He saw many people complain about the dire situation and watched as others prepared their luggage, aiming to move to a different place to live in.

[Faolan, should we also take it?](?)

[Leave it, Mairi! You don't know what's been infected. The lighter our cart, the faster we can leave these forsaken lands behind us.](Faolan)

[I've lived here my whole life. I can't just pick up as easy as you...](Mairi)

[We'll make home wherever we are, love. This is just a place—a dying and cursed place.](Faolan)

Hearing the couple mention the curse, Michael made another note of it. It wasn't the first time he heard people talking about it.

As he moved between the houses, a fishy smell assaulted his nostrils, and he quickly found the source. A small lake was neighboring Tirmair, and the anglers were checking their nets.

[The lake ain't providing as she used to, Pa.](?)

[Telyn...](?)

[You always said that the key to fishing is patience, but it's been weeks since we last caught anything worthwhile...](Telyn)

[We'll catch something, love. Have patience and believe in our ancestors. They won't turn away from us.](?)

On the pier, he found Niall, one of the Quest-givers of Tirmair. The man looked lazy and didn't appear to be an angler like the rest of the people here.

There was something off about him, but Michael couldn't put his finger on it.

"Waiting for someone?"

[Not something, but someone. Someone like you, in fact.](Niall)

"Oh?"

[You look the worldly sort. Would you be able to travel to the Under the Fat Goose Inn in the Highland Wilds and let Torben, the Innkeeper, know that Niall will be there shortly to settle his tab? I likes me a drink, see - and that place has the best ale in these parts.](Niall)

"I'll see what I can do. Tirmair is pretty isolated from the rest of the world. No wonder you go for drinks somewhere else."

[Mhm. It takes something special to live out here. Something hard. Those without it flee back to the more 'accommodating' walls of Cerrigar.](Niall)

Accepting the Quest and leaving the sleazy man behind, Michael continued his inspection. While the anglers were catching fish in their nets down by the pier, back in the village, their wives were gutting and cleaning their catch, preparing it to be cooked or smoked.

[I remember when these waters were teeming with life. It seems we would never run out.](?)

[It's fine, Sennig. Aneira is performing the druidic rituals and trying to contact our ancestors. Hopefully, we can regain their blessings.](?)

[Perhaps we were too greedy. Is this our punishment?](Sennig)

Michael made a note to contact Celeste again after collecting enough information. He searched for this Aneira. Judging by the beliefs of the villagers he had discovered so far, this woman should be a Druid.

And surely enough, he found her next to the Waypoint performing a ritual in front of a white tree.

[ A druidic altar adorned with painted runes that serve as a place of worship for the Old Ways. Despite only catching a few clean fish, some souls still chose to offer their day's work to their ancestors. ]

With the Sanctuary's introduction, he calmly watched the woman perform the ritual.

[Ancestors, spirits, hear my pleas. The land, she is sick, and we desperately need timely intervention from your gracious hands. Heal our beloved loch, our once prosperous lands.](Aneira)

The prevalent emotion in her speech was desperation. It appears that this 'curse' everyone was talking about, as well as the 'corruption' he saw on the deer and the fish, was indeed spreading and affecting the lives of the villagers.

Thinking of Lilith passing through here, the Necromancer kept silent and watched the prayer end.

[Ancestors, spirits, heed my calls. Corruption wreaths our forests, our fields, our trawls. What ill did we cause to deserve this bane? What can we do to receive favor again?](Aneira)

Watching the woman drink from a bowl and then lay on the ground, she soon fell unconscious, probably because of the concoction. Curious, Michael activated his energy vision and was shocked.

The tree extended tendrils of energy into the woman's head, surprising him. He initially wanted to intervene and help the Druid but soon realized that Aneira was probably receiving guidance after asking for it.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Those surrounding her carried her back to a place to rest, making the Necromancer unable to know what answer the ancestors gave. So he could only activate the Waypoint.

Upon doing so, he heard a very interesting conversation, and his Main Quest was updated.

[The whole forest has gone mad!](?)

[We're not going out there again.](?)

The first person who spoke was a Knight who took off his armor, trying to nurse a bite wound on his right hand by bandaging it. The woman was the second person to answer.

According to the Sanctuary, she was Knight-Captain Razzia and had information about where to find Nafain.

"Excuse me for interrupting. I am here on a Quest from Donan, searching for something important. Have you seen a demon pass through these parts?"

[There's a horned woman in the Moors, spreading corruption, if that's what you mean.](Razzia)

"Yes. She's after the druids who vanquished Astaroth. Can you please tell me more?"

[Ah. That madman Nafain lives out there. We already tried checking on him. Got as far as the Boglann Stone Circle, and then the Druid's wolf companion appeared and bit one of my men.](Razzia)

"A wolf companion? Was it the silver one?"

[Yes. I'm already short on Knights. Not going to risk what I have left on some bastard who hates the Cathedral.](Razzia)

"Do you know why Nafain hates the church?"

[Nafain sees us as intruders stealing from his land. But how does he expect us to survive!? We need timber to build. Ore to forge our weapons. Wild game to eat. Truth is, I think his hatred for us goes back to Donan. They were friends once, but they had a falling out.](Razzia)

"Do you know what happened between them?"

[Not sure, but I met the Druid once. I was riding through the Moors, minding my own business, when he came up and spoke in the beast-tongue. Caused my horse to throw me. I broke a leg. Hasn't been the same since.](Razzia)

Michael had to admit that it was a dick move. Taking his anger out on innocent people was childish and stupid, regardless of the reason for his anger.

Also, the wolf he heard about was Nafain's companion. It was a good idea to keep the beast in mind as if he had tracked it in the woods, it could have led him to the Druid.

[Honestly, I don't care what happened between them. I'm just glad Donan came to his senses and broke it off with the brute.](Razzia)

"Can you give me the general location of where you traveled?"

Sharing his MAP with the woman, she marked the trail they took until they met with the wolf and retreated.

Thanking the Knights, he went into the Inn to grab the last Quest before venturing outside the village walls again.

On his way there, he saw a child talking to his mother, holding a frog in his hands.

[This looks all right, Ma! Do you think we can eat it?](?)

[I'll try anything at this point. Clean it like I taught you, bring it here, and I'll hang it. Has to be better than these fetid fish.](?)

Entering the Inn after giving a short report about Tirmair to Celeste, she heard the woman sigh on the other end of the connection.

It appears that the woman had it rough, and finding out about these two places suffering from famine pushed her to shove the idea of a road between Scosglen and Fractured Peaks down the throats of the relevant merchants.

Ending his conversation with the representative, he caught the end of something interesting being discussed between the people enjoying food and ale. Greeting the Innkeeper, he quietly paid attention to what everyone was saying.

[Bah. People whine about the smallest things. So the harvest isn't as bountiful as before? It happens. Cycles or something. Didn't Aneira mention it tens of times? What curse?](?)

[You drunk too much again, Hamish.](?)

[Get lost! As if I could get drunk with this pisswater!](Hamish)

[Should I not serve it to you then, Hamis?](?)

[Ugh... Sorry, Seona. I've probably drunk more than I thought...](Hamis)

Smiling at Michael as she handed him a cup of ale, the Innkeeper Seona sat on his table.

"This town seems to be struggling."

[Yes. It is only a matter of time before the people of this town move on. Even the ancestors won't answer our pleas.](Seona)

Seeing the sad look on the woman's face, Michael drank some of the ale and continued fishing for more information.

"Do you get many visitors?"

[We don't get many travelers anymore. Folk are afraid to come near the Moors, let alone Timair. They say we're cursed.](Seona)

"Anything interesting happened recently?"

[Your patronage is appreciated, Wanderer, but you won't find much here. Something's tainted the land. She won't provide for us like she used to.](Seona)

Watching the hostess leave with a downtrodden look, Michael finished his cup of ale and walked toward the cook, who was also a Quest-giver.

On his way there, his attention was grabbed by an interesting list, which the Sanctuary helped identify.

[ A long list of out-of-stock items. It stands as a timeline for the decay of the land as the items change from obscure ales to more common items like deer meat, fish stock, and honey. ]

Walking to the cook, Meav, he greeted the lady politely. After chatting with her for a while, he dove straight into the heart of the matter.

"You have a worried face, elder. Is there anything I can aid with?"

[Aye. The fly swarms plaguin' us. We've done all we could: burnin' corpses, coverin' open water, rubbin' ourselves with Gallowvine. Barely done any good.](Meav)

"Didn't the rest of the people deal with them one way or another?"

[Folk have had heavier worries on their mind, but the flies bit our last milkin' cow to death. The problem ain't going away by ignorin' it. I have some coins saved if ye can help with the infestation.](Meav)

Accepting the Quest, Michael got up and prepared to head back out into the wilderness.

He looked over the three Quest details he got once again to better decide what route he should take.

[ Side Quest issued - Of Pests and Pestilence

Objective: Exterminate Stinging Swarms in the Shrouded Moors (0/75)

Description: Stinging Swarms in the Shrouded moors are plaguing the poor inhabitants of Timairs, wreaking havoc on both crops and livestock. A village elder, Maev, hired you to help exterminate them.

The Swarms seem to be concentrated in the Blood Vale. ]

[ Side Quest issued - Settling the Tab

Objective: Speak with Torben, the Innkeeper

]

[ Side Quest issued - An Acquired Taste

Objective: Collect Thorn Beast meat (0/12). ]

The Swarms and the Thorn Beasts were west of the town, while the Fat Goose Inn was south.

Nafain's general location was in the eastern woods, so Michael decided to leave him for last since it would be the most time-consuming one.

'Let's kill the pests and bring them back some meat. It should alleviate the most immediate problems before Celeste intervenes as she did with Corbach.'

The skies were darkening, but it was still not even lunch yet. Worrying about having to endure the rain and wet clothes again, the Necromancer got on his horse and made haste for his Quest objectives.

Finding the Thorn Beasts and hunting them was easy. Since they were considered Quest Items, Michael stored their corpses in the inventory for the hunter to deal with.

The fly Swarms were more annoying, as he had to travel across the entire damn plains for over two hours before he was finally able to complete his Quest.

'I think I killed more than 140 Swarms, so hopefully, that calms things down for the town. As for the Thorn Beasts, I hunted around fifty of them. I would've tried getting more, but my Quest inventory is full. There's also this carving I found. It seems like I must meet with Artair again.'

During his hunt, he found a small chest hidden in the trunk of a tree, which he would've overlooked if the Sanctuary hadn't pointed it out for him.

[ Side Quest issued - The Wrong Hands

Objective: Bring the broken carving to Artair

Description: You should bring the broken carving back to Artair in Wraithstead just in case it is part of another druidic totem. ]

Sighing and not wanting to deal with another werewolf infestation, he added a meeting with the Druid to his schedule.

With two of his four Side Quests handled, he returned to Tirmir to hand them over.