Prior to the first playtest session of the Age of Worms Adventure Path campaign, I wrote about a page of text for each player in the campaign. I thought it would be fun to share these backgrounders as we get closer to publication of the first installment, "The Whispering Cairn," by yours truly.
So here we go. We'll do one a week until I've covered everyone.
Tyralandi Scrimm (
James Jacobs)
About a week ago, while lounging alone in your favorite mausoleum, you noticed a presence in Diamond Lake’s cemetery. With a bit of nervous hesitation, you approached the small figure, not knowing what to expect. The light of Oerth’s twin moons illuminated a bizarre character with blood red skin and white hair. Unusual whirls and sigils, perhaps birthmarks, perhaps tattoos, traced the healfling’s arms and hands—and maybe more of him as well. You knew him immediately as the Demon Boy, one of the star attractions in the Emporium, Diamond Lake’s justly famous whorehouse/freakshow.
The two of you found that you had much in common, having both lived the carny life. The Demon Boy, whom you later learned was named Aroval, seemed to yearn for the travel of your earlier days, and together the two of you hatched a plan to raise enough money to abandon Diamond Lake forever.
Rumors around Diamond Lake speak of a trio of adventurers from the nearby City of Greyhawk, metropolis of wizards and thieves. They’ve been spending a lot of time in the village’s watering holes, proclaiming to all their intention to explore an ancient tomb on the lake’s northeast shore called the Stirgenest Cairn. You know that their plan will fail, since you’ve been to the Stirgenest Cairn and found it raped of its treasures centuries ago, just like all of the other empty tombs in the Cairn Hills.
But it got you thinking. What if the hills outside Diamond Lake hold other unexplored cairns, still laden with treasure? On one of your few trips to the village about a year ago, you met a young man named Dram Cicaeda, the son of the chief cartographer in Diamond Lake’s imposing garrison. You contacted him a few days ago with your idea, and asked him to look through the garrison’s old maps for reference to any cairns that aren’t well known (and hence well explored) by the local populace. He hit paydirt almost immediately, and claims to have a map that reveals just such a location near a mine that went dry several decades ago. He doesn’t even think any of the powerful mine managers in town lay claim to the spot, so it’s been mostly forgotten.
You asked him to help you assemble of group of friends and acquaintances who might be interested in joining you and Aroval on the mission. The group is due to meet at an abandoned mining building not far from Dram’s mysterious cairn this morning, to discuss the operation and to set off immediately for the cairn and a new life filled with adventure and excitement.
--Erik Mona
