Quest 8: The Menagerie

You are relaxing in a bustling inn, regaling eager listeners with tales of your latest exploits, when a terrified shriek pierces the night. It is followed instantly by the unmistakable clash of combat.
Without hesitation, you spring to your feet and rush outside.
Chaos greets you. Panicked villagers are desperately trying, and failing, to fend off what looks like a massive bear. But even in the dim glow of late evening, you can tell there’s something wrong with it. Its hulking frame moves with unnatural stiffness, and there is the faint, yet now all too familiar, stench of death surrounding it.
There’s no time to study it further. You charge into the fray.
Despite your skill and experience, the creature’s wild, frenzied attacks push you to your limits. Just when it seems the beast might overpower you, it suddenly collapses, writhing in violent spasms.
You seize the moment to catch your breath and examine it more closely. At first glance it is, or at least it once was, a bear. But now, grotesque fusions of wood and other objects protrude from its flesh. You’ve seen this kind of corruption before, but never in something this large.
The convulsions stop.
Then, without warning, the creature explodes in a spray of fur, blood, and gore, drenching you and your companions. A wave of silence follows. Something unnatural is at work here. Whatever transformed this beast is nearby, and it must be found.
But first… you really need to get cleaned up.
Following the tracks left by the bear-thing was not a difficult task. You stand before a nondescript cave not far from the village. This is not the first time a simple cave has held deeper, darker secrets and you doubt it will be the last. For now, though, you prepare yourselves and head inside.

Expansions Needed: Beasts of Enveron (recommended, but can be played without)

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