Unknown to everyone except the werewolf, there is a magic bond between Elaine and the creature.
This magic bond was forged during a chance encounter in her childhood, six years ago. Lost and frightened in the Gallian Forest, Elaine stumbled upon the wounded creature. Instead of fearing it, she showed compassion and tenderness, tending to its wounds. In that moment of vulnerability and kindness, an ancient forest spirit intervened, sensing the purity in Elaine's heart. It wove a mystical bond between the two, connecting their souls. From then on, the werewolf could never bring harm to Elaine, and she unknowingly held the key to its humanity. This bond became a beacon of hope in the darkness of the creature's world, and helped it to restrain itself, which is why despite living in the forest for the past six years, he hasn't harmed any humans.
He grabbed Elaine either because she was moving away from his domain (in case the party left her with Geralt) or because she is becoming a woman (in case they returned her) and the magic will dissolve when she does.
The werewolf does know that she can make him human again, but he doesn't know how. He has been trying to figure it out for the past six years.
As the party enters the cave, the werewolf is trying to communicate with Elaine. As he is currently in werewolf-form (half man, half wolf, think Crinos form from the WoD game), that is pretty tricky and, so far, unsuccessful.
Each character should roll social when they enter:
| Social Roll | What they see: |
|---|---|
| critical success | The werewolf seems harmless, and Elaine unafraid. It appears as if the werewolf is trying to tell the girl something, with grunts and gestures, but she doesn't understand. |
| full success | The werewolf is grunting and gesturing at the girl and you can't make out what this all means. He doesn't seem bend on eating her, at least not right away, but you can't make out if he is trying to tell her something or scare her. |
| partial success | The werewolf menacingly growls at the girl that is pressed into a far corner of the cave. She seems desperately trying to understand what he wants from her, if there is something she can do for her life to be spared. |
| bad outcome | You see Elaine pressed into the far corner of the cave, with an expression of desperation and hopelessness on her face. The werewolf is growling at her menacingly, and is swinging his claws through the air in front of her, clearly intimidating her. Any moment he could jump and slaughter the girl. |
| terrible outcome | You come into the cave just as the werewolf prepares to mercilessly slaughter the girl, who apparently for a fleeting moment managed to escape his grasp, but is now pressed into the far corner of the cave, with no way to escape. Her face is full of desperation and her eyes have lost all hope. |
The party can Fight or Parlay with the werewolf. If they do nothing, he will turn to them within seconds and while his fangs are bared as he intended to scare off whoever is there, upon seeing a group of fully armed adventurers, he will stop in his tracks. This is the second chance for the party to charge him, if they act immediately. If they don't, he will stand down and start gesturing to them. Roll social again. Anyone who rolls a full success will understand that he is making gestures of peace.
As GM, don't give them explicit choices at this point. Describe the scene. If the werewolf turns around, describe his bared fangs and his hesitation, breathe out and in once, and if none of the adventurers shout that they attack, simply continue.
Unless, of course, you have established a "no interrupting the GM" policy, in which case you must make it clear that they have an opportunity to act.
The werewolf is a tough opponent. His base stats are:
His claws and fangs count as weapons and do moderate harm.
As Elaine is his magical connection to humanity, he will fight to the death. If he wins, he will drag them to the Forest Spirit.
If the party stops to communicate, roleplay a scene of difficult communication with someone who understands about half of what you say and can only grunt and gesture with animal paws. It is frustrating.
But, it should be possible for the party to understand two things:
If they agree to follow him, the werewolf will bring them to the forest spirit, who will explain the bond and history to them. The spirit will also explain that in order to regain his human shape, the werewolf will need to prove himself trustworthy. Elaine has to spend the night in his den, sleeping near the creature. If she is still alive in the morning, the werewolf will wake up as a human.
Everyone here is trustworthy, though the players and characters may think differently, especially if there was a fight.
Elaine is willing to spend the night. If she does, the werewolf will be turned back and turn out to be a (by now) 40 year old man from a different village. He will part ways and return to his village. He has nothing he can offer except his profound thanks.
If the party convinces Elaine to not risk it, or takes her by force, the werewolf will stay cursed. He will attempt to stop them, by force if needed. He does not realize that the curse will only be broken if Elaine stays of her own free will.