Okay - maybe I'm missing something simple here - but I'm having trouble figuring out the origin of the green worm the PCs find at Filge's place. The background info in Whispering Cairn says that Smenk stole it from a lab in the Dourstone Mines (I assume the temple of Vecna area) and gave it to Filge to study. But from where did the Faceless One get it? Did he just happen to encounter a Spawn of Kyuss wandering about in the hills, and kill it?! Wouldn't it make more sense if the Ebon Triad actually had a few of those beasties standing guard somewhere in the temple? (or would they be too difficult for lvl 3-5 PCs to face?)
All I can find is references to "unstopable zombies in the hills to the south" - but this seems a bit too vague. If anyone can help - please point me to the info I'm overlooking (issue number and page), or else suggest ways to help explain this better.
Thanks!
Creative Director
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The worm at Filge's place is one that Smenk found in the Faceless One's lab in the Vecna wing of the temple under the Dourstone Mine. "Three Faces of Evil" should have included several more jars of worms in the Faceless One's lab, although it doesn't really hurt the adventure to not have any there, since by this point the PCs should already be on the trail of the worms.
Nor does it really matter where the Faceless One found the worm in the first place; he could have caught it from any spawn of Kyuss anywhere before (or even after) he came to Diamond Lake.
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I have also wondered about the reference to the spawn of Kyuss in the Cairn Hills. Presumably, the discovery of the spawn of Kyuss in the "hills south of Diamond Lake" is the reason the whole campaign begins in Diamond Lake in the first place. It brought the Faceless One to Diamond Lake and the discovery of the Ebon Triad beneath Diamond Lake is what initially gets the PC's involved. However, how did the Faceless One discover the spawn two years ago? What happened? I surmised that Ilthane was somehow responsible. According to the adventure background of "Encounter at Blackwall Keep", Ilthane destroyed the lizardfolk eggs either 2 or 10 years ago. Perhaps some of her worms DID take and the result was a few Kyuss spawnlings wandering around the Mistmarsh. Eventually, an infected victim could have escaped the marsh and made its way to the hills, soon becoming a spawn of Kyuss. This still doesn't explain what the Ebon Triad was doing in this area at the time, unless they were serving Ilthane. As for Ilthane, whatever possessed her to come all this way south just to experiment on some lizardfolk? Her motivations have remained somewhat hazy. I was hoping that "A Gathering of Winds" would have more information on her background but was somewhat disappointed to find that she was but a small part of the adventure.
Finding out what happened exactly two years ago would be swell. I've been working on a prelude to Age of Worms wherein the PC's have to accompany Blackwall Keep's resident mage on his unsanctioned diplomatic mission to the Twisted Branch lizardfolk tribe. It's a short adventure wherein the PC's brave the dangers of the Mistmarsh to come upon the lizardfolk shortly after the loss of ther eggs. Thereupon Ilthane shows up with "proof" that humans are the ones responsible. During the chaos, the mage becomes infected with a green worm. The surviving PC's, forced to flee, finally manage to make their way back to Blackwall Keep, whereupon they get killed by their former companion. After that, new PC's are rolled up, 2 years go by, and we begin with "A Whispering Cairn". Perhaps I'll add in the Faceless One and his cultists to the prelude. Knowing my players, it'll make "The Three Faces of Evil" that much more enjoyable.