(Where)

The adventure took place in several settings:

A) Dawnport Street's coachhouse.

B) Dawnport's Wilderness.

C) Hakon's Dent (Yes, with a T).

D) Raxxom, the Black Merchant's shop (It's the title of his occupation, no racism intended. Somehow this black market merchant has an established shop - to be investigated further in the future. The target was riled up by Takashi upon inquired about the origin of his clothing apparel).

E) Forest northwest of Hakon's Dent.

(Who did the party meet)

1. The party - Takashi, Clothilde, Gorbathor, Nara, Viliarra, River, and Henry.
2. The coachman.
3. Hakon, chief of Hakon's Dent.
4. Raxxom, the Black Merchant (see setting E above).
5. Shadow Dire Wolves.
6. Spirit Troll - somehow retains it's regenerative powers despite no longer having a body. ​
7. Minions of Subject 6 - they appear to look like cats with two tails.

(What happened)

Subjects 1 received dreams about a person clad in heavy armor (Henry) asking for help while being attacked by a shadow dire wolf​. Recurrence frequency of dreams are unclear, with some subset of Subjects 1 claiming they received the dreams multiple times. ​The only other thing that stood out in the dream was the name Hakon's Dent (see Setting C).

Somehow Subjects 1 (sans Henry) showed up at Setting A at the same date and time, managed to rent a coach (steed is supplied by the ritualist ​Takashi) from Subject 2, and makes their way through Setting B uneventfully, reaching Setting C.

Setting C appears to be mainly populated by Lupins​, under the leadership of Subject 3. Subject 3 appeared to be busy when encountered, leaving with what could be described as a pack of Lupin warriors, but not before exchanging brief words with Nara, his niece.

Nara made straight to Setting D after meeting Subject 3. Subject 4 indicated Shadow Dire Wolves in general can be found in Setting​​ E as the veil between the Material and Feywilds planes are thin there.

The party spent the night for free, courtesy of Subject 3, and left for Setting E on first light.

Reaching Setting E, the party found Henry's head (without any other body parts,​ but Henry was still alive) surrounded by subjects 5. Subjects 1 also realizes they were being observed, but unable to pinpoint the observer.

After defeating Subjects 5 and recovering Henry's head, Subjects 1 realizes they are still being observed. Henry collapsed from relief​.

Kejora went on to investigate the observer's tracks, when a fog clouded over the Subjects 1, and soon find themselves split into ​party:

>Subjects 1a - Kejora, Takashi, Viliarra, River and Henry.

>Subjects 1b - Nara, Clotheshilde, and Gorbathor.

Subjects 1a was confronted by Subject ​​6, which later summoned Subject 7 when near death.

Subjects 1b was confronted by more of Subjects 5, and later on Subjects 7 joined the fight. However, Subjects 7 soon left them alone as they were summoned by subjects 6.​

Throughout the fight, Henry's body managed to find their way to Henry, reattaching and reassembling themselves.

Upon defeating the enemies, Nara brought their corpses back to Dawnport with help from the party.

Kejora's Ballad #8 - The Fangs of Shade Lupus

In dreams there came an armored knight,
And Shade Lupus in the night,
The knight whispered clear through fear and mist:
"Seek Hakon's Dent, lest hope be missed."

From Dawnport's coachhouse seven rode,
With Takashi's steed along the road,
Through wilderness both wild and vast,
To Hakon's Dent they came at last.

There Hakon led the Lupin folk,
With niece Nara he briefly spoke;
To a curio dealer the party sped,
To learn where shadow wolves were bred.

At dawn they sought the northern wood,
Where veil and Feywild thinly stood;
There Henry's severed head they found,
Still living on the forest ground.

Dire wolves were slain, the head reclaimed,
But unseen eyes upon them remained;
A creeping fog then split the band,
And split friends through tangled brush.

Takashi, River, Henry too,
With Kejora and Viliarra drew
The wrath of a Deathless Troll at bay,
Whose two-tailed minions then joined the fray.

Elsewhere Nara, Clothilde, and Gorbathor stood,
Against more lupus shade within the wood;

Upon steel and and fang their foes shred apart,
Henry's body found its missing parts;
Bone and flesh to head were bound,
And once more whole the knight was found.

The victors gathered corpse and spoil,
Then left behind the haunted soil;
Back to Dawnport's streets they came,
With tales enough for lasting fame.

Location

• Dawnport Street's Coachhouse
• Dawnport Wilderness
• Hakon's Dent
• Raxxom's Shop
• Forest northwest of Hakon's Dent

Encounters

• Kejora — A very familiar face by now. Somehow, our paths continue to cross on increasingly strange adventures.
• Takashi — A familiar companion, and apparently our source of transportation this time.
• Clothilde — Bold enough to charge directly into a den of Shadow Dire Wolves. I am unsure whether to call that courage or something else entirely.
• Gorbathor— A fellow companion on this rather unusual journey.
• Nara — A Lupin with a rather... enthusiastic family greeting. I learned that their howling is best appreciated from a distance.
• River — The familiar alcoholic charmer. Somehow still charming.
• Henry — The armored man from our dreams. Meeting him as a living, severed head was... not how I imagined our introduction.
• Hakon — Chief of Hakon's Dent and Nara's uncle.
• Raxxom— A rather suspicious merchant whose wares I may have been a little too curious about.
• Shadow Dire Wolves ​— Creatures seemingly connected to the Feywild.
• Spirit Troll — A troublesome creature that somehow retained its regenerative abilities despite lacking a proper body.
• Two-tailed creatures — Strange cat-like minions summoned by the spirit troll.

Journey Entry #3

It began with a dream shared among several of us: an armoured man calling for help while being attacked by a shadow dire wolf, with only the name Hakon's Dent to guide us. Somehow, we all gathered at the coachhouse and set off together. After persuading a citizen to part with a map for half the asking price, we reached Hakon's Dent and met Nara's uncle, Hakon. Their howling greeting left me deaf for the remainder of the day—a cultural experience I could have appreciated perfectly well with less enthusiasm. We later visited Raxxom for information about the shadow wolves. I admit I became curious about his wares and poked at something I probably should not have. He made that quite clear. Eventually, we learned that the wolves could be found northwest of the settlement, where the boundary between our world and the Feywild grows thin.

The forest proved considerably less pleasant. After becoming somewhat lost, we followed tracks that led us to Henry—or, more accurately, Henry's severed but inexplicably living head—surrounded by shadow dire wolves. Clothilde charged into their midst, and the rest of us followed into battle. I spent much of the fighting trying to keep everyone standing, particularly Nara, who seemed determined to undo my efforts by repeatedly approaching death. After recovering Henry's head, a strange fog separated our party. My group was confronted by a spirit troll and its two-tailed minions while the others faced more wolves. Somehow, during all of this, the rest of Henry's body found its way back to his head and simply... reassembled itself. We defeated the creatures, gathered what remained for investigation, and returned to Dawnport. Against all reasonable expectations, the quest was apparently a success.

Personal Note
I am beginning to think the Guild has a rather generous definition of a successful quest. I spent a day deaf, got lost in a forest, found a talking severed head, fought something already dead that refused to stop healing, and somehow we all returned. I suppose that counts as success.