Townriddle's Tales
The party returned to Phandalin the next day after the storm passed. Nundro explained that he intends to convince a High Priestess of Myra to ressurect his brothers but without Gundren's body it will be impossible.
Phandalin was Abuzz with talk of a stranger in town when the party arrived. An ornate carriage emblazoned with a family crest similar to Hada's was parked behind the Stonehill Inn. Sir Aaron Townriddle has taken up rooms in the Inn and has offered unlimited drinks to anyone with stories or histories to share for as long as it takes to share them.
Things are not right in the town though. Many of the people he has interviewed have come back dazed and confused after their sessions, complaining of horrible headaches that persist for days after. Auntie Q was one such.
Sir Townriddle asks that those who give their family histories provide a prick of blood in the form of a fingerprint to sign their stories. He claims that he will return to Waterdeep and, with the help of some mages, trace the lineage of these people.
Cameron, the Tiefling Butler who smells of sulfur, escorted out a very stunned-looking man while our party was waiting for an audience with the Nobleman. Kronk saw the man while running errands for his sick Auntie Q and made note that something was very off.
He headed over to the town herbalist Sister Garaele and asked about the goings on. She was haggard and looked like she hadn't slept in a few days, frantically working at her herbalism station. Sister G explained that the affected people all reported nothing more severe than migranes, but they were persistant and widespread. She knows it's related to the newcomer, but doesn't understand how talking about stories can cause such symptoms.
Torrfig, Stuu, and Hada entered the room with Sir Townriddle and found it chokingly filled with incense. The trio disabled the door on the way in, and Stuu immediately made his presence felt by rushing over to the window and throwing it open.
Cameron ran back in the room at his master's distressed call and asked Stuu to leave. Stuu refused. Twice. Hada stepped in and beseeched Sir Townriddle as a relative to allow Stuu to remain in the room as long as he was well behaved. Reluctantly he agreed, and Cameron kept a close eye on Stuu after setting more incense to burn and closing the window.
The incense helps me concentrate. If it bothers you, you are free to leave. Please try to contain your outbursts.
The party asked what Sir Townriddle's business was and if he happened to know anything about an entity known as "the Black Spider." Aaron explained that he was a scholar and has been traveling the Sword Coast gathering histories and stories from people.
The stories are out there, history is inside everyone. If you can just gather enough stories, enough family histories, and then spend some time sorting things out. Maybe you can weave together a definitive sequence of events that captures the whole picture.
After a quick search through his documents, he told them only that the Redbrands had dealings with someone who marked letters with a Black Spider but that is all he knew.
At this point the party was pretty sure something was afoul and a confrontation was in order. They got Cameron out of the room and blocked the door with the Immovable Rod. Stuu threw open the window again and the incense flooded out again. Sir Townriddle's protests were cut short by Torrfig's cast of Zone of Truth.
A tense exchange followed with the party demanding answers. Sir Townriddle was clearly being evasive and so a Command was issued.
EXPOUND
With nowhere to hide and nothing to do Sir Aaron Townriddle said simply, "Let me show you." And he lunged forward to place his hand on Torrfig's chest. Torrfig felt a strange sucking feeling come from the touch, but he pulled away from the contact physically and mentally. Suddenly the Carriage Driver was in the now open window, and the Butler's form squeezed through the crack in the bottom of the door, reforming inside it. Combat was joined.
Kronk had been watching the carriage driver guarding the carriage closely and in the blink of an eye he was gone. Taking this chance, Kronk rushed forward to examine the vehicle more closely.