After our extended October break, we resumed gaming with a kick off of Chapter 4 of the Extinction Curse campaign – Siege of the Dinosaurs. The group is now level 12, and traveling up the coast of the Starstone Isles to Willowside to investigate the final Aeon Tower and the events of the new region.
For the story, I am departing a bit from the published adventure – per the official story, the circus continues to occupy the group and is part of the draw of the northern region. But for our group, the circus has become a forgotten remnant of the early story, and doesn’t really have much value to the group at this point from the standpoint of the adventure. Admittedly, the region of Willowside is known to have numerous issues, many of which are dangerous, so it would not be prudent regardless to bring a relatively weak circus folk into the new threats. As such, we adjusted to the circus staying behind to continue entertaining the Swardlands, while the group continued on.
The most notable feature of the lands around Willowside, beyond the presence of an Aeon tower, is a region of blight known as the Welt. The locals, long having suffered from the loss of crops and farmlands due to this problem, have been starting to migrate out of the region, while those that remain struggle to find enough food for their tables. Although the town is still prosperous and they have money, they have been forced to import almost all of their foods from the south. Worse, there have been stories and indications of creatures in the night and strange disappearances – all of which make them happy to welcome some new adventurers into the region.
The group has quickly concluded that the Aeon tower itself has failed, and either by that state, or the activities of the Zulgath, the Welt continues to grow. Zulgaths and their dinosaur pets are plaguing the surrounding lands, making travel dangerous, and monstrous creatures are coming closer to town with the promise of food and hunting. Fortunately, the group didnt have much time to ponder their options, as they were quickly tasked with re-establishing contact with a nearby farm which provides canvas and goods to the town – a family which missed their last deliveries and has not been heard from since.
This particular storyline is one that we are not streaming live – it is already complex enough with a couple of remote players. But I am using it as a test bed for the cameras and microphones, and it was a good use of the revised gaming table configuration. Overall, rather happy with the improvements.
