From the Vault: E-Dawn 24

E-Dawn Volume 24: February-March 2006 Edition

“The Passions had their chance to be gods. Now it is our master’s turn.” –The Ristular.

Spoiler Alert: This journal contains spoilers for the Legend of Earthdawn Volume 1 quest: The Heart of Heroes and A Fragment from Nutreva in the Legends of Earthdawn Volume 2: Book of Exploration.

PC RECAP

Pugsli’s Spy Report 11. Swarm.

                               

Borrum 17 Badlands

Boss,

                After resting a day, we decided to go after the Human Key and find the nearest town or village in the Badlands. We figured that Luke and Fiona would have to go to a town eventually to get supplies, so we started heading to the nearest town of Nutreva according to Jezsia.  A group of Ioposians waylaid us en route, trying to capture Ninheim and kill us. A pit trap had been dug or more accurately created by Denairastan magic considered the hard, rocky ground of the Badlands, and Ninheim and Black Guard fell in. After that a Thief named Marcus dressed in gold and white robes attacked us with a flurry of thrown bolas. Many of us were caught in the bolas, including myself. The silver and white armored Warriors were no match for our spellcasters and soon half of them crumpled to bone’s shattering.  With the tide turning against them, the remaining Ioposians and Marcus fled into the Badlands. We continued on to Nutreva.

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Response to Borrum 17 marked Doddul 17

P,

                Marcus Denairastas? He is a known Gold Branch member to us. His most famous success was an attempt to hire a group of nosy mercenaries to guard a caravan to Vrontok a few years back. The catch was that the cargo the Ioposian Silver Branch guards were guarding was really the mercenary group. They sold them into slavery at Vrontok in exchange for some silvers! He exchanged some potential troublemakers in Iopos for cash. He is fairly cunning and an expert in magic and stealth. Uhl was unimpressed though, so that might be why he was out in the Badlands hunting Ninheim. ¹

                                                                                                                                                                -R

Borrum 19 Nutreva

Boss,

                We continued traveling to Nutreva finally reaching it after two days of travel. As we approached the gates of the town, we all felt something was wrong. There weren’t any villagers. The spellcasters also told us they heard something towards the back of town. We rushed back there after hearing a loud explosion. We ran through the village center to the back, where we saw human man wearing an old beat up vest with a lot of body art and tattoos on his chest standing next to two animals, a hellhound in front breathing a cone of flame, and a mountain lion with horns the color of stone to his left side, with a human woman standing behind them, a redhead with her long hair in pigtails flowing from behind a tiara holding a runic carved spear faced off against an army of red ants the size of windling short swords. It would be suicide to try and wade into that melee, probably why the human man and gray lion were hanging back. We waited back guarding the spellcasters as they prepared spells. But Ronzo didn’t seem to care for that logic, and threaded a black cloud causing spell and ran into the middle of the red ant swarm after the hellhound’s third breath weakly allowed a small opening. He was swarmed and fell. The human ran in after him and somehow got out alive. Ronzo was paralyzed for his efforts. We finished off the rest of the swarm, with only Jezsia having problems, becoming paralyzed as well. The paralyzation effect was short-lived and soon both were on their feet again.

                We had found Luke, his two beasts Kerepres, a hellhound, and Lynx, a stone lion, according to Drach’mar, and his wife Fiona. We requested that he return to Lasael with Fiona so that we could get the Human Key from the King of Lasael. He agreed if we would help him eliminate the red ant swarm’s queen at their red anthill and avenge the people of Nutreva and several other villages in the area. Ronzo sent many spirits into the red anthill, until one found out the location of the queen’s lair. With that knowledge in memory, we ran to the red anthill first fighting off a second wave of red ants. At the red anthill itself, Fiona cast a fireball to collapse the anthill’s main entrance. The red ants would soon dig themselves out, so we prepared for their third wave as Ronzo desperately tried to cast a portal on the red ant queen and kill her through it. The ground shook and many holes started to open up in the ground. Ronzo’s first attempt failed.  Red ants started pouring out of the holes as Ronzo cast a second time succeeding and killing the queen before the third wave could begin their assault. The red ants wandered aimlessly without their leader and mother. 

                Luke told us about the death warrant the dragons had for me for his role in killing Alamaise, so he could only go with us as far as the base of the Dragon Mountains before turning back to Travar to return to northern Barsaive.

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Borrum 21 Dragon Mountains

Boss,

We reached the base of the Dragon Mountains when a drake swooped down and changed to a human form. His name was Rosper and he had been sent to deliver a message to us, “Do not enter the Dragon Mountains, if you do you will be crushed by the Shadow of the Mountain.” We pleaded with Rosper to allow us to enter the Dragon Mountains and get the Dragon Key, but he would not allow it. Instead he offered us a deal. If we wanted the Dragon Key so bad, he would steal it from his master, but only if we ascended Mount Vapor, and freed Aardelea from Icewing’s tyranny and delivered her to him. We had no choice but to accept the deal. We set up the Floating City as the point of exchange: Aardelea for the Dragon Key.

We turned back into the Badlands to go to Travar and return to Bartertown. We asked Luke what Rosper’s motivations were. He told us that Rosper had been infatuated with Aardelea, or at least the possibility she represented to the drakes since they met at Hanto. Drakes were created by magic and could not reproduce. The hope of the drakes was that Aardelea, who was bound the magic of the Book of Blue Spirits, was that she was able to reproduce and could produce a race of drakes free from creation by magic. But as hopeful as the drakes were to become true Name-givers able to reproduce and live free, they also knew that the dragons planned to use this new race in the same way as the drakes and Name-givers before them, as puppets and tools. Luke believed that Rosper wanted to free Aardelea and stop this from happening. But one piece of the puzzle is missing, if the old magically created drakes can’t reproduce, what can Rosper and Aardelea possibly accomplish together?

We started discussing how we could possibly free Aardelea from Icewing. Even with the information Rosper had given us, is it even possible?

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Response to Borrum 21 marked Doddul 23

P,

                Good questions, P. But the concerns of the drakes don’t matter to us. You must get the Dragon Key to save all of Barsaive, even if you have to accommodate Rosper’s desires to do so. Don’t worry; D will help you with Mount Vapor as best he can.   

                                                                                                                                                                -R

 ¹ A reference to the third campaign starting adventure “Special Delivery.”

Staring into the Abyss

Borrum 25 Badlands

Boss,

We had traveled for four days after turning around, stopping in Nutreva to rest. On our fourth day of travel, a huge swarm of gnashers attacked us. We were able to stop them, mostly because of Luke and our spellcasters. 

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Borrum 27 Badlands

Boss,

A drakkar flew by overhead, and several ork Sky Raiders came crashing down at us after leaping off the deck. Ronzo noticed the shadow of the airship and warned us in time to avoid being surprised as they dropped in behind us. One of them failed his landing and became impaled on a Badlands rock outcropping. They attempted to grapple the women in our party, Laura, Fiona, and Jezsia, as well as Ninheim and Ronzo. Their kidnapping attempt failed utterly, after the drakkar made one last pass to try and pick up survivors, it fled to Urupa. The ork Sky Raiders were completely brainwashed and corrupted. They kept talking on and on about how their dark god required sacrifices at the abyss. Apparently they were using drakkars to kidnap people and sacrifice them at the Abyss at Aras Nehem. 

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Doddul 2 Travar

Boss,

We finally returned to Travar and rested for a day. The next day we saw Moltaa, a magistrate of Travar. Luke pulled in a favor from Moltaa and got us a drakkar ride back to Bartertown. Moltaa and Coga discussed the problems in Urupa. Moltaa told him that stopping Ristul was impossible without the Passions. He had no body that could be destroyed, such that the only other way to stop him besides the Passions halting his progress would be the destruction of every last bit of corruption and taint in astral space. Coga and Noratu wanted to go to the Abyss in Urupa to stop the sacrifices, but in the end we went to Bartertown as they realized stopping the sacrifices would not be enough to stop the Horror, only finally completing the Heart of Heroes quest could do that.   I’m on my way home.

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Merits and Flaws Change

Flaws

Berserk: The character has a bad temper. When the character is given a Wound in combat, he flies into a terrible rage and uses the Aggressive Attack combat option against the foe that hurt him. Once that foe is dead the character continues attacking whoever is closest until 10 rounds have passed when the Berserk status ends. The character may make a Willpower (10) Test to end the Berserk spree after killing the foe who wounded him. 3 Point Flaw.

Legend Points And Loot 4

Session 3: Swarm

Iopos Award: 2,200 Legend Points
Red Ant Swarm Award: 3,450 Legend Points
Heroics Award: 600 Legend Points

Roleplaying Award: 1,200 Legend Points

Session Award: 1,200 Legend Points (Stopping the Red Ant Swarm)

Total Maximum Possible: 8,650 Legend Points

Missed Session Award: 600 Legend Points.

Loot: 45 silver pieces

Session 4: Staring into the Abyss

Gnasher Award: 2,160 Legend Points
Ork Sky Raider Ristular Award: 360 Legend Points
Heroics Award: 600 Legend Points

Roleplaying Award: 1,200 Legend Points

Session Award: 1,200 Legend Points (Stopping the kidnapping)

Total Maximum Possible: 5,520 Legend Points

Missed Session Award: 600 Legend Points.

Loot: 36 silver pieces