Session 34

The following morning, they overheard several of the guards mentioning how quiet the night had been and how they hadn't had such a boring night in weeks. Apparently the tonic had worked. Ebgran Ironhammer, the Sergeant of the Guards, was so impressed that he urged the Party to inform Magistrate Romenor at once, especially since it would inconvenience the elf so early in the morning.   The group made their way through the castle to Romenor's room and knocked on the door loudly. The magistrate answered groggily and was especially irate at having to see the Party again so early in the morning. Ebgran informed him of the good news but Romenor seemed to not believe it. Even the word of the Sergeant of the Guards was not enough for Romenor to doubt what he thought to be true. Romenor even ordered Ebgran to man the walls all night. Naturally, the dwarf was not at all happy with this. Nonetheless, Ebgran thanked the Party for all their efforts.   The Party decided to check on Mizar Stanfield, to make sure he was alright given the night's events. As they were walking past the market, they saw one of the church workers walking away from the fountain, attempting to conceal something. The group made a split decision and captured him before he could enter the church. Bloodbane forced him to drink some of the cure. They then hauled him, weeping, to Mizar's tower.   They arrived at Dark Garden Spire and checked on the wizard. He appreciated the concern, but told them that there was nothing to worry about and that he could more than handle himself against a simple werewolf. The group began to interrogate the priest and he informed them that it was Theric who infected the town. The priest had been given a vial of Theric's blood with which to pour into the town's water supply. They spent a short time chatting with the old man, trying to decide what to do next. Mizar was of the opinion that something must be done to remove the source, which he still contended was likely Theric, the elven cleric at the Church of Eldath.   On the way back, the group decided to leave behind Hektor and Vardon, members of The Sovereign's Shadow that accompanied Parker Adams to monitor the fountain area while the rest returned to The Spicy Sun Tavern.   While at the tavern, the Party discussed their plans. They discussed how they should confront Theric, and hoped to catch him in his home which Geathag Dayfinder Valu-Niago, the blacksmith, was located between his shop and the tavern. Typhon and Sir Didymus opted to go snoop around the house, where they uncovered a journal entry detailing Theric's encounter with a werewolf in the Keelram Wilds to the north of town and his intentions for the populace. They returned to the rest of the Party, their course set for conflict, when they heard screaming and howling coming from the direction of the church. Sylrieth told the barkeep Gormudark to keep watch over Qimys while she joined her companions. The group dashed out of the tavern and towards the chaos.   They arrived a moment later in the town square just outside of the church. There were dead civilians everywhere, and a werewolf stood over the broken body of one of Parker's men. Vardon was attempting to hold his own against a massive werebear, but he wasn't looking so good. In the back, there was a particularly large werewolf, seemingly directing the rest of the pack. The Party attacked, with Typhon casting his ice wall down the middle to split the group. It instantly killed one of the werewolves. The alpha and the werebear began to come down to the gap on the south side of the wall. The werebear bit and tore at Vardon, killing the young agent instantly. Bloodbane ran in to fill the void created by the agent's death. The werebear turned his attention to the half-orc barbarian, biting and tearing at him too, while Bloodbane slashed his electrified axe at the beast. The alpha came down to assist and soon Bloodbane began to become overwhelmed. Sir Didymus lent an assist with several shots of his silver-tipped arrows. The alpha decided to disengage from the fray as it began to take damage, leaving the werebear to tank the barbarian on his own. Parker had a score to settle with the alpha and gave chase. Sylrieth accompanied him and so did Typhon. Bloodbane felled the werebear, clutching his wounded shoulder in the aftermath. As the alpha approach the stairs, Sir Didymus loosed an arrow that met its mark, sending the shapeshifter over the edge and crashing on the ground below.   The immediate threat over, the group made their way down the karst stairs to Theric's mangled body below. Surprisingly, he was still alive but only barely. Sylrieth restored him just in the slightest, so the Party could interrogate him. Their questioning revealed that he had encountered a woman named Lillandra in the forest about an hour's walk north. She had turned him into a werewolf and gave him the instructions to turn the locals. The group left his body and returned to the tavern. Parker decided that he needed to clean up this mess and began the process that his organization used.   That night, the Party reveled in the glory of the day's adventure. The townsfolk were grateful and the drinks flowed freely. They recounted their stories again and again, each time to thunderous applause. Bloodbane, however, was not looking so good. He was a paler shade of green than normal, and the group began to grow concerned. At one point, a young halfling named Kasras expressed his interest in joining up with the Party and becoming an adventurer like them. The group begrudgingly agree, and told Kasras to go fetch any weapons he had and to meet them by the wizard's tower shortly. The group had become concerned enough about Bloodbane that they left for Mizar's immediately.   Just as they arrived, Bloodbane dropped to the ground and seized uncontrollably. He immediately transformed into a werebear! He attacked the group with his full ferocity. Kasras was terrified, but shot his bow at him nonetheless. Vigwalin dropped a moonbeam on the beast, unsuccessfully at first but finally was able to succeed on his last spell slot. Bloodbane slashed at Sir Didymus wildly, dealing tremendous damage. Mizar watched the entire episode with academic curiosity. However, Sir Didymus refused to give up on his friend and forced him to drink some of the potion that they had poured in Mizar's well the other night. Their friend stopped flailing about in the moonbeam as the potion took effect. Bloodbane was back. The group decided to rest for the evening at Mizar's tower for the night, allowing the half-orc a chance to recover from his ordeal.