Age of Worms

Since the beginning of history, humanity has measured time in ages. Ages of glory, of Dreams, and even of Great Sorrows mark the human tally of the years, giving a sense of order to the events of past centuries. But one age has yet to occur, an age of darkness, of decay, and of writhing doom. Witty bards and wrathful preachers know it as the Age of Worms, weaving it into the peripheries of their passion plays as a mythic era of destruction that could begin at any time. Astrologers, diviners, and servants of the fates know more. The canniest among them fear that the Age of Worms has already begun.

SPOILER WARNING - these pages contain Age of Worms spoilers.

Click here to go to this week’s log

If you are following this campaign log and would like to comment, please go to my campaign thread at paizo.com. Players: please don’t read it, it contains DM notes.

Expedition Log:

  1. The Whispering Cairn
    By Erik Mona
    A handful of would-be adventurers gathers to explore an ancient tomb, eager to trade their discoveries for a ticket to a better life. What they find within presages the advent of the Age of Worms, and era of darkness, decay, and writhing doom.
    1. A party forms, and sets off - adventure for to find!
    2. Into the Whispering Cairn, starting with an ancient puzzle.
    3. The missing pieces found, a barrier, and a new quest.
    4. A gang of thugs, a necromancer, and a strange green worm.
    5. Success! The way is clear. A final guardian, and items of ancient power.
  2. The Three Faces of Evil
    By Mike Mearls
    Clues discovered in Diamond Lake lead to the Dark Cathedral, a forlorn chamber hidden below a local mine. There the PCs battle the machinations of the Ebon Triad, a cult dedicated to three vile gods. What does the Ebon Triad know about the Age of Worms, and why are they so desperate to get it started?
    1. A mission from Allustan. Infiltrations, and overcoming the first of three.
    2. Second of three. Caverns and Caves, oh my!
    3. That addled beast.
    4. Beshadowed labyrinth. Birds and Beasts.
    5. The Faceless One, the Ebon Aspect. A conclusion.
  3. Encounter at Blackwall Keep
    by Sean K Reynolds
    The wizard Allustan requests the party’s company on a trip to Blackwall Keep, a militia outpost on the border of a treacherous swamp. But what of the green worms and unkillable zombies plaguing the region, and what fell secret is locked in the keep’s forlorn basement?
    1. Under siege.
    2. Swampy dangers.
    3. Chicken omlette (well, tastes like chicken).
  1. The Hall of Harsh Reflections
    by Jason Bulmahn
    The Free City: a shining gem in the crown of cultured civilization. Beneath the surface of this bustling metropolis is a rot, festering in the darkness, manipulating the lives of those unaware of its presence. Now a small adventuring band from out of town may be in over their heads. Their actions in Diamond Lake have attracted the wrath of one of the city’s hidden masters. A gang of infiltrators and an enigmatic mastermind plot their destruction, and only tracing the rot to the root can stop the onslaught.
    1. The Big Wahoonie. Circuses, Sages, and Dopelgangers.
    2. The Hall of Deception. A traitor revealed.
    3. The BBEG - or is he? And the favour of house ir’Tarn.
    4. But first, some minions
    5. Zyrxog and his strange family, and yet more breadcrumbs.
  2. The Champion’s Belt
    by Tito Leati
    The Champion’s Games are here! Gladiators from around the world converge in the Free City! Yet this year, something dire festers in the arena’s foundations, for its director plots one of the final omens heralding the Age of Worms.
    1. How to win friends and influence people; and: the party takes a flutter.
    2. Russell Crowe, and a little Nancy Drew.
    3. “Just a few questions, sir”, and some pickles.
    4. The Apostle of Kyuss.
    5. We are all treasure whores, now.
  3. Who killed Eligos the Erudite?
    A side adventure, courtesy of Bevis
    1. Civil engineering in Sharn; or: Damn, that's sure going to inconvenience a lot of people.
    2. An old-fashioned bar fight; or, The long arm of the Law
    3. The Plot Thickens, Congeals, and Solidifies
  1. A Gathering of Winds
    by Wolfgang Baur
    When the PCs return to Diamond Lake to consult with their friend Allustan, they find the town in shambles and Allustan missing. Locals tell tales of a terrible dragon’s rampage through town. Unfortunately for the characters, the dragon is only the beginning.
    1. Hell hath no fury like
    2. Mission accomplished!
    3. Plenty of XP, but where's the loot?
    4. Treachery and Potholing
    5. Kill ‘em all, and let the gods sort ‘em out
  2. The Spire of Long Shadows
    by Jesse Decker
    Centuries ago, the priest-king Kyuss sacrificed his nation to fuel his lust for divinity. He left legions of the hungry dead in his wake, along with a ruined city that now hides the truth behind the coming apocalypse. A man became a god in this worm-eaten city, and the secrets hidden there may hold the key to his defeat.
    1. A fight, and a new quest
    2. Penetrating the ring
    3. Handling the shaft
    4. All the way in
  3. The Prince of Redhand
    by Richard Pett
    Prince Zeech, the ruler of the town of Alhaster and lord of the domain of Redhand, is throwing a party. Bandits, slavers, pirates, and worse have been invited, along with a mysterious woman who holds the key to the coming apocalypse.
    1. The excellent and most joyous city of Alhaster
    2. Watch me light this one!, and a god nipped in the bud
    3. And then there was one
    4. Gauthakan behaves himself; or, Angels watching over me
  1. The Library of Last Resort
    by Nicolas Logue
    Tilagos Island does not appear on most maps, yet the storm-shrouded island hides the greatest repository of knowledge of an ancient cabal of druids who defeated Kyuss 1,500 years ago.
    1. Sure, she’s evil, but do we really care?
    2. The bigger they are …
    3. Bad guys
    4. Gauthakan cops a pounding; and, Sayren-Lei goes off
    5. War! War! Cry “Havoc!”, and let loose the dogs of; and: some important plot points
  2. Kings of the Rift
    by Greg A. Vaughn
    Dragotha’s phylactery lies hidden somewhere in the ruined city of Kongen- Thulnir, a ruin now inhabited by tribes of giants and besieged by an army of dragons desperate to claim the phylactery for their undead master.
    1. Say, do you smell Limburger? ; or: Lazaroo phones a friend; or: Screechy goes the three-quarter facelock; or simply: Flash. Dragonslayer
    2. None of this actually happened; and: high-tension high-wire
    3. Smells in here something awful!
    4. Two short fights and one long one
    5. Well, that was quick.
  3. Into the Wormcrawl Fissure
    by James Jacobs
    If the PCs are to avert the Age of Worms, they must invade the heartland of Kyuss’ power, the Wormcrawl Fissure, and destroy one of the world’s most powerful dracoliches before the Wormgod awakens.
    1. A scholar calls for help
    2. Screechy, we barely knew ye. RIP.
    3. I met a real nice lady.
    4. The Tabernacle of Worms
    5. A tripartite sprit once again becomes one, and at its advice are the mighty undone.
  1. Dawn of a New Age
    by Tito Leati
    Alhaster is in flames, choking on the poison mists of the Wormgod’s first tentative breaths on the Material Plane. The Age of Worms has begun, and unless the PCs can kill a god, this new age will be dark indeed.
    1. A clerical dispute; and: Flash makes more new friends
    2. Friendly fire.
    3. The two that got away.
    4. That'd be about it, then.
    5. The Age of Worms
Party XP.