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> Earthdawn Question, First, Second, & Third Age Relics
Ravor
post Mar 19 2007, 06:52 AM
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Coming from someone whoes only knowledge about Earthdawn comes from these boards plus the internet I was wondering what kinds of ancient relics survived from the previous three ages?

I understand that a couple of books detailing the Second Age's Sourge survived.

I guess there were also some pillars that were supposed to be keeping the Mana Levels higher then they otherwise would have fallen to.

Thanks,
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fistandantilus4....
post Mar 19 2007, 07:18 AM
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I asusme the books were the six Books of Harrow. It's probably a fair assumption they were from the previous age since they talked about the coming of the Scourge, which should have happened in the 2nd age too.

The pillars are the massive oricalcum pillars built around the island of Thera. It's never really stated what their purpose is/was. But that is the popular theory. There were three IIRC. And I believe they were specifically obelisks.

Lots of other artifacts have survived from the 4th age to the 6th like the Immortal Flower. It makes an appearence in Dunkelzhan's Will, along wiwt ha lot of other tiems that were liekly from the 4th age. Check out AH's site for a pretty nice list.

Not a whole lot of stuff that you can say for ure came from the second age though. If there is something that survived, it'd probably be in a dragon's hoard somewhere. The Jewel of Memory I'd say would be a safe bet though.
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Ancient History
post Mar 19 2007, 11:57 AM
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Uncle Ancient's Artifact Index.
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Grinder
post Mar 19 2007, 12:47 PM
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Thought we have to summon you by shouting your name thrice? :D
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kigmatzomat
post Mar 19 2007, 01:47 PM
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Bottled Demon is an ED relic. I remember being in an ED campaign and realizing just what it was we were chasing. In a party full of adepts, it was a terrifying weapon to square off against.

The ED book was distributed freely on CD at one point; see if you can lay your hands on a copy of the disk and pore through the items.

Note that ED had multiple forms of magic. SR magic is "raw" magic and is subject to interference from things like background count. ED had an intermediate magical device called a spell matrix object that allowed you to cast a particular spell while filtering out the background magical interference (and from drawing attention from astral monstrosities). Later they perfected the art of personal spell matrices, which are astral constructs that perform the same function as the physical matrix object but can be rekeyed to other spells.

Raw magic is fast, thread magic is slow. But an ED mage could walk into the most astrally horrific place and cast spells with impunity using matrices.

There were also multiple grades of magic items. The most fundamental tended to be blood magic, which can often be activated by jabbing the magic doodad into your flesh (death cheat charms are fun!) or killing something. The majority of common blood magic items were actually healing or "cyber" devices. Death cheat charms inflict minor damage now to keep you a live later. Targeting eyes are gems that replace your normal eye but give a bonus to ranged attacks. Blood pebble armor burrows under your skin, giving you dermal armor. IIRC, blood pebble even increased your resistance to magic.

Thread magic items come in two variants; simple and complex. Simple require karmic bonding, no biggie for any mage. Complex required ritual quests to establish a bond to the thread pattern. Then there was naming magic, aka True Pattern magic, which was rarely used due to the difficulty but incredibly powerful.

Simple thread magic items would be like weapon foci, that simply become sharper/faster/harder/etc. There were armors, shields, boots, etc. that boosted performance.

Advanced pattern objects required some quest, personal achievement or act (must kill a gargoyle, visit the place of the creator's birth, throw a silver coin over the shoulder with each use, etc) before you can activate certain powers. These are far more powerful and include special effects, like elemental energy, flight, or improved resistance to magic.

True Pattern artifacts were rare and unique. They were created by chance rather than intent. The Sock of Grimthok sticks out in my mind.

From memory and probably horribly paraphrased, Grimthok the orc warrior was ambushed by powerful paracritters in the middle of the night. He found himself in a brutal fight without even boots, or a complete pair of socks. Grimthok was a kind of martial artist and proceeded to literally kick the monsters to death, saving the entire village. His one sock became a symbol of the event.

If the owner of the Sock of Grimthok visited the site of the battle they gained the ability to deal devastating kick attacks. If they defeat a foe only using their feet they gain the ability to walk across any surface, even broken glass or lava. Should they defeat one of the creatures that ambushed Grimthok they can never be surprised while sleeping.
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Ancient History
post Mar 19 2007, 01:48 PM
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QUOTE (Grinder)
Thought we have to summon you by shouting your name thrice? :D

I'm a tad impatient.
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Grinder
post Mar 19 2007, 03:19 PM
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Never noticed that before, really.
(Really, there's no sarcasm in this post. ... And every time I read it, it seems to be more sarcastic. Drek.)
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fistandantilus4....
post Mar 19 2007, 03:52 PM
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*chuckle*
..May need to dig out the AH symbol again...
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eidolon
post Mar 19 2007, 05:05 PM
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Moved to Gen gaming for lack of SR relevance.
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