Session 13
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Beginning XP | 300 XP |
| Beginning gold | 42 gold, 31 silver, 13 copper |
| Ending XP | 385 XP |
| Ending gold | 127 gold, 31 silver, 13 copper |
Kingdom Turn - Desna 4710
(See Kingdom-Turn-Chart for full details)
Kingdom Activities:
- Built second mine (success after initial failure)
- Constructed Houses in settlement
- Gained 1 Lumber, 1 Luxury commodity
- Quell Unrest (Critical Success by Kairos)
Kingdom XP Gained: +5 XP Kingdom Status: 2 Mines, 1 Farm operational
The early spring morning brought troubling news to Hexpan. As we prepared to set out on a reconnaissance mission, a young woman with distinctive golden-hued skin approached us, her eyes wide with fear and urgency. Her name was Meliora, and she brought word of murder.
Two farmers—Saki and Beven—had been brutally killed in the fields surrounding Hexpan. Saki had been gathering berries two days prior when something tore her apart. The following night, the shepherd Beven met the same fate while tending his flock. Neither victim had known enemies, and both deaths bore the marks of something far worse than common banditry.
We followed Meliora to the farmstead where the bodies had been discovered. The scene was grim. Lizzy and Leonardo examined the remains with practiced care, noting the savage wounds—deep bites, flesh torn away, bones cracked open. These were not the work of wolves or wargs, though the tracks suggested something canine and far larger.
Kairos, using her Time Sense, made a chilling observation: tonight was the full moon. Combined with the evidence before us, the pieces fell into a dark pattern. Kairos and Djames shared their knowledge with Lizzy—these were lycanthropes, werewolves at their most dangerous. Tonight, under the moon’s influence, they would transform and hunt again.
Lizzy knelt to examine the ground more closely, finding enormous wolf-like tracks that confirmed our fears. The trail led back toward Hexpan itself. When we mentioned our suspicions to Meliora, her reaction was telling—she bolted, sprinting back toward the settlement. We gave chase, catching her before she could disappear into the crowded streets.
Under questioning, Meliora revealed little, but her fear spoke volumes. Following the tracks, we traced them to a particular house on the edge of Hexpan. Djames worked his lockpicks with practiced ease, and we slipped inside.
The dwelling was sparse—a large table, several bottles of strong liquor scattered about, and little else. Djames searched methodically, his keen eyes spotting a golden earring stained with dried blood tucked behind a loose floorboard. Leonardo examined it with his divine senses, determining that whatever violence had occurred here had happened yesterday, not long before Beven’s death.
Our investigation uncovered two more items of interest: a well-crafted bow and a leather-bound ledger. The ledger detailed deliveries of exotic animals—brush thylacines, a tiger, a particularly aggressive boar—all intended for blood sport. Each entry bore the same recipient: Eirigg.
We cross-referenced Hexpan’s public records and found that Eirigg had moved to the settlement only three months prior, claiming to be a hunter and trapper. The timeline matched the beginning of the attacks.
As dusk approached and the full moon began to rise, we made our decision. We would wait for Eirigg in his own home, ready to confront him before he could claim another victim.
The ambush failed almost immediately. Eirigg’s senses, already heightened by his curse, detected us the moment he crossed the threshold. His eyes flashed gold in the fading light, and with a snarl of rage and pain, his body began to twist. Bones cracked and reformed, muscles rippled beneath stretching skin, and dark fur erupted across his frame. In seconds, the man was gone, replaced by a towering wolf-human hybrid, all fangs and claws and terrible strength.
He lunged at Leonardo, claws extended, moving with inhuman speed.
Djames responded instantly, his voice rising in a Courageous Anthem that filled the small house with rallying energy. The magic of his Lingering Composition settled over us like armor. Kairos moved to flank, her eyes analyzing the creature’s movements, searching for weaknesses in his transformed state.
Eirigg’s first strike caught Leonardo across the shoulder, tearing through cloth and flesh with brutal efficiency. Leonardo staggered but held his ground, calling upon Ragathiel’s blessing to empower his longsword with holy fire. The blade blazed to life, and he drove it deep into the werewolf’s side.
The creature howled in pain and fury, thrashing wildly. Lizzy raised her hands, branches sprouting from her arms as she cast Flourishing Flora, causing vines to erupt from the floorboards and entangle Eirigg’s legs. He tore through them with savage strength, but the momentary restraint gave Kairos her opening.
She stepped through a fold in time, her Dimensional Assault carrying her behind the werewolf. Her spear, wreathed in crackling arcane energy, pierced through his back in a devastating Spellstrike. The smell of burned fur and flesh filled the room.
Eirigg staggered, blood—still red despite his transformation—pouring from multiple wounds. But lycanthropes were notoriously difficult to kill, their regeneration fueled by the curse that damned them. Already his wounds were beginning to close.
”Silver or magic!” Kairos called out, recharg her spellstrike. “Nothing else will hold!”
Leonardo pressed the attack, his blessed blade finding purchase again and again. Djames maintained his anthem while attempting to Demoralize the creature, though Eirigg seemed beyond fear, driven by rage and the moon’s call.
Lizzy tried a different approach, casting Veil of Dreams in an attempt to subdue rather than kill. The magic washed over Eirigg, and for a moment, his movements slowed, his eyes growing heavy. But the curse fought back, adrenaline and transformation burning through the enchantment.
It was Kairos who ended it. Her next Spellstrike, channeled through her cold iron fauchard and empowered with Shocking Grasp, struck true. The combination of magic and the right material overwhelmed even the werewolf’s legendary resilience. Eirigg collapsed, his hybrid form shuddering as the curse tried desperately to keep him alive.
Leonardo moved quickly, binding the unconscious werewolf with silvered chains we’d prepared earlier. As the moon climbed higher, Eirigg’s form slowly reverted to human—a middle-aged man, scarred and haggard, with the look of someone who had fought his curse and lost.
When he awoke, restrained and guarded, Eirigg spoke. His story was a tragedy: bitten months ago while hunting, he’d fled civilization to protect others. But the curse was stronger than his will. The animal fighting ring had been his attempt to channel the beast’s aggression, but on full moons, nothing could contain it. The golden earring belonged to his sister, killed in the same attack that had cursed him. He’d been carrying it as penance.
Meliora, we learned, was his daughter—the golden skin a manifestation of aasimar blood in their family line. She had been trying to protect him, even knowing what he’d become.
The decision before us was difficult. Eirigg was a killer, but also a victim. Leonardo advocated for mercy tempered with justice—confinement and treatment rather than execution. Kairos researched potential cures, though true lycanthropy cures were rare and expensive. Djames suggested sending him to the temples in Restov, where clerics might have the power to break the curse.
In the end, we sent Eirigg north under heavy guard, with a letter to Lady Jamandi explaining the situation and requesting aid from Brevoy’s temples. Meliora, cleared of wrongdoing, remained in Hexpan, though the shadow of her father’s curse would follow her.
The grateful citizens of Hexpan, relieved that the killings had ended, pooled together a reward of 85 gold pieces—a substantial sum for a farming community.
XP Gained: +80 XP (werewolf encounter, investigation, resolution)
Summary:
- Investigated murders in Hexpan, discovering a werewolf threat
- Tracked the werewolf to Eirigg, a cursed hunter running an illegal animal fighting ring
- Confronted and defeated Eirigg in hybrid form during the full moon
- Discovered his daughter Meliora had been trying to protect him
- Sent Eirigg to Restov for potential cure rather than execution
- Received 85 gold reward from grateful citizens
Loot:
From Eirigg’s house:
- Well-crafted hunting bow
- Animal fighting ledger (evidence)
- 3 bottles of strong liquor
Reward from Hexpan citizens:
- 85 gold pieces