Session 5 Summary
The group returns to the Wolf Tribe's camp, welcome after helping to save the Sacred Grove. The celebration is a warm one, but the danger hasn't passed, and everyone feels it differently.
Myra, restless and guarded, busies herself setting up camp and checking the tents — her way of staying in control. She eventually wanders over to Fenrik and his direwolves, and in a moment of unexpected connection, she's invited to ride one. What starts as a tense exchange ends with something surprisingly meaningful: the heartbeat of the direwolf slowly syncing with her own. Later, Myra confronts Fenrik about the spear — which Eilara had told her was a marriage proposal — only for Korfel to reveal it was more of a cultural test of character. The tribe doesn't take outsiders lightly, but they test for worth. Myra respects that. Fenrik lets her keep the spear.
Emathion makes his way to the elders, bluntly inserting himself into their conversation to discuss next steps. Eilara shares something unexpected: the story of Morganna herself. Once a disciple of Avaritia — a sorcerer consumed by greed and power — Morgana learned what it meant to care from the town that now bears her name. When Avaritia came to claim and destroy it, she sacrificed herself to stop him, taking him with her. Emathion also hears an elder speak the word "Ginnugagap" — a Luminary term referring to The Void, The Nothing. The observatory, it seems, was built to protect against it.
Torbin approaches the statue of Morganna and finds Chief Aku there, quietly honoring his fallen mount with a single bone and a flame that burns in rainbow colors. The two have a calm, genuine conversation — Torbin tells the story of how he met Lizzy, while Aku shares about the leadership thrust upon him before he was ready. Aku expresses a quiet wish for stronger ties with the outside world. As Torbin leaves, the necklace on the statue sparkles.
Grendel drifts through the celebration, present in body but not in spirit. He plays music with the tribe, joins in their storytelling with a well-placed prestidigitation illusion, and receives a small bone from a pup — which he pins near his heart. A young wolf briefly plays with his lute. But underneath all of it, Grendel is thinking about Kikita and Lauren. He laughs, he performs, he keeps the facade up. It costs him.
Later, while Grendel can't sleep, he catches Korfel and Luna slipping quietly out of camp in the middle of the night. He drags Torbin along to investigate, and the two stumble upon a moonlit spring surrounded by six statues — knights, it seems, who once stood beside Morgana. Morganna herself stands largest among them, kneeling, glowing faintly blue.
Torbin reads the names on the plaques: Gareth, Lamorak, Percival, Lancelot, Galahaut. One spot stands empty. No plaque. No statue. As they're leaving, Torbin notices the lantern on Galahot's statue burning with a blue flame. He keeps that to himself. Grandle, for his part, is told very clearly by Luna that this is a private moment. He still takes a moment to apologize to Korfell and Luna the next morning, awkwardly, walking away before they can respond.
Back at camp, a voice finds Grendel before he falls asleep: "Those walls do not help you. If you wish to find what you've lost, you must lower them first." That hurts... and he sleeps poorly.
By morning, Lizzy has mysteriously doubled in size overnight and accidentally demolished the tent. Emathion identifies a magical effect on her — the sap from the Sacred Grove's guardian seems to have triggered something. Lizzy, it turns out, can now temporarily grow into a mount! However when Torbin makes contact with her, she returns back to her normal size, having mastered an ability to temporarily grow larger.
In the morning, the group meets with Chief Aku and the elders. The key to the observatory is two-part: one half was stolen from the late chief's body during the battle at the grove. Aku believes the second half may be hidden deep in the swamp, guarded by a vengeful knight spirit who has turned back every trespasser leaving them bruised and unconscious. His father used to go there to challenge it. The group agrees: find the second key before N does, then deal with the observatory.
But first, mounts. Aku leads them out to find wild direwolves, and mid-search, Grendel catches a scent — undead mixed with wet fur and something acidic. Hyenakin, otherwise known as Gnolls. They're not supposed to be this far into Southern Tribe territory, and the fact that they are here suggests they might've been pushed here by the spreading undead. The group moves to intervene and finds a powerful Mage Hyenakin in the middle of charming a wild direwolf. Combat breaks out fast and ugly.
The fight is hard. Emathion and Grendel cast many spells, Torbin is hit hard by corrupted guiding bolt and gets cornered by a possessed direwolf, and Myra gets scorched in the fire from a countering hellish rebuke after stabbing the witch doctor in the jaw. But Grendel manages to save her just in time. The Mage Hyenakin is badly wounded, but escapes on its giant Hyena — but not before delivering a chilling parting message: "Greetings from Lilith!"
Lizzy gets the finishing bite, and the remaining Hyenakin is put down. Torbin and Myra remind the group to crush the skull so it doesn't reanimate. Everyone's battered, and the name Lilith hangs in the air.
Key Information
Morganna was once a disciple of Avaritia, a sorcerer obsessed with power and greed whose hair was black as night. She sacrificed herself to stop him from destroying the town, that is now named after Morganna. Could there be a connection to the mysterious black-haired woman?
The elders know the word "Ginnugagap" — a Luminary term for the void, the nothing. The observatory was built to protect against it, though even the elders don't know much more than that.
The six statues at the moonlit spring appear to be knights who fought alongside Morganna. Their names: Gareth, Lamorak, Percival, Lancelot, and Galahaut. One statue is missing entirely. The lantern on Galahaut's statue burns with a blue flame...
The second half of the observatory key may be hidden in the swamp, guarded by a vengeful knight spirit. The late chief used to go there to challenge it.
Hyenakin have appeared deep inside Southern Tribe territory — far outside their usual eastern range. They use witherlings, undead creatures of their own making. Their presence this far in suggests something drove them here.
The mage Hyenakin escaped, but delivered a final message before fleeing: "Greetings from Lilith."
Grendel is heard murmuring in his sleep: "Kikita, Lauren, don't leave me!" A voice told him his walls are what's keeping him from finding what he's lost.