave audacity--the enemy's ambush is foiled. Godric and Genevieve make short work of the bandits, but the party must rally again to fight an incoming horde of Cragmaw Bugbears. Sildar arrives on the scene as Herbie makes the Bugbears an offer they can't refuse. The Redbrand-Cragmaw forces, now in full rout, try to escape via the secret tunnel; however, the Miners had blocked it with dynamite earlier. Thus, the remaining Redbrand-Cragmaw forces are cornered and slaughtered. Godric channels incredible force in slaying the Nothic; in a desperate last-ditch effort, Glass-Staff produces a devastating fireball, which lays everyone low but Genevieve. She foils his escape, and Glass-Staff is unceremoniously killed by a resulting fall (with Sildar then falling directly on top of him for good measure), having been damaged by his own fireball.

## NPCs

* **Glass-Staff: Ancano:** A crazed and destruction-leaning wizard who dealt in magic he could not possibly hope to control. A menace to others and to himself who died an unceremonious death, falling 6 meters and then having Sildar fall on top of him, crushing him to death.
	+ It seems the Black Spider was behind Glass-Staff and the Redbrands. The Redbrands had explicit orders from this Black Spider to dispose of the party if they made it to Phandalin...
* The party already knows that Yeemik was also involved with the Black Spider based on the peculiar seal found on his correspondence...
* **King Crol:** The leader of the Cragmaw Tribe seems to have delivered clear instructions to Klarg to ensure that the Miners were killed while enroute to Phandalin.
* **Sildar:** When goblins aren't chucking loads of dynamite on him and outnumbering him 10:1, Sildar can handle himself in a scrap. He was able to power on through an enemy fireball, which is no small achievement.
* **Droop:** A cowardly Goblin that fainted upon seeing the party. Possibly, this unfortunate captive knows of the location of Cragmaw Castle.
* **The Dendrar Family:** The woodcarver's family, they are freed from the Tresendar estate by the actions of the Miners.
* **The Bony Bois:** The Tresendar family warriors are finally freed from their Oaths by Genevieve's final words to them, thus freeing them to travel to Elysium and enjoy the fruits of the afterlife after centuries as reanimated skeletons, guarding their former masters' sepulcher.

## Inventory

### Gained

* 75 cp 55 sp and 26 gp (captured Redbrand loot)
* 160 sp, 120 gp, 5 gems (Nothic's loot)
* 2 potions of healing
* Scroll of Augury
* Talon: A beautiful longsword with silver-chased hilt now in Godric's possession.
* In Glass-Staff's chest: 180 sp, 130 GP, 5 carnellions, 2 peridots, 1 pearl, Scroll of Charm Person
* 10 random potions
* 1 Glass Staff (Staff of Defense)

## Quests

### Ongoing

* **The Missing Dwarf (Everyone):** Find Gundren's whereabouts. Discover the exact location of Cragmaw Castle. Question the captive Goblin for information about Cragmaw Castle's location.
* **For the Glory of doG (Herbie and Sofiel):** Return to Sister Garaele once she has fully healed from her recent misadventure.
* **Orc Trouble (Everyone):** Learn more of the bounty on the Orc Raiders. Defeat the Orcs at Wyvern Tor to receive 100 GP.
* **Ascending to doGhood (Herbie):** Acquire Divinity by freeing 1000 dogs or wolves. 3 / 1,000

### Completed

* **Never Should have Come Here (Everyone):** Locate the Redbrands' hideout and defeat their mysterious leader.

## Reflections

* **Genevieve:** "The Redbrands are vanquished, their leader and monster slain, and their prisoners free. It was bloody, but Phandalin is safe from their ilk. Once I can calm down enough to collect my thoughts, I could write a ballad from the last few hours. So many moments - Herbie invoking his mother's power to scare off the bugbears, Godric slaying the nothic, the Tresender skeletons joining us to purge the evils from their old home, and Glasstaff nearly triumphing but me striking him as he fled and Sildar diving from above to finish him... I may have to change some details for the sake of the story though: Godric found the sword of the Tresender knight Black Hawk in the Nothic's nest, maybe in the ballad he'll find the sword during our first pass through and use it to slay the nothic and avenge the sword's old owner...I can't exactly make a ballad out of calling the leader "Ass-staff" and making him trip into the pit though, can I? Instead I'll say I hit him with a "barb", everyone'll think I mean an arrow, and I can keep Sildar diving to finish him. The Tresender skeletons will have their due too - I should have learned their names before Glasstaff struck them down. I gave the last one my blessing and he was able to pass on to the afterlife. May the gods grant them in Elysium the honor they deserve down here."
* Herbie: "Ow, ow... What happened? Was it the gift from mom? No, that's real, not one of Pollen's tricks. She plucked a star right out of the sky and gave it to look after me! It's so beautiful. It's good I got to hear from her first, else I might have been spooked when the one-eyed beast talked straight into my head! It messed with the others too! But Genevieve was tricksy, she pulled out green fire just like Dragonfly's nightlight and burned it right up. Threats, summoned friends and fairy fire, I really really have to talk with her! But no, it wasn't that... Was it the red thieves? No, they missed me even when I was in the room with them! They got one lucky shot but I paid them back. Clearing them out was easy, why we even got some bugbears who wanted to join in! Bugbears don't play nice though, so I told them to behave, and that's when we faced... *the thing*. No no no, wait, that didn't do it either. Godric took it out in one blow. One blow! No, it was... *the fire*... pure, magnificent fire. One blast filled the cave and almost all of us were out. I must find out its secret."
* Sofiel: "I have finally deciphered it! Those old hermits had a lot of wisdom in this text, but I finally put together their language and learned their ways of healing. This means my time in solitude was not wasted after all, and I can put this knowledge to good use. Now they speak of a certain magical berry that can heal and nourish those who eat it. I wonder if I can channel some of my own magic to make it more potent or brew some potions to heal others. I will need to find someone more in tune with the woods to help me learn more because this book will only get me so far. Perhaps Herbie could help me with the potions. He may have some experience having lived in the woods for most of his life. Wait where did everyone go? I only just started reading this."

## Appendix

Lost Mines of Colmanth Sessions
**Chapter 1: The Frontier**. Session 1 · Session 2 · Session 3 · Session 4 · **Session 5** · Session 6 · Session 7
 Session 8 · Session 9 · Session 10 · Session 11 · Session 12