Groetus and the Age of Worms

Notes made by Steel_Wind on the paizo threads.

I have removed Kyuss and replaced him with Groetus, the God of the End of the World. Groetus is still
essentially Kyuss and continues to be a worm god, but Groetus was never mortal, so that needs to be
changed.
Groetus' official symbol in Golarion lore, that of a full moon, remains though in many visions and
depictions there are great worms crawling out of the craters like it was a rotten apple.
In Golarion lore, Groetus is not a minor god - although he typically does not grant spells to his
followers (for the very good reason that, along with Aroden, he now exists "out of time" and is not
able to do so). From time to time, Oracles and even some crazed Druids claim to receive spells from
Groetus, but most scholars believe this is a case of a divine caster getting power from another source
and misattributing it to Groetus.
According to lore, Groetus is ultimately destined to be the last Being left in the universe, together with
Pharasma at the End of All Things. It is for this reason that His symbol of the moon can be seen
hanging above Pharasma's twilight garden. The Age of Worms campaign is about stopping his return
and the End of All Things.
Seen in another way, Groetus as the God of the End is Entropy incarnate. He is opposed by Aroden,
the Lawgiver.
The Moon holy symbol of Groetus is a play on the prophecy. Groetus is in fact imprisoned in an extradimensional space which exists beyond time. There are two halves to the Gateway leading from this
dimension to the Prime Material plane.
One half of the Gateway is located on the surface of the moon of Golarion; the other part to the
Gateway is located on a large comet/asteroid, Groetus Cauda (the "Wyrm's Tail"). As the comet
approaches the sun, the ice warms and melts and the dust trail it leaves in space takes on an almost
greenish hue. This tail is referred to in prophecies as the "Great Wrym" and its appearance in the
firmament is the sign of the coming End of All Things.
The campaign started with the comet seen in a telescope which becomes accidentally pointed at a
region of space which is otherwise dark and void of stars. It is a triangular shaped area in the night
sky, lying between three constellations representing minor gods of destruction upon Golarion: the
gods Gyronna, Dahak and Ghlaunder. All three minor gods have destruction as one of their portfolios
in the lore of Golarion. The dark triangular area of space which their constellations form is known to
the Wise as the "Dark Triad".
The return of the God of Destruction is prophesied to occur from the merger of the minor gods of
destruction. The cult of the Ebon Triad believes this prophecy refers to an Overgod which results from
a fusion of the gods of Gyronna,
Dahak and Ghlaunder. They are wrong of course. The prophecy refers to the appearance of the comet
in the Dark triangle of space in the night sky, the Dark Triad; however, the cultists have twisted it
around and misinterpreted the prophecy's true meaning.

Timeline: The Year is 4737 A.R., 25 years in the Future

I have also set this in about 25 years in the future. Supposedly, I did this so that nothing I did in Age
of Worms would have any effect on the official APs etc.. That's not why I did it. I did it so that I could
age up the Iconic characters and have them play a pivotal role in something else I have changed in
Golarion: WAR.

The Impending War between Galt and Cheliax

The Age of Worms AP takes place as a major war in the Inner Sea is brewing. In my future, Galt finally
stopped its perpetual revolution, and like Post-revolutionary France, became a major military power.
Galt has conquered Taldor and now marches on Cheliax after allying with Molthune. The coming war
between Galt and Cheliax leaves Andoran caught in the middle. The war is something that happens
"off-screen", but its importance is such that the Iconics are doing everything they can to stop the war
or militate its effects. That's why the Iconics are not returning to band up together to adventure and
stop the Age of Worms. They've got more urgent and immediate matters to attend to.
References to the coming war begin in Diamond Lake during the opening pats of The Whispering Cairn
when the heroes hear of a HUGE order of arrowheads at the foundry which promises an increase in
hiring at most of the local mines. Mining towns undergo boom and bust cycles and war is good for the
mining business. The coming war promises great wealth to flow into Diamond Lake and Balobar
Smenk intends to stuff as much of this gold into his pockets as he can.
Later, during the Encounter at Blackwall Keep, smoke from a massive fire, 100 miles away near the
Chelish/Andoran border greets the heroes as they wake up at their morning campfire. The morning is
strangely dark, with vision greatly reduced and all light spells give off a curious blue quality to the
light cast. The in-game effect is purely narrative, but the fact that there are ominous events
happening far over the horizon is brought home with such portents.
Later, troop movements between Egoria and the border are observed, and discussions and gossip with
the members of a company from the 3rd Legion (which is the Legion that the unit currently assigned
to Blackwall Keep was detached from) serves to put all sorts of rumours, both true and false, about
the war.
Military recruitment in Egoria is often featured during the events of Halls of Harsh Reflections and The
Champion's Belt. The point of all of this is to remind players there are larger events going on and the
entire context of the campaign is that War wages across large swaths of the Inner Sea.

Greyhawk NPCs OUT -- Golarion Iconics IN

I have replaced most of the significant NPCs in Age of Worms that had been played by Greyhawk's
iconic NPCs with counterparts in Pathfinder lore. The players don't know the extent of how far I went
to do this.
Allustan became "Eruztan" and he is no longer the mayor's brother - though he certainly is the
smartest man in Diamond Lake. He also has an advanced case of Parkinson's Disease (he learns "Age
Resistance, Greater" at the end of Three Faces of Evil which allows his vigor to return and to
accompany the PCs to the Swamp). But his real name is Ezren. He is one of the mentors to the PCs
and the main iconic NPC in the AoW.

Ezren is undercover in Diamond Lake living under an assumed name along with a dwarven companion,
known to the locals as "Harry". Harry is, in fact, Harsk and along with Ezren he has also been living
undercover in Diamond Lake for the past 20 years. They know the Age of Worms is coming and that it
has something to do with Diamond Lake, but beyond that -- things are pretty hazy. Uncle Harry
brought up one of the PCs (his nephew) and acted as foster father to another.
The PCs have only recently discovered who he really is.
I introduced Seelah as the Lieutenant-Commander of the Knights of Lastwall. She is now an enemy of
the lawful good Paladin in the party (yes, really), who professes to be the Last Knight of Aroden.
The iconic cleric, Kyra, is dead. Her daughter, Kylen, is alive and will be one of the main benefactors of
the heroes. She's very much worried about her father, however, who took her mother's death very
hard and changed and grew very bitter at Sarenrae after Kyra's death. Her father is Valeros, and
Valeros has replaced Loris Raknian and fills his role in the tale.
Manzorian has been completely removed and his part in the tale will be fulfilled by Ezren. (Ezren
evolves over time after his Parkinson's Disease is cured -- and as he comes to grips with the enormity
of the Age of Worms and the war).
Ezren does not know everything, and he relies upon Harsk, Grandmaster Torch, Seoni, Kylen and
Marzena as his main sources of intelligence. The progress of the war and other vital details concerning
those plot elements are presented principally through Ezren and his allies.
Celeste has been replaced by Seoni. Seoni is particularly close to Kylen.
Eligos has been completely replaced. Instead of a Sage, he is now the Information broker
Grandmaster Torch, a recurring Golarion NPC who frequently appears as a source of critical
information in Pathfinder Society scenarios. Torch is now secretly living in exile from his former haunts
in the Puddles district of Absalom and now lives in a secret hideout in Egoria. Torch is exceptionally
wary of strangers as he is actively hunted by agents of the Scarzni controlled Pathfinder Society. In my
AoW, the PCs rescue Marzena at the end of Encounter at Blackwall Keep and then travel with her back
to Diamond Lake briefly to look for Eruztan. Unable to find him in Diamond Lake, at the urging of
Marzena, the Heroes travel to Egoria to find Torch as he is the best lead Marzena has on where her
father might have gone to seek help for Harsk.
The main impetus for the attempts on the PC's lives is not only Valeros, but Ragnolin Dourstone, who
escaped at the end of Three Faces of Evil and is now in hiding in Egoria.
The subplot to the Champion's Belt and the role of the rival adventurer's is complicated by what
emerges to be their attempts on the life of GM Torch at the behest of the Scarzni. The chance for the
party to engage the rival adventurers in direct combat during the Champion's Belt should prove to be
a FAR more serious and cathartic moment. They are not simply rivals, two of them (Khellek and
Merisiel) are outright enemies of the PC's main allies.
Marzena, the female wizard in Encounter at Blackwall Keep is still Marzena, but she is now the
estranged daughter of Ezren. The party is traveling to Blackwall Keep along with "Eruztan" to meet up

there with Harry, who left Diamond Lake in session 1 when he remained at the camp of Seelah. Harsk
is in the Mistmarsh because he's been tracking down the source of the worms. When the party meets
Harsk on the road, he's staggering, delirious and rambling. In fact, he's been exposed to the worms
and is about to change into a Spawn. Ezren FREAKS when he understands what's happened and uses
a scroll to teleport away with Harsk in order to try and save his best and oldest friend, leaving the PCs
behind on the road to Blackwall to save his daughter, Marzena. This new motive fixes one of the
cheesier plot holes in the AoW where Allustan teleports away without a good reason to do so.
Ezren in desperation to prevent Harsk from changing into a Spawn willingly enters into the stasis trap
carrying Harsk to await rescue by the PCs in A Gathering of Winds. (It will be the only thing Exren
could think of on short notice to stop the transformation of Harsk into a Spawn.)
Balakarde (who was just a made up name for Bucknard in the original Greyhawk premised Age of
Worms) has been replaced by the iconic Seltyiel.
Merisiel replaces Tirra, one of the team of the "rival adventurers" encountered in Diamond Lake.
Merisiel ultimately becomes an opponent of the party in The Champion's Belt. Like Khellek, Merisiel is
a Scarzni recruit and a member of the Pathfinder Society.
The Seekers, the unethical organization of archaeologists referred to in The Whispering Cairn (and
which Khellek, one of the "rival adventurers" met in Dimaond Lake is a member of) is of course The
Pathfinder Society. In the future, the Pathfinders have been shaken by internal strife and the Scarzni
faction has essentially taken over the Decimvirate. Grandmaster Torch is in hiding in Egoria and is still
alive, however, and will be introduced as an associate of Ezren who has vital information to advance
the story. Ultimately, it is Torch who knows about the ruins of Kulluth-Marr and the legends that
surround it.
Darl Quethos has also been subtly recast, though Darl is not a willing participant in all of this. Darl is
an adventurer with a neutral, self-interested world view. Some time ago, Darl managed to penetrate
Gallowspire and recovered a bone collar and helm from within the doomed fortress. Darl does not
know what he found, but he has substantially over-reached and got himself into trouble he cannot
escape from. Darl is being subtly influenced by the spirit of Adivion, a lich who resides in the bone
collar phylactery Darl recovered from Gallowspire.
Lashonna has also been recast -- and this is a HUGE change to the AP. While Lashonna goes by that
name and appears to be mortal, she is, in fact, the lich-queen and fallen demi-goddess, Arazni. Her
motives are far from pure but at the least, she wants the Age of Worms to be averted. The mad spirit
of Adivion, however, believes that Tar-Baphon will be released during the Age of Worms and so is
working against her, through Darl Quethos.

The Free City = Egoria

My Free City is Egoria, the capital of Cheliax. More important than where the Free City is, is where
Alhaster is.

Alhaster = Westcrown
Alhaster has been dramatically reskinned to become Westcrown. I also used the advance in the
timeline to make some significant changes to Cheliax. In my Golarion, the fallout from the

consequences of The destruction wrought upon Westcrown in the Council of Thieves AP had a
significant impact upon Cheliax and all clerics and druids of all religions other than Asmodeus and
Aroden are banned in Cheliax now.

The Chelish Inquisition

The "heroes" of the events that occurred in Westcrown 25+ years ago are wanted criminals by the
Throne (in fairness to the Thrunes, they DO have a point). As Ezren and Harsk were part of that
group, this forces them to hide their true identities while in Cheliax (hence "Eruztan" and "Harry"). The
Thrune dynasty has since used the entire crisis as a pretext to begin a systematic repression of all
significant religious opposition within the Chelish Empire. This is popularly known as "The Inquisition".
Current clerics who profess to continue to worship Aroden are no significant threat to the throne as
they do not have spells and in any event, it would not be possible to stomp out the worship of Aroden
as it is too deeply rooted in Chelish society.
Active spell-casting clerics other than those of Asmodeus and Pharasma are actively hunted by the
Inquisition. Currently instrumental in avoiding detection among the underground clerics of light in
Cheliax is a subtle but powerful tattoo which acts as a slotless ring of misdirection. While it will not
suppress the magical aura of a healing spell as it is being cast, it does prevent the cleric from
"pinging" if detect good, evil, chaos or know alignment is cast. Kylen arranged for the PC cleric to
receive a preserved tattoo, sent on a small piece of skin that had been removed from the back of a
dead cleric and preserved for 1 week with gentle repose. The tattoo can be transferred to a live
recipient by those who know both misdirection and the relevant tattoo magic (see the spell transfer
tattoo, Inner Sea Magic, p.61). Detect Thoughts, however, remains an effective inquisition technique
as does torture and old fashioned spying and scrying.
The Silent Brothers and Sisters of Pharasma are technically also banned in Cheliax, but in practice the
priests of the Lady of the Grave are allowed to continue to operate within Cheliax without harassment,
provided that they do not publicly preach (other than at solemn funerals) and further that they do not
openly offer spell-casting services to the public. Why Pharasma is tolerated when no other god's
priests are permitted to openly operate within Cheliax is not known, but it is widely believed that the
Thrunes are not so foolish as to openly challenge the Lady of the Grave -- and besides -- member of
that Order are apolitical and have never been known to interfere in the temporal affairs of the Empire.

The Fate of Aroden

Aroden isn't really dead of course -- but he might as well be. He removed himself from time and is in
the same timeless dimension where Groetus is. By leaving the known universe to go to the Time
Where There is No Time, Aroden sacrificed himself to try and prevent the Age of Worms. His presence
behind the doorway of the Gate where Groetus will ultimately emerge gives the heroes a chance in
their final battle.

Campaign Seed: The Last Knight of Aroden

One of the players is playing a Paladin of Aroden. Unlike any other Paladin of Aroden in Golarion
(except one, who is now dead) the PC paladin of Aroden actually has Paladin powers. He converted to
Aroden in the first session when he was asked to come to see his "grandfather" at a nearby Varisian
camp. His grandfather, on his death-bed in a Varisian Gypsy wagon, was an ancient half-elf and the
titular Commander of Lastwall.

The old Commander, a half-elf, was not REALLY the PC's "grandfather" -- but was his great-greatgreat-great-great-grandfather. The Last Knight of Aroden made the PC Paladin swear his Oath and
then gave him his sword, Justicar the "Sword of Justice", an ancient masterwork bastard blade said to
be have been given to a former Commander of Lastwall by Aroden himself, centuries ago. Technically,
the bearer of the Sword of Justice is revered as the Knight Commander of the Knights of Ozem. When
Aroden died and his Paladins lost their powers, they converted to Iomedae, but as the Last Knight kept
his powers, under the law he was promoted to and remained Commander of the Knights of Ozem for
most of the last century.
Seelah expected to receive the Sword from the Last Knight on his deathbed and her followers were
furious that it had been given to a boy, who they refuse to acknowledge as their Commander. Thus,
we have a PC Paladin who is technically in charge of the Knights of Ozem -- except they won't listen to
a single word he says!
Nearly a millenia ago, Justicar was only indirectly given to the Commander of Lastwall by Aroden.
Aroden, even then, no longer acted directly upon Golarion and used his herald to deliver her sword to
the Commander. You may not know this, but in official Golarion lore, the first prophecy which went
awry and changed the future was not the death of Aroden, but that of his herald, Arazni.
It was Arazni who unexpectedly died at the hands of Tar-Baphon and changed everything. A part of
her soul remains in the Sword of Justice and in the hands of a true Knight, her spirit is enough to
grant that knight spells and powers as a Paladin. The so-called Last Knight of Aroden has been (and in
fact, the new one still is), getting his "powers" from the last part of the divine spirit of the goddess
Arazni, a part of which became bound to the Sword of Justice through persistent use of the Paladin's
bonded weapon ability used over the ages upon it by successive Commanders of the Knights of Light.
As the PC Paladin's divine bond with the Sword of Justice grows, this mere masterwork bastard blade
grows in power. As a free action, the sword can cast true strike once per day. At third level, the sword
became +1 magical and increases by a further +1 for every three levels it is wielded by a Paladin who
has the weapon as his divine bond. By the end of the AP, Justicar should be a +7 Magical Sword, able
to manifest into almost any magical weapon through the use of a Paladin's bonded weapon power.
Justicar is the weapon what will probably end up killing Groetus if the PCs win.
As the last untainted source of the holy spirit of Arazni, it is also possible for the Sword of Justice to
either defeat Arazni or potentially, to even redeem her if the players are willing to take the risk and
are extremely clever.
And of course, none of my players have any clue about this.

A Tangled Web of Phylacteries: Arazni, Dragotha and the Age of Worms

This is where it gets complicated. Just as Arazni is looking to defeat Dragotha by seizing his
phylactery, so the spirit of the dead dragon, Naraga seeks to control Arazni by recovering her
Bloodstones and threatening her phylactery with destruction. Arazni is powerful and Naraga is weak.
But her weakness has instilled in Naraga great patience and subtlety through necessity. Naraga is
playing the long con.

As noted previously, Lashonna is no longer a vampiric silver dragon of unknown origin and even more
uncertain motives. As a vampiric silver dragon, Lashonna in the original Age of Worms was a case of
"nerd templatism": "wouldn't it be cool if we put a vampire template on a silver dragon?" Well, no, it's
not so cool when you do that and then don't take the time to figure out why this happened, or how it
all fits into the campaign. I was also very unsatisfied that Lashonna could not be redeemed in the
original AoW. Accordingly, as initially presented in the original AoW, Lashonna wasn't "real" and was
simply a paper cut-out villain who-wasn't-really-a-villain (except she sort of was).
So I have dramatically changed all of that.
In my Age of Worms, just as Aroden lurks in the tale from outside of time in his struggle against
Groetus, the spirit of his former herald, Arazni, is unwittingly aiding Aroden by striving against
Dragotha in a bid to make herself the herald of Groetus. Arazni seeks to eliminate Dragotha and so be
the servant that Groetus will reward upon his re-entry into time through the gate in the Moonscar.
The goal of the PCs is to make use of Arazni to defeat Dragotha, and then make use of the
Bloodstones and Justicar to defeat or even redeem Arazni. With both immortal lich generals defeated,
and the Wyrm's Tail redirected directly at the gate, the heroes should be able to defeat Groetus.
The bone collar that Darl Quethos found within Gallowspire is, in fact, the Phylactery of Adivion
Adrissant, the spirit of the lich villain from the Carrion Crown AP. This phylactry acts as a "failed"
phylactery and the lich sprit within it can communicate with and possess its bearer. With Adivion's aid,
Darl escaped from within Gallowspire bearing both the collar and a horned bone helm - the Horns of
Naraga (Artifacts and Legends, p. 28).
Quite apart from utterly despising the Whispering Tyrant, Naraga is loyal to Dragotha. While Adivion's
spirit is able to possess and take control of Darl, Naraga lacks this power. All Naraga can do is whisper.
But just as Adivion whispers to Darl, so Naraga can also whisper to Adivion. Unlike Darl, Adivion was
*quite* insane to begin with. So while Naraga's spell power is less than Adivion's, her influence may,
in the long run, prove to be the greater of the two.
Adivion does not dare possess Darl directly as Naraga has convinced Adivion - posing as the
Whispering Tyrant whispering to Adivion's spirit - that Darl's soul must be untainted to touch and
recover two of the Bloodstones of Arazni that are hidden within the Library of Last Resort. Naraga
knows that the holy power of Aroden that resides within the Bloodstones will prevent a possessed Darl
from touching them, so instead, Naraga is subtly affecting the thoughts of both Darl AND Adivion.
Naraga manipulates Darl by enhancing his intrinsic greed, thereby making him more vulnerable to
Adivion's more direct control. With Adivion, Naraga's task is easier as Adivion is quite mad to begin
with and the mad lich is open to subtle emotional manipulation. Adivion wants to believe in the
whispers and wants to believe he is the Tyrant's "chosen one". He has always believed this.
Naraga is the real ally of Dragotha in all of this; Darl and Adivion are both merely pawns. Naraga
needed Adivion's aid to guide Darl free of the prison while bearing the Horns of Naraga. Naraga is also
prepared to use Adivion's arcane power when temporarily possessing Darl to further Dragotha's ends.
However, Naraga needs Darl's mortal soul to be free of true evil or Darl will not be able to safely touch
and carry the Bloodstones of Arazni. So Adivion must be convinced by Naraga that Darl cannot be
possessed permanently.

While complex and tangled, all of this is simply a means to relate the story as a layered "slow reveal"
to the heroes of the actual identity of "Lashonna". As it also ties into the tale of Tar-Baphon and how
Arazni fell, this tangled web is part of the continuum of events which touches on how the prophecies of
Aroden twisted when Arazni died, the Last Knight of Aroden and the sword Justicar, which brings us
back to the Bloodstones of Arazni (Artifacts and Legends, p. 13). The Bloodstones, collectively, are
Arazni's Phylactery, stolen centuries ago by the Knights of Ozem from Geb. If Arazni recovers the
Bloodstones and reintegrates that divine power within her, the artifacts might make Arazni near
invincible.
What Arazni does not know is that part of her true divine spirit, untainted by evil, still resides still
within the Sword of Justice. While Arzni can sense the presence of the Bloodstones, she cannot sense
her divine spirit from within the sword -- as she has been corrupted while the Sword remains pure.
Using the sword Justicar, the Bloodstones can be destroyed -- or the divine spirit within the
Bloodstones truly purified, depending on how Justicar is used. If Arazni is tricked into then attempting
to re-integrate the Bloodstones into her being after they gave been truly purified, Arazni will be
redeemed.
As a more vague and longterm goal, Arazni has always wanted to recover the Bloodstones. Like
Naraga, she can't touch them nor can her undead Knights. She must act through uncorrupted mortals
to recover the Bloodstones. Arazni, in her guise posing as Lashonna, seeks to use the PC Heroes as
her unwitting pawns to defeat Dragotha. She cannot sense the presence of the Bloodstones within the
Library as that extra-dimensional space is cut off from her senses. Once they are removed, she can
sense them as soon as they are used. The Heroes coming into possession of two of them from within
the Library of Last Resort will be seen by her as ironic divine provenance.

The Whispering Cairn and Old Azlant

I made the Whispering Cairn the tombs of old Azlanti generals who fought the Aboleths before
Earthfall. I went with all of this from the word go - and completely removed all that Mishka the wolfspider stuff from The Whispering Cairn and instead vaguely referenced the fall of Azlant in those
tombs and the role that the Aboleths and Mind-flayers (I added the mind-flayers back in) to the entire
idea of Earthfall, and I had Dragotha appear in one of the murals at the end of the Whispering Cairn. I
thought this was important so as to keep the role of the Age of Worms front and centre throughout
and not get distracted by Mishka and these elemental lords.
The idea was that the Aboleths and the Mind-Flayers were the ones who, went to Eox and used a
Runestaff as a control panel/key to cause one of the orbital weapons above Eox to alter the path of an
asteroid to hit Azlant on Golarion millenia ago. That's how Earthfall happened. When they learn more,
my players will ultimately assume that the comet Groetus Cauda is headed towards Golarion and that
is how Groetus will return.
It will only be at the end when they are on Eox that they will learn that the initial gravity disruption of
the asteroid field that caused the comet that hit old Azlant (Earthfall) ALSO disrupted the orbit of
Groetus Cauda at the same time. It's just taken gravity a lot longer to cause Groetus Cauda's orbit to
decay into its current collision course. The prophecy predicting the return of the God of Destruction
"arising from the Ebon Triad" is, literally, an astronomical projection. The comet has been on its way
for thousands of years as its eliptical orbit has decayed over time. The PCs will discover that they have
acted too late and that the gravitational beams on the remaining operational weapons platforms above

Eox are now too weak -- and the distance to the target too great -- to stop the comet. All the PCs can
do at this point is alter the path of the comet a very, very little so as to impact the Spire directly on
the Moonscar.

Icosiol's Tomb and The Last Gate to Eox

In keeping with the off-world origin of the Worms and the ultimate goal of travelling to Eox to attempt
to alter the path of the asteroid Groetus Cauda, several paths in the plot have been tweaked in A
Gathering of Winds.
Additionally, the nature of the tomb itself has also been changed. All living foes within the Tomb have
been removed and replaced with Elementals or Constructs. The two exceptions are Flycatcher, whose
access to the Plane of Shadow permits the Shadow Spider to enter and leave the Tomb (and so he can
access food to keep himself alive) - and Moreto, described below.
Firstly, the Tomb has been dimensionally isolated so that it is not possible to teleport into or out of the
Tomb, other than by using the two gates which lead to it. Once inside, it is not possible to leave the
tomb through the gate that the Heroes have entered through from the Whispering Cairn, as Ezren's
triggering of the stasis field has caused the Tomb gate to enter into "lockdown" mode.
The tomb features many elements which are future tech and the area is a genre mash up between
fantasy and SF. Ezren and Harsk, (who is on the verge of changing into a Spawn of Groetus) are
caught in the Temporal Stasis field in Area 14. The nature of the stasis field, however, is that it is
technological, not magical in nature. The only way to free the duo from the stasis field is to recover a
"key" and shut-down the power in the Tomb.
The key has been removed from its location in Area 10 and is now in the possession of Moreto, who is
now trapped by Iron Golems behind a forcefield in an alcove in the Star Chamber at Area 21. The
series of crazy doors in Area 12 on the second level has been re-imagined as the main control station
for the power generator in the complex. The source of the power is a generator harnessing the
electricity created by the Falling River, and a future tech force-field turbine has been installed in the
top of the falls near Area 20.
Another small series of chambers has been added to the area beneath the Star Chamber (the map is
in exactly the same style of Rob Lazareti's maps and you can ask me for it and I will send it to you).
This area leads to a devious door with a monstrously powerful magnetic trap, isolating the complex
from the hard vacuum beyond the door -- and to the Last Gate to the surface of the dead planet Eox
which is forced into an open state and has a Sphere of Annihilation in the middle of it. Due to the
nature of the trap, It is extremely unlikely that the Heroes will ever reach the room with the gate
operational and live to tell the tale (the vacuum would suck the Hero through an anti-magical zero G
zone straight towards the Sphere), but after disabling the power to the Tomb, they should be able to
ascertain the location of the other side of the gate on Eox for travel to the planet through
interplanetary teleport. This will be the clue the Heroes will need to ultimately travel there near the
end of the AP. The sphere of Annihilation itself, however, will end up on the surface of Eox after the
trap is disarmed and the Last Gate will have been rendered permanently inoperable by its brief
interaction with the Sphere.

The Ghoul Moreto has been recast as a well-intentioned Spellweaver warrior of the ancient past who
was himself caught in a stasis field for the past 8,000+ years - though Moreto has no idea where he is
or how long he has been there.
Moreto travelled through the Last Gate hot in pursuit of another Spellweaver, the Harbinger, in order
to prevent him from destroying Golarion by spreading the worms. Moreto did not succeed in
preventing the Harbinger from reaching the surface of Golarion as Moreto was caught in a stasis trap
(similar to the one in Area 14) which has been added to the new level of the dungeon. When Ezren
deliberately triggered the stasis field in Area 14, the power generator in the Tomb could not keep both
stasis fields up and the complex released Moreto.
As Moreto requires negative energy to survive, and the Tomb has been sealed off from access to all
the Planes (except the Plane of Shadow, which the Azlanti did not know about), Moreto has been
trapped here and has been starving for some time. Accordingly, Moreto is now on the verge of death
and cannot be saved, though some limited interaction with the warrior is possible depending on the
Heroes' choices. Moreto's bears one of the original Eoxian worm symbiotes. It is possible for the
Heroes to recover this symbiotic worm after Moreto's death to deliberately infect a PC with. This
symbiotic worm, unlike the other worms of Golarion, allows a PC access to the Wormhunter Prestige
Class as inspired by the article in Dragon #338.
The fragmentary nature of the recovered memories and hive mind of the original worms allows the GM
to dole out snippets of information and back story as required over time, without the symbiotic worm
triggering a massive AP spoiling information dump.
When successful in turning off the power to the Tomb, the Heroes will free Ezren, destroy the Last
Gate and the Sphere of Annihilation that prevents anything from entering the Last Gate will be lost on
the surface of Eox. A ventilation shaft can now safely be ascended to the surface which emerges in the
Sargavan jungle, near the ruins of Kuluth Mar.

Other Changes...
Some other changes...hmmm, oh yes. The source of the worms is from off-world. In Distant Worlds,
that book's entry speaks about the world of Eox as a dead planet now full of "liches" where a portion
of the population of the planet survived destruction by voluntarily becoming undead. My Eox was
initially populated by a civilization of Spell-Weavers and is now a planet with pockets of Spell-Weaver
liches. The Harbinger is obviously from Eox. The Harbinger first brought the green worm to the
Sargava in Koluth-Marr. That planet, which continues to be orbited by ridiculously powerful orbital
weapons, will be visited by the PCs at the very end when they realize that the comet is not aimed at
Golarion, but at Golarion's moon. The comet is intended to destroy the Spire and release Groetus free
from his prison.
The PCs will be able to use one of those weapons to alter the gravitational path of the comet ever so
slightly, so that it will directly impact the spire and do great damage to Groetus when the gate is
opened. I've decided to move that final battle off of the surface of Golarion and move it to the
Moonscar, as something like that is too world-shaking otherwise.
The Rift itself I will probably moved as well to the Moonscar. I have not made my mind up about that
yet, but that's where I am leaning.

I have moved the Library of Last Resort to the Isle of Terror in the Lake Encarthan region.
I added three medium sized black dragons, "Ilthane's Brood" to Encounter at Blackwall Keep. You can
eyeball this as you like, but the CR level in that module is completely underpowered for virtually all
adventuring parties.
I was also clear to remind the PCs through Marzena that when Ilthane returns, the garrison from the
3rd Legion would likely be destroyed. Marzena spent some time in game after she was rescued and
back at the Keep trying to convince the 3rd Legion to leave. I did this so that the destruction of
Diamond Lake in the events of Gathering of Winds would appear more organic and easily foreseen. I
have been aiming for that feel throughout the campaign. Events have consequences.
The theme so far that I have been trying to establish is one of continuity and consequences. Filge was
left alive by the PCs and he will be a possible ally and source of information in Egoria. Smenk was
someone that the PCs actually allied with and Smenk will prove useful -- up until Ilthane attacks
Diamond Lake. After that, Smenk will turn on the heroes and betray them out of anger.
Whenever possible, I have tried to establish NPCs, even minor ones that are completely new, who
later reappear some modules later when it makes sense for them to appear. Because Westcrown is
only a week's ride from Diamond Lake, the whole triangle between Diamond Lake, Egoria and
Westcrown is far more inter-related in terms of trade, governance and proximity. I don't want the PCs
moving on from an area never to return to it or to feel as if it no longer matters to the plot. While
certain places visited in later parts of the campaign are clearly exotic and far away, the campaign itself
is still clearly based in Southern Cheliax and that is "home". Even though the PCs hate the Thrunes,
the area is still home for them and the people who live there include members of their own families.
This isn't a place the heroes can just abandon or walk away from. It matters.
I think that's most of the changes for now. I am in the midst of doing a considerable rework of The
Prince of Redhand and will update this document to reflect those changes when complete.
Additionally, I will be adding an additional off-world adventure on the planet Eox that will take place
after the destruction of Dragotha and before the final battle with Groetus. The 20th level adventure
takes place on the space station orbiting Eox, the automated defences of which remainm staffed by
droids and will draw extensively from Star Wars Saga edition. The party gained the first access key to
the base station's computer at the end of The Whispering Cairn and have gathered up two more as the
AP has progressed. They also have two light sabres, one is still operative (the other is corroded
beyond repair). The operative light sabre simply has no power and was gained in Icosiol's tomb. The
broken light sabre and the drained tablet computer were found in the Harbinger's gear in Vol VII.