Michael Schulz
SOC-12
Ok, picture this:
Part one-The Pitch
Around three months before T5 comes out a series of one-shot adventures comes out for 993, 1248, and GT.
One of them, released for the then booming 1248 milieu goes something like this-
The players begin deep in the wilds, nearing a gas giant for some rough re-fueling. As they approach the looming mass, their sensors pick up a faint broadcast--a Signal GK transmission that follows the protocols of the Third Imperium. It also picks up an old-style transponder desperately reaching out to nearby ships. As they pull in to investigate, they see it: a smallish brisitling with very high tech sensors and weaponry. Aside from some battle damage, it's gleaming hull suggests that this is a new ship. A cursory reading of it's hull configuration and equipment shows that the ship is similar to crafts built at the very height of the Third Imperium. An impression that is reinforced by the blazing emblem proudly imprinted on the ship's hull.
After determining that the craft is powered down and apparently harmless, the PCs are encouraged to board it to investigate. The ships systems are currently offline and it's distress beacon is running off of an auxillary battery. Strangely enough, the ship has networked TL16 computers in abundance, although it's primary computers look as though many of them have recently been blown out. Equally bizarre is the number of TL16 and possibly + spare parts in the hold.
However, the most disturbing thing the PCs notice is a cache of old 3I credits in one of the crew quarters. Normally this wouldn't be out of place on a 3I ship but for two things- 1) The 1cr pieces all bear the image of Empress Iphegenia and 2) they were minted in the treasury in Vland sector in 1192, nearly eighty years after Vland seceeded from the Imperium.
And when the party brings the ship even half online it's internal communication system whispers to them the desperate words of ship's old A.I.: 'the Eaters...they've found the Aleph...mustn't get through...we must get back, warn them, destroy it, or none of us are safe..."
As the adventure continues the PCs are eventually brought face to face with an Ancient artifact that opens a bridge to some very different places. They will have a whirlwind tour of the different milieux, leaping between a Vilani Imperium embroiled in a war with the upstart Terrans, a world where Dulinor failed and Strephron held the Imperium together, a universe where the Imperium was shattered, but Virus never released and where the Hard Times continue. They will leap to the Golden Age of the 3I and to a Year 0 and in both instances realize that the history is slightly different than their own.
All the while they are dragged along by a petulant ship that is desperate to return to it's home universe, warn the Empress and destroy the Aleph. They are brought face to face with the eaters-Virus infected Droyne machines that have rediscovered how to work some Ancient technology and will not rest until they have come through the Aleph and dominate all of the TUs.
Can the PCs stop the Eaters from coming through the Aleph and subjegating universe after universe? Will they get back to the 1248 milieu by the end? Will the Aleph be destroyed and the secrets of pan-dimensional travel finally be buried with Grandfather and his kin? All these questions will be answered in The Aleph: 1248 (and of course, although set-up differently, Aleph: GT, Aleph: 993, Aleph: IW, etc)...
Part one-The Pitch
Around three months before T5 comes out a series of one-shot adventures comes out for 993, 1248, and GT.
One of them, released for the then booming 1248 milieu goes something like this-
The players begin deep in the wilds, nearing a gas giant for some rough re-fueling. As they approach the looming mass, their sensors pick up a faint broadcast--a Signal GK transmission that follows the protocols of the Third Imperium. It also picks up an old-style transponder desperately reaching out to nearby ships. As they pull in to investigate, they see it: a smallish brisitling with very high tech sensors and weaponry. Aside from some battle damage, it's gleaming hull suggests that this is a new ship. A cursory reading of it's hull configuration and equipment shows that the ship is similar to crafts built at the very height of the Third Imperium. An impression that is reinforced by the blazing emblem proudly imprinted on the ship's hull.
After determining that the craft is powered down and apparently harmless, the PCs are encouraged to board it to investigate. The ships systems are currently offline and it's distress beacon is running off of an auxillary battery. Strangely enough, the ship has networked TL16 computers in abundance, although it's primary computers look as though many of them have recently been blown out. Equally bizarre is the number of TL16 and possibly + spare parts in the hold.
However, the most disturbing thing the PCs notice is a cache of old 3I credits in one of the crew quarters. Normally this wouldn't be out of place on a 3I ship but for two things- 1) The 1cr pieces all bear the image of Empress Iphegenia and 2) they were minted in the treasury in Vland sector in 1192, nearly eighty years after Vland seceeded from the Imperium.
And when the party brings the ship even half online it's internal communication system whispers to them the desperate words of ship's old A.I.: 'the Eaters...they've found the Aleph...mustn't get through...we must get back, warn them, destroy it, or none of us are safe..."
As the adventure continues the PCs are eventually brought face to face with an Ancient artifact that opens a bridge to some very different places. They will have a whirlwind tour of the different milieux, leaping between a Vilani Imperium embroiled in a war with the upstart Terrans, a world where Dulinor failed and Strephron held the Imperium together, a universe where the Imperium was shattered, but Virus never released and where the Hard Times continue. They will leap to the Golden Age of the 3I and to a Year 0 and in both instances realize that the history is slightly different than their own.
All the while they are dragged along by a petulant ship that is desperate to return to it's home universe, warn the Empress and destroy the Aleph. They are brought face to face with the eaters-Virus infected Droyne machines that have rediscovered how to work some Ancient technology and will not rest until they have come through the Aleph and dominate all of the TUs.
Can the PCs stop the Eaters from coming through the Aleph and subjegating universe after universe? Will they get back to the 1248 milieu by the end? Will the Aleph be destroyed and the secrets of pan-dimensional travel finally be buried with Grandfather and his kin? All these questions will be answered in The Aleph: 1248 (and of course, although set-up differently, Aleph: GT, Aleph: 993, Aleph: IW, etc)...
