This article originally appeared in d20 Weekly
The Ebon Mirror
Published by Atlas Games
Written by Keith Baker
Illustrated by C. Brent Ferguson, Lee Moyer, Scott Reeves and Steven Sanders
96-page perfect bound book; $16.95
The Ebon Mirror is the eleventh Penumbra title from Atlas Games, and for want of a better description, Keith Baker has authored a cliché. This quick and rather dirty description is not intended to be derogatory; it is the adventure's basic ideas that are the cliché, and not the whole package. The Ebon Mirror is designed for a party of eighth to tenth level characters, and as the title suggests takes the party into a mirror world.
This scenario begins with the heroes on the road and stopping overnight at an inn. There an Elven woman, Merita Aolias, asks them to transport a chest to her village, Shareth-en-La, as her calling takes her elsewhere. She is a member of an order dedicated to the destruction of cursed magical items and artifacts, some of which currently sit in the chest. Among these items is an axe with a rather manic-depressive personality -- and an ego to match -- that will play a useful role in the party's forthcoming sojourn. Naturally the axe is rather irritating, so the DM should have fun roleplaying this NPC, as well as using it to provide a hint or two along the way if needed.
[SPOILER ALERT]
Once upon the road, a strange encounter with a wrecked wagon sends the party somewhere else. Initially all should appear normal, but they will quickly discover that not everything seems to work as it should. . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: July 10, 2002
Copyright © 2002 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.