Session 01 — Wolves at the Door

Three strangers arrive in a fearful town, spend a day preparing with uncommon care, and march into the Misty Forest only to find that the werewolves were already waiting.

Pre-Session Recap

First session of the campaign — no prior recap.

Session Summary

Opening

Aleric, Daisy, and Ria each receive separate faction orders directing them to Daggerford to investigate wolf-like attacks in the surrounding countryside. Their arrivals frame the setting from three angles: Aleric's unease on the road, Daisy's encounters with frightened locals barricading their homes, and Ria's tense passage through the Misty Forest itself — where suspicious guards greet her with hostility at the town gates. They converge at the River Shining Tavern, where the barkeep briefs them on the situation: livestock slaughtered, travelers vanished, remains found torn apart, and hunters reporting massive wolf-like creatures that walk upright.

Middle

The party chooses not to rush into the forest at night — a decision that defines the session's tone. They spend the evening building rapport over dinner and the following morning preparing methodically.

Ria investigates an abandoned apothecary and recovers herbs, a bundle of wolfsbane leaves, and a hidden red potion later confirmed as a healing draught. The group visits Winston's potion shop to identify their finds and optimize their healing economy — Aleric sacrifices his Potion of Heroism to redistribute value toward anti-lycanthrope readiness.

The centerpiece scene is the visit to old Tholvar Cragjaw at Cromack Smithing. The cranky dwarf blacksmith turns a silvering request into a vulgar, funny, and genuinely consequential negotiation. After Daisy's social interference and an arm-wrestling wager, Ria topples Cromack off his stool and wins the right to silver her battleaxe for 50 gold. Cromack then names the weapon Hibil Nadruk — Silver Night Cleaver — and stamps it with dwarven runes, transforming a practical upgrade into a piece of campaign history.

Aleric later returns to request silvering for his mundane Morningstar. Cromack initially demands 100 gold, which Aleric cannot afford. Aleric negotiates a debt arrangement: Cromack will silver the weapon now. If Aleric survives and gains wealth, he owes 400 gold (double the price). If he dies, his next of kin becomes liable — Cromack demands the boy's name, surname, and last location as collateral. Aleric reluctantly reveals he has a son "somewhere" from long ago. After negotiation, Aleric reduces the service obligation to 4 years and a day if he dies, and Cromack agrees. The dwarf embosses Lâf-Zarad (meaning "elusive wanderer" in Elvish, written in dwarven script) around the ball of the morningstar, along with a note written in Elvish suggesting the name. This creates a major debt thread that will carry through the campaign.

Once prepared, the party enters the Misty Forest, tracking ordinary wolf prints that eventually give way to larger, deeper, bipedal tracks. They camp for the night and set watches.

Closing

During Ria's watch, five ordinary wolves edge near the campsite — then scatter, yelping, in response to a growl from the far side of camp. Four werewolves emerge from the underbrush. Ria responds by growling back loud enough to wake the others, and initiative is rolled.

The party is overwhelmed and forced to retreat from the camp. In their flight through the forest, they discover a mysterious structure: Death House. Inside the structure, they find a weapons cache sealed behind glass casings. Ria breaks the glass to access the crossbows and ammunition — light crossbows, hand crossbows, heavy crossbows, and bolts — prioritizing survival over respecting the property. The session ends with the party inside Death House, having escaped the werewolf encounter.

Key Events

• Three Arrivals — Aleric, Daisy, and Ria enter Daggerford from different directions, establishing the town's fear and their contrasting approaches
• The Cromack Negotiation — Ria wins a silvered battleaxe through an arm-wrestling wager with a vulgar dwarf smith; Aleric negotiates silvering his Morningstar on credit (400 gold if he survives, or 4 years and a day of service if he dies); weapons are named and rune-marked
• Apothecary Scavenging — Ria recovers wolfsbane, herbs, and a hidden healing potion from an abandoned shop
• Transformation Site — The party discovers where werewolf tracks morph into humanoid tracks, finding a physical transformation location
• Camp Attack and Retreat — Four werewolves ambush the party in the Misty Forest; the party is forced to retreat and discovers Death House with its weapons cache
• Lycanthropy Save — Ria is bitten by a werewolf and successfully saves against lycanthropy (DC 12 CON save)

Decisions Made

NPCs Encountered

Locations Visited

Combat & Encounters

Encounter 1 — Werewolf Camp Attack

Phase 1: The Alpha Ambush

• Around 2 AM, Ria spots five ordinary wolves stalking toward camp but doesn't hear them until dangerously close
• The ordinary wolves scatter and yelp as a growl erupts from the opposite side of camp — four werewolves emerge from the underbrush
• Before initiative, Ria responds with her own growl loud enough to wake the party (excellent intimidation check), described as "like the noise you make when someone tries to take your beef jerky away"
• The party awakens and initiative is rolled

Phase 2: The Combat

• First werewolf moves into position and rips through Aleric's tent (concealment, not cover)
  • Bite attack: misses
  • Claw attack: hits for 7 damage to Aleric
  • Aleric gets opportunity attack: hits for 5 damage
• Second werewolf runs past Aleric
  • Aleric uses reaction to cast Shield, increasing AC by 5 to avoid natural 20 claw attack
• Aleric disengages and moves full speed toward the right side of camp, passing Daisy's tent, shouting "We have to get out of here!"
  • Realizes gorge is 38 feet wide with 40 feet down to first ledge—escape via gorge impossible without severe risk
• Daisy misunderstands Aleric's retreat warning and instead casts Shield of Faith on herself
  • Moves to attack nearest werewolf with Big Smashy (silver warhammer)
  • Deals 8 damage — werewolf shows no visible wound
  • Werewolf runs past her; opportunity attack hits for 8 additional damage
• Ria moves at full speed, continuing to disengage
  • Werewolf moves and attempts to claw her
  • Bite is natural 20 and hits, dealing damage and causing punctured lung (disadvantage on Strength/Athletics/Acrobatics checks)
  • Ria makes Constitution saving throw (DC 12) against lycanthropy: succeeds, does not contract infection
  • Another werewolf moves and continues pursuit

Outcome: Party overwhelmed and forced to retreat from camp; discovers Death House structure during flight; breaks glass to access crossbows and ammunition in weapons cache

Loot & Rewards

Memorable Moments

"The economy is in shambles."

— Tholvar Cragjaw, on the price of silvering

• The Arm-Wrestling Wager — Cromack climbs onto a stool, Ria kneels by the counter, his elbow slips, he topples off, and from beneath the counter: "Worth it."
• Daisy Wants a Dragon — Casually dropped over tavern drinks; a detail worth remembering
• Ria's Growl — Her response to four werewolves emerging from the dark: growl back loud enough to wake the party
• Winston's Cynicism — "I expect to get it back when we find your corpse in the woods, because monsters don't usually eat gold."
• The Running Werewolf Joke — Winston advises that you don't need to run faster than the werewolf, just faster than the slowest member of the group — and he'd bet that's Aleric in his heavy armor

Plot Threads

Threads Opened

• Werewolf Threat — Four werewolves attacked camp; the source of the attacks remains unknown
• Daggerford Under Siege — 1,000gp per head promised on mission completion
• Faction Tensions — Three different faction operatives working together for different reasons
• Aleric's Debt to Cromack — Major plot thread: Aleric's Morningstar is on credit; owes 400gp if he survives or 4 years and a day of service if he dies; Cromack holds information about Aleric's unknown son as collateral
• Death House Mystery — Mysterious structure in the forest containing weapons and supplies; purpose unknown

Threads Unresolved

• What is the source of the werewolf activity in the Misty Forest?
• What is Death House and why does it contain weapons?
• Where do the werewolves actually come from, and what was the transformation site's significance?
• Who is Aleric's son and where is he located?

PC Highlights

GM Notes