"Illegal Magic"

Discussion on game mastering Earthdawn. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
Telarus
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Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 1:16 am
"Illegal Magic"

Post by Telarus » Sat Sep 16, 2017 6:45 pm

Sometimes, the local political factions _really_ don't like certain flavors of magic. Mere possession of a copy of the following spell is outlawed in the large central Dwarven kingdom of Throal, and all allied-by-treaty powers.

Nergul's Vengful Limb
(3rd Edition stats)
Nethermancy (Circle 7)
Threads: 3
Weaving: 12 / 20 Casting: TSD
Range: 4 yards (2 hexes) Duration: Rank rounds
Effect: WIL + 8/Physical

The fate of the elf Nethermancer Nergul is widely recorded. Having bound what he perceived to be a 'lesser' horror to his will, he began to extract the being's knowledge of spellcasting and Nethermancy. Through a series of Tests of Wills that lasted through days (and a lunar eclipse), Nergul learned dark secrets from the utter depravity of a life-hungry mind born from the dust of the void. What Nergul didn't expect was what was waiting for him after the lunar eclipse. This remains unrecorded, although some whisper about Chantrel's Horror, or even Buualgathor - the Horror Hunter. All that is known is that Nergul attracted SOMETHING's attention with all the high-mana wards and precautions.

He was found near his Bone Circle, his limbs had been removed as if from a clay figurine, skin smoothed over the remains of shoulder and hip joints. His limbs were found in disarray nearby, each having been charred by magic with rings and boot buckles melted to slag. The Chantry's Wizard pronounced cause of death from self strangulation, and multiple broken ribs and blows to the abdomen. He noted in his report that even the bruises around Nergul's neck matched his own dominant hand and set of enchanted rings.

Nergul's laboratory was then filled with a new mixture of lime, pumice, volcanic ash, and water that our Dwarven brethren have been developing and sealed with orichalcum wards out to the intersection of the nearest hallway. What is not in the official history is the Spell that was found burned into the cover of Nergul's grimoire. No one knows how other copies began to circulate, but the spell is now illegal in Throal and all aligned territories.

This spell requires moonlight to cast. After weaving the threads, the caster 'plucks' a beam of moonlight out of the air, which becomes a thin blade used to separate the target from one of his limbs. See the Damage to a Limb table for the scale of effects to use.

The 'Rebel Limb' now has a malevolent will of it's own, glowing with green and black fire. It will attack it's former owner for the duration of the spell, causing Wil+8 damage per round. If the former owner of the limb dies during the duration, the limb(s) will incinerate themselves, leaving a sulfurous stain that is nearly impossible to remove.

If the target survives the casting(s), he regains control of his limb(s) but it remains detached (and healthy) until the character can spend a Recovery test while pressing the limb against the severed joint to reattach it.

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Best used if actual copies are rare or exaggerated rumors.

In the game I ran, the Party was interviewed by the Eye of Throal about the spell after they took out a Nethermancer that had summoned a Crystal Entity into the sewers under Bartertown (& the CE and the Nethermancer had enslaved and started to twist the patterns of a Bog Gob tribe that lived down there). The really nasty part of that adventure was when the Horror Marked Bog Gobs would stick themselves to the player, and the the Crystal Entity would cast it's Crystal Spikes spell through the Bog Gob (damaging both it and the PC). The Eye of Throal was very concerned that "Nergul's Vengeful Limb" may have been in the corrupted Nethermancer's grimoire.

That adventure was called "Dude, Where's My Cart" because the party Weaponsmith Adept's cart (& tools) were stolen by the tainted Bog Gobs (they were trying to get the Crystal Entity out of the sewers, as it had manifested into a stone coffin in the Nethermancer's work-room down on sewer level, which made it too heavy for the Nethermancer and the Gobs to carry anywhere).

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