Richard Pett asked me to post this (after my hijacking of the Styles Secquel thread). Some of the events portraied here were based on things that were not included in the published adventure, so may seen different for those familiar with the published version.
These were the notes that I sent Richard to let him know how play went, as such some of it is notes on play and some is comments on things that came up during play.
The Party is:
Lady Varin Female Human Paladin (Heironeous) 15 we played this as a tension point, she had an invitation, but was an immediate target of B’Kruss and his gang. (this should have probably immediately called for the more advanced trailing party of “Watchers”)
Agrij Agranni Male Dwarf Cleric (War/Strength) 12/ Fighter 3
Ryn of Briarwood Female Half-elf Ranger 9/Rouge 6
Jyncks Female Wizard (evoker) 15
Brother Jharo Male Human Monk 15
Mellyoun Male Gnome Rogue 10/Bard 5
The party shows up at the gate and shows their invitations to gain entrance, the Paladin boldly bearing her heraldry and mounted on her Warhorse.
As they come in they witness the hanging, and ask some questions. They then go to see the hide out and discover the whole block demolished. While they are observing the rubble and getting the understanding of the excessive force used, B’Kruss and his band arrive.
They immediately start to harass the Paladin about her horse and that she must think herself a good rider.
B’Kruss: “Nice looking horse you got there, think you can ride? Everyone knows that Hobgoblins are the best riders around”
Lady Varin: “Really, I’ve never met a Hobgoblin that could sit a horse”
B’Kruss: “Horses, bla! To wussy a creature. Only good for a little girl like your self. Any one of my band can ride better than you and we are ready to prove it.”
“Name the route”
B’Kruss: “Not so fast girly. We want to have a nice fair race don’t we? So we’ll use our mounts. Come with us to the barracks stables and we’ll mount up”
So the party goes to the stables and are presented with the Dire Bores.
B’Kruss: “Hell lassy, since we picked the type of mount, you may pick which magnificent beast each of us will ride.”
Lady Varin: “You want me to ride Bacon? I eat these things”
B’Kruss: “Aye, What better mount than one you can eat if you get hungry. Now select a mount unless you are scared like all those of your order.”
Lady Varin: “Fine.” She uses her +8 Animal Handle to try to select a mount and can’t tell any difference in the mounts. She selects one at random and happens to pick the less aggressive one (Lucky Break). She then selects another one at random for Gugh.
Jynicks secretly casts Cats Grace on Lady Varin.
And the race is on… (Maybe a bit more in the realm of modifiers could be added to this section to make it a bit more exciting. Bonuses for whipping each others boars, knocking stuff in the way which may require additional Handle animal checks, avoiding bystanders that reduce the die roll by -1, or maybe +1d4 if you find a clear path, etc…)
With the 3 opposed rolls, Gugh is at +16, the Paladin is at +13(+2 for Cats Grace).
Roll 1:
Lady Varin gets 11 +15 ride -2 for being careful for 24
Gugh gets 7 +16 ride for 23
Roll 2:
Lady Varin gets 17 +15 ride -2 for being careful for 31
Gugh gets 10 +16 for 26
Roll 3:
Lady Varin gets 13 +15 ride -2 for being careful for 26
Gugh gets 12 +16 for 28
And Lady Varin wins!
The Hobgoblins are in a rage, but can’t do anything. They leave growling things about “Beginner’s luck and cheating b$*~%, Lame Boar” The losing Boar is slaughtered and dragged back to the barracks. One of the Hobgoblins is assigned to take the party to their tavern.
The party quickly leaves the area and moves back to their tavern/inn. The hobgoblin bursts in the foor and yells at the tavern keeper “Put thses Guests of the Prince up. They are paid for!” The Hobgoblin then leaves in a huff. Lady Varin asks the tavern keeper if he has truly been paid for their lodging. The man weakly insists that he has been, but she insists that he take a 200 gold gem from her to cover “Anything else that might come up”. The party then leaves their mundane belongings in the inn.
They then swing back by the destroyed city block to gather some information.
Ryn catches sight of the party’s watcher and manages to slip up on the man and cleanly knock him out. She then stays with the prisoner while the rest of the party moves on following clues and heads into the shanty area. While the party chases don the leads on Resem Gulg and Damsk, Ryn waits until the watcher regains consciousness (which actually takes a couple hours.
When the Watcher awakes he finds the half-elven woman sitting on his chest pinning his arms by his side. She has a dagger at his throat.
Ryn: “Why are you following us? Who do you work for?”
Watcher: “Prince Zeech wanted me to make sure his guests were not in danger and wanted me to follow you to see that no harm came to you.”
Ryn: “I don’t believe you.”
Watcher: “Aye lass, and I’m think’n that you maybe a looking for a bit of fun. Maybe if you be undo’n my cod piece we can be a gett’n around to what you are really after”.
Ryn knocks him on the head again and leaves him unconscious in a sheltered area of the rubble. She then returns back to the inn to wait for her friends to return.
The party returns to the Inn with the information gathered from Damsk, and early the next morning they go down to the docks get a boat, (which Jyncks casts ‘Shrink’…or maybe it was ‘Item’ on, and pockets) they then (having learned when the causeway will be available because of low tide and thus timed their departure for that time) head out to the island via the exposed causeway.
As they arrive at the island they begin looking for the graves and Agrij falls in a grave and gets jumped by 6 worms. And the gas begins to leak out…
(This should have a growing area off effect each round until it covers the island. What happens if the gas is exposed to flame before round four…as you will see happened with my party?)
A rope is dropped for Agrij who climbs out and Lady Varin casts cure disease on him killing the worms. Then Brother Jharo uses his Flaming Sling and fires a bullet into the worm (and gas) filled grave.
(I had the grave instantly ignite with a blowtorch like gout of flame like those at a refinery burning off the waste gas).
The party then sees this flame slowly expanding and rush around the island looking for the graves. And then the island explodes. (20d6 for 72 points of damage) All the PCs survive the blast damage (the Wizard only because she had a Major Ring of Fire resistance, her Ref +11 and 68 Hp would have meant that she would have died), but Mellyoun, Lady Varin and Ryn fail their saves for massive damage and are killed.
With the fire out, the remainder of the party finds the graves and digs up the corpses (wondering why there are corpses instead of ash as you would expect from someone who was burned at the stake) They then gather their two dead friends and pile in the unshrunk boat and try to paddle back to shore…and no one has any sailor skill, (and even if they did, a 15th level character would only have 19 ranks if they had been maxing them out, and in this campaign there is no reason for any character to have any ranks in profession sailor. So, a DC40 is impossible to make unless a character has max ranks in sailor, and some sort of synergy bonus, and rolls a 20)
So they get stuck in the mud and have to wait for the next tide for the causeway to become visible again. At which point they walk back to town with the five corpses.
Sneaking back into the Inn they use Agrij’s Rod of Life to resurrect Mellyoun, Lady Varin and Ryn. They then rest the night and start the next day with the questioning of the other corpses via ‘Speak with Dead’. From this they learn of The Church of Blessed Deliverance and head there post haste…followed by the improved watchers.
When Lady Varin goes downstairs for breakfast, she finds the Inn keeper in ill shape, he has obviously been accosted. One eye is swollen shut, and dry blood crusts several new cuts on his face. One arm is in a sling.
Lady Varin: “Good Lord man, What happened to you?”
Inn Keeper: “ Nothing Ma lad…”
Inn keeper’s Wife: “You are what happened to Him!”
Inn Keeper: “Suush woman!”
Inn Keeper’s Wife: “You give him a gem with all that flair and show. He got mugged first time he steppe…”
Inn Keeper “I SAID SHUT IT WOMAN!”
Lady Varin: “Well, take this gem to make up fo…”
Inn Keeper’s Wife: “You’ve helped us quite enough! Leave us alone”
Inn Keeper: “DAMN WOMAN BACK TO THE KITCHEN!” Then in a loud voice that can be heard by anyone who may be observing the scene “I cannot and will not accept this gift my lady. Please be about your day”.
As the watchers watch, the party moves into the church and discovers Rhorsk entombed in the wall. While working to free him they deduce that he must be undead, so as soon as there is an opening and Rhorsk holds out his hand and says “Hello I’m Rhorsk. Nice to me…” he is vaporized by Lady Varin who turns undead (roll of like 19) so Rhorsk is totally dusted…and so is any chance of the party following up on this lead. Which is something the party quickly picks up on. (Here I was generous and had them find scrawling pictures that Rhorsk had carved into the wall. I closed my eyes and drew a man wrestling lions with a well behind him…And the players laughed at my art and had no idea what it was supposed to be…So, I had one of them decioher script and with a roll of 15 they were able to make out the picture for what it was supposed to be).
So with improved watchers in tow, they begin to try to find a statue of Lord Zeech fighting Lions (I’m not sure if the statue was there 10 years ago, but that was the only way I could come up with on the moment to get the party back on track). They eventually find the statue then set about searching for a well, of which there is not one in sight. This had them puzzled until they noticed the corner stone bearing a date 10 years ago on one of the buildings behind the statue.
Lady Varin approached the building and knocked on its stout wooden door. A small window opened in the door and a old female inquired what business visitors had at the Leper house. Lady Varin asks to come in, but is refused, she then says. “It would be such a shame to have come all this way to make a donation to this most worthy charity and not be able to look in on all the good it is doing”. (38 Diplomacy check)
Woman: “A donation you say? Well I guess it could not hurt to let a generous donor…”
Lady Varin: “And my entourage…”
Woman: “and her entourage enter and have a look about. Please come on in.”
The heroes enter, and Lady Varin hands over a 500gp gem to the Woman running the house. “If I like what I see, there will be more, May we have a moment alone?”
The Lepers are all ushered into the dining room as the party begins to look around. (unfortunately they have no means to find the one particular portion of the uniformly stone floor under which the trap door to the well lay)
The Watchers continue to observe the building, but make no move as of yet.
(I threw the players a bone, but there should be some way for them to find the particular portion of the floor that needs to be removed to access the trapdoor)
Finding a trapdoor under a portion of the floor, the party uses rope and descends into an open well shaft. They emerge at the bottom of the shaft in a hemispherical room with smooth walls, and no apparent exits other than the shaft overhead. Knocking around the walls, they find an area that sounds hollow and manage to bust through that area.
Beyond, the corridor leads to the broad opening of the Well – this corridor has a large amount of rope tossed around.
As the party enters this area, the rope suddenly rises up and collates into a roughly humanoid shape.
Surprise Round:
Hangman Golem Rises
Round 1:
Brother Jharo Attacks and misses 3 times
Mellyoun Plays his harp to Inspire Courage then moves and provokes an AoO gets hit for 22 and is Grappled
Lady Varin Misses
Hangman Golem Hits Ryn twice for 23, 23 Grapples her.
Agrij Agranni Double move
Jyncks Tries a ‘Magic Missile’ but fails because of Magic Imunity
Ryn of Briarwood Manages to break the Grapple
Round 2:
Brother Jharo Attacks with his Kammas and hits, but fails to overcome DR
Mellyoun Tries to escape the Grapple but fails
Lady Varin Hits but only 4 points over the DR
Hangman Golem Constricts on Mellyoun for 27, and misses Lady Varin
Agrij Agranni Heals Ryn for 36
Jyncks Tries a Maximized ‘Scorching ray’ which fails because of Magic Immunity (Gets a 34 on a knowledge Arcana check and remembers something about this creature’s magic immunity and fire vulnerability)
Ryn of Briarwood Tumbles out of range fires an arrow and misses
Round 3:
Brother Jharo Tumbles back and attacks with his Flaming Sling…and misses
Mellyoun Tries to escape but fails
Lady Varin Misses twice, but hits once for 10 points over DR
Hangman Golem Hits Lady Varin for 16 but fails to grapple constricts on Mellyoun for 15
Agrij Agranni Casts ‘Stone Skin’
Jyncks Throws some Alchemist Fire, but misses
Ryn of Briarwood Fires four arrows three of which hit but don’t overcome DR
Round 4:
Brother Jharo Hits with a flaming sling stone from his flaming sling…for 1 point of fire damage
Mellyoun Manages to break the Grapple
Lady Varin Hits Golem, but for only 1 point over DR
Hangman Golem Makes it’s Whirl Wind Attack Hitting Mellyoun for 15, Lady Varin for 16, and Agrij for 12
Agrij Agranni Casts ‘Enlarge’ on Lady Varin
Jyncks Casts ‘Truestrike’ and Readies a second vial of Alchemist Fire
Ryn of Briarwood Fires 4 arrows, 3 miss, but one beats DR for 5 points.
Round 5:
Brother Jharo Hits with his fire sling ammo for 3 points
Mellyoun Tumbles back out of combat
Lady Varin Drops her shield and attacks (now enlarged hitting 3 times for 9/10/5 points of damage
Hangman Golem Hits Agrij for 30 and grapples him, misses lady Varin
Agrij Agranni Tries to escape the grapple but fails
Jyncks Hits Golem…and Agrij with Alchemist Fire for 6
Ryn of Briarwood Hits with three arrows for 1/4/1 over DR
Round 6:
Brother Jharo Hits with his flaming ammo for 1
Mellyoun holds for Jynck
Lady Varin Hits once for 4 points over DR
Hangman Golem Constricts on Dwarf for 14 and lashes Dwarf for 23
Agrij Agranni Fails to escape
Jyncks Hits Golem and Agrij with Alchemist Fire for 5+4 for previous round
Mellyoun Hits Golem and Agrij with Alchemist Fire for 6
Ryn of Briarwood Hits with one arrow for 5 over DR
Round 7:
Brother Jharo Tumbles and punches the burning Golem for 2 over DR
Lady Varin Hits twice for 6/8 points over DR
Hangman Golem Constricts on Dwarf for 19 and misses Jharo
Agrij Agranni Escapes and hits for 4 over DR
Jyncks Hits Golem and Agrij with Alchemist Fire for 4+4 for previous round
Mellyoun Alchemist Fire from previous round does 5 and kills the Golem
Ryn of Briarwood Does an elven victory dance.
The Party who are very beat up then finds the real well at the end of the passage and decides to spend the day healing to and regaining spells before moving to investigate it further.
The Watchers outside surround the building and watch for the party to emerge…(I could have been mean and had them enter the Leper house and seal up the hole, or had the house torn down sealing the party inside, but I’m not sure if this party would have been able to get out of that in time for the party…but it sure would have been a surprise, and an even bigger surprise for the prince, if they managed to get out, when they appeared at the party)
The next morning, the party began to examine the well via rope and a couple levitate spells. As they reached the bottom, they were attacked by the Demon Flesh Golem, which hit Lady Varin for 15 and Agrij for 68. The party made a quick retreat back up to the top of the well.
Following another high Knowledge Arcana roll by Jyncks, she tells them that it is a Demon Flesh Golem, and that most of her spells will prove useless against it. However, a ‘Dispel Evil’ spell may vanquish the beast. Both the Agrij and Lady Varin prepare as many of these as they can, and they go back down the well. The get pretty heavily pummeled (The Golem never missed with its +22 attacks) but they eventually managed to affect the Golem with the spell and send it back to whatever plane it came from.
(I’m sure someone in the party would have found the Scythe a high search check. Had they taken 20 they could have made a DC 42 search…without aiding other.)
This is where we concluded the playtest game having played for 6 hours and it was getting very late.
I then gave them a quick run through of the party and got their initial responses to the situations which transpire there. These (and some dice) I used to write up the following portion of the playtest
Chapter 3
Learning traits – each person has a list of 3 outstanding traits for the heroes to discover over the course of the meal – to enable them more easily to discover who is friend and who is foe – each trait is discovered in the order it is written upon a successful Sense Motive or Diplomacy check (DC 25)( only the Paladin had the Diplomacy skill, with 20 ranks) – a check involves roughly an hours conversation. The outcome of learning who to trust and who not to will have a bearing on the final adventure in the Age of Worms adventure path – Dawn of a New Age.
Upon arrival, heroes are asked to hand over any weapons (including wands, staves and rods) and given a warning – the Palace is protected by the Ravenous of Sorcerous Minds (Party didn’t fall for it)
The Giving of Gifts
The other guests begin to approach and greet the Prince, each giving him a gift. One of the rouges manages to get the gist of the value of the gifts 5,000 Gold.
All the players, un prepared for this hand over a random magical item, (their only possessions that they have with them of anywhere near that value) -1 Authority Point. (Per character?)
Immediately after the gift giving – servants appear with chairs for each person and beg them to be seated.
The Fabler appears again and blows his strange horn. ‘My masters’ he says – we beg you to enjoy our little tale – ‘tis a small thing we penned ourselves, and is a tale of menace, revenge, lust and death which we have called – The Harlequinade Mortificatio.’ The Fabler moves back, and as he does servants arrange a small stage with a backdrop of a town street at night – a wooden moon wafts over the scene, and suddenly, a host of skeletons appear – dressed as clowns – two take to the stage as the other stand by – the play of the dead begins...
The play is performed in silence (apart from guests applauding) – the entire cast are bone creatures (see BoVD) – actors who offended the Prince and yet perform on after their appalling deaths. These bone creatures will make another two appearances during the day. The entire play is a curious affair, however, anyone making a perform (acting) check DC 30 (which the Bard didn’t even have) will follow the whole plot – the bone creatures are acting out their own deaths – betrayed by the prince, who watches idly on, oblivious of the plot, bored perhaps... (0 Authority Points)
During the play servants flutter around with wine and lightly roasted almond biscuits of exquisite taste. At the plays end the curious actors bow and everyone applauds, the Ominous Fabler appears, now dressed as a scarecrow with a hares skull where his head should be. He leads guests across the grounds to the next event, cart-wheeling as he does so and singing a song about boiling sparrows.
The Feast
A huge gong sounds at the end of the Bowling game to signal the feast is ready – night falls as the group enters the palace and are led to the Great Banqueting Hall. The general layout of the palace is described under the backdrop section of this edition of Dungeon magazine.
The Great Banqueting Hall
When the heroes first step into the chamber read the following description:
You enter a massive cylindrical chamber that rises through the centre of the palace. A huge round table of polished mahogany dominates the room, which is decked with portraits and landscapes of great quality – most of the pictures are of Zeech himself, although the enigmatic Lashonna – a white haired pale woman dominates one portrait – her eyes seem to follow you as you enter. A vast stained glass window covers the roof – depicting angels at play - closer inspection reveals them to be Erinyes. A circle of severed heads sit on iron pikes some 20’ above the chamber – they surround the room.
The Appreciative Heads
The heads are no mere mortal decapitants: they have been pressed back from death and into the dark service of Zeech to serve as raisers of his sprits. All seventy heads cheer and encourage everything Zeech says, in their strange and sonorous voices, which somehow call without the help of lungs.
Pray be seated
The Fabler will ask the guests to be seated – a dazzling array of cutlery is laid before the group – including ten sorts of spoons. Anyone making a Diplomacy check (DC 25) will know how to eat and can pass on details to their fellows – anyone who fails in this most basic courtesy will have offended the prince. This roll should be made once by each PC – they know it or they don’t.
If the party can’t see Lady Varin and follower her lead the following takes place.
Lady Varin makes her roll (she’s the only one with any ranks in Diplomacy)
Agrij Agranni Fails, (no ranks in Diplomacy), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort: +18 Vs Poison, he fails and will take 5 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 9 Con, leaving him at 2 Con)
Ryn of Briarwood Fails, (no ranks in Diplomacy), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort: +10 Vs Poison, she fails and will take 9 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 7 Con, Killing her)
Jyncks Fails, (no ranks in Diplomacy), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort: +10 Vs Poison, she fails and will take 6 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 5 Con, leaving her at 3 Con)
Brother Jharo Fails, (no ranks in Diplomacy), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned but never knows it because he is immune to poison.
Mellyoun Fails, (no ranks in Diplomacy), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort:+ 6 Vs Poison, he fails and will take 6 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 6 Con, leaving him at 2 Con)
Lady Varin is poisoned just for being a paladin of Heironeous which is sure to offend the prince.
Lady Varin Fails (no ranks in Bluff), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort: +16 Vs Poison, he fails and will take 6 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 14 Con, leaving her at 6 Con)
The heroes are split up around the table and seated next to various guests who they continue to learn about.
As the last guest is seated there is a distant fanfare and Lashonna enters the Great Banqueting Hall. Everyone rises from their seats – she is dazzlingly beautiful – alabaster skin and long white hair set back in a tiara of black diamonds. Everyone in the rooms feels her gaze settling upon them. Lashonna will sit next to Brother Jharo (who has a since motive +14 and gathers that Lashona is plying him for more info about the partys motives. He tries to answer her questions as simply and uninformidly as possible while turning the conversation to Bucknard and his travels.
Lashonna knows of the fate of Bucknard, and if the heroes discuss the matter with her she will say that she will talk to them at the end of the feast.
Lashonna eats and drinks nothing throughout the meal – and merely watches, and questions…
The Feast
First Course – the Feast of Worms…
Zeech stands, and silence falls upon the banquet hall. ‘My dear friends-’ he says and as he does, the decapitated heads in the chamber echo the word ‘friends’ in a ghoulish tone. ‘-I bid you enjoy the feast, eat and drink your fill in my humble abode.’ He claps his hands and, as he does, the Great Doors swing open and a trio of manticores move in, to the ghoulish hoorahs of the heads. You make to stand and clutch at where your weapons were before realising that these are no wild beasts - the fire is gone from their eyes – their wings have been cruelly severed, and the once proud and ferocious barbs of their long tails have been brutally removed. They each carry great platters of silver on their back, and a host of distorted servants enter behind them.
Each person is given a small covered silver salver, and when all have been so served the Fabler stands and tells the group that there is a tradition in this land – once a pilgrim came to Redhand – he had not eaten for many weeks, and he fell upon the moors to die. As he did he saw a worm emerge from the ground – the worm was a gift from the gods that he should live – and he devoured it. In Redhand it has always been the tradition to start a celebration of thanks with such a feast. He will remove his own platter lid to reveal a 4” long green worm – alive – on the silver plate.
Everyone eats the worms even though they are not sure what they are.
Lady Barin is served a poisoned worm.
Lady Varin gets Poisoned (Fort: +16 Vs Poison,she fails and will take 5 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 10 Con, Killing her is she was previously poisoned or leaving her at 1 Con)
Tell us a tale…
After the course the Prince commands the Fabler to tell the tale of the talking severed head of the bard of Bodly Marshes – one of his favourites, and which the Appreciative Heads play a large part in. At its end ask if any others have a similar tale to tell.
Mellyoun has neither Oratory or Sing, just Preform String instrument so does not join in. 0 Authority Points.
Second Course – four and twenty blackbirds…
This time a single Manticore enters, with an enormous pie upon its back on a silver dish of great size. Pastry beaks of birds cover the pie, and as everyone watches, the crust is opened and 24 blackbirds emerge, flying around the room in terror.
The pie itself is also blackbird, but cooked within lairs of delicately sugared and almond pastry which tastes surprisingly good. As the pie is served, huge tureens of vegetables are brought in by the servants, as well as plentiful supplies of a locally produced spiced white wine called Redhand Resinwint.
Lady Varin is served poisoned pie and vegetables. She can only save with a roll of a naturea 20, so it is assumed that the poison will kill her after the month incubation period.
Let us hear a song, or someone who can play a merry tune…
The dead players (from the earlier play) emerge with lutes and horns - the players with horns have now had leather bellows fixed in their chests and these are pumped by other bone creatures to give breath to the players. One plays a horn of vast size – which stretches some 20’ upwards and has its own scaffold to hold it up. A miserable cacophony is struck, a mournful – almost inhuman dirge that sinks the spirits.
The party listens in silence.
At the end the prince challenges anyone to play the 20’ Redhand Great Horn – the Fabler will try, but give way to others.
Mellyoun tries but fails.
Third Course – the fruits of the earth, the beasts of the lands, the fish of the sea – all things are ours to feast upon…
Tojbasarrirge – a curious dish involving the cooking of a whole tojanda, stuffed with two boned basilisks, stuffed with boned arrowhawk, stuffed with boned stirge who each have a trio of olives in their mouths.
A huge platter is slung between two manticores – upon it is a great turtle shell – halved, within which is a descending mass of forms of meat – a Tojbasarrige – a recipe the prince himself thought up.
The meal is foul – it is tough and undercooked, however, so foul is it that bluffs are required to get away with eating the meal without gagging.
Lady Varin Fails (no ranks in Bluff), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (and is already walking dead)
Agrij Agranni Fails (no ranks in Bluff), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort: +18 Vs Poison, he fails and will take 7 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 8 Con, which kills him if he was previously poisoned, or leaves him at 1 Con)
Ryn of Briarwood Fails, (Bluff +12), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort: +10 Vs Poison, she fails and will take 10 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 5 Con, Killing her…if she isn’t already dead from a previous poisoning)
Jyncks Fails, (no ranks in Bluff), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort: +10 Vs Poison, she fails and will take 9 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 6 Con, Killing her whether she had been previously poisoned or not)
Brother Jharo Fails, (no ranks in Bluff), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned but never knows it because he is immune to poison.
Mellyoun Fails, (no ranks in Bluff), Offends the Prince and gets Poisoned (Fort:+ 6 Vs Poison, he fails and will take 6 Con, followed by another failure and secondary damage for 4 Con, Killing him if he had been previously poisoned, or leaving him at 4 Con)
Let the Fabler bring his puppets to life…
Lashonna will suggest to the prince that the Fabler go and fetch his puppets – she feels that this audience will appreciate the skill of someone pretending to be others, she will ensure that the PCs hear this and will use her sense motive to see if it gets a reaction (oppose the PCs bluff to remain calm).
The Fabler will return, dressed as a large black crow and will ‘enact the boiling of Master Edwinstone Froop using my skin-shedding puppets…’. The puppeteering is gruesome, but skilful, and at its end Lashonna will rise and ask if there are any with the skill of hand to utilise the complex puppets.
(No one has Preform Comedy or puppets)
0 Authority Points
Fourth Course – Purple Worm Young in aspic and honey…
Huge covered tureens are brought out – and these have a curious purple jelly within. The Fabler will say that Purple Worms are common throughout Redhand, and the tribesmen of old learnt of a way of cooking them in Aspic so that the poison is boiled out – but the recipe has to be precise – miss the correct time by one second, and painful death will result.
The Fabler will whisper that someone should eat the dish first – and points to Lady Varin
All eyes watch the meal being eaten by Lady Varin, whose dish is poisoned, but that doesn't really matter.
The meat is tough and poor but edible, and during its serving trays with peacocks in full pride are served, along with iced C’rosch – a strong local spirit
The talk will be directed by Kilraven to tales of boldness and heroics – he will tell of despatching Reyhu orcs on behalf of the prince. Others will join in – B’Kruss in particular, and an impromptu bragging contest begins.
Ryn (with Bluff +12 and 15th level) wins with a score of 42, By telling about how Lady Varin slew a dozen Paladins of Hextor with her arms tied behind her back. +2 Authority Points
Lady Varin is served poisoned peacock meat.
Fifth Course – The Sweet…
The smell of cloves and honey and cinnamon wafts through as a single Manticore enters with a cake of incredible size nearly eight feet tall – it is designed like the Ziggurat but crowned with a marzipan figure of Zeech surrounded by light and with angels wings.
Everyone applauds loudly, but as they do the cake begins to fall apart… The cake is merely unbalancing, however, the symbolism is not lost on the guests – and Kilraven and Vulras in particular:
Maybe a party member with sense Motive noticed this, but only Ryn has Bluff and she didn’t try to return the thought.
The hate in Zeech’s eyes is palpable, however, the Fabler makes light of the fall – saying that the cake is not made of cement and stone and iron – and that he will eat it all if no one else will. Everyone of course eats the cake – but Zeech does so in brooding silence – remaining so for the remainder of the feast.
Lady Varin boldly toasts "May your evil kingdom last as long as that cake"!
Lady Varin's cake is poisoned.
Let us conclude our merriment with a dance with the dead… The Fabler commands that he and any obvious bards (who have shown their mettle as musicians) strike up a tune whilst the guests dance. The bone creatures re-emerge – dressed in finery and a dance begins – with the dead as partners. Zeech does not join in.
Lady Varin objects and is served a poisoned drink. We didn't even bother to roll because she is so full of poison at this point that it really doesn't matter any more.
Use the dance to conclude events – partners are switched and changed and the time for plain talking comes under the covering noise of the musicians – allow people to speak plainly – B’Kruss – if he has been driven over the edge (q.v.) will openly warn the heroes that this dance will be the last thing they enjoy – Lashonna may comment upon any secrets she has discovered and feels she can share – as do Vulras and Kilraven, characters show their true colours.
Concluding the Feast and the Adventure
Zeech will leave in silence – applauded of course by his fellow guests as he makes his way to his quarters – other guests are led away to their carriages and taken back to their lodgings.
Lashonna will agree to meet the heroes again in a few nights time – they have piqued her interest with their antics at the feast and she will offer to bring them a dozen pages of Bucknard’s journal as a good will gesture. She will say that she will meet them at the summit of the Great Ziggurat in three nights time to talk to them about the future – there is much to discuss. These events are described in the next instalment of the Age of Worms Adventure Path – The Library of Last Resort.
Note,the poison was different in the playtest.
NEW POISON
Redhand Ikrus: Type: Ingest DC 35. Initial Damage* 2d6 Con; Secondary Damage 2D6 Con. Price 3,500gp. DC to create the poison is 35.
* The onset time for initial damage is 1 month, secondary follows the standard time afterwards.
This insidious odourless poison onsets by begging a frightfully swift rotting off the victims flesh – during which he loses the initial Con, as the skin sloughs away the secondary damage begins. If a character dies in such a way he immediately rises as a bone creature (BoVD) and can only be restored to life by a miracle or wish spell.
ASEO out