After arriving in Groveton just in time to discover the naked corpse of one of the missing knights. That night, the entire party minus Friar Sidrach watches and listens for the laughing devil. A couple of hours after midnight, in the midst of a ferocious thunderstorm, weird howls and laughter can be heard from the dark forest. Valerius somehow makes a torch float down by itself from the wall and drift towards the tree line. Whatever is in the woods seems to take notice of this trick, and some unidentified objects are thrown at the mysterious, floating torch. Eventually the torch gutters and goes out in the rain, and the party calls it a night.

The next morning Mendelor discovers some tracks, but rain has washed away most of the details. Mendelor speculates that several creatures had been out in the woods the night before. Several huge arrows—almost four long—are found, suggesting the presence of some rather large archers!

While St. James oversees the construction of a surprise for these mysterious night visitors, the rest of the party scouts around the nearby woods. The forest is strangely quiet, with almost no signs of animal life. The scouts turn around early, so as not to be out after dark. That night, a dead calf is placed as bait before St. James's covered pits. The weird laughter and howls begin again, but they are soon followed by a sudden shriek of pain. When the party investigates, they discover three bizarre creatures, shaggy and man-like, but over seven feet tall and with dog-like heads. Hamral soon proves himself as adept at slaying dog-men as he is at dispatching dogs. Clement calls these three monsters "hyenanthropes."

The next day the party explores the woods, and encounters a couple of hyenanthrope patrols. After some hard fighting, the party slays all the monsters. They also discover what looks to be a ruined village, taken over by hyenanthropes. However, the party plays it cautious and return to Groveton.

After a night's rest, the party returns to the ruined village, but cannot agree on a course of action. The hyenanthropes post a large guard at the gate. Some party members argue for a head-on attack, while others prefer a more covert assault. While this debate rages, a hyenanthrope patrol surprises our adventurers, and the patrol raises an alarm. Hyenanthrope guards from the ruined village respond—although strangely, vicious swarms of hornets and bees seem to hinder the guard's advance. In the perilous melee, both Mendelor and Hamral are severely wounded—Hamral brought to death's door. The party uses up its healing waters and the precious Tears of Arleans. A very weakened party votes to head back.

After rest and recovery, the party returns to the hyenanthrope village. A scan with the orb reveals that the rear of the village is largely empty, and the entire party steals in through the rear. A ruined barn, the largest structure in the entire village, still has some hyenanthrope guards, and the party surmises that this must be an important building. St. James and Clement dispatch two guards. The third is quickly overcome by the fighters before an alarm can be raised. But the barn seems to be empty! A search reveals a secret trap door in the floor; after another vote, the party descends.

In the foul, dark tunnels beneath the village, the party discovers a shrine to some blasphemous power. Anyone who approaches the shrine feels sick. A little further down the tunnel, the party finds several of the missing villagers, toiling alongside ruck-men. Several hyenanthropes oversee the slaves, and when they spot the party, they cry for help: soon more hyenanthropes sally forth. The very large and strong hyenanthrope leader appears to be among the reinforcements, and a furious battle follows. Several hyenanthropes, strangely enough, have a hard time holding on to their weapons, but nevertheless the abominations give the party a hard time of it. Hamral and Mendelor are able to beat the hyenanthrope leader down, but, before he can fall the leader drinks a potion: suddenly our fighters find their weapons are useless on the monster!

A greatly weakened party, having freed all of the captives, retreats before this seemingly unstoppable horror. Valerius decides to hold the tunnel while the rest of the party escapes, when suddenly a swarm of biting centipedes erupts from the walls and floor. These little things engulf the hyenanthrope chief, who howls with pain and rage. He soon expires, and the swirling, squirming carpet of centipedes quickly devours much of the chief's corpse.

The prisoners confirm that the fallen monster was the hyenanthrope chief; the prisoners then describe the rest of the tunnels. The party ransacks the chief's quarters. The party discovers some shillings, a couple gems, a few odd-looking copper coins, five curious little arrows, and a small vial identical to the one that contained the potion consumed by the chief. The party and the freed prisoners hurry back out of the village, and return to Groveton without incident.