Oriana, the Eladrin Druid from the Neverwinter Wood is strapped to a chair, she is held by leather straps when Reidoth, her mentor, tells her everything will be ok and to not worry. After being injected with something, the leather snaps, bones snap, and suddenly Oriana stands up seeing Reidoth being afraid of her for the first time, and in the reflection of a tray that has fallen to the ground, Oriana can see the deep black eyes with sickly green-yellow iris' looking back at her, tendrils where her mouth would be, as she has undergone Ceremorphosis, becoming a Mind Flayer.
Suddenly Oriana is awoken on the wagon the party took to Phandalin that the got from Gundren Rockseeker to deliver some goods for him and Myron, Selene's good friend and owner of the Sweet Dreams Casino in Neverwinter. She remembers the rest of her rag-tag group of companions:
Karma Armstrong - A young human cleric searching for his long lost adventuring parents
Dior - A saytr paladin who is only along due to the promise of grand adventure
Leucius Alistar Stonewall - A somewhat disgraced Noble of Neverwinter who is looking to free himself of his patron.
Selene Foster - a human rogue who has made a life of thievery by necessity and also 'works' at a casino.
Coming up on the site of some scuffle with 2 horses, the party discovers Gundren Rockseeker and his accompaniment, Sildar Hallwinter have been attacked. Subsequently, the party is ambushed.
After defeating the goblins and going to take down their hideout, the party finds a rock on the floor that is warm to the touch. A symbol is cut out, a hand holding an eye. Karma, the human cleric determines that this is the Symbol of Vecna...a disturbing discovery.
After Freeing Sildar, with much thanks to the party, specifically Leucius and Selene, the party departed for Phandalin.