[Beta]

That was a big help, thanks!  Have been quickly skimming info, and will read in more detail later.  And of course more information breeds more questions …

How much world geography was known in the Earthdawn era?  In particular, did they know about the Americas and Australia, travel there, etc.?  (and where was, roughly, ‘Atlantis.’)

Related, was the Blood Wood in one place, or more of a term for a number of places?  If one place, where was it?  With the ritual of thorns, were the elves just lying there in unspeakable agony, or were they somewhat functional and ambulatory while being in unspeakable agony?  (i.e. were they doing things while being thorny, or was that just ‘and then five hundred years or torture happened’)

Were the horrors around until magic dropped? (i.e. until they couldn’t survive here anymore), or were they actually driven out somehow before then?  (and likewise, was the ritual of thorns running until the magic dropped off, or were they able to cancel it with the horrors gone).

I’m looking at an immortal elf character who was of no great import in the fourth age -- or if being an immortal automatically put one into the upper echelons of society perhaps he was frivolous, more of a playboy or dilettante.  Was society more feudal (inherited privilege), meritocratic (positioned earned by deeds/knowledge, or whatever the term would be for ‘run by those with the most magic.’  (given the importance of a certain queen, I’m assuming nothing like democratic).  Got any suggestions on an appropriate position/title/etc. for such a person back then?

[Aria]

How much world geography was known in the Earthdawn era?  In particular, did they know about the Americas and Australia, travel there, etc.?  (and where was, roughly, ‘Atlantis.’)

ED was principally focused around Eastern Europe (Barsaive), the Theran Empire (notionally the 'baddies') ruled from 'Atlantis / Thera' which was in the Med.  Their empire stretched from Ireland, east to India (ish) and into the northern parts of Africa - made up of various provinces (Barsaive was a former province).  There wasn't much mention of the Americas or Australia as far as I recall, we'll assume they were heathen Badlands    ...try Googling Theran Empire, there's a fairly poorly scanned map image...

Oh, and the Therans had flying mountains and there are also flying ships so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that most of the globe had been scoped to some degree or other...

Related, was the Blood Wood in one place, or more of a term for a number of places?  If one place, where was it?  With the ritual of thorns, were the elves just lying there in unspeakable agony, or were they somewhat functional and ambulatory while being in unspeakable agony?  (i.e. were they doing things while being thorny, or was that just ‘and then five hundred years or torture happened’)

Blood Wood is approximately where Chernobyl is!  It was one of the main elven Kingdoms.  The thorns were painful but the elves still functioned, they just didn't wear much armour!

Were the horrors around until magic dropped? (i.e. until they couldn’t survive here anymore), or were they actually driven out somehow before then?  (and likewise, was the ritual of thorns running until the magic dropped off, or were they able to cancel it with the horrors gone).

The horrors left, nothing drove them off except the reduction in mana.  The thorns stayed until the fifth age I believe?!

I’m looking at an immortal elf character who was of no great import in the fourth age -- or if being an immortal automatically put one into the upper echelons of society perhaps he was frivolous, more of a playboy or dilettante.  Was society more feudal (inherited privilege), meritocratic (positioned earned by deeds/knowledge, or whatever the term would be for ‘run by those with the most magic.’  (given the importance of a certain queen, I’m assuming nothing like democratic).  Got any suggestions on an appropriate position/title/etc. for such a person back then?

ED was written as a 'high fantasy' setting with a back drop of gothic horror.  There were various forms of society and being an immortal didn't by itself grant any special rank (you probably kept quiet about it even then!)...so feel free to make up more or less what you want

Blood Elves (and the other elven kingdoms), obviously feudal, Barsaive (run by the dwarfs) was democratic I think, Thera was a magocracy...

[Beta]

I'm definitely planning on having one of his few fourth age memories being the thorns ... so I guess that makes him a Theran elf who probably kept a low profile about his immortality to avoid the notice of the higher ups in the empire.  Sound reasonable?

ETA: re geography, interestingly the 'less-weak mana' period in Central America is before there was really any confirmed European or Asiatic contact with the Americas.  I'd been toying with the idea that he'd been following the mana hot 'less-glacially-cold' spots, but I guess they wouldn't have even known what was going on in Central America at the time?

[Mercy Merchant]

I have put up a two-part intro to my SoP character in the Fan Fiction board of this Forum.  If you would care to read it, please look at the Chats with a Dragon thread.  I would appreciate any comments, positive or negative.  For those that have seen part of this, I have expanded it a bit.  I hope that it is good, but please let me know either way.

[Mercy Merchant]

I have a basic character up on OP as SoP Sian.

[Aria]

I have put up a two-part intro to my SoP character in the Fan Fiction board of this Forum.  If you would care to read it, please look at the Chats with a Dragon thread.  I would appreciate any comments, positive or negative.  For those that have seen part of this, I have expanded it a bit.  I hope that it is good, but please let me know either way.

Read it through again...an interesting spin on the Vampire...a metaplanar vamp!  Only real change I'd like... you'll need to modify your arrival point to the end of the fourth age I suspect...otherwise you are about twice as old as the other characters!  Haven't checked your stats yet but I hope your relationship with Swartz is high!!! 

[Mercy Merchant]

Thank you for reading the story. 

I can certainly change the arrival date.  I am thinking that she will have a 6 for association with the dragon.

[adamu]

@Aria/SFW - sorry, was going to have Al pick up some tidbits that might keep people alive for a few minutes (or seconds) if things start to get unexpectedly wet, but reviewing the thread on details of this place, I got confused...

So Aria you said that this place was deep (emphasis yours), but that it was one atmosphere, which is a depth of ten meters. So you mean they keep the interior of the facility at a one-atmosphere pressure (in other words, air pressure at sea level), but that outside the facility is very deep (very high pressure)?

Just want to clarify.
Can you tell us (now that we've granted ourselves the schematics!!!!) exactly how deep? Thinking not only about pressure, but also light, distance to surface, etc.

Seems if we exit the aqualogy without a vehicle = dead. But never know what mishaps might happen in transit at more survivable depths, so good to be prepared....

[adamu]

Aaaand, because I don't want to wait -

made up some gear. The books are pretty unimaginative - they jump from a generic diving gear package (pretty much a full scuba set-up including a two-hour air supply) in the core book to a bunch of armor and helmets and stuff in the gun book.

But the full face mask in the gun book looks promising, as it says it can be fitted with accessories.

Was thinking of adding light, transceiver, and a mini-air supply small enough to just fit in the mask's frame - maybe five minutes.

Just something that will keep someone functional (see, talk, breathe) if they are extra-vehicle for a short time.

So buying five of those. Without accessories these go for Y300, so shelling out Y1,000 a pop. Don't say i never gave ya nothin'.

Next post will show my own personal load-out, and what I put in the crate....

[adamu]

My gear list I came here with.

* = with me going in
** = in the crate

plus my new doohickey described above, and my fancy new IDs, of course.

[spoiler]Tonga Gear List

All my ware is totally legal. Sec mages will read Al as an adept, but since not a mage I don’t think they do the mage mask thing…

Using R6 Silas McTavish ID w/ security license and R6 licenses for Remington 990 and Remington 950, I will check the following in luggage:

Survival knife (wireless off), with lockpick set secreted in handle **
Rem 990  **
Rem 950
16 regular cartridges (2 clips) of buckshot (regular flechette rounds) for 990 **
10 regular rounds for 950
(no unusual accessories)
Wire cutters **
Miniwelder **
Low-light flashlight **
R6 medkit + rapid infuser & five units HemoSynth

Then in my carry-on/wearing/in pockets:

Fairlight Caliban w/McTavish ID  *
MetaLink with other R6 ID (Hezekiah Malachi) 
Armor jacket  *
Microtransceiver  *
Tag eraser
Stim Patches (R3 x3)  *
Trauma Patches (x10)
Antidote Patch (R6 x1)
5 doses Neostigmine
5 doses Ondanstron         
Metal Restraints (mechanical lock; spare key
sewn inside waistband of trousers at small of back)   **

_____________________________________Personal items *
Wool socks (pair x2)
Beat up Doc Marten’s workman’s boots
Formerly white T-shirt x3
Formerly white tank top x2
Boxer shorts (x2)
Ancient jeans
Brown leather belt, cracked with age
Olive-drab cargo pants
Red bandanna
Old no-tech goggles
Old style canteen w/shoulder strap
“Fetishes”
Big stainless steel Zippo
Lucky Strikes
_______________________________________
Two decks of cards (old cars and Thai porn stars)
Toothbrush/toothpaste
The Expert at the Card Table (hardcover)
Telling Tales: Bringing the Red Samurai to Life (hardcover)
Y1,000 cash

To be purchased once we get there (all legal, all should be readily available without attracting attention in Tonga)
Diving gear for four people in our basic body sizes
Nautical tool kit
Diving tool kit[/spoiler]
[/quote]

[Aria]

@Aria/SFW - sorry, was going to have Al pick up some tidbits that might keep people alive for a few minutes (or seconds) if things start to get unexpectedly wet, but reviewing the thread on details of this place, I got confused...

So Aria you said that this place was deep (emphasis yours), but that it was one atmosphere, which is a depth of ten meters. So you mean they keep the interior of the facility at a one-atmosphere pressure (in other words, air pressure at sea level), but that outside the facility is very deep (very high pressure)?

Just want to clarify.
Can you tell us (now that we've granted ourselves the schematics!!!!) exactly how deep? Thinking not only about pressure, but also light, distance to surface, etc.

Seems if we exit the aqualogy without a vehicle = dead. But never know what mishaps might happen in transit at more survivable depths, so good to be prepared....

Exactly that... I don't want to be too specific about depth, but go outside without a hardshell / sub at the sea bed and you will get squished!  Inside the pressure is maintained at surface levels (yes I know that technically that's crazy but with modern construction methods etc it's a damn sight more comfortable for the inhabitants and they can come and go at will without weeks of decompression).  It's dark down at the bottom, and even darker in the Tonga trench that the facility is sitting next to, don't drop off the side!!!

Noted on the gear, no problem...just remember that radio waves travel reeeeealy poorly underwater, but if you don't mind people listening in you can put in a hydrophone+encryption

[adamu]

Hydro-what?

Sounds really cool, actually, but considering that Al just dropped quickly into a rich-people's dive shop, probably pushing it!

Anyway, these things are more for desperate survival measures than sustained operations - if we have to use them, we're probably already doomed!

[Aria]

@SFW: Out of time for the weekend as ever 

If you want to post your way on to the pontoon that's fine...clearly there's some kind of antennae problem???  Probably best if you let some NPCs go down the 'lift' first 

All told it'll probably take 2-3 trips to get everyone down, each lift holds 10 and there are 2 lifts

Let's hope your crate arrived 

[Jack_Spade]

Since Forbidden Arcana is out, I'd like to propose to incorporate one of it's new features:

[spoiler=THE MENTOR’S MASK]
Formerly known as the Shaman’s Mask, the Mentor’s Mask is a side effect that any magician with a Mentor spirit may chose. Once chosen, the mask is always in effect when they use magic and may not be switched off. A Mentor’s Mask is a side effect of using magic, bleeding some energy off to create an illusion of the character’s Mentor around them that can be seen on the material plane, making their magic more obvious but less taxing. Characters who have a Mentor’s Mask effect reduce all Drain by 1, but the threshold for noticing them using magic is lowered by 3 to a minimum of 1 (see p. 280, SR5). Adepts may also choose to have a Mentor’s Mask if they have a Mentor spirit, which they will manifest whenever using an adept power. An adept who chooses to have a mask gains 1 bonus Power Point but generate a mask whenever using any of their adept powers. The threshold for noticing this effect is 6 – (4 x total Power Point cost of the power being used). Thus, a character using Critical Strike will have a threshold of (6 – (4 x 0.5)) or 4, while one using Improved Reflexes 2 will have a threshold of (6 – (4 x 2.5)) or 1 (which is the minimum for the threshold). The exact nature of the mask varies based on the character, but at a minimum a glowing version of the mentor’s head is imposed over the character’s own (thus the “mask” name for the effect) but a second voice like the mentor’s cry, fur or feather markings across their body, illusory claws or talons
on their limbs, and so forth are commonplace as the threshold lowers.
[/spoiler]

Having the Form of St. George overlay as a glowing aura when Isaint starts to sling his power around sounds gorgeous 

[Aria]

Not a problem! Although I've not read it all yet I'm happy to incorporate FA stuff