Solo playthrough - TSQ: Darkness Rising - Temptation Comes

Description provided by FiresideMeeple on YouTube:

Welcome back to Thunderstone Keep. It's hero's are ready to defend, as always, though they are not as you've seen other hero's before...! As the mass of bats descends from the sky once again, you lash out to strike one down, only to catch a claw from another to your right eye, causing you to pull back and drop the sword altogether. You turn to shield yourself, feeling the creatures batter your back as their calls echo in your ears. Desperate to hold your ground, you feel a fire well up from deep in your gut, as a primal roar erupts from your mouth. You lash out with a hand, catching one of the beasts’ wings, before grasping the other and tearing the creature in two. Your vision turns to red with the spray of blood, and your mind focuses only on to survival. You clutch at the bats with your hands over and over again in a raging fury. After a few moments, the swarm flies off, but your mind still races, readying you for an attack that never comes. As you stand there breathing rapidly, a woman screams in front of you. Through the haze of battle, you see the villager’s face staring at you in abject horror. As you try to steady the heartbeat pounding in your chest, you look down to see your bloodstained hands, now covered in dark, matted fur, fingers extending into pointed claws. You recoil from yourself, unsure what to think. “This can’t be real! …What’s happened to me?!” You turn to run from the street, only to be met by another enemy. Your blood starts to boil again, your urge to lash out rising once more until the figure reaches out to grasp your wrists with both hands, holding you fast and chanting very low. As he speaks, you feel a rush of calm wash over you, your vision clearing, your chest slowing until you collapse in the man’s arms, hearing his chants echo in your mind. After a moment, you rise again to shake off the haze to find Mirak, one of the hermits who live in the southern hills, standing before you. “Just breathe, Champion,” he says calmly. “You nearly lost yourself.” “How?” you breathe. “I must have been dreaming some--” “It was no dream, I promise you. This realm is filled with a dark energy; I can feel it whispering to us all, drawing out our inner beasts. If we aren’t careful, we might all be lost to its call.” “But where’s it coming from?” “I think that’s a pretty safe bet,” Ursulette says, walking up from behind. You turn to see her pointing over the watchtower in the center of the Keep to a castle rising up into the dark sky behind it. Like so many other things, it’s clearly part of the Ebonwood, not Thunderstone Keep. Your only hope for tomorrow is to follow the call, Champion. Just be careful not to lose yourself along the way... Music in the background from https://www.FesliyanStudios.com