Session A07 — Old Owl Well Expedition

Summary

The session opened with the aftermath of the A07 confrontation — the party negotiated a formal working arrangement with Hamun Kost, shared an absurdly domestic breakfast at his camp, then descended into the underground compound beneath Old Owl Well. The delve was long, cautious, and frequently chaotic — a mimic, a fear-inducing orb, centipedes, a suspicious skull, and a sealed chest that smelled like ghosts all featured before the session's end. The party ultimately recovered significant Netherese artifacts and handed the written material over to Kost per their agreement.

Key Events

The Deal and Breakfast

Kost formalised the arrangement: 50gp each for the party, plus a share of any profit he made from items they recovered and he later sold. The spirit of the deal was clear — honest reporting, first access for Kost. Kost made pancakes with syrup at his camp table. The party ate breakfast with a Red Wizard of Thay over a formal contract. The food was unexpectedly good — "Oh, that gets down into my gristle" — and the party debated whether to leave Kost any eggs.

The contract turned into a small comedy: Jonah had introduced himself to Kost the night before as "Freddy Fazbear," then signed the contract under a third different name entirely. Othorion did not sign at all, reasoning that a false name on a contract is a breach of contract — and notably there was no point in signing a name Kost couldn't verify. Othorion: "There's a reason why I didn't put my name down in that fucking contract." When pressed about the deception: "Two can play that game as well, but I don't know how far I will go." Whether Kost noticed or simply filed it under "adventurers are exhausting" is unreported.

Before the descent, Kavu offered a pragmatic defence of Kost: "So people think Wizard evil, but Wizard just protecting his face. Isn't the Kermansi risen dead? The person already dead."

Party Identity Discussion

Before the descent, the group debated what to call themselves publicly. "Watchers" and "Frontiersmen / Frontiersmen" were both floated, with the idea that the party was becoming a semi-official protective force around Phandalin rather than just armed strangers. Nothing locked in this session.

The Descent

The party tracked where Kost's zombies had originated, studied the layout of branching passages, and moved cautiously. The lower level included both worked chambers and rougher, damper cavern sections close to the well itself — walls humid near the well, puddles in some passages. Air coming from behind rubble was noted as potentially acidic.

At one point the party was split by rubble blocking a passage. Kelvin transformed into a giant badger and tunneled through to reconnect the group — "Salty's like, you're terraforming my map. It's goddamn useful." His keen scent proved useful throughout. The badger also found a pool with small creatures in a side passage and reported it back after reverting form.

Somewhere in the descent Kelvin encountered a button or mechanism — the table established a precedent from a previous game ("Lower Decks") where animal-form curiosity was resolved by dice. Ten or higher to resist, below ten to press. He rolled low. He pressed the button.

The Mimic

At one point the party encountered what appeared to be a mimic — or a mimic-like threat — disguised as an object or fixture. The response involved jamming a board into its opening to prevent it clamping shut, blending genuine tactics with slapstick argument.

The Orb

The party found a magical orb they concluded should not be touched directly. Someone was affected — strongly enough that the rest of the party discussed chasing, grappling, or restraining them — by what appeared to be a fear or compulsion effect. The orb was eventually handled by wrapping it in a blanket rather than direct contact.

Ancient Magical Writing and the Trust Problem

The party found books on pre-spell plague transmutation magic — older arcane forms, well before the Spellplague. Handing powerful old arcana to a Red Wizard of Thay was immediately understood as a problem. The party cooperated with Kost but did not do so with full confidence or an unguarded satchel.

The Skull, the Scroll, and the Centipedes

A study area in the lower chambers held a desk with multiple hazardous objects — a skull and a Scroll of Lightning Bolt prominent among them. By this point Kelvin's reputation for touching dangerous things was firmly established. Kavu delivered the session's running score: "Calvin touched mushroom. You touched skull. You touched orb. Calvin don't touch nothing."

The party carefully tried to separate items from the desk without direct contact — using Mage Hand to move the scroll away first ("Move scroll, scroll move. Don't touch scroll."), then debating whether to remove the desk's top entirely by pulling out the nails. The skull proved particularly hazardous. Centipedes emerged and added poison risk; Kelvin pondered whether he could now Wild Shape into a centipede (CR too high). The centipede's poison was identified but not fully classified.

The Hidden Chest — Sylphrena

A concealed mechanism revealed a sealed side chamber containing a chest. When Kelvin (as a badger with keen scent) approached it, he recognized the smell: "It smelled like when the ghosts were totally released on purpose in the manor." The party confirmed the aura matched the supernatural disturbance from the spirits beneath Tresendar Manor. Inside was a chest bearing celestial runes that spelled Sylphrena. Roland attuned to Sylphrena's Lantern and received visions of the past, learning of Sandor — a Netherese archivist who had created the lantern and bound Sylphrena's spirit within it to protect her.

NPCs Encountered

Loot / Discoveries

• Scroll of Lightning Bolt (10d6 damage) — handed to Kost
• Books on pre-Spellplague transmutation magic — handed to Kost
• Sylphrena's Lantern — attuned to Roland; grants Arcana check advantage (3/day), visions of the Netherese past, limited immunity to harpy song
• Wrapped magical orb — party retained; exact properties unresolved

Party Notes

• Roland: Attuned to Sylphrena's Lantern — received visions of the Netherese past; growing into the party's moral centre
• Kavu: Pragmatic defender of Kost's neutrality ("Wizard just protecting his face"); full HP; contributed healing during delve; dialogue highlight of the session
• Kelvin Fairlight: Touched everything dangerous (mushroom, skull, orb — the running joke); Wild Shaped into giant badger to tunnel through rubble and reconnect party; pressed an ancient button he couldn't resist; found the pool with creatures; keen scent identified the ghost-smell on the hidden chest
• Othorion: Refused to sign the Kost contract (still missing fingers from A07); cautious and suspicious of Kost's intentions; noted "There's a reason I didn't put my name down"; helped with the orb using a blanket
• Jonah: Signed the contract under yet another fake name (third identity — real name, "Freddy Fazbear," and now a third); grabbed historical texts; helped identify magical threats

Threads Opened / Advanced

OPENED

• Sylphrena's Purpose: Why was she imprisoned? What does she need from Roland? Who was Sandor, and what happened to the Enclave?
• The Orb: Fear/compulsion effect, origin unknown; party kept it wrapped in a blanket
• Party Name: "Frontiersmen" or "Watchers" floated — nothing finalised

ADVANCED

• Hamun Kost relationship: Deal completed honourably; written material handed over; Kost now has Netherese texts and the Scroll of Lightning Bolt. What does he intend to do with Arthindol's name and the texts? If returned to Thay, the Red Wizards now have significant leads
• Old Owl Well delve: Compound explored; multiple hazards cleared; artifacts recovered; the well itself not fully investigated