Intermission

While we await a return to our regular programming, a film from another gaming group (or actors representing us?):

The Escapist : Tales from the Table : Pilot Episode

Earthdawn Campaign Session 3: Dreadful symetry

The group of explorers carefully made there way into the darkened corridors of the mysterious tower. Gingerly did they proceed upstairs, and there they found a glowing room - the glow provided by some sort of wall of glowing force, the prison to a name-giver strung up by chains of bones. That floor was also the ruin of a library.

So of course Grima's first order of business was to scrounge for lost spells. While he did that, the wary Warrior-Adept Zhelos watched their flanks and the stairs leading further up. Meanwhile Kasefeh and Ghurag checked out the name-giver, who turned out to be an Ork from Kaer Jherall. Grima found a scroll-case, while Zhelos found glowing eyes looking back at him from further up the stairs. He maintained his watch of the stairs while cautioning Grima to be mindful of the likely-hood of brain-eating slugs hidden in that kind of treasure. Despite his prescience, and some precautions by Grima, chaos ensued as Grima opened the case, had to fight off one slug and then two more used their horror-magic to gain surprise and attack the group. Eventually, they were destroyed but not before they nearly killed poor Ghurag by latching on to his brain.

Happily, the commotion awoke the name-giver, who turned out to be Kryssis, an Ork Illusionist from the year-ago-lost expedition to Kratas. He said that the last thing he remembered was making his way back with the Swords-Mistress Nyssa, meeting some merchants she knew from Kratas, and winding up in here... where he (and it was more himself every time it came) arrived each day to feed him. A little perturbed and unable to figure out how to free him, the rest proceeded upwards, where they encountered Kryssis once more, turned down his paltry bribe to go away and then found themselves first fighting the doppelganger of the illusionist then a fearsome Wyvern, which pushed its way past them, then escaped.

This posed a problem, since they did not relish the thought of being preyed upon by the Wyvern while making there way across the open scrub lands. They could hardly hide here forever though and did not want to lead it straight back to their Kaer either.

So they instead made their way to the reopened shrine of Erendis, passion of Civic Duty, Community Spirit and Order. It was guarded by Ork mercenaries and the door was minded by some thin-haired bureaucrat minding the desk. He gave them a number, then made them wait. While they cooled their heels, Egron (a Questor of Erendis!) and his younger sister, both senior Adepts from the Kaer walked out past them. Grima tried to strike up conversation with the Nethermancer, but she brushed him off. Right then, the desk-jockey called out '17' and they had to hurry in or lose their turn!

There, on a lowered level of the complex, they found a disturbing sight: Twenty name-givers, of different ages and races, and all from the Kaer, were walking in a circle around a large pool of water and carrying buckets. At one side, they would fill the bucket, at the other, they would empty it. This went on and on and it looked like they were all near-dead from exhaustion.

Ghurag barged in, grabbed one of the buckets, and found him magically bound to take the place of the previous name-giver, who was now collapsed but alive on the floor. Khasefeh followed suit. So the Zhelos (edit: credit now applied where due!) decided to grab some bolts of cloth (looted from atop the tower, earlier) and with his hands full barged into the ring of water bearers. He disrupted the cycle while Grima used his Adept-Magic to impersonate Egron and lead the lot of them out to freedom. They saw Egron and his sister returning but Kryssis used his spells to divert their attention, then.... they ran for it!

So. Somewhere out there is a doppelganger of one of the Kaer-explorers, which is also the doppelganger of a Wyvern and who knows what else. That explorer may or may not have been betrayed by another member of his expedition and now one of the Kaer elders and another senior Adept are in charge of quite disturbing thing going on out here in the countryside. Also, exploring on behalf of the Kaer seems quite hazardous, not least if you are an Ork.... And many of the explorers are now out to find teachers and advance in their Adept Disciplines.