Age of Worms

The Twilight Monastery
About two hours north of Diamond Lake, a towering crag called the Griffons Roost casts a dark shadow over the muddy road to Elmshire. From a perch hundreds of feet above looms the cat-infested Twilight Monastery, a three-towered monument to Xan Yae, the Lady of Perfection. Two score monks dwell within the monastery, dedicating themselves to a litany of exercises meant to perfect the body and spirit. The secretive monks hold dusk as the holiest of hours, and sonorous chants emit from the Twilight Monasterys central courtyard when the night sky appears in the heavens.

Foremost among the monks is Izenfen the Occluded, a peerless masked combatant thought to be one of the wisest figures in the hills. Travelers frequently seek her council, but most leave Diamond Lake without ever having gained access to the Twilight Monastery, for Izenfen deigns to speak with only a handful of pilgrims foretold to her via the agency of the night sky and an immense mirrored lens called the Censer of Symmetry.

Prerequisites: Heroic Destiny. An actual worshipper of Xan Yae has an easier time qualifying.

Location Activation: The Censer of Symmetry is a divination device that only works during a clear night, where the stars can be seen. The Censer grants any who gaze upon it a +10 bonus on Profession (astrologer) checks made during a clear night. Characters can make a astrology check to gain a zodiac benefit.
Special Ability (Su): Characters can use the Censer of Symmetry to gain answers as if casting an Divination spell by making a successful Profession (astrologer) check vs. DC 20. Each attempt takes 10 minutes. Characters can also learn the secrets of their zodiac sign by making a successful Profession (astrologer) check vs DC 25, gaining the benefits of the Heroic Destiny feat. Characters who already have the Heroic Destiny feat due to selecting it as a Insight benefit from character creation, gain a new heroic maneuver.

• Once per day, any effect that would reduce you to -10 hit points or fewer instead reduces you to -9 hit points and leaves you in a stable condition. Effects that kill you without reducing you to -10 hit points (such as death effects or disintegrate) function normally.
  

Duration: Characters who gained the Heroic Destiny feat continue to benefit until they fulfill their destiny.

What has gone before:
Previously, the adventurers of the Whispering Cairn found a mystery surrounding grave robbing and undead animation in the countryside of Diamond Lake. Their investigation led them to a gang of miners that work for Balabar Smenk, the most influential mine manager in Diamond Lake and most corrupt. After defeating and interrogating the survivors, the information led them to the Old Observatory where they had to come face to face with the necromancer Figle of the Bleak Academy. Ransacking the necromancer's lab, they found letters of exchange between Smenk and Figle on the topic of Figle's research, indestructable undead and Smenk's growing fears.

The adventurers then proceeded in their dungeon delving into the Whispering Cairn and learnt more of the history of the battle of Pesh between the Wind Dukes and the armies of the Queen of Chaos. Their most notable find of the dungeon is a well kept secret amongst themselves and a time lost dwarf. In the course of their exploration they were ambushed by Smenk's men and the sorcerer's familiar, the owlbear chick "Hootie" and the half-orc ex-con girl-friend Robbin were kidnapped. With their new time lost companion, the adventurers attacked Smenk's home.

The wizard Allustan, the so-called "smartest man in Diamond Lake," has spent many years researching local legends and lore. Recently, he's unearthed increasing evidence of strange undead creatures infested with tiny green worms stalking the hills south of Diamond Lake. The adventurers of the Whispering Cairn have run afoul of the mine manager Balabar Smenk and his manipulation of the law. They have only so much time before Sheriff Cubbin must undertake a manhunt for their heads. The one salvation to the adventurers is that one of Balabar Smenk's accountants has stepped forward to Allustan with information about an ancient temple hidden beneath the copper mine owned by Ragnolin Dourstone and Smenk connection with the terrors below. To save themselves from the law and to assist in Allustan's research, the adventurers must find a means to enter the Dourstone mine and travel down below to the hidden temple to find evidence of Smenk and Dourstone's criminal dealings.

The adventurers team up with Allustan's other employees and undertake a descent into the depths of the earth.

The Death and Resurrection Show
With the current method of experience, tally up the CRs, divide by the number of PCs and everyone gains a share. Everyone pretty much has the same experience pool. This method is used mainly because a number of the PCs have jobs or obligations that calls them away from gaming for either weeks or months. A new house rule comes into motion, which i shall be playtesting for the next couple of modules.

New Characters. Everyone shares the same experience pool. So a new character would have the same experience as a old character. To balance this issue, new characters shouldn't have better starting equipment. New characters begin with base starting funds by the Adventure's path chapter.

• Chapter 2: The Three Faces of Evil. starting funds: 2,700 gp
  
• Chapter 3: Encounter At Blackwall Keep. starting funds: 9,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 4: The Halls of Harsh Reflections. starting funds: 19,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 5: The Champion's Belt. starting funds: 36,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 6: A Gathering of Winds. starting funds: 66,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 7: The Spire of Long Shadows. starting funds: 110,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 8: The Prince of Redhand. starting funds: 200,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 9: The Library of Last Resort. starting funds: 340,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 10: Kings of the Rift. starting funds: 440,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 11: Into the Wormcrawl Fissure. starting funds: 580,000 gp.
  
• Chapter 12: Dawn of a New Age. starting funds: 760,000 gp.
  

Raise Dead, Reincarnate, and Resurrection Spells. Characters do not suffer a level penalty when brought back. Instead they suffer 2 pts of Constitution damage that remains for the rest of their adventuring career, which is stackable each time they are brought back to life.

Energy Drain and Negative Levels. After 24 hours, if the character succeeds in the save, that negative level is removed. If the save is a failure, the negative level is removed and the character suffers 2 pts of Constitution damage that remains for the rest of their adventuring career. Restoration and similiar spells may correct this condition.

The scroll that the PCs decipher from the Shrine of Vecna...

The secrets of this page are most holy. Know ye heretics who invade them that the eye of Vecna is upon you. If you read this, Theldrick, you have either slain me and doomed our cause, or the time is nigh for our final victory. At last the riddle of this place is solved. In ages past, a great being known as Kyuss rose above the petty warlords who fought and struggled for material gain. Mighty Kyuss is the herald of the Overgod. Soon, he will sound the clarion call to the faithful. The three sundered faiths shall be made whole.

The undead our agents spotted must be located and captured. If they bear the worms of Kyuss then they perhaps hold the final answer to our research. The Ebon Aspect stirs within the pool, but it is still not ready to emerge. We must find the worms and the undead hosts that carry them. If they are not here, then we must send agents to the Rift. If Kyuss himself, or his agents, cannot shepherd in the Age of Worms, then we shall do it outselves so that the Overgod may live.

Our course is clear, my dear Theldrick. Smenk is no longer useful to use and must die. Kill him, then send agents to the Mistmarsh, across the southern hills. I believe that we will find what we are looking for there, among the lizardfolk. Summon more of your hellspawn. If the calculations and portents are correct, the time for covert action is at an end. As the Age of Worms begins, we must strike hard and fast to prepare the coming of the Overgod. Of course, dear Theldrick, if you were so rash as to slay my followers and I, then you, soon, shall join me in the afterlife. Doubtless your treachery has already stirred the Overgod. Our mission has failed, and you will die at his hands.

Excerpt from Theldrick's Journal

Praise Be the Scourge of Battle,
The Faceless One grows increasingly concerned. That addled beast Grallak Kur has yet to provide new insights into the Overgod's nature. The crude missives he sends speaks of the worms, of a slumbering power that must be awoken, but nothing more. I wish he would go back to the black pit that spawned him if he has nothing more to offer.

The Faceless One tells me this ties into an ancient figure, a being of great power. Of course, he tells me little else. He enjoys keeping his secrets, but he forgets that they flourish only behind the protection of Hextor. His latest taunt is a scroll that he tells me contains all the answers I seek. Of course, the fool wrote it in a cipher. Were it not for the dictates of the Ebon Triad, I would lead my troops into their damnable labyrinth and kill every last bird and wizard within it.

Grallak is the key. Thank the Scourge that he trusts me and not the Faceless One. Otherwise, I doubt the Faceless One would bother imparting anything to us. We cannot trust these mages. When the Overgod arises, I think it will be time to settle some old scores.

Under the Herald's Watchful Eye we Conquer,
Grallak Kur has finally yielded a useful clue. I personally delivered it to the labyrinth, and the Faceless one giggled like a blood addled berserker when he saw the message. Grallak spoke of the worms again, of course. He says that even now they stir and writhe. The world is like an apple infested with them. All seems well for now, but soon they burst through the skin and swarm across the land. Still, part of his vision troubles me. Grallak spoke of a great power behind them, but the Ebon Triad teaches that these worms will awaken the Overgod. Is there some other power at hand here that we cannot see? Is it friend or foe?

The Faceless One knows more, but he of course has little to say. Perhaps Grallak has invented everything. His monstrous kin are few in number and battered after their pilgrimage through the Underdark. If he is an imposter or trickster, we may need to root him out of this place. In that case, our agents must make another supply run. Six coils of rope, and perhaps bows and more arrows, should do the trick. With the petitioners leading the way we can uncover any ambushes they have within the cliffs.

What has gone before:
Previously in the Age of Worms Campaign, the PCs were able to clear their names and become local heroes of the small town of Diamond Lake. With evidence that links Balabar Smenk with the Cult of the Ebon Triad, the political powers of Diamond Lake were able to arrest Balabar and end his reign of influence in the region. The PCs mourned their dead and decided to take a break from adventuring.

• Martok the time displaced dwarf begins to assist the Milita and takes on a more active role in the community.
  
• One Fifty the draconic dwarf becomes the new tavern owner of the Feral Dog and begins to reorganize the staff.
  
• Kaine, the Cleric of Wee Jas undergoes the ritual of the Cairn of the Green Lady and graduates to a position of Emerald Master.
  
• Cinder the Barbarian returns to the Horned lands to confront his father, along with his companion Robin. But returns once more rejected from the tribe.
  
• Merri meets up with some rogues from out of town that seek to plunder whatever was left remaining in the Ebon Triad's lair. The rogue's leader, a whisper gnome named Draen Ralgael convinces Merri to lead the group pass the Militia guards and the secret way to the dungeon. Once there, Draen betrayals Merri and is able to acquire the Black Gem of the Ebon Pool. A item that the PCs left behind due to its malign influence and superior defenses. Merri later learns from Kaine, that the Black Gem was scheduled to be picked up by the Wizard Guild of Greyhawk for study.
  

Allustan, dubbed the "smartest man in Diamond Lake," and the PCs's patron calls them together. Allustan took a keen interest in the Whispering Cairn after the PCs discovered that it was a tomb for the ancient Wind Dukes of Aaqa. Keenly interested in exploring the cairn himself, but first, he needs to consult with an old friend in Blackwall Keep. He asks the PCs to accompany him south as an escort; the road along the Mistmarsh's edge is unsafe, even for a powerful wizard. They take with them, the naive bard, Lovin Melvin.

The PCs arrive at Blackwall Keep to find over two dozen lizardfolk of the Dark Talon clan assaulting it. Allustan enhances the PCs with magical defenses and teleports away to get help from the Milita in Diamond Lake. In a series of skirmishes against the Dark Talon, they are able to defeat the raid chieftain and his shaman, intimidating the remaining lizardfolk to flee. The surviving soldiers notify the heroes that the Dark Talon had taken captives. A swamp guide leads the rescue party in a trek through the Mistmarsh to the lair of the Dark Talons.

The Dark Talon lair is large and partly submerged. The PCs infiltrate the lair disguised as lizard folk or remain unseen thru magic. They learn of a schism within the Dark Talons, and of the alliance between the lizard king and the black dragon Ilthane. The PCs ally with the the corrupt King's enemies and are able to dethrone him and eliminate his heir. They also later rescue the tribe's eggs from a terribe fate. Rescuing the war wizard Marzena and her cohorts, the PCs return back to Blackwall Keep but only to find it in ruins.

One Fifty, who stayed behind, tells his story of how Blackwall Keep fell, when three strangers: a woman in the vestments of Wee Jas, a whisper gnome, and a cowled figure conjured three giant centipedes and assaulted the Keep. While escaping thru the basement with the remaining soldiers, One Fifty confronts and defeats a undead menance that Marzena was studying. They flee deeper into the swamps and wait for a few nights until the arrival of the Diamond Lake Militia. Kaine is able to identify that the undead creature was a Son of Kyuss and Merri is able to identify that the gnome is Draen. They conclude that Draen's group was probably after the Son of Kyuss.

The PCs then decide to follow after Draen's party to the haunted ruins of Tolstoff Keep, the ancestral home of Kaine's family.