In the Year of the Duplicitous Courtier, 1496 DR, an unusually intelligent ogre named Stuuzant began attacking local livestock in the middle of the town's first mayoral election. The town could go for months with no new income from the mining operations, and efforts to open the ancient mine at Wave Echo Cave were abandoned. ĭuring the early 1490s DR, much of the mineral wealth that was expected to flow into the town failed to materialize. Unimpressed with how the townmaster, Harbin Wester, handled these challenges, the townsfolk restructured their government to include a town council. The dragon terrorized the town and its neighbors, and further displaced orcs and monsters from of the Sword Mountains who likewise threatened Phandalin's safety. The other challenge was the appearance of Cryovain, a white dragon who claimed Icespire Hold as his lair and the region around Phandalin as his territory. They committed several terrible acts, such as racketing local businesses, kidnapping over a dozen travelers to sell into slavery, killing the woodcarver Thel Dendrar for his defiance, and later kidnapping his family. One was a group of bandits known as the Redbrands, or the Redbrand Ruffians, who settled in Phandalin, making their lair under Tresendar Manor. Īround this time, two challenges befell the town. īeginning around 1486 DR, settlers from Neverwinter and Waterdeep began resettling the ruins of Phandalin, and the rebuilt town was well-established by the Year of the Scarlet Witch, 1491 DR. After Volothamp Geddarm passed through the town and wrote about it in the mid 14 th century DR, the area experienced an influx of tourists and adventurers. The town remained abandoned for centuries. Phandalin was one of these settlements, and in the Year of the Empty Hourglass, 951 DR, it was overrun and then abandoned. However, when the orcs of the realm of Uruth Ukrypt had destroyed all game in their realm, they went in search of food and turned on the human settlements in the area, raiding them. Phandalin was originally a farming community and a member of Phandelver's Pact, giving them access to the Forge of Spells and the mining operations in Wave Echo Cave. Most of the wealth, however, was from mining in the nearby Sword Mountains for gold, platinum, and cold iron. Phandalin was adjacent to land which was good for farming and ranching, and was near enough to Neverwinter Wood to support a woodcutting and logging industry. By 1496 DR, the town moved to expand the council to five as well as to elect a mayor. Īfter diminished faith in the abilities of a single townmaster to address threats to the village during the early-to-mid 1490s DR, the townsfolk instead elected a three-member town council, consisting of Harbin Wester, Sildar Hallwinter, and Halia Thornton. In 1491 DR, Harbin Wester was the perennial townmaster. The townsfolk also annually elected a "townsmaster" who served as a judge and mediator as well as kept town records. When Phandalin was first reestablished, it had no real functioning government, and the Phandalin Miner's Exchange began acting as a center of records-keeping for local mining claims. The climate was temperate with an average yearly rainfall of 18 inches (46 centimeters). This was a region rich with both natural resources and adventuring opportunities. It was northeast of Leilon where the road that ran from the High Road to Triboar faded into a trail. Phandalin was located in the northern foothills of the Sword Mountains south of Neverwinter Wood. The townsfolk would congregate in a small town square and an adjacent town green. The town was dominated by an apple orchard on the west side and a ruined manor atop a hill to the east. The town quickly grew to about fifty well-maintained structures built of logs and flagstones with three deep wells providing water. In the late 15 th century DR, Phandalin was a modest and architecturally boring town of farmers, woodcutters, trappers, and miners built atop the ruins of the old Phandalin.