# The lost session of Phandelver
It's tricky getting an entire party's worth of people in the same place at the same time. I was running _Lost Mine of Phandelver_ for some friends – a mix of seasoned players and newbies – and needed a session to run between getting the group together and everyone being available to start the story.
Writing an introductory session that can be run with an incomplete party could be daunting for people who are on their first adventure behind the screen. _Lost Session_ has been designed for four players without a dedicated healer, and takes around three and a half hours to play through.
## Setting
The adventurers begin in the small town of Withermarsh, a few hours' travel south of Neverwinter on the Sword Coast.
Withermarsh is a pleasant settlement used by well-to-do traders looking to escape the city. The features you would expect in any country town – locals' cottages, a smithy, an inn, and a broad street used for markets – rub shoulders with handsome half-timbered merchants' houses with latticework windows and ornate chimneys. The wealth brought into Withermarsh has led to the town's temple being dedicated to Tymora, the goddess of good fortune.
There are a few roads leading off the main street, and merchants' goods yards have been established at the edge of the town. Beyond these are fields and pasture, with scattered patches of woodland.
### The Lions Rampant
Withermarsh's only inn caters for the entire town, but doesn't have the harmonious intermingling of labourers and well-to-do tradesmen that exists in the street outside.
The building is split into two by the central hallway. One side contains the commoners' bar, where upturned barrels serve as tables and stools keep customers off the fresh sawdust on the floor. Although the room is clean, the ale stains on the walls and ceiling suggest that the drinking can occasionally get rowdy.
The room on the other side of the hallway is entirely different. Light from the windows pours onto the scrubbed flagstone floor, tables and wooden armchairs. Each table has a candle and a small pewter bowl with a stingy pinch of salted nuts. Bottles of wine sit behind the varnished bar.
For the last fifteen years, the Lions Rampant has been run by Ephedra Whiteshield and her husband Phileas. They are humans in their mid-fifties. Ephedra feigns airs and graces and has a clear preference for the more genteel clientele, leaving Phileas to deal with the commoners.
The floor above street level has a variety of rooms that travellers can stay in, ranging from a communal dormitory to a small but comfortable suite.
### The High
The High is the heart of Withermarsh. Near the centre of town, it is fifty feet aross to accommodate market stalls and traders' barrows. The sound of metal being hammered can be heard coming from the forge at one end of the street, and at the other is the temple of Tymora. During the day there is a steady flow of peasants, domestic staff and merchants going about their business. At night, it is lit with torches fitted to the wealthier houses.
### Temple of Tymora
Withermarsh's temple is of similar half-timber construction to the other large buildings in the town. Three steps lead up into the broad porch, where there is a circular pool for visitors to make an offering to the goddess. Copper and silver coins sparkle at the bottom of the water.
During the day and into the middle of the evening, the wooden doors of the temple are open, letting visitors pass through a heavy velvet curtain decorated with gold lacework into the temple beyond. The main chamber of the temple has a hammerbeam roof and the light from the high-set windows glints off the altar, pews, decorative columns and plaques on the walls, all of which are picked out in gold leaf. On the altar is a palm-sized golden coin bearing an image of the Tymora.
Two small velvet curtains cover the entrances to the back of the temple. These are effective at muffling sound between the areas they separate. In the back of the temple are the vestry, the priests' quarters and steps leading down to the crypt.
##### a test of character
The temple's showy display of wealth may prove too tempting for some characters! You can decide where the priests are, should your party visit the temple. If someone decides to try their hand at a bit of thievery, they can obtain the following:
- Coins in the pool are worth **3d10 cp + 2d10 sp**. The character must pass a sleight of hand or deception check ranging from **DC 20** (broad daylight) to **DC 10** (at night). Travellers and those embarking on business journeys will often flip a coin into the pool for good luck as they pass.
- The coin on the altar is made from low-purity gold and is worth **10 gp**. Trying to sell it to an honest person will result in them becoming suspicious of the party, perhaps to the extent of reporting them to the authorities.
- The priests' quarters contain a metal range for cooking and two bunks, plus a chest of holy books. There is nothing of significant value in here.
- The vestry contains priest robes, which may be used as part of a disguise, and incense worth **15 gp**. There is also a small safe (**DC 20** to open) containing **50 gp** in mixed coins. A failed attempt to open the safe will sound a small bell, alerting any nearby priests.
- The crypt contains fuel for the range, a few bones placed in niches in the walls, and a crate of almost-unpalatable wine. This is worth **5 gp** for the entire crate. There are also props used during festivals, covered by dust sheets.
If the characters are caught during their thievery, one of the priests runs to fetch help from the blacksmith and his friends at the other end of the village. It would be a _really good_ idea for the party to run away as quickly as possible should this happen. A successful theft may still have repercussions. After all, offending the goddess of good fortune is unlikely to end well...
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### Gundren Rockseeker's house
The house of Gundren Rockseeker isn't the showiest house on the High, but it reflects his status as a dwarf who has been making a comfortable profit for several decades. Lavender bushes are in flower below the front windows; behind it, the branches of a mature pear tree tumble over the tall brick wall of the kitchen garden. A wooden plaque depicting two crossed hammers is mounted above the door.
Rockseeker's housekeeper is a dwarf of spectacularly broad build, being almost as wide as he is tall. Stan (a nickname acquired from years of working with humans) takes pride in the house being clean and orderly, and allows visitors only into the parlour at the front of the house. This is panelled in dark wood and in the centre is a table with seats for visitors of various heights. Sideboards display well-polished pewterware, and the far side of the room has a large hearth. This has been used often but is kept meticulously clean by Stan. The flue is broad enough to climb and possibly gain access to the floor above, but any character exploring the chimney will get covered in soot.
___
> ## Sid the Blacksmith
>*Human, neutral good*
> ___
> - **Armor Class** 14 (leather armour)
> - **Hit Points** 65
> - **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|15 (+2)|12 (+1)|11 (0)|9 (0)|13 (+1)|11 (0)|
>___
> - **Condition Immunities** None
> - **Senses** passive Perception 11
> - **Languages** Common
> - **Challenge** 2 (450 XP)
> ___
>
>
> ***Keeper of the peace*** Sid is the _de facto_ strong man of the town, and is called on to break up brawls and apprehend troublesome criminals. He knows that disruption would be bad for Withermarsh's reputation, and acts decisively to stop trouble. He will use force to incapacitate, but never to kill.
>
> ***Forge*** If anyone is stupid enough to be violent near his forge, Sid's tools are still hot and inflict an additional 1d4 fire damage on the first hit.
> ### Actions
> ***Hammer*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning
>
> ***Punch*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 4 (1d4 + 2)
bludgeoning
```
```
### Other buildings
The Sword Coast Guild of Accountants has established a modest branch in Withermarsh. It is used by wealthy residents to exchange coins for promissory notes, for safe deposit of gold and valuables, and for financial services. The vault sits below the windowless ground-floor office and is protected by thick iron and magical wards. A party at the start of their adventure would have no chance whatsoever of getting beyond the front counter where clients are seen. If the party accumulates wealth of more than 200 gp, the branch may allow them to open an account.
The smithy is owned and run by "Steely" Sid, a human who stands six feet tall and is rarely seen without his apron and gloves. He is willing, for a fee, to make or repair items for the party. Sid is a competent blacksmith (iron and steel) and whitesmith (tin, lead and pewter). He can provide information on precious metals but will refer the party to the Guild of Accountants should they need work done in gold, silver or gems. If someone is caught committing a crime in Withermarsh, it is Sid and 1d4 + 3 of his friends who are called to apprehend the offenders.
___
> ## Sid's friends
>*Humans, neutral*
> ___
> - **Armor Class** 12 (heavy clothing)
> - **Hit Points** 11
> - **Speed** 30 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|12 (+1)|12 (+1)|12 (+1)|10 (0)|10 (0)|10 (0)|
>___
> - **Condition Immunities** None
> - **Senses** passive Perception 10
> - **Languages** Common
> - **Challenge** 1/8 (25 XP)
> ___
> ***Heavy-handed*** Sid's friends have fewer qualms about using excessive violence. If Sid or an ally is rendered unconscious, they will continue to attack even if begged for mercy.
>
> ***Expedient weapons*** Sid's friends will run to help with whatever they have. This could include daggers, cudgels, mallets or their bare fists.
> ### Actions
> ***Work tools*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 4 (1d4 + 1) bludgeoning
>
> ***Punch*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 4 (1d4 + 1) bludgeoning
>
> ***Dagger*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Thrown:* +3 to hit, range 20/60. *Hit* 4 (1d4 + 1) piercing
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# The story begins
### Chance meeting
As hackneyed as it is, sometimes getting people to meet in an inn is the most straightforward way of starting the adventure. My players had all created their own characters rather than use the starter set's pregenerated sheets, so there weren't any obvious hooks to pull people together.
The characters find themselves in the Lions Rampant at around midday. It's market day in Withermarsh, and the inn is rammed. There's only one table for them to sit at, and it's in the commoners' area of the bar. They could try to charm an upgrade out of Ephedra and Phileas, but it will only work if they have a noble (or someone who can convince Ephedra that they're noble...) in the party.
Once they've settled down and got some drinks in, Sildar Hallwinter strides into the inn. His hobnailed boots are noisy on the floorboards, and the metalwork on his clothing is polished to a near-mirrorlike shine. He takes a hammer from a pouch and nails a sheet of paper to the partition between the stairs to the cellar and the upper floor. Ephedra winces at each heavy blow he uses to drive in the nails, and tuts disapprovingly as he leaves.
The note reads:
"HELP WANTED!
Esteemed merchant Gundren Rockseeker seeks stout-hearted fellows of integrity to support a new venture in the town of Phandalin. Apply today at his lodgings!"
A band strikes up outside as part of the market festivities.
### Market activities
The High is full of people browsing stalls and barrows, and performers are putting on a show to try to earn a few coins. A four-piece band is busking outside the inn, and the coins on the scrap of cloth in front of them suggests they're doing well.
If the party pauses, the strongest character in the party feels someone trying to lift their purse. The culprit is a grubby child of around ten years of age, and is obviously panicked when they are caught. If the characters decide to make a scene, the child's parent comes out of the crowd, apologises, and pulls them away by their ear.
##### Market activities
The market caters to the general population rather than adventurers, and includes the following stalls:
- clothing and bolts of cloth
- spices and herbs
- meat, pies and street food
- wine, mead and spirits
- gambling (eg three-cup, higher or lower)
- jugglers, buskers and an illusionist
### Gundren Rockseeker's house
The players eventually arrive at Gundren Rockseeker's house. This can either be through their own volition or, if they have caused trouble, through Gundren securing their release in exchange for their services.
Gundren's housekeeper Stan opens the door and shows them into the parlour. He then goes to fetch Gundren, who comes in and explains that he and Sildar Hallwinter need to leave urgently for an exciting venture in Phandalin and that the party is to bring supplies to support him. He is willing to pay each party member 10 gp when the goods are safely received at Barthen's Provisions in Phandalin. The party can collect the supplies from Gundren's goods yard in the morning.
### Missing child
As the party leave Gundren Rockseeker's house, one of the characters is knocked to the ground by a woman, who also falls. This is Ava Parkin, a local woman whose puffy face indicates that she has been crying recently. She is distraught almost to the point of incoherence, but manages to explain that her son is missing and she heard that some adventurers were in town.
Ava's son Job has not returned from his visit yesterday to his aunt in the nearby village of Shelley. Ava spoke to someone she knew from Shelley at the market this morning, who said that Job was seen leaving the village on the way home to Withermarsh yesterday afternoon. Shelley is only an hour's walk away and so there is plenty of time for the party to head in that direction and still be back by evening.
### The road to Shelley
The road running out of Withermarsh towards Shelley is a sunken lane; a track about fifteen feet wide with high banks on either side. It is cool and damp under the shade of the trees, and a DC 10 survival check reveals the soft ground underfoot holds a child's footprints leading away from Withermarsh, but without a corresponding set for the return journey. There are also tracks left by carts, horses and goats.
After a few minutes' walking, the track rises so it is level with the fields around it. These are mostly set to pasture and are interlaced with ditches and hedgerows. Further on, there is a cluster of cow sheds off to one side, but inspection will reveal no sign of Job.
After half an hour, any character checking the road for tracks will notice them pulling over to the left verge. A quarter of a mile away in the grassy scrub is a stone tower two storeys high. A successful DC 10 survival check will reveal that a path has recently been trodden through the vegetation by a small humanoid.
### Wizard's workshop
This structure was originally some form of fortified house, consisting of a square building with a large tower built into one corner. Although the tower was built to its intended two-storey height, the main building was abandoned before it was finished. At some point in the past, someone decided to roof the tower and the incomplete main building and brick up all the windows on the ground floor.
Opposite the door to the main building is a small stone cottage, and a well lies between the two.
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The cottage is small – around six feet high – and has earth banked up against its walls. The thatch on the roof is damp and mossy, and the door is ajar. At the end of the entrance hall sits a short pot-bellied stove, starting to rust. The room to the left contains the frame of a double bed just four feet long. The room to the right contains some low benches and old pans.
The only door to the main complex is barred from the inside, but there are two straightforward ways into the building. One is through the large windows on the upper floor of the tower (if the characters are resourceful enough to spot it); the other is round the back of the building where a hole just the right size for a child has been knocked out of a blocked-up window. This is where Job Parkin gained entry.
> ##### A gnomish venture
>The abandoned structure was turned into a workshop by Orla Garlick and her husband Harid Stamp. They were trying to make a new form of light show for special occasions.
>
>Orla, a wizard and alchemist, extracted substances from the glands of particular beetles and refined them into a stable form. Harid used his knowledge as a jeweller to make intricate harnesses that attached the glowing phials to tame collared doves for the display, and he also looked after the animals used for the endeavour.
>
>Like most gnomes, they delighted in life's pleasures with kindness and vigour. There is nothing intentionally harmful in this dungeon, so boldness tempered with common sense will see the adventurers through in one piece.
>
>Orla and Harid had to leave the workshop several years ago for reasons unknown. They had enough time to collect most of their belongings, but were unable to free the beetles from their pens in the cellar. Finding out what happened to the gnome couple could be used as a side-quest during the course of _Lost Mine_'s main story arc.
#### Storeroom
Some of the masonry blocking the large window in this room has been pushed inwards, exposing a hole at waist height that is large enough for most humanoids to squeeze through.
A pile of rubble below the windowsill draws the characters' eyes to a trail of disturbed dust leading into the hallway.
Empty sacks are scattered across the floor, along with some wooden planks and a few leather pelts.
#### Hallway
The hallway has lamp holders on the walls, but is illuminated largely by the light coming in from the workshop, the door to which is ajar. A few dead leaves have blown in and are scattered across the floor.
By the base of the barred front door is a mouldering doormat with the faint markings of a Gnomish word for "welcome". Most characters will be able to identify the runic alphabet as Dwarvish. A _detect magic_ spell will reveal that is is still faintly magical; you may decide to reveal that it releases stored energy when trodden on. If more than one pound of weight is applied to the mat, its runes glow briefly and it emits a bell-like chime.
#### Library
Most of the books and scrolls that were on the closely-spaced shelves in this room have gone. A few scraps of parchment and paper are left in odd corners and around the base of the woodern lectern at one end of the room.
The dim light – trickling through the empty post holes that would have supported an upper floor – means that characters searching the room can find a book somewhere on the top shelf. It has a dull black cover and the title _Quinquaginta Pigmenta_; the pages are well-thumbed and some are stuck together by some kind of adhesive.
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#### Workshop
The large beams set into the wall eight feet from the ground are all that remain of the upper floor. Lights streams in from the two large windows that would have illuminated the bedroom at the top of the tower, and the sky is visible through several large holes that have been punched in the roof. Here and there, patches of stone the size of dinnerplates have been turned glossy smooth by the caustic aftereffects of experiments gone wrong.
The inside walls of the workshop have workbenches pushed up against them, as well as a crude wooden crate with a flap lid. The benches are littered with corroded tools and shattered glassware, and an inspection of the crate reveals some mouldy birdseed and half a dozen small harnesses. These are designed to attach potion phials to birds, and are made of exquisitely fine silver chain. They are so light that they have no appreciable monetary value.
Hanging from the beams halfway up the tower are a dozen birdcages. Most are unoccupied, but three are still used by collared doves who are unperturbed by the party's presence. Guano covers the floor under the beams.
If the party inspects the cages, they find a locket worth 3 gp in one of the abandoned nests. It is tiny – about the size of a human fingernail – and its lustrous gold case is embossed with swirls that form a humanoid face. Inside, the Dwarvish runes for _O_ and _G_ are picked out in emerald surrounded by vibrantly coloured enamel. A DC 15 investigation check reveals this to be a gnome love locket. It was made by Harid Stamp as a betrothal gift to Orla, who lost it during their abandonment of the workshop.
#### Alchemy supplies
Some of the shelves in this room have fallen off the walls, and the floor is covered by scattered detritus and broken glassware.
Observant characters will be notice a faint orange glow in the darkest corner of the room. There they will find two small vials, a couple of inches long and roughly as thick as a pen.
One potion is responsible for the orange glow, and is made from the glands of a giant fire beetle. If it is consumed, the drinker will emit an orange glow that counts as bright light for 10 feet and dim light for another 10 feet. The other vial seems to bounce about when held, and is a clear liquid within which bubbles slowly form and then fade away. This is made from the secretions of a stentor beetle. If consumed, the drinker becomes incredibly loud. If they fail a DC 15 Constitution saving throw when trying to say something, it comes out as a bellow. Both potions' effects last for one minute. If the two are mixed, the bubbling and brightness increases before the mixture explodes at the end of the turn, dealing 1d4–1 damage to all creatures within 5 feet; it may also destroy a cheap lock if a vial is placed in the keyhole.
The wall opposite the door has a large drain built into the wall at around waist height. Its well-like opening is three feet across and leads straight down. Beyond the first few feet, the shaft is dark and characters cannot see the water level sixty feet below. Disturbing the air around the basin releases a damp and stinging vapour. Any metal objects dipped into the liquid will come out shiny and clean, and any living beings will take 1d4 acid damage per round. Throwing the two small vials down it will create an ominous rumbling followed by a violent eruption that knocks a hole in the roof.
The far corner from the entrance has a ladder leading down into the cellar.
#### Cellar entrance
The bottom of the ladder brings the adventurers into a square room ten feet on each side. There is a torch mounted on the wall, but perceptive characters may notice a faint orange glow coming under the closed door. If they listen carefully, they will hear a clicking and chittering coming from the next room.
#### Main cellar
The remainder of the cellar occupies the rest of the space available below the building. It is lit throughout in a bright orange light from four **giant fire beetles**. Two are in the centre of the room, and two are out of sight in the round section beneath the tower. With nothing to eat in the last couple of years apart from the occasional rat and rainwater that has trickled through the guano on the floor above, they are hungry and attack the adventurers on sight.
> ##### Giant fire beetles
>These are described on page 325 of the Monster Manual. They have 13 ac, 4 hp, +3 to hit and do 1d6–1 slashing damage when they bite. Their move speed is 20 feet, their size is small and they have glowing glands on their lower jaws. These continue to glow for 1d6 days after they have been killed.
>
In the far corner of the cellar – below the library – are two pens and an empty trough. The pens are each occupied by a **stentor beetle**. The beetles are herbivorous and have been subsisting on moss from the walls. They cope with the lack of nutrition by spending most of their time in a dormant state, but will be roused by physical shocks or nearby loud noises.
Once the rumpus has subsided, the party hears a whimpering coming from behind the barrels. There's a narrow gap by the wall; pulling aside a hastily-made barricade of broken planks and lumps of stone they will find Job Parkin. He is bloodied and dishevelled, and a dead fire beetle lies next to him with its shell stoved in and its light glands still glowing. He was "adventuring" on his way back from his aunt's house in Shelley when he opened the giant fire beetle's pen out of curiosity. They attacked and he was trapped in the cellar until the party reached him.
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___
> ## Stentor beetle
>*Medium beast, unaligned*
> ___
> - **Armor Class** 15 (natural armour)
> - **Hit Points** 10
> - **Speed** 20ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|12 (+1)|10 (0)|12 (+1)|2 (-4)|7 (-2)|3 (-4)|
>___
> - **Condition Immunities** None
> - **Senses** passive Perception 8
> - **Languages** None
> - **Challenge** 1/4 (50 XP)
> ___
Stentor beetles are approximately five feet long, four feet wide and four feet high. They have a glossy, domed black shell strong enough to deflect most attacks. Generally docile, they can propel themselves away from predators using a violent chemical reaction from their abdomen.
> ### Actions
> ***Blast off! (Recharge 4–6)*** The stentor beetle releases a noisy blast of volatile fluids from its carapace, flipping it into the air. Creatures within 5 feet must make a **DC 10** dexterity saving throw. They are knocked back 10 feet and take 1d4 acid damage on a failed save; they remain in place and take half damage if they are successful. The stentor beetle is thrown 20 feet to a location of its choice.
>
> ***Bite*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 3 (1d4 + 1)
### Conclusion
Ava Parkin will be overcome with gratitude when her son is returned to her. She is too strapped for cash to reward the adventurers in gold, but word gets around the village quickly. Ephedra and Phileas Whiteshield will offer the party free beds for the night, and before they depart in the morning hand them a homebaked lardy cake left by Ava.
Blending _Lost Session_ into _Lost Mine of Phandelver_ will require a brief description of leaving Withermarsh, and also a couple more days on the road, but should be straightforward. Awarding a reasonable amount of experience, say 150 XP, to your players will reward them for their success without putting them too far ahead of any party members who were unable to attend the session.
### Acknowledgements
_Lost Session_ was produced using Scott Tolksdorf's _The Homebrewery_. Maps were produced using Dwarven Forge Map Maker and Paint.NET.
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