Final - Session Twelve: Calm Before The Sturm und Drang

Alt title - The End of All Things to Come

I designed this session to be a bridge, more about letting the party "relax" and kind of get to feel out the town of Phandalin more than they'd had a chance to do previously. So we jumped in with a recap and then a hand-waived "return to town" section;

"However, when the party finally felt far enough away to make camp in an easily-defended position (and even then, not much rest was had for anyone), Gundren made a disturbing discovery whilst attempting to show a dwarven technique to Besiljka. The map taken from the bugbear king was -not- his map. It was the same map to the Rockseeker excavation into the Wave Echo Cave, he could tell from having walked the path laid out. But his map, his -original- map had a faded clan crest that could be seen when held up to firelight. This map lacked that.

Mulling over pack rations in front of the fire, he and the party came to the only logical conclusion - that the Black Spider must have the original. That being the case, why would the bugbear have a copy? And what payment were then the bugbear and not-elf thing in heated discussion over? And what was that thing? Had the guard captain been an agent of the Black Spider from the start? Was the assault on Valeth Tower and the carnage within all part of the Black Spider's schemes? It seems as if every time the party comes close to answers, new questions spring up.

As early as possible, camp was broken to finish the last bit of journey back to Phandalin. By midmorning, the fork from the Triboar Trail appeared and the party could almost smell their destination. In the distance, a new sight greeted them - an impressive wooden watchtower had been built at the northern edge of town during their absence. As the party approached closer, a familiar Elven figure leaned over and waved a greeting. Daran Edermath, with longbow in hand, stood watch on the elevated position, with a commanding view of the area. Upon seeing Gundren in the party's care, he yelled down urging a report to Sildar with the utmost haste. Grimfang, wanting to check in with Sora and look into a few things on the side, made his temporary goodbyes from the party. "

Afterwards, the party got to add up their XP from the past couple sessions. Going from level 4 to 5 is a process with a ways to go yet.

We had a town square & series of Warlock Tiles buildings set up just to be representative of the town, which I stressed at least nine times, but my players still treated as "I'm in this building." Okay. We can work with it.

Besiljka escorted Gundren to the Townmaster Hall, where they found a group of dwarves, including Gundren's cousin Holstead. They were thrilled to see Gundren alive & showered Bessie with praise, as well as uncut gemstones. Then she made it inside to Sildar, who could not have been more overjoyed, both with Gundren and the return of his sword & chainmail. They talked a little bit before she moved on, eager to see Elspeth. Gabriel was "in" Karniv's, where the party had been before, but he didn't remember, so they mostly talked about weird stuff. Lenneth hung out with some horses and stuff for a bit. Grimfang was off with Sora, discussing new information.

So, again, goal here was just to chill, not necessarily move plot, etc. Bessie met up with Elspeth at the "militia barracks," really a barn that had been converted to train the 10ish person group. Elspeth was riding hard on the recruits to get them up to speed as quickly as possible, as less than a dozen fighters were expected to protect a town of 250ish. But when Bessie called out to her, she forgot anything except for her heart. Meanwhile, Gabe headed to the blacksmith to get himself some new gear. Trading in his dragon's blood infused axe for a warhammer and a trident, he left happy. Lenneth headed to the Shrine of the Moon (replacing the Shrine of Luck) and talked to Sister Garaele a bit. Wanting to not add more side quests just yet, I left it at that.

-seems like a bunch of my original text deleted itself-

Anyway, party met back up at the Stonehill to drink a bunch and interact with the dwarves more. Gabe got to talking to Gundren and eventually convinced him to open up more. Lenneth played music. Besiljka spent time with Elspeth. Grimfang and Sora hung out with Sora telling everyone how she built the watchtower. Lot of card games and gambling happened.. Eventually the night grew late and people started to filter out. Lenneth returned to the Shrine to seek guidance under the moonlight escorted by Grim. After, they decided to share a room. Bessie and Elspeth did the same. All Eventually settled in for a peaceful evening of rest as we ended the session. 

Alas, such was not to be. Under the cover of darkness, the hobgoblins of Cragmaw Castle stalked into the town. Positioning themselves around the inn and Townmaster Hall, they set both buildings ablaze. All inside received 10d10 fire damage and with the town's leadership and protectors dealt with, it didn't take long to pillage the stores and farms. In the coming weeks and months, those left would flee to Salmarsh or Neverwinter and Phandalin would return to the ruins from which it had lain for the previous 200 years. 

THAT'S HOW IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED, OR...

The Abyssal grimoire the party kept from Valeth Tower began humming with gathering darkness. Not knowing the bomb within their midst, the party enjoyed the evening in frivolity, celebrating their good fortunate. But, as a chill wind blew in and the moon bled crimson, the spell began in the tower blossomed to fruition, releasing an entity from beyond space and time, beyond colossal in size, beyond reality in appearance. 

Mother fucking Azathoth. 

End of campaign.