The Philosophy of Stone

The player party all come from Ashenport, or have resided there for several years. Alaxar the White (Alaxar ) is the head of Dihenidd, which rules over an areas that includes Ashenport. Initially, the Home town comes under attack from wild animals. If the party does not instigate an investigation, they are instructed to do so by the head of the village. Upon investigation, the animals appear rabid and occasionally mutated, sometimes larger variants than natural attack the party. While looking for the source of the corruption, they are attacked by orcs and can chase or track them back to camp and deal with the orc chieftain (probably through social interaction or assassination as the party will likely be too low of level to win a fight). The orcs have begun raiding this areas due to being chased out of their original stronghold by wild animals. If the player offer to help clear the stronghold, the orcs will protect the village for money and/or food. As the players seek out the source of the corruption, they will encounter a young woman named Hilda (Wyhnhilda the green hag from the coven, disguised as a young woman) running from a pack of corrupted wolves and screaming for help. If the players successfully rescue her, she will join them, intending to kill them later. She may be revealed through various methods; they players may investigate her disguise (see MM for stats), Nanook will recognize her after 2hrs with the party, or she will attempt to assassinate the party at night after 2 days. The players can also meet Nanook who can enlighten them further as to the nature of the corruption’s source, as well as guide them and help them in the fight against the coven – this will require some persuading she is concerned about revealing his true nature as a werebear and, aside from that, his first instinct is to try to mitigate the damage that the corrupted animals are causing and to protect the non-corrupted ones.   Once the party destroys the Coven, Nanook explains that to remove her blight from the forest, the party should seek magical aid from the city, probably from the Wizard’s Guild.