first session!
amber frostbeard and so-kehur mulan, dwarf cleric and noble fighter, meet at a tavern, with frostbeard having been a suspended soldier; a dwarf named gundren rockseeker gives them a quest to deliver mining supplies to a mining town of phandalin. rockseeker and sildar redwinter ride ahead of them, and are waylaid and captured, with their horses killed.
the duo find two horses dead on the road that belonged to sildar and rockseeker; they are ambushed by four goblins, of which they dispatch in short order; mulan charges and cleaves off the goblin heads with his great axe, with frostbeard trying and failing to suggest alternative methods of recourse.
they travel to the goblin hideout, which is called Cragmaw hideout. they encounter a high elf, ielnia liadon, presumably high on pot brownies.
there are two traps along the way, and the both of them get through... somewhat, with unlucky rolls and all. so-kehur was dragged up by a snare trap after poking it with a stick, and amber being a rather stout dwarf couldn't walk around a pit that was 6 feet wide.
the trio defeat two goblins standing guard outside the hideout, with amber and so-kehur injured by the skirmish. refusing to take a long rest, citing concerns of "being caught out in less than suitable accomodation", as sleeping in trees is clearly not for nobles. they whistle and stroll into the cave, finding a pack of wolves, with kehur taming one of them with a piece of beef jerky, and then jimmied their way up a narrow chimney to a cavern, where klarg the bugbear, and company were present.
the high elf, Ielnia tries a nonconfrontational approach, impersonating the goblin god, speaking through a coloured fire, demanding the whereabouts of the prisoners, requesting the release of the prisoners. klarg whispers a message to his pet wolf, triggering a flash flood as boulders were released from a small dam further into the hideout. only so-kehur is able to grab onto something to prevent being swept away, with the elf, dwarf and bugbear battling it out in the area below the chimney.
so-kehur proceeds further into the hideout, fighting a pack of three goblins. with a low initiative roll and battle fatigue, he dispatches two of the goblins, with the last one rendering him unconscious. so-kehur proceeds to die after being particularly unlucky with death saves.
ilenia and amber battle out with the bugbear in the cavern below; the bugbear lands a natural 20, and smashes amber's head in, instantly killing the poor dwarf. the fight ends with ielnia in using a magical hand to grab the bugbear by its feet, drowning it in a stream. ilenia lands a natural 20, and the bugbear's head is stuck in a crevice, has its neck broken, and dies.
with ilenia being the sole survivor of the ordeal, she finishes off the last goblin in the remaining room, and proceeds to take a nice long snooze outside. the story will continue (somewhat awkwardly) with a dwarf and a human traveler stumbling past the wagon that they were supposed to deliver to phandelin (where was that again? there was a quest?) and following the trail towards the hideout.
songs and folktale of old will remember the folly of amber and so-kehur who couldn't roll die to save their lives