With everyone in agreement, the party continued exploring the outskirts of the cabin, finding similar creatures hunted nearby.
There was a bear, a hog, and a deer, all three of which were killed in a very brutal fashion and then left on the ground to rot.
Fortunately, the group quickly found one of their objectives in coming here. The 14th Altar of Lilith was hidden in a small clearing near the cabin, with its entrance blocked due to some fallen trees.
After activating it, Neyrelle nodded and gestured toward the distant lodge.
Having Pathfinder scout the way, the group made it to the suspiciously silent location without encountering any enemies.
And, obviously, that immediately changed when the Reaper stood in front of the open door, with three Worgen pouncing and tearing him to pieces.
Clearing the Worgen was pretty easy, but it was strange since they found two more Thorned Beasts inside the lodge, with no signs of them having fought the Worgen.
"We'll enter. Be on guard and stay behind me since I have the highest Armor and Life Points between us. Tia, you take the backline. Neyrelle and Evelyn cast buffs, stuns, and debuffs if enemies suddenly attack us."
[[[Understood.]]]
As soon as they stepped foot into the lodge, the Quest Event changed.
[ World Stronghold Event update - Moordaine Lodge
Objective: Find the Lodge's missing hunters. ]
Cautiously looking around, they explored the small wooden lodge, only finding a freshly torn corpse - probably dead for less than five hours judging by the blood on the floor - and a book slightly soaked in the unfortunate fluids.
Gesturing for the trio to move closer to him, the Necromancer looked at a part of the wall that appeared more worn than others and had his Reapers and Golem guard in front of it.
'If this was a proper game, that wall should be easily demolished and might even hide some treasures. But since it's the world of Sanctuary, I'm afraid that nothing good would come out of it...'
Approaching the dead body, Michael used the system to identify it, hoping to gain some clues.
[ Badly torn Hunter
The wargs almost tore this hunter to pieces. Though some of the bite marks on his corpse appear... human? ]
Raising an eyebrow at the ridiculous description, the Necromancer immediately denied the possibility of cannibals crossing into Scosglen without Celeste and Beatrice finding out.
The problem was...
"Enemies ahead!"
With the 'signal' given, two Worgen Elites smashed through the weakened portion of the wall and crashed into the minions.
Michael immediately applied Decrepify on them, followed by another string of debuffs from Neyrelle and Evelyn, while Tia threw poisoned daggers from afar.
Using Quarterback's taunt to keep them in place, the Necromancer followed up with Corpse Tendrils and Corpse Explosion while checking their details.
[ Tainted Warg (Elite) - Level 57
*Plaguebearer: Upon death, detonates its Corpse and soul to deal 620 fixed damage, as well as 130 Poison damage per second, for a duration of four seconds. ]
[ Shattering Warg (Elite) - Level 57
*Frozen: Summons four balls of frost. Upon explosion, they freeze and deal 280 fixed damage in a two-meter radius. Enemies affected by the explosion are afflicted with the Frozen debuff. ]
Seeing the modifiers, Michael gestured to the trio to leave the lodge since they would take crazy damage if the first Elite exploded and they were caught in it due to the small space.
Fortunately, after both Elites died, the cabin wasn't blown to pieces due to the Plaguebearer modifier, even if the walls looked much worse for wear.
With quick steps, Michael and Neyrelle both reached to grab the book on the ground, with the Necromancer slapping her hand away since the covers were smeared in human blood.
Seeing the brat glare at him, he rolled his eyes and showed everyone the content.
[ Blood-soaked Journal
'If anyone finds this, leave this place. Something unnatural stalks these woods. It's slaughtered five of us already.
We're going to head south and hope the animals don't...' ]
Due to the pages being soaked in blood, that was all they could read from the last entry.
Michael stored the journal in his inventory and gestured to the broken portion of the wall the Wargs came through.
Before they left, the Necromancer used Raise Skeletons three times to replenish his lost Reapers and another to heal their lost Life Points - since they all endured the Tainted Warg's explosion.
With Pathfinder taking the lead, closely followed by Quarterback, the group immediately found another small camp filled with small tents and hides put out to dry.
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In front of one of these tents, another dead hunter was lying on the ground.
Pointing at the dead person while gesturing for everyone to be on guard, Michael used the system to find clues about this second victim.
[ Punctured Hunter
Thorn Beasts don't kill for amusement, but the amount of quills in this hunter implies otherwise. What made them so aggressive? ]
[Enemies incoming!](Evelyn)
Surprisingly, the little Druid was the first to sense the enemies this time around and even conjured a barrier of wood to rise from the ground, blocking the incoming quills.
Two more Elites were attacking the party, this time, Thorn Beasts.
[ Grave Thorn Beast (Elite) - Level 57
*Waller: Manipulates the soil to create a wall around the target, blocking it from moving from a certain area. ]
[ Cold Thorn Beast (Elite) - Level 57
*Cold Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 190 Cold damage. ]
With their ambush failed, Michael didn't give the enemies time to respond. Using his Golem's taunt, he drew them closer and followed up with Reap, Corpse Tendrils, Decrepify, and Corpse Explosion as he entered melee range.
The Thorn Beasts tried retaliating with more ranged attacks, but the Reapers took the full brunt, allowing their scythes to carve the bodies of the two Elites.
"These two are also dead. Hmm... going by this pattern, if we find a third corpse, you should prepare for another ambush."
And he wasn't wrong, as five minutes later, a third body was discovered.
[ Mauled Hunter
This hunter's state is clearly a bear's handiwork; his innards are strewn across the clearing.
It looks like the beast played with its food long before it began to eat it. ]
The bear Elite was easy to get rid of since it chose the biggest one in the party as its target, allowing the others to pummel it as it clawed and bit the Golem.
Suddenly, an intense sense of dread crept up Michael's spine, prompting an almost primal roar to leave his mouth.
"Use your Invulnerability skills! NOW!"
Scared, the three girls immediately did as they were told. A thick wooden barrier covered Evelyn, Tia vanished into the shadows, and Neyrelle slammed her mace into the ground, prompting a curtain of light to encompass her.
Michael barely succeeded in casting Blood Mist when a giant beast tore through their ranks at incredible speed.
Gritting his teeth while noticing Evelyn's wooden barrier at less than 50% durability after only one attack and Neyrelle's light curtain in an even worse state, the Necromancer exploded two of the Corpses created through Blood Mist and left the third one untouched.
Quarterback roared, trying to use his taunt to distract the enemy, but it failed, signifying a terrifying outcome.
[ Beast of Moordaine (Boss) - Level 58 ]
Recovering his human form, Michael engaged in melee range while ordering his minions to do the same.
"Support me from behind. Tia, don't approach unless you are 100% sure you can immediately escape after attacking once. DO NOT try to chain skills in melee range!"
[ World Stronghold Event update - Moordaine Lodge
Objective: Slay the Beast of Moordaine. ]
Fortunately, the girls did as they were told. Neyrelle used a lightning skill to damage and stagger the Boss, allowing Tia to approach and use Backstab, taking away more than 20% of its Life Points through this simple rotation.
Immediately after, the petite Assasin melded back into the shadows, waiting for another opportunity.
Evelyn used one of her advanced skills, prompting branches and vines filled with thorns to grab hold of the werewolf's legs.
Noticing this opportunity, Michael fortified the crowd control skill with his own Corpse Tendrils, stunning the Boss for two seconds.
The Necromancer had to take two claws to the chest in retaliation, as the beast escaped once its Life Points dropped below 70%, stunning the party.
Taking a Healing Potion to drink while grinning at the undamaged Chest Armor, Michael felt his bruised ribs and sternum slowly recover.
[Are you alright?](Neyrelle)
[Wow! I can't believe you tanked those hits!](Tia)
[Hmm... the armor doesn't look damaged. Did you change it recently?](Evelyn)
Patiently answering the girls as the group rested, he allowed his minions to surround them in case of a second ambush.
Fortunately, the system confirmed his suspicions.
[ World Stronghold Event update - Moordaine Lodge
Objective: Pursue the Beast. ]
A small golden circle appeared on everyone's MAP, showing an area less than three hundred meters away.
Once the party was sufficiently rested, they started tracking the Boss.
It wasn't too difficult since the beast's legs were severely damaged thanks to Evelyn's skill, creating a trail of blood for them to follow.
Sickle in hand, Michael took the frontlines with Quarterback and the Reapers as they approached the Beast's Lair, as pointed out by the Sanctuary.
Seeing a large clearing ahead, he gestured for the girls to be ready to cast their invulnerability skills at his mark.
Though nothing happened once they stepped foot inside the clearing.
Pensively, the Necromancer moved ahead alone, trying to draw the Boss from its hiding.
Quite successfully at that, as once he was in the middle of the clearing, the Beast charged at him from one of the bushes.
Already prepared, Michael transformed into a cloud of bats, passing through the extended claws of the werewolf and through its body.
A small damage value and a Vulnerable effect were applied, courtesy of the Vampiric Curse effect.
However, the Necromancer chained his attacks with a Reap, Corpse Tendrils, Corpse Explosion, and his Ultimate, Bone Storm.
While Quarterback was also charging at the Beast, Michael parried its attacks with the sickle, trying to earn as much time as possible, drowning the Boss in the miasma caused by the first Reap.
Unfortunately, he couldn't stack multiple Corpse Explosions since Bone Storm consumed every Corpse that appeared to extend its duration, but it proved to be a good thing, as the two swirling masses of bones continuously assaulted the Boss.
With the trio's support from afar, the Beast dropped quickly to less than 50%, and that's when Michael finally had time to look at it properly.
[ Beast of Moordaine (Boss) - Level 57 ]
For some reason, the Boss lost a level, and when they re-engaged it, it was at full Life Points.
Not only that but now that it dropped under 50%, a strange demonic fog engulfed it, prompting the Necromancer to retreat in case it got a power-up and decided to shred him to pieces first.
Instead of a power-up, the werewolf slowly returned to his human form, appearing as a Druid with an unkempt appearance and scraggy hair.
[The wilds cannot be tamed! You are fools to try!](?)
[That's not right! Druids must maintain the balance of nature! This is not balance!](Evelyn)
[What does a youngling like you know about balance!? I, Fionnir, have...](Fionnir)
Seeing its enemy status remain, Michael didn't allow it to continue its exposition of its tragic backstory, and instead attacked with all he had.
The mad Druid tried summoning beasts to level the playing field, but Neyrelle and Tia quickly disposed of them.
This also confirmed that the beasts that killed the hunters were under this Fionnir's influence.
Evelyn grew angrier upon realizing this and immediately turned into a large bear as soon as she saw the mad Druid doing the same; as the two clashed, Michael continued stacking Corpse Explosions, and each tick dealt more than 10,000 points of damage to the Boss.
Less than five minutes later, Evelyn's parge paw smashed Fionnir's head, effectively killing the Boss.
Transforming back into her human form, the little Druid looked at her dead 'compatriot' who went astray and shook her head.
[I don't know what happened to you, but what you did is inexcusable. Rest now...](Evelyn)
Patting her head while wondering if he should've listened to the story before killing him, Michael collected the loot.
Everyone got a share this time, with one Legendary and three Rare item boxes entering every party member's pockets.
For him, it was a wand with decent stats, which he temporarily ignored as the system prompted them to wrap things up.
[ World Stronghold Event update - Moordaine Lodge
Objective: Rekindle the Wanderer's Shrine to re-conquer Moordaine Lodge. ]
Allowing the little Druid to do the honors, Neyrelle found the shrine location and watched as the trees, flowers, and grass around them seemed to vibrate after the flame was rekindled.
According to Evelyn, the Wanderer Shrine wiped away the demonic corruption, and even the ground where Fionnir was felled now had many plants atop it, successfully entombing the mad Druid.
With the Stronghold Event cleared and the only Altar of Lilith in the area claimed, the group traveled west toward their next target.