We pick up with our heroes at the tavern, where they are discussing what equipment they should request over drinks. After a couple of hours, the party has their final requested equipment and supplies list finished, and Saren takes it to a postage drop box near the tavern. When it comes to official Citadel business, mail is picked up roughly every 3 or 4 hours, so despite it being late in the evening, the list will be delivered soon. Most likely before the party awakes the next morning.
While Saren is dropping the envelope in the drop box, he sees a familiar face round the corner to the tavern – Wolfram. The party member who had abandoned them while they camped in what was left of a Kuthrik hive, leaving a note saying that he was sorry but had to leave, shows up just days later.
“Look what the cat dragged in.” Malic can be heard saying under his breath to the rest of the party at the table when Saren and Wolfram enter the tavern. “He’s got some nerve showing up after the ghosted on us down in that tomb.”
“Yeah, so I think I owe you all an explanation.” Wolfram says as he approaches the group. “Maybe we sit somewhere a little more private, somewhere we won’t be overheard?” He asks, looking around the tavern at the other patrons and customers. Begrungingly, the party grants him his requests and takes seat at a table in a back corner of the tavern, where they can have some privacy and not worry too much about being overheard.
Once seated and assured that he won’t be overheard, Wolfram begin his explanation. He tells the group that he’s sorry for leaving them they way he did in the Kuthrik hive, but it was ultimately for the safety of the group. You see, Wolfram isn’t only a Shifter, a race of humanoids that is a cross between humans and wolves, but he suffers from Lycanthropy. Unlike most werewolves, though, Wolfram seems to have some measure of control over his inner beast, both in preventing himself from transforming as well as maintaining some semblance of composure while in werewolf form.
He tells the party that he’s typically able to keep his stress levels under control through meditation and rest, but was unable to do so in the ruins for some reason. Fearful that he may lose his composure and transform in the middle of a battle, he chose instead to leave them, trying to find a safe place to meditate long enough to secure the beast inside him. It took him the better part of two days, but he was able to finally get back to 100%, at which point he began seeking the party.
It wasn’t too hard to find them – word of a new band of adventurers finding an ancient goblin tomb under the depths of Sharn began to spread, and even had a article in the Sharn Inquisitor, a popular local newspaper. Wolfram assumed the party would still be at the tavern they were staying at before they took on Molric’s mission to get rid of the bugs, and felt that would be a good place to start. His luck paid off, and here he was.
Wolfram was taking a big step in letting the party know of his lycanthropy. How was the party going to react? Werewolves are typically something that one finds in a city, let alone someone openingly claiming to be one. Most werewolves are savage beasts, cursed souls unable to control the wolf inside them, lashing out and attacking any and all close to them. There have been entire campaigns against lycanthropes for decades, centuries even. Some were waged by governments and religions, hunting down any and all lycanthropes and slaughtering them were they stood.
Sharn is a more of an accepting city, being one of the largest on the continent and the largest port shipping hub, and has a large melting pot of all sorts of races and cultures. That being said, a werewolf is a rare sight, and then usually only as the target of a hunt, a vicious beast to be destroyed at any cost. Will the party be comfortable with that kind of liability in the group? Will they be able to trust him? After all, they don’t really know him that well.
The party discusses it amongst themselves, asking Wolfram questions here and there to fill in details on the debate. Finally, it’s decided that Wolfram is either telling the truth – that he’s not a typical werewolf and is able to have some form of control over the curse – or he’s a madman. Either way, he could prove useful to them on the upcoming mission, and as long as certain precautions are made (say in the form of a silver dagger, or other silvered weapons), contingency plans can be put in place to keep the party safe. They have a few more drinks, bring Wolfram up to speed on what he missed, and fill him in on what the plans are next.
Saren is secretly delighted. Not only does this little party now have the attention and backing of the Brelish army, they might also have a unique weapon in their arsenal.
The Next Day
The party awakes to a storm raging over the city. Rain pours down in sheets off of the towers, flowing through drainage pipes and aqueducts. Lighting and thunder add to the ambiance and set a dreary tone. Around 10 in the morning, the courier enters the tavern and delivers a small package to Kal. It’s from Gydd Nephret, his professor friend from Mulgrave college. In it is a small key and a scroll telling the party of danger.
After reading the note and examining the key, the party quickly begins working out their plan. Kal is anxious and would rather go to Gidd right away, but the party convinces him that it’s best if they go prepared. Going in number would allow them to have more options if anything were to happen. Besides, most of the party still needs to pick up their armor and gear from the cleaners, and it would be best to go in prepared to defend prepared.
Once prepped, the party makes their way to the college. The journey takes a couple of hours, having to climb by foot most of the way. The stormy weather has grounded a number of the public air transports, making the journey long and miserable. Eventually they make their way to Gydd’s apartment. Rain drops in sheets off the towers above, but her front porch is dry under an ornately carved awning. Dim light can be seen through the front windows, and the party sees the front door is slightly ajar. Stealthily, they send in a member to scout ahead.
The apartment is large and well appointed, with many windows. In the center is a vaulted ceiling from which a chandelier hangs, shedding dim magical light from tiny crystals. The second floor is merely a small balcony that overlooks the lower floor. In a wide hall, carpeted and furnished for sitting and talking. Doors lead to other rooms, and stairs to the north lead to the balcony. A leering goblin statue stands near the stairway’s bottom. Papers lay strewn on the floor near doors to the south.
Dannae, the elf noblewoman who Gydd mentioned in her note, emerges from a doorway across the room. She wears an ornate Aereni funerary mask, her hair and eyes wild. Her form flickers slightly. “Welcome,” she says in a horse whisper. “Thank you for coming. The professor can’t join us. She is with my mistress, but that needn’t concern you for long.”
“What did you do with Gydd?!” Kal yells as he takes a step or two forward. Before he or any other party members could act, Dannae’s mouth opens and distorts into a grotesque gaping maw, and a ear-splitting shriek let’s out and assails the party. The glimmering fassade of Dannae fades and reveals the zombie form underneath. It was an illusion the whole time, one that the party didn’t see through.
A battle ensues in the small apartment, zombies who laid in wait coming around corners and hallways to try and capture the party members. A few rounds of combat go by, with some party members taking large amounts of damage and nearly falling, relying on the Artificer’s healing powers and the wizard’s potions to stay on their feet. Within a couple minutes, the zombies are dispatched and the threat neutralized. Seems that Dannae underestimated the strength of the party, and should have sent more zombies if she wanted to capture or kill them.
With the threat gone, the party searches the rest of Gidd’s apartment and easily find the hidden compartment in the bedroom mentioned in the letter. They collect everything left for them, and quickly leave the apartment, making their way through the college grounds in the dark, pouring rain to regroup at the inn.