I have two players making a special trip up for Thanksgiving who are between 125 and 165 total karma... one a mage, the other a physical adept. The mage player asked if I could run a game in either the CR, Poland, or possibly Russia. I thought it would be best to use the new SOE for this, so I nailed it down to the CR. Anyhow, I have some questions that I hope maybe someone can give their opinions on.

1) I found the shadowtalk blurb on the legend of the Rabbi Loew (D6W, Schwartzkopf section) particularly interesting. Am I to understand that this legend sprung from the idea that there was some sort of master homunculis that protected the region of Prague, possibly created by Schwartzkopf to do so? Also, thoughts about using Qabbalists and golems (I saw an X-files episode once about this and it was done pretty well).

2) Is the main point of contention with the University of Prague and her enemies, the building of the Great Library, or is there more to this story?

3) D6W mentions that there are bounties on shedim, blood mages, Aleph members, and other spirits. Anyone know the size of these bounties? Also, which book has the Aleph Society in it? Either I'm overlooking it or I don't have it.

4) Anyone know a bit more of the story to what's going on with the connection between Schwartzkopf, Ghostwalker, and Lung? Besides whats written in SK's intro... I'm interested if there's any buzz on 4th world alliances possibly between the three. I know very little regarding the 4th world, so if I'm speaking out of line here, keep the wet trout in check.

5) Is Schwartzkopf's "voice" (Romanov, dean of University of Prague) a drake or spirit or something? Why the quotation marks?

Thanks.

i'd assume that schwartz's "voice" serves the same capacity that dunk's did. the quotes add emphasis, since the word isn't being used in its normal capacity.

How common is the name Romanov in Eastern Europe these days? Is it similar to Miller or Smith in the US where many people have the same last name and need not have an actual geneological relationship? Only ask because of the name's obvious connections to Tsarist Russia and the fun of connecting lost Tsarist dynasties to sixth world dragons and plots to save (or in Schawtzy's case educate) the world.

Well I did some more reading and I think I narrowed my story down a bit for them. I think I'm going to go with a story revolving around a master shedim who either:

a) Takes over the body of Akahira Toshimasa, head of Mitsuhama's Thaumaturgical Research Division and hires the runners to investigate the Bone Church of Sedlec. There's reference to MTRD being responsible for the shedim outbreak in Prague the year prior and the Shinto religion judging Toshimasa as an "evil sorcerer." This sounds like the basis for him to be master shedim, no? Or...

b) Takes over the body of a Doanescu Rom talislegger who hires the runner to retrieve bones from the church. The runners will be hired to acquire bones from the church with the idea that they'll be paid well for their black market value (fits with the information given in the section on the Josefov district area).

Either way, I'm thinking that since master shedim are said to have a twisted sort of interest in the physical world and Threats 2 also eludes to the fact that they may have a desire to amass standard shedim under their control, this would be a plausible type of situation.

If I go this route, I'm considering having the Order of St. Sylvester send a father/mage to intercept the information about the run and arrange a meet with the runners at The Drum (which sounds like the local night hot spot in Prague). Before he can give them information regarding what the Bone Church actually does, he will be murdered... either by Mitsuhama goons or by the master shedim himself. If the runners investigate the murder, they'll be able to eventually gain the information the father was going to give them.

This brings up my next question. There's not a lot written about Kutna Hora Ossuary, but enough to whet my appetite. Is whatever is inside that is "collecting" shedim speculation only, or is there some other canon snippet somewhere that explains this a bit more? If not, anyone care to take some stabs or toss some ideas my way? I've gone from thinking that a master shedim is inside to a new type of spirit, possibly one of bone? Ideas?

Also, anyone care to throw in their 2 as to what the barrier mechanics are for the church? SOE implies that the shedim could possibly be released by ignorant runners. I'm curious as to all of your thoughts on how this might be possible.

Either way this run goes (whether by talislegging or by MTRD's interest), I'm planning on Jehuda ben Belazel showing up via the eyes and ears network of gypsies in the area with a team of golems to stop anyone foolish enough to go through with the plan. I'm hoping there's enough warning lights by that point in the story to get the runners to not go through with the run and instead figure out a way to remove the master shedim from his position of power. Phew! Thoughts...

All cool ideas. I'll check with my co-writers to see if there's any unused material we can actually send your way though I don't think so. We intentionally left elements of the Ossuary vague to allow just the type of tweaking you are planning. Regarding the barrier it creates - it seems to be tied to the structure itself (possibly connected to the bones grafted into the stonework), unidirectional (spirits seem to be able to get in but then can't get out) and pretty high-powered (whether a natural phenomena, because its been reinforced by third parties or because the Ossuary is built on something much more ancient as a lot of churches in the area are wont to do is pretty much up to the GM).

That would be cool if you could find anything else out that was possibly not used, Syn. Although, I suppose its not imperative. I can invent quite a bit. I did a bit of research on all of the elements of the run I'm planning (got some ethnic music, shots of Prague/Kutna Hora/Charles University/and the Ossuary... which is pretty damn creepy both inside and out, and information on the Rabbi Loew). It's interesting that the legend of the golem spoke of the rabbi inserting Hebrew text into the mouth of the golem before inscribing the qabbalistic markings on his forehead. Thought that was some nice flavor. Also, it was interesting to read that the golem he created supposedly went "insane" and started running amok, killing anything living in sight. I noticed that Jehuda ben Belazel's name shared a root in Loew's name, IIRC.

Probably my last question, but does anyone know of any 4th World/ED crossover information relative to the area of the Czech Republic or Prague?

Not specifically, but I think the Czech Rep. (and Central/Eastern Europe in general) was Earthdawn's world, mostly. I'm a little fuzzy on everything myself, but it would imply that something or other probably happened around Prague at some point...

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