My party is about to parley with the Twisted Branch shaman, and I'm gearing up for the negotiations/discussions. After reading and re-reading the adventure, I'm left puzzled by a few things - please, don't mind me while I talk some stuff out. Please feel free to add you input as necessary.
1) Hishka (the shaman) is said to not like the aggressive stance of the new king. It will seek to enlist the party's assistance in removing the King and his Lieutenant. Who, if anybody, will step in to fill the power void? The Shaman? A promising your Lizardfolk warrior loyal to the Shaman?
2) There is no mention of how the remainder of the tribe will react to the death of their king - I imagine Hishka would have a coterie of like-minded lizardfolk who would fight against those firmly entrenched in Shukak's corner. A nice scene that would make, a small-scale civil war in the Twisted Branch Lair, Shaman-loyal lizardfolk taking up arms against Shukak's anti-human warriors, while the party battles to defeat the "assassins" brought in by the shaman . . . Hmm . . .
2) How exactly do I get the party to the egg chamber? Supposing they make a deal with Hishka, depose the King and his followers, and instate a new ruler willing to make peace with the humans, what reason does the tribe have for wanting the egg chamber inspected by outsiders? Hishka is not written as having any probelm with the alliance with Ilthane, and so (as written) has no reason to doubt the dragon's intentions.
I suppose it would be easy enough to just say that Hishka is beginning to suspect the dragon is up to no good, and ask that the party eliminate the guardian kobolds Ilthane left behind while the "civil war" is fought. Would Hishka mention the dragon egg, and what would it want done about it?
But Hishka is mentioned as valuing the survival of the tribe above all else. Is risking Ilthane's wrath for betrayal and/or destruction of her precious egg in the best interest of the tribe? Ilthane could easily wipe the Twisted Branch off the face of the mistmarsh - why anger her?
Please, help me out here. Suggestions, anecdotes, solutions are all welcome!
IIRC the write-up does indicate that Hishka suspects Ilthane--not of spreading the worms but of having her own interests in mind. Since she's the one backing the lizardfolk chief, she's likely to be upset if the shaman has offed him with the aid of some meddling humans. Hishka most likely will want to relocated the tribe and their eggs before Ilthane's next visit. This necessitates getting rid of the kobolds in the egg room and the party are obvious candidates to do this bit of dirty work. Once you get the party into the egg room, they are almost certain to be curious about the dragon egg, and things will happen from there. My campaign log explains how I handled this section of the adventure *end of shameless plug* Good luck.
I think Peruhain's comments are right on target. I'd add that the shaman wants Ilthane's egg moved outside the lair, as a sign to Ilthane on her return that the alliance is over. (The Shaman is still probably intending to move the tribe, and therefore probably won't care much if the PCs decide they want to take the egg instead - but the idea of asking the egg to be moved is to help avoid a situation where your PCs think "We're allied with the lizardfolk now, we shouldn't tamper with the dragon egg.")
Of course, in this case, it's important that any disturbance of the egg (even trying to tilt or lift it) causes it to rupture and release the worms.
Of course, in this case, it's important that any disturbance of the egg (even trying to tilt or lift it) causes it to rupture and release the worms.
Balance check DC 15 to lift egg and to move five feet through the muck while trying not to step on lizardfolk eggs. Failed check = carrying PC falls, cracks egg, out come the worms. When I ran this, I gave the egg hardness 2 and 4 hit points--falling does 1d6 damage. Less than 4 hp damage cracks the egg, allowing enough worms to come out to fill 3d4 squares--more come out if the egg isn't repaired right away with mending or something similar. 4 hp damage shatters the egg, releasing all worms. If the PCs still get the egg out without breaking it they might try to take it with them. Every violent move or combat has a chance to crack the egg open, which won't harm the PCs, but will tip them off that Ilthane was behind the spread of the worms.
The way I played it, there were two main groups of lizardfolk: those who beleive that their king is so great and powerful that he subdued a dragon (and Illthane plays along with this, since having a powerful, charismatic king is instrumental in keeping control of all the tribes), and those who believe the dragon is manipulating them to achieve its own goals (details of which they no absolutely nothing).
Hishka leads the group of 'skeptics', but lacks the physical power to overthrow the king.
When the party enters the lair, have a big fight early on in which they notice a 'sick' lizardman - and once he is killed, the worms crawl out and all the others freak out - drop weapons, run away in terror, say things about 'the return of the plague', etc. Hishka will appear shortly afterwards, to investigate. If the PCs start talking about green worms, etc. he will immediately take this as 'proof' that the dragon is up to no good, and plans to betray the tribes. He asks the PCs to take out the king and his 'inner circle', and beleives that with him out of the way the tribes will listen to him and retreat back into the swamp.
Another angle you can use is that some of the lizardfolk (the king's supporters) have been deluded into thinking they can actually take over greyhawk, while the more reasonable ones (led by hishka) fear defeat and/or retribution by the humans and would prefer peaceful coexistance to open conflict. But so far they have been bullied/coerced into going along with the king's plans.
Note that many of the lizardfolk have 'slow worm' healing potions, so that can be another source of 'proof' that the dragon is tricking them - just dump one out and point at the worm. This, together with the worms in the sick lizardman, should make it clear to all that the dragon has betrayed them (assuming they know the dragon is the source of the potions - I assumed she won them over by giving many 'gifts' like this)
Once the king is defeated and the dragon's treachery exposed, Hishka will call for a meeting with the (former) leaders of each tribe, and they will all agree to dispurse peacfully back into the swamp.
But before they can do that, they need to get their eggs back, and those are all being 'protected' along with the dragon's treasure.
Even if the PCs don't want to help the lizards anymore, the temptation to get treasure should help prod them in the right direction. In my case, the treasure was mainly more tainted potions - but if there were any doubt as to the source of these, then this is it.