Battlemap
Wolfskull Den
Pale-blue eyes stare from the stone wolf skull while cold air spills over the first worn step.
The Wolfskull Den is a compact cave lair carved into a rocky hillside, its entrance framed by a massive wolf skull arch with pale-blue stone eyes. Within, an abandoned study lies beside a recently used beast's den, revealing a werewolf torn between a civilized life and a violent curse.
Cold blue-grey light filters through cracks in the ceiling, catching dust above the worn steps. The air smells of wet stone, old leather, tallow, and the sharp animal musk of a den recently occupied. Water ticks somewhere beyond the walls, while distant claws scrape stone whenever the cave falls silent.
☠ Threat
Ket, the last hillside warden, now rules the deepest chamber as a powerful werewolf. He is not wholly lost, but every recent transformation has strengthened the beast and erased another piece of his former life. The dormant runes suppress him only slightly, and violence in the shrine or the study may trigger a full, furious change.
History
The cave was first cut into the hillside by wardens who guarded the old mountain road. They carved binding runes into the walls and placed a shrine at the center, using the den to isolate travelers afflicted by lycanthropy until a cure could be found. Decades later, the last warden, Ket, became infected himself and transformed the refuge into his prison and home.
Encounter Table
CRLean wolves with patchy fur and old scars, drawn from the surrounding hills by Ket's scent.
A fevered werewolf scout wearing scraps of traveler's clothing, recently bitten by Ket and not yet fully loyal to him.
A gaunt cave bear with silver scars across its muzzle, driven into the tunnels by the werewolf's hunting territory.
Rumours & Whispers
A wolf skull carved into the hillside watches travelers even when no moon is visible.
The old road wardens kept a cure for wolf sickness beneath the mountain, but the last warden took it into the cave and never returned.
People hear a man shouting names from inside the hill just before livestock disappear.
The pale eyes at the cave mouth glow brightest when someone carrying silver walks beneath them.
Quest Hooks
Quest giver: Bren, a one-eyed shepherd from the road hamlet
A shepherd vanished near the hillside, leaving behind a bloodied crook and tracks that change from boot prints to claw marks.
A purse of 120 gold pieces and the shepherd's recovered flock
Quest giver: Tesk, a blunt local apothecary
A scholar wants the old diaries recovered before looters destroy evidence of an early lycanthropy cure.
Three rare healing draughts and a formula for a silvered weapon oil
Quest giver: Garrik Holt, a road magistrate
Ket has begun stalking travelers on the mountain road, but the shrine's runes suggest he might be restrained or cured rather than slain.
A formal pardon, 250 gold pieces, and access to the magistrate's sealed archives
Quest giver: Old Hedd, a charcoal burner who knows the hillside paths
The pale-blue eyes of the entrance arch have started glowing again, a sign that something below the cave is waking with Ket.
A rare moonstone charm and a share of any recovered relics
Corridor Notes
Ancient rune bands run along the tunnel walls at shoulder height. Their marks are deliberate and legible as symbols, but they are dark, dormant, and worn smooth in places by passing bodies.
Deep claw grooves score the floor near the eastern doorway, ending abruptly at the threshold of the boss den.
Thin shafts of natural light fall through unseen ceiling cracks, illuminating patches of clean stone amid the dust.
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