Hang around the Stonehill Inn long enough, and you may hear Freda the weaver make a comment along the lines of “The Redbrands hassle every business in town, except for the Phandalin Miner’s Exchange. They don’t want trouble with Halia Thornton, who runs it.”

Why is that? I have some thoughts.

First and foremost, Halia is a Zhentarim agent. And while the townsfolk don’t know that, operatives of the Black Network traveling along the Triboar Trail certainly do. It’s a network after all. And so Halia likely gets visitors on Zhentarim errands.

If Halia’s smelting the ore that she buys from Phandalin’s miners, a trusted Zhentarim artisan would likely visit every so often to perform that task. Once melted into gold and silver trade bars, there’s the matter of transporting it to the Black Network’s money men. That would be the task of well-equipped, well-trained mercenaries traveling by horse.

Halia’s home might also serve as a Zhentarim safe house or meeting place for operatives passing through the area. So, she’d play hostess to mean hombres often enough that anyone with designs on the Miner’s Exchange might have second thoughts.

The Redbrands are bullies. And bullies don’t choose fair fights. Seeing a Zhent mercenary company like the Seven Snakes (from SKT) ride up to Halia’s front door for some hospitality would give anyone wearing a greasy red cloak pause.

Even when Halia isn’t hosting Black Network operatives, she’s not defenseless.

Zhentarim agents use flying snakes to carry their messages. Since it’s located in a region adjacent to the Silver Marches, Neverwinter, and Waterdeep, Phandalin makes a logical site for Zhent communications.

I’d like to think the Miner’s Exchange would be an ideal rookery for flying snakes. Halia feeds and trains them. There’s at least a half-dozen flying snakes in her care at any given time, sleeping in the rafters while waiting for their turn to carry a message.

Perhaps there was once a Redbrand who saw Halia as an easy target, but ended up walking out of the Miner’s Exchange badly poisoned, and with a newfound fear of snakes. Word gets around at the Sleeping Giant and the barracks and the common room beneath Tresendar Manor quickly enough, and the Redbrands suddenly see Halia in another light.

Between the company she consorts with and the pets she keeps, the Redbrands certainly understand that Halia is not to be trifled with.

The residents of Phandalin don’t know Halia Thornton is dangerous. There’s probably a rogue in your party with larceny in their heart who won’t know either, giving you an opportunity to have a lot of fun with a basic Appendix A: Miscellaneous Creature in a memorable encounter.

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