(Since I was unable to attend the first two sessions, I don't actually have first-hand knowledge of how the adventure actually started. These are the bits and pieces I was able to glean from a couple of discussions which took place over half a year ago. As a consequence, quite a lot of the following will be incredibly, indescribably wrong. But trust me, it's more fun this way.)

Three neophyte Adepts, named Latke, Agace, and Sine, find themselves thrown together on some flimsy pretext, and are hired by... some powerful wizard guy or other... to bring back a relic/weapon that is now in the possession of a Horror. Yes, attacking a Horror, on their very first mission. Hopefully it's a pathetic, weak little Horror.

So, having bought everything they need in town, off they go. As they travel, they see a guy sitting at the side of a road. He's flipping a coin up into the air and catching it again; not just a plain old silver coin, or even a shiny gold one, but a valuable elemental earth coin. Oooo. He doesn't acknowledge their presence in any way.

Latke, who's always been intrigued by elemental powers, decides to swipe the coin. As soon as she does, she finds herself writhing on the ground in agony as her skeleton tries its level best to free itself from the rest of her body. The guy gets his coin back, Latke gets her skeleton back, and everyone's happy.

A boat trip takes place; our heroes rescue the boat from invasion by a bunch of people wearing collars: mind-controlled slaves being forced to attack until they die. The boat's owner is thankful and promises the Adepts that their return trip will be free.

Our heroes learn a Word of Power that they'll need to use in order to cross a swamp: Abscarascu. However, once they actually get to the swamp, they can't recall the word, and are attacked by wave after wave of cadavermen before they manage to remember it. When they finally say the Word, the cadavermen step back and let them pass in peace. Agace tries to carve 'Abscarascu' into his forearm so he won't forget it on the way back.

Past the swamp, they find themselves in a lovely green forest. Partway through, they come across a giant spider at the centre of a massive web. Wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that said spider was itching for a nice, light snack. Agace gets an incredible damage roll and splits the arachnid in two, literally.

The forest eventually gives way to a vast grassland, devoid of any features. Well, except for the big hill right smack in the middle of it. Guess where our heroes have to go. Right. However, the hill is many days' travel away, and there aren't any rivers or sources of water on the plain. No one's brought quite enough waterskins, either. The resourceful Agace tracks down and kills a large mammal, then skins it. The leathery skin, once sewn into a watertight pouch, will (hopefully) hold enough water for all of them throughout the long, dry trip. Thus prepared, the three Adepts set off across the plain.

Next: Featureless Plain
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© Megan Jones 2002. This story wouldn't be possible if not for my endlessly entertaining friends, and the Earthdawn RPG originally by FASA.