Mask Campaign Chapter 3c: Bait

   The party, wounded, exhausted, and nearly friendless, will be trying to survive the night while being hunted by small groups of plague weres. The may also fear that they have been infected, which they may be.

   The city watch will have its hands full this night and may attack the players by nervous accident or for violating the curfew. Eventually they will be brought in for questioning during the night or the next day when they show themselves.

   They will not be treated like prisoners but they will be asked to give up their weapons, captain Kangran having dealt with them in the past will come in to see them. Kangran will ask the party for their version of the events and mention that the few surviving eyewitnesses mentioned the wolf creatures trying to kill the party specifically.

   Kangran mentions that so far they have had no reports of individuals killed by the plague weres coming back to life like the plague zombies. However some of those bitten have become sick and may yet turn. These people are being given a higher priority by the overworked priests curing diseases. All the bodies at the inn burned so no one from there appears to have turned.

   Kangran will ask the party for information and perhaps recommendations. Eventually he will decide that, for their own good, they should stay at the watch headquarters, i.e. in protective custody. The players may protest but there likely is not much they can do about it. They will be given nice comfy cells to sleep in and brought food of the same quality the guards eat. Kangran will apologize but mention that he is doing it to protect them.

   Unfortunately plans never seem to work the way we want them. That night the weres come out killing anyone they come across but looking for the PC's especially. Eventually the station is attacked by a group of 15 plague weres, Malchor has created more in another tavern. The watch officers will be unprepared to be attacked in their home base and will be mowed down like wheat. The players must free themselves and get to their weapons and fight, escape or die. If they cannot escape the cell Kangran can return and let them out so they can help, "better to die fighting than in a cell" he states. By the time the weres reach the players, and Kangran perhaps, there are 10 left.

   The party can fight all the creatures or, if you feel this is too tough, hold out till reinforcements come. Eventually the creatures are driven off or killed. The next day will bring a planning session involving the players, Kangran, some other watch officials, a member of the guild of churches, and a representative of the king.

   The tired looking priest will state that the guild has discovered through divinations that a priest of (insert evil god of disease and poisons here) has caused all this chaos and death. The king's man will be somewhat disbelieving that this huge death toll can be the cause of a single man. An argument over what to do will break out. Eventually Kangran or the players must bring up the obvious solution which is to use the party as bait.

   At this point Kangran will tell all he knows of the situation and allow the players to decide if they will help in this way. Assuming they agree, if not they can be forced into it with threats, a plan will be decided on to clear out the market place early, and bring the party there just before dark. Well prepared groups of soldiers and city watch will be set up to defeat the plague weres but those that flee will be followed back to their lair so they can all be wiped out. Seems simple!

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