We start off with a bunch of downtime. T'Karish is looking at the "Systematic Understanding of Everything" tree. Steven is buying up to Essence 4 and Celestial Circle Sorcery. Gilad considers trying to turn his arrows into plasma grenades midair, but concentrates instead on learning to shoot *real fast* (Opportune Shot) and boosts his Essence from 3 to 4. Other players should tell me what they're doing with their 3 months or so of downtime. Steven has also developed a ritual to move Camrish across time, but it will require some work -- dream sand, coordination with the Boston party, and a blade sharp enough to cut the bonds of former residents to Camrish. It also leaves one party member holding the bag and rather vulnerable. But first, Gilad does some reorganization of the Camrish politics: * A racial council, composed of all mundanes, one of each race, elected from among the mundanes. * An Adept council, one per Discipline. All the Disciplines select their own representative. The Court Wizard nominates a list of Disciplines, subject to a 2/3 vote of the Racial Council. * There are seven high offices: Minister of Magic, City Planner, Agricultural Planner, Defense Minister, Foreign Minister, Exploration Minister, and Head of the Adept Council. * The Head of the Adept Council is selected by the Adept Council. * The others are selected by the Racial Council, and approved by a vote of the Adept Council. * The Defense and Exploration ministers shall maintain standing bodies of troops for their appropriate missions. * Both councils together can appoint Heroes of the City -- the party are obviously the first ones through that list. This grants Backing 4 (City of Camrish) * Most Bills must be approved by both Councils. Spending bills must originate from the Racial Council. * Each neighborhood elects a constable/prosecutor and a judge, responsible for maintaining good order in that neighborhood, whose decisions are subject to review by the Racial Council. * The Throallic Convention on the Rights of Name-Givers is adopted as a guiding principle. Now some adventuring starts. Open plots: * Find a blade sharp enough... T'Karish figures out that Death's Scythe would work, as would some ancient throwing scythes modeled on Death's Scythe. Chips of Dragon-Claws could also work, particularly those of Kefavareen, a Dragon far to the East. * Dig up some gatestones from Parlainth's walls T'Karish uses her Careful Student Reflection Charm to verify the following: 1. Stable long-term government 2. Curse will be broken. 3. City will be returned 4. Purifier would work to cut the bonds. 5. The residents will be safe in the returned city. 6. The throwing scythes would work. 7. Purifier Exists. 8. The throwing scythes exist. None are false or misleading, though the GM wibbles a bit on #7, and #3 is really up to the Party. Gilad lets the Foreign & Exploration Ministers know the party's heading to Throal, and volunteers to take some letters along. Steven leaves a note for the Spidey Mages that he's going spell component shopping, and not to nuke the city while they're gone. T'Karish also Lores-out the name of the Living Crystal Sword left behind by the spec-ops commander, and attunes it. Then the party heads off to Throal. This takes over a month of overland travel. There is much Wonder at the sight of Kaer Throal. Steven leads the party to the district of Scholars, and the Tower of Thortan, his Master's residence. Steven makes An Appointment. "Steven, is there a museum around here?"
'Well, what kind?"
"They come in kinds? I'm getting one!"
'There's the Dwarven Bread museum, but their exhibits are kind of stale these days.'
"How about a weapons museum, I'm trying to stay on topic."
'Oh, the Smith Sonian. Sure, <directions>'
Justin is at this point offered an XP if he'll relent. T'Karish heads off to the Smith Sonian. With 10 successes on a Cha+Lore(Purifier) roll, he gets invited to be faculty. The disguise spell on Purifier prevents its easy location, and the details on that are classified. Steven has an Appointment: he drinks tea, talks with his Master, explains what he's up to, and is initiated into the Fifth Circle of Wizardry. He also picks up an apprentice of his own, Otto -- prone to dancing and dating a girl named Tasha. Ask the GM if you don't get the joke. T'Karish checks out the Royal Museum, but doesn't learn much, other than that Purifier wasn't on the Earthdawn but would look like any other pre-scourge shortsword. Dinner with Steven's Master happens. Good impressions are made. The next morning, Steven talks to his contacts at the Eye. They offer to help in exchange for the sword. Steven meets Otto, and tests his competence. He appears bright but geeky and awkward -- a hiking, camping field Wizard like Steven will be great training for him. T'Karish signs up for the "regular run log" plan for access to the Great Library of Throal. Boy is she going to be bitter when she finds out Steven has a library card -- after all, he's a Wizard of Throal. The throwing scythes were last known to be in the hands of a Questor of Death, Rhadamanthus, before the Scourge, who used them to eliminate the most powerful of Undead. He was known for flickering out of the shadows in the corners of Lich-King's throne rooms, killing the Lich, then vanishing so quickly nobody knew the Evil Mastermind was dead til minions went for more orders and discovered he was decomposing. He was also damned hard to hit. He entered a kaer called Death's Tomb on the edge of the Badlands, but there is no record of it opening. T'K also starts to guess that Purifier may be the entity choosing when to activate its powers. The party, based on that horrifying thought, forgoes hunting for Purifier in the Caucavic Mountains -- it was lost there. They take ship for Jerris, looking for the Death's Tomb Kaer. Some conclusions drawn thus far: * Passions can't get into a Kaer. They also can't get out. What happens when you seal several hundred dedicated Questors in a box for a few centuries? Are Prayers bottled too? * These Death Questors had Ebon Shadow Martial Arts. WTF? Steven spends the journey to Jerris making Good Luck Charms for the party, which will prevent one botch each before shattering. The party hires a local guide, an old man named Gefford, to take the party and his camel into the bandlands. The first night, strange stars spin over head. They do not shine in the natural world. The party is attacked by some undead-ancestor-worshipping barbarians hiding beneath the sand, together with their Nemissary ancestor. After a brief battle, they salute the party and recognize their worthiness to walk their sands. Gilad and SMtW have been poisoned by the death-aspected venom of the barbarians' spears. Have 7 XP for the run.