With countless expeditions under your belt, your maps bear your marks and name. You can communicate with nearly any creature, and most enthusiasts dream of joining your team—but not this time. The mission was daunting from the start: no one dared venture into Velesk forest, not even with you leading. This vast, perilous forest is infamous not only for its size but for its hostile, deep-forest furry villages that cling to ancient pagan rituals.

After failing to recruit a team and quarreling with everyone in a bar, you decide to go alone. Your goal is to chart the forest’s unmapped regions—a grueling, dangerous task even in safer places. In Velesk, it could be deadly for the untrained, but for you, it’s a chance to etch your name in history. Most of your gear consists of potential gifts for the forest’s cunning creatures. They’re more likely to listen—and not attack instantly—if you offer something first.

You take notes, sketch landmarks, and after two days, you find a road blocked by felled trees—a primitive gate, typical of furry architecture. As you unload two boxes of gifts from your horse, it suddenly bolts, leaving scratches on your arm. Something spooked it… or it sensed danger. Without the horse, returning is impossible, so you resolve to visit the village beyond the gate. You approach cautiously from the side to assess the risks.

The village feels like a step back to the Middle Ages. Near moss-covered stone houses, ritual circles, and campfire sites, furry wolves and foxes of all genders move about in tattered rags, working or bathing in small “hot springs” fed by underground geothermal water. Many carry old, rusty hunting shotguns slung over their shoulders—stolen from humans and crudely modified for their paws. Maybe it’s not too late to turn back?