Mike (barbarian), Jamie (wizard), Todd (cleric), Cam (paladin), Shaun (bard), Justin (artificer), and Jeremy (rogue) via phone
Todd's cleric, a champion of justice and peace, has helped liberate Mike from the slave fighting pits he has been a prisoner of his entire life. The two are departing Waterdeep to lay low escape notice. They've joined up with some other travelers who were leaving the city together. Todd disguises Mike with some simple robes and has him carry his shield, like he's a bodyguard.
Justin's magic investigator is being sent off to search for information about the gladiatorial break-out, as some of the guards reported inexplicably doing things they wouldn't normally do. The authorities guessed that magic was involved, so Justin's group was called in. Everyone was sent off blindly to gather info; Justin's just happened to be towards Nightstone.
Jamie grew up in Nightstone but left years ago. He returns to visit his uncle now and then, who runs a small bookstore in the village.
Cam is on the hunt for the murderer of his parents. He has no particular reason to think Nightstone is important, but he's searching everything and it's next on the list.
Shaun, as an operative of the Zhentarim, received instructions to go to Nightstone. No other details were provided. He's a black dragonborn, but travels as his alter ego, a hunched over old man. He uses an alabaster mask as part of this disguise (though others don't realize it's a mask).
Jeremy - no idea
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Not much is known about Nightstone. It's a small rural village, only really notable for the strange black stone obelisk situated in the center of the village. It has never really done anything, but people gravitated to it years ago, and a small community sprung up around, naming it after the curious attraction. People come visit the Nightstone for luck. There is also a small but defensible keep in the village, and a large moat surrounds the entire community. A narrow bridge ascends from the village to the keep.
The trip has taken a few days, and while the travelers don't really know each other, their number has already dissuaded potential wild animal and bandit attacks. When they begin getting close to Nightstone, they hear the distant ringing of a bell, constantly. Jamie recognizes it as the temple bell, but doesn't know why it would be ringing nonstop. The town always had a setup where if there was danger, the bell would be rung and everyone would go seek shelter at Nandar Keep - but the bell wouldn't be rung constantly like is happening currently.
When they get within eyesight of Nightstone, they see no signs of movement or activity, and they also see that huge boulders are scattered throughout the village, with the bridge to the keep having been shattered, gaping holes in some of the houses, etc. They rush into the village.
The temple is the first building within the town, so they head inside. No one is inside, but they notice some of the pews have been jostled and are slightly out of order. The bell ringing continues from a back room. Jamie remembers the priest's name and calls out for him, but there is no reaction. Peeking inside the back room door, they see two goblins gleefully hanging off the bell rope and ringing it. The party busts in and Jamie crits one goblin with a fire bolt, killing it instantly. The others surround the other goblin and attempt to grab it, then shoot it, but the goblin manages to scurry up the rope. Todd uses thaumaturgy to shut the hatch above it, then Jamie shakes the rope, causing the goblin to fall to the ground.
Interrogating the goblin reveals that the goblins saw the people running away from the village. They never returned, so the goblins came in to loot. The party quickly realizes the goblins can't have been behind whatever happened here (boulders), so they let the goblin go. He runs out the gates in a hurry.
Exiting the temple, Cam climbs up on the short room for a better look. The party starts heading towards the keep when they see two worgs feasting on a dead dog across the city square. They also notice the Nightstone is missing, with a 5-foot hole where it once stood. The party attacks the worgs (Cam tries to vault across the clearing from boulder to boulder, but fails and falls on his face) and kills them.
Justin examines the Nightstone hole. He detects faint traces of magic, from where the Nightstone itself once stood, but no signs of other magic that might indicate it was removed magically. He also senses that the Nighstone went up, vertically, but he can't trace it further.
Proceeding further, Todd looks into a small trading post - the Hare's Ear - and sees another goblin rummaging around. He and Shaun enter calmly, wishing to talk to the goblin, and Shaun casts charm person on it. He then asks about this goblin, who turns out to be named Beedo and has a 16 charisma. They ask it some more questions, realize that this goblin also doesn't know anything about what happened here.
[D&D] Bard: I cast charm person on the goblin.
— Rades (@_Rades) December 10, 2017
Me, DM: He fails his save.
Bard: Tell me about him!
Me: Uh. *rolls* Wow, ok, he's got 16 charisma. This goblin is confident. Capable. He's a real impressive specimen.
Bard: Does he have a moustache?
Me: He sure does. It's real suave.
Shaun, impressed with the goblin, gives the goblin a small obsidian star. Beedo eats it. I think Beedo gave Shaun something too, but I can't remember what. Satisfied, Todd escorts this goblin out of the village. Beedo strolls off.
Mike keeps yelling, wondering who's in charge of the worgs. In the meantime, Cam, Justin, and Jeremy spot two goblins chasing each other in a ruined garden, pumpkins on their heads. They approach. Jeremy attempts to stealth up but crit fails, instead falling into an open door to another house. He lands on the dead body of a man, who is crushed beneath a boulder that smashed through his roof. Justin trips one of the goblins, then Cam scoops him up in a bag. The other goblin notices something and runs over, manages to withstand a trip attempts, and runs off. Justin shoots and kills it. After the group reconvenes they question the goblin, then let it go. Still blinded by the pumpkin, it runs off and falls into the moat.
They puzzle the broken bridge. Mike loops a grapple around one of the surviving posts on the other side; Cam just jumps across. Mike secures the rope so everyone can just shimmy across. However, Mike crit fails his Athletics check and falls into the water. While the others are waiting for him, they look at the keep. It's sturdy, but half-destroyed by boulders. The large doors are shut. They hear faint murmurs of conversation coming from within.
The party moves in, and finds the entrance chamber half collapsed under rubble. They hear no more talking. They find a ruined kitchen, then a nice den & reading library. Justin searches the library and finds a small quarter-sized blue gem that radiates magic. He doesn't know what it does though, but he puts it in a pouch.
Moving upstairs, they find ruined bedrooms, and one intact bedroom door. Mike goes to open it, but is attacked by a floating sword. As they start fighting it, Justin steps into the room, badge out. He is attacked by four scared guards - three of whom pull their attacks or miss. However the last guard crits Justin and takes him down. Cam lay on hands him and brings him up. Shaun grapples the sword, the others attack it, Jamie acid orbs the sword. Shaun gets splattered with acid but ignores it because he's a black dragonborn.
After taking out the sword, they question the guards. The guards explain that a few days ago, a cloud drifted overhead, then started raining boulders down onto the village, killing residents, including Lady Nandar in the keep. The priest rang the bell, but a boulder destroyed the bridge to the keep, so the townsfolk couldn't come seek shelter here. Instead, panicked, they fled the village. The guards have been scared and unsure what to do, but now that they know the village has been cleared, they plan to head back to Waterdeep.
The party short rests. Those who didn't need a rest spot a few more goblins leaving the village, at the drawbridge. The PCs call out to them, the goblins jeer and snark back, and reveal that they have the other townsfolk and are going to eat them. They run off. However, Jamie sends Hoot Hoot after them to follow them. They lead the owl to a cave in the hills.
The party heads to the gates, trying to decide if they want to pursue right now. They decide to long rest, first. They search the rest of the village and find some misc stuff - Jeremy finds a set of dwarf-sized chainmail and a helm with ram horns; Jamie finds some muffins, cheese, a cooked chicken. They eat the findings, with the muffins for breakfast.
In the morning (or maybe the previous day?) the guards make a litter and put Lady Nandar's body, wrapped in a sheet, on it for transport. Shaun, who had found the Nandar flag up above, a fox head biting a rose (?) on a purple field (?), ceremoniously puts the flag on Lady Nandar's body. One of the guards gives him a Nandar signet ring in thanks, and tells him that if he finds himself in Waterdeep and is in need of aid, he can use this to seek assistance from the Nandars. The guards leave.
Before the party can set out for the caves (some time must have passed, here), they spot 7 people on horseback arriving. They head down to meet them. Dressed all in black, the group is wearing insignia marking them as members of the Zhentarim. Their leader, Xolkin, calmly asks what the party is doing here, and when he finds out they don't have permanent plans here, seems happy. They talk for a bit, and Xolkin tells them (truthfully) that they are here to set up a base/outpost, having heard about the recent troubles. When asked how he knew, he says merely that he has eyes in the area. The party is suspicious, but eventually come to believe him. They ask him for help rescuing the townsfolk, and Xolkin is reluctant, saying it doesn't really involve them. Eventually, they convince the Zhents to help by promising to vouch for them later, if there should come any dispute about setting up shop in Nightstone from the other residents. Xolkin also has his eye on the keep, and is delighted when he hears that Lady Nandar is dead and that the keep is now empty.
They approach the caves, and do some scouting. Xolkin and Vetkin scout and find a natural chimney on top of the hill, and also a side, back entrance with a stream. Eventually the groups decide to send the Zhentarim to the side stream entrance and await sounds of a disturbance, then rush in. Jeremy and Cam will go down the chimney. And the others will go in the front.
Jamie casts find familiar and turns Hoot Hoot into a rat (named Squeaky). He sends Squeaky in to scout. It's a short trip, as the rat quickly spots an ogre and comes back out.
Cam and Jeremy descend down the chimney, Jeremy bringing a tied-off rope with him. At the bottom Cam meets a female goblin named Snig-Bat. She doesn't attack, instead offering to lead him to her boss if she'll kill him for her, so she can be the new boss. Cam and Jeremy agree.
Todd and Shaun edge into the cave and cast Bane, then Charm Person, on the ogre. The ogre, Nob, succumbs and becomes best buds with Shaun. Shaun convinces him he should leave the cave because there's good mud outside, back towards the village. Hot and cold mud.
Cam and Jeremy send Snig-Bat to go tell the boss something is wrong, so they can ambush him. They fail perception checks, and while they do leap out and ambush the boss a few minutes later, they don't realize he's with two other goblins and seven giant rats, who all attack.
Nob gradually agrees with the idea, but says he wants to take his lady friend too, Thog. Todd edges out of the cave; Shaun remains and says that's a great idea, that Nob might really impress Thog with this new mud.
[D&D] So Nob the ogre starts yelling out for his partner, Thog, to come join him and (PC Bard).
— Rades (@_Rades) December 10, 2017
Artificer, ooc: A female ogre!
Barbarian, ooc: Wouldn't it be great if it wasn't an ogre.
Me, DM: ...well it's not gonna be an ogre *now*.
Players: SHIT
What emerges from the nest of boulders deeper in the cave isn't another ogre, but instead an allosaurus.
Cam and Jeremy continue the assault on the boss, and Cam hits him with a huge hit - however, the boss redirects it to one of his cronies instead. However, Cam gets a free attack when he kills something, so this second attack takes the boss down. The rats then attack and almost kill Cam - since there are 7 of them, they have pack tactics, and Cam is level 1. Jeremy runs away back to the rope and climbs up it 15 feet so the rats can't get him.
Shaun manages to slowly lead Nob and Thog outside, and gives Nob bardic inspiration on his Nature check to convince Thog to come with him as they go seek out this new, good mud. It takes a bit, though. While Thog is distracted, Justin slips by and heads inside. Mike heads to find the Zhentarim to tell them to head in.
Jeremy throws daggers at the rats; Cam bleeds.
Mike meets up with Xolkin and the other Zhents. They head in. Hearing sounds the combat, they join the fray against the remaining goblin and the rats. Only Mike can join the melee, because of the tight tunnels. Xolkin and another Zhent stay, the other five head back along another tunnel leading to the main chamber, where they meet Justin, who had just completed a circuit and found nothing of interest.
Eventually, Nob convinces Thog to go with him, and they head off in search of mud. Shaun natural 20s a stealth check to slip away. He, Jamie, and Todd head in. They meet up with Justin & the Zhents. They talk briefly, then head along a side tunnel that leads in the direction of the chimney. They come across the other side of the fight. Todd rushes in and kills the remaining goblin, then healing words Cam, bringing him up. Justin crit fails a gun attack and accidentally shoots Xolkin (though not fatally). The party + Zhents kill the rats.
(We fast-tracked this, but they also find the surviving townsfolk in the cave and rescue them, and everyone returns to Nightstone to rest. In the cave, they found a weird, conspicuous boulder. Mike failed to move it aside, but Jamie succeeded. Inside they found some coins and two magic items - Dust of Disappearance, and a Cloak of the Manta Ray.)
THE PARTY REACHED LEVEL 2.
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