The Search for Wisdom, Earthdawn
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The Search for Wisdom
by David Caraley
originally published in Earthdawn Journal #2
Located in the footholds of the Twilight Mountains near the former troll kingdom of Ustrect, the
tomb of King Runvir was built around the Oracle Font of Garlen.
The Oracle Fountain would allow a person to approach, throw in a coin, and ask one question. It
would then answer the question as best it could, though sometimes the answers would be a little
vague. It was tended by a priest to Garlen and six assistants.
Slightly over six hundred years ago Runvir, the King of Ustrect, used the Oracle, and a magical
item known as the Stone of Wisdom, to help run the Kingdom. He followed the Oracle's advise
and relied on the Oracle's prophecies. In addition, the Stone of Wisdom allowed him to see who
he could trust, and prevented him from taking bad advise. With the aid of these two items, he led
his kingdom to a peace and prosperity they had never achieved before. The army was powerful
enough to protect the borders, and small enough not to drain the country's resources. The arts
flourished, and craftsmen became valued not only for the necessities, but for the artistic value of
their crafts.
Before the King died, he started construction on his tomb. He decided the tomb should be built
into the hillside with the Oracle Fountain, where he had received his best insights in running his
kingdom. During the construction of his tomb, assassins from a neighboring kingdom tried to kill
him. The king's guards were taken by surprise, and only the six servants in the room managed to
slow down the assailants long enough for the guards to act. The servants died in their attempt,
and the king rewarded their loyal servants by burying them in his unfinished tomb. He sealed
them in with six slaves so that those that served him in life would have others to serve them in
death.
As the King grew old, more of his loyal followers died, and he had a burial vault built into his
tomb for his four most loyal warriors He buried them with their trusted warhorses, their weapons
and armor, various works of art that depicted them, fragrances and oils, and items of material
wealth so that they would want for nothing in the afterlife.
The King started to have his loyal palace guards interred in catacombs as they passed away.
Finally, when the King passed away, he was mummified along with his two oldest, most trusted
advisors. He has sealed in with everything he could possibly need in the afterlife, and knew he
would have loyal servants, guardsmen, knights, and advisors waiting for him.
One hundred years later the Scourge began. The servants of Garlen sealed the tomb and oracle
font, hoping that it could survive the Scourge and be reopened when the world was safe.
Though the tomb was sealed, a Horror named Skarvik the Deceiver managed to break his way in
through the mountainside. He was unaware that the sealed tomb and oracle font was not a
populated kaer. He started a destructive search for signs of life within the complex, and
eventually made his way into the great hall. It was then that the Passion Garlen took notice of
this Horror that had made his way into one of her holy shrines. She worried that he would
corrupt the oracle font itself and used her power to seal all of the exits from the great hall.
Sharvik the Deceiver pounded at the exits, using all of the karma he had at his disposal, but to no
avail. He managed to weaken the magic that held him in the room, but could not break free. The
Horror has sat there ever since.
When the Scourge ended, a questor of Garlen and his retinue returned to reopen the Oracle
Fountain. They came upon Sharvik, and a mighty battle was fought. The questor's minions fell to
the Horror one by one, feeding Sharvik new karma, for Sharvik feeds on death. The wounded
questor retreated from the great hall with a few survivors, and found that Sharvik was unable to
follow. But the magic sealing the great hall had been weakened, and Sharvik managed to animate
the bodies of the fallen guards and send them after the fleeing questor. In the final battle, the last
of the questor's minions fell, and the questor was trapped in the complex, unable to work the
elevator by himself and escape.
When they were never heard of again, the church of Garlen presumed that the Fountain had been
destroyed during the Scourge, and that the questor and his party had died while trying to find it.
The church turned its efforts in other directions.
A year ago, Jorgin Tovar, an Eighth Circle Wizard Adept and advisor to Garthik One-Eye in
Kratas, noticed that Garthik's once sharp mind had started to grow dull. Jorgin worried that if
Garthik's enemies were to find out, they would try to overthow him. Jorgin saw that Garthik had
begun to doubt his own judgement. Jorgin then began to research ways to restore Garthik to his
former self. After nearly a year of researching, he believes he has found the answer. A magical
item named the Stone of Wisdom was said to have vast power in aiding its wielder to see the
truth and to think more clearly. The Stone of Wisdom was last reported being in the possession
of King Runvir, the troll king of ancient Ustrect. There were no records of anyone having
possessed the Stone since then.
More research turned up the fact that Runvir was entombed at the Oracle Font of Garlen in the
foothills of the Twilight Peaks by Death's Sea. Figuring that the Stone was entombed with him,
Jorgin set about hiring heroes he thought were capable of entering the tomb and returning with
the Stone.
What Jorgin was unaware of was the fact that Vistosh, the leader of a rival faction in Kratas, had
already begun to suspect that something was wrong with Garthik. Vistosh was unable to get
close enough to Garthik to find out what, so he started to have Garthik's advisors and associates
watched. When Jorgin hires the heroes, Vistosh is informed. Though he doesn't know what they
were hired for originally, he plans to have them captured in order to find out.
When this fails, and the heroes leave the city, Vistosh relies on his spies to find out what is going
on. All they can find out is that Jorgin hired a band of heroes to retrieve some lost magical item.
Vistosh figures that the item must be important, so he places spies at the city gates to await the
heroes' return. Once they return, his spies will try to trick them out of the item. If this fails, he
has ruffians who will take a more physical approach.
Location
The Tomb is located in the footholds of the Twilight Mountains, on the slopes overlooking
Death's Sea. From Bartertown, center the Sextant on Kratas.Align q with Jerris. Sight along point
d and follow Dis at sundown. The Tomb lies 16 days walking, 10 days riding from Throal.
Plot Synopsis
Lately, in the city of Kratas, the famed ork thief Garthik One-Eye has been falling to the ravages
of age. He is the ruler of the city, and his advisors are worried that his mental facilities are
beginning to slip. They fear that rival gangs, especially Brocher's Brood led by Vistosh, a
corrupted elf and former Blood Warder to the Elven Queen Alachia, will soon make a move to
take over control of the city.
One of Garthik's advisors, a Wizard Adept named Jorgin Tovar, has stumbled upon information
about a magical pendent called the Stone of Wisdom. He believes that this pendent can offset the
effects of age on Garthik's once brilliant mind. Jorgin has spent the past few months researching
the item, and now believes that he has found its location.
Jorgin believes that the Stone of Wisdom was entombed in a lost shrine to Garlen with a troll
king named Runvir who ruled over the ancient land of Ustrect . Now that Jorgin has discovered
what he believes to be the location of the shrine, he needs to recover the pendent. However,
Jorgin knows that Vistosh has spies keeping an eye on Garthik's people so Jorgin has decided to
hire outsiders to send after the item.
Jorgin will meet with the characters at a small inn called The Raven. He will act the part of a
wealthy mage in need of adventurers to recover an ancient item of interest to him. He will offer
the adventurers 500 silvers each, and the promise of powerful patronage, if they recover the item.
Once the players have agreed to go on this mission, he will supply the location, and the
approximate amount of time it will take. He will pay half of the money up front, and make one of
the party members take a Blood Promise (Gamemaster Book page 48) to return the Stone of
Wisdom to Jorgin at The Raven within one month. Once that is done, the players will outfit
themselves and head off to the Twilight Peaks.
Unkown to the players, Vistosh has had Jorgin followed, and now knows that the players are
involved with something to do with Garthik. He doesn't know what they are up to, and will send
a group of thugs to try and capture them and bring them in for questioning. The thugs will fight
to subdue, and should be driven off.
The players then head off towards the Twilight Peaks, where they will fight off a group of troll
skyraiders, a few fire eagles, and finally find the entrance to the Tomb of Runvir. After battling
their way through the tomb, rediscovering the Oracle Font, and recovering the Stone of Wisdom,
the players will head back.
Once back at the gates of Kratas, agents of Brocher's Brood will intercept them and try to gain
whatever it is that they recovered, first by trickery, and then by force. Once the tagents of
Vistosh have been dealt with, the players can return to the Raven, meet with Jorgin, and
complete their mission. Once this is done, Jorgin will use the Stone of Wisdom to help Garthik
regain his senses. Finally, the now recovered Garthik will meet with the characters and
congatulate them. The party that aids Garthik One-Eye will certainly be heroes, and will have
earned the gratitude of a very powerful individual.
The Mystery Mage
Overview
This encounter starts after the heroes have arranged for rooms at The Raven, an odd inn that used
to be a guard post in the city. The party now sits in the common room, enjoying a cool drink,
when a mage stops by. looking for heroes to aid him in recovering a magical item.
Setting the Stage
You are finally relaxing in a small tavern after locking most of your gear in your rooms. The ale
is cool and refreshing, and the barmaids are friendly and attractive, fliting merrily with the
various customers.
The heavy wooden table bears the scars of past customers carving names and sayings into its
surface. The crowd is quiet, sitting in groups, playing cards or dice, talking in hushed tones, and
drinking ale or wine.
You notice a man enter and approach the bar. He is wearing dark robes embroidered in odd
geometric patterns. He talks quietly with the bartender who then points in your direction. The
man turns, looks you all over, and approaches.
"Greetings, travelers. I am in need of a brave band of heroes, and my friend Klevis, the
innkeeper, has advised me to speak with you."
You look the man over. He seems to be past middle-age, possibly in his late fifties, early sixties.
His eyes still look clear and lively, and his hands are steady.
"I am Jorgin, a mage here in Kratas. I have been conducting research into a magical item for
some time and I believe I have finally learned the location of the item. Now I need to hire a
group of heroes to go and recover it. This should take a few weeks, but no longer than a month.
For this, I will supply a map to where the item is, and 500 silvers each, half in advance, half upon
completion, to anyone willing to undertake this dangerous journey. Are you interested?"
If the heroes agree, he will continue. "The item is The Stone of Wisdom, a large pearl over two
inches in diameter, on a beautiful chain. It is located in the tomb of King Runvir, a troll who
ruled the ancient lands of Ustrect. He was entombed with countless amounts of other treasure, of
which I care nothing for. It is yours for the taking. The Stone of Wisdom must be returned to me.
If you agree to this, I will swear a Blood Promise with one of you, the promise will be that you
will return the Stone of Wisdom to me, here at the Raven, within six weeks. I will promise to pay
you the remainder of the silver owed to you, and to help you research two thread ranks of
magical items that you may possess. Is it a deal?"
Once the heroes agree to these terms, the Blood Promise will be sworn. This will reguire 4 points
of Blood Magic from both Jorgin and one of the heroes. Each must describe what talent or skill
they will use to accomplish the deed. Jorgin will swear to use his Item History talent for the
month after the heroes return with the Stone of Wisdom. Whatever skill or talent the player picks
will be increased by 1 step until the Stone of Wisdom is returned to Jorgin. Jorgin's Item History
will be increased by 1 step until he completes his two weeks of research into whatever magic
item the heroes wish him to research.
Once this is done, Jorgin will get out a map to the tomb and hand it to the hero who made the
promise with him. He will then get up to leave. He will turn to the heroes and say, "I wish you
good travelling, my friends. When you return and meet with me here, I will be the first to buy
you all drinks." The mage turns, and heads out the door into the darkness.
Behind the Scenes
Vistosh has spies following Jorgin. They will not know what was discussed, but they will report
the meeting to him. This will cause Vistosh to become curious, and he will order a band of his
ruffians to capture the heroes in order to find out what the meeting was about.
The Raven charges 5 coppers to stay in the common room, and 1 silver to have a private room.
The private rooms have one large bed that can sleep up to three people, and a large trunk. The
door can be barred from the inside, and the windows still have bars on them from when this was
a town watch building.
As for food and drink, average ale goes for 5 coppers, and good ale for 1 silver. A bottle of wine
goes for 2 silvers. A simple meal of cheeses, breads, and fruits goes for 3 coppers, and a meal of
pork, bread, cheeses, fruit and an average ale goes for 1 silver. The tavern closes as two in the
morning when Klevis, the owner leaves with the day's profits, and Harris, the evening bartender,
bars the door, and spreads his bedroll out behind the bar.
Troubleshooting
This encounter should end with the characters accepting Jorgin's offer. Even if they do not,
Jorgin will beg them to reconsider, and tell them he will return the next night to see if they have
changes their minds. The conversation with him will still be reported to Vistosh, and he will have
them attacked, not knowing that they refused Jorgin's offer. This should enrage the characters
enough that the next meeting they should take the offer.
Heading Out
Overview
After outfitting themselves, the heroes start to head out of Kratas and on their way. As they head
through the streets of Kratas, they are ambushed by ruffians working for Brocher's Brood. These
ruffians are trying to capture them alive to bring them to Vistosh, so they will fight to subdue.
Setting the Stage
You have paid the inflated prices charged by the merchants in Kratas for the supplies needed to
make the journey to the Twilight Peaks, and are now heading out of the city of thieves. You
make your way through the twisting, rubble strewn streets in the direction of the city gates,
contemplating the adventure you are about to undertake. Suddenly, there is some movement in
the shadows.
Behind the Scenes
A group of ruffians will attempt to ambush the heroes and take them in for Vistosh to questions.
The will attack quickly and quietly. The heroes will have to make PER Tests with a target of 6 to
avoid being taken by surprise for the first round. There are two ruffians for each hero.
Ruffians
DEX: 13: 6/D10 STR: 13: 6/D10 TOU: 13: 6/D10
PER: 9: 4/D6 WIL: 10: 5/D8 CHA: 10: 5/D8
Initiative: 6/D10
Physical Defense: 7
Number of Attacks: 1
Spell Defense: 6
Attack: 9/D8+D6
Social Defense: 6
Damage: Fist 6/D10, Club 9/D8+D6, Short Sword 10/D10+D6
Armor: 2
Number of Spells: N/A
Mystic Armor: 0
Spellcasting: N/A
Knockdown: 6/D10
Effect: N/A
Recovery Tests: 2
Death Rating: 35
Combat Movement: 30
Wound Threshold: 9
Full Movement: 60
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