Earthdawn: Adventure Log 33 - Postcards from the Edge

This is the thirty-third Adventure Log in an ongoing series about Earthdawn. Introduction and Index.

Note: Adventure Log 032 was never returned to the Great Library of Throal.

The Badlands are, as the Name suggests, a terrible place to visit. A blasted and desolate plain whose very pattern resists all attempts at healing. Easy to describe as lifeless, but my preferences run towards sparsely populating it with twisted versions of Barsaivian wildlife which has either been lovingly crafted by Horrors during the Scourge or adapted to the place - aided by the pattern itself.

It is a place of forgotten kaers because of the terrible destruction wrought there. Given the inhospitable nature, this is a good location to send adepts looking for people, places, things which have been lost. Not many others frequent the Badlands if they can avoid it. This also makes it the perfect location to hide things which you don't want anyone else to find.

Adventure Log – 033 Postcards from the Edge

Written By: Honeysuckle Sunspray of Glenwood Deep

Date: 02 Sollus – 16 Sollus, 1508 TH
Group Name: Mismatched Steel

Group Members

Bongani the Scout
Coriolis the Swordmaster
Honeysuckle Sunspray the Warrior
Ting the Swordmaster

We have decided to leave Bartertown and adventure to the Badlands(1).

Greetings from Ardanyan! Wish you were here. Our trip here was uneventful because of the Skull Whargs'(2) protection team. For a mere ten silver, you too can travel to Ardanyan without incident. Last time we were here, the tourism industry was better. Perhaps on our return trip we will spend more time here, but for now we are on a tight schedule.

Greetings from Lake Ban! The water is clear, the weather is perfect, and the t'skrang are doing back flips everywhere. The community around the liferock is bustling with trade. The obsidiman liferock is peaceful with the obsidimen creating intricate geometric designs in colored sand. Quite the vacation spot. As part of our vacation, we are learning some t'skrang history of the famous Jynis Y'mns and her adventures. We set up a band near the liferock and spend the afternoon at the local fair, enjoying local cuisine along with music and dancing. A good time is had by all.

Greetings from Servalen! The glowing lake welcomes us near the Servos Jungle. These t'skrang are less joyful than the previous t'skrang we partied with. We didn't stay long, off to our next scenic spot.

Greetings from Travar! City of Merchants, we are not souvenir shopping today. We need to get supplies for our trip into the Badlands. This city glitters with possibilities. Preparing for the next leg of our journey has us purchasing mules and additional provisions. We are also gathering information on the lost city from Ting's friend Rasp(3), who is also vacationing in the Badlands. We leave in the morning to head our looking for the mirage city(4).

Visit the Badlands! The Badlands tourism board seems to be lacking. The tours are non-existant, must be self-guided. Bongani is mapping the area. Perhaps we will be able to resurrect the Badlands tourism industry(5).

There are unique creatures to see in the Badlands. We saw some desert espagra. Not terribly sociable creatures, but I'm sure that we will be able to tame these creatures. We were able to make progress taming the exotic creates of this land. Soon, tourists will be able to enjoy the sights.(6)

*     *     *

(1) Spoiler alert: they didn't all die because this was returned to the Library. Still, I have a feeling there are a lot of logs which never come back that started with this sentence.
(2) This band of scorchers have taken over Ardanyan and are now providing "protection" for anyone traveling in the area. While it is a bad situation, it could be much worse.
(3) This poster boy for poor decisions has been showing up a lot lately. There is something I am missing to these patterns.
(4) What does this mean? This entire log is surreal - is this a euphemism or what they are actually doing in the Badlands?
(5) The stains on the original log are from my beverage, which may have been sprayed everywhere after reading this, but Evidence Analysis hasn't provided any useful leads.

(6) Received and edited by Ela Pono

This is the setup to a much larger plot, with many other plots hanging off of it. Which means I'm not going to be quite as forthcoming as usual given this series of plots is still taking place.

On the whole, the adventure was placid in pacing, with long breaks at Lake Ban and Travar. This worked for the general tone, setting up a juxtaposition of a vacation (which was clearly toyed with) and knowingly heading into one of the most dangerous areas in Barsaive.