From the Vault: E-Dawn 25

E-Dawn Volume 25: April 2006 Edition

“What response to that question would not get me eaten?” –Noratu to Icewing.

Spoiler Alert: This journal contains spoilers for the Legend of Earthdawn Volume 1 quest: The Heart of Heroes.

PC RECAP

Pugsli’s Spy Report 12. Lair.

Doddul 22, 1520 TH Throal

Boss,

Yeah, seems like Noratu tried to bribe some bureaucrats and got thrown in jail. At his sentencing, he apparently would serve time until freed by the Passions since his defense claim was “The quest made me do it.” That didn’t fly well with the dwarf justicars. Ronzo is here too, and I suggested he do something about it. So he summoned up an illusionist ally spirit that disguised itself as Erendis and then strolled into the jail and busted Noratu out. Is it just me or is Throal even more bureaucratic than ever now?

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Doddul 22, 1520 TH response dated Doddul 23, 1520 TH.

P,

                The influence of Dis is spreading more with each day. Throal and Thera, who believed the most in Erendis or Dis are likely affected the most outside of the direct sphere of Law surrounding Cara Fahd.

                                                                                                                                                                -R

Strassa 3, 1521 TH Bartertown outskirts

Boss,

It would seem that Lara and Ronzo have decided to do a job for that vile ex-bloodelf Axaxel. They are taking a message to the Heart Wood for him. If I remember correctly, Axaxel is from the Escalanas ranelle, which should get them through the Heart Wood pretty easily. I know you only allow Axaxel’s presence because of his connection to Lilandra, but he really is a blight on Bartertown. They ran into some trouble out here, and fought with some Skull Whargs on Thundra Beasts. Those ork scorchers never learn, well they’ll be skeletons by morning. Even out here there is no sign of Ninheim.

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Strassa 3, 1521 TH response dated Strassa 4, 1521 TH.

P,

                D has his reasons for letting Axaxel stay. Keep you windling nose out of it. Meanwhile, return to base. We have other eyes and ears to keep a watch on them and keep them out of trouble. Despite how much they ask for it. Ninheim’s disappearance is worrying, without him we may not be able to complete the quest and Dis and Ristul will continue to grow in power.

                                                                                                                                                                -R

Strassa 24, 1521 TH Bartertown gate

Boss, 

                After getting the Mount Vapor map and tribute from D, we left for Icewing’s Lair. There is still no sign of Ninheim.

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Strassa 26, 1521 TH Mount Vapor

Boss, 

                Ice Flyers assaulted us. Probably one of Icewing’s defenses, they were tough and pretty smart. They started by using their spells and social attacks to shut down the spellcasters then swooped down and attacked. Unfortunately for them, Ronzo resisted their Ice Shackles and lit them up with a Bone Shatter, killing their leader. With their leader dead, the rest fled.

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Strassa 28, 1521 TH Icewing’s Lair

Boss, 

                We entered the lair of Icewing and gave tribute to him. We told him about Rosper’s plans. That’s when Rosper came out of the shadows and told us he was unimpressed. We had been lied to and manipulated.  I don’t think Rosper ever intended for us to kidnap Aardelea, just use our strong desire for the Dragon Key to make us leave his master’s territory of the Badlands and Dragon Mountains. He let Luke who knew things about Aardelea; fill in the blanks in his story. We asked Icewing about Ninheim. Icewing said he was “dead already.” But Icewing said we could see him, and bade Rosper to fetch Ninheim. Rosper had Ninheim remove his platemail armor. This action revealed his mutation, his once skin had changed to green scales, but with major infections and gaps throughout his body. He was mutating and dying. Icewing told us about what he believed had happened after investigating Ninheim. He was once a dragonkin of the Denairastas clan who had volunteered for a secret experiment for the Outcast and Uhl. They attempted to combine the spirit of a drake with Ninheim, but the experiment was a failure. The two patterns were not meshing, and it was resulting in mental and physical deformities, specifically amnesia and his current physical state. He had escaped from Iopos with the help of a loyal servant (that troll sky raider we found with him, Kracknar Firemail). The Ioposians wanted to either capture him and observe the experiment to its conclusion or kill him to remove the evidence of the experiment from the other great dragons.  Icewing told us the only way to save him would be for him to thread the Dragon Key, which may allow him to survive by strengthening his pattern through the influx of the strength of the first dragon hero, Dayheart. Icewing told us threading the Keys of Heroes would require us to find the names of the original nine heroes of the Name-giver races and thread them simultaneously. We are only half done. Rosper gave us the Orichalcum Key and allowed us to leave with Ninheim.

                I don’t understand. The Dragons claim that they are above the Passions and that freeing them may also free the Dark One, but they allowed us to leave with the Dragon Key and try and fulfill the Heart of Heroes quest. Icewing even said if Dis and Ristul destroyed Barsaive he would just leave and find a lair elsewhere. And yet here is Icewing and Mountainshadow helping us. What’s in it for them? Well returning to Bartertown. 

                                                                                                                                                                -P

Strassa 28, 1521 TH response dated Veltom 3, 1521 TH.

P,

                The dragons and their motives are indeed a mystery. I can’t imagine they’d allow you to have the Dragon Key unless something was in it for them. But what? It doesn’t matter though; the quest is all that matters.

                                                                                                                                                                -R

Rumors

Bartertown

        I heard something strange the other day. Something about a large group of soldiers coming from Haven going southwest. Some say they may even arrive here.

        The Skull Whargs have stepped up attacks recently. Its almost like they are getting desperate for money.

The First Name-giver Heroes 1

Dayheart

        Embodied by the constellation the Winged Snake, the first dragon wept long for Nightslayer, but protected the weaker eight Name-givers, as Nightslayer would have wanted. Connected to the Orichalcum or Dragon Key.

Viceroy

       Embodied by the constellation the Butterfly, the first windling hero became one of the first Illusionists. A master of disguise, Viceroy used his powers to misdirect threats and amuse his people. Connected to the Copper or Windling Key.

       New Character Bios 12

DOVA PLINE (JOSHUA MURPHY)

Race: Ork

Discipline: Warrior

Circle: Seventh

Homeland: Kratas
Organization: None

Passion: All

Character Background: A male ork Warrior who fled Kratas after trying to investigate the Force of the Eye and the secret of Garlthik One-Eye’s longevity making an enemy of Jorgin Torvin. Joined the party to help save the Passions, to have them owe him a “favor”.

Long-term Goals: Attain Immortality.

Quote: “Death is my enemy!”

LAIRA L’ZORIL (JAMES E. ROWE)

Race: Human

Discipline: Nethermancer

Circle: Seventh

Homeland: Shosara
Organization: None

Passion: None

Character Background: A daughter of human and elven parents known for her beauty (she is pale skinned with dark raven locks of hair, blue eyed with an intriguing and beautiful smile). Rolard G'nonsely, a duke of Shosara, lusted after her and demanded her to be brought to his bedchambers. When her parents refused to give her to him, he had them killed and had his men kidnap Laira. Laira eventually escaped by calling upon the spirits of her parents to attack the driver of the G'nonsely's carriage and jumping off, causing the Duke’s carriage to veer off an ice soaked cliff a few hundred feet into a ravine, killing him and his entire entourage. They were found destroyed during the spring thawing. She fled to Barsaive to seek a new life. The Shosaran nobility has pledged to end her life for killing the Duke. 

Long-term Goals: Revive the passions, possibly to bring back Astendar’s love back to the world to prevent tragedies like hers from being repeated.

Legend Points And Loot 5

Session 5: Downtime

Roleplaying Award: 1,200 Legend Points

Session Award: 1,200 Legend Points (Coming up with a plan to get Aardelea)

Total Maximum Possible: 2,400 Legend Points

Missed Session Award: 600 Legend Points.

Loot: None

Session 6: Lair

Skull Whargs Legend Award: 2,540 Legend Points

Ice Flyer Legend Award: 1,050 Legend Points
Roleplaying Award: 1,400 Legend Points
Heroics Award: 700 Legend Points

Adventure Award: 2,800 Legend Points (Getting the Dragon Key)

Total Maximum Possible: 8,490 Legend Points

Missed Session Award: 1,400 Legend Points.

Loot: 160 silver pieces

Discipline Talents and Required Karma Rant

                Personally, this would have to register as one of the most confusing areas for new Earthdawn players and gamemasters. Discipline talents and Required Karma talents are seemingly random. An easier way to do things in any edition would be that any talent that you can roll as a Test in your Discipline is a Discipline talent, making the Karma Pool almost like an extra dice pool for talents, and special actions allowed by the Discipline such as Karma on Attribute Tests, etc. Required Karma talents should be only those that are normally unusable as skills, requiring the extra karma to activate the magic powering the talent. This would only matter mostly to humans in this system with Versatility talents not in a Discipline.

 It’s even easier and more balanced with the Alternative Discipline Design system. Any core talent is a Discipline talent and every pool talent is not. So in that system, you could decide to roll karma on any core Discipline talent, and Required Karma would matter for pool talents and Versatility talents only. Simplifying things like this would certainly help newer players and gamemasters to Earthdawn. Some might cry foul that this may be too powerful. But Horrors and Dragons can roll karma on any Test they roll even skills, Attribute Tests, and derived Attribute Tests like Knockdown Tests. This would merely expand an adept’s ability to use karma on talents alone.

Perhaps this would be just easier considering the many editions to Earthdawn these days (First, Second, Redbrick, ADM).

Notes: When Pugsli is in Bartertown no messages are sent since he reports directly to R. Rants tend to describe radical, non-canon ideas to Earthdawn.