So, I have recently finished The Adventure Zone. I was setting up the roll20 tokens and gathering monster stats for my own DnD campaign. I’m running the Lost Mine of Phandelver. For those of you who don’t know, LMoP is the basis for the first Taz arc. However, after saving Barry Bluejeans/Sildar Hallwinter from the goblins, the THB set out to Wave Echo Cave instead of stopping in Phandalin first, passing over many quests.





One of these quests involves a group known as the Redbrands. They are simple bandits/mercenaries who are terrorizing the people of Phandalin, lead by a wizard known as Glasstaf. The main way of recognizing their members are from their red cloaks. There are a collection of different people who give you hints and have their own small side quests, but the most important NPC is what Sildar Hallwinter(or as you probably know him, Barry Bluejeans).





When the adventures bring him back to Phandalin, he sets himself up in the Towmaster’s Hall. He is part of a group known as the Lords’ Alliance. After defeating the Redbrands, the players have a chance to join the Lords’ Alliance. Their goals are “…exemplify a desire for the security of civilization through action.”(LMoP) Their lowest rank is known as Cloak. You can also find the same group as a sample guild in the Dungeon Master. According to it, the Lords’ Alliance is “…a group of politically allied cities in the North calling themselves the Lords’ Alliance: “Threats to home must be terminated without prejudice. Superiority is our security.” There are sophisticated people involved in a delicate political alliance, with more emphasis on stability than on fairness and equality.” It is also important to note that their symbol is a glowing crown against a red background.

Now let’s get back to the Redbrands. Sildar Hallwinter(since this doesn’t happen in the taz canon, I’ll keep calling Barry Sildar) tasks the players with finding a fellow Lord known as Iarno who has gone missing. He also wants the players to help him find Wave Echo Cave(the location of the gauntlet in taz) to try to help Phandalin’s economy.





However, Iarno was actually Glasstaf the entire time! He joined up with the Black Spider because he was promised the secrets of the Forge of Spells. Now, what is the Forge of Spells? It’s a workshop in Wave Echo cave made by the dwarfs of Phandelver and wizards who help them enchant their creations(sound familiar?) This area is also guarded by a spirit created by one of the wizards to protect the creations(umbra staff anyone?). Speaking of insane wizards, one of the monsters in the Redbrand hideout is a Nothic, a monster that could be considered a weaker form of a litch. They were wizards who tried to unlock unfathomable magical secrets that broke their mind. They are now telepathic and imbued with cosmic knowledge. This also lets them do mindreading. However, they have no memories of their previous life.





Now I’m not sure what this means for taz, however, Griffin has read the entirety of LMoP even if he started branching from it fairly soon. He has also read through the Dungeon Master’s guild. The “unknown” nature of Sildar Hallwinter could have easily influenced his choice of making Barry Bluejeans a Redrobe. The Redbrands, Lord’s alliance, and Sildar and Iarno’s schism could easily give us insight into the true nature of the Redrobes, as they definitely seem to be inspired by these 2 groups. I’m not sure. I’ll leave the conclusion to greater minds, but feel free to use this in your theories, just link back here.