Aster's Ledger

Summary

The party returned to Phandalin to find the town cold and hostile: a young man's rumors — that they worked for a dragon and were rounding up slaves — had preceded them, and Sildar Hallwinter, Toblen, Elsa, and much of the town wanted answers. Beatrix confessed the dragon situation in the worst possible way, the party was refused lodging and stable, and they went to the Shrine of Luck, where Sister Garaele's naked prayer ritual inadvertently summoned the necromancer Hamun Kost — who rolled into town with ~75 zombies and agreed to cast gentle repose on their two corpses. Back at their half-finished mansion, the party haggled a construction crew down from a 1,000 gp shakedown to 100 gp plus a brothel discount, then split up to sell loot and secure a 500 gp diamond for Gundren's resurrection. The session's standout beat was Shoomit's natural-20 apology to Edvard, the party's "vampire" jeweler — winning the diamond deal without Beatrix's own apology, which was held over to next session.

Key Events

The Cold Road Home

• Opening table banter — before play, the players riffed on worst-case outcomes; Beatrix's player mused, "What if our necromancer friend just gains control of a dragon zombie?" and joked that if things went badly she'd just go back to Neverwinter and "get my master's degree." Shoomit's player offered to "run a marathon"; a "masturbation degree" gag briefly derailed the table.
• The DM recapped where things stood: the party had befriended Hamun Kost the necromancer at the Old Owl Well, told him the name of the well's creator, and invited him to visit town. Their current goal was still to get rid of the dragon.
• They walked into Phandalin and found it changed — Beatrix greeted everyone; Shoomit announced "I'm hiding. I'm hiding." The DM described townsfolk acting, "like parents who have, like, their children, they, like, shuffle their children, like, behind them." Everyone seemed concerned to see the party.

The Farmer: "The Dragon Is My Lover"

• John flagged down a farmer (he asked for a man rather than the "woman with her children" the DM first described) to find out why everyone was treating them like lepers.
• The farmer recoiled — "Hey. I don't want any trouble. I've been hearing things... People have been saying things about you guys."
• Beatrix's opener — "If it's bad, it ain't true. I'll tell you that much."
• The rumor, stated plainly — "I heard you guys are working for a dragon, and you're trying to bring a dragon to town."
• Beatrix's rebuttal — "No. See, that's a major misconception. We're not working for a dragon. The dragon is my lover." She added, "I've got him by the skin of his [tail]" and "I know where that tail goes."
• The farmer broke — the DM described him doing "the meme with the math where he's trying to figure out how that even works."
• John tried to clarify — the party was "trying to come up with a way out of this stupid ass situation," not serving the dragon.
• The farmer's judgment — "I don't think it's okay to be in a relationship with a dragon. They're... you know how the tales go. It's not right."
• Beatrix's vow — "I've vowed to bring no harm to the people of this town... in the coming days when nothing happens, remember what I told you."
• Once he left, she tipped her hat, turned to the group and said, "We're so fucked. We're so fucking screwed." — then caught herself: "...We're so fucking cool."
• John noticed the covered bodies in the cart were starting to draw flies.

The Stonehill Inn: Sildar's Interrogation

• The party split up — John went to the tavern for "a stiff one"; Beatrix went hunting for a cleric (their two corpses needed preserving).
• The inn fell silent — DM: "as soon as they see you, the music... it stops... You hear like a wrong note."
• Elsa served them warily — Beatrix insisted, "We're a bunch of cool folk. We're cool, and we're attractive, and we're rich, and everything's fine." Shoomit ordered "a Sam Adams"; they didn't have any.
• Edvard appeared behind Beatrix — she felt "the same cold presence, like, of eyes staring at you." She snapped, "You're breathing down my neck... Show me your fucking hands right now so that everyone in this bar can know you're not doing anything unseemly... I got a boyfriend now, and he'll fucking cook your ass."
• Glomblax tried to rein her in — "That's what they're worried about. You cool it on the dragon fucking stuff." Beatrix: "Glomblax, you gotta roll with me, man... He doesn't even drink... He breathes, like, poison or something... This is what I pay you for."
• Sildar Hallwinter demanded the truth — "You needing a cleric is not normal... You went to find Gundren, and all these rumors have been spreading since you left. And I wanna hear the truth."
• Beatrix addressed the rumors head-on — "I do have a new lover, and he might be thirty feet tall... our loyalty to this town and its people has not changed."
• Sildar: "All you're doing are confirming the rumors." She fumbled further, and he cut in: "You're not working with a dragon. You're [sleeping with] a dragon. How is that better? And you're searching for slaves for a dragon. Is that true?"
• Above-table clarification from Shoomit's player — "We have never said we were actually looking for slaves. We lied to the dragon and said we were looking for slaves." Beatrix: "We don't want to enslave anybody." Deception rolls were called for.
• The informant — Sildar described "a young man who came into town... kind of pudgy, wearing a cloak, a little beaten up," carrying a pack of cards. Beatrix: "Did he have a bunch of cards spilling out of his pockets?" The man claimed the party had killed a druid, tried to enslave people, worked with the dragon, and offered to get the dragon more slaves.
• The party pushed back — Shoomit: "The dragon killed the druid. Plain and simple. With a claw slash." Beatrix: "That man who told you this information, he was there, and he actually was worshiping the dragon."
• Sildar: "I'm hearing that you killed a druid to entertain a dragon." Shoomit: "Whoever told you that was just bold-faced [lying], and it calls into question their own credibility."
• Beatrix's human-shield framing — she described one death as "a bullet impacted a body that was being held as a hostage... a person using a human shield pulled a living being in front of a bullet."
• The wagon gave them away — Toblen Stonehill fetched Sildar to show him the cart: "there's two bodies here. One of them is definitely a druid." Sildar: "This looks really bad, and the timing couldn't be worse."
• Beatrix appealed to past heroics — "Remember when we drove out the bandits with the red brands?" Sildar: "I've been hearing rumors about you working with the red brands too." He said the accusations were confirmed by "a letter that was received by the townmaster" — anonymous. Beatrix: "They work for me. I don't work for anybody... They're my employees."
• Gundren's death came out — pressed on whether they'd found Gundren, Beatrix said flatly, "He's dead." Shoomit: "He died in the flood." Sildar put his head in his hands and asked about his last moments. Beatrix: "Maybe you should've come with us to help if you wanted to see him at his last moments... We're all adults. You can invite yourself if there's a raiding party." Shoomit: "It's the last moments. You don't wanna hear that, honey." Beatrix: "And then he keeled over. Respectfully. Reverently."
• No cleric in town — Sildar said they'd have to go to Neverwinter, and that they'd need someone who could cast gentle repose. Beatrix: "We just came from Neverwinter. Fuck." He also confirmed no necromancer had been seen since they drove him off.
• No room at the inn — Toblen: "I have two children. I don't know if I can have you staying under the same roof this time." Elsa: "I can't have this darkness around the reputation of the Stonehill Inn." Beatrix: "Y'all are just prejudiced." John complained they'd "let the gay vampire hang out around here" but not the party; Shoomit: "It's not that he's gay. It's that he's creepy." Beatrix described Edvard as "at very least a bisexual vampire who... makes weird advances towards women."
• Beatrix's exit threat — "I'm gonna own this inn. Do you know that? I'm gonna buy this inn. It'll be mine. Goodbye." Toblen refused to stable their horse or cart anymore.

Glomblax, Beloved

• The party noticed Glomblax had escaped the town's ire entirely — Beatrix: "somehow Glomblax is not implicated in any of this. He's just perceived as a guy who's hanging out with us." Glomblax's player leaned in: "Glomblax is just presenting himself as the hired muscle for Beatrix. That's his vibe."
• Smile and wave — walking through town, people kept shielding children and stepping aside. Beatrix cast coins on the ground and ordered, "Smile and wave, boys." John: "I guess we're evil now."

The Shrine of Luck and Sister Garaele

• Edvard pointed them to the shrine — he said he'd help only if they sought him out, and that "at the Shrine of Luck, you'll find who you're looking for." He also insisted, "I've never done a thing to Beatrix, and she seems unrighteously upset at my mere existence."
• The shrine — DM: Phandalin's only temple, "a small shrine made out of stones from the nearby ruins." Religion checks were rolled. Glomblax asked whether the shrine had "a lady with titties on it"; it did ("They're very nice"). Beatrix and John recognized it as dedicated to Tymora, god of luck and good fortune.
• Sister Garaele, a young elf, listened — John asked for a cleric. Beatrix explained they wanted to preserve a couple of acquaintances' bodies to revive them later.
• Suspicion — Garaele asked why, and whether the dead would accuse them of murder. She noticed the party's guns: "I surely hope that the bullet came from one of your guns. Did it not?... You should be thankful I'm not bringing you straight to the townmaster."
• She refused money — "I don't really accept money. That's not really my thing." She had a favor to ask instead.
• Her quest — she had a spellbook belonging to "a legendary mage... named Bowgentle" and wanted to learn where to find more; only "this banshee who lives over near Thundertree" could answer. She offered a jeweled silver comb as a gift for the banshee.
• The banshee rule — John had already spent his one banshee question in a prior visit. Garaele: "Banshees... answer one question, and that's it... only once in your life."
• The comedy of the comb — Beatrix: "Two out of the four of us have taken one for the team, so to speak, in terms of seducing the magical creature. Shoomit and Glomblax, you're on deck." Shoomit objected that giving someone silver is itself a come-on: "You don't just give anybody silver." Beatrix: "Give her the old silver [comb], Shoomit. Wink. Wink."
• John shot his shot — "So are you hitting on me?" Garaele: "No, I'm afraid not." Beatrix (disappointed): "Damn. I was hoping she was gonna say something else."
• She couldn't cast gentle repose — "That's not in my repertoire." She asked if they knew a necromancer. Beatrix: "We have a business association [with one]... We're hoping to upgrade this to a working relationship, but we don't know where he is."

The Nude Prayer of Tymora

• Garaele offered to pray for a sign — describe the necromancer and "my goddess might be able to help." Beatrix asked if she could cast augury; Garaele checked her spellbook and confirmed she could, then asked whether they'd brought something to sacrifice.
• The ritual required disrobing — "this is part of the ritual, so I don't want you to [be alarmed]." Beatrix immediately started taking off her clothes; Garaele did too, and told the others, "Boys, please don't look in our direction. This is a religious ritual."
• The party's reactions — Shoomit turned around ("I am gay. My orientation does not swing that way"). Glomblax covered his eyes with his hand, "and then just, like, split his fingers and take a look." Beatrix: "Glomblax has seen me naked dozens of times... I meant to say Shoomit."
• The ritual itself — Garaele had Beatrix place one hand on her breast and hold her hand, then prayed to Tymora: "Please accept this sensual massage in exchange for the information that these wary travelers — who are, hopefully, misunderstood and not murderers — seek."
• The necromancer's name came out — Beatrix asked for it; Glomblax supplied "Hamun... Hamun Kost." Garaele: "Hamun Kost. That rings a bell." Beatrix at first refused to believe the DM ("You're tricking us"), but the players confirmed it.
• The message was sent — Garaele asked that Hamun's presence be needed in Phandalin. Glomblax: "But no zombies, please." Beatrix: "Maybe we come upon him as he bathes in the spring." Garaele: "the connection seems frayed, but I believe we got the message to him."
• Getting dressed — "You may put your clothes back on." Beatrix: "May nudity bind us together in friendship? I don't think I will, but appreciate the offer." Garaele: "You may leave your clothes off if you so desire."
• Garaele's price — "If you could help us out with the banshee, that would be much appreciated in exchange for this service."

Clip-Clop: Hamun Kost Arrives

• Hooves, but wrong — "a clip clop" like 50 horses, though "the whinnies don't sound right." Beatrix: "the klipkop sound like they might be produced by coconuts."
• ~75 zombies pulling a cart — with a red-cloaked wizard riding along, "the people in town shocked and horrified as these zombies stream past and into the town center." Beatrix: "Our prayers have been answered."
• Hamun's greeting — "Hey, guys. How's it going? I felt like a weird little tingle or something, and I figured it was time to give you a visit. So I came to where you asked."
• The worst possible cover story — Shoomit told him they wanted to kill a dragon; Hamun asked, "Are you guys looking for slaves?" and then, loud enough for the terrified townsfolk to hear, "I think it's great you're looking for slaves. I don't see the problem." Beatrix tried to move the conversation elsewhere.
• Hamun on the party's handiwork — "often the places I go to clean up seem to have been places that you have been to, and you happen to leave a lot of bodies lying around."
• They invited him to their mansion — Beatrix offered "our company headquarters." Hamun: "Well, I would be thrilled. I would love to go."
• He couldn't raise the dead, but could pause them — Hamun said raising the dead was "a little above my current ability level, and it's gonna cost a lot... you're gonna need some pretty expensive diamonds... certainly not Neverwinter." He agreed to cast gentle repose reluctantly: "If I'm just a vending machine to you, sure."
• He examined the bodies — "You guys really did a number on these. Looks like one of each was shot, maybe in some sort of human shield situation." Of the druid: "it looks like you sacrificed her trying to escape a deal with the dragon... I don't know if she's gonna be particularly happy with you guys when you bring her back." Beatrix: "We're less motivated to save this one." Hamun asked to take the druid's body; the party deferred.
• Gentle repose cast — "green and black magic" shot from his hand; the bodies stopped decomposing and looked "somewhat embalmed."
• Housekeeping — Hamun asked about beds: "if you have one big bed, that usually does the trick for us." Beatrix offered "a big crevasse in the basement." Hamun: "I've heard there's a pretty good whorehouse in this town."

Marsh & Co. HQ: The Construction Shakedown

• The mansion was nearly finished — DM: repairs had stabilized the foundation and re-erected the columns; walls were still unpainted and the fireplace didn't work, but "the restoration is going along very nicely." The DM noted it had been about 12 days since work began.
• A worker greeted Beatrix — "So, boss, what do you think?" She praised the work, then he dropped the hammer: "we've gone a little bit over budget... We're gonna need about another thousand gold to get this thing done."
• Beatrix balked — "That's about 10 times as much as their initial assessment." The worker blamed "Harbin Wester... ever since Harbin Wester came into office, prices just keep going up." Beatrix: "Once again, that's about 10 times the initial agreed-upon price. I don't think we can abide."
• The crew threatened to undo the work — "Alright. Boys, she's not gonna pay," and out came the hammers. Beatrix: "Wait. Hold on now. We can pay what we agreed on."
• John and Shoomit joined the haggling — John: "I do not see a thousand gold worth of fucking work here, man... If I just filled in all the gaps with gold itself, it would've cost less." Worker: "Have you worked in construction all your life?" Shoomit (proficient in persuasion): "I'm a man of the land. I can already see that these are not $1,000 worth of repairs. $300 worth of repairs, I can see."
• "Risk premium" — the worker claimed the risk premium had gone up. Shoomit: "You can't do the work without creating a contract beforehand. You're trying to extort us." Worker: "What contract? Boys, do you remember a contract?" John: "You just did a bunch of work on our house for free?" Worker: "We're also happy to undo a bunch of work for free." John: "That's called property damage." Beatrix: "We might feel threatened and have to end up defending ourselves on our property, to which we have the deed."
• Persuasion with advantage — the DM granted advantage (Shoomit's help). The crew softened and offered options: "500 gold, or... a layaway... or 500 gold on a layaway plan. You could give us a cut of your profits over at the Harbin Ashery."
• The brothel-discount deal — Beatrix refused profit-sharing but offered half off services for life. Talk of an "employee discount" and a "partnership between Marsh and Co and construction company number five" followed. Beatrix: "A man can only suck and be sucked so many times in one day... There's no way they're gonna get all the value out of that." Worker: "You don't even know how many times I could be sucked in a given day." (Further gross-out humor about "only powder comes out" followed.)
• Beatrix drafted the contract herself — a non-transferable discount naming each worker, good for their lifetime, void if the brothel closed. When the crew demanded it be a company-wide benefit, she refused. She noted (above table) she'd "disincorporate the whorehouse and reopen under a new LLC" the moment the ink dried.
• Shoomit's intimidation — "Given our reputation, do you really wanna piss us off?... do you think what's gonna happen to you is gonna be pretty?" He rolled an 18 and spent inspiration. Worker: "I don't want any trouble either... but I'm running a business here. I can't just give away my materials."
• Final terms — after more back-and-forth, they settled on 100 gold plus a 65% discount on the crew's services (two decades of renewable individual slots). Beatrix: "I will never be speaking to you or doing business with you ever again."
• Shoomit's credible threat — "If you're to believe those rumors, then you might have a dragon visiting you in your sleep. So I would be careful about what you say." DM: "That sounded like a credible threat." Shoomit: "And it is a credible threat." The crew left promising, "We'll come find you."
• The players' post-mortem — Beatrix: "I've done more negotiating in this campaign than I have in any other D&D campaign, and I'm playing a character with probably the lowest charisma stat of any character I've ever played." John: "We try to be good, and then people force us to be evil. And we're gonna have to do some really good stuff to balance this out."

Plots at the Manor

• Hamun's instruction — to cast Raise Dead on the bodies, the party would need "a diamond that is worth 500 gold pieces, which the spell consumes." He didn't know a source — "somewhere in town would be the best spot. Potentially in the cave."
• Hunting the diamond — the party wracked their brains and landed on Halia Thornton (weapons) as a lead; then recalled that Elmina Barthen "does not deal in buying and selling precious stones," but that Edvard does.
• Hamun's warning about the dragon — "Dragons are not people you fuck with... any deal that you make with them, they're probably gonna double-cross you. You'll probably be on the hook with them for as long as this dragon's alive." He said the only help he could give was moral support — maybe "a few [zombies] on debt" — and that he absolutely couldn't be associated with them. His advice: "Run. Get far away. Change your identity."
• A "foolproof" plan — Beatrix proposed luring the dragon into a hole (or the Old Owl Well's interior) so it couldn't take to the air, then pelting it with zombies and spells. Hamun: "You can train a zombie to do pretty much anything" — they're "not very good at it, but they could try." He could spare "maybe 10."
• "That's quitter talk" — Shoomit: "We're gonna kill this dragon. I'm pissed about this... Enough to the point where we're just gonna shoot this dragon. I'm done."
• The dragon called — Beatrix's sending stone buzzed mid-planning; Venomfang wanted an update. "It's going pretty good," she said. He replied, "I miss you... Hurry up. I have — you have some competition." Beatrix: "What does that mean?" He signed off with a heart and a wink: "...I'm a desired man." Beatrix: "No. Please wait for me."
• Venomfang's demands — "Renovations on the castle are going a little slow. I sure could use some more slaves." Beatrix mused aloud about handing over the construction crew ("just those five guys"), then asked about Iarno — Venomfang replied, "He's a friend." Beatrix, to the table: "We've united two of our greatest enemies."
• The plan — the party resolved to go to Wave Echo Cave first (to earn money, gear, and a level), then return for the bodies and a diamond, then head north to face Venomfang (possibly at the Old Owl Well), and finally on to Neverwinter to revive Gundren. Beatrix, fondly: "Let's blow him up with dynamite... That was our best idea. We never should have strayed from that plan." DM: "You would've been level six."
• Hamun's arrangements — he'd stay at the mansion as long as he kept out of trouble in town, possibly leaving zombies to be kept in the basement until the party returned.

Errands: The Brothel and the Jeweler

• Beatrix checked in at the brothel — proprietor Constance Miller reported business had "dropped off about two days ago" (a rumor that patrons might be sold into slavery) and handed over 80 gp in profit sharing. Beatrix gave everyone 20 gp each.
• Labor trouble — Constance pulled Beatrix into her office: the staff were organizing, wanting profit sharing and fairer pay. Beatrix decided to let the staff keep all tips, pay "a weekly consignment bonus of 1 gold," and reduce the house's cut of services to 25%. Constance noted she herself only makes 2 gp a week and hinted she'd like more.
• Strikebreakers declined — Constance asked, "if you wanted me to to bring in some people to kind of, you know, restore order." Beatrix refused: "We can't afford to drag our names through the mud any further." Shoomit: "That's where I draw the line." She left instructions to "stall negotiations" and sell the staff on the weekly retainer until she returned.
• John dealt with Edvard — Edvard observed, "Well, you and I seem to have been fine. You haven't pointed a gun in my face as far as I remember," and that Beatrix "seems unrighteously upset at my mere existence, which is interesting."
• The gem sale — John sold the party's stones and trinkets; Edvard paid 220 gp "face value." (The tally: gemstones, 40 beaver pelts at 2 gp each, a gold necklace worth 140 gp, and five malachite gems.) Beatrix then had each party member add 70 gp to their inventory.
• The diamond's price — Edvard had access to diamonds but "would need something stronger than gold." He knew exactly what they wanted: to revive "at least one of the people that you killed or did not kill, depending on who you ask." He demanded "perhaps services and certainly an apology" — from Beatrix and from Shoomit, who had once pointed a gun in his face.

Shoomit's Apology

• Shoomit volunteered on the spot — "Oh, I'll apologize. I'll apologize." Beatrix, surprised: "Were you defending me, Shoomit?" Shoomit: "Yeah. I was pissed. He's been a bitch."
• Edvard's condition — "That's for Beatrix to determine. Depends on how good the apology is... Perhaps I'll give it to you for free even if the apology is good enough."
• The apology — Shoomit: "My compatriot told me that I wasn't the best. My decorum wasn't very great. I treated you with little respect, and... I do apologize for how I treated you, and it will not happen again." Persuasion: natural 20.
• Edvard softened immediately — "Why, thank you very much, Shoomit... I think that we could become great friends." He added, "I will await Beatrix."
• The table agreed to hold Beatrix's own apology over to next session.
• Shoomit asked about a better gun — the DM suggested Halia Thornton might help, "but... she may not be willing to sell a gun given your reputation. But you might be able to find a gun soon."

Numbers & Resources

Party funds & deals

• Gemstones, pelts, a gold necklace, and trinkets sold to Edvard for 220 gp (face value).
• Brothel profit share: 80 gp handed to Beatrix by Constance Miller; distributed as 20 gp each among the party.
• Beatrix instructed each party member to add 70 gp to their inventory afterward.
• Mansion construction: the crew demanded an extra ~1,000 gp (roughly 10× the original estimate); negotiated down to 100 gp plus a 65% discount on the crew's services (two decades of renewable individual slots). A 100 gp initial payment had already been made.
• The dragon's slave quota stands at 200 (raised from 100), with a deadline attached.
• Beatrix has previously given Venomfang a pendant worth ~200 gp (not recovered).
• Raise Dead requires a 500 gp diamond, consumed by the spell.
• Brothel wages: Constance Miller earns 2 gp/week; Beatrix's new proposal is a 1 gp/week retainer for staff, all tips kept by staff, and the house's cut of service price reduced to 25% (down from holding 70% of tips).

Combat resources spent

• No combat this session; no spell slots or HP lost by the party.
• Shoomit spent 1 point of inspiration on an Intimidation roll (result: 18).
• Gentle repose was cast by Hamun Kost (NPC), twice — stabilizing both corpses.
• Shoomit's apology Persuasion check was a natural 20.

Gear notes

• Party items offered for sale/tallied: 40 beaver pelts (2 gp each), 5 malachite gems (12 gp each), a gold necklace (140 gp), a +1 leather armor (no takers — everyone already has equal/better), a potion of climbing, a potion of growth, and a hold person spell scroll (Beatrix already has hold person prepared, so the scroll is expendable). A fireball was noted among the party's options and kept.
• Sister Garaele's jeweled silver comb was offered as a gift for the banshee — the party has not yet committed to the errand.
• Both corpses (Gundren Rockseeker and the druid) are under gentle repose; the druid's body was offered to Hamun Kost but the party deferred.
• Hamun Kost offered up to ~10 zombies for the dragon fight, to be left at the mansion (not yet delivered).

Loose Threads

• Revive Gundren Rockseeker (and, secondarily, the druid): they must find a 500 gp diamond and cast Raise Dead within about 10 days; both bodies are currently held under gentle repose.
• Edvard will sell or give them a diamond only if Beatrix apologizes (Shoomit's apology already succeeded) and offers further "recompense."
• Sister Garaele's request: visit the banshee near Thundertree and learn the location of Bowgentle's spellbook, offering the jeweled silver comb — unaccepted; John has already used his one banshee question.
• The dragon Venomfang — a deadline and a raised slave demand of 200; the party intends to kill him rather than deliver anyone.
• Iarno "Glasstaff" Albrek is alive, allied with Venomfang (per Venomfang himself), and still a target.
• The party's plan: Wave Echo Cave first, then return for the bodies, then north to face Venomfang, then Neverwinter to raise Gundren.
• The brothel staff are organizing; Beatrix plans to reopen negotiations when she returns.
• Phandalin's trust — the party wants to rebuild their reputation as a force for good.
• Shoomit wants an enchanted gun; Halia Thornton may refuse to sell given their reputation.
• Hamun Kost may leave ~10 zombies in the mansion basement for the planned dragon fight.
• Still-open known threats/quests: the orcs at Wyvern Tor, the uncleared original Cragmaw goblin hideout, and the Spider behind it all.