Earthdawn Revisited - Adventures

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== The Tower of Rats: ==
Dramatis Personae:
Our heroes, a trio of relatively young adepts have been Wintering in a nearby town within Ustrat and have been travelling along footpaths for several days since the snow melted going from village to village seeking out those in need of aid, but finding no work for their talents.
However after a long journey and a narrowly avoided encounter with some wolves, they found a welcoming settlement in the distance. As the sun was setting a human named Coal was due to close the village gates, but at the mention of them being adepts they were hastily welcomed in. He showed them the village green with the seven oaks for which the village was named and told them that they were each hundreds of years old, apparently predating the Scourge.
They visited the inn (Also named the Seven Oaks) where the innkeeper welcomed them but initially didn't offer any meat. Some fiddlers played whilst there was a bit of a debate between Ruby and Bismuth, the heads of the village and a Dwarf named Chalky who wanted to go and search for a missing older Dwarf named Robin Dew-Lin, a stocky but older widower whose wife had passed 3 years ago and who, since then, had been visiting the nearby Dwarven wizard Amber Fal-Sto, and helping her with her experiments.
Upon revealing that they were willing to help and that they were adepts, they were made more welcome and meat requisitioned. This seemed to resolve the matter, they would be put up by Ruby and Bismuth tonight, fed like kings and they would solve the mystery of their missing person and bring him safely home. Bismuth showed them a mural on the inn wall of everybody in the village and pointed out what Robin looked like. 
They spent the evening in the inn, drinking and playing games and making music. 
Azul managed to overhear some of the humans led by Jasper complaining about the unfairness of the fact that troll sky-pirates were the ones collecting their taxes under the authority of the king of Throal. His joining in with their disapproval earned him a place at the table where they played cards and the later a rhyming game, which Azul was terrible at. They were wary of this and asked what art he practiced. He told them that he was an actor and they asked for some likenesses, but it came off as satirical and artless, leaving him shunned for the rest of the evening.
Jade however was much more successful, the vaulted ceiling of the bar allowed her plenty of room to show off her skydancing which impressed people heartily and they kept trying to offer her ale in mug almost as large as she was.
Umber was waved over by a small group of fellow orcs led by a woman named Thistle, glad to see another orcish face. She let him know that they were travelling lumberjacks, harvesting wood in lean months so that people didn't have to head out in to woods in cold weather whilst joining Scorcher clans in the Summer. They got out some instruments and begin to play which Umber joined in on.
As the night wrapped up Ruby and Bismuth took them to their home, one of the nicest in the village and gave them the run of the master bedroom and guest room, whilst they stayed elsewhere. 
In the morning they had found sausages, wild mushrooms and vegetables served on a flatbread for breakfast being served to them. Bismuth showed them the path to the tower and they set off with some cheese and bread added to their provisions. 
It was early afternoon when they arrived, as Jade guided them expertly. The lab was actually three buildings atop a cuesta (An area of land that rises gently on one side and sharply on the other), which had cliffs on three sides and so only required a partial palisade on one side to keep out intruders. The largest building was built out of an old ruined tower, whose stone was also cannibalised for the construction of the cottage. The building was round and easily the equivalent of two storeys tall, but inside had only one large room with no windows. To one side was a squat brick building and to the other, a cottage. Jade could see that the circular building was surrounded in stones that channelled magical energy towards the building raising a golden pillar of astral light up to the sky.
Exploring the circular building first they found it in complete disarray. hundreds of cages had been opened at once and huge numbers of rats swarmed the floor, some normal, but many malformed in some way, grown or without fur.
From this wreckage, the ghost of an elderly dwarf arose, covered in rats and clutching a farmers scythe. He angrily demanded they get out calling them murderers and despoilers and attacked. Azul's blade was able to fend off the vengeful ghost for a moment whilst Umber checked and made certain that the body was not in the room. However Jade's keen eyes identified that the door frame had been damaged in such a way that the door would be made difficult to open and then had been smashed through with great strength. There were bloody footprints in the ground and they prepared to seek them out, but first investigated the other two structures.
The laboratory had been thoroughly ransacked and a large number of notebooks stolen. Though only some of the glasswork had been broken. On the wall were notes and diagrams including a tree of life showing various mutated rat-like forms.
They next explored the cottage that seemed largely unscathed from the attacks. In here there were dozens of water-colours. Some of the nearby scenery, one featuring the wizard Amber herself and quite a few depicting rats, but the paintings had an artistic and naturalistic flourish that showed them as being quite artfully done. Jade however could see a figure sat meditatively on the bed, clutching a gnarled wizards staff in one hand. 
The figure was a female dwarf in practical clothing that only Jade could see. Evidently the ghost of Amber, she looked at Jade and nodded. She seemed unable to speak but through gestures they communicated. She confirmed that she was Amber and that she wanted her body laid to rest. 
So they tracked the bloody footprints of the animated corpses of Robin and Amber out of the palisade and away. They tracked them until long after dark and found the corpses in the wood. After a tense fight they destroyed them both and bought the bodies back to Seven Oaks where they could be properly cremated. Though Ruby asked the Adepts if they would do one further thing and investigate the circumstances of their deaths and lay their ghosts to rest. 
=== The Tower of Rats Session 2 ===
Returning to the tower they found the ghosts of both Robin and Amber much paler and constantly glancing away towards the sun as if being pulled from the world. 
Robin at least seemed much calmer now his body had been laid to rest and part of the burden that shackled him to the world was reduced. Amber still couldn't manifest to speak. 
Robin raved a bit about the people who killed him. Saying that Robin was roused in the middle of the night by a noise and went to the tower to investigate. Then he heard a scream and leaped from his bed to help Robin, but when he entered the tower he was knocked out and left to the hungry rats who finished him off. 
Jade was able to identify two sets of boot prints which did not belong to either of the dwarves. They were too long in the toe, either human or elf. She found that they entered the main gate, hugged the wall, ransacked the alchemical laboratory and then went to the tower where they seemed to kill first Amber and then when he came to investigate they ambushed and killed Robin before leaving the palisade. 
Unable to find much more they tried to trace the boot prints back to their place of origin which turned out to be Seven Oaks village. Jade identified the footprints as belonging to a heavy set woman and a lighter man and that occasionally the woman had left scraps of bear fur on brambles. 
Entering the inn they talked to the mayor who said that among recent visitors, there had been some fabric merchants, but they had mostly dealt with the human families. The group tried to approach Jasper Windrush, but he rebuffed them claiming not to remember much about them. However Honey said that the merchants had spent most of their time with Jasper and the other humans. 
Instead they spoke to Bronze, nephew of Robin, who allowed them to visit Robin's house. Inside they found a hidden diary that contained notes on Ambers research and their subtle romantic liaisons. The experiments were testing the hypothesis that the same species can appear to be several different species if the mana level is sufficiently high as they mutate and diversify in to what appear to be radically different sub-species. The notes also mention that last month he sprained his ankle, so Jasper helped him up to Ambers cottage when he was on crutches. Robin and Jasper had their farms next to each other, but had been generally cordial. 
Azul remembered that books had been stolen from the alchemical lab and that this must have been the research that Robin was talking about. 
Asking around the inn some more, they found that Jasper seemed to have come in to a bit of money recently buying new clothes for himself and his family as well as being more generous with drinks for his friends, whilst still being critical of the trolls. 
Putting it together, Jasper had been to the research station recently. He had spent time with the travelling cloth merchants and after they left, he appeared to be wealthier. The merchants accents indicated that they might have been Theran, which meant that they were likely returning with the stolen information to Vivaine and Skypoint. However to do that, they would need to go around the Twilight peak mountains to avoid the zealous trolls that guarded that pass and who would very likely to pick up spies transporting stolen magical texts. Despite their lead, the party could get ahead of the spies if they hurried by taking the mountain pass route. 
They told Bismuth about their suspicions and after a hearty breakfast they set off in the morning to try and cut them off. He provided them with a letter of passage and they made for the Great Sword Valley, a valley between the Twilight peaks. 
Their Commander Mirror asked them to show their art and Umbers Orcish chanting was so good that he ordered a patrol of his to escort them through the valley towards Cara Fahd. 
Realising that they would have reached the city before the spies reasonably could have, They passed a few other travellers before meeting the spies Russet and Lavendet Tailor. 
Lavendar wearing her bear cloak concealed some armour, whilst the male Russet stood back at range. 
Umber stood out and confronted them but ended up coming off as a bandit, whilst Jade and Azul waited nearby. 
However when Umbers accusations were insufficient, Azul stepped out and accused them of the murder more directly. 
Lavender took out a club and paired it with her axe, barely grazing Azul, whilst Azul struck back stunning her, which Umber and Jade took advantage of. Injuring her and keeping her off balance. Meanwhile Russet caught Umber with a lucky strike that nearly killed him, but wasn't able to capitalise on the success alone. 
Fearing for his life Russet made a deal. He would surrender the books, if they parted ways without further bloodshed. He helped Lavender escape and disappeared off over the horizon, leaving behind the oxen with their cargo of silks and the books hidden in the bottom. It appears that they did not understand the significance of the dense academic texts and could not see any military potential in them, so undervalued them. 
With that the party returned to Seven Oaks village where they were greeted as heroes and fed fresh goat meat. The villagers listened to their story and were impressed, giving them 230 silver marks between the party and treating them as guests of honour for the rest of their stay. 
Experienced gained: Solved the Mystery of the Murder at the Tower of Rats. 
== The Mystery of Kaerdale ==
The group were travelling West out of Ustrecht towards the Liaj jungle when they came across a cart parked on the trail. 
A dwarven merchant Salmon Vio-Ten and his wife Bana discovered a body just off the track in to town. The Orc had a knife on their belt and was wearing basic clothing that you would expect from somebody who worked the land. However strangely the cause of death was suffocation and their body was rimed with frost before suffering a violent impact across the entire body. However the air was clear of airships and they were still cold.
The makers mark on the knife belonged to a blacksmith in Starmoor, a nearby village on a small plateau which could only be reached by a drawbridge. Travelling there, they were able to ensure that the body received a proper funeral, whilst the blacksmith Lilac Smith confirmed that the knife was one that they made and that it was sold in the next village over called Ironrest. 
Travelling to Ironrest, a village surrounded by stout stone walls, they were able to confirm that the dead person was a local farmer called Breeze Farwalker. The Orc was part of a small hamlet a few hours walk away. They would stay in Ironrest over the Winter and journey out to the hamlet (Known as Kaerdale) in the Spring to work farmland in the area. The Hamlet was home to only seven people. 
* Carmine Ser-Dal - A female dwarf
* Breeze Farwalker - The deceased Male Orc that was found on the road.
* Lava Farwalker Breeze’s partner another male Orc
* Astra Thatcher - A young human woman who has set her heart on a young man from Starmoor.
* Thunder Her-Dal - A male dwarf married to Soverign
* Sovereign Her-Dal - A female dwarf married to Thunder
* Varra Rain-Herald - A female troll.
The death of Breeze so far from his home was obviously a cause for concern, so the villagers asked the Adepts to go to Kaerdale to check to see what had happened and ensure that everybody was well, promising them a healthy purse if they could solve the mystery. They were told that the hamlet was small and hidden behind a barrier of thick hedges with only 5 houses and surrounded by fields..
Jade was able to help them evade a Brithin ( A cross between a horned bear and a grumpy Earth Elemental) that made its home in the area and they camped next to a deep pool through the night with a hearty breakfast of fish, before arriving at Kaerdale the next day.
They found the cornfields bare (it was spring) but well maintained and watched over by a couple of bedraggled scarecrows and following the instructions they found the hidden entrance to the hamlet. The thick gate was intentionally overgrown with creeping vines and set in to a thick wall of bramble filled hedges. The clearing in which the five houses stood was a former quarry with a rough hewn stone cliff on three sides making it extremely well hidden.
However there were no people to welcome them. 
They found:
* The well in the centre had the metalwork above it broken, the bucket missing and beside it was a table that had tipped over. In the pile of knocked over items were several books, one of which was a journal 
* Her-Dal's Journal -Which detailed the struggles of her husband's cousin Carmine, who had been depressed and struggling with farm work after her discharge from the army and the loss of one of her legs. The final entry was hard to understand but she was in distress and had finally resolved to attempt to reach the well to get some water. The table had clearly been dragged from the Cottage of Her-Dal.
* The Cottage of Her-Dal - The family name was neatly painted above the door here. A Dwarven husband and wife (Thunder and Sovereign) had once lived here but now its door was left open and the kitchen table had been dragged out to the well. It was otherwise largely in good order.
* A cottage at the far end (believed to belong the orcs; Lava and Breeze Farwalker) was burnt to its foundations with only some detritus remaining. Umber however found a broken lantern which suggested that the blaze happened as the result of the dropped lantern. Although Jade felt that dragon-fire was more likely.
* Varra Rain-Herald’s cottage - The cottage of this troll contained the body of its owner laying face down next to the bed, crushed as if beneath a great weight. It was otherwise undisturbed, but the body appeared supernaturally heavy, at least 4-5 times what a troll of her size should weigh. Beneath the body was a journal in which she lamented her choice to become a farmer due to her pacifism and a desire not to support a raiding lifestyle as she felt she was no good at it and wanted to return home, but could not do so anymore. 
* Astra Thatcher's cottage - A young romantic woman barely 19, who appeared to have run away from her parents owned this house. The thin thatch of the roof had been badly disturbed from beneath and in one place a hole had torn through the thatch entirely. There were footprints on the underside of the ceiling beams and closer inspection found a few carvings: "Astra [Heart] Sparrow" which seemed to date from the construction of the house and a more cryptic one. "Carmine left today. Inverted?". There was also a bit of poetry written in a small book. 
* Carmine Ser-Dal's cottage - A cottage with a single bed and a sword, spear and shield above the hearth in the colours of the kings army. An old crutch was by the bed and otherwise the room was in good condition. However Azul noticed that several things were missing. Personal belongings and valuables seemed to have been packed up suggesting that she had left of her own accord rather than been seized unexpectedly by whatever force haunted the place. Furthermore he found that beneath her bed was a trap door. 
* An outhouse - Seemed unremarkable
* A barn/supply shed - Nothing remarkable there. 
* An animal pen containing a single morose looking oxen. It turned out that its water trough was empty, which the Adepts dutifully refilled.
When Azul went down the trap door, he found a rough cut sloping stone passage. Unfortunately without a candle he slipped and fell nearly injuring himself.
Eventually Jade and Umber followed him down with a light source. Umber's night vision allowing him to get down safely. They found themselves in a carved cavern. The outer edge of the room was surrounded by a circle made in Oricalcum that Jade could sense was magically active. In the centre of the room was a spiral staircase going down, but it terminated in an even less complete cavern with a granite floor. The only thing besides slag in here was a pile of silver coins, each coin was of an unfamiliar design, with a double-headed eagle on one side and two-faced human face on the other. Jade could sense the same malevolent scent that she felt around the village but it was much stronger here. Azul took one of the coins and as he left noticed that as they reached the top of the spiral staircase, there was a sense of resistance for a few seconds before they pushed it through the unseen barrier. 
They returned to the surface and decided that their best course of action would be to track down Carmine whose tracks suggested that she had fled with a cart and the other oxen.
So coin in hand, they set out to find the missing veteran, whose footprints (well one foot and one peg leg) seemed to be noticeably lighter than it should have been. 
== The Horror with 5 heads ==
Following the trail of Carmine Ser-Dal, the Dwarven woman who had left the village, took them East, heading towards Kratas, the renowned city of thieves. 
Along the way Jade kept them safe and they eventually found themselves in an ancient field littered with scattered weapons. Azui, a keen military historian recognised the mass of weapons and the oddly large strawberries that grew there. The battle of the Strawberry Fields was fought before the Scourage, between a Theran force trying to make their escape with a large cache of magical elements and the local people, trying to retrieve the materials needed to build their own Kaers. Wisely he advised everybody to camp out of sight, for that night, a distant din of battle was heard as the long dead ghosts had never ceased their war and their souls were locked in nightly battled. However this was a site of great historical interest that to the best of his knowledge had not been found since the scourge, so he noted the location. 
Carrying on the next day took them in to a lightly forested tundra, where they found themselves approached on horseback by a lone rider in chainmail and a brilliant green tabard. He introduced himself as Galyn of Akrotiri, whilst he was not overt about it, he had the accent of a Theran, but one bearing the sign of the passion Mynbruje (Passion of Justice, Compassion, Empathy and Truth). He claimed he was on the trail of a dangerous group of horrors and that he was spurred by prophecy. He asked if they had seen anybody bearing a Horror, they said that they had not, but he clarified reading a portion of the prophecy.
* She travels with a silver coin with four heads in her hand 
* A leg made from a single ruby in her future.
* Blood upon her hands that she can not see.
* Two great statues standing behind her.
* A chain, binding her two two corpses that weigh her down. 
From this they recognised that he may have also be looking for Carmine, so they said that they were tracking her and when he asked about a coin, he said that he was tracking down a collection of them: 
* A wand
* A cup
* A sword
* A coin
* A book
Azul then took out the coin he had taken from the vault to show it to the Quaestor. However as soon as he saw it, Gayln leapt towards the coin, in time for it to fall upwards in to the air. 
Fortunately Jade was able to catch it, but the coin shifted the weight of Jade so that she fell crushed to the ground (Although she was able to weather the assault and even fly for a moment, whilst Galyn was hurled up in to the air holding on for dear life to his Horse (Named Bull). Umber tried to catch it as well, but was unsuccessful. But Azul could catch Jade.
Galyn revealed that the coin could be stopped by cutting it in half.
There was a brief scuffle as Jade released the coin, requiring Jade to release the coin. Unfortunately Azul and Umber missed and the coin almost got away, 
They caught it again, but this time it pinned Jade to the floor and sent Bull (Galyn's horse) violently West, whilst Azul found himself at a right angle to the world and thrust his blade in to the ground to secure himself from falling East. The coin only seemed able to exchange directions, not create force from nothing. 
It finally threw Galyn's horse upwards and pinning everybody else down whilst it made its escape. 
A few minutes later the changes to gravity cancelled and the body of Galyn fell violently to the ground, both he and the horse were already dead by the time they landed and their fall was not one you could survive. 
The found in his possession a Theran writ of passage, a pouch of Theran gold coins and some notes and personal effects. They were understandably written in his native language and confirmed what he had claimed, that he was a hunter of horrors and had been assigned to locate the Dark Panlopy. A collection of horrors believed to be disguised as inanimate objects.
Jade found that where she had grabbed the coin, it had left a terrible mark on her skin. 
However with little else to do, they gave the Quaestor pressed on towards the city.
Kratas is a ruin of a once great city. It was surrounded by a massive stone dome. However it was clearly inadequate as today it stands rent open, by some beasts vast claws and the city is sterile and dead except for the beasts that still linger among the ruins and the adventurers, mercenaries, thieves, outlaws, exiles and heretics that call this place home.
The stone doors lay on the floor in front of the gateway and have been trodden over constantly. Inside is dark and foreboding as the the remnants of the dome block most of the incoming light, whilst also causing sounds to echo unpredictably. 
Turning a corner they are confronted by a mixed gang of humans and orcs. They insinuate that it isn't safe here and try to shake them down for money, but the Adepts quickly bloody their noses and take down a few of their members. The leader then seeing their losses calls a stop to the fight and tries to laugh off the incident. They see to their injured and escort the players to an inn where they can rest and Jade heals Umber.
They trawl the bar for signs of their missing quarry and find somebody who says they saw a one-legged female dwarf last night entering THE LABYRINTH. So the team prepares themselves to explore this dangerous ruin as best they can tomorrow.
They do however tell the tale of the Horror of Kaerdale. and their deeds and memorialised in song and story that night. 
== Enter the Labyrinth ==
The next morning they woke at the unnamed inn. 
The inn downstairs is fairly quiet and the bar-orc was able to direct them to the area of the city known as the Labyrinth. 
Near the centre of the city, surrounded by grand ruins, was an underground area with a few tents. 
A human woman named Gale was selling drinks and supplies as well as arbitrating some dice games between two groups of mercenaries. The Delvers (A dwarven group) and the Avalanch (Mixed Orc and Troll group). The bulk of their group had gone inside some time ago and they were waiting for them to return. 
Gale was offering odds on their return and even allowed them to gamble 10 silver on being able to get out themselves at 20 to 1 odds it was a good bargain. 
She offered a few supplies, including rations and chalk, but they turned their noses up at the ball of red twine. She also confirmed that there was a dwarf with a limp in one team. 
The exterior of the Labyrinth was a mansion façade built in to a cliff. One of the more lavish buildings in the area. 
They headed in relying on chalk signs to mark their way. The main entrance was a large hall with an upper level and doors leading off left and right as well as straight ahead. This room had been thoroughly looted. 
Others had used red twine to mark their path and so they kept left. Visiting a room with a demon statue, a corridor with mildew covered tapestries and then a cleaner hallway that had a pit in the middle. Except upon closer examination, it turned out to be a continuation of the corridor, only angled downwards rather than to the sides. 
Retracing their steps they found that the demon statue room they had entered by was no longer there. Instead was a room with wooden circular stands and a tall ceiling. The labyrinth was shifting around them and they had no thread to follow. Umber took a small portrait from inside so that he could prove when they got out that they had gone inside. 
In one of the rooms Jade saw a couple of ghosts angrily throwing things at her, so she left them in peace. 
Unable to retrace their own steps, they followed another thread that went across the corridor. 
It went in to an en suite bathroom and then out in to a bedroom. However they were not alone. A hound-like creature, over two and a half meters long and a meter at the shoulder was snuffling around the room. It bit and snarled and lunged at the team, leaping up to the ceiling to catch Jade in its jaws before being stunned by Azul. 
The beast gave Azul another nasty bite but he was able to hold it at bay for a while. They were able to push through to the next room and shut and bolt the door behind them. 
The next room was completely dark. Neither Jade's candle nor Umber's vision were able to pierce it. There was something uncomfortably like a body in the middle of the room, but they gave it only a cursory check to see it wasn't a dwarf. 
Going through a few more doors, the hound nipping at their heels, they found a room of extremely smooth metal, unnaturally smooth. Diagonally across from the entrance was a chest seemingly abandoned, with the lid propped open showed that it was full of gold and silver. They decided to ignore it and pressed on to a room with spikes on opposite walls. Once this would have moved, but it was rusted shut and so they rested. 
Jade was healed, but was unable to treat Azul's wound. 
Umber reflected on the stories he knew and realised that there was a similar tale. Ghosts of Lost people tend to disorient and turn around travellers in the area. 
They are attracted to compasses and can only be laid to rest if they are led back to a landmark they knew well when they were alive. 
The wizard who once lived here must have shrouded some rooms with a complex physical warping of space and illusions. Then the numerous explorers that died seeking the city have been contributing to its power. 
The only way out would be to break the ghosts control, probably by destroying one. That would give them a window without any confusion that they could use to escape. 
== Escaping the Labyrinth ==
They would not be able to escape until the ghostly influence that suffused the place was dissipated and to do that, they needed a compass.
There was a door which even Azul's strength could not shift and a strange fountain area. After passing through a few other rooms, they eventually found a torture chamber filled with lurid mechanisms meant to inflict pain and in the centre a large iron coffin filled with inward pointing spikes. 
When they opened it a corpse fell out, but on the outside was a sign advertising that the person within was a "murderer".
They searched around for a while until they realised that the sign was neither welded nor bolted to the coffin, but the plate was in fact a lodestone. 
Using it with one of Jade's arrows they magnetized it and floating it carefully so that it's free-spinning, they constructed a crude compass.
It did not take long for the ghosts to arrive, (although there were several more than they had anticipated) who rapidly became frustrated that they could not grasp the compass they needed to free themselves. So they took out their anger on the people nearby, throwing the metal objects of the room around wildly and lashing out. 
Jade could see the angry ghosts but could not strike them, whilst Azul's ancestral blade Knight’s Bane could dispatch the ghosts, but only if he knew where they were. Whilst Umber's drumming was unable to physically harm them, his drumming could be heard, and he could disrupt them with his war-drumming. 
With Jade calling out shots, Azul was able to defend himself and at first felt overwhelmed. But with excellent instructions he managed to slash his blade and dissipate two of them. Umbers drumming left the ghosts dazed and disrupted, leaving Azul able to finish them off without being overwhelmed. 
Eventually the last ghost fell and their vision became clearer. The strings seemed to shift and move and the fine details of the room came in to sharper focus. 
From further away they could hear raised voices and using Jade's senses, she was able to track the dwarven group until they arrived outside the vast brass doors of the central study of the Labyrinth. 
Once the ghostly influence dropped it appears that both the Delvers (Three dwarves, led by Winter Sor-Mal, A male dwarf with long, curled, black hair, green eyes and rugged white skin.) and the Avalanche (Two Orks led by Bramble Wayfinder - A female troll with short, wavy, brown hair, a round face and beefy build.) had arrived nearly together. 
They were in a heated argument about who would take the treasure from the study. It appears the Dwarves had arrived first, but were unable to open the door. They were moments away from drawing blades on each other and tensions were high. 
Both sides claiming that they deserved a greater share. The Dwarves had more members in their group, so claimed it should be split per person. The trolls on the other hand wanted to split it by the number of groups as they had lost several members in the Labyrinth and had been their longer. Umber managed to persuade them to explore and for the two groups to split the treasure evenly between the two groups and work together to escape. 
They moved in to the study and found a room crammed with supplies, all of them ancient and perished. 
The study is a fairly vast room packed full of crates of long since decayed supplies. There is a skeleton buried beneath a small collapsed stack of crates. He died utterly alone. 
The Book of Rozwiązania (Roz-Wia-Zwanya) is open at a page that details how to survive the horrors on the main desk. The adepts tried to dissuade them from taking the books that Jade felt was cursed. 
Among the many other possessions that the illusionist has is a rare bronze rod that the , that the illusionist had carried when they died. It had rolled beneath a table. 
The Delvers and the Avalanch worked together to pile up all of the books they had been contracted to retrieve in a single crate. 
Making their way out, they were able to follow Jade to who could retrace their steps and spot the ancient illusions. It took over a day to make their way to out to the foyer and they emerged at the exit to the Labyrinth. 
Outside the manor, the camp erupted in cheers as the dwarves, trolls and orcs as they emerged. The bartender Gale sighed resigned and paid up to 200 silver she promised in the wager and packed up her things. 
The two groups and the adepts made their way to the wizard Ambrosia (A female dwarf with long dyed pink hair and one brown eye, the other missing) who had set up shop in an old building near the centre of the city. 
The exterior was probably once a tax collectors office or some other official's, but the inside has been redecorated as an arcane study. 
She paid the adventurers and whilst the Delvers were unhappy, they grudgingly accepted the pay. 
The adepts tried to warn her about the dangers of the book and noticed that they also had the coin. She explained that she knows full well what they are and is keeping them in suitable containment. 
Ushering them out they met with Carmine, who was just in the process of collecting her reward for handing in the prosthetic. She was horrified to discover what had happened to the rest of her home. 
They asked Carmine to return home and find out more about what her parents did and how they came by the coins, whilst Azul wrote a clear letter back to the military about this threat and asked for information from a military wizard to advise them. 
With immediate concerns resolved they split up to investigate their own things. 
Jade goes to seek out other healers in the city to study more and improve her craft. 
Umber seeks out other wizards in the city who can advise about these mysterious and tainted artefacts, whilst Azul finds work as hired muscle to earn some coin. 
== The Sin in the City. ==
Azul managed to find work with a merchant in the city, at the Yoorga’s Mess in the Stables district, they sought an outsider who could be relied upon to not be in the pockets of the local gangs, although it's was bit more intense than expected. He was supposed to protect his employers from from the various gangs and shake-down artists and whilst the shakedown artists were easy to dissuade, the gangs proved both numerous and ruthless. He was unable to stand when they bought odds of 12 to 1 and suffered a busted nose and a beating as a result, but was still paid. He learned a great deal about the structure of the city and also found a rumour about a set of murders that have a heft reward for whoever bought the killer to justice.
Umber wet to seek out a local mage ad found Lark Ennelis a local mage. He appreciated somebody who understood his terminology, but they didn't quite hit it off as well as they could. He didn't know anything about the Dark Regelia, the coin or the book, but as a wizard in the same city, he was familiar with Ambrosia. She apparently wanted to release Death its self from its prison beneath the Death Sea (The Vast sea of Lava from the South) and stop the ghosts that plagued the world and that she's quite driven. 
Jade meanwhile sought out other healers and their guidance. Remembering the Dwarven physician who was waiting outside the Labyrinth. He was Leaf Far-Moh, and was quite happy with an extra pair of hands, no matter how small to help him with his medical work. Although he was quite gruff, she got a lot of good practice under her belt. He expressed his thanks by selling Jade a healers kit for half the normal market cost (It would no doubt be even more expensive in Kratas. 
Meeting up again they were still waiting for word from Carmine (Who had gone home) and the Military (Who they sent a message to and who use horse couriers, but they were a good distance away)
Meanwhile at hearing from Azul, they agreed to investigate the murders. Three people had apparently died in the previous two days. The oldest was Cat Fellows, a human gang member, who had been slain in the temple of Garlen, the Passion of Hearth and Healing.
The next was a T'Skrang `merchant` named Grace Silvertail in Merchants Row.
Finally Ginger Eve-Sor, a dwarven prostitute in the Blooming Lily, also in Merchants Row. 
They visited the Blooming Lily first and the proprietor Franicali welcomed them, incorrectly assuming that they were patrons. Finding a partner for each of them and taking some silver. Franicali was a well natured human Troubadour and was dressed like a peacock.
Azul went with Dawn, a well-built human woman who wanted to become and adept and adventurer, but who ended up penniless and had to get this job to support herself after a few weeks in the city after the money ran out. She was quite relieved that he mostly wanted a massage and information. Both things she was able to supply.
Umber managed to find a attractive young Orc named Summer who liked music and they bonded over that before moving to more intimate matters and supplied information as pillow-talk. Though she also deeply loved listening to his tales of their recent adventures. 
Jade meanwhile was paired with Briar, an outrageous egoist and flirt of a Windling, who seemed to love himself more than his patrons. 
All of them were able to get roughly the same information, Grace had had the day off and was not seen for most of it until the evening when her body was discovered in the locked room. Jade was able to see a foul astral disturbance in the corner of the room The bed was shattered by somebody heavy or fast landing on it and according to others, the head was crushed. Nobody had heard or seen anything and there did not appear to be any way in or out of the room. 
Next they visited The Dream Palace, an apparently high class drug den. Its owner Kree'Klin Silvertail had posted a reward for anybody who could find his sisters murderer. He explained that she was killed at their shared home and that she managed the export side of his business, sending drugs that were in some cases very illegal in to other areas of Barsaive, but that she managed almost all of it from home. 
Travelling to her home, they found that the house had been locked at the time of the murder, although the individual room had not been sealed. A rocking chair had been knocked over and damaged in the process and Jade spotted another Astral tear in the back top corner of the wardrobe. Like Grace her head had been crushed. Though she seemed to have nothing in common with the other victim. She seemed to have no obvious enemies beyond business rivals and she did not appear to have been robbed.
They met for a meal in the middle of the day where Azul was met by a woman calling herself Petunia, an Elf Questor of Lochost (The Passion of Rebellion, Change and Freedom), her brother had been taken by the Slave trade and she was hunting for the slave markets in the lower city. She however couldn't get close as the people would only deal with those with slaves to trade or known buyers. As she was neither, she couldn't get close. Azul commiserated with her but couldn't see how he could help. 
Finally they Cat Fellows, the human victim was in the Temple of Garlen at the time. They met with the temple head an old elf named N'neliana welcomed them somewhat gruffly grateful that somebody was looking in to the matter. Cat had come in with injuries after a gang picked on a group of Adepts and got themselves beaten up before the leader called it an innocent mistake and offered to buy the adepts drinks by way of an apology. Whilst it was not locked, he was the only patient in that part of the temple and Questors of Galen were downstairs through the night. His cot was broken and another astral tear was found. More importantly, N'geliana hoped that they caught this killer and said that there was news of a killing which had only just happened. 
Comparing the marks of all of the murders so far, they formed a more or less straight line leading away from the Labyrinth and the latest murder was in the Stables district. Arriving on the scene, they managed to get through the gathered crowd where the warehouse foredwarf told them that a young scribe had been killed, he was in early working on accounts. 
With a much fresher scent, Jade realised that she had smelt the killers scent before. In the Labyrinth, the beast they had encountered that had tried to eat her and claimed that Windlings were especially crunchy. 
The astral tears were probably caused by a lesser Horror, jumping between corners. On the basis of this, Jade believed she could track its movements, believing that it had gone underground recently. 
The beast had gone in to the Lower City, which is where they would need to go next if they hoped to slay it. 
== The Lower City ==
Whilst Jade had an approximate idea of where the beast might have gone to ground, the adepts were concerned about how dangerous it was. 
So rather than face it unprepared they went to visit the elven mage Lark Ennelis. Umber knew that he could generally be found at Chorrolis's cup Tavern, one of the more up-market places in Merchants Row. 
The bouncer, a human squeezed in to a suit that is far too small for his muscular form, gave them a bit of a hard time, but they looked a bit too rough to get in alone. However he was intrigued by Umber's message and so let them in. 
He had just finished his evening meal and waiting for dessert as they came over. They explained that the murders were caused by the Horror that escaped out of the Labyrinth They asked him not to reveal it, but he wouldn't be bound in to such a promise. However he did say that there was a Horror expert nearby and direct them to a dour warehouse on the edge of the warehouse district where they could find Berry. He said that they would want to be plain speaking with her. 
Heading to the warehouse district the exterior of the building was covered in warding symbols and symbols of the Passions. Its main door had been reinforced and when they went to knock, it was answered by a human with a half-melted face. They were quite coy which annoyed the man on the door but he eventually relented. 
Inside they found Berry Blossom and a squad of armed and dangerous looking people, each one had been mutilated in at least a couple of ways. The Grim Legion were made up of the sole survivors of Horror attacks, committed to the utter destruction of the Horrors that bought their own life such misery. 
Berry herself was a windling whose wings appear to have been torn off, several parts of her body had been badly burned and her throat crudely stitched up after being slashed. She mentioned that Horrors were very variable and that she hadn't come across this particular one before, but from the description she suspected it was only a lesser Horror, but they usually have more than the one supernatural ability it had displayed so far. 
They began cold, but their attitude changed when they mentioned that they were hunting a Horror that had been murdering people. They became all business and were happy to offer their aid without any need of payment grabbing weapons, Berry herself hopping on to a beast somewhere between a cat and a lizard that served as her mount. 
Heading off to the South, she led them through the more abandoned areas of the city, with even the criminal gangs giving them a wide berth. One of the Legion unlocked a padlock and they headed down in to the former sewers of the city. Travelling through the dark sewers by the light of a torch, they reached the area beneath the warehouse district. 
The beast had been hunting about 2 people per day, so there was a very real danger that it would return to the hunt shortly. So to find it they split up in to 3 groups of three. Each one would signal with a musical instrument and join the others. 
The creature had not left tracks but that didn't mean they were the only ones down there. Jade found numerous signs, mostly of larger than usual rats, but also a group of close together bare human footprints. There was also a sign of heavy items having been dragged some time ago. 
They initially followed the footprints to the left, but found a chamber with what looked initially like stalactites, but Azul was quick enough to notice them moving. Jade identified that they were sensitive to light and so they extinguished their torch to sneak past them. Although Umber stuck his foot through a rotten floor board and roused the shadowmants anyway (Singray-like creatures that fly through the air). Fortunately after lighting a torch they were able to drive them back and killed two of them, forcing the others to retreat without any injuries. 
Pressing on, the footprints went right, but they carried on left. Ahead they met a patrol of gang members, searching around. Umber decided to risk revealing himself and introduced himself. Thankfully the gang was friendly. A group of dwarves and Orcs from the Force of the Eye, the leading gang in the city. They were on the trail of slave-dealers and gladly took Umbers hint about footprints found back in the passage they had come from. In turn they mentioned animal noises they had heard a way back where they came. 
The adepts followed their directions and found several animals in cages, a pair of boars, a bear and a minotaur. Probably used for beast-fighting matches. They saw a couple of people come down to feed them. However they didn't know what to do with the beasts, they didn't want to leave them, but releasing them in to the sewers might be worse. So they left them to continue on their journey. 
Eventually they came across a large open area where the beast waited for them. It paced around patiently watching for an opening until Azul whipped up his blade throwing the ghostly blade of his sword and they joined the fray. Umber wasted no time in signalling the Grim Legion members. 
The beast shrugged off most blows, and jumped on top of Azul injuring him and extinguishing his torch and thrusting the fight in to darkness. After Umber managed to strike a blow with his war-drumming, it switched targets and tore in to Umber as well cutting with deep wounds. 
As the fight was thrust in to darkness it taunted the adepts, telling them that they were alone and would be slowly devoured except for one of them who would be tortured. Its voice preyed upon Azul who became desperate and maddened by its wicked influence. 
Eventually Umber managed to get in a single near-fatal strike as his drums caught the beast square in the head. 
Reeling from the blow Cremulos the Cruncher revealed its name before snatching up Jade in its mouth and running off in to the dark with her still alive in its jaws promising vengeance and torment. 
== Lower City Epilogue ==
As Cremulos the Cruncher made his escape Three copies of Berry and two of her Grim Legion companions. She ordered them to cover the corners to prevent the escape. She was riding the lizard/cat thing.
Azul and Umber were able to land a couple of solid blows and slow the beast down and Berry leapt on it dispelling the two illusions savaging it with twin blades. 
The beast saw it was outmatched and lept for a corner, which was covered by the tuskless Ork Rue and the Horror savaged him brutally. However as it was about to get away with Jade, she used a herculean effort to pry the Horror's jaws open and tumbled from its mouth as Berry came in and with Azul finished it off not stopping until its head was clear of its body. 
Sadly it was too late for Rue who had succumbed to his injuries. Gathering themselves up they took his body and with the Grim Legion and the Adepts carrying the ork together, they returned to the surface. Gangs and merchants alike, gave the procession a wide and respectful berth as they returned to their warehouse, planning to give him a proper funeral the following morning.
The Adepts joined the Legion at the funeral and saw him laid respectfully to rest as a hero. 
Returning to the city, they found they had visitors. 
Carmine, the dwarven woman whose taking of the coin had led them here, had returned. She had discovered that the coins were minted in Throal, a master of the Mint had been corrupted and he was stopped mid-way through making a run of the demon coins. The Horror could possess any coin that bore its seal, but only one at a time. She gave them the chest that her parents had used to secure the coin. Warded with Oricalcum seals, it would make the coins inert if placed inside and locked until it could be returned to the hidden vault where the coins first came from. 
A courier from the army had also arrived in response to Azul's message. Their mages knew of the Dark Regalia, particularly the book. It was the remnants of a much more powerful Horror that was destroyed before the Scourge, but rather than being banished it was split in to the individual items of the Regalia which were then separated and contained. After the Scourge, some of them got loose and had to be resealed. 
The book in particular is inert, unable to move or communicate, but can grant the solution to any problem in exchange for a service. If the service is fulfilled then its knowledge works as intended. However if the service is not granted or if it is later undone, then some flaw will emerge in its knowledge that will cause the benefits of the work to be undone. So whilst they could allow the Coin and the Book to come in to contact and they could be sealed away together, it would make recombining the remaining items much easier and if they were ever separated, it would corrupt the work that the wizard was trying to do. 
With that, they resolved that they would at least need to speak with her again. However she had managed to win a sizable amount from a series of gambling houses and then fled the city, heading South, presumably towards the Death Sea.
They discussed what to do with the offers of the reward that they had been given. The Temple of Galen gave them a vial filled with an illuminating liquid that could be drunk as a last resort to save their life. The drug dealer T'Skrang and the brothel owner both offered cash instead, which they decided should be donated to the Grim Legion. 
So the following morning, they meet at the city gates to head South. 
== The Weaponsmith ==
They fought them off relatively easily and the woman driving the wagon (Vista Seaworth) helped by throwing knives and the man on the wagon (Obsidian Iknik) threw some sort of fire bomb at the attackers. 
Once the thugs had fled, Vista helped heal some wounds Jade had acquired in the fight and they were welcomed back to Obsidian's luxurious airship The Calling Horizon. 
They explained their adventures and that they were trying to find the wizard who had absconded with the book and the coin. 
Obsidian showed of a collection of new and frankly dangerous fire-crystal based weapons he planned to sell to the army including the bomb, a miniature one-shot flame projector and a stick with an explosive contraption on the end. He tried to persuade them to use one, but his assurance that it had barely killed anybody did not reassure them. 
His assistant Vista seemed to take copious notes and remind him of words when he forgot one, seeming quite long-suffering in her service. 
They had a guest named Grace flying with them who didn't speak much, a young or possibly just small elven woman in a simple white shift wearing broken manacles. 
They arrived at a lumber camp where Obsidian said he was harvesting wood from the Ash Wood. An area of trees nestled in a bowl between the mountains. The ash that fertilised the soil made for strong woods with a great affinity for fire and excellent raw materials for airships. 
However his workers had been scared away from the heart of the forest where they could normally harvest freely by sightings of a dragon that belched fire and caused the workers to flee. Refusing to go back until the dragon had been dealt with, he asked to Adepts to investigate for him or vital war supplies would be interrupted. 
So they spoke with several of the dwarves at the lumber camp. Elm, one of the foredwarves pointed out a dwarf named Willow that witnessed the attack directly. They took a couple of mules to make the journey in to the abandoned heart of the forest which took over a day from the camp and found the clearing where the dragon struck. 
Jade's keen senses however senses something off. Whilst there were superficial signs of dragon activity, scratched against a tree and the fire damage, the more subtle signs were missing. There was no sign of lost scales or the air pressure from great wings that would bend and break twigs. Subtle things, easily missed and yet obvious to Jade's heightened senses. 
They spoke with Willow and when they questioned him, he seemed uncertain as if he might have been inventing some details. Eventually they sent him back to camp whilst they investigated further. The clearing did have a handful of troll, orc, human and dwarven footprints as it was a good place to camp, but none of them particularly recent. 
Jade found that the marks on the trees were not abrasions from scales or claws, but seemed much sharper, made by steel. Something was clearly not adding up here. So they resolved to seek out the trolls. 
== Life among the Trolls ==
Finding nothing else in or around the clearing, their suspicions fell upon the local trolls who appeared to be benefitting from the Dwarves being chased out of the central areas of the Ash Wood. 
So they set out on foot, two days through the dense woodland to reach the base of the mountain and then a further day to ascend to the nearest Troll village. 
The Stockade around Cloudbreak village was surrounded by sheds where airships were being built or repaired but the gates were open and when they went in they received cautious gazes from the local population. Humans Orcs and Windlings were rare here it seemed. 
Approaching the largest of the house they met the head of the village and its clan, Pinnacle Cloudbreak. 
When they revealed that they were adepts seeking to investigate a Dragon, Pinnacle was quite welcoming and offered them hospitality. In exchange for their stories he offered them food and a room as well as his help with the mystery. 
He said that he didn't know of any dragon in the area, as there hadn't been one around since two years ago and they had greeted the dragon respectfully and offered it a large quantity of meat, after which it moved on having given gifts of its own. Pinnacle spoke of the strange sensation of hearing a dragon speak directly in to their mind as being like awakening to hear a person moving around your bed chambers in the middle of the night. A place you felt safe and secure no longer did. 
He knew only a little of Dragons, but said that there was somebody else who could help more. 
Thunder Arax was working on their ship the Scarlet Hawk crewed by himself, his two sisters and a handful of others. He made a hobby of studying dragons and their behaviour but admitted to only know snippets of their stories, from Dragons feeding their blood to name-givers and Mountainshadow whispering in to the ear of the Throalic King and granting him immortality, to the Great Dragon Charcoalgrin's recently taking up residence in the lost city of Parlainth. 
His Sister Lightning (A troll woman who had been struck by lightning and her hair had become white with gold tips because of it) and his other sister, the quiet and distant Rain, (who was more at home with her Griffin companion) 
However he claimed to not have met a Dragon since the one two years ago. His sister joined them and she agreed that as they were going on patrol the next day, Lightning agreed that the adepts could come with them. 
Azul and Jade went on a hunt with one of the locals brining back several red junglefowl and a pair of rabbits which were dressed and made in to rations. Whilst Umber stayed in the village and entertained the children with his drumming. 
The next morning they set out with the three siblings that ran the ship and half a dozen troll crew. 
They began the journey with the crew gathering around the centre of the ship and dripping blood on to a special structural stone at its heart. 
Keeping a watch out, they scanned the horizon but there was no sign of the dragon. Although Umber did find an odd crate that was hot to the touch. Later that evening they snuck a peek and fount it to be full of True Fire, although something like that could have been used to reproduce the sort of fire they saw in the clearing. 
They spoke with Thunder again and umber realised that he was trying to dissuade them from investigating the dragon further. 
Plotting to use her blood guilt weapon to force a confession, she was concerned about accusing an innocent or starting a fight that they couldn't win. So they were going to wait until the trolls were nicely drunk first and then make the accusation in a playful manner and catch them off guard. 
However this proved unnecessary. Azul was largely being left out as he didn't speak the same language as most of the crew. However Jade particularly got along so well with the crew and drank so heavily she was being called Jade Iron-Stomach and the crew had largely forgotten that they had guests among them. 
So they began to sing, and one of them songs was a shanty about their recent daring exploits, how they had guised the ship in the form of a dragon and dropped fire from the deck to scare off lumberers. 
The Captain Lightning her sister were both away tending to the ships helm and their griffin respectively, and the rest of the crew too inebriated to notice their mistake. 
However Umber confronted her at the helm and she politely offered a duel to resolve the issue. 
If Lightning lost, she would confess what she had done to the dwarves. However if she won, she wanted them to go back to their employer and convince him that it was indeed a dragon and one that they could not scare off. 
They agreed a duel at sunrise between Azul and Lightning to first blood. 
She carried a ferocious great-sword and her body crackled with energy as Jade marked the start of the fight when the griffin feather hit the floor. 
Lightning, true to her name was incredibly swift, moving like a bolt in close to deliver a strike before disengaging. But Azul's technique was superior, parrying almost every blow and moving with strikes to absorb the impact of those few he could not block. However Lightning's speed was almost predictable and she began to tire. Azul seemed certain of victory until a strong wind moved the ship, causing Azul to momentarily lose his footing. The captain saw her chance and like a bolt lept inside his guard and delivered a devastating blow that cut through his armour and drew blood. 
Azul stood and the captain congratulated him on his skill and honour, raising his hand for her crew to cheer before Jade gave him much needed medical attention. Whilst his wound was extremely clean he chose to mark it with ink to harmlessly accentuate the scar. The Captain showed him the scar from the lightning strike that passed through most of her body and the mark of a blade where she had tattooed a rivals airship captain's name where he had nearly pierced her heart. 
She offered him a place aboard her ship if he ever wanted it and gave gifts of mead and a coin of true fire before setting them down not far from the lumber camp. 
Umber kept his word about saying that it was a dragon, but then mentioned to Obsidian that the trolls were the real culprits undermining the spirit of the promise it not the letter. 
Congratulating them on their success they flew onwards towards the Death Sea where they sang of their deeds and their renown spread further. 
== The Scathians ==
The shore of the Death Sea its self is nearly uninhabitable, so any villages concerned with mining the True Fire from its surface tend to be a good way inland. 
So the Calling Horizon touched down in a large stretch of river by the village of Portage, upstream of the Mist Swamps where the river spreads out, meets the lava fields and evaporates. Obsidian was waiting for somebody else. 
Umber spoke with Obsidian who was search the hold for some perfumed scent for his upcoming business meeting. Umber suggested adding perfume to the weapons themselves, which Obsidian thought would be an ingenious idea and tasked them to find some. 
So Umber went out looking for herbs to use for perfume along with Jade managing to find a friendly farmer who supplied them with the herbs, whilst Azul went below decks to play cards with the crew and find out more about what they know. 
Eventually Jade and Umber together had made a bottle of lavender scented perfume.
However from up-river came a large boat named the Merryweather, nearly 100 paces long and 50 paces wide that sat high in the water with three decks above the surface as well as a navigational tower atop that. It resembled an early 19th century paddle steamer, but without the great wheels that defined such ships, and the deck that sat just above the water level was surrounded by drawbridge-like panels that could be folded down to create a gang plank to shore or provide large flat spaces for games and performances. However when these structures were pulled up, they would provide shelter and protection for those on deck and prevent hostile boarders.
The vast boat lowered its planks on one side and greeted the villagers warmly as a market sprung up on the shorefront. 
Obsidian went aboard to meet with the village-boat's owners 
However Jade found a painted and covered wagon nearby that seemed to have an air of magic about it. Concerned that this could be the wizard they were searching for, they found that it was Dwarven in design, but the certificates from the Great Library of Throal were in the name of Autumn Ward from the department of Anthropology, a human sounding name. 
Eventually they found the wizard in question, a human woman with a starry cloak who walked slightly hunched as if always afraid to bang her head on something. She explained that she was here to study the declining Scathian people before their records became too lost. 
Between Autumn and the Scathians they spoke to, the Adepts learned a bit about their people. 
The Scathians were once a large and prosperous human culture distinct from the humans of Thera. They were wealthy sailors of both air and sea and built large and elaborate Kaers with the accumulated wealth of their elemental mining, but their primary kaer, Kaer Scathia in Dead Man's Gullet, experienced a disaster mid-way through the Scourge and whilst 20,000 people initially went in to the kaer, only 8,000 emerged and when they did, they started to live as their ancestors once did, on River, Sea and Sky barges much like this one. However their rivals all had ways of preserving their practical skills. The T'Skrang and Obsidimen, who mostly hibernated through the scourge, the Elves whose long lives carried many of them all the way through the scourge, the Dwarves, who kept extensive libraries with details of trades and the Trolls, whose oral traditions preserved their knowledge and whose short lifespans made them swift learners. The Scathian's recorded their skills in books and crystals, much like the Dwarves, but their primary library was destroyed. Leaving them lacking in much of the practical crafting and survival skills needed to rebuild their ancestral way of life. 
So their initial feet of 40 village-boats carrying about 100-150 people each has also dwindled. So their population is down to only 4,000-6,000 according to the estimates of the Dwarves and some individuals and families seeing the dying traditions of their people have taken oaths not to share their secrets and departed to join other human settlements.
The Scathians speak their own private language that they don't share with outsiders and seemed quite coy about giving away much about their culture,
When Umber tried to prod them for details about their cultural stories, he was given regurgitated Throalic tales rather than any of their own unique traditions.
The Adepts tried to sneak aboard, but the crew were speaking in their own tongue that only Umber's cunning mind was able to understand. Their discussion was about recent conflicts with T'Skrang merchants with whom they competed and who raided them and the new weapons allowing them an edge against the next pirate raid. 
Azul was discovered and played it off as having been drunk, Jade flew away and Umber hid until morning.
They did find out that the Kaer in Dead Man's Gullet was lightly guarded to stop treasure seekers from plundering the abandoned remains of their home. 
Autumn was persuaded to come and join them and they set off together to Dead Man's Gullet to uncover the mysteries of Kaer Scathia.
== Kaer Scathia ==
As Obsidian's ship departed, it left the Adepts and their new friend Autumn Ward (The human wizard from Throal and her painted wagon) to plan their route to Kaer Scathia. 
Seeing that the coastal route via the Mist Swamps was potentially longer, Azul suggested they cut directly across the Badlands, a barren and twisted area of desert which had borne the worst of the Scourge. They passed through areas where earth and stone had seemed to melt like water at some point in the distant past and then freeze in place. There were old ruins vast in area, but no stone stood higher than Jade as she stood and twisted pillars of rock. The one thing that it lacked however was water. So they stocked up on water before they left and pressed through. 
Unknown to the Adepts, Jade found that the Astral space of the Badlands was twisted and corrupted by its exposure to the Horrors. the air felt oppressive and heavy and Jade fell to intense headaches as they travelled. 
Part-way through the journey, the adepts sat on the wagon oblivious to any threat when a vast burrowing worm emerged beneath them without warning, smashing the wagon to splinters and nearly crushing them all. The worm was nearly 8 paces across and a long as a merchant caravan. Acting quickly Azul leapt at the creature, his ghostly blade managing to find a gap in the creature's impossibly thick hide and it drew ichor-like blood. Surprised at the injury, the worm burrowed away from the caravan, retreating underground. 
Autumn mourned the loss of her wagon but scavenged what she could from its remains including one of the larger books. She gathered some of the spilt ichor,hoping that it's rarity and value might help her when it came time to return home. 
Fortunately even with her illness, Jade was able to find some small amount of water, enough for the group to complete their 7 day journey through those wastes, eventually coming to the foothills of the mountain range that led out to the edge of the Death Sea. 
There were signs of an ancient road, but Jade located a smaller dirt wagon track as well. She wondered why the wagons had not taken the road and flying up further, she discovered that the road led to the remains of a bridge, long since fallen in to the molten rock of the Scarlet Sea.
Pressing on up the foothills, they now had the lava of the Death Sea on their left and the Scarlet Sea on their right, with an extinct volcano ahead of them., capped with a redish gold metal.
Nestled at the base of the volcano was a group of 6 Scathian guards and a scattering of tents and wagons. They seemed inattentive and distracted as they began to settle down to a dinner. 
Behind them was a vast set of stone double doors decorated in murals and gilded with orichalcum in patterns of warding. 
Electing to sneak around, they were able to do so without problem as the guards had been here for weeks and did not expect any company. To their surprise, despite their size the doors opened on cunning counterweights and made little sound. Inside they found a dark tunnel, illuminated by Azul's lantern, the tunnel was lined by murals showing the history and victories of the Scathian people. Their rise and development and costly wars. Some figures stood out including one they would later identify to be Jo the Fisherman. A tall broad man with a long rod with a giant fishhook on the end. He was seen fighting a dragon, dredging up something from the bottom of a body of water with his hook and performing feats of strength along other notable figures such as the famous Elf Kearos Navarim, who bought the Books of Harrow (That forewarned people of the Scourge) to Barsaive. Beneath Kearos's statue was a quote of his about the books he bought. 
"These are the Books of Harrow. 
They are our doom and our salvation.
Learn from them, or we will all perish."
After nearly 1000 paces of walking they came to the core of the Kaer. A 200 paces wide pipe in which the majority of the Kaer seemed to rest, divided in to levels, each about 10 paces high, the centre was filled with buildings and other structures were carved in to the rock in the walls around the outside.
However if they had hoped for treasure they would have been disappointed. The Kaer had not been hastily abandoned, but methodically packed up and moved. The skeletal remains of shops and government buildings had only a scattering of boxes of detritus remaining inside. slag rock, broken tools, burnt ashes and similar. 
Rather than rushing to the lower level they explored the upper levels first, finding things much the same. Though they did come across two significant finds. On the entrance level, as well as statues and other civic structures they found a map of the Kaer, although the lower levels had been whitewashed over, that paint had flaked away revealing the original structure beneath.
They also found a box concealed behind a metal plaque in a blacksmith's shop. Inside were a couple of coins of True Air and some books and letters.
They then went down to the lower levels where they found more had been left behind including a hall of scale model ships, displayed in cases showing the best work of generations of model builders. 
At the lowest level they could reach there was a large door and garrison, though it was empty. They found some belongings of a former soldier. Umber was able to read most of it. The soldier expressed private doubts in his diary about what had happened beneath the Kaer. Although they were given the impression that the ritual conducted would have been an extra layer of protection during the Scourge. Keeping the entire bay (that would one day be known as the Death Sea) free of Horrors and allowing them to open the Kaer early. 
They found the seals that seperated the lowest levels of the Kaer from the area they were in. This was not the ornamental and delicate finery of the external doors, but a hastily constructed ward with three sturdy locks on it. Fortunately the wards on the door could be disengaged to open the door and would re-engage once it was closed. Autum agreed to wait 1 days for them to return. 
So the group agreed to leave Autumn to watch the door and only let them out when she heard a specific knock. 
== Death's Cage ==
The door rolled back, showing a pile of desiccated human corpses. At the door. More alarmingly, Jade could sense the Shedim spirits lurking in all of them. These spirits were lethargic and starved, not reacting even as they were moved out away from the entrance, but sometimes stirred slightly. 
Umber believed them to be playing dead, waiting for the Adepts to get deeper in to the complex.
They considered burning all the bodies, but there were too many for this to be possible. So they instead stepped around them carefully and once the door was clear, it was sealed behind them. 
The area here was far less organised than the areas above, that had been packed up by people as if moving out of a house. Here there were signs that sections had burnt down, most areas were strewn with desiccated human corpses, preserved by the lack of humidity in the air but leeched of colour. 
Picking their way through the ruins there was potentially plenty of value, but they risked waking the shedim the more they stayed around.
However they moved out over to one of the stairways that ran around the outside of the area heading down. The heat was intense and they had used the last of their water. Fortunately Umber spotted a building much like the others, but made from incredibly smooth silver. Strangely however it looked much like any other house in the area. Looking through the window they saw some coins of True Water which would give them more than enough water to endure some more time down here. 
Azul approached the main door and tried to pick the lock, managing to dive backwards as a poisoned needle thrust out of the lock, but at least the door opened. Beyond was a corridor with another door at the end. Stepping inside he didn't spot the nearly invisible strands of razor-sharp wire suspended from floor to ceiling and as he approached it coiled around him and snapped with whip-like fragments flying everywhere badly mauling him.
With Jade's help he was able to recover, but was left with some bad scars. They decided to abandon the door and picked up some spears and some cloth they found at a nearby barricade. Trying instead to use some wax on the tip of the spear to pick it up. However the spear was too cumbersome and they couldn't get the coins to stick to it. 
Umber remembered a story about a Horror known as Artificer that left constructions of impossibly smooth silver. These were invariably filled with exactly the treasure that people desired and lured them in with elaborate traps designed to kill and maim. Whilst the treasure was invariably real, it was never worth the cost to acquire it. 
So they continued down, passing several barricades where soldiers had tried to hold off the Horrors as they came up from below and allow time for people to escape. Eventually reaching the lowest and hottest level of the Kaer. 
Here were furnaces, smelting facilities and even bakeries, but in the centre stood a tall lavishly decorated structure. 
The building contained an outer-ring of studies, offices and store rooms, whilst the centre contained a ritual space. 
Jade could tell that there were active and powerful threads of essence running through the room. On the floor was a map of the area, presumably from before the Scourge showing a blue sea where the Death sea now stood. Around it were 5 distinct miniature structures, one clearly damaged (out in what is now the lava fields of the Death sea), the other four active. One clearly represented Kaer Scathia, one was on an island outside of the lava fields, one was in the Theran occupied town of Parland and the final one rested in the Spine of the Dragon Mountains. 
From his knowledge of the occult, Umber realised that the enchantment was like a stool, it could survive with 5, 4 or even only 3 supports, but once only two remained, it would invariably collapse. 
With this knowledge they decided to break the enchantment in order to release Death again on the world and put an end to the Shedim infestation that claimed the dead.
Umber broke the orichalcum tracings around the room and the model in the map cracked and shattered, showing that it had become non-functional.
As they headed out however they saw a vast fire elemental wreathed in dense black smoke. Drawn by the magical disruption. It swung out to catch them, but only caught Azul by the arm, a small singe he was able to shrug off. 
However the fire elemental lost is smokey aura and began to flee as the party battled it. 
Without warning Azul turned around and slashed Umber grievously. The possessing Horror had come for him. Thankfully before he could do any further damage, Azul wrested control of his body back and hurled out the horror. Once the incorporeal horror was away from Azul, Jade threw a magical coin of True air at the creature, driving it off. It let out a powerful scream that rocked the Kaer and the shedim began to stirr. 
The Adepts raced up the stairs, dodging and weaving between the (still very slow) animated corpses. They reached the door without any serious injuries and knocked, with Autumn opening the door. 
With her in tow they were able to get back to the surface and after a hard trek they found some water to refresh their supplies as well as escape with a trove of books and minor riches on their way back to civilisation where their song could be sung.
== The Wolves in the Woods ==
As they descended the extinct volcano and picked their way back to civilisation, there was a conversation about where to go next. 
Autumn suggested making their way to Throal, where the librarians and diviners could help them track the rogue mage. 
However they discussed the matter and felt certain that the wizard's destination lay in the Theran port town of Parland on the far side of the Death Sea. However travelling around would take several weeks on foot and even hugging the coast would force them to contend with rivers of lava that flow in to the Death sea. So they decided to head back to the town of Portage where they had originally arrived from and await an airship to carry them across the Death Sea. They would be likely to find one there every week or so. 
The Badlands had been rough on Jade previously, so this time they decided to take the coastal path up through the outskirts of the Mist swamps.
Jade was able to help them find enough water to live off and after several days they arrived at the edge of the swamps. Nearly a day after following the outer edge of the swamp, Azul particularly began to notice something strange. The animals were watching them, not just a few, or only one species, every bird, mammal and reptile fell still in their tasks and observed the adepts until they went out of sight. 
The mist followed them as well, Umber sung a marching song as they went about how they respected the swampland and were great name-giver heroes in their own right. The catchy tune was soon taken up by Autumn and the other adepts. 
Then the mist became impenetrable and when it cleared, a vast dragon about 240 feet (or 80 paces) long, coloured black and green with red tips on her wings, tail and horns sharp and barbed. She arrived without seeming to disturb the mists at all, complimenting Umber on his song, appreciating their courtesy and respect, and advising them that The Mist swamps were her territory. Her breath was greater than the wind and when she inhaled or exhaled, it blew them about.
When Umber asked her name she replied that she was Mistweaver and that they would be safe as long as they did not stray in to her swamp, but if they strayed, they would be volunteering themselves to be her meal. She also advised them to tell others. The mists closed around her and once again and she was gone with no trace of disturbing the air with her movements. 
Autumn added that Mistweaver was a name used by the Great Dragon Aban, one of only a handful of the Great Dragons in Barsaive. Adding that if they were ever uncertain on how to address a dragon, the safest term was "Noble Dragon".
They carried on, not straying in to the swamp, until they reached the cool refreshing end of one of the mouths of the Serpent River. Bathing and resting for a bit, they went up to Portage, where they were given a heroes welcome and their deeds became the subject of song. 
However on their second day, a T'skrang merchant caravan came in with the body of an elven merchant that had been found on the road. The merchant looked as though he had been torn apart by a wild beast, but then his possessions were subsequently neatly removed. The villagers and the merchant asked the Adepts to investigate and they would stall any airship until they returned. The body belonged to Sarao, a merchant who collected individual items from the trade hub in Farram and delivered them to order to villages in the surrounding area. He hadn't been carrying anything too valuable; some speciality supplies, herbs, spices and seeds.
They wet up the road to where the body had been discovered. Whilst it did appear as though the victim had been savaged and killed by a large predator, their possessions had also been taken which suggested human involvement. Jade was able to follow the tracks of the beast, in general they led from North to South. There were also barefoot human tracks. 
Following the tracks back for over a day and crossing a river they came to a campfire which had human but not wolf tracks. 
They were coralled by a group of wolves but eventually the wolves departed. 
They found a group of nomadic humans travelling on foot with very primitive clothes and weapons. Azul headed down to speak with them whilst the others held back. 
Thankfully Azul convinced them that they were interested only in tracking down the murderer. The nomads agreed to assist, sending two of their scouts to help. 
The group were treated hospitably and then set off following the mix of wolf and human tracks. 
The Tracks went South leading away from the murder site, but after a dogged pursuit they came across the one that the nomads claimed had broken a sacred taboo. 
The male warrior grew and shifted to immense size, slaying one of the scouts that they had bought with them, but under Azul's blade the creature finally fell. They burnt the body where it lay rather than risk it rising again. 
They made their way back to the nomads where they were welcomed as heroes. 
The people of the village were as good as their word and made sure that the next visiting airship was waiting for them. 
== The army in the Dark ==
From the town of Portage they had a few hours before the airship departed. 
Azul found the local village blacksmith who also served as quartermaster of the village militia. He revealed that he had a few sets of chainmail armour that he could adjust to fit Azul's size. 
== The attack on Parland == 
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