[Location] Daffodil Town and Kaer

Discussion on game mastering Earthdawn. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
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Lars Gottlieb
Posts:47
Joined:Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:28 am
[Location] Daffodil Town and Kaer

Post by Lars Gottlieb » Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:44 pm

Daffodil Town is a bustling village laid out on the floodplain of a tributary to the Great Mother in northern Landis. It was established just a couple years ago, when the nearby Kaer opened up to the world above.
The village is surrounded on one side by the riverbank, opposite that, a few hundred meters away by a rock scree that holds the entrance to the Kaer, and to either side first pens of cattle, goats and chickens, then fields of mostly barley. The houses are arranged in a circle, the square in the middle taken up by a sunken and tiered bonfire site, large enough to easily seat all of the villagers.
A small jetty pokes out from the riverbank, and there are a few simple hide-over-wood canoes and drying nets arranged near the bank.
The 120 villagers, who are all humans with a curious trace of elven blood, still mostly live inside the Kaer for protection, but the braver few have moved into a couple of the houses outside; the rest are a butchers workshop, a tannery, a carpentry and a smithy.
They are warily curious to humans or elves, most other races will be asked nicely to stay away, but windlings will be considered possessed by Invae spirits, and treated with open hostility and fear.

The kaer, if reached, is simple, the defenses formidable yet ruggedly simple:
The entrance is concealed beneath a round boulder, enchanted to roll easily to the side.
Behind it is a 3m tunnel, well made and maintained and lined in bricks of the local grey granite. A little bit inside, the tunnal turns sharply left, at the endwall a leather curtain covers the entrance to a simple room.
The room is dominated by three large fresco paintings of the heroes of the Kaer, and a large stone table in the middle of the room, covered with writing. Illumination comes from a tiny hole in the ceiling. Anyone glancing at the text must pass a willpower 15 test to look away or be engrossed in the tales of the heroes depicted. The flagstones are covered in eight hundred years of blood and gore from the invaders that were killed here by defenders, shooting from the room above.
Following the bend, the hall ends in a t-junction where the floor is clearly worn round and slants a little downwards to the left; again the floor is stained. On the far wall is a large plaque, inscribed with the same enchanted texts as are in the room; it is covered by another leather curtain, unless the village is under attack.
Following the hall to the left, it soon ends in a round hole, the full width of the tunnel; about 10 meters down the rounded top of a spherical boulder can be seen.
Following the hall to the right, it soon opens up to a large cavern, at least 50 meters across on both sides, 20m up to the dark ceiling, and a chasm below. A narrow bridge is crossing the chasm, 4 huge axe heads are mounted on chains, ready to swing across the bridge sweeping off anyone crossing, on the far side a series of boulders are arranged ready to roll down the length of the bridge, and from a series of battlements above, the noses of several fire cannon and bolt throwers can be made out. The opening of the tunnel is brightly illuminated with focused light quartzes, and scored and blackened with soot and the remains of past invaders. The floor of the chasm is just visible, showing hundreds of tall, rusty spikes ready to impale anyone choosing to leap out of the way of the rolling boulders.
From the battlements above, an elevator can be hoisted down to make it easier for the villagers to get in and out.

Most notable villagers are the village Matriarch, a tall middle aged woman called Burasa Ginasa, her husband the Shaman Trark Ginasa and the elf Nethermancer and Pathwalker Mirrah of Landis, who claims to have guarded the Kaer since it was built.

Telarus
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Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 1:16 am

Re: [Location] Daffodil Town and Kaer

Post by Telarus » Mon Aug 21, 2017 1:24 am

Neat. Thanks for sharing.

Slimcreeper
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Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:44 pm

Re: [Location] Daffodil Town and Kaer

Post by Slimcreeper » Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:31 am

That bridge is no joke! Has the bridge been partially destroyed in the past and repaired? Are they still tending the kaer or letting it decay?

Lars Gottlieb
Posts:47
Joined:Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:28 am

Re: [Location] Daffodil Town and Kaer

Post by Lars Gottlieb » Tue Aug 22, 2017 4:00 am

Thanks, and no.

Over 800 years, some repairs must have been made here and there; it looks frighteningly efficient though.

Most of the villagers still live in there, mostly the old and infirm; those who have lived their entire lives with solid rock above their heads, to whom the open sky is alien and fearsome.

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