The bones of Conyberry creaked in the evening breeze as the party hunkered down for a much-needed rest. There was little left of the village – just a few lonely reminders of Conyberry’s unhappy ending – scattered foundations of loose stone, broken pillars from a forgotten shrine, half-buried battlements and the crumbling façade of a keep. There was a restless rustling from the treeline to the north as Neverwinter Wood loomed above the ruins. Radegast took first watch as the party rested inside the walls of the sturdiest-looking ruined cottage. She laid out the various items they had recovered from the Eldreth Veluuthra, her lips pursed as she weighed the rewards versus the efforts expended. She jingled the sack of eladrin coins half-heartedly. She gazed up through the empty space where the cottage’s roof once stood. There were a few slate-grey clouds scudding across the midnight sky. The glowing pale white orb of Selune shone down, surrounded by her Tears, those heavenly bodies that followed after Toril’s moon as it tracked its course across the night sky like a retinue of ladies in waiting. Radegast took note of the inside walls of the house, worn back to the barest stone. The walls were covered with curious marks – parallel grooves cut into the stonework, in groups of five lines, over and over, the hashmarks crisscrossing one another. “Huh,” Radegast said, and then shrugged, kicking Xylon to indicate it was his turn to take watch. Xylon grumbled as he fell out of his trance and took watch. Radegast settled in atop her bedroll and entered into a trance of her own. Xylon looked around at his sleeping companions and made a decision. He exited the ruin and began sketching a glyph into the dirt outside the front entrance. As he finished drawing the ward, it flared a deep purple and then faded away almost to nothing. Walking carefully around it, the wizard crept back into the ruined house and knelt next to the Eldreth Veluuthra druid. He pulled a piece of parchment from his satchel and quickly wrote a note, folding it and placing it next to the elf’s body. He drew his family dagger, wincing as he realized that now that his companions had pointed out the rather phallic design of the thing, he couldn’t un-see it. He sighed and gripped the blade’s haft firmly. He made as if to slit the incapacitated elf’s throat, but stopped himself. No, you’re better than this , he thought to himself. He made another decision. He pushed the point of the dagger into the woman’s shoulder. Her eyes flew open and she grunted around her gag. “Shhhhh,” Xylon whispered, raising a finger to his lips. “If I help you get out of here,” he said in Elvish, “will you take me to your leader?” The elf’s eyes darted left and right, and then she returned her gaze to Xylon and nodded slowly. “You’ve made a good decision,” Xylon whispered, and then cast dimension door . The spell created a vaguely oval hole in reality as the wizard visualized a spot 500 feet to the northwest, back inside Neverwinter Wood. He picked up the druid roughly and dragged her into the portal. There was a flash and the two elves disappeared. “What was that?” Radegast broke her trance and looked around. “What?” Bob said, yawning as he sat up. “Where’s Xylon?” Radegast asked, and then jumped to her feet. “And where’s the hostage?” “WHAT?” Bob shouted, hauling himself up and looking around in a rage. Radegast began swearing in three different Elven dialects, one of which hadn’t been spoken by natives in nearly two thousand years. “What’s this?” Bob asked as he picked up the piece of parchment next to where the druid had been trussed up. He opened it and read: Hi guys, I’m sorry I had to disappear like that … I’ve never told you about this but there’s someone I need to find that I care for dearly … She was sold off by my parents a few months before we met and I’ve been looking for her since … I’m sorry for kidnapping the hostage but I need the Eldreth Veluthraa to find her. I hope you guys can forget about me and please don’t follow me … for your own safety. Bob’s hands crumpled the note. “XYLON!” he shouted in a rage. The howl of a wolf broke the uneasy silence. “What?” Varien asked. The wolf’s howl was joined by another, and another, and yet another. “Oh my,” Radegast said. “Better grab those silvered weapons, lads.” She held out two spares by the blades, offering the handles. Alec took a silvered shortsword from Radegast. “Anyone else?” She asked. “I’m good,” Varien said, holding out his hand and conjuring Talon from an extradimensional pocket. With a flourish he made the magical weapon disappear. “Nice,” Radegast said, nodding. Radegast pulled a quill and paper out of her backpack and quickly composed a bit of holy scripture, tucking it into her belt. “So,” she said to her companions. “Do we want to start the fight, or wait for them to pass by?” “I’m going to take a look,” Varien said, his eyes flashing with Devil’s Sight. He walked confidently out the open entrance. He stepped over the hidden glyph, which flared back to life. He looked down. “What?” A fireball leaped skyward, blossoming over the ruined village and illuminating their surroundings. “XYLON!” Bob shouted again as the wall of fire enveloped the cottage, burning everything in its path. Varien stumbled and coughed, his body smoking. He steadied himself and looked around. “Flames aside, this is a lovely choke point,” Radegast said, brushing soot from her clothing. “I'd like to give Xylon a choke point,” Bob spat a mouthful of ash. Varien squinted as the fireball faded away. In the distance he could make out the forms of two creatures, with the heads of wolves and humanoid bodies, bounding down the remains of the flagstone path that cut through Conyberry’s main street. “I see them!” Varien shouted. “Werewolves!” The paladin raised his hands and conjured his pact weapon. Talon blurred into existence before him, but as he concentrated, the sword’s form twisted into the shape of a heavy crossbow. He fired a shot at the approaching creatures. Alec slipped on Clockdrive’s goggles. Brandishing his sword, he rushed out and ran towards the danger. “Werewolves, eh?” Erwen said. He wildshaped into the form of a Dire Wolf and bounded away from the cottage. He sniffed the ground and ran to the south. Radegast lifted her hands in exasperation. “Choke point!” she called after them. Bob shouldered his way past her, a raging fire in his eyes. Alec readied his weapon as the two werewolves ran on all fours towards him. Then they were on him, slashing at him with his claws. He reeled from the blows. “A little help?” he shouted. There was a roar that seemed to drown out the sounds of battle as another werewolf leaped into the fray, landing near Varien. This one stood a head taller than the tallest adventurer, and was nearly as wide as he was tall, with thick bands of muscles rippling beneath his fur. Bob cast scorching ray and followed that up with a bane spell that befuddled one of the three werewolves he could see. The ray cut a scorched line of scar tissue into the alpha werewolf, who scarcely took notice as he readied a clawed hand to strike at Varien. Radegast poked her head out from the cottage. “I totally called it!” she shouted. She ran towards the Alpha, hauled off and punched the creature with as much force as she could muster. It was like punching a stone wall. All Radegast had to show for it was a handful of the creature’s chest hair. She looked up at the werewolf, whose breath was fogging in the night as he stared back. “Nice lycanthrope?” Radegast said innocently. The Alpha howled with rage and slashed at Radegast with his claws. As the bloodied bard stumbled back, the creature turned and leaped over the Varien, hitting him with a claw attack as well. Varien cast hellish rebuke in response. “I am most upset!” Radegast said, trying to hold her torn blouse together with one hand. She cast inflict wounds on the Alpha and positioned herself in a way to provide assistance to her comrades. Alec swung his sword and slashed at the werewolves, who were giving as good as they got. He found his second wind and pressed the attack, even as the creatures opened up new wounds on his chest and arms. Varien turned his holy weapon around and struck at the Alpha with the butt end of his crossbow, landing a divine smite and knocked the werewolf back half a step. The paladin smiled and bashed the werewolf again. Erwen-Wolf’s nose drew him inexorably towards the next ruined shack on the outskirts of the village, and sure enough, he found two more werewolves hidden in the building. The lycanthropes were more than happy to welcome him, biting and clawing at him before he could respond. And respond he did, chewing on one of the werewolves’ legs. He tried to bite again, but missed, and turned tail and ran back towards his friends, the two creatures hot on his heels. Bob cast two healing words on his brother and Varien. The Alpha werewolf stalked back towards Radegast, snarling as he bit her. “Okay, not cool!” Radegast shouted. Bob tried to pry the bard out of the creature’s jaws. The alpha clawed at Bob but missed, and as he spat Radegast out, he turned and raked his claws across Varien’s chest. He stood back, howling at the moon, and his howl was met with the howls of half a dozen other werewolves. “This is a great day,” Bob said to his companions.