3E451/03/17 - Wulfgang and Fieldor are traveling via carriage through the foggy forest around Tromden, which has been in lockdown due to some plague. Wulfgang is mean to the driver, who stops to check something on the road. Fieldor steps down to check, and sees the driver talking to two people walking on the road ahead- Voriak and Ethera. The four decide to travel ahead on foot as the carriage wheel is busted. The driver stays behind to fix it. Voriak says that Wulfgang is a bit of a beacon, and the driver is gonna die. Later ahead, as Wulfgang flirts with Ethera (who shuts him down by mentioning her husband) they see another figure sitting ahead by a campfire- John, the Baptist. The figure has been lost in the forest for days, sent from Tromden to get help. He forces Voriak to reveal her face before partnering up with them, leading them back towards the city. They hear opera-like singing along the way, which fades. Soon enough, they encounter a group of people who ask them about "Mother's song" and serve her. As Fieldor and John lie to them, they catch their lie and proceed to attack. Everyone makes quick work of them (Voriak starts her cold crimson rite on her zweihänder), before Wulfgang and John start arguing at gunpoint until Fieldor defuses the situation. They hear the song again, coming from a winged source. The corpses telekinetically float up and their biomass transforms into weird monsters. After dealing with the beasts, they quickly run towards the city, talking about their reasons for going there while they do. They reach Tromden, John talking to a knight he knows, as well as the right hand of the church, Lawrence Brightburn, who explains the plague origins and lets them in after he's explained about all that they witnessed. They conjecture that the song controls the infected. They head towards the chapel through the alleyways to stay out of sight, dodging and sneaking through various routes. They get to the church's back entrance, but the knights on the roof shoot at John and Voriak thinking that they're infected, until John runs up to stop them. In the church, Voriak heads up to the altar to talk directly, but then Wulfgang starts making a ruckus about her necklace and her mother that he believes the church has killed. Lawrence kicks down Wulfgang after Fieldor fails to calm him down. Head Priestess Altia Blitzgott recognises them as hunters (and animals), but recognises Fieldor as a far traveler. She explains that a year back, a ship crashed on the dock with an insane crew, and a caged monster. She brought it in, and experimented on it- until it broke out three days ago and began spreading the plague. She believes that she has a breakthrough to fix this, but they need to hunt the creature down. John rips off his mask, revealing himself to be a woman, Joanna. Wulfgang apologies to Joanna, and demands reward money in addition to the pendant for completing this. They rest at the church for the night.

3E451/03/18 - They head towards the city square, and start to follow the singing, and find a freshly turned horde. They retreat to the square, Joanna thinks that Wulfgang biting everything would've infected him, but there are no immediate symptoms and Ethera casts a warding spell on him. They hear the song towards the dock, running at full sprint as Fieldor and John track it down. John shoots at the creature, who shrieks and starts flying. They chase it to the northern city gates, but the knights there claim that they didn't see anything. Fieldor thinks that they might be infected, as Voriak sees the creature's tracks and tracks it down by the riverside, heading into a cave around late night. They find a smaller and slashed version of the creature, dead in the river. Fielder recognises it as an aberration, as reported to him- this is the first one that was reported, with flexible stony skin and black-ish blood leaking into the river- Likely the source of the plague. Ethera channel's everyone's magical energy into herself to purify the river. However, they're followed by the big one- The Mother. Voriak heads up the stairs, looking back at Ethira and transforming into a werewolf. Ethira explains to everyone that she can control it, and not to worry. They start to fight the creature, Voriak headpatting Wulfgang for his successful javelin hit to start her lightning crimson rite on her claws. Ethera helps by calling lightning. The Mother summons more creatures to help her, but Voriak fends them off as Joanna, Wolfgang, and Fieldor (with his hail of thorns) take the Mother down- not killing her but knocking her out and tying her up. They head back with the creature.

3E451/03/19 - As they reach the mud gate by dawn, Voriak turns back to normal, as Wulfgang attempts to flirt with her as well. They don't see any guards on patrol, but hear marching. They see the infected and the beasts marching towards the city square - following them to find Altia sitting on top of a pile of bodies. She laughs and begins to explain her breakthrough, as Joanna refuses to believe that she's bad. She reveals that she can control the infected and beasts perfectly. She seems to want to be the new queen of the city and land, spreading this plague across Aurial to bring 'peace', as Joanna wants to be on her side- although Wulfgang holds her back for a bit. Wulfgang is still concerned with her pendant, but Voriak has a vow to take down people to misuse blood curses and monstrous curses like this- transforming into a werewolf. Fieldor was only concerned about taking the aberration home, but realizes that Altia is becoming one herself. As the four stand against Altia, Voriak warns Joanna that she stands with them or against them. Lawrence yells at Joanna to bring some sense into her. She realizes that this isn't Vertum's will, and shoots Altia, beginning the fight as Lawrence calls on the knights to help. Altia summons more beasts to help her, as Voriak starts her lightning crimson rite on the zweihänder. They all start to fight Altia, as she uses radiant bard spells against them. She manages to control Voriak using dominate person, Voriak turning around to stab through Joanna. Eventually Fieldor breaks Altia's concentration, snapping Voriak out of it. Altia takes to the sky with her aasimar transformation. She shoots down at Wulfgang with her radiant arrows, as one of the beasts almost kills Ethera. Voriak jumps to the beast to save Ethera, killing it and using the blood curse of the fallen puppet to cause it to walk to its ally beast and attack it with a deadly attack. Fieldor and Joanna continue to shoot her down, as Wulfgang takes a deadly necrotic blight attack. Ethera heals him on the condition of him not flirting with her again, as Wulfgang attacks the beast next to him. Voriak runs and jumps up, coming down and taking Altia back down to the ground with a zweihander attack, as Joanna takes advantage of it and gets the killing blows on Altia. The infected return to sanity, while the full beasts are lost. After many losses in the city, it is saved. Later in the church, Lawrence says a few words and tries to take over the church, when Wulfgang convinces him to make Joanna the new matriarch of the church. Baron Lorentz shows up to apologize about failing as a leader. Lawrence gives the pendant back to Wulfgang, who drops to his knees and breaks down, sobering up. Ethera thinks that she had froze up and wasn't that useful, but the rest build her up. She invites Fieldor and Wulfgang to join her and Voriak as Blackreyne hunters, as Wulfgang's fighting prowess and Fieldor's research into aberrations would be incredibly useful. Voriak explains about all the sins she committed before controlling her werewolf form, and that she has a similar vow of preventing power-mad maniacs much like him. Fieldor accepts, joining the hunters. Ethera thanks Voriak for being the best partner she's had, as she pats her head. Wulfgang is conflicted between sticking with the hunters or helping the church, as Joanna makes him sure that nothing would happen between them. Regardless, Wulfgang opts to stick in Tromden and join the army here. The Baron leads them outside, as the townspeople cheer for the heroes. As they talk about the losses, Voriak says that the human would overpopulate within two generations- to which Joanna sadistically says that she would not let that happen. Ethera leads Voriak and Fieldor deep into the mountains, to Fort Blackreyne.