The Arrow Went Up, Not Over

The party barricaded themselves in The Salty Ostrich and rested as screams and carnage echoed through Snowglen, then fled under cover of darkness toward Kaelor's home—only to find it ransacked and Torvald's family claimed by the same horror that had consumed the village.

Healing Hands and Whispered Voices

Kaelor, driven by an inexplicable urge, placed his hands on the critically wounded Torvald and cast a healing spell—an ability he had never possessed before [1]. When questioned, Kaelor admitted he had no idea how he had done it, describing a voice whispering instructions during the tavern battle, urging him to find "her" and head south, following the light. Lucia, uncomfortable with talk of voices, redirected the conversation to practical matters: gathering supplies and deciding where to go next. Kaelor proposed traveling to his home to retrieve equipment, and the party agreed to move together.

Barricade and Silence

The party spent ten minutes quietly barricading the tavern's doors and windows with tables and chairs, then settled into the cold, darkened space. Lucia cast Alarm and took first watch while the others attempted to rest on the wooden floorboards. As the party fell silent for the first time since arriving in Snowglen, the wind howled outside, mixed with occasional screams, the sounds of flesh tearing from bone, muffled growls and scratching, and a gleeful, terrifying laugh as something ripped a victim's head off. The sounds gradually eased after twenty to twenty-five minutes but did not stop entirely. After roughly an hour, the party completed a short rest and prepared to move under cover of darkness.

Flight Through the Forest

Kaelor led the party through the forest toward his home, avoiding populated areas and heavy-traffic routes. Lucia heard a sharp snap of a twig approximately thirty feet away and readied her bow, but saw nothing. The party pressed on through the foothills and smaller forest copses along the eastern mountains, encountering a clearing where a child had built a snowman and spotting an abandoned-looking building ahead. As they rounded the building and prepared to cross an open break toward Kaelor's home, they discovered the front door had been bashed inward, the lock mechanism and doorframe damaged by great force [2].

The Doll and the Greatsword

The party rushed inside and found Kaelor's home completely trashed but empty of inhabitants. Kaelor frantically searched for his belongings, ripping his bed from the wall and tearing up the floorboards to reveal a hidden lockbox containing a small book, a Greatsword, Javelins, and a Pendant. He retrieved the weapons with visible apprehension, whispering an apology to Elira Vael as he handled the Greatsword, which felt heavier than its physical weight should allow. Kaelor then tore apart the rest of his home, searching desperately for something he could not find. When Lucia tried to calm him, he slapped her hand away, insisting he could not leave without it. Vaelan observed that the destruction appeared almost staged, suggesting someone had broken in searching for something specific. Lucia eventually found a small Handmade Doll—years old, with matted hair, a loose eye, and a tattered dress—buried in the rubble near the door [3]. Kaelor stopped dead upon seeing it, trembling with an intense stare, and pleaded with Lucia to give it to him. He took the doll, closed his eyes in relief, and tucked it under his chainmail against his chest.

Ambush in the Logging Grounds

The party departed Kaelor's home and moved north through the tree line toward Torvald's home, staying in heavy snow for cover. As they crossed the logging grounds using the mill for cover, Vaelan's foot broke through snow into a hollow created by tree roots, causing a loud crack and sending snow flying. A low growl emanated from approximately thirty to forty feet away, and The Turned rounded toward the party. Kaelor proposed a distraction—casting Light on one of Lucia's arrows to draw the creatures away—but the plan failed as the creatures charged. One of The Turned stumbled into a snowdrift and landed prone at Lucia's feet; Torvald struck it with his newly acquired flail, caving in its head with a devastating blow. As the creature dissolved into green sludge, Torvald was exposed to poison and suffered the poison condition. The battle intensified as more Turned emerged from the tree line. One creature charged Kaelor and slashed across his stomach, then pierced through his chainmail and dealt a second blow to his chest. Kaelor fell unconscious, collapsing into the snow as his life fluid began to flow from his body [4].

Papa?

As Kaelor lost consciousness, he heard a small voice calling to him from the void—a figure he recognized, asking if he was coming. Kaelor succeeded on a death saving throw and regained consciousness with vitality remaining, awakening face-down in the snow. Spurred by the vision of the figure calling to him, he stood up with tears rolling down his face and swung his maul at the creature attacking Torvald, striking it with tremendous force and nearly cleaving it in two. Lucia marked another creature with Hunter's Mark and stabbed it in the neck with her dagger, watching the gore pour through as it collapsed and dissolved. Meanwhile, one of The Turned grabbed Torvald with one hand, its claws sinking into his shoulder, then drove its other hand through his chest before casting him aside. Vaelan stabilized Torvald with a medicine check, and Kaelor picked up the unconscious dwarf, threw him over his shoulder, and ordered the party to run toward the forest edge for cover.

The Voice's Claim

As Kaelor carried Torvald through the forest, Lucia fed him a goodberry to revive him. As Torvald swallowed, he experienced a pins-and-needles sensation and heard the same voice that had previously granted him power, now warning that his family had been taken by the voice's master and suggesting he seek knowledge in the south [5]. Torvald regained consciousness with vitality and, in shock, told Kaelor to put him down. The party retreated into the tree line and out of sight, hearing in the distance the sound of timber crashing, a shriek, and chaos, followed by a loud snarl, a wailing scream, and then silence. Torvald, driven by the voice's claim about his family and unable to live with himself if he abandoned them, insisted the party press on to his farm to see the truth with his own eyes.

Torvald's Home

As the party approached the northern parts of Snowglen toward Torvald's home, the village fell into an eerie silence. Torvald caught peripheral movement and glimpsed a small hand moving through a window, then saw Visaria—the child he had helped earlier that morning—emerge from the house with strange red eyes, extended claws, sharpened fangs, and skin pulled tight against her face. In the open doorway behind her, the party could see Visaria's mother with her throat ripped out clean, her body littering the floor. Torvald whispered "Forgive me, child" as Visaria shuffled away. Hesitating before his own home, Torvald broke into a run in panic, stumbled, and slammed against the side of the building with a loud boom. He thrust open the door and crossed the threshold, bolting upstairs to search frantically through the rooms. In the small dining area, Torvald found his mother slumped against a cupboard, her face frozen in confusion and shock, her hand across her stomach holding in most of her lower intestine, her blood turned brown and black from prolonged exposure [6]. A small marked keg sat on the table alongside a half-full tankard that Torvald recognized as his father's. Torvald placed a hand on his mother's head, cut a lock of her red hair with a knife, and wrapped it to place inside his coat, saying his piece in Dwarfish over her body. He gathered his father's armor plating from upstairs and made his way out of the home, pausing in the doorway to look back at his mother's body and express his realization that he now understood why his father had done this to her.

Dyrbov's Refuge

Vaelan led the party toward a barn across the farmyard, holding a flaming ball aloft as a torch. Halfway there, he observed candlelight flickering violently in the barn's doorway, with a figure moving in front of it. A figure in spectacles and a long coat with graying hair emerged from the barn—Dyrbov Michalovich, a gentleman Kaelor and Torvald knew from Snowglen—pleading with the party to come inside and warning that "they" are coming back. The party entered the barn without questioning Dyrbov's presence, and he closed the door, pulling a massive beam across to lock it with Kaelor's help. Inside, hay bales and food supplies were visible; Dyrbov appeared flabbergasted to see anyone who was not dead or turned, and warned that the party did not understand how close they were to the threat. The party reached 2nd level.