4. Thundertree

In the cool and dim of the very early morning, the adventurers brought Glasstaff, gagged and bound, to the Townmaster's Hall. Sildar Hallwinter was shocked to find that though his old friend, Iarno Albrek, had indeed gone missing - and under nefarious circumstances at that - all of it was according to the old wizard's villainous machinations. Quietly distraught, and searching for answers, Sildar simply asked, "why?"
The mage answered in a flash of spiteful anger, "these people are weak. They have no courage. No spine. No passion. Without someone to fear, someone to compel them to action, they are worthless."
Seeing then the full extent of Glasstaff's misguided descent into evil, Sildar asked no more questions and remained silent as the party of four took the interrogation a step further. Under a not so veiled threat of violence, the dwarf, elf, half-elf, and half-orc extracted what information they could from the disgraced Lord. They learned that Glasstaff was working with a mysterious individual of power who was referred to only by the title, "The Black Spider." Glasstaff didn't know where The Black Spider maintained his base of operations, but he admitted that the waylaying of Gundren Rockseeker was at the mysterious figure's orders. Furthermore, he confirmed the party's suspicion that the dwarf had been taken to Cragmaw Castle, the chief fortress of the Cragmaw goblin tribe hidden deep in Phandalin Forest. After learning what they could, the party turned Glasstaff over to Sildar that the villain might be brought to justice under the famously severe tribunals of the Lords' Alliance.
After a night's rest, the party, determined to stay on Gundren's trail, decided to follow up on the information they were given by Qelline Alderleaf the day before: "Nobody knows the land better than Reidoth." Informed of the druid's whereabouts, the adventurers departed for Thundertree - a village in ruins some 50 miles north of Phandalin on the far side of the Traveler's Road. The two days' journey passed swiftly and without incident and before long, the party found themselves climbing the large bluff upon which the village had been built several hundred years earlier.
The place was eerily silent. Most of the flagstone ruins, formerly houses, shops, and places of gathering, were covered in moss and overgrowth. To the paladin and the bard, the very air seemed charged with some sort of energy, and to the monk, it smelled faintly of burning sulfur. Moving toward the town square, the party was suddenly attacked by a small band of wretched looking shrubs. They spoke not but in garbled shrieks and stood upon roots for legs. Where the creatures' heads should have been laid twisted features of branch and twig. They were pitiful, and the party slaughtered them pitifully - some 20 when all was said and done.
The party encountered another foe: hideous, shambling corpses, enlivened by vaguely sentient fungus. Like zombies, they were hardy and difficult to kill. Azan Antar found fire to be a particularly effective weapon.
After searching a number of the ruins, the adventurers came upon a small home that persisted in an entirely livable condition. Their curiosity peaked, the knocked on the front door. A gaunt man with a long white beard answered and welcomed them inside. Over the next few minutes, they became acquainted with Reidoth the druid. The old soothsayer had traveled to Thundertree for another two-week research excursion to continue his study of the planar magic with which the surrounding environment was charged. He suspected the magic had something to do with both the fungal corpses and the awakened shrubs.
The party put the important question to him: "Do you know the location of Cragmaw Castle?" He answered in the affirmative and pledged to enlighten the party if they could take care of one small favor for him: a young green dragon had recently take up residence in Thundertree and it was bad for Reidoth's work. "Young green dragons are greedy and hasty - prone to burning things down in a hurry." The party agreed to try and scare the winged creature off.
On the way to the town's tallest fortification, just north of the center square, the party came across a hovel covered in white, spun silk. Hoping to get a closer look, Skinnej tried to peer into the shrouded doorway and alerted the giant spiders nesting within to the party's presence. They ended a quick fight by slaying the two engorged arachnids before carrying on to the tower.
As the four adventurer's, with Reidoth in tow, drew near, it became quite obvious that something very large and very dangerous dwelt within. The party elected to set up a flanking maneuver in an attempt to catch the dragon off guard. Zanrith and Iron Bars climbed the side of the fortified tower after consuming an invisibility potion while Azan and Skinnej approached from below. As the elf-folk worked to get into position, the paladin awoke the dragon when he pushed open a heavy stone door. An exchange, typical of dragon-kind, took place between the dwarf and the scaly creature: the dragon, who went by the name "Venomfang," invited the dwarf to ascend the steps to be its next meal. Unfortunately for the dragon, the party descended from multiple directions en masse. The ensuing battle was wild. The paladin shrugged off blow after blow while the monk and barbarian poked and prodded. With his dissonant whispers, the bard gradually maneuvered the great beast to the back wall and with one final psychic assault, the Zanrith knocked the dragon off the tower. It fell, tumbling to the ground some 30 feet below. Azan fell with the monster but managed to clutch a ledge as he did. Skinnej, noticing the dragon preparing to take flight, leapt off the tower with a bellow and a roar, halberd raised, and landed on the dragon's left wing, shredding it to pieces. Venomfang roared in pain, fury, and fear, shaking the barbarian and his shattered halberd to the ground. Reidoth conjured a storm, hurling lightning bolts at the winged beast. The dragon, like a cornered animal, released its most vicious attacks with abandon, deeply wounding the paladin. But it was too little too late, and Iron Bars slew the dragon with a final blow.
The rest of the party's stay in Thundertree involved a brief confrontation with a group of dragon cultists who had tracked Venomfang to the ruined village to treat with him. Needless to say, they were not so happy to find their patron-to-be slain in a bloody heap of scales, leather, and bone. Also needless to say, the adventurers were not so happy to be waylaid by a group of insane fanatics. Seeing no easier solution, the four adventurers sent the six cloaked figures "on their way," just as they had done to the dragon a short time before.
Finally, they met with Reidoth back at his cottage whereupon he shared with them the way to Cragmaw Castle.