In the quiet, unassuming town of Dessaquest, nestled at the edge of the vast and ancient Verdantwood, a newcomer has set up shop. Markus Veldan, a rugged yet charismatic butcher, arrived just months ago, opening The Iron Cleaver, a meat distribution business specializing in high-quality wolf meat. A boon to local taverns and traders, his affordable and seemingly endless supply quickly earned him favor among the town’s restauranteurs, hunters, and weary travelers seeking hearty meals. But as the town prospers, an unseen horror festers beneath their feet.
Unknown to Dessaquest ’s residents, Markus harbors a gruesome secret beneath his shop. A hidden passage in his cellar leads to a vast underground chamber—an unspeakable farm of captive werewolves, shackled in enchanted iron restraints. Unlike natural wolves, werewolves regenerate when wounded by mundane weapons. Markus has mastered a brutal cycle of harvesting: severing their limbs and carving flesh from their bodies, knowing that within hours, the wounds will close, and the creatures will be whole again. Kept weak through starvation and constant mutilation, the werewolves are fed their own severed flesh to keep them alive, while Markus sells the surplus to an unsuspecting town.
At first, the townsfolk simply noticed an increase in illness. Feverish shivers, confusion, and night terrors became common, but none suspected the source. Then, the symptoms grew worse—some victims reported unnatural cravings for raw meat, their nails thickened, their eyes gleamed unnaturally in the dark. Whispers spread of travelers disappearing on the road, only to return days later, changed—feral, snarling, their minds lost to madness. The local healer, Sister Evelyn, has connected the outbreak to those who have recently dined on wolf meat, but with no proof, she is struggling to convince the town of the looming horror. Worse yet, some townsfolk have already begun to turn, transforming under the light of the full moon, their bodies twisting into half-formed monstrosities, caught between man and beast.
The players are drawn into this nightmare when they arrive in Dessaquest to find the town in a state of paranoia. Those who fall ill are quarantined, but at night, horrific howls echo from locked homes. The town’s mayor, Roderic Halloway, desperate to contain the panic, offers the adventurers a bounty to track the source of the disease. Leads will point them to The Iron Cleaver, where Markus—playing the part of a hardworking merchant—will attempt to deceive them with charm and reasonable explanations. But investigating further will reveal unsettling details: the meat never runs out, no hunters supply the shop, and the cellar door is locked with a heavy iron chain.
The adventurers must uncover the grisly truth and put an end to Markus’s horrific trade. Whether they expose him publicly, force him to reveal his lair, or storm his underground farm in secret, they will face a nightmare of regenerating werewolves—driven mad from torment and disease. If left unchecked, Dessaquest will fall, its people transformed into an unstoppable horde of feral beasts. The question remains: will the players end this horror, or will they too become victims of the mad wolf plague?