Wanting to understand the mysteries of their town better, the group decided to go see Jesame, the apothecary. She was now widowed but her older daughter was the girl who perished in the dungeon, Anawawd. Her younger daughter Sian is one of the town thains. Not wanting to overwhelm her, only Mordaf and Ed made the journey.

Jesame told them that the wild looking figure they’d seen was Clynog, that “him and his friends” the giant rats live in the woods. She pulled out a silver dagger and said we’d need a similar weapon to defeat Clynog because he was a wererat. He goes by the name Moongawell now. She said that the royal jelly from the bees that everyone just accepted needed to be smeared on doorposts around town was needed to keep such lycanthropes away. She reminded us that the three individuals who came back from the dungeon but then shortly disappeared were Clynog, Dewi, and Bedwyr (the son and daughter of Arthur and Luna). Clynog had been engaged to Jesame’s daughter Anawawd.

Back in town they purchased a silver knife and Cad got some silver tipped arrows. Relaxing in a hut they felt a chill in the room and the candle light flickered, as a hushed disembodied woman’s voice said this rhyme:

A rat, a rat, a turn-tail rat

a scaven, scratching thing

then glum and gloom

by silver moon

a rodent you shall be!

And with that, wet footprints led out the door! The fear in the room was palpable. Was this a warning? Or the curse that turned Clynog into a wererat?

Wanting to learn more, the next morning Aeodan, Mordaf, and Owain went to see the mage Ifayel who lived about a mile outside of town. It was known that he and his brother Fferog (one of the town thains) had gone down into the dungeon, returned, and never spoke to each other again. No one really knew what caused the rift between them. He was busy working in his garden but gruffly invited them in for a drink.

It was Ifayel who told them that his brother bore some responsibility for Anawawd’s death. That she was becoming quite a powerful witch before her death. He said that there was a trap in the dungeon that locks you in and fills with water. This trap was tripped deliberately by “the rat and his mistress.” Seeing their confused faces, he spelled it out: Anawawd, with her dying breath, put a curse on Clynog turning him into a rat. He was cheating on her with Bedwyr. Anawawd sadly drowned. This was deliberate murder.

After this enlightening encounter, Aeodan and Ed decide to speak with Anawawd’s younger sister Sian the thain. They found her training down by the stream. They told her the things they’d learned and that they felt a duty to do something to avenge her sister’s death or somehow right the wrongs. She cautioned them to be careful. To not speak of such things openly among others in town. That digging up the past may be extremely dangerous, and not to trust the town leaders. She trailed off with a question…perhaps the entire town was under a curse?