Campaign 1, Episode 2: Wolves, Warlocks, and Demons, Oh My!

'''Wolves, Warlocks, and Demons, Oh My! '(1x02) ''is the second episode of the first chapter of the first campaign for the Venture Maidens. This week our heroes further face the perils of the forest. Who is the mysterious Martin? Are darts to the butt the key to victory? Can they stop the thrall of wayward youth before things turn for the worse?

The Adventure Continues...
The Maidens, in the midst of gathering samples from the carcass of the diseased bear, hear more crashing in the forst, followed by a thunderclap and a blinding flash of blue light.

The Forest
Arrnodel came to the quick conclusion that the blast was caused by some type of electrical evocation magic. Before they head off to investigate, Arrnodel summons an Unseen Servant to administer an antidote to Sawyeh, who has been poisoned by the diseased bear's blood.

Sawyeh is momentarily uncomfortable as invisible hands check her over for injuries and Kara  examines the bear tracks and carcass.

Before she gets too far into her investigation, Kara can hear yelps, snarls, howls, and a cry for help amongst the trees. Without hesitation Arrnodel and Kara  rush into the trees and discover a man  wielding two daggers with a longbow slung across his back being ringed in by three wolves with foaming mouths.

Arrnodel quickly enters into melee, flanking one of the wolves, and grabs it to cast Shocking Grasp. The wolf recoils from the blow and the man locks eyes with Arrnodel, flashing a smile.

The wolf spins on its attacker, bearing down on Arrnodel as the man tries to slash out at it, but loses his grip on the dagger and it tumbles to the ground.

Sawyeh, having recovered from her Poisoned Condition, sprints into the clearing and flings a dart at one of the wolves. The dart barely punctures the wolf hide before it shakes it off.

The wolf that turned to Arrnodel lunges and bites down, tearing a chunk of flesh from her. The third wolf bites in at the man, landing another blow to the injured stranger.

Arrnodel quickly casts Detect Magic and discovers that there is a faint blueish green glow emanating from inside the wolves, guessing that there is some type of necromantic magic affecting them internally.

Kara rages and sinks her axe in one of the beast's backs. Thick yellow-green blood oozes from the wound as Arrnodel follows up with an Eldritch Blast (Agonizing), blasting the beast in the face. The man recovers his dagger and buries it in the creature's neck, killing it.

Sawyeh circles the remaining two wolves and flings another dart, watching it sink in to the beast's fur. The beast turns and scores a Critical Hit against the man, tearing off another chunk of meat.

The remaining wolf lunges at Kara, who pulls her shield up to block the attack before screaming in the creature's face and bringing her axe down on it, tearing through its hide. Arrnodel slings another Eldritch Blast, singeing its fur and flesh. The man runs in and uses his daggers to decapitate the beast.

Sawyeh yells that she doesn't need the man's help and rushes the last wolf, slicing it with another dart and spilling its entrails on the ground.

The Mysterious Man
The mysterious man thanks the Maidens for their assistance and Arrnodel rushes to comfort him with a flirtatious hug. The man introduces himself as Martin, a game hunter working out of Middleton and the surrounding area and he had come to this area to investigate the animals. The only thing he knows definitively is that they are sick.

Kara lays out a quick snack of granola and bacon and the group takes a short rest. While resting, Martin inquires about what brings the group into the woods. Arrnodel, rolling a Natural 20 on her Charisma(Deception) check, convinces him that they are livestock specialists.

Martin reveals that he has been in the area for two days, searching for and observing the signs and patterns of animal behavior. He notes that they have become sicker in that short span of time. Arrnodel asks him if he saw the flash of arcane energy and he denies seeings anything of the sort.

Arrnodel speaks into the minds of her companions for advice. Sawyeh suggests asking if he has any sunflower seeds, having found some earlier after spotting a humanoid shape leap away into the trees.

Kara suggests using Detect Magic on him. Arrnodel immediately casts the spell and discovers that Martin's  daggers, longbow, and cloak are all magically enchanted.

While Arrnodel is looking over Martin  through her spell, Kara  asks if he has a snack to share. Martin offers her and Sawyeh  some sunflower seeds. Arrnodel reaches out to her friends telepathically, expressing her new distrust of Martin.

Sawyeh suggests interrogating him but Kara  turns to him and asks if he knows Ethan. Martin knew of the boy, having seen him around the town, and described him as having a fey-like bloodline, referring to him as Fey Touched. With all of this new information, Arrnodel thinks that the animals may be getting sick because of a spell that Ethan  cast.

While the group is finishing their rest, Sawyeh scouts out around the camp, finding humanoid footprints mixed in with those of the wolves and the chaos of combat. She tracks the prints back to a tree and rock outcropping that formed a small cave. She made her way back to the group, marking her trail, to inform them of her findings.

Martin picks up on the group's passive-aggression towards him and threatens to leave. Arrnodel lets slip that she is still angry at him for not telling them the truth about seeing the arcane energy from earlier. Sawyeh demands to know why he didn't help with the bear earlier when his sunflower seeds point to him having been in the area moments before.

Kara , bored with the arguing group, heads for the trail that Sawyeh had marked. Martin denies all of their allegations and the group follows Kara  into the woods. Sawyeh leads them to the outcropping and they peak inside the cave.

The Cave
The cave is very small, and contains a backback, sleeping mat, books, quills, and a large silver bowl of fetid water covered in a green film.

Arrnodel recognizes the books as those missing from the library and attempts to gather a sample of the fetid water. Some of the liquid splashes onto her hand and sizzles.

She quickly castsDetect Magic and picks up swirls of necromantic spellcasting coming from the liquid.

Kara hears footsteps clumsily approaching the cave and calls out to the group. She runs up to the front of the cave wielding her shield and axe to see who is coming. She sees a young 5'6" human wearing a patchwork robe and carrying a tree branch. He matches the description of Ethan.

He spots Kara and demands to know who she is and why she is here. Kara responds, "Your worst nightmare."

Ethan shoots a volley of Magic Missile, slamming into Kara. Arrnodel comes into view and speaks into his mind, imploring him not to attack. She assures him that they do not want to hurt him. He begins to respond, but there is a scrabbled interference that shuts down the telepathic communication. Arrnodel calls out that she believes Ethan to be possessed as she summons a Blade Ward spell.

Sawyeh dashes out of the cave, drawing on her monk training to flank directly behind him, attempting to grapple him. He whips his staff out, breaking through her guard. She apologizes, explaining she only wanted to make sure everyone remained safe. He cries out an apology, shooting a Ray of Frost, which catches Sawyeh in the chest.

Kara leads with her shield, rolling a NAT 20, knocking Ethan  from his feet. She points her axe at his neck, ignoring Arrnodel's protest. Kara feels a sharp pain in her neck followed by chittering sounds, but the Maiden's see nothing that could have caused it, aside from the spray of blood from Kara's neck.

Arrnodel casts Dissonant Whispers on Ethan, who screams out and prepares to run. Sawyeh pulls her rope from her bag and tries to subdue the frightened man. He casts Shocking Grasp to stun Sawyeh before he attempts to crawl away. Kara brings her axe down, rolling a NAT 20, severing an artery in his leg and killing him. The creature on Kara's back bites in with its pincers again and finally becoming visible to the group.

Arrnodel recognizes the creature as a demon, but can't recall the specific name. Kara drops onto her back to break the creature's hold, rolling out of its reach. Martin, finally entering the fray, throws a dagger. As the dagger hits the creature, it bursts with a charge of lightning that the group instantly recognizes to be the light that appeared in the forest earlier.

Arrnodel casts Eldritch Blast at the creature, her eyes glowing and her hair lifting elegantly in the wind. The arcane power overwhelms the creature and it explodes into a pile of slime and evaporates. Out of the heat of battle, the Maidens realize that the creature was a Quasit, surmising that the demon overpowered Ethan after he attempted to summon it, leading to the situation at hand.

Returning to the cave, the group notices that the liquid in the brazier has been reduced to regular water. Martin congratulates the Maidens and informs them that the Sisters  are very impressed.

This is where the episode concludes, until next time… -Venture Away!

Player Characters

 * Arrnodel Ithil - Played by Brittany Quintero . Arrnodel is a Moon Elf Warlock
 * Kara Brynhilde - Played by Sage Stafford . Kara is a Dwarf Barbarian
 * Sawyeh Noor - Played by Naseem Etemad . Sawyeh is a Human Monk.

Non-Player Characters

 * Martin - Local game hunter that works out of Middleton and the surrounding area.
 * Ethan - Assistant to Thomas. He ran away a few weeks ago.

Locations

 * The Forest
 * Ethan's Cave

Inventory
No items were gained or lost during this episode.

Quotes

 * "People aren't objects Brittany!" -Celeste Conowitch
 * "Roll a check to see how far your panties drop!" -Sage Stafford
 * "Roll a check to see how far your panties drop!" -Sage Stafford

Trivia
Some audio from Episode 1: Bringing Home the Bacon was used at the beginning of the episode.