The Characters played this session were:

• KEK IZIMON - FTR 1, Used to be a farmer and is young, spritely.
• ITHIMYR - HALF-ELF RGR 2 / CLR 3
• RHINOCK - HALF-ORC FTR 4
• OLEANDER - HALF-ELF RGR 2, Magic short sword and magic arrows.
• TALON - PAL 3, Magic longsword.

We know where the precise location of the cave is for the WORM. We also know that the Worm leaves to go hunting and is targeting sources of magic. It has a lair in the cave along with two harpies.

We gather together some tree sap and form it so that it can be used to plug our ears, which grants a +4 on the save versus the Harpies call.

As for the Mercenary situation, it takes 3 days for Ithimyr but he finds a large group of mercenaries camped. They are composed of Longbow Archers and Cavalry (light horsemen) that have swords. There area total of 16 Longbowmen, 6 Heavy Horsemen and 6 Light Horsemen. KEK and TALON want to hire all of the mercs.

Their alignment is Lawful Good which makes Talon happy. We contribute up to 2 months of pay as the opening payment offer and double that for killing the Worm.

What do we know about the Worm and the Harpies? The Harpies are laired in the cave and are using the Worm as a bodyguard. They abduct people and torture them and they inhabit the same connected cave as the Worm. As for the Worm itself, we know that it flies low to the ground and kills Ogres.

TALON has struck a chord with the hearts of the mercenaries and they say that they have heard of his accomplishments. They instantly agree to follow us into the forest.

There is a brief recap on the town of Gren. There are two taverns, a money changer, a tea house. and the Silk Caravan which has a big trade network. KEK is a farmer from the area around Gren. EXAR left town to find someone to cast resurrection on CYRIL and WELRICK lets Ithimyr use the magic brooch.

We bring the mercenaries that Talon hired, a guard dog, a mule and two porters (Eric and Roger). After leaving the town, the party heads up the river and travel for a couple of hours before moving into the forest, Ithimyr notices regular signs of movements from the nearby Koalinths that are found about a mile from the Chalice.

Deep in the woods, this part of the forest merges with the mountains to the north. We navigate through the forest, looking out for danger, which there is none. Eventually it opens to a more sparse area and we find that we are now in the mountains, about a mile away from the location of the cave. We know that there is a Chimera in this area… or 3 to 4 of them.

Ithimyr locates a bird, a sparrow. and it tells him that the Chimera has been seen by the creatures of the wood but has not been seen for some days. Normally, it hunts larger creatures but the creatures live in fear of the Chimera. They wonder where it is. He also asks about the Harpies. The sparrow says that they were seen flying overhead 4 days ago carrying men. They appeared to be travelers and they were carried off toward the north west. As for the Worm, the sparrow has not seen it at all, nor heard of any activity.

The sparrow does not want to get involved with men or half-elves who hunt dangerous creatures. It flies into the trees. We subsequently find a place to hide the Heavy Cavalry, behind some large stones, After we hide them, we send out the Light Cavalry to scout ahead.

We continue to scout around through the mountains and try to get as close to the cave as possible. Eventurally, the party comes across a small wash within a few hundred yards of the cave. It is a little dip about 200 yards away from the cave opening. The map indicated map shows that 1 square = 10 yards.

There are mountains on the other side of the small valley and they are VERY steep. The cave is well concealed in the valley and we cannot see the entrance from our position.

We split up the mercenaries and put 4 Archers on the mountain. We give them a small mirror that they can use to signal us if something approaches. Suddenly, the Archers on the peak flash us from 170 yards and they begin firing immediately. The Harpies have come out of the cave!

The Archers have surprise on the Harpies. The Rate of Fire (ROF) on a longbow is 2 and there is a reduction of 2” for the surprise range. The Harpies are at 15” distance and they have AC 7 so the Archers need a 14 to hit. 1 Archer scores a hit for 1 damage! Then there are 4 more hits, then 3 more hits, and 3 hits, for a total of 11 total hits! They kill the Harpies OUTRIGHT!

We conclude that ARCHERS KICK ASS!

One of the Archers comes down from the mountains and joins up with the party. Ithimyr takes out the tree sap to hear if there is anything else, but hears no sounds. The Harpies were in the general area which made them uneasy. Oleander checks on the animals and everyone removes the sap from their ears. Nothing seems to be off according to Oleander.

The Harpy corpses are 90’ away. One is found nearby and had a bone club and right on the ground below is a longsword. The longsword has a good weight to it and appears to be crafted well. It has a glimmering appearance to it and it is glowing. After Ithimyr picks up the longsword, we hear a roar from the cave. The Worm has emerged!

Moving and undulating its way towards us is a 20’ long Worm with a gaping maw and 8 tongues coming out. It has around it some sort of aura that distorts space, like heat. There is also a light around it that appears like it is pressed into waves, pushing the light away from its form. The Worm is otherwise silhouetted by blackness.

It engages the Archers in melee and has closed to melee this round.

The WORM has AC 5.

We run to the clearing and send the Archers on the peaks to take shots. They start making panicked noises. The Worm comes through the peaks, as they fire but their shots had no effect.

Oleander's arrows are +1 arrows. One of her arrows hit for 6 damage.

The Horsemen charge in to cut it off. They have an AC 6 for the Worm, due to charging. One of the halberds hits for 7 points, then 6 with longswords attack but there are no hits. The Worm does an attack against a Horseman (AC 6) and obliterates one and the body flies many feet toward the cooking fire. We notice that the Worm does not react to getting struck by the halberd. It had no effect.

Kek’s arrow hits…but also no effect!

The Cavalry does a fighting retreat and the Worm releases a 50’ long jet of purple and red flame! The Horsemen must save versus spells and they need to roll a 19. They have become toasted with fire, 5 of them total. The other 4 Horsemen get away.

A silver spear is thrown by Ithimyr and it causes 8 damage! Ithimyr then moves into melee wielding the longsword he grabbed from the fallen Harpy. He manages to cut down the Worm as it pulses in eruptions! The creature is destroyed!

The shimmering air returns to normal as well as the black outline surrounding the Planar Worm. Its muscles spasm for one final time as Ithimyr takes the head of the slain nightmare and loads it up into the cart.

We rally all of the archers but the Horsemen are not around. Magic swords get a 20’ radius of light!

Following the battle we form up again and enter the cave. There is a path that leads to the right that is clear but strewn with broken glass. More glass and gravel spread around further down, they look like broken bottles and steins. There are also bits of mirrors and trash that is packed down. We can tell that this is a band of glass that was intentionally packed down with some scattered around. It appears to be arranged cleanly.

Ithimyr examines the glass and there is nothing specific he can think of in regards to broken glass being used for magic, perhaps for some obscure ritual. Talon finds a cheap label with some bits on it, but there are no intelligible words. They were clearly printed. Oleander throws a rock and uses her guisarme to scatter some glass. There is nothing underneath. We do see some formations on the ceiling, they could be stalagmites.

We move past the area which opens up into a larger room. We can see that the ceiling in the next room also has stalagmites and contains a foul smell of decay and excrement.

We find a dead Half-Orc and 4 dead Humans that have been heavily tortured. The bodies are embedded with broken glass and rocks and they look like they are covered in shit. Into the light of Ithimyr's sword comes a man, wearing a cap and a cape but is otherwise naked.

He acts flamboyant as if he has airs of confidence. Kek asks, “Are you on drugs?“ The man responds, “No, I am not on drugs” then he relaxes and introduces himself. His name is Oliver and he says he can take us on a tour. He came hear with a young Gnome but he says that his other companions did not fare so well. He tried to heal them but they could not be.

He receives a cloak from Oleander and then leads us to the northern chamber. He says that he comes from the “noble town of…cant remember” and then takes us to the bedroom. There are lots of Harpy feathers spread around and several large sacks filled with coins.

There are a total of 10 sacks of coins containing 2,100 cp, 2,400 sp, and a potion. We take the sacks out.

When asked about the large Planar Worm, Oliver says that he “doesn't think much of the Worm, he just left it alone”.

We throw food down and the Piercers fall down and impale the food they begin scuttling toward the walls. We kill all of them quickly and find that these creatures cannot talk. Oleander picks up a piercer and walks around with it.

Later, we find the skeleton of a Gnome. There is not a scrap of flesh left over on the body. Its arm is outstretched toward the alcove. We notice that there is something sparkling below the dirt and grime and take a look. It is an orange gem.

We later find out that the Piercers actually eat each other!

There is a chest at the end of the tunnel with two small vials attached to it. The vials slide back and forth but inside, we find 350 platinum pieces!

Kek grabs a vial off the chest and it shatters in his hand. Gas envelops Kek and he begins to barrel down the tunnel at full speed! Ithimyr chases him and keeps him in his vision. He runs past and screams for a while. Ithimyr casts Slow Poison on Kek to stop the effect. Luckily, it works! The effect of the gas has waned and he does not show any further signs of poisoning.

Inside of the next room is a metal drawer with a little silver wire covered in age and rust. It wraps around the side of the wall and goes into the next room where there are 4 large pillars driven into the stone floor, The large metal rods are a few feet in diameter.

The cave is cracked on the floor as if driven in with extreme force. The rods are covered in rust and age. No signs of anything other than the box with silver wire. It kind of gives off lightning rod vibes. Ithimyr knows that this might be some kind of electrical device and can tell that it has been here for a very long time. We are not sure if all the wires are connected.

It is a strange sight. There is dirt in the center of the room that has been disturbed greatly and we can find great Worm tracks, some going into the back room as well. This area has a different structure than the stones, which are most like trees made of rock. This looks like it is from a cave carved out from long ago. The stones have a pseudo harmony with the earth. This might be something that the Druids might know about?

There is no writing anywhere but could be an abandoned workshop or lab. The metal poles have a stark contrast but do not notice anything more about the metals. The silver wire is extremely high quality and has a sparkle to it. The wire is wrapped around each column 3 times. We try to take the wire. We also wonder, is this somehow connected to the Chalice?

In this area, which is part of the Harpy nest, we find a a scroll case made of bone and a golden ring.

Ithimyr takes the scroll case and finds that there are two sheets of vellum. He can read a CLERICAL scroll with two spells, LIGHT and DETECT LIE. The second scroll has unintelligible magic runes on it. Rhinock, with his magic helment, reads the scroll, it is a Treasure Map.

The Treasure Map leads directly to a small thorpe that exists in the west of Gren, to the community well. The name of the Thorpe is called “ULAN” and it exists in the grasses to the west of GREN. We know that the populations are mainly Hunters that don't like to interact with outsiders.

As for the golden ring, Ithimyr puts it on and nothing happens. He does not really feel like taking off the ring. When Oleander says to take the ring off Ithimyr proclaims that he “Will not want to take the ring off now”.

Heres what we can do:

Ithimyr now has the ring and on our way out, we will double check the corpse of the Worm.