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The Howling Hunger
Party
After the horde broke at Niðaróss, not every danger died with it. Worgs that had once been controlled, fed, or managed by goblin forces became hungry and scattered in the postwar wilderness. A party from Niðaróss went into the woods and found that hunger had become its own kind of war.
The first sign was almost small enough to miss: Bjorn Vigrasson investigated movement in a bush and shot a frightened rabbit with his hand crossbow, scattering nearby creatures. Later, the party met six wild worgs in a brutal fight. Vigr, Sally, Leif, Sigrid, Gunnar, Thok, Bjorn, and Toki all acted in the opening chaos. Three adventurers were knocked unconscious, one of them twice, but everyone survived.
The bodies told a harder story than simple animal aggression. The worgs were thin, underfed, and some still had rope around their necks. After resting, the party followed tracks to the remains of goblins and worgs at another fight site. It looked as if the goblins had been forcing worgs somewhere, but the truth was more specific: goblins were tracking escaped kennel worgs, trying to recapture beasts that had broken from their pens.
Smoke led the party uphill to the kennel camp below Stormroost. From a crest about a hundred feet away, they saw two campfires, one goblin at each, and a crude fence around a cave opening. Leif Arrowsong, Vigr Steinthor, and Gunnar Cloudfist approached to test whether the goblins would talk, while Sally Swift waited ready with Fog Cloud. The goblins were wary, weary, and hungry, asking the party for fresh meat. Leif tried to hunt for them and returned empty-handed.
While the uneasy negotiation continued outside, Toki Bramblecloak slipped into the cave. Inside, a goblin with his back to the entrance worked at a table. He was never identified by name, but he is now treated as a subordinate of Grishnak. Crude metal cages held two worgs along the far wall. Toki learned that the goblins had been experimenting with worg blood for potions and poisons, then escaped unseen.
Before the party could finish the kennel investigation, Sanura's Sending reached Sally: “Ásgeirr was murdered by poison. Niðaróss is in chaos–riots and fear everywhere. The unknown killer escaped. Stay safe. Please come help if you can.”
The party left the kennel area and returned to Niðaróss. The adventure ended there, but the clues did not. Hungry worgs, blood experiments, and Grishnak's work would lead directly into the poison mystery that followed.