Session 7 (30/3/2020)

The party investigated the murders that had been taking place in Stillmoor, tracking the culprit from the site of the most recent murder deep into the forest. They paused on the way to investigate a cave and rested, then continued on, reaching a clearing with a makeshift camp shortly after dusk, just in time for the full moon to reveal the cause of the murders - a man, cursed to transform into a savage, wolf-like beast.

Despite their weapons being ineffective, they managed to capture the werewolf, which transformed back into a bloody, battered man once knocked out. On their way back to town, they stumbled upon a small cottage, drawn by the smell of smoke from the chimney. They met an elderly woman there who claimed to be a cleric of Polaris and identified the bloody, battered man as Ogmund Njalson, the town's potter who had been presumed dead along with his wife in the very first attack.

They took Ogmund back to the village, woke the sheriff, and put him in a cell for the night, before heading back to the inn for some rest.

Teldaris date: Wednesday the 13th of June, 643IR

Bjorn Fella
We spent this evening in the Stillmoore Tavern, and by chance ran into a familiar face from Auriel, Erika of the Goodchild house, who was passing through on her trip back home. It was an awkward encounter at first, as my poorly worded introduction was mistaken as a pass at her, but after recognising each other she joined us at the table to discuss the happenings in the town, specifically the brutal murders that had left the townsfolk hiding in their homes for safety. Like us, she was inclined to do what she could to get to the bottom of these murders, and stop who, or what was responsible for them. We discussed how we might go about learning more, and everyone seemed to have different ideas. We discussed the potential of examining bodies, but Lyra and Erika both proposed attempting to speak with the dead so they could describe the culprit for us; to much of the parties disgust. Oorok and Aldor both shared my sentiment, that the dead should be left to rest, and not to relieve such a harrowing and traumatic experience. Thankfully, we managed to agree that we could investigate a recent crime scene to glene it for clues.

In the morning, our first course of action was to investigate a crime scene, and if that wasn’t to bear fruit we would head south to where Kel’s pet had heard a menacing howl the night before. The tavern keeper was kind enough to point us in the direction of a clearing that was the site of some grotesque carnage. When we arrived at the scene, it was still littered with dry blood and gore, and we were lucky enough to spot a set of tracks leading off into the woods.

The tracks themselves looked like that of a wolf, though much larger than any wolf I’d ever laid eyes on, or heard about for that matter, and their patterns seemed to imply this creature walked only on its hind legs. Additionally, claw marks along the track showed the creature could reach up to at last seven feet. Kel told us of an old legend he had remembered of Erik the Red, a man who flew into such a rage he turned beast and went on a rampage that took many lives in this same area, prompted by this, Lyra told us of werewolves, men turned into beasts who hunt under the moon. With the resurgence of magic again, this seemed like the most likely lead for what we were up against.

After hours of following the tracks through the dense woods, we came across a cave. While the tracks lead in another direction, we found ourselves drawn in by the crack in the stones and thought it worth investigating. Inside, the dust was all settled, and the shadows on the edge of my torchlight danced on the cavern walls. In the centre, a single skeleton lay by a long dead campfire, clutching a shiny blade which stood out as new and polished, in stark contrast of the settled dust of the cave, which looked as though it had been undisturbed for years. Before we had barely entered the cave though, the dancing shadows took form and lept for us. I took a blow from one, and found myself feeling immediately fatigued and needing a rest. At the edge of my view I saw Oorok strike a mighty blow at one, but I watch as it faded around his hammer and retook it’s form after his weapon had passed through. Their ethereal tricks didn’t stand up against the blade of my axe, blessed by Athorus’ radiant energy. We rested briefly after we vanquished the shadows, taking the stunning sword with us, and leaving behind the ancient corpse who, upon closer inspection, we discovered was dressed in the robes of Kaz’s personal guards.

After a few more hours, we heard a harrowing howl, and were set upon by a large beast. We hid in the trees hoping to ambush it but we, as clumsy as we are, were once again spotted by our prey.

The fight broke out and we all converged on the beast, but alas, our weapons seemed not to harm it and only magical energy seemed to have an effect on it. As we slowly wore it down the beast tried to flee, but I swiftly gained on it, and smote it down where it stood. Then before my very eyes it shrunk and skewed back into the form of a helpless man, ravaged and dirty, naked as the day he was born. After Lyra told us of the werewolves I had wondered what happened to the human who was inside and there he lay before me in need of my help. I patched the man up and began carrying him to town when we noticed a thatch roofed building with smoke rising from it, and we detoured to check that no one was trapped inside the building. While no one was trapped inside, there was a particularly helpful priestess of Polaris, Thori,  who helped us identify the man as Ogmund of Stillmoore, and gave us some information on the beast and the area.

 

We returned to town late in the night, taking Ogmund to Sheriff Iris’ home, and he took us to a cell where we chained Ogmund up and left him for the night.

I’m back at the tavern now, ready to rest for the night. In the morning I will have to talk to the sheriff again about what will become of Ogmund. The man has the blood of innocents on his hands, but is he truly responsible? Perhaps there is a way to treat him of his condition, or he could learn to control it. I’m sure we can find more information when we reach the city, but until then, I cannot let this man be sentenced to death for what he has done; he’s a creature, not a monster.