Gilmore Stork

Gilmore Stork is an aristocratic adventurer belonging to the noble Gilmore’s Stork family, which is related to the Tristan family of Phandalin. Alongside his companions Farwald (later revealed to be the ancient Firbolg skald Hrothgar Hillsfar), Nalini, Hope, and Erevyn (Er’evyn Sehahine)—collectively known as The Magnificent Five (or The Fantastic Five)—he has traveled the Sword Coast, confronting ancient threats, seeking to reclaim his family’s legacy, and pursuing a deeply personal quest of redemption.

Origin and Backstory

The Exile of House Stork

The Stork family was not originally native to their current home of Stork’s Rest, a rugged, wind-torn island located on the western edge of the Moonshae Islands. Generations ago, Gilmore’s great-grandfather defied the High King of the Moonshaes by marrying a woman tied to coastal pirate clans and raiders, threatening the delicate marital alliances used to preserve the crown’s unity. While such defiance usually resulted in execution, the family’s descent from the legendary dragonslayer hero Lady Tanager Alagondar spared them. Instead, the High King banished the entire house to the far western reaches of the archipelago, where they were expected to be consumed by storms, raiders, and the local wilderness. His parents, Thalorian Stork and Selene Valcorn, kept the heavy memory of this betrayal close, often reminding their children of their birthright with the family’s bitter constant: “One day, the Storks will return.”

Ironically, this exile became an advantage: the pirates respected the Storks for marrying into their kin, leading to lighter raids on their lands. Over the next three generations, the Storks forged alliances with scattered pirate clans and grew influential in the Outer Isles, though the family remained deeply bitter about their displacement from the High King’s side.

The Island of Stork’s Rest

Stork’s Rest is defined by its rocky bluffs, storm-battered beaches, and a magical, dense forest covering its entire northern half known as the Glimmering Deep. Fog curls through its ancient oaks even at midday, and those who walk beneath its canopies begin to lose their names, purpose, and track of time. Fishermen have wandered in looking for stray goats and stumbled out days later believing they were gone only minutes, while others never return at all. The Stork family insists the forest once hid a portal to an older realm, perhaps a remnant of the ancient druidic powers of Gwynneth, though whatever lies at its heart bends anything that enters.

Following an event in which Gilmore’s grandfather was mortally mauled by a bone-antlered Harthwyld (a forest guardian half-bear, half-stag with sweeping bone-white antlers) before slaying the beast, the family avoided the woods entirely, believing the forest held a grudge against their bloodline. The grotesque trophy of the Harthwyld’s head still hangs above the Stork family hearth, though the grandfather passed away the night of his victory. The common folk only dare enter the woods using elaborate safety ropes and bells.

The island is divided into three settlements:

• Pink Tor (Southern Coast): The primary settlement featuring a pink-granite bluff that glows at sunrise, the family’s pink tower, the Stork library, the ferry landing, and the island’s sole tavern.
• Wraithcliff: A hardy agricultural hub on gentler bays that connects to nearby barley-producing islands.
• Dunfold: The humblest community, inhabited mostly by goat herders and potato farmers, featuring a rough pier.
• To the north lies Greyhaven, a rotting skeleton of a port completely swallowed by forest magic, where ships are driven away by whispers and illusions.

Gilmore’s Youth and the Great Oyster Dive

As the second son of Thalorian Stork and Selene Valcorn, Gilmore was granted immense freedom by parents who knew he was not the immediate heir to the family’s title. Preferring physical activity to courtly lessons, he spent his youth carousing with the small folk, brawling in taverns, and training in the yard.

Every summer solstice, he participated in the Great Oyster Dive, a local festival where divers sought magical oysters that absorbed the Glimmering Deep’s magic. The pearls they produced, which occasionally glowed, hummed, or granted whimsical blessings, were highly prized in Waterdeep for their magical properties. To his father’s horror, Gilmore won the competition three years in a row, beating local fishermen and earning a ring set with a magical pearl that granted improbable luck, strange coincidences, and sea-colored dreams. When old enough, Gilmore frequently took the ferry to a neighboring island to sneak into local brothels for what he claimed was a “political education,” though he was regularly thwarted by violent seasickness on the crossing.

Though raised with the strict ancestral oath (“To the High King, to Order and Civilization, against the Chaos of the Sea and the Magic of the Forest”), Gilmore never took it entirely seriously. While the sea made him sick, he loved it; while the forest terrified him, he was fascinated by it. Deep down, Gilmore felt a call toward wilder fates.

Tragedy and the Death of Elire

While Gilmore enjoyed his freedom, his older sister Elire (sometimes spelled Elira) was heavily groomed to redeem the family’s standing. Her parents scraped coin from all family holdings to pay for her education, importing tutors from Alaron, purchasing rare books from Waterdeep, and eventually placing her in a prestigious Elven boarding academy in Silverymoon at the age of twelve. The intent was for her to learn high elven court manners and eventually marry into a noble elven house.

Tragically, six months before Gilmore began his adventures, Elire was abducted from her academy and murdered by a mysterious group of cultists wearing red, dragon-shaped masks. House Stork tradition dictates that when an heir-apparent is killed, the next sibling in line must go on a journey to retrieve the body and ensure proper passage to the afterlife before they can claim power. Gilmore took up this heavy charge and sailed directly to Silverymoon.

Encounter with the Matron of Ravens

Upon arriving in Silverymoon, Gilmore discovered that Elire’s physical remains had never been recovered. Seeking divine guidance, he visited the temple of the Matron of Ravens (the Raven Queen), goddess of death, fate, twilight, and winter. Instructed by acolytes, Gilmore stripped off his road-worn clothes and fully submerged himself in a pool of dark liquid at the temple’s center. He quickly realized the heavy liquid was blood and gasped for air as it overcame him.

Instead of dying, he was swept into a mystical vision of the Raven Queen wearing a white mask and weaving golden threads of destiny. She offered her aid, declaring her burden to accompany all souls to their proper resting place, but warned that his fate would remain entwined with hers. Plucking one of the golden threads, she woke Gilmore. He found himself fully armored with his sword and shield on a moonlit road, where he was immediately ambushed by two cultists wearing red dragon masks. Slaying them, he discovered a golden chain holding a purple gemstone on one of the bodies: a magical soulstone containing the trapped soul of his sister Elire.

The Road to Phandalin

Bound by family tradition and the Raven Queen’s decree, Gilmore sought to release Elire’s soul. His quest led him to Phandalin, the ancestral home of his family’s bloodline. While resting and drinking ale at a tavern in Neverwinter amidst rumors of increased banditry, Gilmore crossed paths with Sildar Hallwinter, an old friend of the Stork family and a Griffin Knight of Neverwinter, who informed him of a supply caravan departing for Phandalin the following morning.

Character and Demeanor

Gilmore carries himself with an aristocratic air, tending mainly to give orders to his companions during their travels. Despite his commanding approach, he is a highly capable healer, stepping in to mend the wounds of his companions when necessary, and he often offers encouraging words to bolster his allies in combat. He possesses brazen confidence and an impressive constitution, once fearlessly joining a room of hostile Redbrand bandits for a poker game and drinking three of them under the table.

Showing a deep commitment to order, society, and his noble lineage, Gilmore eventually swore the Oath of the Crown, dedicating his martial and spiritual power to a higher cause. He also possesses a profound, mystical connection to the Matron of Ravens, which channels his spiritual resolve and grants his allies the strength to survive otherwise fatal blows. He holds a keen knowledge of regional history, particularly concerning the nobility of the North, much of which he learned from the droning of tutors in his youth.

The Celestial Steed

During his adventures, Gilmore cast Find Steed for the first time. Instead of the grand, majestic white stallion he had anticipated, he summoned a small, old pony with wise eyes. The creature speaks Celestial and can communicate directly with Gilmore, even executing telepathic errands for him up to a mile away.

The Pendant and Gond’s Smelter

Gilmore wears a mysterious family pendant containing the soulstone of his deceased sister, Elire. The altar of the temple of Ioun in Conyberry granted Gilmore whispers regarding the possibility of reviving the dead, sparking hope that her body and soul might one day be restored. Gilmore’s ultimate family quest was to put Elire’s soul to rest by encasing the soulstone within the molten metals of Gond’s Smelter deep within Wave Echo Cave, as directed by his parents and the ancient rites of his family.

The Dread Dream of Elire

A few nights before his fateful trek to the Dragon Barrow, Gilmore experienced a terrifying, prophetic dream. He was running carefree through the forests of his homeland when he saw Elire in their tower garden. Suddenly, she fell, dragging him down into absolute darkness. He found her body in the castle courtyard, surrounded by black ravens cawing “The Undying Queen”. As he fought them off, a multi-headed scaled worm with five distinct colored heads—blue, black, red, white, and green—emerged from her empty eye cavity. Elire’s other eye flashed with a blue light; she grabbed him with a cold, skeletal hand, bit the head off a raven, and whispered in an infernal voice: “You cannot save her. She will be mine soon. Undying.” The creature sprouted green leathery wings and flew directly at his face, waking him in a cold sweat under the full moon.

Historical Awareness

Through both his early aristocratic tutoring and the party’s discovery of the ancient tome The Rise and Fall of the Pact of Phandelver by Elminster Aumar, Gilmore possesses a deep understanding of the region’s ancient history.

The Age of Arcanum and the Calamity

When the door to the legendary Spell Forge finally opened, Gilmore breathed in ancient, metallic, canned air carrying a physical memory of the long-lost Age of Arcanum. As a youth, Gilmore’s tutors had droned on about this mythic era: a time when formless gods tamed primordial chaos and gifted magic to the mortal races. This period of great arcane innovation ended in the hubris of mortals seeking godhood, triggering The Calamity—a ruinous magical arms race. During this war, the Prime Deities defended humanity, elves, and dwarves against the Betrayer Gods who sought their destruction or enslavement. Ultimately, the Prime Deities sealed themselves and their foes away behind the Divine Gate, leaving their power to be channeled only by their most devout mortal worshipers.

The Pact of Phandelver

Gilmore is well-versed in the history of the tripartite Pact of Phandelver, established a thousand years ago by King Phandelver II alongside Queen Kima of the dwarven stronghold of Axeholm and Archmage Larellion, steward of the elven tower known as the Hand of Sehahine (or Sehanine). Under this alliance, humans, dwarves, elves, and the ingenious gnomes of the Vale collaborated to create the mythical Forge of Spells. This era of unity eventually crumbled to suspicion, elven aloofness, and dwarven greed, culminating in the sacking of the human seat of Highthorn (now known as Cragmaw Castle), the silencing of the Hand of Sehahine, and the abandonment of Axeholm.

Ancient Ancestry: Lady Tanager Alagondar

Through his divine commune at the Altar of Ioun, Gilmore discovered that he is a descendant of Lady Tanager Alagondar of Neverwinter, a legendary hero of the Lord’s Alliance who famously fell 300 years ago while slaying the ancient green dragon Virethas, the Jade Queen. She was laid to rest alongside her dragon-slaying sword in the Dragon Barrow along the road to Neverwinter. This discovery tied his personal destiny and noble lineage directly to the historical defense of the Sword Coast against the rise of the chromatic dragons.

Recent Events

The Journey and Ambush

During their initial journey south from Neverwinter along the High Road, Gilmore and his companions discovered a goblin ambush that had claimed the horses of Sildar Hallwinter and Gundren Rockseeker. During the skirmish, Gilmore supported his allies with encouraging words. After interrogating a surviving goblin, the party tracked the ambushers back to their lair, the Cragmaw Hideout.

Cragmaw Hideout

Upon reaching the hideout, Gilmore and Hope successfully freed the captive wolves inside, allowing them to run off. The party then snuck deeper into the cavern, confronting the bugbear leader, Klarg, who was holding Sildar hostage on orders from “The Spider.” While Nalini and Farwald used magic to keep the goblins scattered, Gilmore, Hope, and Erevyn teamed up to defeat Klarg. Following the battle, they rescued Sildar, discovered an ancient wall carving detailing the “Pact of Phandelver,” and recovered stolen Lionshield Coster supplies along with a Jade Statuette of a Frog and some gold. On the journey back to Phandalin, Erevyn also discovered a Ring of Protection on a petrified dwarf.

Infiltration of Tristan Manor

After arriving in Phandalin, the party investigated Tristan Manor, a local property plagued by the Redbrands. Gilmore felt a strong personal obligation to resolve the situation due to his family’s lineage being related to the Tristans. Inside the manor, the party dispatched several zombies before discovering a secret door leading to the cellar. While the rest of the party worked to rescue the captive Tristan family, Gilmore brazenly walked into a room of bandits playing poker, managing to drink three of the four players under the table.

When the wizard Glasstaff realized he was locked in his laboratory and called for aid, a battle erupted. As his allies confronted the wizard, Gilmore engaged a formidable Half-Ogre (or Ogrillon). Gilmore was nearly overwhelmed in the duel, but Erevyn managed to fell the giant beast with a well-placed arrow. From the cellar headquarters, the party secured several items, including the Glasstaff, a Bag of Holding, a note from “The Spider,” and an ancient copy of The Rise and Fall of the Pact of Phandelver.

In the crypt of the manor, Gilmore found the legendary Blade of Tristan—or rather, the blade found him. Following the liberation of the estate, Myrna Tristan bequeathed the manor to the party, and Townmaster Harbin Wester later facilitated the transfer of the deed of ownership to the newly named “Magnificent Five.”

The Snowmont Monastery and Cryovain

The next morning, the party braved the Sword Mountains to aid the besieged Snowmont Monastery. Though they defeated the Ice Trolls and Ice Mephits, the monastery was largely destroyed, and their allies Clarissa and Dorian perished. The surviving monks, Jaque and Zoe, and the surviving mountain-dwellers Jackson and Caitlyn, gifted the party with a Pearl of Power, a Staff of Frost, and a Wind Fan. As they descended, they witnessed the terrifying sight of the white dragon Cryovain—a calamity not seen in the region since the era of the Chroma Conclave three centuries prior—soaring toward the highest peaks of the Sword Mountains. Gilmore strongly believed that the party needed to equip themselves better—gaining new skills, items, and knowledge—before they could safely confront such a powerful dragon.

Respite and Sacred Oaths

During a brief period of respite in Phandalin, Gilmore formally took his sacred Oath of the Crown. While Farwald sold off salvaged gear from the basement and bought scrolls from Deacon—the blind, retired adventurer and gambler who served as a local cleric of Tymora—Gilmore shared his knowledge of regional legends with him. He revealed the history of Lady Alagondar and her connection to a green dragon, whom Farwald later identified as Virethas, the Jade Queen. Before embarking on a journey to locate the banshee Agatha in Conyberry, Gilmore and Farwald purchased essential supplies and healing potions from Aadbra Gwynn (a midwife, miller, and follower of the Wildmother) and Linene Graywind, and rented two horses: Trixie and Glory.

The Temple of Ioun and the Cultist Ambush

After speaking with the ancient banshee Agatha and freeing the petrified dwarf Gotrek (who reluctantly gifted his cursed Berserker’s Axe to Hope), the party took refuge in an abandoned temple of Ioun, the Knowing Mistress, in Conyberry. Here, they met a strange sorcerer bearing a many-headed dragon tattoo. Gilmore and the party negotiated with him, trading their knowledge of Virethas for 2,500 gold—delivered in the form of a massive golden bell. Farwald and Nalini used magic to melt the bell into smaller pieces that fit inside their Bag of Holding.

By using the temple’s altar, Gilmore uncovered vital family secrets: he learned the location of the burial ground of his ancestor Lady Tanager Alagondar, as well as whispers regarding the possibility of reviving the body and soul of the dead—a revelation that kindled hope that his deceased sister, Elire, might live once more. During an evening walk near the temple, Gilmore rescued a wayward, distressed merchant named Mikael. Gilmore brokered a deal to escort Mikael back to Phandalin in exchange for a commissioned painting for Tristan Manor and assistance fencing the gold from the bell.

Later that night, while Gilmore was on watch, he encountered a small, seemingly cute chameleon and fed it treats. The creature revealed itself to be a Green Dragon Wyrmling in the service of three Dragonborn attackers (two green, one white) associated with the Cult of the Dragon. The ambushers immediately assaulted Gilmore, utilizing holding magic in a desperate attempt to subdue him and steal his family pendant containing Elire’s soulstone. Though Gilmore was beaten to the brink of death and knocked unconscious, the Magnificent Five rallied to defeat the assailants. Nalini used Ice Spells to slow the attackers while Farwald used the Glasstaff to summon courtyard objects as backup, and Nalini quickly restored Gilmore with healing magic.

Revelations and Gnomengarde

After harvesting teeth, scales, and acid from their fallen attackers, the party broke camp and returned to Phandalin, where they found Tristan Manor fully restored. Gilmore met with Deacon to sell off the gold pieces of the temple bell for 2,600 gold pieces, and successfully helped settle the merchant Mikael onto a wagon. At the manor, the party sheltered a famished gnome academic named Dusty, who had escaped captivity under the Spider (revealed to be a Drider named Nezznar in league with dragon-aligned factions and sending letters to a “Wyrmspeaker” via Phase Spiders). Hearing this, Gilmore astutely remarked on the strangeness of the alliance, noting that Drow and Lolth worshippers normally harbor a deep hatred for dragons.

Seeking magical inventions to aid against the dragon threat, the party traveled to Gnomengarde. Greeted at the waterfall entrance by a cheerful female gnome, only Gilmore, Nalini, and Farwald were permitted inside, while the rest of the group camped outside. The visit was chaotic; the magical Weave in the caves caused strange spellcasting side effects, and some party members became outdated or intoxicated. They met inventors Dimblestib and Dabbledob and discovered that King Korboz had grown paranoid and terrified, even tying up King Gnerki. The gnome woman who welcomed them was revealed to be a disguised doppelganger. During a confrontation in the throne room, Nalini was nearly killed and Farwald fell under a suggestion spell that briefly turned him against the party. They managed to kill one doppelganger while the other escaped, ultimately freeing King Korboz, who expressed deep gratitude. Afterward, a young gnomish girl named Linxie healed their wounds with magic.

Confronting The Spider

With new knowledge from Dusty and Gotrek on how to activate Gond’s Smelter to power the legendary Spell Forge, the Magnificent Five—accompanied by Dusty, Gotrek, and the surviving monks Jaque and Zoe—set off towards Wave Echo Cave. Returning to the caverns, they found that the previous goblin kitchen had been “remodeled.”

Upon entering the chamber, they were met with a grim sight: the lifeless body of Halia Thorton, Spymistress of Phandalin, hanging in the entryway. It was later revealed that Erevyn, working deep undercover as a member of the Zhentarim alongside Lucien Nightstone, had been forced to kill Halia to maintain his cover and ingratiate himself with the Drider. During the brutal confrontation, the Drider Nezznar fought desperately, but Nalini ignited the webs and spider eggs of his altar to Lolth. Soon, two Phase Spiders materialized on the back line, wreaking havoc and knocking both Farwald and Nalini unconscious. In a critical moment of despair, Gilmore utilized his profound connection to the Matron of Ravens, falling to one knee and muttering words to his Matron to protect his friends and grant Nalini and Farwald the strength to keep going. Ultimately, the Spider was defeated and slain when Erevyn shot him through the eyes, and the surviving goblins and bugbears fled into the caverns, only to be consumed by a wild mushroom patch.

Gond’s Smelter and the Final Choice

After reclaiming Wave Echo Cave and discovering the Spider’s journal, the party located Gond’s Smelter. Activating the device required the “Mettle of the Dwarves,” the “Grace of the Elves” (which Nalini correctly identified as the Moonbeam spell representing Selune), the “Ingenuity of the Humans,” blue-burning wood, and raw ore. Combining their brains, brawn, and magical talents, the group successfully activated the ancient device.

As the molten metal began to fill the floor’s intricate grooves, it activated ancient beacons and anchors. The ceiling alighted with a star chart from 1,000 years ago, representing the night sky of the Age of Arcanum when Selune walked the earth. These stars rearranged themselves into three constellations: a delicate hand, a great castle, and a jeweled hammer.

A projected humanoid face of light materialized on the central dais, projecting a message recorded during the twilight of the Calamity. This face and voice belonged to Gond, who was not a deity but rather a legendary dwarven craftsman and master blacksmith of the Age of Arcanum. Gond explained that he had placed the defense of the Spell Forge in the hands of The Blacksmith, his finest creation. Due to a beacon malfunction, The Blacksmith—an enormous metal construct with one red eye and one green eye—booted up at only 78% power, immediately initializing its defense protocols to terminate the party as intruders.

It was here, before the roaring, molten metals of the smelter, that Gilmore faced his ultimate family quest. Confronted with the option to encase Elire’s soulstone to put her spirit to rest as directed by his parents and the ancient rites of his family, Gilmore ultimately chose not to follow through with the task, altering his path and leaving her fate to a new destiny.

Overcoming the Blacksmith

By working together and cleverly disrupting the active pylons, the party successfully defeated the colossal guardian construct. Amidst the shattered remains and the chamber’s treasures, they recovered legendary relics from the Age of Arcanum. Among these spoils were the Plate of the Pact—an exquisite set of brass-and-gold plate armor adorned with silver scrolling and cut rubies—and Cabal’s Ruin, a cloak of dark purple leather with gold trim capable of absorbing and releasing magical energy. They also recovered the simple silver Circlet of Larellion, Nolzur’s Magnificent Pigments, and a mysterious Deck of Many Things.

Highharvesttide and a Newfound Freedom

Following their victory, the party returned to a festive Phandalin, glowing with paper lanterns and high spirits for Highharvesttide, the final celebration of summer. While the town gathered around picnic tables piled with treats, Gilmore sat with Gundren Rockseeker and Farwald. For the first time since leaving his home, Gilmore felt a sense of peace and true liberation. Though the weight of his sacred oaths and ancestral expectations lingered, he realized that the choice not to encase Elire’s soulstone was entirely his own.

The Journey to Axeholm and the Redemption of Vyldara

Two weeks after the Highharvesttide festivities, the Magnificent Five reconvened at Tristan Manor. Free from ancestral expectations, Gilmore shared his desire to find a path to resurrect his sister, Elire. Because the Matron of Ravens believes that undead disrupt the natural cycle between life and death, Gilmore viewed purging undead and assisting lost spirits as central to his Paladin duties.

The party resolved to head to Axeholm, the ancient dwarven fortress of the Pact, to free the cursed spirit of Vyldara and fulfill a promise made to the banshee Agatha. Guided by Gotrek, they met a strange talking goat along the road named Aja, a fey sorceress whose magic had backfired. In exchange for reclaiming Axeholm, she agreed to help them. At the fortress, Aja blasted the front doors open with lightning, and they quickly dispatched several hostile shadows.

When they confronted the banshee Vyldara, Gilmore shouted that Agatha had sent them. Enraged, Vyldara unleashed a devastating Banshee’s Wail that knocked almost the entire party unconscious, leaving only Erevyn and Gotrek standing. The conscious members bought time through tense negotiations while the others were healed. Realizing Vyldara could not be made to see reason, the party attacked, and Gilmore ultimately severed her connection to the physical plane, allowing her cursed soul to pass on and find peace.

During her final moments, Vyldara acknowledged Gilmore as carrying the “blood of Kings.” Upon her passing, Gilmore alone witnessed a poignant transition: Vyldara transformed back into her youthful elven child self. A gentle adult woman in a porcelain mask—the Matron of Ravens—knelt before the child, saying, “Come child, I will take you to your mother,” before wrapping her in a cloak of raven feathers and walking away. To Gilmore, the goddess whispered in his mind: “You have done well, my Knight.”

The Hand of Sehanine and the Resurrection of Farwald

Following their success at Axeholm, the party obtained the location of the Hand of Sehanine. Guided by visions, they arrived at the outskirts of Leilon and waited until nightfall for the tower to phase into the Material Plane. Upon entering, Gilmore utilized his diplomatic presence to successfully convince the spectral captain on the Sentinel Floor to yield, allowing the party to proceed.

Later, in the Observatory, they confronted the mad Baelnorn Larellion. During this brutal struggle, Farwald was struck down and killed by the Baelnorn’s sickly green arrow spell. While Nalini frantically initiated a powerful and costly primal ritual to pull Farwald’s soul back to his body, Gilmore and Erevyn had precious seconds to assist. In a desperate bid to anchor their friend’s soul, Gilmore called upon his sister Elire for help via the soulstone. Elire agreed to aid in the resurrection, but demanded that Gilmore visit the Dragon Barrow as soon as possible, claiming she seeks “revenge.” Unknown to Gilmore at the time, this request was a cunning trap. With their combined efforts, Farwald’s soul was successfully guided back to his body, and the party defeated Larellion, helping him find repentance and lifting the millennium-old curse.

Journey to Neverwinter and the Moonstone Mask

Following the events at the Hand of Sehanine, the Magnificent Five made their way north to Neverwinter. Along the road back, the group stopped at an old lighthouse, defeating a band of local pirates. During the interrogation of their captive pirate prisoner, it was revealed that his captain was working for Luskan to seize the lighthouse. Believing the pirate posed no further threat, Gilmore cut the pirate’s bonds and let him go free.

As the group continued their journey, they stopped at Helm’s Hold, a fortified monastery of Erathis, to secure healing for the fogged mind of Farwald. While the temple’s magical wards blocked the fairy Nalini from entering, Gilmore and his companions successfully negotiated with a halfling cleric named Sandra, who cast a Lesser Restoration spell to lift the fog from Farwald’s memories in exchange for gold and diamond dust. Their stay was cut short, however, when Erevyn’s mischief—carving “ACAB” into a wall—caused the strict paladin guards to physically escort them out and ban them from returning.

Upon entering the gates of Neverwinter at sundown, amidst heavy military preparations and skyrocketing prices linked to Luskan, the party split up to rest. While Erevyn visited family and Nalini and Farwald went to the Emerald Grove, Gilmore headed straight to the luxurious Moonstone Mask in the Market District to attend a lavish, lively “end of the world” party.

Confrontation at the Dragon Barrow (Gilmore’s Folly)

Driven by the promise he made to his sister’s spirit to visit her burial grounds, Gilmore and the Magnificent Five entered a deep cavern of bone-white stalagmites and acid pools beneath Dragon Barrow, unaware that this was the regional headquarters of the Cult of the Dragon and base of Sidorna, the Green Wyrmspeaker.

The central chamber contained beautiful carvings of ancient heroes, including the battle against the green dragon Virethas, the Jade Queen. On Lady Tanager Alagondar’s tomb, Gilmore drew the magical Dragon Slayer sword (+1 greatsword dealing an additional 3d6 damage against dragons) from its resting place, where it had remained fixed in the heart of Virethas for 300 years, acting as a powerful ward preventing her resurrection. Unsheathing it shattered the ward, triggering a magical paralysis trap that froze Nalini in place.

Immediately, cultists from the Cult of the Dragon stepped forward. Sidorna lunged and snatched the soulstone from Gilmore’s chest, throwing him into a terrifying, revelatory vision. Within the vision, his sister Elire appeared, no longer trapped or helpless, but proudly wearing a Green Dragon Mask as a devout member of the Cult of the Dragon. She taunted Gilmore, calling him “the second son, the one not expected to matter” and urging him to join the cult, proclaiming that Tiamat’s return and the rise of the chromatic dragons was inevitable. As she declared "there is no good or evil, only power,” her face morphed into that of a green dragon.

Realizing his sister had trapped and betrayed him, Gilmore prayed to the Matron of Ravens, confessing his hubris in trying to outsmart fate to bring Elire back. The goddess responded cryptically: “Gods granted you free will, and this is what you chose to do with it.”

Sidorna began a dark ritual to resurrect Virethas, utilizing the skeletal remains of the dragon that made up the very cavern they stood within. The party engaged in a desperate battle to stop the ritual, with Gilmore wielding the Dragon Slayer alongside the Blade of Tristan. Sidorna, near death after being blinded by Nalini’s giant frog and struck by Erevyn’s lightning, threw the Green Dragon Mask to her last surviving cultist. The cultist willingly stepped into the circle, sacrificing himself to complete the ritual. Fused with Elire’s soul and the Green Dragon Mask, Virethas was reborn as a weakened, shadow-adult version of her former self.

As the skeletal dragon began to move and break free, Farwald painted a massive exit using Nolzur’s Magnificent Pigments. Gilmore charged up the dragon’s neck with Dragon Slayer in hand, but the party was ultimately forced to leap from the rising beast to safety as it took flight into the sky, leaving Gilmore to face a dark, personal war against his own sister. This disastrous battle would henceforth be remembered as “Gilmore’s Folly.”

Aftermath of the Folly and the Rising Storm

Bruised, bloodied, and resting in the smoldering crater of the barrow, Gilmore attuned to the Dragon Slayer and experienced a vision of his ancestor Lady Alagondar driving the blade into Virethas’s jaws alongside the legendary heroes of old. Tensions ran high; Nalini privately voiced her suspicion of Gilmore, noting that his headlong sprint to draw the sword was suspiciously convenient for a noble house in search of draconic power, and suggested they would settle the truth with a Zone of Truth once they reached Neverwinter.

Soon, three Griffin Riders descended upon the barrow, led by Lady Arabeth de Tylmarande, right hand of Lord Nasher Alagondar and chief of staff of Neverwinter, accompanied by paladins of Helm’s Hold. Arabeth accused the group of grave-robbing, but Sildar Hallwinter’s sealed letter of recommendation softened her stance. She agreed to grant them an audience with the Small Council of Neverwinter in three days, though she remained highly skeptical of a wider dragon cult conspiracy.

That night, while making camp nearby, Nalini witnessed the trees of Neverwinter Wood physically moving to form a defensive wall. When Farwald tried to communicate, the ancient druid Esfaloth furiously telepathically rebuked them, accusing the party of helping “that idiot child” (Gilmore) wake the dragon, before severing contact.

Return to Neverwinter and Sewer Intrigue

Following the confrontation at the Dragon Barrow, Gilmore and his companions continued north. Needing to communicate with his noble family, Gilmore spent 50 gold pieces to dispatch a courier to Stork’s Rest, warning his parents that Elire’s soul was not at rest, that she was in fact the Green Wyrmspeaker, and to “take stock of who has had your ear in the past months, and who has gone quiet, and who should not have. Bar the gates, trust no envoy.”

Upon entering Neverwinter’s southern gates at sundown, they were met by a new town guard named “Sheila” who insisted on chaperoning them through the city, though Gilmore’s keen insight registered that she was lying about her identity. To prepare for the upcoming audience with the Small Council, the party split up. While others investigated the city’s sewer system and visited contacts, Gilmore and Farwald headed toward Castle Never.

Through Erevyn’s mentor, Lucian Nightshade (the city’s Spymaster and local Zhentarim leader), they learned that a spy was likely operating on the Small Council itself. The party soon deduced that the mole was Admiral Finster Lionheart, who was secretly working for the Vecna-worshipping vampires Alistair and Catherine Blackwell of Luskan to smuggle Cloaktower reagents.

Gilmore’s path eventually crossed with Anthony “the Gentleman” Calloway, a powerful half-orc underworld figure running “The Cha-Ching” casino in the Beggar’s Nest slums. The Gentleman offered valuable intelligence regarding the compromised council members in exchange for finding Patricius, the vanished Head of Sewers and Waterways who had run off with a magical ring that controlled the city’s water flow.

Entering the sewers, the party confronted Luskan pirates who had captured Patricius. Though they defeated the pirates, Patricius was killed in the action. The party recovered a pale, opal-blue Ring of Control Water Elementals and a signaling lantern used to communicate with the pirate vessel Sea Ghost. To protect themselves and deny the tool to the underworld, they hid the ring inside their Bag of Holding.

With the cistern exits closely guarded, Gilmore fabricated a diversion by calling his Celestial steed (the pony) and screaming about Luskanites breaching the city walls, mobilizing the Griffin Knights under Captain Beauregard. Spun as a tale of a noble encountering sewer invaders, Gilmore secured safe passage and a note to Lady Aribeth. Returning to Anthony Calloway, they claimed Luskanites had killed Patricius and stolen the ring, a lie Tony accepted. In exchange, Tony offered half the gold reward and revealed that Talis the White, a disgraced ex-Cult of the Dragon member who held secrets about the dragon masks, was hiding safely within the high-security Peninsula Prison.

A Merciful Act on the Wood’s Edge

Opting to split up before the council meeting, Erevyn investigated the high-security cells of Peninsula Prison, while Gilmore, Nalini, and Farwald headed toward the Neverwinter Wood to address the growing decay of the wilderness. Along the road, they discovered that the Neverwinter River was flowing dangerously slow. Gilmore spotted a bloated human corpse face-down in the water and successfully hooked and dragged it ashore. Although the deceased was merely a working-class peasant with a faint, unreadable tattoo rather than a cultist, Gilmore refused to leave the body behind, performing proper funeral rites to the Matron of Ravens. This selfless act of compassion for the dead was deeply well-regarded by his goddess, who bestowed her divine favor upon her Knight as they prepared to venture deeper into the woods to negotiate with the furious druid Esfaloth.