Earthdawn: Adventure Log 05 - A Time to Kill

This is the fifth Adventure Log in an ongoing series about Earthdawn.Introduction and Index.

The Eye of Throal is the active intelligence service for the dwarf kingdom of Throal (the Great Library is the passive arm and where intelligence is analyzed). Duties for the Eye include both internal and external security. There are a number of different types of agents, those who adopt cover identities, known as "kaer dwellers", and those that operate more-or-less openly. It is always important to have some open influence, otherwise agents in the field may be unable to secure the resources they need in times of distress.

Within canon, there are checks and balances in place to limit the Eye's influence, taking cues from the missteps of the Theran Empire. Within this campaign, these checks and balances are still in place, but they have been eroded by collusion within and outside of the Eye for personal gain and weakened by external influences seeking to disrupt the Eye's functions. The actions the Eye is willing to take are significantly more grim, along with the sacrifices they are willing to make to protect the security of Throal. Some agents have seen so much darkness in their tenure, at times only the master they serve separates them from those they work against. This much darker morality fits better with the themes I like to introduce and makes working for this shadowy organization significantly more mysterious - you may not know whose agenda you are truly serving until it is too late.

There are numerous opportunities for Groups to become involved with the Eye, whether they realize it or not. Service in the Eye can grant considerable direction for a campaign, including events leading to their induction, while still giving the players a great deal of latitude in how they approach problems. For those contracting with the Eye, Blood Oaths are a common practice to ensure silence for a least a year and a day, and the full dwarf coffers can make many worries disappear.

Adventure Log – 05 A Time to Kill

Recorded By: Ting V’strimon the Merciless of Urupa

Date: 29 Raquas – 10 Sollus, 1506 TH
Group Name: Mismatched Steel

Group Members

Elmod the Nethermancer
Honeysuckle Sunspray the Windmaster
Jak’Tak the Weaponsmith
Ting the Swordmaster

Farmer, Pillar(1), wishes us to look into the disappearance of some documents. He believes some of his family members killed the courier with these documents as some elaborate plan to gain the inheritance. But first! Crackbills. They breathe poisonous gas. This sounds bad. Travelling along the road to the farmer’s looking for ambush points. That is where crackbills like to hand. Donkey path, found broken bridge, but tracks told me other people went another way, so we follow to find a camp in the middle of nowhere. Windling went to flank and we step in to find four dead guys. Then the birds showed up. Very angry. There were six. One breathed on me and it was bad. Unconscious for a bit, woke up later but very disoriented. Fight did not start well for me. But after I got my footing, I brought the pain! Blades and spells whirling through the yellow, acrid fog, slaughtering the feathery beasts where they stood. We dispatched all six of the stinking creatures. We found a small out of <silver>(2) and took the necks of the crackbills. I found a body further off into the bushes which Elmod decided to screw around with(3). Whatever he did made him freak out quite a bit, look on his face was hilarious(4). Apparently this body was killed by a pair of dwarfs and not by the feathery beasts. We hiked back to town and sold the necks.

Jak was working while we were out(5). Forged me up a slightly better battle axe, Elmod even made up a banner for the thing. Very nice. Makes me feel a part of the group.

Talked to Pillar, very excitable. He is willing to take us to see his sister and husband. In Throal, nicer area. They are adepts, working for the Throne. They left a few days before (for murder!?), maybe to the farming village. Learned what a q’wril is. His sister and brother-in-law are “scouts”. Word has it he hunts Horrors(6). We tried to go around the bridge, but found more of those stupid birds. Pillar hid the whole fight, which was good on him. Kill thirteen of the bastards before the remaining ran away. We checked out where the body of the courier was, but it was gone, evaporated.

Moved on into town. The sheep are huge(7). Felt really good about the back flip in my dance. We were welcomed. The siblings are here. Pillar is nervous. Children love me! I love attention. We went to talk to Jana and Caramon and got the signal that these are our guys. Need to get a windling-sized muzzle(8). Elmod looked constipated most of the time(9). Then Pillar burst in the room all hurt, ranting about q’wril. To be attacked! Easy kills, look to have valuable bits. Elmod made us wait before we could kill more of the tings. Also filled us in on something about Horrors infecting the dwarf couple(10). Also probably why these rodent things are all up and attacking. Someone said that is not normal. Was some fun though.

Going to be a feast tonight in our “honor” of the thing they moved the statue around. Honeysuckle brought a letter. Jak also came with some serious news. Jana did the greeting ritual, no problem. They are supposedly hunting the Horror causing this. The statue is probably responsible for some of the problems in the village. Confirmed by Elmod. We then go through greeting rituals and then Jak confronted the town. Townsfolk alarmed, in denial. Jana tries to convince townspeople, but starts to lose it. Caramon attacks statue, Jak and I do as well. Jana is murdering her husband. Villagers get Horror angries and are pulling us off. Statue falls. I go after a cadaverman, Caramon has given up, Jana and Caramon killed each other. Killed the rest of the corrupted peoples. Search of houses finds the headsman’s son having all kinds of evidence of his evilness in his basement. Gather townsfolk, make them move on and burn the village(11). Head back to Bartertown. Sold loot for mad cash(12).(13)

(1) He is an exceptionally nervous dwarf from the village of Shepherd, brother of Jana.
(2) This piece is indecipherable.
(3) Insert Nethermancer and dead body screwing joke.
(4) Realized what he was doing, eh?
(5) Working at a Forge of Maester Bleys, evidently.
(6) Caramon is a Horror Stalker.
(7) An understatement; they are also fearsome and do not like to be used as steeds by orks.
(8) Indeed.
(9) Heh.
(10) This changes things; I wonder if this is what Jana and Caramon were working on when they stopped communications. More details!
(11) This is quite brutal and efficient. Kick this up to look at.
(12) How perfectly mercenary.
(13) Received and edited by Ela Pono.

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There were a few intentions for this session. First, I wanted to show some of the dangers associated with overland travel away from established trade routes. Then actually interacting with the residents of remote areas and how they can be xenophobic. This gave the characters a chance to make some friends and interact with the locals. Building this positive rapport would be pretty important for the conclusion of the session. The Horror which many of the sessions are slowly beginning to orbit around displays more of its influence here. The fact it has Namegivers out there and spreading its influence, and that it can work through objects and not just people, was another plot point. Also how deep the corruption of Horrors can go, that their influence is alien and inimical to life as it is know.

Some important aspects of the setting also made an appearance: the existence of an intelligence agency for Throal and the unfortunate truth of artisan skills. The Throal plot has been carried through the notes on the Adventure Logs for now, though it may make a reappearance in the future. I may have pulled the trigger too soon on revealing the Ritual of Greeting is just a superstition, but I was afraid if I waited too long the players may have reacted poorly to the revelation later down the road when Legend Points were invested with no return, as well that it was being used as a litmus test to detect anyone with a Horror Mark and wasn't working.

The major theme of the session was of darkness; that victory can be had, but there is a cost. Despite the heroics of the setting and campaign, it will be going to increasingly dark places. I wanted to drive that point home early and this particular session really worked for that. The two dwarf adepts sacrificed themselves for this victory and half a village was put to the sword. It was pretty somber at the table when they started picking up the pieces.

Two different props were created for this session. Crackbill necks were simple to put together and turned out well in the end. I got a cheap, nylon (this is important) jump rope and cut it into sections, around 20 cm; they had to be short enough to fit into the boxes. Using a lighter, I melted each end. This fused it, making it sturdier and lending a nice cartilaginous feel. Then some bronze paint was applied. The end result was rough and textured, but still flexible.

The earth q'wril beaks were significantly more time consuming. The base uses glass paper weights from the craft store. I applied masking tape to the tip of each glass bauble, to create the illusion of where the earth q'wril secretes fluid to break rocks apart in the final product. Next some white primer was applied and allowed to dry. This was followed by black matte primer that was applied in a thin layer. When dried, I remove the masking tape and layered clear matte sealant over them. This protected the paint and gave a more worn feeling, particularly to the tip, while the base was left as smooth glass - showing where it had been removed from the creature. The end result has some layers, uneven parts and roughness that make it feel more natural. They can also stand up to some handling, which is a bonus.

Earthdawn: Adventure Log 01 - Misguided Ambition

This is the first Adventure Log in an ongoing series about Earthdawn. Introduction and Index.

As requested, I am starting a new column as a part if the ongoing series on Earthdawn: Adventure Logs. My goal is to use these to not only showcase actual play in Earthdawn, but to introduce setting elements, discuss GMing in general, using props, and adapting material that is already out there for use in an ongoing campaign. These are the logs as recorded by the players in-character. All of the players for this game had never played Earthdawn previously.

Adventure logs are a clever piece of the setting that gets players to take notes on the session - something that players are not always willing to do (it can feel like work), but Earthdawn puts an in-setting spin on it that provides rewards. The premise is that the Great Library of Throal will purchase logs detailing the activities of adventuring Groups and make them available to in the Library to others for research. Their stated goal is to gather as much information as possible, particularly the dangers, new environs and kaers that have been opened, but as well the cultures, people and happenings within the world. The Group is paid based on the "importance" of the work, and it goes into the Library to be referenced by others. The payment is a fraction of the Legend Points earned during the events in the logs, and additional Legend Points are earned when it is turned in to reflect that the characters' legend spreading through others reading of their exploits.

Within my setting, there are some other things taking place which are not openly discussed. The Great Library processes astounding volumes of intelligence from around the province and beyond through these adventuring logs. This information is potentially vital to the security of the dwarf kingdom, particularly with regard to the looming conflict with the Theran Empire and other more local threats (Horrors, Iopos, scorchers, crystal raiders, etc). The Great Library performs the public mission statement, but the scribes are also intelligence analysts. The junior scribes will read incoming logs and if anything raises a flag, it will be handed off to a more senior scribe who will route the log appropriately and it may be altered during transcription to be entered into the Library; originals are never on the floor (adventurers and dirty hands). This goes unnoticed; few adepts are so narcissistic that paying to read their own exploits is worth their time. Handwritten copies are also prone to all of the errors that come with handwritten copies.

This means is that the original adventure logs contain footnotes from the scribes of the Library which reveal Throal's interest in the contents, as well as the identity of the scribe who performed the detailed analysis (and some personality of the scribe). These notes are not available to those outside of the senior scribes. The out-of-character goal behind providing this extra analysis to the players (not the characters) is to communicate some of the bigger picture if they are interested.

Adventure Log - 01 - Misguided Ambition

Recorded By: Honeysuckle Sunspray of Glenwood Deep

Date: 13 Raquas, 1506 TH
Group Name: Mismatched Steel

Group Members

Honeysuckle Sunspray the Windmaster

Valara the Beastmaster

It was time to be going. Leaving Glenwood Deep for a life of adventure was a difficult decision to make because my teachers wanted me to stay and be a Windmaster for the community. I wanted to see Barsiave and the great cities. Travelling alone for the first few weeks was lonely; outside of Glenwood Deep you don’t see many other windlings(1), but I have seen many new races like orks, trolls, and dwarfs that don’t usually travel through Glenwood Deep. I met Valara at a fork in the road, she was also pondering the way to go as she too had just left her home for the life of adventure, we decided to head into the nearest town together and stock up on supplies before continuing on our journeys.

This was a small town near the woods and many of its people were lumberjacks. Upon entering the town of Tsennan(2) you could tell something was not right. Hearing that Valara and I were adepts, the townsfolk asked up to head into the woods to look for a group of missing lumberjacks; including three humans, two orks, and a dwarf. They were to return days ago and have not been heard from. Before leaving we met with the local healer Genna (who was the mother of Tartuk, one of the missing orks), who gave us some healing supplies to help us on our journey. We reached the camp before sundown and found it abandoned and in ruin. Food was left of the table rotting (knowing how poor this village was, food would never be wasted like this) we knew something terrible had happened to the lumberjacks. We took some time to search the camp finding a trail in one direction and no other clues. I could tell we were being watched as we searched. I checked out a strange rustling in the brush and was nearly eaten alive by a snow leopard cub(3). Valara insisted we pursue the cub to care for it and after tracking for a bit we caught the cub and Valara turned it into her new pet. I can see that being friends with a Beastmaster will be more dangerous than I originally thought.

We headed down the trail left by the attackers and found the first body not too far past the camp. This body fit the description of one of the lumberjacks, the dwarf Geleem, he was badly beaten but you could tell this was not done by animals. Following the trail we came upon a clearing with a cave entrance, tied to the trees were the bodies of four more lumberjacks, the only body missing was Tartuk. Wandering around this area strangely were these creatures that looked like they should be dead. We went toward the opening of the cave when these things attacked us. Valara and I knew we had to fight, though Windmaster training didn’t cover bodies that rise from the dead(4). It was a gross, ugly fight. As we fought these things they exploded with a vile stench spraying everything in the vicinity. It took almost everything we had, but we defeated them. As disgusting as we were we didn’t wait to go into the cave, whatever was happening must be coming from there.

The cave was dark down the tunnel and then opened up into a large room where a fire was going, with a large pool of blood and a large troll was performing some type of ritual. I thought we had seen the scariest part of this and boy was I wrong. Out of the pool of blood arose one of the missing lumberjacks with axes for hands, it was Tartuk(5). He had been sacrificed for something evil. Not wanting to see what happened next we rushed in to fight this evil Nethermancer and the unwilling sacrifice. Turns out this was a really bad idea after the fight we had outside. This sorcerer sent his sacrifice after us and then casted some type of magical darkness in the room making it impossible to fight. Valara and I decided to retreat and regroup. Outside the cave we took time to clean up and rest while strategizing what to do next.

We headed back into the cave because we couldn’t return to the town with one of their lumberjacks being controlled by this Nethermancer. It took all of our tricks and strength to defeat the sorcerer and put the sacrifice out of his misery, but we managed to be victorious. Searching the cave we found the Nethermancer’s journal(6) bound with the skin of some poor creature and the mark of a horror upon it. This was bigger than we had imagined, this Nethermancer had been corrupted by a Horror(7).

We returned to the town to deliver the devastating news of what had happened to the lumberjacks and warned the townsfolk not to go up there. We spared Genna from what actually happened to her son; instead we told her he was simply killed by the Nethermancer. We didn’t stick around the village very long; it was too depressing after what they had been through. Valara and I headed off for our next destination, whatever that may be. (8)

(1) I hear that Glenwood Deep is infested with them.

(2) Find location of Tsennan, see further footnotes.

(3) If only...

(4) This is a curious and unexpected piece.

(5) Perhaps this bears investigation.

(6) This journal should be found for safekeeping.

(7) Tragic, but unsurprising.

(8) Received and Edited by Ela Pono.

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This was the first adventure, though not all of the players were able to make it. Instead going with the original plan (which never happened as intended), I used an introductory adventure that used to be available on Redbrick's website and adapted it to fit where I wanted things to go. It has all of the rules you need to get started along with pregenerated characters. The adventure itself has some good moments and strong horror elements. It is a fine, free adventure, though fairly challenging for only two characters that are highly specialized and unfamiliar with the rules.  Both players were initially reluctant to use Karma; it is a resource that is not infinite. Both remarked, in retrospect, that they would have used Karma more often if they had understood better how easy it was to get more. The Beastmaster and Windmaster can use Karma with starting Talents that improve damage, Claw Shape and Dive Attack respectively. These Disciplines are not the most straight forward, particularly the Windmaster which has some of the more complex Talent interactions.