Well I think there is plenty of time for Ilthane to come and woop their butts after the Hall of Harsh Reflections. It will take her some time to track them down, probably going by scent or something like that.
I would have one of the PC's make a Dex check when handling the egg and if he fails the DC (which you can keep secret) he drops it and it breaks. But I would probably make sure you have the egg break somehow very soon, and infest a couple corpses or other kinds of creatures nearby.
I also used the excellent idea of having the players play the keep soldiers while their characters were away. My group found it fun, and they actually killed the spawn with a large number of really good rolls. The acting captain of the keep had to deal with a couple worms though, both of which he killed before they could burrow into his flesh. What the players do not know, is that one of the keep's other soldiers is already infected with another worm when he was in the supply room, and the spawn found a small crack in the wall that it released a worm through. This spawn has been hiding out and was waiting for the first spawn to do its handy work. Now that its dead, this new spawn will take its revenge on the keep soldiers unbeknownst to the players :)
There was another thread on the topic of what to do if the players took the egg several weeks back. You might find some additional ideas in there. One was to have an embarrassing moment with worms when the party is trying to get in the Free City gate.
Remember that these worms are not supposed to be strong enough to infest full-grown creatures, as the adventure is written, anyhow.
I'd save Ilthane for Gathering of Winds--just add the egg to the list of things she's angry with the PCs about.
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***Spoilers***
I too am using Peter Fuesz’s idea of having the Keeps Miltimen facing off against the spawn. I will run this just as the “real” characters return from the Misttmarsh to Blackwall Keep. The players are already aware of the worms. They discovered the infested Lizard and egg. I have developed the Miltiamen encounter so that the characters never have a clear idea what is attacking. They only get vague references that it is human, the rest is brief descriptions of the shadowy foe. I avoid revealing the exact nature of the beastie. If the player come across the Spawn on their return to Blackwall they will have knowledge something is not right, but not of the exact nature. For the Miltia men I have created a little charter sheet, used the characters that Peter Fruesz posted and added Greyhawk specific information to their background for some roleplay fun. as well as a little picture for each character.
This is what I did in the Hatchery. I trapped the egg at the base, some of the egg was partially submerged in the muddy water.. Effectively the egg had a weakness at the base and that if searched the weakness could be found (Search: DC 25.) Three of the four of the party failed to detect, sadly the rogue was busy with the chests, whilst the others tried to move the egg.:)
I must praise those fans (Including Paizio staff) who post their ideas, findings etc, it has really helped my game.
Cheers
DDM
Definitely in the haversack :)) "Let me give you a cure potion... Ughhh what the hell ?!??? Oh Merciful Pelor it's crawling under my skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin..."
It'll take them a while before they open it again without care :D
Bran