Springwood was a week away, but the journey there was blissfully uneventful, though they did reach the town significantly lighter.

Springwood was a small town, but one that was still lively. People were out and about, though it stuck out to the rest of the group that many of them nursed strange purple scars and would look fearfully at the surrounding woods.

Sylvester led the wagon up to the local leader of the town, a dour looking man named Morton.

“You looking for me? Something I can help you with?” He asked, carefully scanning the group.

“Yes. My name is Sylvester. I have come to aid your village with its werewolf problem.”

“I- well… we would be grateful if you did, but this problem has been difficult,” Morton explain with a frown on his face. “and we don’t have much to pay you with.”

“As long as you can help us get enough supplies to continue our journey, that would plenty.” Sylvester reassured the man.

“If you can truly free the village of this curse, it would be worth it.” Morton agreed.

“The day is still young, so we will be heading off to get started.” Sylvester waved as he led the wagon back out of town. While he was leading them along an old dirt road, Neil spoke up.

“Are we really dealing with a werewolf?” He asked curiously.

“No,”

“That’s great!” Karrank celebrated.

“We are dealing with an ancient spirit that has been sealed under a mound in the area.” Sylvester continued.

“Actually, never mind.” Karrank grumbled, not looking forward to fighting another spirit.

“Is it a spirit like the last one we faced?” Kurt asked, also repulsed at the thought of dealing with another one of those.

“No, this one is an ancient spirit. Technically, it might even be closer to call it a demigod though it has next to none of the power. It works by possessing people with those purple marks and turning them into a giant wolf that it then goes on a rampage with.” Sylvester explained.

“I see, so we likely won’t be dealing with it in spirit form,” Neil mused. “How do we defeat it?”

“If you come across the giant wolf, all you need to do is deal the final blow with silver or flame. That will kill it permanently.” Sylvester answered as the group finally broke out of the tree line again.

Before them was a huge mound of earth with a few broken stones standing atop it. A small creek ran past it, turning into a small pond on one side of it that fizzed and bubbled. A large crevasse in the hill slowly leaked steam next to the fizzing pond.

“And what happens if we don’t do that?” Karrank asked.

“The spirit will escape, and you will have killed a villager for nothing.”

“Wait, what?!” came the varied responses.

“Like I said, the spirit is possessing someone. They are the ones you are truly fighting. If you strike the wolf down, you strike them down.”

“Is there no other way?” Kurt asked, a worried expression on his face.

“Catch the spirit and do the same as with the wolf or cast it into lava.” Sylvester admitted.

“Hey, that’s possible. Are there any ways we could catch the spirit?” Neil perked up.

“Not really. It is intelligent and will flee instead of risking destruction. Our magical and silver weapons could hurt the spirit, assuming we could even see it. Besides, if it flees its host there is a good chance they will be dead anyway.” Sylvester shook his head. He had gone over many possible ways to solve this dungeon, but they simply didn’t have many tools to work with.

“That is horrible!” Neil gasped.

“It is, and if things go especially badly, there are another five spirits still sealed in this mound.”

“That would definitely be worse.” Karrank agreed.

“Which is why we are here, isn’t it?” Kurt asked. “To slay this spirit and prevent the release of the others?”

“That is the plan, though I wouldn’t be opposed to slaying all six of them.” Sylvester answered as they finally reached the base of the mound.

Everyone quickly began unpacking and setting up camp, with practiced efficiency. The whole while, Val watched them scurry around with a smirk on her face. Even Neil had given up on trying to get her to pitch in by this point.

Once everything was done, Sylvester led them up to the top of the mound. On it was a large circle of standing stones, as well as a smaller, stone-lined pool of water off to one side.

“This circle of stones is an ancient place of power,” Sylvester explained while everyone looked around. The air here had a sort of weight to it, and outside noises almost felt muted.

“Interesting,” Neil remarked. “What sorts of properties does it have?”

“Non-hostile magics and miracles will have their potency doubled in some fashion. Power, duration, efficacy, the exact benefit could vary.” Sylvester answered.

“That is pretty impressive. Why don’t we have more circles like these?” Karrank asked.

“Well, there are a variety of reasons,” Neil began to explain. “For the most part, the methods to create these places of power have been lost. Furthermore, they often require contracting deals with being such as ancestral hosts, dragons, fiends, or fey.”

“They are also dangerous. People came here to practice the old ways; they are known as the Believers in town. Their former leader thought he was hearing the voices of the powers when he was really hearing the voices of the spirits sealed beneath the mound. Guess who let one out.” Sylvester added on.

“Breaking ancient seals without knowing what you are doing is just asking for trouble.” Karrank griped.

“Hey, that isn’t fair,” Val cut in, leaning into Karrank who stiffened at her touch. “It worked out just fine with me.”

“I wonder about that sometimes…” Karrank muttered before continuing in a stronger voice while peeling her off of himself. “Besides, Sylvester definitely knew what he was doing.”

“Oh, he certainly knows quite a lot of things, it gets me excited just thinking about some of it…” Val practically moaned, much to everyone else’s obvious discomfort.

“Just double-checking Sylvester, you haven’t…” Karrank asked.

“Really? Once again no. How many times do I have to say that before you won’t just believe her when she tries to insinuate it?” Sylvester denied with an exasperated tone.

“Sorry,” Kurt muttered. “So… what are we doing on this hill?

“We came up here for this pool of water. Everyone needs to wash themselves with its water.” Sylvester directed everyone’s attention to the clear water in the stone-lined pool off to the side.

“Does this water have any special properties?” Neil asked while taking a closer look at it.

“It allows you to benefit from casting spells within the circle and it prevents the spirits from possessing you.” Sylvester answered while beginning to strip off his clothes.

“Oh, do you want my help with that?” Val smiled, making her way over to Sylvester who surprisingly managed to keep a straight, non-blushing face, as she began to do so without waiting for a response.

“Come on you three,” He sighed, choosing to ignore Val. “You need to get washed too.”

“I thought you said that the spirit only possessed people with the purple marks?” Kurt asked while removing his armor.

“They do, but this is just in case I can’t manage to get the curse removed from an injury in time and you end up marked.” Sylvester answered, pouring water over himself.

“So, the marks everyone has, they are because they got injured by the spirit?” Kurt clarified.

“That is correct, but it isn’t the only way to gain a mark. Messing with the sealing bowls below the mound can also cause it.”

Soon everyone had been washed and were dressed again. Sylvester continued to lead them away from their camp, to the north of the hill which lowered until it reached a large cliff with a waterfall. The turbulent waters beneath the waterfall were impossible to see through, and certainly unsafe to be swimming in.

“Alright, time to break out our special fishing gear I take it?” Karrank smiled at the thought of more easy treasure.

Sylvester nodded, and the group soon got to work trying to dredge the pool. The turbulence of the waters made it difficult, but they managed to bring up a small silver gauntlet and a couple gold rings. All told, their haul was worth 110 silver pieces.

From there, Sylvester led them east along the cliff face, until they reached a crack in the cliff. It led into a dark cave filled from floor to ceiling with hanging, drying sprigs of some plant. Most of them seemed completely dried, but a few looked fresh.

“Everyone take one.” Sylvester directed while beginning to hand them out.

“This is… dried Cyldwort?” Neil guessed taking a closer look at it outside.

“Correct. Sometime soon, Vinteralf, seal-people from the far north, will arrive and need this. It will cure them of their heat sickness. Unfortunately, only Syareen will likely speak a language we will understand.” Sylvester explained, stepping back out of the cave.

“What are they coming here for?” Kurt asked.

“To prevent the other spirits from escaping. They know the exact hour it will happen.” Sylvester replied while leading the group back to camp.

“Those things are going to get out?!” Karrank began to freak out.

“If we don’t stop them.” Sylvester countered.

“But wait, what if those Vinteralf show up late?” Neil asked, focusing on the prophetic side of the story.

“If they are late it will be because we will have already taken care of the spirits.” Sylvester stated.

“Ok, but we are going to deal with the loose one first, right?” Karrank asked, continuing once he saw Sylvester nod. “Cool. How do we track down this spirit then?”

“It is going to be tricky. There isn’t a good way to call or summon it, so we are going to be getting creative.” Sylvester admitted.

“Well, where does the spirit stay?” Kurt asked, believing that Sylvester would surely know that.

“It roams the forest, looking for marked people.” Sylvester answered. “If it finds someone, it possesses them and goes on a rampage. Once it is forced out of the body, the cycle continues.”

“And a spirit wouldn’t leave a trail, so that makes it basically impossible to track.” Karrank finished.

“Exactly.”

“Then what is the plan?” Neil asked, thinking hard about the issue.

“We are going to throw a party in the woods as bait.” Sylvester answered.

“You’re… joking right?” Karrank stopped to examine Sylvester’s expression.

“No. The spirit wanders the woods looking for prey and we don’t have access to any methods that could track it, so we have to bait it instead.” Sylvester explained his reasoning.

“I guess that works… I just hate being the bait.” Karrank finally agreed after a few moments of internal struggle.

“Ok then. Kurt, Neil, you two go buy meat for our little party. Here’s 20 silver for it. Karrank, Val, and I will go find a clearing in the woods to host the party in.” Sylvester ordered while handing coins to Neil.

Everyone quickly headed their separate ways and got to work. They reconvened an hour before sunset and made their way to the clearing where the beginnings of a large bonfire were taking shape.

As they finished setting up the campfire, everyone prepared their weapons, placing them out of sight but in easy reach. Sylvester had his sentient dagger, which he still had yet to investigate, while Neil had his silver capped staff. Kurt had his enchanted sword and Karrank had his silver longsword, which glowed softly in the moonlight.

Karrank’s sword had turned out to be specially enchanted to deal with shapeshifters and lycanthropes, which would come in handy very soon.

Once everything was prepared, they lit the bonfire and began to roast their meat. Everyone relaxed and decided to enjoy the time. After all, they would be up all night in all likelihood.

The light of their fire cast deep shadows into the woods around them, which could easily hide any number of things from them. Though they tried to relax, they knew that they couldn’t truly do so, as they were waiting to be attacked by a wolf.

Several hours after the sun had set, as they enjoyed a few more slices of their roast, the nearby shrubbery began to rustle. Stepping into the light of their fire was a strange looking man. He was dressed in rags and his hair was matted down with fat and grease. He had a wild look in his eyes, but every inch of his skin was clean as if it had been scrubbed, making for a strange duality.

“Ah! You must be Wyrtung!” Sylvester announced, setting everyone at ease.

“I am, I am,” he admitted. “I came after noticing your bonfire. It’s not safe to host this kind of celebration in these woods!”

“We can handle ourselves. Besides, you look like you could use a good meal. Come over here and help us get through some of this meat, since we seem to have a bit too much.” Kurt invited Wyrtung into their circle.

Karrank made his way over to Sylvester and began whispering to him.

“Is this guy safe to have around? He doesn’t look like he is right in the head.” Karrank asked.

“He is called Wyrtung the Mad by the villagers, but he is harmless. He is only like that because the mound chose him as its guardian. We do have to be careful, however, of the fact that he has a mark on him.” Sylvester whispered back.

Karrank nodded and went back to tending the fire, his expression unreadable.

A few hours later, there was more rustling of the brush. This time, they found a large black bear circling around their bonfire. Eventually, however, it decided that the group wasn’t going to leave it any meat and wandered away.

Nine hours after they had begun their party, they had yet to see any sign of the spirit. Their bonfire began to burn low as the sunrise grew closer. However, they still had one last encounter before the sun rose.

“Oi! Isn’t that Wyrtung the Mad?” A voice called out from the woods, as a group of villagers in cloaks stepped forward.

“Yeah, it is! You should stay away from him, who knows when he’s gonna snap!” Another warned the group.

“We can handle ourselves; we did come here to take care of a werewolf.” Karrank chuckled while playing with his serpentine knife. The Believers glanced at it and eventually left, throwing out a few more taunts at Wyrtung as they did.

“Well, that was a productive night.” Neil commented while yawning.

“Sometimes that’s just how it goes.” Sylvester defended. “Though I think we could probably sell our leftover meat to the town, it should cover a good portion of the costs for tonight as well.”

“Alright, I’ll go sell this meat.” Kurt volunteered. “And then I am going to take a nap.”

“A nap does sound good.” Neil agreed.