THE SHADOW WOLVES OF MIEREDOR
TTRPG Campaign Inspiration:
Supernatural Story Hook
☾ A bloodied, swaying figure approached camp. From the looks of things, it’s going to be a fight or a long night spent dealing with whatever baggage comes with this wanderer.
You look up at the night sky, then back to the Golden Tower of Mieredor. It still radiates a warm glow, like a fire obscured by trees. A deep breath in, and as you exhale, you are on your feet ready for whatever’s coming.
A moment later and the moonlight has hit the intruder’s face. It’s not even human. It’s a zombie, and that means the blood glistening from its body is likely someone else’s.
There’s something else here, a rope tied around the zombie’s neck that connects around the gory hollow where a waist used to be. Oh look at that, there’s a satchel tied to it that says “Read me” in blood. “What a wonderful touch to such a lovely scene,” you hear someone shout from the left of you.
It’s the camp’s cook and nature expert, Cala, and she wastes no time in taking the satchel from behind the zombie. With a deft couple of passes of her chef’s knife, the rope is severed and the satchel has hit the ground.
The zombie groans, and seems to notice the removal of its burden. It collapses without a fight. You’re no expert, but it looks truly dead. Un-animated, at least.
She tosses it to you since you’re the ranking member at camp. The others in the guard have left to hunt this evening, leaving you and Cala to prepare the remaining ingredients for tonight’s meal.
You open the satchel, finding inside a letter and a small onyx carving of a wolf.
It’s addressed…to you. You read it out loud to Cala for comfort, if nothing else.
“Meet me tonight at midnight. Follow the uphill path behind the Whelgrave Manor’s garden labyrinth. You are chosen by the Shadow Wolves of Meiredor to reclaim their rightful place in the Golden Tower. By your endeavors, this curse turns to blessing in time. Hold the dark wolf, shift your shadow self into wolfshape.”
“What curse?” Cala shouts.
You try to answer her. “The King’s previous guard, punished with lycanthropy for refusing his depraved and catastrophic orders. The Shadow Wolves are the shapeshifting shadows of werewolves, once men.”
She cuts you off sharply. “You’re trembling. What else has this zombie brought down upon us tonight?”
You don’t answer just yet. The thoughts collide like exploding universes inside your mind. It feels like your mind is on fire.
The letter’s handwriting is without a doubt, your dead brother’s. Leiollun, commander of The Golden Wolves. Could it really be him?
☾ So, how will you proceed?
Prepare for travel to Whelgrave Manor’s garden labyrinth.
Wait for your fellow soldiers to return and tell them what happened.
Enlist Cala’s help and sneak away from camp. [This will cost you some coin]
Recall your brother’s fate as it was recorded by the scribes. [Requires History check]
This must be a ruse. Investigate Cala and your other party members.
Leave.
Result: -
This hook was one that really made me think about worldbuilding again, something I stopped doing when my old D&D group found that point where schedules really didn’t line up, and the need to write homebrew content for my games fell by the wayside.
That said, I’m looking forward to start writing again, and fleshing out a couple of different worlds. I’m planning on using Obsidian (amazing app for this, amazing app in general, I LOVE it), but that’s a tale for another time. If it makes sense and I get to worldbuilding again, I’ll post about it. There is already so much rich information out there on how to set up an Obsidan Vault for ttrpg purposes, but I’d suggest joining their Discord server. There are sections there dedicated to the excellent combo of ttrpgs + Obsidian.
If you enjoyed this please consider taking a look at the store. No pressure, I appreciate you just reading this weird little story.
– The dude in the dungeon.