CHRONICLE VAULT 20071213, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Sunsebb 30, 595 CY
The appearance of a massive black dragon - the lizardfolk's Black Mother, Ilthane - shook the six heroes to their core. How was she involved in the corrupting of the lizardfolk eggs? Why would a black dragon be interested in an army of lizardfolk zombies covered in the mysterious green worms? Questions gnawed at them but few answered were revealed. They had recovered the unconscious bodies of Marzana the warmage and one of the Blackwall Keep soldiers, but both seemed to be suffering from some kind of illness that Duke was not able to identify. Hishka the lizardfolk shaman offered the group protection under the mangaroo tree and so, with night watches set, the companions fell into an uneasy rest after their battle with the wyrmlings of Ilthane.
The next day brought a cold northerly wind sweeping across the Mistmarsh, which unfortunately did little to dispel the unnatural fog that encapsulated the swamp for the morning hours. Argo took point and with keen eyes and the halfling survival instinct he led the heroes quickly through the cold marsh. They made excellent time and managed to reach Blackwall Keep just before night settled over the land, their speed even more impressive considering Drake was carrying the unconscious Marzana and Kong was carrying the soldier.
But something was wrong. Kaspar noted it first - the unnatural absence of nature's sounds. Things were too quiet. Argo, being in the lead, strode confidently up to the door of the keep and knocked, calling out for an answer as he did so. There was no response. With a shrug, the halfling ranger kicked open the door to reveal darkness inside. There was some kind of sound, something like a shuffling or a scratching, but his sight could not penetrate the darkness. Lighting a torch Argo revealed in a flash where the shuffling noise came from as three green worm-infested zombies lurched forward with a gurgled moan from the depths of the tower!
Acting purely on primal fear Shanks slammed the door shut. But Kong would have none of that so he pushed open the door and charged inside, his greatsword flashing in the flickering torchlight. He was, however, quickly surrounded by his three opponents but they did not slash at him. Instead it seemed like they only brushed up against him, and each one launched a series of tiny green worms onto Kong's exposed flesh. The tiny green worms began to writhe and burrow and the mighty barbarian began to panic and brush most of them off. Most of them. One of them had landed on his backside and found an opening in the small of his back and burrowed into the flesh.
The rest of the companions were suddenly gripped with a terrible icy fear that clutched their hearts, a palpable evil that emanated from the green worm zombies. Kaspar, Drake, and Shanks - their willpower broken - backed away from the tower as quickly as they could, the unnatural fear controlling their very actions.
Duke pulled a trick from his most recent druid training and cast a spell that turned his body into a living pillory of fire, hoping that the zombies were vulnerable to fire. Kong ran outside and past Duke and Argo, screaming in a mad frenzy about the worm crawling along his spine towards his brain. His spell completed the dwarf wizard/druid stepped into the keep and into the middle of the fray, his flaming body scorching the zombies around them. But it was not enough to deter them as they lurched forward and attacked, slashing at him with their gnarled claws. Severely wounded, Duke stumbled backwards out of the tower, but noted with some satisfaction that the green worms that leapt from the bodies of the zombies were incinerated instantly by his conflagration aura. Argo pulled out his magical daggers and cut one of the opponents down in a flash of whirling attacks.
Kaspar, Shanks, and Drake ran in a fear-muddled panic but within several moments they regained their composure. It was Drake who came across another one of the worm-infested zombies in the field surrounding the keep as it lurched up from where it was lying on the ground. With a might bellow he charged and cut the undead monstrosity deep, and Kaspar - with a speed only a monk could muster - ran as fast as he could and delivered a solid blow to the zombie with a chop of his fist. Under concentrated attacks the green worm zombie in the field was defeated, and seeing his companions deal such a blow to one of the undead, Kong was shaken from his panicked moment. Ignoring the constant pain of a worm crawling along his spine and to his brain, he charged into the keep and together him and Argo defeated the rest of the zombies. Shanks returned from his panic attack just in time to stomp on one of the green worms that lay dying on the ground.
The companions entered the keep to the sounds of rustling up stairs. Duke called out that if someone wasn't a zombie they should shout back. They heard a muffled response, words but difficult to make out, followed by the sound of a barricade being removed from the other side of the 2nd-floor door. The heroes braced themselves for a sneak attack but what stumbled down the stairs was not a zombie. It was a soldier, a captain judging by his rank, and he was covered in blood but appeared uninjured. He stammered, asking if the things were gone. When Duke responded in the affirmative the captain smiled crookedly and collapsed. Upon investigation the heroes found the second floor to contain two soldiers, both dead from sword wounds. Not taking any chances it was decided to burn all of the corpses a few hundred yards from the keep. With night already upon them the heroes decided to stay the night at Blackwall Keep and decide on what to do next in the morning.
Night watches were set, and during the third watch Shanks noticed something in the distance, from the west. It was a line of torches carried by people on horses. The halfling warrior hoped it was Alustan returning with the contingent of soldiers from Diamond Lake but he kept hidden until they go closer. His hopes proved correct as the soldiers and the sage arrived just before dawn at the keep. Shanks roused everyone from their rest and the soldiers were met and the situation explained. Alustan was relieved to see Marzana and determined that her illness and the other soldier from the swamp was simply a swamp-born disease that they were recovering from. The Diamond Lake soldiers listened to what had happened and congratulated the heroes on a job well done. Alustan especially was interested in hearing everything about the blight on the lizardfolk eggs, the black dragon, and the green worm zombies, and his face grew more grim with each new fact.
In the morning Marzana awoke and confirmed what the heroes had explained. The sage of Diamond Lake explained that the situation had grown more dire than they had expected - other parties must now get involved. Alustan asked the companions to take their collected notes and findings to a colleague of his, Eligos, who lived in the Free City of Greyhawk four days ride to the west. The six heroes agreed, and so they set off later that same day riding horses given to them by the captain of the soldiers. Alustan rode with them until they reached Diamond Lake (a journey of two days), during which the sage listened to the longer version of what had transpired in the swamp.
The four days passed uneventfully and everyone got much needed rest after the tough fights in the swamp and the keep. All except Kong, whose dreams were plagued by visions of green worms infesting his body and bursting from his skin. He felt something writhing in the pit of his stomach and his companions could see the visible effects of some sort of wasting disease. They needed to get to a temple and quickly and Greyhawk was the closest one.
A bitter wind blew from the north as they rode up to the Marsh Gate of Greyhawk with flakes of snow flying all around. They waited in line for an hour to pass through the gate, which was administered by a pair of Greyhawk militia inspecting travelers. The heroes were given a hard time when it came to their turn but Argo spread a little coin around (5 gp) and managed to avoid much of the bureaucracy of getting inside. They finally made into the dirty, cobbled streets of Greyhawk, the largest city in the world and the center for culture and civilization.
Argo quickly bought a map of the city from a registered Cartographer's Guild street vendor and after poring over it for a few minutes they found Eligos' home in the Garden Quarter. Also, not too far from Eligos', was the large Temple of Pelor, perfect to hopefully treat whatever was ailling the barbarian Kong. The companions made their way through the crowded streets, marveling at the exotic foods and other things that were readily available for purchase. They even came upon a parade going down the main processional complete with a caged chimera. Street urchins announced the parade heralded the coming Champions' Games to be held in the City Arena. Drake grabbed one of the flyers and discovered that the guest judges of the games were to be Loncer Amorocco the Dragonslayer and Rugrunt Garoul the Gnoll Champion from the northern kingdom of Bloodstone.
Then something went wrong. Duke noticed a thief trying to pick the lock of his wagon and at the same time the chimera managed to break free of its cage. People screamed and ran in throngs as the beast threw lightning into the crowds. Luckily the heroes managed to be there at the right time and they sprang into action - Kong and Drake charged with flashing swords, Argo launched a blistering attack with a flurry of his daggers, and Kaspar's fists kept the beast busy while Shanks whipped it with his spiked chain. The parademaster begged the heroes not to kill the beast, offering a very substantial reward for its capture alive, but the pleas fell on deaf ears - the barbarian Kong drove his sword through the creature's belly. The City Watch arrived shortly after the incident to clean up, and the parademaster wound up paying the heroes 300 gp for acting so quickly.
As the heroes made their way through Greyhawk after the chimera incident they finally came to the inner gate of the city, separating Old City from New City. Near the gate they found a man standing on a rain barrel shouting to the throngs of people, who all pretty much ignored him. As they drew closer the man - a beggar, clearly, with very little possessions to his name - shouted his apocalyptic prophecy:
"Listen to me, you children of Greyhawk, and hear the doom that builds before your blind eyes. You in your house of gold and you in your hovel of mud and even you in your mail of metal, none of you are safe from the doom, from the Age of Worms. Oh yes, it is coming. Have you not heard the dead dragons roar? Have you not smelled the rot festering under your very nose? Have you not dreamt of the worm that walks , bringing decay to all he touches? Fools, you are all fools! Your doom is upon you! The end is in sight and none of you shall be spared. Decay is the future and the future is here!"
The man had little else to impart and seemed almost oblivious to anything else, even when Shanks kicked the rain barrel from out beneath his feet. Something in the man's ranting seemed to strike a chord with the heroes, but they had little time to ponder this as Kong's stomach twisted - or rather, something in Kong's stomach twisted. They rushed to the Temple of Pelor and spoke with High Matriarch Sarana regarding the barbarian's illness. She professed ignorance towards the symptoms but vowed to try a few things. After a donation to the temple she set to work and it seemed that remove disease did the trick. Kong could no longer feel the green worm writhing in the depths of his belly.
After the stop at the Temple of Pelor they finally made it to Eligos' mansion in the Garden Quarter. They were let in by an aged elven manservant who escorted them to the parlor. After a few minutes of watiing Eligos appeared - a middle-aged man with an open red robe, cloe cut red hair and eyes that held deep wells of gray. He listened to what the companions related, nodding sagely at points. His eyebrows raised at the mention of Alustan and he seemed genuinely surprised to hear that name. He glanced over the notes and jars of green worms they had brought and expressed an interest in learning more, as well as a feeling of foreboding. Eligos agreed to research the details as much as he could but it would take at least a week. Duke volunteered to help the wizard with the research (especially when it came to the Great Library) which he was ready to accept. During their wait in Greyhawk, Eligos suggested they stay at the Crooked House in the Foreign Quarter. The innkeeper is a friend of his, a gnome named Tarquin, and would be able to offer a discount if they mentioned he sent them (by saying "knight to rook 9").
The heroes thanked Eligos and Duke promised to return in three days. They set off for the Crooked House as the afternoon waned and a fresh snowfall began to fall on the city.
Session Updates
Finally, huh? Seemed like a lot longer than three weeks since we last played. For the future, if you're going to be preoccupied on a Thursday evening please either call or email me - it makes things go so much smoother. With that in mind, Bill is working next Thursday so I was hoping to move the D&D game to another day of the week - perhaps Sunday? I need to get with Bill and figure out if any other days of the week are free. I'll send out notifications once I know for sure.
Quest Cards Completed
* Speak with Eligos in the Free City of Greyhawk
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* NegotiateTreaty with Lizardfolk of Mistmarsh
XP Recap
6th-level Characters 3,500
7th-level Characters 2,750
8th-level Characters 1,750
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
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