Chapter 5: Paths of Peril - Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

Chapter 5: Paths of Peril. When the characters return to Phandalin after their adventures in Wave Echo Cave, they find the town in upheaval. Thievery, vandalism, and violence plague Phandalin-all perpetrated by a band of goblins, some displaying strange psionic powers. These goblins have been pursuing their goal in the background of previous chapters (see "The Goblins' Story" below), and their efforts have now become the adventure's main story. Distressed and unsure how to help the victims, let alone find and stop the criminals, townmaster Harbin Wester asks the characters to investigate these crime scenes, find the culprits, and put a stop to the incidents. This task eventually leads the characters to the goblins' base far underground in an old duergar mining post called Zorzula's Rest, where a goblin leader who calls himself Ruxithid the Chosen receives orders from powerful overlords. When the heroes return to Phandalin, a different group of goblins is terrorizing the townspeople Running This Chapter This chapter can be divided into two parts: the investigations around Phandalin and the hunt for Ruxithid. The goblins left four distinct crime scenes that the characters can investigate in any order. Each crime scene has at least one witness and one potential combat encounter. From these crime scenes, the characters should gather enough clues to point them toward Ruxithid, the goblins' leader, without whom the goblins' crimes would cease. Pursuing Ruxithid takes the characters into Zorzula's Rest. This section is a traditional dungeon crawl, filled with strange secrets to uncover and dangerous enemies to fight. Character Advancement The characters should be 5th level when this chapter begins. In this chapter, characters can advance to 7th level and no further. Advancement is handled as follows: The characters gain a level when they discover the location of Zorzula's Rest and determine that they must confront Ruxithid the Chosen and the Sawplee goblins there. The c...