A hermit’s knowledge of Phandalin and its hinterlands would likely be sourced from recovered scrolls or texts from the ruins ruins in the area, visions and dreams of a mystical or divine nature, or through personal revelations through quiet contemplation of long-forgotten prophecies.
Intelligence (History) – Hermit Background (Phandalin Lore)
| DC | Difficulty | What the Hermit Might Recall |
| 10 | Easy | Phandalin is a small town in the shadow of the Sword Mountains, recently resettled after centuries of abandonment. You know it’s surrounded by rugged terrain that hasn’t seen much human activity in centuries, making it ripe for rediscovery – or unearthing secrets best left forgotten. |
| 15 | Medium | In your time spent meditating near the foothills of the Sword Mountains, you’ve had visions of Wave Echo Cave. You have interpreted these to be echoes of its beginning, in which the cave is revealed to be much more than a mine, but a place of great spiritual significance, where the gods themselves imbued magic into the very stones. |
| 20 | Hard | During your years of isolation, you have occasionally shared a campfire with members of the long-lived races, who have shared stories of Wave Echo Cave, or retold what their elders have passed down to them about an agreement known as Phandelver’s Pact – forged between dwarves, gnomes, and humans to safeguard the Forge of Spells – a sacred forge where wondrous items were created. |
| 25 | Very Hard | During one particularly vivid vision that once came to you in a dream, you witnessed flashes of Wave Echo Cave’s final moments. You saw a Forge of Spells that hummed with arcane energy, a pitched battle between the keepers of the forge and the orcs and wizards trying to seize it, and a great explosion that startled you from your sleep like a thunderclap directly overhead. |
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