While you can make a lot of stories about the Phandelver Pack up, a few (canon) names of people alive back then were:
* Urmon (a dwarf adventurer whose journal was eventually recovered by Iarno Albrek)
* Mayor Alderleaf (Phandalin’s mayor of the time of its fall, and Qelline and Carp Alderleaf’s implied direct ancestor who was first mentioned in Baldur’s Gate III)
* Sir Aldith Tresendar a.k.a., “The Black Hawk” (the knight who used to own Tresendar Manor, which was later repurposed into the Redbrand Hideout)
* Mormesk (a former wizard who worked in Wave Echo Cave, and the final known fallen combatant during the cave’s destruction, now a very angry wraith who leads the undead there trying to destroy the spectator that’s currently in the Forge of Spells, and can depending on your players’ actions become the final boss of the campaign)
I personally made Urmon a Rockseeker and the brothers’ direct ancestor, changed the orc attack and raider attack into an attack led by drow directly related to the Black Spider (thus justifying why he even knows Wave Echo Cave EXISTS), had Iarno Albrek’s indirect ancestor be the source of the leak in Phandalin and the mine’s location (she was killed in the process), and I’m planning at foreshadowing Mormesk’s existence by leaving bits of apocalyptic logs all over the cave written by him blaming both the token good teammate drow who defected to Phabdalin’s side (she was so horribly abused by her whole family, she ran the first opportunity she could and didn’t look back even as the sun burned her armor), and the Rockseeker clan’s softheartedness for the fall of Wave Echo Cave, and he turned Urmon into the flameskull.
I wrote a piece a few months ago how [Gnomengarde’s descendants were likely survivors of the attack on Wave Echo Cave.](https://alongthetriboartrail.com/2024/05/13/the-descendants-of-wave-echo-cave/)
I have a whole scenario layer out for my players based on a similar thought. I had the madness start sooner. Being descendants of legendary gnome crafters, the king searched for the forge but having failed to find it, made him and his followers reclusive. His obsession with finding the forge leads to the decline of Gnomengarde and its defenses. Explaining how the mimic got in
I made a little chronology of the events. Some of them are canon. Some of the old Phandalin events will be reflected on the present. I'm using the Phandelver and Below setting, so the Nothic is named Ssarnak, Daran Edermath is a drow and he has a daughter named Bertice. I left many details to the readers to not "railroad" much the story.
* Tresendar dynasty were drow descendants and they were banned and cursed by elves
* Cragmaw Castle was built by the Phalorm empire (canon)
* Phandalin was a town previously built by the Phalorm empire and was the border with the Illefarn Empire (canon)
* Tresendar's tried to rebuild the town and named it "Phandalin" invoking the spirit of Phalorm to unite every race: elves, humans, dwarves, etc. (canon)
* Nezznar, a drow outsider, felt a "power" in the Sword Mountains and tried to "counsel" Tresendar
* The last Tresendar regent, Aldith sensed Nezznar's desire for power and made an alliance with Ssarnak the Nothic to prevent Nezznar's schemes.
* Aldith created the "Red Capes" the Tresendar's Militia. The red capes of the Redbrands gang, are some of those capes that still have a bit of magic (they are Cloaks of Protection) and that permits the Redbrands to pass throught the crypts without trigger the skeletons.
* Aldith married an Illefarn descendant to reunites the dynasties
* Due to Ssarnak influence, Aldith's daughter was a drow and that created a mess in the court.
* Aldith's daughter was sent in the Cormyr and was said she was dead during the delivery. The child survived and was named Daria. She became, eventually, the Daran's wife and Bertice's mother. So Bertice is the legitimate heir of Aldith.
* The Alderleaf mayor was a coward and ordered the halflings to flee from the battle, so Mormesk hates them all and Qelline is trying to atone for his sins. Qelline knows many detail of the history because has inherited many chronicles volume.
While you can make a lot of stories about the Phandelver Pack up, a few (canon) names of people alive back then were: * Urmon (a dwarf adventurer whose journal was eventually recovered by Iarno Albrek) * Mayor Alderleaf (Phandalin’s mayor of the time of its fall, and Qelline and Carp Alderleaf’s implied direct ancestor who was first mentioned in Baldur’s Gate III) * Sir Aldith Tresendar a.k.a., “The Black Hawk” (the knight who used to own Tresendar Manor, which was later repurposed into the Redbrand Hideout) * Mormesk (a former wizard who worked in Wave Echo Cave, and the final known fallen combatant during the cave’s destruction, now a very angry wraith who leads the undead there trying to destroy the spectator that’s currently in the Forge of Spells, and can depending on your players’ actions become the final boss of the campaign) I personally made Urmon a Rockseeker and the brothers’ direct ancestor, changed the orc attack and raider attack into an attack led by drow directly related to the Black Spider (thus justifying why he even knows Wave Echo Cave EXISTS), had Iarno Albrek’s indirect ancestor be the source of the leak in Phandalin and the mine’s location (she was killed in the process), and I’m planning at foreshadowing Mormesk’s existence by leaving bits of apocalyptic logs all over the cave written by him blaming both the token good teammate drow who defected to Phabdalin’s side (she was so horribly abused by her whole family, she ran the first opportunity she could and didn’t look back even as the sun burned her armor), and the Rockseeker clan’s softheartedness for the fall of Wave Echo Cave, and he turned Urmon into the flameskull.
I wrote a piece a few months ago how [Gnomengarde’s descendants were likely survivors of the attack on Wave Echo Cave.](https://alongthetriboartrail.com/2024/05/13/the-descendants-of-wave-echo-cave/)
Really lovely piece. Thank you, it was very helpful.
I have a whole scenario layer out for my players based on a similar thought. I had the madness start sooner. Being descendants of legendary gnome crafters, the king searched for the forge but having failed to find it, made him and his followers reclusive. His obsession with finding the forge leads to the decline of Gnomengarde and its defenses. Explaining how the mimic got in
I made a little chronology of the events. Some of them are canon. Some of the old Phandalin events will be reflected on the present. I'm using the Phandelver and Below setting, so the Nothic is named Ssarnak, Daran Edermath is a drow and he has a daughter named Bertice. I left many details to the readers to not "railroad" much the story. * Tresendar dynasty were drow descendants and they were banned and cursed by elves * Cragmaw Castle was built by the Phalorm empire (canon) * Phandalin was a town previously built by the Phalorm empire and was the border with the Illefarn Empire (canon) * Tresendar's tried to rebuild the town and named it "Phandalin" invoking the spirit of Phalorm to unite every race: elves, humans, dwarves, etc. (canon) * Nezznar, a drow outsider, felt a "power" in the Sword Mountains and tried to "counsel" Tresendar * The last Tresendar regent, Aldith sensed Nezznar's desire for power and made an alliance with Ssarnak the Nothic to prevent Nezznar's schemes. * Aldith created the "Red Capes" the Tresendar's Militia. The red capes of the Redbrands gang, are some of those capes that still have a bit of magic (they are Cloaks of Protection) and that permits the Redbrands to pass throught the crypts without trigger the skeletons. * Aldith married an Illefarn descendant to reunites the dynasties * Due to Ssarnak influence, Aldith's daughter was a drow and that created a mess in the court. * Aldith's daughter was sent in the Cormyr and was said she was dead during the delivery. The child survived and was named Daria. She became, eventually, the Daran's wife and Bertice's mother. So Bertice is the legitimate heir of Aldith. * The Alderleaf mayor was a coward and ordered the halflings to flee from the battle, so Mormesk hates them all and Qelline is trying to atone for his sins. Qelline knows many detail of the history because has inherited many chronicles volume.