Charles Plemons' Blog

This was game session 21 of Age of Worms. After defeating the lizardfolk besieging Cromm’s Hold in the last session, the party teamed up with the elven tracker Zebaum Whitefeather. Together they headed into the Lizard Marsh in search of Marzena and the other captured soldiers.

Progress was slow but steady. During the first evening camp, the group was attacked by a huge monstrous hunting spider. It crept right up on the party, but their guard dog noticed it and barked loudly. The spider bit Valgen twice, injecting him with enough venom to paralyze him for days. While the party peppered the spider with arrows, Lyrin launched a lesser fire orb in its face. Injured from the flame, the spider attacked Lyrin. Bravely, Brutus attacked the spider and was horribly bitten for his troubles. A crippling dose of poison flowed through his limbs, but his orcish might still proved sufficient to split the spider’s head in two.

The team constructed a crude litter and loaded the paralyzed Valgen within and set off further into the swamp. Going was much slower dragging the hefty (and armored) warrior, but the trackers concluded they had not fallen more than a day behind the lizardfolk. Then, tragedy struck.

While following the tracks along the water’s edge, a submerged pack of ghouls led by a wicked ghast burst forth and attacked. Lyrin and Brutus quickly succumbed to the ghouls’ paralysis. Brutus’ dog fled into the swamp, and a ghoul attacked Valgen, not realizing he was completely helpless as well. Zebaum and Cam bravely held the line and fought back-to-back against the ravenous undead. While the ghast attempted to toy with them, a pair of ghouls began ripping Brutus apart and feasting on his corpse. Although horrific, it did buy the party time to regroup and destroy the flesh-eating undead. After the battle, the healers determined Zebaum and Lyrin had contracted ghoul fever.

The party searched the undead corpses, finding a large amount of Waterdhavian gold coinage as well as a perpetual talisman of cure light wounds, which greatly augments the group’s healing capabilities. After stripping Brutus’ remains, the ghouls, the ghast, and the slain half-orc were piled up and burned to prevent their return from the grave.

Mourning their fallen, the party moved on. The following morning, Zebaum’s magic restored Valgen to some mobility, although the spider’s poison still saps his strength. Unfortunately, the first signs of ghoul fever–festering reeking black patches of rotting flesh–have appeared on Zebaum and Lyrin, making them sluggish and weak. Undaunted, the group pressed on after the prize. Cam and Zebaum called the group to a halt and pointed out a raised mound ahead covered in intertwined cypress trees. Tracks in the mud indicate frequent patrols, and the party believes it has found either a waypoint or the lair of the lizardfolk.

Taking the side of prudence, the party decided to fall back into the swamp and cover their tracks. They await the arrival of their rear guard, including their dwarven priest and his dwarven friend, a renowned warrior. The team seeks to treat their sick and restore some strength to their comrades before taking on the lizardfolk menace.

It was game session 20 of the Age of Worms campaign and the beginning of the third Adventure Path, The Encounter at Cromm’s Hold. The party found Smenk had stiffed them on his payment and skipped town. However, Delfen met them with eager excitement to see his apprentice alive and the party successful. However, he voiced concerns regarding one of his former apprentices, Marzena. A messenger delivering a letter to her had not returned, and Delfen asked Lyrin and company to ride the 18 miles from Daggerford to Cromm’s Hold to investigate.

The party travelled overland without incident, only to find the keep under siege by a group of 30 lizardfolk. The party approached on horseback and were spotted by some humans manning the battlements of the keep. The soldiers were soon signaling the party for help, and the lizardfolk noticed the approaching horses. Seeing reinforcements arrive, the lizardfolk redoubled their efforts to take the keep, with some attacking the door while others rained javelins up at the humans to keep them pinned down. A group broke away from the horde to face the coming cavalry.

Before the fighting could begin in earnest, Lyrin recited a spell from a scroll he had purchased the day before. For the first time in his life, Lyrin hurled a fireball! The globe exploded in orange- and yellow-hued glory, instantly killing numerous lizardfolk and sending several others twitching to the ground with mortal wounds. Heartened by its effectiveness, the party charged forward to meet the menace head on.

In a few moments, arrows from the party picked off the group of lizardfolk moving to engage. A second, and final, fireball scroll took down several more lizardfolk near the door of the keep. Morak galloped up close to the keep, dismounted and engaged the enemy toe-to-toe and was followed closely by dual-whip swinging Valgen and the stoic Thoril. Brutus split a lizardfolk in half as he pounced on him from off his horse, and then he re-mounted and drove the other lizardfolk into the waiting weapons of Valgen, Thoril and Morak. Cam continued his barrage of arrows from horseback, while Lyrin began picking off targets with magic missile.

The apparent leader of the lizardfolk led the survivors in a last desperate assault on the party, dealing damage to Morak and Valgen in the process. The ranks held, however, and the last lizardfolk was cut down. In but moments, what had seemed a menacing army lay charred, pierced, slashed or smashed on the ground. With their victory complete, the party turned toward the door of the keep to see about the defenders.