## Auri's Journal A small notebook seems to have a daily entry in small, neat script. Flipping through the pages, [a few dates](https://fantasy-calendar.com/calendar.php?action=view&id=b4560f4f0e167d70c75c041d89a015ef) jump out at you. #### Eleint 15 Gundren walked into father's shop again and asked if I was interested in an adventure. Apparently he and his brothers actually found the place. He said it was only right that he offer I join their exploration of it since I helped find it. Pa wasn't too keen on the idea but I'm a grown gnome and he respected that. He made sure I had all the tool kits I could possibly need out and about in the wilds and even gave me some pointers on how to jerry rig tools out of other materials if needs must. I'm going to be joining a group of adventurers that Gundren's hired to help get things set up tomorrow. #### Elient 25 There's something rotten going on in this town. These redbrands had too much interest in our party and the mention of the Rockseers. Also no one has seen them in weeks, that can't be normal. I know Gundren is still missing but surely the others would have come back to town sometime. We saved a goblin from a bunch of bugbears and Stuu's taken a liking to the poor fella. Hope he's a good addition to the party, what a misfit group we are... On the plus side we know Gundren got sent to somewhere named Cragmaw Castle, just have to find where that is. #### Marpenoth 1 Thundertree's ruins were a haunting sight. I can't imagine what Hada and Stuu are going through seeing their homes reduced to ruins. We met a druid Reidoth in the ruins and he was able to give us directions good enough to get to the castle. Hope we find Gundren alive, he was a good dwarf and deserves success in this lost mines endeavor. #### Marpenoth 6 What a wild ride today was. Kronk almost died by that bugbear Grol's morningstar. I'm afraid this headwound of his isn't going to heal well. He seems good natured about it but I'm pretty sure one of his eyes is a little misaligned now. Imagine how badly it would have gone if I hadn't prepped my bandage gun for today. Nonetheless we were successful and we found Gundren! A quick in and out, didn't bother the rest of the goblins, but I'm sure they'll hunt us down if we don't hurry. Gundren's not himself. He seems more distant, less jovial. I guess he was _just_ being held hostage by some goblins but still. It didn't even seem like he recognized me. #### Marpenoth 9 Alright Gundren is really being wierd now. He won't let any of us look at that blasted map of his, not even me who helped him narrow down the location of the mines. "My brothers' life work" my ass, his brothers would still be reading books in Neverwinter's archives if not for me. \columnbreak #### Marpenoth 10 I was hesitant when we got here, but now I'm increasingly sure that this is not Phandelver's Mine. There's no latent magical power in the air here that everything I read about said would give it away. On top of that, Gundren disappearing on us is making me think that maybe it wasn't Gundren at all. I'm glad these guys are trustworthy. #### Marpenoth 11 What a day. Tharden's dead, Gundren was a doppleganger, Nundro's missing somewhere in this cave, I hope. This is absolutely the real Phandelver's Mine. We've been following the magic in the air and found the lost Forge of Spells. It's lucky I remembered reading about the Archmage at the time of the orc raid. Between that and my being a gnome, it was pretty easy to convince the Spectator to leave. There's bodies everywhere, I'm sure someone summoned that thing out of desperation in the last battle. The wraith Mormesk is an interesting character. I wish he wasn't so... hostile. I'd love to compare notes on artificery with him. #### Marpenoth 12 We've found so much interesting stuff in these caves. This wand of magic missiles looks amazing, I think I can replicate its effects myself, which is a good thing because it doesn't look like it's recharging itself. A Drow that called himself the Black Spider seems to be behind everything we've gone up against in the last two weeks. He had Dopplegangers replace Gundren and Nundro to try and dispatch us. I hope the real Gundren is alive but I have a sneaking suspicion he's long gone. Poor Nundro is the last Rockseer, and he's so shaken by this place I doubt he'll ever be able to set foot in it again, let alone reopen it. Maybe my Uncle Korboz could help here. I bet Aunt Vrizz would love to study and try to use the Forge. #### Marpenoth 19 After all this time Gundren is safe again. It was close though, without the help of that hobgoblin he for sure would have caught the orc's axe in his head. I'm warming up to Stuu's idea of an alliance with these hobgoblins, they seem like honest folk who keep their word. The wand of magic missiles broke today. I managed to salvage the force stone at its core, looks like it's got one last blast in it, I'll have to save it for a rainy day. #### Marpenoth 23 This summit was a historic step. An alliance between Phandalin and Cragmaw will benefit both parties immensely. Those pens I made that write in multiple languages at once were a big hit to Sildar. I'll have to figure out how to mass produce them for the Lords' Alliance. I'm concerned with this line in the response I got from Uncle Gnerkli. "For the love of gond help me it took my wife." It looks like his handwriting but something about it is less controlled, less refined. I asked the party and they recommended we go there to check it out, but not call attention to it in the letters. I hope Aunt Vrizz is alright. \pagebreak #### Marpenoth 25 Lhupo the Red Axe was a madman. When he went down on that altar and rose up as a possessed... thing I was sure we were done for. Then I remembered the force damage core from the wand. As a last ditch effort, I broke it on the stones next to Lhupo. It made a gigantic explosion of force energy and blasted the demon into tiny parts, so cool. I bet Aunt Vrizz will know what kind of gemstone I can use to get a similar effect, I'm looking forward to visiting her after we're done with all this. #### Marpenoth 30 Arlidan's Traveling Troubadors has a Gnomengardian graduate with them! Inventor Deppeg studied under Aunt Vrizz and managed to condense her Thaumatergical Archevult engine down into a mobile form. So facinating to hear how he managed to convert the alchemical conversion capacitor into a smaller form factor by essentially folding the weave around its core. I managed to convince him to sell the crossbow to Stuu and have it do some good instead of be a carnival attraction. ##### Madam Eva's Fortune For the fun of it, I asked Madam Eva for a fortune reading, here was the result: First, a Card from the high deck which defies the format. 1. **Broken One.** Defeat, failure, and despair—the loss of something or someone important, without which one feels incomplete Second, a card to clarify the first: 2. **Conjurer.** Speaks of the coming of an unexpected and perhaps supernatural threat, or one who thinks of themself as a god. Third, a glimpse of a reflected future for this situation, perhaps advice, perhaps a warning. 3. **Enchanter.** Represents inner turmoil that comes from confusion, fear of failure, or false information. > I fear something terrible in your future. A person or thing you hold dear will be lost and you will feel incomplete because of it. The steps you take to avoid this for fear of it may cause yet further loss and despair and confusion. Spooky. Remarkably vauge though, typical divination readings... #### Uktar 3 Finally we're headed to Gnomengarde. Going to make a stop on the way to check out a dungeon we found on Mormesk's map. Hope it's another long lost artificery with some cool items and techniques to study. \columnbreak #### Uktar 10 There's some Kobolds in this mountain. They must have found this old dwarven tomb and turned it into a lair for their dragon. Telran the Black... more like Telran the bitch. I've had to heal this new Wood Elf so many times because he won't watch where he's walking. I admit him going invisible is neat, but how many times does he have to step on something to realize that the traps don't need to see him. This whole place is creepy. I keep seeing things in the walls and when I listen, I hear them burrowing their little tunnels all over the place. Glad I learned how to fortify a room or we'd never feel safe enough here to long rest, and boy do we need it. I keep telling myself this will be worth it in the end. A dragon's hoard is always difficult to get at, but worth it. Fentra is going to be so jealous when I tell her about this whole thing. #### Uktar 14 The Harpell Mansion was just as amazing as Aunt Vrizz said it was. They have so much interesting stuff there! And the wainwright's magical upgrades were facinating. It's going to be so much fun studying the runework that goes into the carriage when we come back from Gnomengarde. #### Uktar 16 Gnomengarde feels off somehow. I can't shake the feeling that something is toying with my head here. The gate guard not knowing about my Aunt was really wierd. Surely he'd know the king's wife, one of the four master artificers here. And what's with all the rats?? Maybe Fentra will know what's up. I hate that they're treating me like an outsider... I bet my Uncle will fix that once we meet him tomorrow. \pagebreak ## Auri Letters #### 14th of Marpenoth: > Uncle Gnerkli > > Long time no see! Lots has been going on in my life. I joined a group of adventurers and we've spent the last week or so in Phandalin. I think we have some interesting things we'd like to talk to the workshops there about. > > We got our hands on a diplomat's pouch and I realized it was an easier way to send you letters. I can't say more because as you know diplomats' pouches are insecure but we hope to head that way sometime. Feel free to respond addressed to the Heroes of Phandalin. > > With Love, Auri > > PS: How's Fentra? I haven't seen her in so long. Response: > Auri, > > Indeed it has been a long time! We're looking forward to your visit. Your Aunt Vrizz and Cousin Fentra were delighted to hear from you again. Vrizz was curious if you had any more questions about old gnome history, I think she enjoyed digging through the archives for that last question you sent us about Phandelver's Pact. > > Fentra is doing fine. I think princess life, such as it is here, suits her well. She wants you to know that she's got several ideas to run past you about inventions and the like. Though she does seem to balk at following her mother's transmutation footsteps. I'm sure that will cause some interesting dinner conversations in the years to come. > > Our workshops always look forward to the unique problems that adventurers have, if you've joined a group of them I'm sure it will be an interesting job. I will inform Magus Nixim, Arcanus Warmorn, _gond help me it ate him in front of me but i did not see_ Master Carwyn, and of course your aunt that a bidding war will be coming their way. What sort of items are you most interested in commissioning? > > > From the desk of King Korboz \columnbreak #### 18th of Marpenoth: > ~~Uncle Gner~~ King Korboz > > Sorry I'm still not used to addressing you as "King". We've had a bit of a change in plans here, you should tell the workshops not to expect us. Is there any chance you could come to us in Phandalin? I promise it'll be worth it! > > No new history questions! Plenty of development on that line of thought that I'm sure Aunt Vrizz would like to hear about. Can't say more here but I'll fill you in on the details when you get here. > > Sounds like you would all like a break for a bit, and Fentra would get a lot of valuable insight to real-world problems outside Gnomengarde! > > Sincerely Auri Response: > Auri > > Frankly I'm not used to being King yet... You can call me Gnerlki all you want. > > As tempting as it sounds, I'm afraid it's not really practical at the moment for us to pack up and go on a vacation just yet. There's a lot of work to do and the people aren't quite back into the groove of things here yet. Running the math (attached) it's not really going to be practical to step out for a solid month just after getting established here, sorry. > > Fentra wasn't pleased to hear about the development, she looks about ready to pack up and go on her own... I swear she sees you as the sister she never had. > > As for practical experience, I think Fentra needs to buckle down _for the love of helm save us it took my wife_ on her studies before she goes galavanting around like a certain cousin of hers. Her tutors tell me she's been distracted but with all the changes recently it's no wonder. > > From the desk of King Korboz Attached Sheet: > 28 days travel, 10 days in Phandalin > > 4 Mercenaries > 4 gold per day > 18 days travel, 10 days on hold in Phandalin > > 1 Guide > 6 gold per day > 18 days travel, 10 days on hold in Phandalin > > 14 days travel (9 days mercenary escort) > _where is the 4th workshop_ > 10 days in Phandalin (mercenaries on hold) > 14 days travel (9 days mercenary escort) > > Total of 28 days Mercenary Wages for 4 mercs = 448gp > > Total of 28 days Guide Wages = 168gp > > Food and Supplies for the journey = 60 gp > > Grand total expedition cost: 904gp \pagebreak #### 26th of Marpenoth: > Uncle Korboz > > Great news, we finished up the business holding us here and we're headed that way. We're going to make a quick stop at a dungeon we found south of you but we should be there by mid-Uktar. It's been a crazy month here in Phandalin. Tell the workshops that the adventurers are coming! > > I'm looking forward to talking through Fentra's ideas and finally seeing the three of you again. > > With love, Auri Response: > Marvellous. I look forward to greeting you and showing you and your friends around our little establishment. I've informed Magus Nixim, Arcanus Warmorn, and Master Carwyn of your expected timetable. > > From the desk of King Korboz #### 10th of Uktar: > Uncle > > Don't have much time to write this time, wanted you to know that this dungeon to your south has a big Kobold problem. There's a black dragon here too from the look of things. Our way in collapsed behind us, but we're pretty sure we can get out if we go forward. Here's hoping what I know of dragons and acid is true. I'm pretty sure I can whip up a few acid resistance potions while we rest, we're going to need them. > > Auri. Response: > Auri, > > Goodness. We had no idea! Thanks for the heads up and I hope you make it out of there safely. Fentra won't forgive me if you were to die on the way here. > > From the desk of King Korboz