Wurms and Dragons

As we entered the church, it quickly became clear just how decrepit and abandoned the place truly was. Deep cracks split both the walls and ceiling along with thick layers of dust that blanketed the floor and broken furniture. As well as several ancient scrolls that lay scattered around, giving the church a truly haunting atmosphere. Completed by an eerie silence that was broken only by the occasional crackle from a brazier burning dimly in a corner.
 
Then, with a heavy creak, a door to our right slowly opened. A frail-looking elf, covered in deep wounds, stumbled into the room. True to their noble nature, Liliana and Alistan immediately rushed forward to help him. But as they neared, he raised a trembling hand and unleashed a devastating spell that struck all of us in surprise.
 
The battle that followed was brutal. For not only had we lost the initiative, but the mage’s opening spell had severely weakened us. Worse still, we quickly discovered that he wasn’t in fact alone. As several undead clawed their way out of the very walls to surround us. We tried to regroup, with Alistan and Liliana engaging the mage directly while the rest of us held off the undead. But things looked grim indeed. For every creature we felled, another seemed to take its place. Luke eventually gave up on carefully aiming his mighty fireballs, instead hurling them where they’d do the most damage, relying on Hayley and Liliana’s combined healing to keep us on our feet.
 
In the end, it was sheer tenacity that won the day for us. For with a coordinated strike, the De La Roost twins struck down the dark mage.
 
As the others took a moment to catch their breath, Hayley and I began rifling through the mage’s belongings. Discovering several documents that shed light on the situation. The first batch of papers detailed a necromantic ritual used to create the foul Kyuss worms, proving beyond doubt that we had found the source of the infection.
 
The second set included maps of the surrounding area, noting not only the locations of various herds but also the flight patterns of the local wyverns. From this, I was able to confirm that they had indeed nested in the forest Kalindra had mentioned earlier.
 
Lastly, the final document was a poem, ominous and unsettling, dedicated to something called the Old Mother
 
“Deep in the Lorewood, where shadows creep,
The Old Mother has finally stirred from sleep.
With bony hands and maw so wide,
She’ll come for you, don’t try to hide.
 
Through twisted trees, her steps do fall,
Her voice a distant, eerie call.
She seeks the lost, the wandering soul,
To snap their necks and eat them whole.
 
Beware when evening’s chill winds blow,
For she is out there, and you should know.
If you hear her voice, don’t turn around
Or in the woods, your bones ‘ll be found.”
 
As disturbing as the poem was, the small statue we found beside it was even more so. It depicted a woman holding a skull and a snake draped across her shoulders. At first, I assumed it portrayed some kind of hag or fey, but the wings and horns hinted at something far more infernal in origin. Eventually It was Dadroz who recognized it, having seen similar statues being sold in the markets around Keralon in recent weeks. Something we’d definitely needed to look into once we returned to the city.
 
With the source of the infection dealt with, we made our way back to the hamlet. Where the various farmers and farmhands had already returned from working the fields. Taking the opportunity, we proceeded to explain to them what had happened. Or rather I did after Hayley, with a smirk, shoved me forward to speak.
 
Unfortunately, the sixteen cows that were still infected would need to be put down. Far too many for even Hayley and Liliana to heal. Though they each managed to save one, which they quickly adopted. Knowing how devastating this loss would be for the community, I suggested we simple compensated the farmers for the infected livestock. As a means to help them recover a bit.
 
Afterwards, we retired to the rooms the villagers had kindly prepared for us, hoping to catch up on some much-needed rest.
 
But our work wasn’t done yet. Afterall the wyverns still needed to be dealt with. Thus at the crack of dawn, and after a hearty breakfast, we set out for the forest where they were nesting. However even moving at our fastest pace, it still took most of the day to finally reach the forest’s edge. During said journey, I found myself mostly revisiting Sylvesse’s teachings on how to track down flying creatures. As even with our combined skills and the map we’d taken from the church, it still promised to be a daunting task.
 
Or so I thought, until we spotted a massive hill rising from the forest’s heart. A perfect place for aerial predators to roost.
 
I have to admit, upon stepping into the forest I felt absolutely invigorated. For while it may not have had the same ancient, mystical aura of the Lorewood, it was old in its own right. With scattered ruins overgrown with vines and an abundance of primal energy flowing freely through the air. There’s truth to the old saying, you can take the elf out of the woods, but you can’t take the woods out of the elf. Still, we stayed alert. As this place, for all its beauty, was still dangerous.
 
Danger which, as we quickly learned, was not just limited to the wyverns that we were hunting. For deeper into the woods, we began encountered several stone statues standing between the trees. Each frozen with a look of terror and many in a battle stance. It didn’t take us long to realize that they weren’t simple statues at all, but rather victims that were petrified by something.
 
Though I’m no stranger to the mystical arts, simple as my gifts may be, I still felt a chill as Luke rattled off the many creatures capable of petrifying their prey. A list that was far too long for comfort. Hoping to narrow it down a bit, we began searching the area, eventually finding distinctly reptilian tracks of a six legged creature. Unmistakenly belonging to a basilisk. A creature capable of turning you to stone with but a simple gaze. And even worse, there was more than one.
 
Given the threat that these creatures could pose to the nearby farms, we decided to deal with them as well. But with nightfall quickly approaching, we decided to make camp in the shelter of a nearby ruin. Fortunately, the night passed peacefully.
 
Refreshed and in good spirits, we resumed our journey the next morning. Reached the hill by midday. It was much steeper than we’d first expected, promising a most difficult climb. Worse even were several large flying shapes circled its summit. Though they didn’t appear to be wyverns, as they were simply not big enough.
 
To confirm, Hayley sent her familiar, Fiachna, to scout ahead of us. And while I wasn’t too thrilled about sending a small creature into the path of several large predators, Hayley assured me that she’d be fine. And considering that she knew Fiachna best, I trusted her judgment.
 
Fiachna returned after a few minutes. According to Hayley, there were twelve nests near the top, with no clear signs of an infection. Which was promising, but as we needed to be certain. We began looking for a way to climb the hill.
 
Circling around, we eventually found a narrow staircase carved into the hillside. But considering how steep it was, the climb still wouldn’t be easy. I silently thanked my younger self for all those hours spent climbing trees, which helped me scale the hill quickly. And I wasn’t the only one, as Hayley transformed into the form a giant spider, bypassing the stairs entirely.
 
At the summit, we found the ruins of what must have once been a mighty fortress or village, spread across the entire hilltop. As for the creatures, now that we saw them clearly, we realized they weren’t wyverns at all. But rather dragonnels, sleek and elegant in form, and most importantly not immediately hostile. Not they weren’t exactly friendly either, watching us cautiously as we ventured deeper into the ruins.
 
To calm them, Alistan spoke in the thunderous language of dragons. And while they seemed to understand, instead of responding they scattered in a panic. Just as I was about to ask Alistan what he said, a deafening roar echoed around us. We had found the wyverns we were looking for.
 
Looking up, we saw one of the dragonnels fall from the sky, ambushed by three wyverns in total. It then crashed into the ground with a terrible thud. With a fierce glare, Liliana drew her weapon and growled, “Ah, hell no,” before charging straight at them, her brother right on her heels.