“It took me a long time……. too long to present you the first result of my open call to become a guest blogger on earthdawn.blogspot.com. But finally the silly season is almost over and the first guest entry is finished. I am very honored and pleased to pass the word to SaDe.”

Hugs to everyone. Most of you might know me from the previous interview I made with Mordom.

We have a little game series on Earthdawn.co.hu and I decided to make an english page, where similar contests will be running. Maybe some of you enter the contests, not for the prizes, but for the fun. The current august challenge is about “potion”. Like the title says, you have to write a potion, the effect and other info (price, common, rare, components, etc.)

There are also some small prizes available for the winning entry. If you are interested in my new website and want to take part at the monthly challenge have a look at: http://throal.earthdawn.co.hu/news.php

In this guest post I want to introduce some of our previous game entries and winners. The first challenge was “write a before-scourge spell”.

This was the game winning spell. This translation was corrected by Quorlox

Cool Waft
Circle: 4
Frequency: Very rare
Threads: the number of targets
Weaving difficulty: 6/13
Range: 10 meters/yards
Duration: Rank hours
Effect: Willforce+thread number
Spellcast difficulty: Highest Spell Defense among the targets

The spell summons a small air elemental who moves air around the characters, creating a cool breeze that protects against heat and neutralizes heat-induced fatigue (ED1 Survival Guide, p. 98). This spell adds 3 Steps to the fatigue test, and significantly increases the character's comfort level.
Designer's note: it's not looks like strong spell, but the you can enchant it into item, or it can be very comfort to the adventurers (not by necessity near the Death's Sea).

Another topic was to write about “grimoires” and Greg was so kind (and hyperactive ) to translate his winning entry:

Grimoire of a Hundred Drinks
The Grimoire of a Hundred Drinks may look like a leather cylinder, with a bronze cap at both ends. After removing the top and bottom cap the leather can be unwound and spread out. It is a square shaped piece of lush brown cowhide, with a timeworn, scratch marked and sun faded outer surface, but a remarkably unscathed, mint condition inside. Both faces of the leather are rimmed with a gilded pattern of interleaving wildflowers. On the outside the pattern has lost the golden plating on most places, but on the inside you can even feel the embossing.

A bottle made out of clay, and covered with red glaze can be found inside the case, without a cork. The bottle looks similar to the ones found in each and every tavern inside Throal used for serving beverages with the only distinction that this bottle also has a vignette. The contents of the grimoire are listed on the vignette in or'zet writing.

The Grimoire of a Hundred Drinks was in the possession of Mellaus of Tirtage an ork Elementalist, until his death due to the continued consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol. Mellaus was the regular guest and patron of numerous taverns and barrooms in Tirtaga in which his grimoire has continued to make the rounds of his late owner. It has found itself in the hands of some of the local Elementalists, who made a tradition of passing the grimoire to someone who is thirsting for the spells described in the grimoire and who will pass it on again after emptying it. Now it looks like someone has forgot to forward it or lost the grimoire in a drunken stupor in the Halls of Throal.

For each of the spells contained in the grimoire there is a drink, but the vignette only lists the names of the spells, not the drinks belonging to the spell. The spellcaster has to fill the bottle to the brim with a drink and than spill out all of the bottle onto the leather pad. The leather soaks up the drink without any residue and the Pattern of a spell and the necessary directions and explanations to use the spell became visible. The text is written in or'zet language.
If someone is to spill a drink on the leather that has no spells associated or uses anything other than the bottle to pour the drink, the drink will run down the leather.
Contrary to the name of the grimoire, it doesn't really contain hundred spells but only a selection of twelve: Heat Food (ED p.159.), Purify Earth (AM p.6.), Purify Water (ED p.159.), Air Mattress (AM p.6.), Boil Water (ED p.159.), Path Home (ED p.160.), Sterilize Object (ED p. 160.), Stick Together (ED p.160.), Plant Feast (ED p.161.), Porter (ED p.161.), Repair (ED p.161.), Throne of Air (ED p. 161.).

Greg also translated his entry of another challenge. The topic was “write a monster/legend/etc. to this image”:

http://earthdawn.co.hu/uploads/kepek/ja.jpg

Raggok Avatar
Before the Scourge the Passions have done a lot to safeguard the survival of the Namegiver races.
But some may ask, if the dragons are also Namegivers, did the Passions also support them and did the dragons act up on helping the other races as they have helped each other?

Not long before the Scourge Mountainshadow and some other dragons were willing to share their knowledge of kaer making and magic to the other Namegiver. The Theran fearing their profits and plans started a campaign against the dragons, killing a Great Dragon among many others. The answer of the dragons was bloody as well. Finally both sides agreed on leaving the other in peace, as long the dragons are not giving out the secrets of protection from the Scourge.
The Passion Rashomon was than the Passion for rulership and civic values and he was obliged by the feelings, spoken and unspoken wishes of the Namegiver to take matters in it's own hand.

The Passion took physical form in an Avatar and the Namegiver asked Rashomon to plead to the Great Dragons, so the dragons take in the other Namegiver into their well-defended lairs or teach them how to protect themselves from the oncoming Scourge. In the eyes of the Namegiver the Passions usually take on the form of an idealized member of the viewers race and in crowds sometimes everyone sees the Passion in a different form.

This avatar, tasked by the prayer of the disappointed and dreading people has chosen to take on the form of a Great Dragon.
We don't quite know if the Passion was successful or not, but fact is that some dragons have allowed the Namegiver to take shelter in their lairs and the t'skrang received guidance from a dragon.

The Passion Rashomon however suffered a terrible fate, as the rampaging Horror or the fact that he was the patron Passion of the island of Thera made him go mad. The avatar travelling Barsaive also went through this sudden, horrible and sweeping change that deformed it's very essence. When a Namegiver encounters the avatar, he or she will see a creature that is made up of parts of a dragon - the body, wings, the tail and the crest on the head - and parts of his or her own race - legs, arms, the head and distinctive features like horns, fangs, eyes and skin color. Altogether it looks like a thing stuck halfway between transforming from a dragon into another race.

The avatars behavior also shows this duality, the intelligence and superiority of a dragon combined with the characteristics of the Namegiver it just met. When it encounters a dwarf it will be stubborn and sophistic, with an orc it will be impulsive and foulmouthed. It will represent the worst stereotypes of any races manners because it is the avatar of a Mad Passion.

Unless the characters do anything against Raggok or the avatar, it will not physically harm them, but it will ruthlessly pursue and take vengeance on anyone who opposes or displeases Raggok. It will scheme and manipulate with the cunning and patience of a dragon. However it's goals and methods are undeclared and invisible like that of a dragon.

If the avatar gets into combat, it's dual nature will prohibit it to move through the thoughts of Namegivers like other avatars of Raggok. But it's movement speed is still untraceably fast and it's powers are still beyond that of a Namegiver.
However if the players would have the distinctive unluck to kill the avatar, they could be sure to attract the special attention of Raggok himself that follows them everywhere to deal vengeance at the most unpleasent moment.
(Statistics for the avatar are the same as Crarites's, found on page 109 of Throal - the dwarven kingdom)

Adventure hooks:
- A small village was raided by an orc scorcher band. The villages listened to some really bad advice and summoned the Mad Passion. The characters should help them talk things out with the avatar, or deal with the scorchers before the avatar.
- The avatar is contemplating one of it's long-term plans and asks for some advice and thoughts from the players. A moral dilemma: Do you give advice to a Mad Passion? If it's plans endanger your beloved ones?
- The party got itself into one of those long-term plans of Raggok. Besides the characters it means pain and suffering to a lot of people. The characters must find the avatar to get themselves out of the plot and to suggest a new course of action to the Passion.
- The bored avatar is cruelly torturing itself when the players meet it. If they pass on without any emotion or remark the avatar will task them with part of it's plans.
- The avatar can serve as an archvillain for high circle players. One of the Great Dragons (e.g. Icewing) is annoyed by the emotions and memories he has towards the avatar and wants it gone. The characters start out as just pawns in the power struggle between a dragon and a creature thinking like a dragon, but their further role is up to the players

I thank Mordom for the opportunity to make a guest post on his blog and I hope you all have a look at http://throal.earthdawn.co.hu/news.php

Hugs SaDe