Session 09 – Wave Echo Cave: The Depths Awaken
Session 09 – Wave Echo Cave: The Depths Awaken
Date: 9/23/2022 DM: Lauren
Summary
With the road to Wave Echo Cave finally before them, the adventurers gained a new companion — Xanphina, a half-orc barbarian hired by Sildar Hallwinter to assist in the hunt for the Black Spider. Her introduction was, appropriately, through battle and bravado. She is contumacious to meet you.
Before delving into the cave, the group revisited Old Owl Well for answers about the necromantic disturbances there. Hamun Kost offered unexpected insight into wizardly drama, revealing that the ruined tower was built by a long-lost mage named **Athindol**, his great (and apparently forgotten) love. Kost also confirmed the Black Spider's true name: **Nezznar**, a drow wizard and ambitious manipulator of the Underdark's arcane politics. While Kost and Nezznar had never crossed paths, Kost's disdain for the Spider's overachievement was clear. The party purchased a **Ring of Protection**, now in Shade's possession.
Arriving at Wave Echo Cave, the heroes found Gundren Rockseeker drinking in despair outside the entrance. One of his brothers was dead, the other missing, and the horrors within the mine had left him hollow. He warned that bugbears had been seen coming and going — Nezznar's servants, no doubt. Disheartened, Gundren stayed behind, choosing whiskey over heroism.
Inside, the party discovered the cave's grim reality: halls filled with ancient bones — dwarves, orcs, and gnomes from the legendary battle that ended the Phandelver Pact. The dead do not rest easily here. In their first encounter, the heroes fought through a chamber of animated skeletons before fortifying the old **Assayer's Office** as a temporary camp.
The lost forge hums faintly in the distance, the air thick with the pulse of old magic and buried wrath.
Notable Characters
- Shade – Bard of fire and ghosts, bearer of the Ring of Protection
- Brudur – Oath of Glory paladin, still undefeated in bravado
- Thurmin – Divine lightning in human form, occasionally under control
- Cosima – Rogue of restless ambition
- Therezal – Absent this session, but still an agent of the Order of the Gauntlet
- Xanphina – Newly joined barbarian from the Order of the Gauntlet, ferocious and fearless
- Gundren Rockseeker – Despondent dwarf and reluctant informant
- Hamun Kost – Necromancer and accidental romantic
- Nezznar the Black Spider – Drow manipulator, unseen but ever closer
Locations Visited
- Old Owl Well – Source of wizard gossip and necromantic intrigue
- Wave Echo Cave – The long-lost heart of the Phandelver Pact, now crawling with Nezznar's servants
- Assayer's Office – Party's current base of operations within the mine
Factions Involved
- Order of the Gauntlet – Xanphina hired by Sildar Hallwinter to assist the party
Enemies Defeated
- Skeletal remnants of the Phandelver dead
- Minor undead encountered near the Assayer's Office
Loot & Rewards
- **Ring of Protection** – Purchased from Hamun Kost, now held by Shade
- Minor salvage from defeated undead
Experience
- Bruder & Shade – 3,622 XP
- Cosima & Thurmin – 3,389 XP
- Xanphina – 2,940 XP
- Therezal – 2,700 XP (when next active)
Each party member earned **+240 XP** this session. All remain Level 4.
Next Session
The heroes will delve deeper into Wave Echo Cave to uncover the Forge of Spells and face Nezznar the Black Spider.