Glasstaff

Glasstaff (also known as Iarno or Iabro) was a wizard and the leader of the Redbrands, a band of ruffians and brigands who harassed the frontier town of Phandalin. Before adopting his criminal moniker, he was an associate of Neverwinter. According to recovered journals, he turned his back on his Neverwinter masters in exchange for a bit of gold, promises of more, and his signature magical staff. Operating from a hidden laboratory and alchemical mage study beneath the ruined Tristan Manor, he directed the gang’s local operations with the help of his bandits and a half-ogre companion named Ogrillon.

Behind the scenes, Glasstaff was in league with “The Spider” (Nezznar, a Drider working to claim the Spell Forge of Wave Echo Cave). The Spider recruited the wizard to ensure that the Redbrands would keep local threats—specifically the blind priest Deacon and the Zhentarim spymistress Halia Thorton—distracted and busy. The Spider frequently dispatched written orders and letters to Glasstaff via teleporting Phase Spiders. Following Glasstaff’s sudden defeat, the Spider grew increasingly frustrated as his orders went completely unanswered.

Confrontation and Defeat

Glasstaff was cornered in his cellar laboratory beneath Tristan Manor by a band of adventurers later known as The Magnificent Five (comprising Gilmore, Farwald, Hope, Nalini, and Erëvyn). While Gilmore boldly distracted several Redbrand bandits in a poker game—successfully drinking three of the four players under the table—the rest of the party discovered a secret door, scouted the cellar, and rescued three captive survivors of the Tristan family (including Myrna Tristan).

Upon discovering he had been locked inside his own study, Glasstaff began calling for aid. Stepping into the hallway to face his captors, he was confronted by the adventurers. The elf Erëvyn managed to shoot the wizard’s signature staff out of his hand. Working alongside Hope and Farwald, the party managed to dispatch the wizard, though not before Glasstaff critically injured several of them, particularly Erëvyn (who was quickly saved by Nalini’s healing magic). Meanwhile, Gilmore and Erevan dealt with the half-ogre Ogrillon. The battle left the remnants of Glasstaff and his companion smoldering in the ash and blood of the ruined basement. The two surviving drunken bandits were arrested and turned in to the town.

Possessions

Following his defeat, the adventurers plundered his alchemical laboratory and recovered several items of interest:

• The eponymous Glasstaff: His magical staff, which contained stored spells, gifted to him by the Spider to secure his loyalty. It was later used by Farwald to defend against a dragonborn and green dragon wyrmling ambush at an abandoned temple of Ioun, where he used the staff’s stored magic to call for backup in the form of animating small objects around the temple courtyard.
• A Bag of Holding: Subsequently used by the party to store melted-down pieces of a giant golden bell.
• A book titled The Rise and Fall of the Pact of Phandelver by Elminster Aumar (the Sage of Waterdeep).
• A mysterious note from ‘the Spider’.

Following the defeat of Glasstaff and the Redbrands, Myrna Tristan and the town master Harbin Wester bequeathed Tristan Manor to the party as a reward for protecting the town.

Aftermath

News of Glasstaff’s demise eventually reached his mysterious master. A human wearing a red cloak later arrived at Wave Echo Cave to deliver the bad news to the Spider. Enraged by the deaths of his key servants (including both Glasstaff and the bugbear Klarg), the Spider sacrificed the red-cloaked messenger to the goddess Lloth, swearing vengeance upon the Magnificent Five for their interference.