The group was commissioned by a dwarvish miner, Gundren Rockseeker in Neverwinter to escort some mining equipment to a frontier town by the name of Phandelen. After several uneventful days on the road, they came across several dead horses in the middle of the road.

They approached cautiously and found it was a trap layed by several nearby goblins. They truned the tables and ambushed the goblins, killing the foul beasts.

Afterwards, some investigation revealed a path into the woods covered in goblin footprints. They decided to tie their horses and cart up and investigate the path.

Soon they arrived at a cave that was guarded by several goblins. Bob was able to charm one of the goblins and convince him that they were friends. The team questioned the goblin and learned of a human prisoner being held in the cave, and a large bugbear named Klarg leading the goblin troupe.

They decided to rescue the prisoner. Keijo was sent in first to explore, and after passing some guard dogs tied up at the entrance found a passageway to what he believed was the cavern where the goblin described the prisoner being held. Being unable to see in the pitch black, he called out to the others who joined him.

They made their way up a steep and tight passageway, eventually finding several sleeping goblins and a larger goblin cooking something foul over a fire. In the corner they spotted the prisoner.

Larry used arcane power to communicate with the prisoner and let him know they were there to free him. Keijo silently killed several goblins until he was seen and the rest of the group attacked at once.

After defeating the goblins, they freed the prisoner who revealed his name was Sildar and that was an associate of Gundren's. He revealed some more details about Klarg...

After rescuing Sildar, the group worked their way back to the main road and their wagons. Upon arriving back, they found a half orc gravely wounded resting against the wheel. Sildar immediately recognised him as Orgrad and explained to the raiders that he was one of the mercenaries hired by Gundren to travel with him and Sildar to Phandalen.

Sildar explained that while he and Gundren were abducted, they weren't sure what had happened to Orgrad and had assumed he died. Barry stabilised the half orc and, confirming that he was able to walk, they began to head towards Phandalen.

They arrived in the town without further incident and headed towards the local inn where Sildar promised to get them rooms. Exhausted at this point, they slept.

Arising in the morning they found Sildar had already left on business. The raiders went out to replenish some supplies and see if they could find news of Gundren.

They learned that no one had seen Gundren or his brothers for several weeks. The town locals were mostly preoccupied with the local ruffians who'd dubbed themselves the Redbrands. They were terrorising the shops and homes and generally causing problems.

They met Sildar back in the inn where he paid them for their services, and told them that he would be preoccupied with looking for a wizard friend of his who had disappeared, last having been seen heading towards the manor which the Redbrands used as their headquarters.

The raiders agreed to look for him, and were also interesting in seeing these ruffians for themselves. They worked their way towards the local pub known to be frequented by members of the gang. On arrival they were attacked, and defeated seven of the members. Bob was able to put two of them to sleep, and the group dragged them into the pub to question.

After some enhanced interrogation, they found of that the Redbrands had a secret hideout underneath the manor, and also that they were somehow connected to the abduction of Gundren.

The group of Redbrands that had attacked now dead, the group headed back to the inn for a rest. Straight to bed they found themselves awoken in the middle of the night to the sounds of people trying to forcibly enter.

Bob worked his way out and was able to convince them that he was a horrible scary beast and that they should leave. The raiders decided to make their way to the woods and setup camp there for the night rather than risk another attack in the town.

Awakening in the morning, the group decided they needed to pull the problem up by the roots and made their way to the manor the Redbrands were using as a hideout. They found the entrance unguarded, and worked their way into the cellar.

There they discovered several of the Redbrands from the night before, and quickly burnt them alive in their barracks. Keijo found a trap in the upper part of the cellar and lept across it to find several undead skeletons. After a close call dispatching them he decided to rest on the other side of the trap and wait for the rest of the group.

The other raiders found a hidden door that accessed a larger chamber. Inside they encountered a Nothic, who they agreed to feed the bodies of the Redbrands they'd just "cooked" to.

Appreciative, the Nothic let the pass.

After a bit more exploration the group discovered a few rooms leading to where Keijo was resting. On reuniting they stormed the adjacent cells and rescued the family inside.

Again, they bribed the Nothic (now given the nickname "Noth") to allow them to pass unmolested by feeding them several more Redbrand bodies.

While Larry safely escorted the family to the entrance, Bob discovered another secret door. Following this through, they encountered a man with a glasstaff in a comfortable sitting room.

Larry quickly put him on his knees with a blast of fire magic, and disarmed the man, but not before he surreptitiously charmed Keijo. The man attempted to convince them that he was Iarno, and that he'd been captured and held prisoner by the ruffians. Keijo felt compelled to agree with this man, but the rest of the group remained unconvinced.

Bob, nevertheless suggested that Keijo escort their friend out. Slyly, as they were leaving Bob put the pair asleep, breaking the charm on Keijo.

On waking up they interrogated the man further, discovering that Iarno and Glasstaff were one and the same. The bugbears knew the location of the mine that Gundren sought.

With the knowledge of the bugbears, the group routed the rest of the hideout. First, they commanded Iarno, through arcane means, to go tell the remaining Redbrands to attack the bugbears.

After waiting several minutes they burst into the barracks to find just that occuring. Bob charmed two of the bugbears, leading them away from the battlefield and getting them to reveal the location of the wave echo cave.

Meanwhile the Redbrands and other bugbears fought one another to the death. At the end, the hideout was empty and the group had survived, now knowing the location of the cave they sought.

They headed back to the inn for a rest.

After some rest, the Raiders decided that the best course of action would be to rescue Gundren from Cragmaw Castle. While they already knew the location of Wave Echo cave, they felt obligated to find the dwarf who'd hired them and brought them to Phandelin in the first place.

They worked their way north of Phadelin and through the forest until they reached the castle. Sneaking their way in they found King Grol's chambers where he was discussing selling of the map to an agent of the Black Spider, with the dwarf Gundren gagged and tied up in the same room.

Bob managed the convince Grol that he was Glasstaff and the other creature was impersonating agents of the Black Spider. The king had the creature led out by hobgoblin guards and negotiated the return of the map, and Gundren.

Though he was gravely injured, the group stabilised him and made their way back to Phandelin so the dwarf could recouperate.

After his convelescing, Gundren awoke and was grateful to the Raiders. They quickly decided that they needed to make their way to Wave Echo Cave, and finish the Black Spider.

Though still injured, Gundren agreed to accompany them. On arriving they found one of Gundren's brothers dead in the entranceway. They worked their way through the cave, finally arriving at what appeared to be barraks, where they narrowly defeated a retinue of bugbear guards.

Tired, and with resources constrained, the group now faced trying to rest in the cave or pushing further to try to find Gundren's other brother before the Black Spider could...