Weirdest Wolves

Weirdest Wolves
Date	3/16/26
Storyteller	Slayzo
Tier	Trainee
Player Characters	Arkes, Vahn, Inari
Rewards	300 xp, 102 gp, Silversoul Bomb, Atrophy Bomb (lesser), Junk Bomb (moderate), Spiderfoot Brew (lesser) x3
Result	Survived
Author	Inari (frosty)
Downtime	8

Associates track down Valideer on behalf of Maera and the werecreature camp.

Log

This was my first official job as an associate, and so my Lady help me, it very well might be my last.

After receiving word that Maera’s scouts had Valideer contained within an abandoned village, us associates were sent to capture and retrieve him in order to bring him back to the werecreatures.

We arrived at night so as to have the stealthiest approach we could, joined by Bairn of the werecreature camp, and Arkes, Vahn, and I hastened to search the decrepit buildings as best we could. Investigating the perimeter proved unchallenging as we slipped through the broken-down houses with relative ease, met with no sign of life beyond the sound of rats scurrying about. Upon encountering a few of these rodents, there was certainly something amiss about their behavior, as they stood eerily still and were covered in lumps that were difficult to fully make out in the darkness. Vahn seemed rather taken by the creatures, as during our investigation they began collecting the rats and putting them in their bedroll. I saw them pick up about six of them, I believe? An odd fellow, for sure.

During our search, we also noted an odd gurgling sound coming from the fountain in the center of the village. Out of necessity to keep looking for Valideer, we decided to forgo looking further into the matter for the time being. Surely auspicious that we did, for we soon found a finely-kept piece of paper, upon which a note was inscribed, as copied here:

“This note is placed within this rancid structure for you, my dear pursuers, to inform you of my final, and greatest, experiment. I have spent years perusing the darkest reaches of the barriers between planes, dredging up more and more powerful entities to bring into contracts and trappings of my own design.

Unbeknownst to those disappointments I must sadly confess to having previously shared any sort of scientific classification with, I have discovered the weight of the cosmos and the power of that which lay beyond. By the time you will have finally left your burrows to come claim me, my ascension will have already been complete.

Your minds are, expectedly, all-too-meek to comprehend any sort of explanation I could provide you. Just know this: That eight-legged, immense beast beyond comprehension bearing down upon you in just a moment? That will be me. It will be my hands that rend your organs from their fleshy prison, it will be my fangs that consume you in body and soul. I have no further need for my experiments, because I will be the greatest creation I could ever have hoped for. I will be the culmination of years of research, of the breaching of ethics and morality you could never have conceived of. When I rule this land in the near future, you will be there to see it: An eternal spectator of a rent spirit, resting within one of my many bellies.

Now speak these words aloud for me and let the destruction commence: End my suffering, Valideer.”

Disturbing, at the very least. Taking care to avoid speaking the final words aloud, we continued our survey of the village, finding nothing else beyond more rats, as well as some spider eggs. It was during this time that Vahn discovered that the rats they were collecting were, in fact, strapped with bombs. For some reason I may only ever hope to know, this seemed to make them even more giddy to gather rats.

As we moved across the village grounds, closer to the fountain, an overwhelming feeling overcame Arkes and I. It was not so much a sound as it was a deep-rooted presence within my very body. It hurt to listen to such a thing, but nevertheless, we persisted, noting that the feeling only ever got worse the closer we got to the fountain.

Desperate to get away from whatever was within it, Arkes and I moved to the far side of the village to investigate the buildings around there while Vahn continued to collect rats. I’ve no clue what happened, but while searching the farthest building, a loud explosion filled the air. Followed by a series of other explosions. By the time I got back to the others, all I could see was Arkes fending off a few rats, and beyond her, a creature–no, that word is not quite apt; a writhing mass of flesh–advancing upon a deeply injured Vahn, no doubt the victim of the explosions. They were luckily saved by Bairn, as both Arkes and I were too far away to help them, as we regrouped, preparing to engage with the monster before us. There were quite a few close calls, but in the end, we successfully slayed the mound of flesh and fangs.

While licking our wounds and recovering from the encounter, the darkvision elixirs we had brought with us began to run out. While finishing our search, I cast a light upon the darkness in order to better see our surroundings, and in doing so, we caught a glimpse of a figure slowly approaching us.

It bore the tabard distinctive of Valideer, but even Bairn did not know who it was. Arkes seemed to recognize it as some form of undead–a bodak, I believe it was, but my own knowledge does not extend so far–as it continued to shamble towards us. In turn, I cast another light as far as I could in its direction.

…I hesitate to finish writing this. The fear I have felt at any other point in my life pales in comparison to that which I had felt that night. Even now, it haunts me.

And then we saw it.

Behind the lumbering being who, in that moment we knew to be Valideer, was an impossibly large creature, setting itself upon the ground from grotesque wings. Each many-legged step it took towards us was… I fail to find a word that describes the true horror I felt.

It snapped Valideer in half and proceeded to swallow him whole. Based on the screams, I knew him to still be alive while it happened.

We hid behind a nearby building, but it was no surprise that such attempts were futile. The urge to run, as fast as we could, as far as we could, overcame us, as we set off from the village and into the valley. I remember little else of what happened in that moment, but we ran and kept running until we reached the depths of the forest beyond. We knew it to be unwise to lead the creature to Onadbyr or the werecreature camp–though, had it been hunting us, we would have surely been dead already–so, in order to be safe, we spent the night in the wilderness.

Vahn told us they may well know what that creature is–or what they sorely hope it isn’t. A spawn of Rovagug–Kothogaz, the Dance of Disharmony, to be precise. While I am unfamiliar with Rovagug and know little of what it deigns to preside over, I believe this spawn can easily spread disease and terror upon the land.

Eventually, we reconvened with Bairn and returned to Onadbyr, having survived the night. We made haste to go to the council to report our findings, where we handed over Valideer’s final letter, though first ensuring to make a copy to give to Maera as well.

In the end, we survived, but only just. I doubt I shall anytime soon forget that which we encountered in the dark.

There is a splotch of black on the page at the final period, as if the pen had been pressed onto the paper for some time, allowing for the ink to bleed. A fine dusting of ash stains the edges of the report where fingerprints must have been.