Outside the ruins of Wolfgare, the consortes meet with Kirke to report on their encounter with the queens Renah and Naome; Sir Hamral seeks his lord’s blessing to travel to Upchurch, which is given freely. Before departing Marcus sells his new war-horse, giving the proceeds to charity. Accompanying Hamral on the journey to Upchurch is Marcus, Owen, Sidrach, Vandoren, and Valerius; the rest of the consortes remain behind in Wolfgare to assist with the clean up.

At the insistence of Friar Sidrach and Marcus, on the way to Upchurch the heroes swing into the small village of Craston, where they have heard reports of a stillborn baby boy. At first the villagers are very suspicious, but when they realize that Marcus is the Lamarite, they grudgingly welcome the group. The Friar interviews the mother, Raedwyn, who is still weak and sick from her ordeal; he prepares an herbal tea for her restoration. The poor girl’s mother leads Valerius and Sidrach to where the body of the dead baby has been placed, pending a secret burial. Valerius discovers that the baby was badly deformed, with part of a second head, half-formed, growing out of its face. The Friar prays over the tiny body and the group presses on.

Sir Hamral finds Upchurch in mourning for the murder of their lord, Sir Aleck Rowland. Father Anselm, the parish priest, takes time from repairing the damaged Chapel of St. Lamar to retell how the Argusaries raided Upchurch, how Aleck held his ground and was slain, and how the Argusaries kidnapped several of Oswald’s children. Father Anselm also reveals that the Argusaries have been seen since the fall of Wolfgare, and that several children from surrounding hamlets have gone missing or been snatched in recent days.

Sir Hamral and the others pay their respects to the fallen Sir Aleck, who lies in state in the Chapel. Lady Alice tearfully welcomes Hamral and expresses her appreciation for this tribute to her husband. Alice offers Hamral her assistance and counsel, and in turn Sir Hamral vows to avenge her fallen husband, first by trying to rescue the children stolen from Upchurch—if they still live.

At the urging of Lady Alice, Friar Sidrach visits the veteran serjeant, Oswald, whose heart has been broken by this string of sorrows. Oswald explains that his oldest son, Leofric, had been badly hurt during the raid trying to protect his siblings, but the wounded boy is expected to recover. Oswald’s youngest girl, Tate, had hid during the raid and escaped unscathed. But the rest of his children—Elmer, Hilda, Osred, Audrey, Elga, and Bearn—have all been kidnapped, and the serjeant despairs of their fate. But when Oswald learns of Sir Hamral’s mission, the serjeant insists on accompanying the new master of Upchurch.

Meanwhile, Valerius makes several inquiries concerning the anatomy of the Dolorous Worm. Finding no ready answers, in exasperation Valerius sends a courier to Canglen and his old friend Clement, to see if the scholar can shed any light on the issue.

The next morning, a huge pile of timbers appears miraculously in the center of Upchurch, just what is need for rebuilding the manor. As the consortes prepare to leave Upchurch, they wonder who will watch over the holding while Hamral is away. Just then, a mighty armored figure on horseback rides into view: Sir Will Garnfellow, fresh from the campaign at Wolfgare, has come to pay his respects to the once and current masters of Upchurch. Garnfellow readily agrees to ward Upchurch from all harm while Hamral seeks out the missing children.

Thus assured, the consortes travel to Hillsfar, where they meet with Sir Petrus, the Seeker captain of the garrison. The veteran brother-knight tells how the Argusaries have been very active of late, harassing his forces. Several children have been stolen since the raid on Upchurch, including a couple taken from Marlwin only the day before. Petrus says that the Argusaries seem to be in the service of two powerful witches, young twins and daughters to Queen Naome. These two witches are said to wield fire and frost magicks and are considered to be very tough customers. Some people even say that these witches may fathered not by Argus but by something even darker still.

The group continues on to Marlwin. After interviewing the villagers there, and by examining the progression of the raids, the consortes guess that the next logical village to be victimized by the Argusaries would be Crayston, a few miles south.

Crayston is a tiny village on a stream, with a little mill and a mill pond hard by. After furtively observing the village, the consortes guess that the miller—a burly man with several young children of his own—would be a likely target for any raid. With this in mind, once night falls the consortes steal into town and set up an ambush in the mill.

Later that night, Achaela alerts the group that something approaches. Soon a large black cat, as big as a wolf, slips into the village, scouting out the miller’s house. A band of Argusaries then slips across the pond on a raft and walks directly into the consortes’ trap. Vandoren casts a charm that silences the troopers, and then uses his wand to send the strange cat yowling into the night. On the mill rooftop, Owen and Vandoren begin firing arrows and bolts, while Hamral, Oswald, and Marcus charge out from their hiding spots on the ground. Completely surprised, the Argusaries eventually recover their wits and fight to the death.

The consortes seize the Argusary raft and make for the other side of the pond, where Achaela picks up their trail and tracks them until daylight, when Noxumbra spies some smoke ahead. The consortes consider turning back, but press on instead and soon spy a small camp built on the ruins of an old ruckish hill-fort. The camp includes a tent for the witches, a small barracks for the Argusaries, and two separate stockades for boys and girls. A quick reconnaissance reveals that the two witches realize that something is amiss and with the assistance of two girls who act as their servants, are packing all up their belongs. The Argusaries, meanwhile, are engaged in training two of the captured boys.

The consortes quickly sketch out a plan and launch an attack on the camp. Valerius conjures up a great wall of iron that divides the camp in two; Owen and Vandoren steal up on top of the barracks while Hamral, Marcus, and Oswald charge the Argusaries; Sidrach keeps a close eye on the witches.

The battle is terrible and bloody. The Argusaries, hardly more than boys themselves, fight with great skill and fanatical devotion. Attempts to target the witches directly with spells or weapons are thwarted by the presence of innocent children so close. Inch by inch, though, the consortes tighten the ring around the witches. Valerius, invisible, conjures up wave after wave of horrible monsters while the warriors press on. The witches counter by calling up storms of ice and blasts of fire; Owen and Marcus are both badly hurt but continue fighting, while the brave Achaela is incinerated in one fiery conflagration.

Owen, exposed on the roof of the barracks, is in particular subject to many attacks from Argusary crossbow bolts and damnable witchery. Bloodied, burned, frozen, poisoned, and nearly paralyzed, the archer holds his position and persists in launching arrows at the witches while his comrades on the ground continue to make headway.

Finally, the witches make a last stand with a handful of their bodyguards. But Owen, nearly done for, lets fly a single arrow that strikes one of the witches straight through the eye, slaying her instantly. Her sister howls in fury, but Hamral soon makes quick work of the second witch, cutting off her head with a stroke of Legrand. The only surviving Argusary disembowels himself rather than surrender.

After a quick survey of the camp, the consortes discover that Oswald’s children are alive and well, and they are joyously reunited with their father. In the meantime, the consortes discover that something is wrong, terribly wrong with the bodies of the witches—some deviltry that betrays their inhuman nature. Beneath the clothes of the dead witches, in an unmentionable and impossible place, rows of snapping, pointed teeth continue to gnash and snarl. Repulsed by this fresh horror, the consortes quickly build a great bonfire into which they hurl the witches’ bodies, which are consumed with much howling.

All values are given as 3E experience points. The Roleplaying Award (RP) includes PBM responses as well as participation in the live session. Vandoren's Other Award is from Andy composing hymns to inspire greatness in the other characters.