Life in St. Orlan was slowing getting back to normal after the period spent in the mist. The inhabitants round that time had flowed strangely out of sync with the “real” world. The warm sun of Summer was blotted out by Ithusar’s fog, and now they found a thin coat of snow on the ground. It was early winter. Yet, inside the mist, it had only seemed liked a few weeks had passed.
Amalgus, the sentient flesh golem, agreed to become the new lord of St. Orlan. Along with his Awakened kin, he took an oath to forever protect the town from enemies without and within. He expressed gratitude to the Raiders for helping to free the people and drive the vampires off. He asked for their promise to hunt down and kill the werewolves who had escaped the immediate environs but surely still lurked nearby. Aderian was quick to take an oath: “For the love of the Anointed One, My charismatic pleas fall on deaf ears – I am done with talking! I want to hunt. Amalgus, while a bit hard to look at, will not tolerate slavery here. We are natural allies in this. Let’s do our duty, then: destroy the foul beasts that vex us still. Werewolves, mummies, zombies, dragons, I fear them not. Talk is like elven ale – weak and gives you a headache.” Ollie, for his part, grumbled that he did not accept this oath, yet still agreed to participate.
The next day (1/11), Amalgus met with Kheset, leader of the elven mummies. After hours of negotiations, they agreed to the following framework.
- All subterranean areas were ceded to the mummies.
- The golems would secure the secondary sewer entrance to the Cryptward, which they did by clogging it with stone debris.
- The main entrance in the lower level of the Ebon Shard was locked and golem guards would watch over it to prevent any future entrance.
- The shards of the broken arcane core were handed over the Kheset.
- The mummies would stay in their tomb and all human cultists would be expelled.
Amalgus considered the suggestion of tearing down the Ebon Spire, but he offered several reason for why it should remain. First, it was a useful fortress with an advantageous vantage over the area, being three stories tall and higher than any other building. Second, it was an effective protection over the entrance to the Cryptward. Lastly, it was the place of his birth, so to speak. He invited the church to consecrate the grounds, especially if it eased the minds of the faithful. The profane stained glass windows were smashed and work begun on replacing them with those that portrayed scenes from the holy scripture. These works were to be managed by Father Anauk. He was also asked to plan a formal celebration of the rebirth of the city.
The Hunt
On the 16th day (1/16), the party assembled to begin the search for Lyra Bloodhowl and her werewolf packs. They began from the homestead, where they found that their followers had returned from sheltering in the Temple of St. Orlan. Elaria gazed into her crystal ball and spied Lyra in mountainous terrain, which narrowed location to perhaps half of the nearby area.
Ollie led the group south along the road to Milltown. After some time, they spotted a campfire emerging from the forest (hex 1010). Aderian went to investigate while invisible, leaping up 40 feet to the edge of a ledge on an otherwise sheer limestone face. There he saw six hill giants resting around a cooking fire. He jumped away without disturbing them, and the party moved on down the road (hex 1011). That night they camped on the side of the road and were only disturbed by rustling in the brush.
The next day (1/17), Nate conducted a hunt, for they imagined they wouldn’t be satisfied with ordinary rations. With the help of Elaria’s haste spell, the wolves were easily dispatched, including one that Aderian turned to stone with his sword, Hestrin’s Chisel. Ollie enthusiastically skinned three of the wolves and tied up the pelts. They spent the balance of the morning cooking the meat well. They then walked the remaining way to Milltown where Ollie negotiated with a tanner to have the pelts tanned. He agreed to pay 10 gp to turn the pelts in to leather, and the tanner rather ambitiously agreed to complete the work in five days time.
Aderian left his wolf statue outside of the Seven Staves Inn and went inside to chat with the proprietor, Charlotte. There was little awareness of werewolf attacks in the area, and the hardworking people of Milltown, those lumberjacks and sawmill workers, took little notice of how no visitors from St. Orlan had arrived in months. After a night at the inn (1/18), they walked overland towards Muleshoe, that crossroads where three families lived together. They were greeted warmly, remembering how the Raiders once rid them of the Vampire Ebahi.
A young lad there told a tale of seeing what he thought were werewolves in the woods north of Muleshoe on two recent nights. Some plans were made to watch for them to return. Meanwhile, Elaria used her crystal ball once again, this time spying a pack of werewolves at the fence surrounding the homestead. The party packed up their belongings and began a quick journey back to the homestead, which took them two hours. Ollie rented a mule for 50 gp in order to keep up.
On the Trail
They arrived at the homestead to find the scene of a massacre, mostly in the form of blood, no bodies. Elaria conducting more scrying but could not recognize the new location of the lycanthropes. The party rested at the homestead that night. In the morning (1/19), more scrying was not helpful. They spent a day searching the area south of the arena and west of the road (hex 0909), finding nothing all day. They returned to the homestead for rest.
In the morning (1/20), another search of the area was conducted with no luck. Elaria was able to see Lyra in a similar location with her pack which included eight other individuals and a large dog. Their location was still illusive. Ollie went into St. Orlan to talk to patrons of the Iron Knight, their favorite drinking establishment. He was looking for a hunter and had no luck. However, with the morning sun (1/21) came inspiration: the hunter Grod who’d brought fresh beaver meat for those who sheltered in the temple in weeks past. He was found easily and did not need convincing to help track the werewolves.
Though the trail was cold, he was able to follow it. After several miles of trudging through the mountainous oak forest, a campfire was spotted only 100 yards away, down an incline (hex 0411). Invisible once again, Aderian clambered down the slope to get a better look. The pack was relaxing in camp, spread into two groups. The dog was not seen. Elaria brought out the last bead from her fireball necklace and hurled it at Lyra Bloodhowl. The explosion obliterated the six humans there and severely singed the werewolf leader. Presently, Ollie let loose a few arrows as Aderian charged.
Two elite werewolves came up the slope to flank from the right, which the shadow mastiff let loose a dreadful howl that spooked Nate, Grod and the mule. They retreated swiftly. Jerker left Elaria’s side to dispatch the dog. Aderian caught Lyra offguard and managed to activate the special ability of this sword once again, turning the werewolf into a stone statue. At this site, the two elites made to escape. Jerker gave chase, catching one and slaying it. The other disappeared under swift legs just as Elaria’s haste spell wore off. Grod, having recovered his nerve attempted and failed to pick up the monster’s trail.
Gathering Intelligence
Elaria gathered a couple of bedrolls used by the elites in order to aid her in scrying. Among some worthless personal effects, she noticed three gems hidden in the bedroll. The new statue was brought down to Muleshoe where they spent the night. The evening, Ollie used his ring to quiz the severed head of the slain elite.
- How many camps of werewolves are there? There are six different packs. How many camps they are in is unknown.
- Describe how to get to the next closest pack. I don’t know, I guess you should just wander around.
- How would you find the other packs? I would howl out in our werewolf language as I wandered around.
The following day (1/22), Elaria was able to spy the escaped elite werewolf. She saw him walking along the road near Lah’s Retreat. She attempted to cast ESP on him without success.
End Notes
- Days
- 1/9 – 1/15 Amalgus takes over St. Orlan
- 1/16 – 1/22 Tracking down Lyra Bloodhowl
- Note: a year has passed. Every PC should increment their age.
- Treasure:
- Fluorospar (1000 gp)
- Malachite (20 gp)
- Sapphire (50 gp)
- Combat (2785 xp)
- 8 Wolves 75 xp each
- Lyra Bloodhowl 1390 xp
- Elite Werewolf 405
- Shadow Mastiff 240 xp
- 6 Werewolf Cultists 25 xp each
- Characters (4.5 shares of 464 xp each)
- Aderian (human, fight, up front) 520 xp
- Elaria 232 xp
- Jerker (human, fight, guard rear) 520 xp
- Nate (human, fight) 515 xp
- Ollie (stubborn, suspicious, haggler, fight, lead) 487 xp