GUILD OF LOST LORE · ENCOUNTER DOSSIER SL-E-002
The wolves may be dead but the hunt lives on.
Every night, fog pours from the forest and settles around Nighthollow. Doors are barred. Lanterns are shuttered. Then the howling begins and pale shapes run through walls as though the village has already become a graveyard.
The Howling Shadows of Nighthollow is a ready-to-run supernatural encounter for four or five 1st-level characters. The party must defend a remote village from a spectral pack, keep protective ward lanterns burning, and decide whether to destroy the Direwolf Wraith or uncover the memory binding it to the living world.
AT A GLANCE
Party
Four or five characters
1st level
Duration
60–90 minutes
Two phases
Opposition
Two Spectral Wolves
One Direwolf Wraith
Pressure
Fog, phasing
and failing wards
THE SITUATION
Nighthollow has survived three nights by hiding
The village occupies a clearing surrounded by dense woods. Its people once hunted the forest freely, but three nights ago the first pale wolf crossed the northern field. Livestock were found cold and bloodless. A shepherd vanished from a locked cottage. Each night since, the pack has returned closer to the village center.
Old Mara Venn, the village lamplighter, remembers a protection used by Nighthollow’s founders. Three iron lanterns around the central green can hold the dead at bay if they burn with oil, salt, and a spoken name. The villagers can prepare the lanterns, but fear has made them slow and disorganized. The party arrives with less than an hour before moonrise.
The last strip of daylight disappears behind the trees. Fog slides between the houses in long, pale fingers. One lantern flares blue. From somewhere beyond the nearest roof comes the scrape of claws against stone followed by a howl that passes through your chest without touching the air.
Encounter objective: Keep at least one ward lantern burning and prevent the Wraith from reaching the village shrine. The party wins by destroying the Wraith, breaking its tether, or holding the green until dawn’s first light weakens it.
BEFORE MOONRISE
Give the party three preparations
Each character can complete one preparation before the attack. Multiple characters may choose the same task. A successful check grants the listed benefit; failure costs time but creates no additional penalty.
Strengthen the wards
DC 11 Intelligence (Arcana or Religion). One lantern gains 5 temporary hit points, or two lanterns each gain 2 temporary hit points.
Organize the villagers
DC 11 Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation). Once during combat, three villagers act together to relight a lantern or pull one endangered villager to safety.
Search the old kennels
DC 11 Wisdom (Investigation or Survival). The character finds a silver collar tag engraved with the name Harrow. Speaking the name within 30 feet of the Wraith suppresses its Terrifying Howl until the end of its next turn.
THE BATTLEFIELD
Three lanterns hold back a moving fog
Ward lanterns: Place three lanterns 30 feet apart around the village green. Each has AC 10, 5 hit points, and immunity to psychic and poison damage. A burning lantern sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius. An undead creature within that light cannot use Incorporeal Movement and loses any benefit from the fog.
Relighting: A creature adjacent to an extinguished lantern can use an action to relight it. A character carrying oil or using magical fire may do so as a bonus action.
Moon fog: Visibility beyond 20 feet is lightly obscured. At initiative count 20, move one 15-foot patch of dense fog up to 20 feet. The patch is heavily obscured. Bright ward light disperses any dense fog entering its radius.
Village structures: Cottages provide cover and block movement for living creatures. Spectral wolves can pass through them, but doing so costs extra movement. A bell tower beside the shrine rises 15 feet and provides a clear view over the fog.
ENCOUNTER PHASES
Let the threat reveal itself in stages
Phase One: The Pack Tests the Light
Two Spectral Wolves enter from opposite sides of the village. One attacks an exposed character or villager; the other tries to extinguish the most isolated lantern. They retreat through cottages rather than remain surrounded.
At the end of round two, the bell rings once without anyone touching it. Every flame turns blue. The Direwolf Wraith appears at the forest edge.
Phase Two: Harrow Comes Home
The Wraith uses its first turn to howl, then moves toward the shrine. It attacks only creatures blocking its route or carrying the silver tag. Surviving wolves attempt to extinguish lanterns and knock defenders prone.
If the Wraith reaches the shrine while every lantern is dark, it regains 5 hit points and the party loses the chance to end the curse peacefully.
Ending the curse: A character adjacent to the shrine can use an action to place Harrow’s silver tag there and make a DC 11 Intelligence (Religion) or Charisma (Persuasion) check. On a success, the Wraith remembers its name and becomes incapacitated until the end of its next turn. A second successful attempt ends the curse, causing the entire pack to dissolve into harmless mist. Each failed attempt causes the acting character to take 2 (1d4) psychic damage.
THE SPECTRAL PACK
Spectral Wolf
Medium undead, unaligned
Armor Class 12 · Hit Points 9 (2d8) · Speed 40 ft.
STR 12 (+1) · DEX 15 (+2) · CON 10 (+0) · INT 3 (−4) · WIS 12 (+1) · CHA 6 (−2)
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4 · Damage Resistances cold, necrotic · Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned · Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 · Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
Keen Hearing and Smell. The wolf has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Incorporeal Movement. The wolf can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Ward light suppresses this trait.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage, and the target cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Direwolf Wraith
Large undead, unaligned
Armor Class 13 · Hit Points 22 (4d10) · Speed 50 ft.
STR 15 (+2) · DEX 14 (+2) · CON 11 (+0) · INT 5 (−3) · WIS 13 (+1) · CHA 10 (+0)
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4 · Damage Resistances cold, necrotic · Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned · Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 · Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Incorporeal Movement. The Wraith can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Ward light suppresses this trait.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) necrotic damage.
Terrifying Howl (Recharge 5–6). Each creature of the Wraith’s choice within 30 feet that can hear it must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of its next turn. A creature adjacent to a burning ward lantern has advantage on the save.
RUNNING THE PACK
Make the wolves feel unnatural, not invulnerable
Appear elsewhere
Use walls and fog to change attack angles. Do not use phasing to make the wolves untargetable for entire rounds. They emerge to attack and remain available for retaliation.
Attack the wards
A wolf adjacent to a lantern may attack it instead of a character. This forces decisions without adding damage. Telegraph the choice by describing blue flame streaming toward the wolf’s jaws.
Protect the first level
Avoid concentrating every attack on one character unless that character deliberately blocks the Wraith. A single critical hit can decide a 1st-level battle; spread the fear before focusing the damage.
ADJUSTING THE DIFFICULTY
Scale the number of decisions before the damage
For three characters or new players
Begin with one Spectral Wolf, give the Wraith 18 hit points, and have the prepared villagers automatically relight one lantern. Do not use the shrine healing effect.
For six characters or an experienced party
Add a third Spectral Wolf at the start of round three. It enters beside an extinguished lantern, or near a lit one if one isn’t extinguished and spends its first turn attacking the ward rather than a character. Increase the curse-ending DC to 12.
AFTERMATH & WORLD BUILDING
Harrow was once Nighthollow’s guardian
The Direwolf was bred to protect the village and died defending its people from something that came out of the northern wood. Years later, a frightened hunter disturbed Harrow’s grave and stole the silver tag from its collar. The theft awakened the guardian without restoring its memory. It returned to Nighthollow knowing only that danger was near.
If the party ends the curse peacefully, the tag becomes a Warden’s Token. Once before the next dawn, its bearer can gain advantage on one Wisdom (Perception or Survival) check made in a forest. Afterward, it remains a silver keepsake worth 15 gp.
If the party destroys the Wraith, the villagers reward them with 40 gp and a silvered dagger kept beneath the shrine. Nighthollow becomes a safe haven, but Mara worries that Harrow had been responding to a real threat. Tracks beyond the old grave lead north—and they do not belong to any wolf.
SET THE VILLAGE
Draw a place the party cannot defend all at once
Place the shrine at the center of a 90-foot village green. Arrange three ward lanterns in a broad triangle. Add four cottages, the bell tower, two narrow lanes, and forest along at least two map edges. The characters should always be able to see more than one problem and reach only one of them immediately.
SL-E-002 can be placed in any isolated settlement near an old forest, battlefield, or burial ground. Change Harrow’s history and the threat in the northern wood to connect Nighthollow to your campaign.
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