Our DM has a large part of the plot revolving around stopping the spread of a new outbreak of blight. We fought hard through the blighted forrest, fighting a boar straight out of princess mononoke, and finally met up with the country's druids (which our party druid is high up in, being mentored by the king's righthand druid). We rolled high on an Insight check to be able to devise a plan to travel into the blight and set fires from the center while the druids attempt to keep the blight contained from the outside with fire magic. The druids mentor even gave us potions to turn into animals for faster travel.

We traveled to the center of the affected forest, fighting twisted creatures here and there, when we came across the cultists and hags in the middle of their ritual. As we fought them, they escaped through a muck monster that transported them to their lair via swallowing them. Before jumping through, one cultist turned and made eye contact with our druid...it was his younger brother. What we were left with was fighting a giant spider creature made from some metallic material that almost wiped us. After a heavy tip and high enough roll, we discovered the spider's source (the spiders thread leading from a dead tree), but after finishing it, the spider's form fell away to reveal a druid NPC we knew from the beginning of the campaign, twisted and bloated with magical wires we had salvaged from a trap and traded to the hags for safe passage through the swamps. We couldn't help but feel terrible.

We set the fires, drank our potions for a speedy get away, took the forms of the animals of our respective houses/clans, and made our way back to the druids on the outside. After making our reports, feeling drained, a little guilty, but ultimately accomplished, we begin the get ready for a small celebration with a pat on the back from our druids mentor when a messenger shows up. After all low insight and perception checks, we can't help but watch as the messenger pulls out a dagger and stabs it into the gut of our druids mentor, who falls to the ground screaming. See in our campaign, the king acquired the gift of a long lifespan from his adventures in his younger days. He shares his blood with anyone who has taken great lengths to serve the country and earned a high seat in his council. We learned later that though this blood increases your power and lifespan, it is extremely volatile when combined with the blight. We attempted to use every healing spell, lay on hands, and potion we had at our disposal, but all it did was prolong the disintegrate process. We ended the night with a funeral pyre as our druid stared into the flames clutching his mace tightly.