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BOOK OF TOMORROW
CONTENTS
Issue Five, July 2005
BOOKOFTOMORROW
TheEDPT’sEarthdawnFanzine
HowtoReachUs
Fate
4
Editorial Ofice
:
c/o S. Keith Graham
515 Roswell Hills Place
Roswell, GA 30075
United States of America
Something is rotten in the city of Urupa.
Written by CPD
SwordmasterFellowships
17
A source article describing organizations
that swordmasters may join.
Written by Stanley J. Brown
EditorialE-mail
:
editor@edpt.org
TheGreatestWarrior
3
Submissionsandcomments
:
edpt-fanzine@yahoogroups.com
A windling legend.
Written by Trevor Dreher
Action,ButatWhatCost?
6
MailingList
:
To subscribe
edpt-l-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To post a message
edpt-l@yahoogroups.com
A chance encounter in the Tylon
Mountains leads a group of adepts to
uncover a plot about which they would
have preferred to remain ignorant.
Written by Catherine E. Norman
Website
:
TheLegendofTriad
38
This is a legend of an adventuring group
named Triad and the three weapons and
items that made them legends.
Written by Steven James Black
ARTWORK
CoverArt
: Earl Geier
InternalArt
:
Mars Leclair (marsleclair@hotmail.com), Ron
Tilton, Susan van Camp
SelfDestruction
44
A new Horror for use in Earthdawn
campaigns.
Written by CPD
EDITING
Editor:
Kathy Czechowski
AssociateEditor
: Kevin Hallock
ContentReaders
: Patrick Breton, Tim Daly,
Catherine E. Norman, James Ritchie
Layout
: James Flowers
3
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Adopted on October 29,1999
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LICENSE
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EarthdawnAbbreviations
EDPT uses the following abbreviations for second and subse-
quent references to Earthdawn products.
ED
Earthdawn
ED
Earthdawn 2nd Edition
EDC
Earthdawn Companion
EDC
Earthdawn Companion 2nd Edition
EGM
Earthdawn Gamemaster Pack
D1
Denizens of Earthdawn, Vol. I
D
Denizens of Earthdawn, Vol. II
LE
Legends of Earthdawn
CoB
Creatures of Barsaive
AW
The Adept’s Way
HOR
Horrors
SR
Serpent River
BE
Book of Exploration
TDK
Throal: The Dwarf Kingdom
ESG
Earthdawn Survival Guide
BW
Blood Wood
TE
Theran Empire
SS
Secret Societies of Barsaive
CR
Crystal Raiders of Barsaive
CF
The Ork Nation of Cara Fahd
DRG
Dragons
MMS
Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets
AM
Arcane Mysteries of Barsaive
MoB
Mists of Betrayal
TiS
Terror in the Skies
Inf
Infected
Pad
Parlainth Adventures
SP
Shattered Pattern
Sky
Sky Point Adventures
Bla
Blades
Tad
Throal Adventures
PtW
Prelude to War
PoD
Path of Deception
BaW
Barsaive at War
BiC
Barsaive in Chaos
Bx
Barsaive Box
BxP
Explorer’s Guide to Barsaive
BxG
Barsaive Gamemaster’s Book
Px
Parlainth Box
PxG
Parlainth Gamemaster’s Guide (irst part of the book)
PxR
Ruins of Parlainth (second part of the book)
Vx
Sky Point & Vivane Box
VxB
Barsaivian Vivane
VxT
Theran Vivane
VxV
Vivane Province
BoT
Book of Tomorrow
CX
Codex Arcanus
Bjs
B’Jados
EDJ
Earthdawn Journal
4
FATE
Something is rotten in the city of Urupa.
Alassea heard wagon wheels groaning from around the
bend. Most trafic heading for Urupa either traveled along
the Coil using t’skrang riverboats, or hired a galley to take
it across to the shore. Land trafic had always been thin, and
even rarer still were land travelers who continued on during
the night hours.
Alassea patted Manso’s shaggy mane while the horse
gently nudged her with his nose. “I’m out of apples, Manso.
Begging won’t help you. Bet you two coppers it’s old lat-
toothed Katedahu and his squeaking cart.” The horse only
snorted and nudged her again.
Katedahu wasn’t the kind who cared much for traveling by
day. The light revealed too many secrets the ork would rather
keep unseen. Alassea igured he must have miscalculated his
last leg of the journey, or he simply believed Urupa’s ields
were safe enough to travel openly with his illegal cargo.
Was the old fart getting careless? She could take advan-
tage of it.
The thought brought bile up her throat and she spat on
the cold ground. She would rather work in Ealana’s pleasure
house than have any dealings with the ork slaver. Rubbing
some of the dawn chill off her numb ingers, Alassea tried to
decide if she cared enough to hide. It wasn’t so much that she
feared Katedahu, as much as she loathed the old ork.
The wagon inally emerged, two brawny granlains har-
nessed to it. The midsummer storm-soaked ground made
each step a struggle, and their pelts were muddy and glis-
tening with sweat. Katedahu was perched on the driver seat,
his brow furrowed. From time to time, he lashed his whip
at the poor beasts while his mouth never stopped muttering
streams of curses at them, at the road, at the Passions, and
at the world in general. For some reason he wasn’t accompa-
nied by his regular armed escort. Perhaps the slaver came on
lean times?
Then Alassea saw the troll.
An old troll community existed in Urupa, so Alassea
wasn’t entirely oblivious to the existence of the huge Name-
givers. In fact, one of the regulars at the Happy Maiden was
a troll, a dribbling, fat fool who went by the name of Tegrat
‘Can you spare me a copper?’. She didn’t think much of them,
but there was something about this particular troll that drew
the eye.
Most trolls went about like shambling mountains, obliv-
ious to their surroundings, completely conident in their
ability to tackle anything the world might throw at them.
Those among them who were more conscious of the little
Name-givers running around their feet walked with a hesi-
tant gait, their eyes always cast down, as if apologizing. This
troll did neither. He walked like a huge cat, almost as if his
feet were not touching the dirt. It was the stroll of a predator,
proud and graceful. She wondered how a slug like Katedahu
managed to convince such a Name-giver to accompany him.
Maybe it wasn’t lean times for the old miser after all?
She expected him to pull in beside her and make con-
versation. Chances were he was on his way to the Golden
Triangle to see her master and his colleagues, but as the
ork’s wagon drew near, he didn’t even wave in recognition.
Katedahu simply swerved his wagon, attempting to bypass
her cart from the left.
Good, pretend you don’t know me
. Alassea didn’t feel
like chitchatting either. She held tight on Manso’s reins, as
the old horse was always idgety around unfamiliar animals.
Suddenly her wagon shuddered, spilling some of the irewood
she collected that morning. A crushing sound followed.
Alassea looked down in alarm, though the she already
knew what she would see. Her wagon’s left front wheel was
interlocked with the slaver’s left rear wheel. The impact must
have been the inal straw for Katedahu’s spindle. His wheel
hung broken, and the entire wagon tilted dangerously to one
side.
“Ye pox-ridden ugly daughter of a thousand fathers! Who’s
the dolt who taught you cart driving? By sweet Lochost, I
swear your master is going to pay for every copper I’ve lost.”
“Odd choice of Passion to swear by for an ork of your pro-
fession, Katedahu. And anyway, it was your fault. My horse
was standing still.” Alassea felt her heart beat in contrast to
the bold words.
“I’ll tear out that snake tongue of yours, girl!” Katedahu
jumped off his seat and started towards her.
“You just come near, and I’ll show you who’ll cut who.”
Alassea picked up the small axe she used for chopping ire-
wood.
“Alright, you both calm down. No one is going to cut any-
body,” the troll said. His voice went a few octaves lower than
T
he pale sun had barely begun its ascent in the east when
human ability. “We have to igure a way to get the merchan-
dise to the city.”
“And how are we supposed to do that, after the vixen
broke my wagon? It will take a whole day to ix the wheel.”
Katedahu kicked Alassea’s wagon half-heartedly.
“We haven’t got all day,” the troll said. “The merchan-
dise must be delivered before noon. How about we dump the
irewood and use your wagon, lass? We could make it worth-
while to you.”
Alassea’s look shifted between her cart and the troll. As
if he had read her mind, the huge Name-giver stepped for-
ward and gently took the reins from her hands. “What say
you, lass?”
Well, it could have been worse. He could have taken what-
ever he needed without pretending to give her choice.
“My master is going to beat me black and blue if I don’t
bring the irewood in time. I say ifteen coppers is a just com-
pensation.” At least she might squeeze some proit out of a
bad situation.
“Done!” The troll spit on his palm and reached towards
Alassea in a humanlike gesture. She felt cheated, realizing
she should have made a better bargain. Still, ifteen coppers
was a small fortune for her.
In less than a minute, the troll got rid of a pile it took her
two hours to collect. She held onto Manso’s reins, while he
neatly packed her wagon with heavy crates. The hard work
made him sweat, despite the cold. He took off his coat, reveal-
ing two huge and dangerous-looking axes sitting crosswise
on his broad back.
“I could use a hand here, you lazy tusker.” The troll pointed
at two huge crates covered by green canvas. Katedahu spat in
answer, but a sharp glance from the troll made him run over.
That was strange, she had irst igured the Troll to be a
simple caravan guard, could it be that Katedahu had decided
to take a partner? That was really out of character for him,
the ork has always been own boss. She started whistling a
happy tune. Seeing Katedahu like that was almost worth the
inconvenience of losing her pile of wood.
“What are you so smug about?” Katedahu scoffed. “Don’t
think I won’t tell Kebain about the ifteen coppers you’ve
made. He’ll put you to the jigger, both for losing the ire wood
and for trying to leece a deal on him.” Alassea gave him the
buunda
, though she made sure his back was turned.
With the ork’s help, the troll removed the canvas from the
crates, which were actually two wooden cages. A blond skinny
creature with a hanging, wrinkled bluish skin was chained in
the irst cage. Alassea considered Urupa the most cosmopol-
itan city in Barsaive, yet she had never seen his kind before.
He looked a bit like an ork made to go on bread and water for
a year and a day. With Katedahu, she wouldn’t be surprised if
this was truly the case.
The other cage held a more mundane Name-giver. Like
Alassea, the young girl in the cage was elven, but that’s where
the resemblance ended. While calling Alassea plain would
have stretched the truth a bit, the girl was the epitome of
beauty. High cheekbones, noble nose, perfect lips, and silky
black hair, which would make even the Queen of the Blood
Elves, turn green with envy.
Unconsciously, Alassea scratched her bald scalp: her
master liked his employees free of lice. She wondered what it
would feel like to be so beautiful, then the girl tried to stretch,
and her arm hit the bars. Alassea decided that she wouldn’t
care to trade places after all.
“A nice gem, isn’t she? Ealana would pay a hefty sum, eh?”
Katedahu thumped his chest.
“Where did you get your hands on such a girl, Katedahu?”
Alassea said. “She looks high born. Someone like her is bound
to have an angry relatives somewhere.”
“Stupid little girls shouldn’t meddle in matters not con-
cerning them!”
Alassea showed him her tongue.
“When my business is done, I’ll buy you from Kebain.
There are plenty of brothels in the south where lonely Theran
soldiers are posted. I hear they are willing to take even ugly
little frogs like yourself.”
“I’m not a slave. You can get the noose for buying free men
in Urupa.” Alassea said.
“I can buy your mother’s debt from Kebain.” Katedahu
smile displayed a row of yellow rotten teeth.
Alassea didn’t have anything to say to that, mainly because
he was right. She was a slave in every aspect save name. Her
mother sold her against a gambling debt, promising to return
the money in a year and a day. That was sixteen years ago.
Her mom was long dead, and she once calculated she would
be one thousand three hundred by the time she managed to
pay Kebain what her mom originally owed. Katedahu could
buy her mother’s debt from Kebain, and then she would be
his to do with as he wished.
At last, with the ork’s help, the troll managed to get the
cages onto her cart. He replaced Manso with one of the stur-
dier looking granlain. “Your wagon can’t take me as well. I’ll
walk beside you, lass,” he said. “Mind you, take care to drive
carefully.” He placed a few coins inside her ist.
She opened up her palm, and was stunned to see two
Brazas, golden Throal coins, twinkling among the coppers.
The troll gave her a meaningful wink and placed his inger
to his lips. “This would do as a small compensation for any
trouble with your master lass.”
She nodded her thanks. It was far more than a small
compensation. During her entire life she never owned half
as much.
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