Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
|
Prior to the first playtest session of the Age of Worms Adventure Path campaign, I wrote about a page of text for each player in the campaign. I thought it would be fun to share these backgrounders as we get closer to publication of the first installment, "The Whispering Cairn," by yours truly.
So here we go. We'll do one a week until I've covered everyone.
Demon Boy (Jeremy Walker)
1st-level Sorcerer
Demon Boy character illustration by Kyle Hunter
On a recent excursion into the world beyond the Emporium, you found yourself brooding upon a marble marker in Diamond Lake’s squalid public graveyard. As you hatched plans to escape from your hated life, you sensed a stranger approach. Whirling to confront the skulk, you instead found yourself face to face with an attractive young human woman who smelled of perfume and, unless you missed your guess, decay. This young woman, a devotee of Wee Jas named Tyralandi Scrimm, didn’t respond with the usual revulsion, and the two of you shared a bottle of her wine as you discussed your common disdain for Diamond Lake and your interest in finding a better life for yourselves.
Like you, Tyralandi once worked for a carnival. But instead of spending her days locked in a cage being spat upon, she got to travel the “Greyhawk Circuit,” visiting dozens of towns and villages within the Domain of Greyhawk. You envied her experience, but saw in her a kindred spirit—perhaps the first you have ever truly known.
Together, you decided to leave Diamond Lake once and for all. But neither of you are fools. You know that you’ll need money to get anywhere.
Rumors around Diamond Lake speak of a trio of adventurers from the nearby City of Greyhawk, metropolis of wizards and thieves. They’ve been spending a lot of time in the village’s watering holes, proclaiming to all their intention to explore an ancient tomb on the lake’s northeast shore called the Stirgenest Cairn. Tyralandi assures you that their plan will fail, since she’s been to the Stirgenest Cairn and found it raped of its treasures centuries ago, just like all of the other empty tombs in the Cairn Hills.
But Tyralandi seems convinced that at least one of the local cairns has not been explored in recent times, and might yet contain fabulous treasures. She even claims to have a map that proves it, thanks to some contact within Diamond Lake’s military garrison.
Everyone in Diamond Lake has heard stories about the deadly traps and baleful guardians that once protected the tombs of the Cairn Hills, but after enduring the indignities of the Emporium for your entire life, you’re willing to put up with a little danger. After all, it could be your ticket out of here.
Tonight is the night. Tyralandi has invited you to meet with a handful of like-minded souls in an abandoned mine outbuilding about an hour from the village. From there you will set out to this secret cairn and, you hope, to a more fulfilling chapter in the life of Diamond Lake’s Demon Boy.
--Erik Mona
Is the next installment coming soon?
I'm wondering who's background will be next. I think I can hear the mute Ninja's write-up coming our way. . . I have a pretty good spot check for these things. . .
In fact, I'll bet I can see that Ninja coming from a hundred - urk . . .
. . . *gah*. . .
. . .
I didn't know Demon Boy's name was Aroval. How many of these backgrounds by Erik were ever posted on the boards?
Snorter: translate please.
"I am Vyth, a ninja.
I strike from the shadows like a snake."But done in the style of Kenny from South Park.
Thank you. Never watched South Park much. For Vyth to be like Kenny he would need to be resurrected and die again with each journal post.