Age of Worms Campaign Update 10/19/2008

CHRONICLE VAULT 20081019, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...

Planting 13, 596 CY
With the followers of Vecna defeated or driven off the Kings of the Road found themselves with the four Trials of Tilagos completed. They had the feather from the Roc King, the belt of the titan Krathanos, had silenced the Doomshroud's mournful song, and defeated the Nightmare Beast. They were weary and exhausted but eager to be rid of Last Resort.

They did not have long to travel on that island demiplane before being confronted by the strange fey beings that they first met upon traveling to the planar site. The lead wild watcher, Tylanthros, approached and congratulated them upon completing the trials. As a token of their success the remaining druids gave each hero a gift - one of the elemental standards kept by the fey druids. Each hero chose one of the artifacts according to their own needs, and afterwards things became strange.

"And so you have earned the right to return the lore of the Order of Storms to the world. The Age of Worms is upon us, and what the powers of old began so long ago now falls to you to complete. Drink deep and remember. Dream the dreams of the ages."

No sooner had the words left Tylanthros' lips when a sudden darkness washed over the heroes. After a short time they found themselves standing on a ridge overlooking a mountainous crevasse. Duke recognized the place as the Rift Canyon but things were not what they appeared. It was as if they were in a dream gazing back at a time in ages past, except they were not gazing - they were living.

A small group of sombre druids aproached them, and the Kings of the Road recognized Tylanthros as their leader. But he was different - he was a man, not the strange fey being they were just conversing with in the demiplane of Last Resort. He gave no sign of recognization as he spoke.

"The heroes of prophecy. Your timing is perfect. We can hold them no longer, but we have been successful in our task." Tylanthros indicated towards the dozen or so druids who stood behind him. The druids clustered around a large package with its sides carved in the shapes of leering demonic and draconic faces. "Dragotha's phylactery is ours, yet at a great price. His minions even now come for us to reclaim it, and soon he himself shall learn of its theft. We must hide it forever from his reach, for I fear its destruction at this juncture would ounly drive him to an unstoppable frenzy. But if we can take it from this land, he will sense its loss. He will abandon the army of Kyuss and they will be lost, without leadership. You must hold off the spawn that even now scramble at the edges of the cliffs around us. Our trusted ally will stall his aerial forces whil you must hold off the rest of his spawn long enough for us to transport the phylactery."

A familiar figure stepped forward at this point, a young and vivacious woman dressed in ornate silver armor. It was the strikingly beautiful figure of Lashonna! She spoke to the heroes, but once again there was no recognition in her eyes. "I shall engage Dragotha and his children myself, but I cannot defend against his Swords. They come too, scrambling up to our location even now, along with - something else. Something most unnatural - an abomination. You must hold them off, for all is lost if you fail."

With that Lashonna spread her arms and before the dumb-struck eyes of the companions she transformed into a magnificent silver dragon. With a single tremendous beat of her wings she launched into the air. Tylanthros spoke again as she flew towards a small group of draconic shadows led by a massive undead beast - Dragotha leading the flight.

"We go now, to hide the phylactery within its cradle in Kongen-Thulnir. Save us from the Words of Kyuss, or the Age of Worms shall doom us all!" The druids then departed and the heroes - now well aware that they were not only witnessing but participating in a historic moment from 15,000 years ago - steeled themselves. The massive force of swords of Kyuss climbed over the lip of the cliff and battle was engaged. It was a surreal experience - sword and spell clashed with bone and claw, and through it all the heroes were aware that they were not fully in control of their actions. During the frantic melee the companions could see Lashonna facing off against Dragotha - and losing.

Just as darkness began to creep over them like a wave crashing against the shores of an island they saw Dragotha deliver a killing stroke to Lashonna, sending the silver dragon tumbling into the mists of the Rift Canyon.

Then, with a sudden blink of their eyes, the Kings of the Road found themselves standing upon the island of Tilagos. But no storms battered the island, and the waters were calm. They were back on the material plane, and back in their own time as well. Sort of, at any rate, for they learned from Captain Shadowstalker as the Sunshadow came into view that they were gone three months. Time, it seemed, passed differently in the now extinct demiplane of Last Resort.

The heroes now had a goal, or at least the name of their goal - Kongen-Thulnir. Their first stop aboard the Sunshadow was at Greyhawk City to resupply, and it was there that Duke learned that Kongen-Thulnir, the City of Kings, was a site somewhere in the Rift Canyon. After a bit of decision making the companions decided to make their way north to the Barony of Bloodstone, which lay at the foothills of the Rift Canyon and seek the advice of Toka and the rest of the Heroes of Bloodstone.

The Sunshadow took to the late spring sky easily and it was only a few days before they reached Bloodstone. Toka greeted them, and Argo related their tale. Loncer Amorocco, one of the fabled Bloodstone legends, indicated he had been to Kongen-Thulnir recently and was able to fill the heroes in on some details.

First it was a city ruled by giants. Hill giants, fire giants, storm giants, stone giants - all sorts. And they were broken up into three distinct "clans." The Khargakhan, or Riftlords, were the largest and most powerful, and commanded the most respect from the others. They were led by King Achaime Silvereye, an aging storm giant that Loncer had immense respect for, but the hill giant advisor named Bagg was not a good or trustworthy giant.

The second clan were the Khargak-dwergun, or Rift Crawlers. They were a splinter faction led by the hill giant Charlgar, who staged a coup against King Silvereye and failed. The Rift Crawlers controlled the Undercity and kept some large beast in a pit there.

The third clan were the Tiamikal Nul-Shada, or Hunters of Tiamat's Children. These were an elite fighting force of dragon hunters that kept the Citadel of Weeping Dragons. They were secretive and Loncer didn't know much about them, but he respected their methods and views immensely.

Loncer also told the companions to either walk or fly into the Rift Canyon. A horse or other land-based animal would only slow them up, and it was three day trek to Kongen-Thulnir. And so, thus armed with information the companions set their eyes on finding Dragotha's phylactery.

Session Updates
This was a clean-up session more than anything else, and as such no XP was awarded. But it was an important bridge between "The Library of Last Resort" and the "Kings of the Rift", so a necessary evil. Good to put it behind us, though.

Until next, Game On!

"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association