Last night I was finally able to begin running the Age of Worms Adventure Path. I have been reading the adventures, articles and what not all last semester but I just didn't have the time to run with school. This semester I can actually manage to run so here was our first session:
Set in Faerun's Daggerford, a small town in the Forlorn Hills on the 13th day of Mirtul (Ander's birthday).
Sylf Stormwind (Female Air Genasi Sorcerer 1) and Ander Stormwind (Male Human Fighter 1) are brother and sister. They are natives of the town. Ander is a new recruit into the Town Guard who just completed his training and has been allowed a week off. Sylf Stormwind is a sorceress looking for some adventure. She is very obnoxious and doesn't get along well with her brother.
After getting off of duty, Sylf and Ander head over to Lazare's House to celebrate his birthday. On the way over to Lazare's Ander bumps into a Cleric of Selune. He had seen her a few days before at one of the mines in town healing the wounds of a guard. She just happened to be in the right place at the right time. He invites the Cleric, Miri (Human Cleric 1, Lycanthrope Wolf), to Lazare's. Miri is a shy and quiet person who mostly keeps to herself (the PC's don't know she is a lycanthrope and she also has a multiple personality (teenage male) that occurs randomly and when she changes into hybrid form). She observes more than she talks. All of their friends turn out for the event, Ander is now 21!
Lazare is a friend of the family and gives a complementary meade to Ander and discounts the rest of the group's prices.
Sylf, who doesn't drink, looks around at the gambling going on and notices a very sad Rock Gnome sitting in the corner with Chaum Gansworth. The Gnome (Neville, Rogue 1) has a gambling addiction. He had just come across 44gp and wanted to test his luck at Dragonchess. The only person willing to play him was Chaum. Neville, not realizing he was outmatched at the beginning, sits down for several games of dragonchess, betting only small amounts in the first two games. The 3rd game he bet everything and lost, Chaum took him to the cleaners. The last game desperate Neville bets his mundane dagger. Again, Chaum wins the match and Neville, realizing he doesn't have anything else to bet stops gambling. Chaum invites him to play again sometime when he has more money. Sylf goes up to the gnome, whom she has seen around before and knows to be an addict, and starts giving him a hard time. Reprimanding him for gambling so much but invites him to the table to join in Ander's birthday party.
While at Lazare's, the friends over hear the Waterdeep Adventurers talk about the Stirgenest Cairn in the Forlorn Hills and that they want to investigate it. Ander, Sylf and Neville all know that there isn't anything left in it. It has been pretty well investigated over the years. They also know of another Cairn a days walk from town that kids dare each other to spend the night in. The last two people they have heard of going into that Cairn haven't come back out. They decide it would be fun to investigate it and agree to leave in mid morning the next day but they need a map.
Ander, being a member of the cityguard, has access to the cartographer and wants to see if there is a map marking the location of the Cairn. Both his Captain and the Cartographer are very busy today with paperwork, requests, and other town issues that they allow Ander full access to the map room. Ander finds what he is looking for, makes a few quick notes and heads off to meet the rest of the party.
They have an easy trek up to the location of the Cairn, which they spot easily. After taking the time to clear away the brush from the entrace they slowly and VERY quietly start investigating the main hall. They look for traps, none to be found, and they come across the broken mirror. Both the sorcerer and rogue take an interest in it. The rogue however seems to be better versed in ancient scripts and is able to tell that the glyphs on the mirror look like symbols relating to transportation, they also resemble glyphs relating to air elementals and the gnome tries to haul off with it (the player didn't realize the part of the mirror was probably as big as his character). Realizing that the mirror is too big, too heavy and has been untouched for a while he decides its an ok idea to leave it where it is and continue to investigate.
All of the party members notice the faint flickering green light and slowly move towards the north. Slightly distracted they fail to move silently alarm the wolves nearby. Ander, still pretty much on his toes, initiates combat. While Ander, Neville, and Sylf are fighting the wolves Miri has changed into her wolf form (she was born with lycanthropy) and starts growling at the other members.
After Ander has killed the first wolf, Miri (still in wolf form) attempts to grapple Ander without doing damage. This attempt fails but now leads the others to believe that Miri is also an enemy. She is not well known to any of the other members and is not a local of Daggerford. Ander falls unconscious after getting attacked repeatedly by all three wolves and Miri. Neville and Sylf are still focused on the wolves but Miri moves back and changes back into human form so she can cure Ander. She cures Ander but then takes so much damage from the wolves that she falls unconscious. Then Ander again after a few more bites falls again. Sylf and Neville manage to finish off the wolves. Neville, believing that Miri is a foe, coup de grace's Miri before Sylf can stop him.
They decide to return to town, walking all through the evening, to heal and tell of the traiterous she-wolf cleric who tried to kill them. They hope to find a Ranger or Druid at the Bronzewood lodge to help them on their journey. Neville, feeling somewhat bad about killing Miri decides to seek out a temple of Selune to return the corpse, the holy symbol and see if any additional info can be gathered. He has to journey to Waterdeep.
That was where we ended.
