Happy Hell-o-ween everybody! Yours truly has just put the finishing touches on his annual Halloween Traveller Terror-fest...here are the pertinent details...
Ozymandias
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
1792-1822
A terrifying cross-platform Traveller Adventure for
4-6 characters in Five Acts.
The Setting:
A sparsely settled system on the rimward-trailing
extents of the Solomani Rim.
The Adventurers:
The PC’s are crewmembers aboard the 800-ton
“Excavator” Class Salvor the “Corsican Wind” – a ship
designed to assist in the hostile-environment recovery
of planet-bound material.
Becca Blackburn – The Captain and Owner. (Solomani)
Tal Rae Kim – The Pilot and First Mate. Somewhat of a
mystic and Tarot card reader. (Solomani)
Athsperrin – Chief Engineer and Second Mate. (Vargr)
Garrh’egh - First Engineer’s Mate, the life mate of
Athsperrin (Vargr), and a Skull-Juggler.
Arrgharran - Second Engineer’s Mate and daughter of
Athsperrin and Garrghl’n’rough. (Vargr)
Iniri “Trigger” Ashaka’ashaar – Gunnery/Demolitions
Officer and Third Mate. (Vilani)
Wu De-shi “Hacksaw” Cheng – Medical/Science Officer.
(Solomani)
The NPC’s:
The NPC’s are members of a Solomani Combat
Archaeology team, stationed on the planet to
investigate the remains of an ancient civilization.
SolSec dispatched this unit after the initial
exploration team uncovered several “bizarre” alien
artifacts – the lethality of which prompted military
concern. The initial explorers have been quarantined
by SolSec, and continue to be debriefed.
Maj. Karri – An archaeologist.
Capt. Dutton – A medical doctor.
Lt. Lightfoot – A biologist.
Lt. Mac Rae – A xeno-anthropologist.
Sgt. Skinner – The senior NCO.
Sgt. Hanstaaf – Exploration Team Leader
Cpl. Meirs – Team One Leader.
Cpl. Sand – Team Two Leader
Team One:
Pvt.’s Walker, Sun, Wood, James, Shin
Team Two:
Pvt.’s Tallinn, Bayonne, Anderson, O’Halloran, Kemper
The Job:
The “Corsican Wind” has been contracted by a
Solomani concern, “ExploSolomani” to assist with the
excavation and recovery of several large alien
artifacts on the outermost planet of an earth-like
solar system. The planet itself is an unusual
interstellar rogue, a “wandering planet” which has
only recently (within the last hundred-thousand years)
made its way into the system. Set well-off the
system’s plane of the ecliptic, the world has entered
its orbital perihelion and its surprisingly dense
atmosphere, which had frozen solid, has been slowly
sublimating for the past several centuries. The planet
is now shrouded in a foggy soup of methane, nitrogen,
and carbon monoxide.
The Concern:
“ExploSolomani”, or more commonly “ExSol”, is a
front for SolSec and the organization’s interests in
the control and acquisition of alien technology.
Referred to by operatives as simply “The Company” or
“The Organization”, ExSol subcontracts work to small
private firms, or individuals on a case-by-case basis.
The Situation:
Act One:
The characters make planetfall and commence
operations to help uncover several large granite
statues from the frozen remnants of the planet’s
atmosphere. The work is tension-filled and exacting,
requiring intense concentration on the tasks at-hand.
Clearing each statue will require 2D6+4 hours of work,
and there are seven statues “The Company” wants freed.
The GM should roll several times for mishaps to occur
every two-hours spent trying to free the artifacts.
At this time, the PC Tal Rae Kim should have ample
opportunity to do Tarot card “readings” for his fellow
PC’s and several interested NPC’s. During each reading
the “Death” card, and the “Tower” card will turn up –
even after a thorough shuffling and reshuffling of the
deck. This should be played up as an eerie occurrence.
Kim himself will realize there is something VERY
unsettling about this. The Vargr Skull-Juggler, Garrh’egh, should also be allowed to present a performance...one which should effectively create an unsettled mood. After all, the performance is done as a reminder of the temporary nature of life and all its pleasures.
Act Two:
Clearing the fourth artifact will also uncover an
artifical pit which leads into a vast, empty chamber
beneath the statue. Since the PC’s contract does not
cover “exploration” (only excavation), a member of The
Company’s party, Pvt. Sun, will descend into the pit.
Sun relays back both video and an audio dialogue of
what he encounters. The cavern he explores is
surprisingly lit from some sort of luminescent deposit
on the surrounding rocks. There is just enough ambient
light to make out huge, hulking figures frozen in the
darkness. As Sun plays his lights across each of these
figures, bursts of static are carried across the
audio/video monitors on the surface.
After about ten minutes of exploration, Sun reaches
an immense archway leading into another chamber.
Several seconds after entering the arch, all
communications with Sun are lost. Several tense
minutes pass by as the exploration team tries to
re-establish contact, and Maj. Karri decides to send
in a rescue party which has been standing-by.
As soon as the party prepares to enter the pit,
Sun’s A/V link comes back on-line. Those monitoring
him will only detect the sound of labored, panicky
breathing, and the jolting of the camera as Sun runs
across the floor of the pit. He makes it several feet
before collapsing.
The rescue party enters and retrieves Sun, who is
hustled off to The Company’s outpost – but not before
regaining consciousness and shrieking wildly. He is
quickly sedated and put under the immediate care of
Capt. Dutton.
Maj. Karri decides a thorough investigation of Sun’s
A/V records is in order before any further exploration
is conducted.
Act Three:
Work has been temporarily suspended in the aftermath
of the collapse of Pvt. Sun. The PC’s are left to kill
time as best they can in the time being (although they
realize they’re getting paid for every day they sit
around and twiddle their thumbs).
An entire day should pass-by with no work being
accomplished, save the opportunity to conduct routing
maintenance on the Corsican Wind. It isn’t until the
overnight hours that things begin to really get
strange.
Just after the accepted “lights-out” sleep period
arrives, an emergency transmission from The Company
compound will be made to the Corsican Wind. In the
background emergency klaxons can be heard, and a
wildly-distorted voice, shrieking into a microphone
are all that can be discerned. After only several
seconds the transmission will end abruptly.
As soon as the PC’s decide to take a quick peek at
The Company compound, they will notice lights going
out, one-by-one until the compound is dark. No one
answers any attempt at communication.
Several minutes later, someone activates the outer
doors of the Corsican Wind’s airlock and enters the
ship. The inner airlock door remains closed.
Act Four:
The visitor turns out to be Sgt. Skinner, the chief
NCO of The Company team. He is badly wounded and
unconscious. Once he is taken to the ship’s sick-bay
and has his vacc suit removed, it will become apparent
the Sgt. has been the victim of a brutal physical
attack. He will remain unconscious for 1d6 hours.
During the time the Sgt. is being taken to the
sickbay, if anyone is on the bridge, they will notice
that several lights are now back on at The Company
compound. Hails to the compound are still unanswered,
however. The PC’s should take time to consider their
situation at this point. They are on an isolated
world, working for a shady Solomani concern, and under
the terms of their contract NOBODY gets paid unless
ALL the statues have been uncovered.
The Sgt. regains conciousness. He fades in and out,
and is only able to communicate fragments of a
terribly confusing tale. Pvt. Sun had somehow
disappeared from the compound sickbay when Capt.
Dutton left the room for some tea.
Dutton had been monitoring an alarming amount of
deep-brain activity in the unconscious Pvt. and had no
luck in trying to wake him from his comatose state.
Upon finding the Pvt. missing Dutton raised an
alarm, and in the rush to the sickbay, Sun apparently
managed to make it to an airlock, and began donning a
vacc suit.
Sun had locked the inner-door to the airlock, and
remained uncommunicative. He finished donning his
suit, and left the compound. In the meantime, two
other enlisted men, Pvt.’s Anderson and Kemper were
sent to the auxiliary airlock with orders to find Sun,
and bring him back to the compound. Pvt.’s Walker and
Shin were sent out the auxiliary lock to take the long
way around and unjam the main airlock door.
Several minutes passed, when suddenly communication
was lost with Anderson and Kemper. Shortly afterward,
communication was lost with Walker and Shin. Maj.
Karri ordered the rest of the compound on combat
alert. Somehow in the confusion someone had slipped
into the auxiliary airlock and jammed THAT inner-door
closed.
Several minutes after that, the main power to the
compound failed and the emergency power kicked on.
Maj. Karri decided to contact the Corsican Wind when
all hell broke loose. As soon as a comm. channel was
opened, someone opened BOTH airlock doors while the
outer doors were open. A large part of the compound
became depressurized, and in the resulting confusion
the emergency power was also taken off-line.
Sgt. Skinner says he was with Pvt.’s O’Halloran and
James when they encountered several vacc-suited
figures who immediately attacked them. Armed with
makeshift cudgels, the attackers fractured the
faceplate of Pvt. O’Halloran. Sgt. Skinner says he and
Pvt. James were badly beaten and left where they fell.
Unable to get James to respond, Skinner crawled to an
airlock and made his way to the Corsican Wind.
Act Five:
After the Sgt. recounts his story, he will fade into
unconsciousness again, and his vital signs will begin
behaving erratically. One of the PC’s needs to work at
stabilizing him, or else the Sgt. will die. This will
take 1d6 rounds to accomplish. In the meantime,
seconds after the Sgt. passes out again, an indicator
will signal that someone ELSE has now entered the
airlock of the Corsican Wind. When the players arrive
at the lock, they will find Pvt. James who has dragged
the body of Pvt. O’Halloran with him from the
compound. O’Halloran will be dead, and James will have
a VERY interesting story to tell.
According to Pvt. James, it was Sgt. Skinner who
went berserk in the compound. James says his NCO had
been acting “strangely” ever since Pvt. Sun had been
taken to the compound. The Pvt. says the Sgt.
disappeared for a while, and when he returned began to
viciously attack members of the team. James says it
was the Sgt. who cut the power to the station, and
attacked James when he discovered what he was doing.
James has no idea where anyone else is.
At this point, the PC’s should be getting a little nervous. Several will obviously be in favor of bugging-out, until calmer heads point out that The Company will invariably come looking for them. Some may realize that The Company is going to come looking for them, regardless...
Allow for the PC’s to work up a head of steam discussing what they should do, and then cut the main power to the Corsican Wind.
From there on, it should be a running game of “who’s REALLY who” in a ship running on emergency reserve power, on a cold, spooky planet where the wind can be heard moaning against the bulkheads.
An expedition to the compound will not be as dangerous as the PC’s may believe. Most of the teams will be involved with scavenging various electronic components from around the compound and building...something...in the compound’s ready room.
They will not offer any resistance to the PC’s...as long as the PC’s don’t interrupt the “altered” crew’s task at hand.
Referee’s Synopsis
The first to be affected by the Chamber of Whispers is Pvt. Sun. Sun escapes from the compound sickbay, obtain a lethe crystal, and “alter” Capt. Dutton. The two will work together to cut the main power to the compound, and “alter” as many of The Company’s personell as possible.
Sgt. Skinner’s wounds are real, and he is NOT one of those “altered” by the Lethe Crystals. Pvt. James IS “altered” and his mission is to sew confusion and mistrust amongst the crew of the Corsican Wind. Once he is aboard, he will attempt to isolate at least one crewman, and expose him to a Lethe Crystal. From there, both will work to “alter” the remainder of the crew.
The “altered” crew will only resort to lethal force after the PC’s begin using deadly weapons. At that time, the “altered” crew will attempt to kill the PC’s as quickly as possible...sparing Tal Rae Kim, the pilot.
The “altered” crew have no special powers or abilities, only the overwhelming drive to take the Lethe Crystals to the stars and spread their “alteration”...or spend their time stripping and scavenging electronic components and building...something.
The device they are assembling is a massive nanotech assembler. It will take the crew quite some time to complete the construction of the device (2d6 months), but complete it they will...and then the REAL horror-fest will begin.
The nano-assemblers will begin building organic shells which will be driven by the alien technology contained in the Lethe Crystals. These are, in effect, resurrected aliens which predate even the Ancients. Their control of nanotechnology makes them immensely powerful and immensely dangerous. Their motives are unimaginable, and they will show absolutely NO interest in communication with anyone else.
There are two artifacts which are listed in the compound’s database...The Morningstar and The Mirror. These artifacts will be located in a storage room in the compound, and will remain so until such a time as the PC’s begin attacking members of the “altered” crew. At that time, the “altered” crew will make use of both the Morningstar and The Mirror...with devastating results.
The Artifacts:
The discovered artifacts:
The Morningstar
A small device capable of generating rapidly-evaporating quantum singularities which will exist for a mere fraction of a second. In effect, the device creates small x-ray hand-grenades which also liberate a frightening amount of plasma from the poles of the singularity. Treat as a high explosive that does severe radiation damage within a blast and radiation radius of five meters.
The Mirror
A rectangular device, 1cm thick with a highly reflective surface on one side. When biological material comes within two meters of the reflective surface, the device emits a blinding light and biological matter placed within a 180 degree arc and within the two-meter range is vaporized.
The odd thing is that the mirror seems to ignore all plant matter, instead vaporizing only vertebrate or invertebrate matter with a weight of greater than 2 grams.
The unknown artifacts:
The Chamber of Whispers
This is a vast psionic device used to store the
personalities and knowledge of a vanished alien race.
Anyone who enters will begin hearing “whispering”
noises in a language which is almost familiar to them.
After 1d6 minutes of exposure, the whispering voices
will have consumed any character’s attention, and they
will stand still – concentrating on what they hear.
This fugue state will last another 1d6 rounds, with
the characters seeming to “snap out of it” with no
idea how much time has passed. If one happens to
glance at a chronometer, the GM should hint at a bit
of “missing time”, but that interval was so short, the
characters should pass it off as inconsequential.
3d6 rounds later, the GM should pass any PC’s a note
informing them that they have now been “altered” by
their experience. They have a new set of motivations,
which includes gathering as many Lethe Crystals as
possible, taking them to the Chamber of Whispers for
“tuning”, and then distributing them to as many worlds
as possible. They should act and behave normally –
until a situation presents itself for them to slip a
cystal into someone’s clothing, or hide it in the bed
of someone’s stateroom – passing on their “alteration”
to other members of the crew.
The effects of the “alteration” can only be reversed
by trained psionicists – the hook for an adventure
following this one…provided enough of the crew
survives to seek help for any “altered” comrades.
The Lethe Crystals
The Lethe crystals are the psionically stored remnants of the last of an ancient alien race. Once a sophont has been scanned and "tuned" by being in the Chamber of Whispers, they will feel an irresistable desire to possess a Lethe Crystal. The crystals themselves begin psionically downloading instructions in the form of compulsions and motivations to those who possess them.
The Aliens:
The Kaliakahaori (Kal)
An ancient race of frightening technological prowess, the Kal acheived a "transcendance" of sorts into another level of being. Those encountered in the Lethe crystals are not the same as their transcended brethren, however. They are the Kal versions of "criminals" whose personalities were loaded onto Lethe Crystals and stored in the Chamber of Whispers. This entire planet has served as a prison of sorts for close to a half-million years.
These "criminals" are those Kal who resisted "transcendence" and instead wanted to satisfy themselves with the domination of the galaxy through the use of obscenely advanced technology. Their motivations are not necessarily "evil" just mysterious, and unfathomable by current standards.
The Appendix:
Vargr Skull Juggling – a mixture of ancient Solomani
Scottish Sword-Dancing with Vargr Philosophy created
by Alison Al-Brashear and taught to her Vargr
Roustabouts during the weeks spent in jumpspace. The
performance involves the dancer weaving between
sharpened Blades while juggling the skulls of enemies
he has slain. Mistakes in the dance rarely happen
twice. The dance has become wildly popular in the
Vargr Extents as a stylized representation of epic
battles and a tribute to the great charisma of Vargr
cultural heroes. Skull Jugglers also perform much the
same function as the medieval “jesters” of solomani
history. They are a constant reminder of the price of
failure, and the intransigence of fortune and fame.
It has become quite fashionable for charismatic
Vargr leaders to “donate” their skulls to their
favorite performers…in the hopes of having their deeds
remembered and recounted, long after their deaths.
The Spinward Faire – Headquartered on Mora, the
Spinward Faire began life as the dream of Vilmani
Irushkadar, retired Professor of Solomani History at
the Imperial College of Regina. Irushkadar had been
fascinated with the recreation of ancient ways of
life, particularly the nomadic wanderers of Terra.
Working in conjunction with several other retired
faculty members he organized a static festival to
celebrate the talents and skills of those long-ago
artisans and performers from mankind’s birthplace. The
first such festival was held in 1003.
The Faire remained a static attraction on Regina
until Prof. Irushkadar’s death in 1019. One of the
more enterprising souls in the College’s Kamenarrin
School of Business (Ali “Big Al” Al-Brashear) came up
with the idea of relocating the Faire every few years.
Working with graduates from several merchant
academies, the Faire administration planned an
ambitious calendar which would see at least parts of
the festival held on subsector capitol worlds
throughout the Spinward Marches. This did require the
shuffling of funds from the Research budget to the
more prosaic line-items of “Transportation” and
“Other”. The franchise became an enormous success,
much to the chagrin of the lofty administrators of the
Imperial College. One of the Outfit’s greatest added
attractions made its debut in the Trin’s Veil
subsector, and involved several out-of-work female
dancers from local drinking establishments and
featured the use of live reptiles and an ancient
Terran grazing animal known as a “goat”. Several
current Fine Arts faculty members of the University
required medical attention after viewing this program.
Ali’s daughter, Alison (“Little Al” - was named
rather wistfully by the old man, known for her
pixie-ish good looks and almost freakish dexterity)
assumed control of the enterprise in 1040, and
immediately began the widespread inclusion of the
now-infamous Twirling Trin’s Veil act at all of the
Faire’s venues. Some speculation has been given (and
quickly dismissed...) that this performance was
somehow later responsible for the catastrophic
explosion which damaged the Imperial Research station
on Duale/Mora. Officials call such speculation
nonsense, although in their own words it comes out as
“No comment”.
Alison’s daughter, Saalinen (“Big Saali”
Al-Brashear - Alison never took her Researcher
husband’s last name, much to his relief...) took the
helm of the Outift in 1065, leaving her position as
Strongwoman when her mother embarked on a long-range
scouting mission. While it is believed Alison met her
end during the adventure, there have been whispers in
dark startport taverns of some strange goings-on
involving certain Aslan clans, lost Droyne colonies
and Vargr Skull-Jugglers.
Soon afterward, a permanent home was found for the
Outfit on the quiet, out-of-the-way world of Mora in
1089. In 1101, Big Saali’s son, Tancred (“Tank”)
Al-Brashear took the helm. Under his guidance, the
Faire purchased its first Caravaner-Class transport
and began sending some of its more popular acts out on
long-range tours of the Sector. Tank runs the
planning, research and development end of the Outfit
operation from his homestead on Mora. His daughter,
Rista, is in charge of the more practical day-to-day
aspects of the business, while her father plans more
speculative ventures involving his Outfit.
Inspirations:
Samuel R. Delaney’s “Nova”
John W. Campbell’s “Who Goes There?”
Ozymandias
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
1792-1822
A terrifying cross-platform Traveller Adventure for
4-6 characters in Five Acts.
The Setting:
A sparsely settled system on the rimward-trailing
extents of the Solomani Rim.
The Adventurers:
The PC’s are crewmembers aboard the 800-ton
“Excavator” Class Salvor the “Corsican Wind” – a ship
designed to assist in the hostile-environment recovery
of planet-bound material.
Becca Blackburn – The Captain and Owner. (Solomani)
Tal Rae Kim – The Pilot and First Mate. Somewhat of a
mystic and Tarot card reader. (Solomani)
Athsperrin – Chief Engineer and Second Mate. (Vargr)
Garrh’egh - First Engineer’s Mate, the life mate of
Athsperrin (Vargr), and a Skull-Juggler.
Arrgharran - Second Engineer’s Mate and daughter of
Athsperrin and Garrghl’n’rough. (Vargr)
Iniri “Trigger” Ashaka’ashaar – Gunnery/Demolitions
Officer and Third Mate. (Vilani)
Wu De-shi “Hacksaw” Cheng – Medical/Science Officer.
(Solomani)
The NPC’s:
The NPC’s are members of a Solomani Combat
Archaeology team, stationed on the planet to
investigate the remains of an ancient civilization.
SolSec dispatched this unit after the initial
exploration team uncovered several “bizarre” alien
artifacts – the lethality of which prompted military
concern. The initial explorers have been quarantined
by SolSec, and continue to be debriefed.
Maj. Karri – An archaeologist.
Capt. Dutton – A medical doctor.
Lt. Lightfoot – A biologist.
Lt. Mac Rae – A xeno-anthropologist.
Sgt. Skinner – The senior NCO.
Sgt. Hanstaaf – Exploration Team Leader
Cpl. Meirs – Team One Leader.
Cpl. Sand – Team Two Leader
Team One:
Pvt.’s Walker, Sun, Wood, James, Shin
Team Two:
Pvt.’s Tallinn, Bayonne, Anderson, O’Halloran, Kemper
The Job:
The “Corsican Wind” has been contracted by a
Solomani concern, “ExploSolomani” to assist with the
excavation and recovery of several large alien
artifacts on the outermost planet of an earth-like
solar system. The planet itself is an unusual
interstellar rogue, a “wandering planet” which has
only recently (within the last hundred-thousand years)
made its way into the system. Set well-off the
system’s plane of the ecliptic, the world has entered
its orbital perihelion and its surprisingly dense
atmosphere, which had frozen solid, has been slowly
sublimating for the past several centuries. The planet
is now shrouded in a foggy soup of methane, nitrogen,
and carbon monoxide.
The Concern:
“ExploSolomani”, or more commonly “ExSol”, is a
front for SolSec and the organization’s interests in
the control and acquisition of alien technology.
Referred to by operatives as simply “The Company” or
“The Organization”, ExSol subcontracts work to small
private firms, or individuals on a case-by-case basis.
The Situation:
Act One:
The characters make planetfall and commence
operations to help uncover several large granite
statues from the frozen remnants of the planet’s
atmosphere. The work is tension-filled and exacting,
requiring intense concentration on the tasks at-hand.
Clearing each statue will require 2D6+4 hours of work,
and there are seven statues “The Company” wants freed.
The GM should roll several times for mishaps to occur
every two-hours spent trying to free the artifacts.
At this time, the PC Tal Rae Kim should have ample
opportunity to do Tarot card “readings” for his fellow
PC’s and several interested NPC’s. During each reading
the “Death” card, and the “Tower” card will turn up –
even after a thorough shuffling and reshuffling of the
deck. This should be played up as an eerie occurrence.
Kim himself will realize there is something VERY
unsettling about this. The Vargr Skull-Juggler, Garrh’egh, should also be allowed to present a performance...one which should effectively create an unsettled mood. After all, the performance is done as a reminder of the temporary nature of life and all its pleasures.
Act Two:
Clearing the fourth artifact will also uncover an
artifical pit which leads into a vast, empty chamber
beneath the statue. Since the PC’s contract does not
cover “exploration” (only excavation), a member of The
Company’s party, Pvt. Sun, will descend into the pit.
Sun relays back both video and an audio dialogue of
what he encounters. The cavern he explores is
surprisingly lit from some sort of luminescent deposit
on the surrounding rocks. There is just enough ambient
light to make out huge, hulking figures frozen in the
darkness. As Sun plays his lights across each of these
figures, bursts of static are carried across the
audio/video monitors on the surface.
After about ten minutes of exploration, Sun reaches
an immense archway leading into another chamber.
Several seconds after entering the arch, all
communications with Sun are lost. Several tense
minutes pass by as the exploration team tries to
re-establish contact, and Maj. Karri decides to send
in a rescue party which has been standing-by.
As soon as the party prepares to enter the pit,
Sun’s A/V link comes back on-line. Those monitoring
him will only detect the sound of labored, panicky
breathing, and the jolting of the camera as Sun runs
across the floor of the pit. He makes it several feet
before collapsing.
The rescue party enters and retrieves Sun, who is
hustled off to The Company’s outpost – but not before
regaining consciousness and shrieking wildly. He is
quickly sedated and put under the immediate care of
Capt. Dutton.
Maj. Karri decides a thorough investigation of Sun’s
A/V records is in order before any further exploration
is conducted.
Act Three:
Work has been temporarily suspended in the aftermath
of the collapse of Pvt. Sun. The PC’s are left to kill
time as best they can in the time being (although they
realize they’re getting paid for every day they sit
around and twiddle their thumbs).
An entire day should pass-by with no work being
accomplished, save the opportunity to conduct routing
maintenance on the Corsican Wind. It isn’t until the
overnight hours that things begin to really get
strange.
Just after the accepted “lights-out” sleep period
arrives, an emergency transmission from The Company
compound will be made to the Corsican Wind. In the
background emergency klaxons can be heard, and a
wildly-distorted voice, shrieking into a microphone
are all that can be discerned. After only several
seconds the transmission will end abruptly.
As soon as the PC’s decide to take a quick peek at
The Company compound, they will notice lights going
out, one-by-one until the compound is dark. No one
answers any attempt at communication.
Several minutes later, someone activates the outer
doors of the Corsican Wind’s airlock and enters the
ship. The inner airlock door remains closed.
Act Four:
The visitor turns out to be Sgt. Skinner, the chief
NCO of The Company team. He is badly wounded and
unconscious. Once he is taken to the ship’s sick-bay
and has his vacc suit removed, it will become apparent
the Sgt. has been the victim of a brutal physical
attack. He will remain unconscious for 1d6 hours.
During the time the Sgt. is being taken to the
sickbay, if anyone is on the bridge, they will notice
that several lights are now back on at The Company
compound. Hails to the compound are still unanswered,
however. The PC’s should take time to consider their
situation at this point. They are on an isolated
world, working for a shady Solomani concern, and under
the terms of their contract NOBODY gets paid unless
ALL the statues have been uncovered.
The Sgt. regains conciousness. He fades in and out,
and is only able to communicate fragments of a
terribly confusing tale. Pvt. Sun had somehow
disappeared from the compound sickbay when Capt.
Dutton left the room for some tea.
Dutton had been monitoring an alarming amount of
deep-brain activity in the unconscious Pvt. and had no
luck in trying to wake him from his comatose state.
Upon finding the Pvt. missing Dutton raised an
alarm, and in the rush to the sickbay, Sun apparently
managed to make it to an airlock, and began donning a
vacc suit.
Sun had locked the inner-door to the airlock, and
remained uncommunicative. He finished donning his
suit, and left the compound. In the meantime, two
other enlisted men, Pvt.’s Anderson and Kemper were
sent to the auxiliary airlock with orders to find Sun,
and bring him back to the compound. Pvt.’s Walker and
Shin were sent out the auxiliary lock to take the long
way around and unjam the main airlock door.
Several minutes passed, when suddenly communication
was lost with Anderson and Kemper. Shortly afterward,
communication was lost with Walker and Shin. Maj.
Karri ordered the rest of the compound on combat
alert. Somehow in the confusion someone had slipped
into the auxiliary airlock and jammed THAT inner-door
closed.
Several minutes after that, the main power to the
compound failed and the emergency power kicked on.
Maj. Karri decided to contact the Corsican Wind when
all hell broke loose. As soon as a comm. channel was
opened, someone opened BOTH airlock doors while the
outer doors were open. A large part of the compound
became depressurized, and in the resulting confusion
the emergency power was also taken off-line.
Sgt. Skinner says he was with Pvt.’s O’Halloran and
James when they encountered several vacc-suited
figures who immediately attacked them. Armed with
makeshift cudgels, the attackers fractured the
faceplate of Pvt. O’Halloran. Sgt. Skinner says he and
Pvt. James were badly beaten and left where they fell.
Unable to get James to respond, Skinner crawled to an
airlock and made his way to the Corsican Wind.
Act Five:
After the Sgt. recounts his story, he will fade into
unconsciousness again, and his vital signs will begin
behaving erratically. One of the PC’s needs to work at
stabilizing him, or else the Sgt. will die. This will
take 1d6 rounds to accomplish. In the meantime,
seconds after the Sgt. passes out again, an indicator
will signal that someone ELSE has now entered the
airlock of the Corsican Wind. When the players arrive
at the lock, they will find Pvt. James who has dragged
the body of Pvt. O’Halloran with him from the
compound. O’Halloran will be dead, and James will have
a VERY interesting story to tell.
According to Pvt. James, it was Sgt. Skinner who
went berserk in the compound. James says his NCO had
been acting “strangely” ever since Pvt. Sun had been
taken to the compound. The Pvt. says the Sgt.
disappeared for a while, and when he returned began to
viciously attack members of the team. James says it
was the Sgt. who cut the power to the station, and
attacked James when he discovered what he was doing.
James has no idea where anyone else is.
At this point, the PC’s should be getting a little nervous. Several will obviously be in favor of bugging-out, until calmer heads point out that The Company will invariably come looking for them. Some may realize that The Company is going to come looking for them, regardless...
Allow for the PC’s to work up a head of steam discussing what they should do, and then cut the main power to the Corsican Wind.
From there on, it should be a running game of “who’s REALLY who” in a ship running on emergency reserve power, on a cold, spooky planet where the wind can be heard moaning against the bulkheads.
An expedition to the compound will not be as dangerous as the PC’s may believe. Most of the teams will be involved with scavenging various electronic components from around the compound and building...something...in the compound’s ready room.
They will not offer any resistance to the PC’s...as long as the PC’s don’t interrupt the “altered” crew’s task at hand.
Referee’s Synopsis
The first to be affected by the Chamber of Whispers is Pvt. Sun. Sun escapes from the compound sickbay, obtain a lethe crystal, and “alter” Capt. Dutton. The two will work together to cut the main power to the compound, and “alter” as many of The Company’s personell as possible.
Sgt. Skinner’s wounds are real, and he is NOT one of those “altered” by the Lethe Crystals. Pvt. James IS “altered” and his mission is to sew confusion and mistrust amongst the crew of the Corsican Wind. Once he is aboard, he will attempt to isolate at least one crewman, and expose him to a Lethe Crystal. From there, both will work to “alter” the remainder of the crew.
The “altered” crew will only resort to lethal force after the PC’s begin using deadly weapons. At that time, the “altered” crew will attempt to kill the PC’s as quickly as possible...sparing Tal Rae Kim, the pilot.
The “altered” crew have no special powers or abilities, only the overwhelming drive to take the Lethe Crystals to the stars and spread their “alteration”...or spend their time stripping and scavenging electronic components and building...something.
The device they are assembling is a massive nanotech assembler. It will take the crew quite some time to complete the construction of the device (2d6 months), but complete it they will...and then the REAL horror-fest will begin.
The nano-assemblers will begin building organic shells which will be driven by the alien technology contained in the Lethe Crystals. These are, in effect, resurrected aliens which predate even the Ancients. Their control of nanotechnology makes them immensely powerful and immensely dangerous. Their motives are unimaginable, and they will show absolutely NO interest in communication with anyone else.
There are two artifacts which are listed in the compound’s database...The Morningstar and The Mirror. These artifacts will be located in a storage room in the compound, and will remain so until such a time as the PC’s begin attacking members of the “altered” crew. At that time, the “altered” crew will make use of both the Morningstar and The Mirror...with devastating results.
The Artifacts:
The discovered artifacts:
The Morningstar
A small device capable of generating rapidly-evaporating quantum singularities which will exist for a mere fraction of a second. In effect, the device creates small x-ray hand-grenades which also liberate a frightening amount of plasma from the poles of the singularity. Treat as a high explosive that does severe radiation damage within a blast and radiation radius of five meters.
The Mirror
A rectangular device, 1cm thick with a highly reflective surface on one side. When biological material comes within two meters of the reflective surface, the device emits a blinding light and biological matter placed within a 180 degree arc and within the two-meter range is vaporized.
The odd thing is that the mirror seems to ignore all plant matter, instead vaporizing only vertebrate or invertebrate matter with a weight of greater than 2 grams.
The unknown artifacts:
The Chamber of Whispers
This is a vast psionic device used to store the
personalities and knowledge of a vanished alien race.
Anyone who enters will begin hearing “whispering”
noises in a language which is almost familiar to them.
After 1d6 minutes of exposure, the whispering voices
will have consumed any character’s attention, and they
will stand still – concentrating on what they hear.
This fugue state will last another 1d6 rounds, with
the characters seeming to “snap out of it” with no
idea how much time has passed. If one happens to
glance at a chronometer, the GM should hint at a bit
of “missing time”, but that interval was so short, the
characters should pass it off as inconsequential.
3d6 rounds later, the GM should pass any PC’s a note
informing them that they have now been “altered” by
their experience. They have a new set of motivations,
which includes gathering as many Lethe Crystals as
possible, taking them to the Chamber of Whispers for
“tuning”, and then distributing them to as many worlds
as possible. They should act and behave normally –
until a situation presents itself for them to slip a
cystal into someone’s clothing, or hide it in the bed
of someone’s stateroom – passing on their “alteration”
to other members of the crew.
The effects of the “alteration” can only be reversed
by trained psionicists – the hook for an adventure
following this one…provided enough of the crew
survives to seek help for any “altered” comrades.
The Lethe Crystals
The Lethe crystals are the psionically stored remnants of the last of an ancient alien race. Once a sophont has been scanned and "tuned" by being in the Chamber of Whispers, they will feel an irresistable desire to possess a Lethe Crystal. The crystals themselves begin psionically downloading instructions in the form of compulsions and motivations to those who possess them.
The Aliens:
The Kaliakahaori (Kal)
An ancient race of frightening technological prowess, the Kal acheived a "transcendance" of sorts into another level of being. Those encountered in the Lethe crystals are not the same as their transcended brethren, however. They are the Kal versions of "criminals" whose personalities were loaded onto Lethe Crystals and stored in the Chamber of Whispers. This entire planet has served as a prison of sorts for close to a half-million years.
These "criminals" are those Kal who resisted "transcendence" and instead wanted to satisfy themselves with the domination of the galaxy through the use of obscenely advanced technology. Their motivations are not necessarily "evil" just mysterious, and unfathomable by current standards.
The Appendix:
Vargr Skull Juggling – a mixture of ancient Solomani
Scottish Sword-Dancing with Vargr Philosophy created
by Alison Al-Brashear and taught to her Vargr
Roustabouts during the weeks spent in jumpspace. The
performance involves the dancer weaving between
sharpened Blades while juggling the skulls of enemies
he has slain. Mistakes in the dance rarely happen
twice. The dance has become wildly popular in the
Vargr Extents as a stylized representation of epic
battles and a tribute to the great charisma of Vargr
cultural heroes. Skull Jugglers also perform much the
same function as the medieval “jesters” of solomani
history. They are a constant reminder of the price of
failure, and the intransigence of fortune and fame.
It has become quite fashionable for charismatic
Vargr leaders to “donate” their skulls to their
favorite performers…in the hopes of having their deeds
remembered and recounted, long after their deaths.
The Spinward Faire – Headquartered on Mora, the
Spinward Faire began life as the dream of Vilmani
Irushkadar, retired Professor of Solomani History at
the Imperial College of Regina. Irushkadar had been
fascinated with the recreation of ancient ways of
life, particularly the nomadic wanderers of Terra.
Working in conjunction with several other retired
faculty members he organized a static festival to
celebrate the talents and skills of those long-ago
artisans and performers from mankind’s birthplace. The
first such festival was held in 1003.
The Faire remained a static attraction on Regina
until Prof. Irushkadar’s death in 1019. One of the
more enterprising souls in the College’s Kamenarrin
School of Business (Ali “Big Al” Al-Brashear) came up
with the idea of relocating the Faire every few years.
Working with graduates from several merchant
academies, the Faire administration planned an
ambitious calendar which would see at least parts of
the festival held on subsector capitol worlds
throughout the Spinward Marches. This did require the
shuffling of funds from the Research budget to the
more prosaic line-items of “Transportation” and
“Other”. The franchise became an enormous success,
much to the chagrin of the lofty administrators of the
Imperial College. One of the Outfit’s greatest added
attractions made its debut in the Trin’s Veil
subsector, and involved several out-of-work female
dancers from local drinking establishments and
featured the use of live reptiles and an ancient
Terran grazing animal known as a “goat”. Several
current Fine Arts faculty members of the University
required medical attention after viewing this program.
Ali’s daughter, Alison (“Little Al” - was named
rather wistfully by the old man, known for her
pixie-ish good looks and almost freakish dexterity)
assumed control of the enterprise in 1040, and
immediately began the widespread inclusion of the
now-infamous Twirling Trin’s Veil act at all of the
Faire’s venues. Some speculation has been given (and
quickly dismissed...) that this performance was
somehow later responsible for the catastrophic
explosion which damaged the Imperial Research station
on Duale/Mora. Officials call such speculation
nonsense, although in their own words it comes out as
“No comment”.
Alison’s daughter, Saalinen (“Big Saali”
Al-Brashear - Alison never took her Researcher
husband’s last name, much to his relief...) took the
helm of the Outift in 1065, leaving her position as
Strongwoman when her mother embarked on a long-range
scouting mission. While it is believed Alison met her
end during the adventure, there have been whispers in
dark startport taverns of some strange goings-on
involving certain Aslan clans, lost Droyne colonies
and Vargr Skull-Jugglers.
Soon afterward, a permanent home was found for the
Outfit on the quiet, out-of-the-way world of Mora in
1089. In 1101, Big Saali’s son, Tancred (“Tank”)
Al-Brashear took the helm. Under his guidance, the
Faire purchased its first Caravaner-Class transport
and began sending some of its more popular acts out on
long-range tours of the Sector. Tank runs the
planning, research and development end of the Outfit
operation from his homestead on Mora. His daughter,
Rista, is in charge of the more practical day-to-day
aspects of the business, while her father plans more
speculative ventures involving his Outfit.
Inspirations:
Samuel R. Delaney’s “Nova”
John W. Campbell’s “Who Goes There?”
