Written on a piece of parchment and pinned with a nail and sap a heartfelt message written by a man in distress.

Good people, take pity and hear my plea.

My wife, Hanna, she’s missing. A few days ago she went into The woods and hasn’t returned. I’m near out of my wits with worry and will pay any price to the man who brings her back to me or tells me where to look for her.

Niellen, Hunter from Blackbough

You stoically read the notice ripping it from the board and splitting it in half.

“Oh,” you say. “At least I have his name, Niellen a hunter nonetheless”

Arriving at the town on horseback, you see as if everything and one were frozen in place. It was silent for a second, from parents pulling their children to them and ushering them to go inside, to men and women alike turning their heads if you looked their way. Stares and murmurs echo from the silence, 

“Why does it look like that,” says one drunk

“Be quiet you moron, It’ll hear you.” A woman says while bonking the mans head with her knuckles

You turn your head ever so slightly to see multiple people turning away

After mindlessly strolling around the town collecting stares as if they were gold you find a man hunched over on a stool talking to a woman. You walk towards him, towering over him and casting a shadow. 

“Are you Niellen,” you say

The man, as giddy as can be tilts his head up to get a look at you, the person who will hopefully find his wife; But that hopefulness shifts into fear as he stares into your shining viper eyes.

“Y-y-yes,” he stutters

“Found your wife?” You say as you gesture to the women beside him

“No, I’m not,” She says, “I’m her sister Margit.”

“Well… You know have you looked for her?” you say “Maybe she went to the neighboring village and forgot to tell you?”

“No, she would never be gone for this long,” Margit Says”

You leave the conversation after thinking you have enough information and set off to question the entire village. As you inquire more about the wife around the village you hear that she ventured off into the woods with a woman some claim as a witch. Riding off into the woods you see a pack of wolves huddling around a desecrated corpse. As you step closer one lets out a deep growl and howls, alerting the surrounding wolves. A single cast of the sign IGNI causes them to burst into flames easily ridding the problem. You kneel down to inspect the corpse and see a woman cleanly sliced in half; along with a large paw print next to her body. 

“Most likely the wife,” you say “but no wolf did this, this is getting interesting.”

You hear faint steps behind you, Pulling out your steel sword you ready yourself for an encounter.

“Why are you here?” you demanded

“I-It’s me… Margit?”

You turn around and you in fact do see Margit clutching her wrist and continuously looking down

“I came to tell you, you need not look for Hanna; She would’ve returned long past were she alive.”

“Please tell Niellen that his wife is gone; I’ll pay you!”

You refuse her plea, finding it unusual that she doesn’t care to find her own sister. As she walks away she calls you a “Heartless Beast, Devoid of any Emotion.” Nonetheless, you keep investigating the scene. Away from the corpse, you find a tuft of bloody fur and large claw marks that’s going up a tree.

“Werewolf,” you say to yourself “It's gotta be.”

You hold the tuft of fur in your palm and with slight hesitation, you hold the fur to your nose and take a deep whiff of the tuft. The musk makes your nostrils sting. You shake your head and rub your nose. You begin to smell a familiar scent nearby, and you begin converging to the location. A small cabin emerges from the distance, the stench of the fur emanating from it. As you approach the cabin you begin to unsheathe your silver sword. As you open the door you see multiple trophies hanging on plaques all of them being wolves. Layed on the center table you see raw silver, but your investigation is cut short as a grim noise is heard under the cabin. Stepping outside you begin to see a ditch under the cabin with a locked door at the bottom. You slash open the door and as you do so, an unbearable stench escapes from the passageway. Walking down the passage you enter a cave, where the fur’s scent is the strongest. You see 3 wolves surrounding an unconscious man. The wolves spot you and begin to converge. You hold close your fist, waiting for the wolves to come closer. 

“Now!” you think to yourself; as in a single sweep, flames burst from your hand immolating the wolves. 

The scent of burning flesh and fur overpowers the original musk of the werewolf. You approach the unconscious man, and as you begin to get closer he begins to convulse. You do not seek help, panic, or worry for the man as you know what this entails. You step back and begin to calm yourself taking deep breaths. You enter your stance, waiting for the man to fully transform. The “man” begins to stand, his legs fully formed to that of wolves, his chest bursting out of his shirt covered in damp fur, and his fingers forming into claws. The werewolf lets out a deep howl and lunges toward you. You swing your swords upwards tearing skin and bone, and almost bisecting the werewolf. The werewolf collapses as it innards spill out of itself. The werewolf groans of pain echo throughout the cave. You hear the faint sounds of footsteps towards the cave.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Screamed Margit, “It’s Nielenn”

“Nielenn?” You say.

“You wouldn’t understand,” She says “ I love him, and it doesn’t matter if he was a werewolf, It didn’t matter one bit!”

“Y-you knew?” Nieleen questioned “You knew that I locked myself in that cabin to wait out my change?

“I knew, and I didn’t care,”  but you chose to love Hanna instead. I wanted her to fear you so I brought her towards the cabin to hope she would see you change; I didn’t mean for her death, you’ve got to believe me!”