Session 1 Our five adventurers started their journey to Nyestad by horse and cart. After a mostly uneventful journey, they stop as they get closer to town. They happen upon a curious scene on the road where items have been scattered after an altercation. A man comes running followed by a second man. It turns out he is a thief being chased by the trader he robbed and the party intervenes to catch the criminal. Stigandr tackles the man to the ground, which causes his wounds to worsen. Ylva tends to the man’s wounds and he comes to enough to explain that his brother was killed and he was attacked by a ‘golden beast’. Before leaving they’re attacked by wolves, one of which has been corrupted by local magic. After a hard fight, they perform a rite and bury the corrupted wolf in order to prevent further magical damage. The wounded thief confirms these wolves were not what attacked him and his brother. They proceed to town, where the trader Erik takes the thief to the local guard leader Moussa. Stigandr helps and gives Moussa information on himself and his travelling companions. The man is locked up in the guardhouse. The group stops by the market to sell and buy some wares and needed supplies. On the way to the boarding house, they stop by the tavern to have some food and drink. There they talk to the very old bartender who tells them some not entirely true stories about his adventures at sea as a sailor. He also tells them about Laby Blom and Mons, the town leader and her right-hand man. Apparently, Lady Blom isn’t well-liked among all the townsfolk. She’s considered cold and not good with people. She took over after her husband died over a year ago and ever since things have gotten steadily worse for Nyestad. At the boarding house, the party talks to Vanja and gets a big room they can all share. On their way up to the room, Ylva gets a strange vibe from a stranger in a dark corner, as if there’s more to them than just a regular human. As the stranger realises they’ve been noticed she slips away out the back of the building. When they ask Vanja about the strange young woman she explains that it was her daughter Asdis, who avoids people and prefers to go unnoticed. The whole group then gathers back up in their room as it becomes evening. Session 2 Settled in at the boarding house, the party pick which beds they want to claim and go to sleep. As they sleep, they all dream. Brynjulf has a foreboding dream about Ingrid, Ylva has a nightmare where she hears the sound of hooves, Henrik dreams of Bergen walking into a dark cave in the rain, Stigandr has a dream of a forest where he sees a hint of something big with golden fur, and lastly, Jesper has a dream of being underground in the dark, aware he was not alone. Finally, all their dreams combine and what they see in the darkness are two milky white eyes opening and a grin with sharp teeth underneath. The group awake, Ylva somewhat shaken from the dream, and head downstairs for breakfast. There they meet Efraim for the first time and see Vanja and Asdis serving breakfast. Ylva once again gets a vibe of something from Asdis. She also picks up on Brynjulf’s eye and figures out that he’s cursed, but she can’t help. Before going to meet Lady Blom, the group goes to wash and freshen up in the river. They go to the town manor, are let in to see the lady and her right-hand man Mons. She first tried to downplay Ingrid’s disappearance, but Brynjulf’s story moved her enough to admit there may be something to the rumours. The other two missing people are Bergen, Henrik’s companion, and Katla, the wife of stablemaster Frode. It was also confirmed that two people in town claim to have seen the beast: Gauti who is Katla and Frode’s son, and Einar who lives behind the boarding house. Solveig cautions them that he is a ‘crazy old man’ who believes in a lot of supernatural things. Jesper, Solveig and Mons write up an agreement that if the group provides information or solve problems they will be compensated. They stop by the market and then the blacksmith so that Stigandr can buy a pelt and give it to the blacksmith so she can make him a cloak. After that, they go to the guardhouse to get more information from the thief they encountered. After some failed attempts at getting him to talk they speak to Moussa. The guard leader can’t do much more than confirm what they’ve already heard and offer his assistance and help should they ever need it in the future. Session 3 After talking to Moussa and the captured thief the group decides to speak to some other townsfolk who may know some things about the golden beast. They start with Einar: the old man who lives behind the boarding house. As they approach they see him talking with Asdis who leaves as the group approaches. At first, he tells a gruesome story about the copper beech tree next to his little cottage but quickly reveals that it’s a fake one told for fun. Einar does not give much reliable information about the beast, giving mostly vague and cryptic half-answers. The most notable thing he tells the party is that the beast may be human, cursed, a disease or possibly all of the above. He also says he feels sorry for the beast and everyone affected by it. After this, the group splits up. Jesper and Ylva speak to Asdis. Asdis explains she can’t use magic herself and that she isn’t involved with the golden beast. Ylva gives Asdis her holy symbol and the two share a touching bonding moment. Meanwhile, Henrik and Brynjulf go to the stables to speak with Frode and Gauti, the father and son of the missing woman Katla. From Frode, they find out that Katla has been missing for three days (which becomes four days as the day goes on). Brynjulf is able to confirm that Frode isn’t lying when he says he has no idea where his wife is and expresses worry for her. He also explains that before disappearing Katla had been acting increasingly aggressive and become uncharacteristically angry and upset. Henrik got less information from the son Gauti. Gauti was acting very awkward, avoided eye contact and gave only simple answers. He even flinched a few times. The group meet back up to decide on what steps to take next. They decide against seeking the beast out at night as it may be too dangerous and instead resolve to leave tomorrow morning. For the rest of the day, they spend it in their separate ways. Ylva prays at the temple while Jesper speaks to the temple woman working there. Brynjulf talks to some locals at the bar and hears a rumour about an unnaturally gorgeous woman in town called Helga. They also do some work. Ylva helps out at the temple, Jesper does some bookkeeping and stocktaking, Henrik goes fishing to sell it and Brynjulf entertains some crowds for coin. Stigandr begins work at making a camp at the edge of the forest, chopping down trees to make a clearing and gather materials. Back at the boarding house, the group meet back up to eat dinner that Stigandr caught and plan for the next morning. They discuss the nightmares they had the previous night and according to Ylva, such a strong shared nightmare could only be the work of something supernatural or magical. They decide to sleep in shifts to try to prevent any possible person, creature or magic to interfere with their sleep. Session 4 The party had decided to sleep in shifts to try to prevent anything from interfering with their sleep. Everyone except for Stigandr who wasn’t feeling well sits watch for two hours each. A few things happen: some skittering upstairs, drunks outside, a visit from the boarding house cat, and Ylva sees Asdis walk by in the hallway. Otherwise, all is calm. In the morning, after some time preparing in town, the group heads out to look for the beast, leaving Stigandr at the boarding house to possibly join up with them later. They head up the old road leading out of town to the north, following the river. The road was clearly in use many decades ago but has since become overgrown and is now primarily used by animals. On the road, the group spots a group of animals. They try to sneak around them but are attacked. A wild boar and three wolverines throw themselves at the group. They quickly figure out that it’s strange for these animals to work together and that the wolverines are smarter than they would first seem. They manage to kill all but one wolverine that gets away, seriously wounded but clinging onto life. Ylva determines that the wild boar was affected by magic but otherwise was a normal boar. The wolverines, however, were something else in disguise, shapeshifted with magic. This becomes even more clear when Henrik attempts to skin one of the wolverines and reveals that they are dissolving from the inside out, black ooze and melting bones pouring out. Further north they reach a fork in the road where there is a dilapidated bridge. Henrik’s falcon spots a knife stuck into the sandbank of the river. Brynjulf determines with his ring there’s some faint magic and Henrik takes the knife. They then head east and start exploring the caves along the ridge. They spot two glowing red eyes that turn out to belong to an owl and Henrik attempts to squirrel away some gold he finds. An argument ensues which ends with the gold being split even and Henrik being entrusted with the party inventory, assuring the others he can be trusted. In another cave, the party confronts a gang of bandits and makes short work of them. Some attempts at negotiation are made but the bandits refuse and the last of them die as they try to make a run for it. With all threats seemingly eliminated the group are free to explore.