The frontier town of Phandalin is built on the ruins of a much older settlement. Hundreds of years ago, old Phandalin was a thriving town whose people were firmly allied with the dwarves and gnomes of the Phandelver Pact. However, the same orc horde that sacked the mines at Wave Echo Cave laid waste to the settlement, and Phandalin was abandoned for centuries.

In the last three or four years, hardy folk from the cities of Neverwinter and Waterdeep have begun settling atop the ruins of Phandalin. A bustling frontier settlement has grown up on the site of the old town, and is home now to farmers, woodcutters, fur traders, and prospectors drawn by stories of gold and platinum in the foothills of the Sword Mountains.