The following journal is an account of the adventures of my Age of Worms campaign, set in Greyhawk. The campaign began in late March, with the characters starting off at 3rd level (because I heard that the AP was quite difficult).
The Players
Ehrune of ? (swash 2/wiz 1) - a daring swashbuckler with a fascination for magic, and increasingly interested in necromancy. Ehrune works as Allustan's gardner, housekeeper, manservant, and hopeful apprentice. Treasured possession: wand of magic missile (CL 3rd, 50 charges)
Lindingar of the Frostfells (spirit shm 3) - halfling spirit shaman seeking adventure. Lindingar has been spending the last several months at the Bronzewood Lodge. He has become increasingly greedy as the adventure progressed. Treasured possession: boots of the winterlands
Etherik McCarr (warl 3) - a pragmatic warlock seeking to unravel the mysterious of his eldritch powers. Etherik works at the Emporium as a 'freak'. Treasured possession: ring of protection +1
1 Reaping, 595 CY.
The adventure began like any other. Burdened with unpaid debts, living by the sweat off one's back, wishing for a way out.
A group of adventures had been hanging around town for the last few days, spending gold as if they had an endless supply, frquenting the local pubs, and asking questions about the cairns nestled away in the hills. Nothing new about that; treasure hunters abound in this area, all thinking they will find a 'long lost cairn' filled with riches untold. Yet this group seemed different, like they were really on to something. Until the burly fighter spouted something about the 'Stirgenest Cairn' and Ehrune realized that they were just another group of addle-brained dungeon delvers. Everyone knew the Stirgenest Cairn was looted long ago. Obviously these folk didn't do their proper research, unlike Ehrune, who preferred careful planning before an expedition. 'Course he hadn't exactly planned carefully enough to avoid going to jail and being sentenced to two years hard labor in the Diamond Lake mines. He'd probably still be there now if it weren't for the local sage Allustan recognizing the young miscreant's potential and convincing the mayor to give him probation.
Ehrune couldn't help but wonder if any undiscovered cairns did exist...unlikely as that may be. If he got ahold of some old maps, perhaps he could find something overlooked by others. Hey, it had happened before, this could just be his night.
Ehrune knew he had found something special. Well, rather, the local cartogropher had found something special, but is was all on account of Ehrune pushing and prodding him to look over his oldest maps for signs of undiscovered cairns. And there it was, scrawled in a barely legible hand and marked with a small triangle, 'Whispering Cairn'.
Of course, a copy of the map was neccessary, and the old cartogropher didn't part with one easily. Said he was looking forward to retirement. He asked for a half-share, but Ehrune bargained him down to a third-share. Map in hand, Ehrune set forth to gather a posse. Even a mud-headed half-orc knew that exploring bandit-infested lands alone was apt to end poorly. 'Riches and fame await the bold. Expedition to undiscovered cairn. Only the strong of body, heart, and mind need apply. Meet at the Menhirs after dusk' he wrote on a small note and passed around. He guessed that most of the people who would show would just be there out of curiousity, but he hoped that a few would have the talents he required.
At dusk they arrived, alone or in small groups. He counted forty-three people in all, most of them miners and of no use to him. They waited for him to speak and he spoke, describing in vague terms what he had planned. Most of the people left after a few minutes, but a few lingered, and he spoke with these people one-on-one. By midnight he had found only one who was both willing to join him and possessed useful abilities. It was one of the men from the Emporium. He said his name was Etherik and that he had magical powers. 'Like a wizard?' 'No.' 'Like a sorcerer.' 'No.' 'Then what are you?' 'Don't know.'
It wasn't a good start, but it was a start.
2 Reaping, 595 CY.
The two set out the next morning for the Bronzewood Lodge. They had heard of a local guide who helped the Free City Adventurers, as they were being called, and might be willing to be their guide. Once at the Lodge, they requested a meeting with the guide. Quite unexpectedly, a halfling clothed in dirty animal hide stepped forth and greeted them. He called himself Lindingar of the Frostfells and said that he had served as guide to the last group of adventurers, and if given the map and a few gold for his efforts, could assist them in finding the Whispering Cairn.
By late afternoon they reached the area of the Cairn Hills where the Whispering Cairn was supposedly located. It took some searching, but eventually they found a weed enshrouded entrance in one of the hills, along with several wolf tracks. Ehrune asked Lindingar to join them in explorign the Cairn, even offering him a share of the treasure, but the halfling shaman refused, citing some nonsense about disturbing the dead, and how money wasn't important to him [yeah, right]. 'But think of the spirits that might be in there?' Ehrune mused. In the end, Lindingar agreed and the three treasure hunters entered the cairn.
I'm not gonna bother descrbing every room, as I assume people reading this are playing AOW themselves and know what the rooms are like
Their first encounter with dangerous adversaries came relatively early on while exploring the cairn entrance. After finding a tattered bedroll and a strange relic that looked like part of a mirror frame, they were set upon by a trio of ravenous wolves, the alpha wolf bearing a deep scar across its muzzle. Lindingar stepped forward, cooing softly to the ferocious beasts. 'Don't worry, I am a friend of animals!' Lindingar proudly proclaimed. Unfortunately, these wolves hadn't eaten in a week and weren't about to let a little friendship get in the way of a full belly. Ehrune moved to defend the poor halfling, stabbing somewhat wildly at the wolves with his rapier. Although they managed to slay the wolves, they were not without injuries of their own. Ehrune took a particularly nasty bite (for 12 points of damage, nearly dropping him into the negatives.) 'Animal friend hmm? Riiiiight.'
Their first encounter a victory (well, they didn't die at least), the trio continued their exploration of the enigmatic Whispering Cairn. Sibilant voices seemed to emanate from the walls, speaking in an unknown language ('doooo not seeek the treasuuuure'). Well, it was treasure they sought, and treasure they would find or so help them!
Further exploration revealed a collapsed alcove ('nothing there, waste of time')and an alcove featuring a fresco of seven halls with seven lit lanterns of varying colors. The main passageway continued further down, but was obscured by old cobwebs, and we all know that cobwebs are impassable, right? Not for this hardy band of adventurers!
Beyond the cobwebs, they discovered the seven hall'd chamber depicted in the fresco, in the center of which rested a large stone sarcophagus. Wisely deciding NOT to open the sarcophagus, the group instead investigated the various alcoves. A strange green light emanated from the north-most alcove, but turned out to merely be a green lantern (sans cosmic powers or cool rings) with an everburning candle inside. Turns out that several of the alcoves had lanterns of their own, of various colors and all of them unlit, but one alcove was missing its lantern ('which of these is not like the others?'). Careful searching revealed that the sarcophagus rested on an arrow-shaped platform that could spin...so the adventuers pushed the sarcophagus with all their brawny might. The platform slowly began to spin, clicking as the arrow pointed at each of the alcoves. Upon reaching the alcove containing the green lantern, a sudden screech and an ominous rumbling emerged from the alcove. A moment later, a strange steel cylinder arose out of the alcove floor and a door slid open.
'some kind of mechanical contraption, I reckon'
'yep'
The trio decided to test the strange device by placing a large, heavy rock inside. The door slid shut and the device sank back into the floor, screeching in protest all the while. They waited for something to happen.
Nothing.
'Let's try spinning the coffin some more', suggested Lindingar.
So, they continued to spin the platform, causing another cylinder to rise from a different alcove. Finally they had made a full rotation and landed the arrow back on the green alcove, and the screeching began anew. Only this time it sounded far, far worse.
'probably the rock'.
The PCs get the shaft
With a screeching crash, the elavator collapsed, plummeting to the floor below. Moments later, a swarm of beetled erupted from the shaft, causing the trio to flee in panic. These were no ordinary beetles. Each was the size of a man's hand, with a shiny greenish-black carapace, and exuded a noxious, burning stench. Acid beetles. What's worse, a strange aberration called a mad slasher (not one who only slashes at midnight, by the way) emerged from the shaft and raced towards the fleeing adventurers. Proving once again that you only need to be faster than your slowest friend, Lindingar quickly fell behind the taller, unarmored Ehrune and Etherik. Damn stubby halfling legs! I suppose it was the thought of their new companion's impending gruesome death, or perhaps it was the realization that they didn't know how to get home, but the two fleet-footed adventurers attempted to buy the halfling some time by attacking the mad slasher with eldrtich blasts and magic missiles. It worked. The slasher was near dead by the time it reached them and a couple more blasts finished it off.
'Er, how does it eat?' Ehrune wondered.
But it wasn't the time for an anatomy lesson, as a swarm of acid beetles continued to give chase. The trio high-tailed it out of the Cairn, not looking back until they had reached Diamond Lake.
4 Reaping, 595 CY
After restocking much-needed supplies, Ehrune and Etherik returned to the Cairn with a new companion in tow. He was an oiled and muscled ex-gladiator-turned-mine merchant bodyguard named Ferros, and he looked capable of handling whatever the Cairn threw at them; or so they hoped. They were only three instead of four because Lindingar had to take care of some business back at the Bronzewood Lodge, although he promised to join them as soon as he could (the player wasn’t at the session). Ehrune remembered Ferros from that first meeting a few nights ago. Why hadn’t he offered his services then?
Once they were back at the Cairn, Ehterik made a gruesome discovery. The three wolves they had slain were now completely devoid of flesh or tissue, their skeletons gleaming as if bathed in acid (which they were). Etherik grabbed alpha wolf’s skull and tucked it into his pack. Further on they found the skeleton of the mad slasher. Ehrune overturned the slasher’s skeleton. ‘Ah, that must be where its mouth was’.
A quick deliberation turned into a solid plan. Pour oil around the edge of the shaft, call out the beetles, and burn the sh*t outta them! The plan worked. The beetle swarm exited the shaft and was immediately doused with flaming oil and alchemist’s fire. Ferros assisted with the flat part of his shovel. Once the beetle threat had been neutralized, the trio clambered down the acid-pitted shaft, trying not to gag on the acrid fumes. At the bottom of the shaft they found several rooms populated with more acid beetles. With fire in hand, the beetles were more a nuisance than a threat, but the same could not be said for the two giant bombardier beetles they encountered. In the ensuing melee, one of the bombardier beetles let loose a stream of acid directly into the warlock’s face. He screamed in pain as his attractive features marred somewhat, but managed to continue to fight until both beetles were slain. In one of the side rooms they noticed a statue holding a hammer and a smashed skeleton. ‘hmmm…now what could that be? Survey says: a trap!’ Hooking the statue’s arm with a grappling hook, they yanked the statue down and cheered in victory! Considering how much of the Cairn yet lay unexplored, they shouldn’t have declared ‘mission accomplished’ quite so soon.
Continued exploration revealed a room with a basin containing a hardened orange sludge that the beetles had evidently turned into a nest. Digging through the paper-mache-like substance, they discovered several potions of healing and a magical ring with a feather motif. Sweet! Magic items R0x0r!
Further down the main corridor, they discovered a water-filled stairway. Etherik cheerfully began to wash the acidic spray off his mangled mug, failing to notice the water beside him coalescing into a fist. KAPOW! Right in the friggin’ eye! He stumbled back as the insane water elemental readied to give him another shiner.
Deciding that they didn’t have the proper tools to defeat a creature of living water, the group backtracked to the lantern room. They hadn’t explored wherever the yellow lantern elevator went to, so that seemed like the next logical choice. It led to a series of rooms, one of which contained more orange oatmeal and a thick layer of brown mold. They noticed that the mold seemed to grow as they approached it. Interesting. It also seemed attracted to the heat of their torch. Even more interesting. Perhaps we should throw our torch on it and see what happens. Very interesting. Well, not so much interesting as a total disaster. They barely made it out of the room alive as the mold exploded outward with burst of frigid cold that drained the heat from their bones. At least one lessoned was learned: fire + beetles = good. Fire + mold = BAD.
Once again, in what would become a recurring theme, the adventurers retreated. There was only a couple possible areas to explore, until they found a way past the water elemental and the mold that is. The first was a third elevator, although they didn’t particularly want to test it since they had found a skeleton inside with a smashed skull and some dried blood on the ceiling of the elevator. Their other option was an opening near the ceiling of one of the alcoves, a good 50’ up and accessible via the lantern chain. The found a skeleton on the floor of that alcove, too. So, two paths, two skeletons.
Caught between a rock and a hard face
A group huddle decided in favor of the opening, so a couple of climb checks later saw them at the entrance of a long, straight corridor extending beyond the scope of their vision. Slowly and methodically, the group moved down the passageway, taking care not to set off any tripwires, pressure plates, that sort of thing. Of course, none of them being thieves or having more than a couple ranks in Search, it really didn’t mean beans. They were fubar’d from the start. They saw at the end of the corridor a large stone face, mouth agape, with fist-sized crystals for eyes.
Ehrune: ‘Judging from the position of the mouth and the location of the skeleton below, I posit that this is some sort of trap that uses a force, wind perhaps, to deposit one over the far edge of this corridor. What should we do?’
Etherik: ‘Keep going’
Keep going they did. Right up until the point when the stone face’s eyes lit up with the care-bear stare of death. Although none of them failed their Will save, one by one they began to slide towards the opening at the far end. Ehrune, having given the ring of feather fall to Ferros, was of course the first to plummet off the edge to the cold stone floor 50 feet below. It wasn’t the fall that hurt so much as the landing…and then the second landing when Etherik fell on top of him, plunging him into the negatives. Ferros, of course, fared much better and was able to resuscitate the feebly twitching swashbuckler-mage using the healing potions they had found. Realizing that once again they were unprepared to venture further, the group returned to Diamond Lake.
Back at Diamond Lake, Ehrune ran off to go see his master, Allustan, while Etherik ambled over to the Feral Dog, a local pub of some repute (but none of it good). Ferros skulked away, magical ring still on hand.
The Feral Dog was the kind of pub you visit when you just want to relax, unwind, and maybe stab someone over a game of dragon ante. Mostly miners frequented the establishment, drinking away their hard-earned coppers in a haze of self-pity and loathing. Fights were common, be they dog fights in the ring or just a couple of locals going at it. All in all, the place was a complete dump, run by dishonest thieves and frequented by unwashed yokels. It was Etherik's kind of place.
He took a seat at the bar, as usual. You see, he didn't really have any friends, except for Shag the Gentleman Quaggoth back at the Emporium, and so he couldn't really take a table all to himself, nor was he going to share space with some dirty miner who would probably recognize him as one of the 'Emporium freaks'. Besides, the bar offered some good seating to watch the dog fights that occured on the lower floor. A large hole with a short wood rail allowed tavern patrons to watch the fight without falling in. Luckily for Etherik, there would be just such a fight that night.
He was on his third drink, the dog fight had just begun, and he was starting to feel good, when Lindingar appeared. The little halfling clearly was uncomfortable with the concept of two animals tearing each other to bits for the enjoyment of the spectators, but there was obviously little he could do about it. Or was there?
The fight didn't last long; the resident champion 'Killer' proved his namesake true. However, an argument between two miners over a bet quickly turned into an all-out bar room brawl, with Etherik and Lindingar caught right in the middle! Fists, chairs, and mugs flying, the two attempted to extracate themselves from the mess. However, once one of the drunks fell into the pit, Lindingar realized this his unique skills could save the man's life and lept into the pit. 'Killer' had already begun to savage the poor guy, who could only shield his face with his arms and cry out for help. Lindingar slowly approached the feral dog, calling out to it with soothing words....goood doggy...nice doggy. His words, assisted with the magic of a charm animal spell, did the job. After healing the wrecked man, Lindingar, along with his new animal friend ‘Feral’, bolted up the stairs to the main floor and headed towards the front door. Unbeknownst to the halfling, bets had been placed on the dog versus the drunk, and Lindingar’s interference wasn’t looked on kindly. He realized that he had done something wrong when the large albino half-orc stood up and began moving straight towards him, scowling and clenching his fists. Behind the half-orc followed a couple of toughs, one a wiry looking goon with matted hair and a sickly look, the other a burly warrior with large, meaty fists. The half-orc’s name was Kullen and he was notoriously violent. Him and the other two were local toughs in the employ of one of the mine managers, Balabar Smenk. No one messed with these guys, except maybe forces from the Garrison.
Etherik saw the impending disaster and moved to assist his companion, and the two (and ‘Killer/Feral’) fled the tavern, hiding behind the church of St. Cuthbert until Kullen and his gang were gone. Another day, another enemy, or three.