Per Ardua Ad Astra
Who is who in the Known Worlds.
A little about the game universe.
Handouts, rules and amendments unique to the campaign
Non-Player and Player characters of note.
Out of Character resources
The Story So Far - Campaign Diary
It might seem a little pretentious but I've broken the campaign up into 'Acts', although the dividing line between some acts might more accurately fall in the middle of some game sessions.
Act One is analogous to a pilot movie or mini-series. Basic stuff is introduced, we get to know everyone and our heroes start off down the road to adventure.
(Act One more accurately ends at the start of the first session listed for Act Two, when our heroes are enmeshed in the affairs of the mighty while en-route for Tethys)
Act Two is our 'first season'. Enemies and allies are made, conspiracies hinted at and our heroes are thrust onto a far wider stage than they had expected.
The Symbiotes are revealed to be far more complex than the propaganda of Church and state would have people believe and the so-called Vuldrok 'barbarians' turn out to be a lot more civilised than their reputation would indicate.
Hard choices have to be made and some consequences are harder to live with than others. Death is never far away.
Act Two ends with our heroes returning to civilisation to make their reports and take stock of what has gone before.
Act Three - 'Season Two' if you will... A few old faces are gone, some new ones take their place and the stakes are raised.
ACT ONE:
ACT TWO :
ACT ONE
Episode 1
Our story begins on Aylon in the middle month of 4996. The war has been pretty much over for 18 months and some semblance of normality is returning to interstellar society.
Baronette Annissa Al-Malik had grown weary of the increasingly over-bearing stewardship of her elder brother and decided to seek her fortune out among the stars but, being unlanded, lacked the funds to do so. It was Annissa's intention to journey to the Imperial Throneworld and join the Emperor's Phoenix Knights…
On her 21st birthday, she gained some independent means as a result of a bequest from her uncle Hamid (missing these last few years) via his lawyers. She was to receive an income of some 3,000 firebirds per annum from some portion of his personal estate.
Knowing full well that her brother would oppose this scheme, as he would prefer her to marry to the family's advantage, she hatched a plan to leave Aylon without his knowledge.
Sending her bodyguard on ahead to Byzantium Secundus, Annissa gathered her closest companions to her and announced a two week hunting trip to a distant portion of the planet. In secret, she and her group slipped away to the star-port and collected the tickets bought for her by her bodyguard.
It was at the star-port that they encountered the wandering priest Brother Balthazar, stranded on Aylon by lack of funds. When Annissa explained her intentions, Balthazar immediately pledged his sword to the endeavour, seeing in this venture the perfect means by which he could take the light of the Pancreator and justice out to the ungodly.
The group took passage on the 'Esperanza Maru' a small freighter bound for Bz-II via Leminkainen.
Aquilia, Annissa's factotum and translator found the quarters cramped but tolerable but his employer was not fond of the food. Her childhood friend, Alectrona Xanthippe, however found the accommodation far superior to the troop transports she had been used to during the war.
Sharing the passenger facilities were a party of Amalthean monks under the leadership of Canon Leon. They made for quiet travelling companions but at least with two masses per day, the souls of the travellers were well catered for.
Rakim, the Baronette's pet raccoon was well behaved throughout.
The first portion of the journey from Aylon to the jumpgate passed without incident.
On arrival at Leminkainen, the ship took it's place in a queue of shipping awaiting their turn to jump to Bz-II. Shortly before they were due to jump, a Vuldrok force jumped in system and began a raid on the convoy. They diverted the gate defence pickets by using an old hulk as a decoy, the hulk was packed with missiles which saturated the defences and allowed the smaller raiders to stage lightning attacks on the merchantmen.
The Esperanza was attacked, disabled and then boarded by two 'Myrkwyrm' class vessels. Warned by the ship's steward, the party gathered their weapons from the now open weapons locker (sealed previously as a routine anti-hijack measure) and prepared to defend the ship.
Brother Balthazar positioned himself near one of the cargo airlocks, Annissa and Alectrona covering the entrance to the passenger compartment and Aquila (being a non-combatant) hid under a table while the Amaltheans prepared their medical equipment.
The ships crew were either busy with repairs or sealed in the bridge, but the steward was placed to cover the exit from the cargo bay to engineering. The boarding action was short and brutal. The Vuldrok who boarded from the starboard side were swiftly cut down by Balthazar (with covering fire from Annissa and the Steward).
Those on the port side arrived slightly later and were met with withering fire from Alectrona and her 9mm submachine gun. This delayed their progress long enough for Balthazar to arrive and begin carving a swathe through them. Annissa had chosen their leader for single combat and a whirling duel with sword, energy shield and pistol ensued. The Vuldrok had the better of the engagement by virtue of a layer of synth-silk worn under his shield, leaving Annissa at a disadvantage. The Vuldrok withdrew before pressing his advantage due to his companions deciding to retreat rather than face another barrage of SMG fire or Balthazar's two-handed sword and power armour. Cursing his ill-luck and wounded in several places, the Vuldrok leader left the field, accompanied by the surviving boarders, dragging their wounded and dead.
In all, three of the Vulrok were killed, two severely injured and the remainder of the eight with minor injuries.
Realising that the Vuldrok planned to undock, our heroes retreated back to the passenger compartment just before the cargo bay was explosively decompressed.
After pressure was restored, only one severed Vuldrok head was found in the bay.
A grateful ship's captain refunded the group's passage and issued a free open ticket back to Aylon in recognition of the vital role the passengers played in saving the ship.
Annissa's injuries responded well to the swift ministrations of Alectrona and her medical kit with further help from the Amaltheans. However, such were the severity of her wounds, she was recuperating for much of the rest of the journey.
Other ships in the convoy were not so lucky, some were hijacked, others damaged or destroyed and there were a number of captives taken as well as other casualties.
After a debriefing by Hawkwood patrol ships, the Esperanza Maru continued on to Bz-II.
Booking in at the Excelsior hotel, our heroes set about planning their itinery. A telegram from 'Forbes, Forbes and Cooper' – Uncle Hamid's lawyers set one item on the agenda, a trip to the lawyer's offices to receive details of the annuity Annissa was receiving.
The lawyers handed over the sum of 300 Firebirds, a Xanthippe memory card and the deeds to a 50% share in the starship 'Osprey', A box which later transpired to contain a blaster pistol and there was also a note that simply read “Look under the front seat”
Carson Cooper warned that the captain of the Osprey was an unsavoury character with a murky past. He also reported that the Osprey was at present outbound from Bz-II and headed for Madoc.
Musa the bodyguard did some intelligence gathering at the starport while the rest of the group went to dinner at an Ukari restaurant to celebrate their safe arrival and the cash windfall.
Alectrona spent a little time trying to ascertain which files on her copy of 'The Measure' had been updated but was able only to narrow it down to 'travel and culture' As only Xanthippe have the ability to create update cards for The Measure, Alectrona presumed that the card must come from her aunt Astarte, Hakim's wife and pilot.
Musa learned that the Osprey transported a mystery cargo from Madoc and it was this that turned the profit, rather than the pitiful freight capacity of the ship when it travelled to Madoc from Bz-II. She also learned that there were rumours of a piratical and/or Sathraist past to the captain and his crew were almost all renegade aliens.
Annissa and Alectrona decided to recall the ship to Bz-II and investigate the ship.
In the interim, the group visited the Phoenix Order and were surprised that the first stage of becoming a Knight Aspirant involved a lot of form filling and an interview.
Following the completion of their forms, they were told to return in a day or so to undergo 'testing'.
The Osprey arrived back on Bz-II the following day and the group travelled to the starport to inspect their new acquisition.
For some reason the Captain, Daniel Carstairs seemed to exude panic and fear upon meeting the group, especially Balthazar. The crew were introduced,
Crumbling under the party's questioning, the Captain revealed that he was a 'recovering' Sathra cultist who had been spared Avestite attention due to Guild connections but was in disgrace none-the-less. His association with Uncle Hakim dated to the Emperor wars when he served as pilot aboard the Osprey, part of Hakim's raiding flotilla. Seemingly Hakim used the Sathraist crew of the Osprey (not the same crew as now) for their ability to manipulate Jumpgates. The last Daniel saw of Hakim's ship 'Raven' was during a battle in the Criticorum system against the Decados when several ships in the flotilla mutinied and the Osprey was captured (Daniel having shot the mutineers aboard his own ship but was unable to evade capture). 'Raven' was damaged but last seen fleeing for the gate.
There was indeed a box under the pilot's seat and it contained a bunch of three unlabelled jumpkeys and a note which read simply 'Enjoy'.
It was decided to allow the Osprey to continue on it's voyage while the group completed their 'tests' and they would meet with the captain again in a month when he returned to Bz-II.
The first round of tests at the Phoenix Knight compound was mundane enough, a medical, a trip to the firing range and fencing grounds followed by some basic mental agility tests and a trip over an assault course.
Following this, they were told to return in a day for a 'field trip'.
After a pleasant evening spent discussing the Osprey, the group prepared for the field trip.
The group were taken into the wilderness and deposited with minimal supplies, a compass and a map and told to make it to a rendezvous in three days time.
Alectrona was the only member of the group with any wilderness experience but she made sterling efforts to look after her tenderfoot charges. When the compass mysteriously 'failed' on the second day, Balthazar blessed her endeavours and they managed to find their way despite the setback. Aquila's ability to fly and spot landmarks made a vital contribution to the final day's trek. Muddied but unbowed, they made the pickup point in plenty of time, much to the astonishment of Sgt Van De Meyer in the waiting skimmer.
Their liaison officer, the rather pompous Sir Peter Justinian informed them that if they could return in a week or two and demonstrate individual hands-on knowledge of survival equipment, their application would pass to the next stage, Imperial approval.
Thus our first episode concludes with the party heading off to a hunting resort to hire a survival instructor and 'cram' for their examination. Alectrona however is viewing this as a holiday.
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Episode 2
Our heroes departed the Imperial city to the High Peaks hunting lodge for their 'remedial survival course'. Here they hired the services of Matthias, a wilderness guide and instructor. Alectrona took the opportunity to brush up on her own skills whilst the others learned the basics.
Annissa was disturbed by the presence of Baron Koyla and his retinue, discovering that her hatred of all things Decados ran deeper than expected.
For his part, Baron Koyla seemed to be a courteous individual. Brother Balthazar inadvertently attracted the attention of Anastasia when spending slightly too long trying to glimpse the details of the pendent around her neck (a dual Physician/Courtesan necklace). Anastasia seemed flattered by what she took to be Balthazars' attention.
Annissa took some time to discover the joys of snow, plus the low frictional co-efficient of ice...
Lessons also included the rudiments of swimming for Annissa (born on a largely desert world) in the lodge's heated pool and “How to survive falling into a river” for everyone, which was in the less salubrious setting of a mountain stream. Aquila displayed his racial dislike for getting wet.
Alectrona was the only person to nearly fall off during the rafting practice, an irony lost on nobody.
Following the completion of the course, the group returned to the Imperial City and presented their certificates to the Questing Order. After some trouble with Annissa's final practical exam, the group were passed. That afternoon they received invitations to the Imperial investiture ceremony at the chapel of the Palace.
Along with eleven other Questing groups, everyone was sworn into the Order, blessed by the archbishop of Bz-II and given their Imperial Phoenix badge by the Emperor himself.
The Oath of the Questing Knights and their Cohorts :
Following the ceremony came the feast :
Seating Plan ---
Annissa --- Kanshar
Kolya --- Alectrona
Morgaine --- Montgomery
Kovan --- Nadir
Balthazar --- Umo
Sergei --- Musa
Ulf --- Anastasia
Sufyan --- Aquila
Wa'ha'na
During the feast, Kolya was somewhat frozen out of conversation at the head of the table due to Annissa's refusal to speak to a member of House Decados. Kanshar's attempts at 'footsie' with both Annissa and Alectrona initially threw suspicion on Kolya until the point at which Alectrona kicked the offending limb and Kanshar winced. Kolya seemed to delight in baiting Kanshar, apparently rising to the defense of the ladies' honour.
Aquila spent much of his time practicing his Shantor and chatting to Wa'ha'na and Anastasia, who for her part was curious about Balthazar (whether he was a member of a celibate wing of his order for example).
Balthazar's effort to engage Sergei in conversation were fruitless but at least he and Kovann shared an interest in weapons and other military matters.
Montgomery made much of the conversational mileage at the top of the table, talking endlessly about diamond mines, travel and money.
Following the feast itself came the dancing and socialization. Balthazar made himself as inconspicuous as possible but was disconcerted to find himself in conversation with Brother Viktor who seemed affable enough.
Kolya, at Anastasia's behest asked one of the two ladies to dance, opting for Alectrona as the least dangerous option. Normally an excellent dancer, he seemed nervous and trod on his partner's foot.
Later, Allessandro de Justus Hazat asked Alectrona to dance, assuming her to be an associate of Kolyas and was embarrassed to discover that she was not. However he was able to fill Alectrona in on a little of Kolya's background.
One unusual incident was the arrival of a Vau mandarin and six warriors. They entered the hall, the Mandarin consulted a hand-held device before approaching the Emperor and holding a brief conversation before leaving. For almost everyone present, this was their first sight of a Vau.
Alectrona and Annissa quarreled over Alectrona's 'betrayal', dancing with a Decados. Balthazar played arbitrator in his gruff way.
Following the ball, the party returned to their hotel to while away the time until the Osprey's return. Annissa engaged in some low level trading and made sufficient profit, including an inspired sale of some Obun ceramics, to pay their expenses for their stay.
An analysis of the three mystery jumpkeys revealed that one of them was for the Leminkainen gate.
The Imperial paperwork arrived, including the travel warrants, theoretically giving the Osprey massively reduced expenses if used on Quest business (Free repairs, fuel and landing facilities).
Balthazar took himself off to the local chapterhouse for a period of retreat and meditation.
The potential incoming cargo on the Osprey sparked an effort to find potential buyers for it. Following an unfortunate misunderstanding with a restauranteur, Annissa's offer of a good quality load of Madoc fish was misinterpreted as an underworld shakedown of their supplier network and when Alectrona, Aquila and Annissa left the restaurant, they were set upon by a group of thugs. In short order, Annissa and Alectrona opened fire with sidearms. Annissa's blaster killing two, two more being wounded by Alectrona's 9mm and the survivors running for their lives leaving their dead behind.
The local law (house Cameton) swiftly let the nobles go, as the death of two unnamed thugs at the hands of Questing Knights seemed as open and shut as they needed.
Balthazar was summoned back to the hotel to help deal with a distraught Annissa who was in nauseated shock after killing for the first time.
The following day, the nobles were summoned before Sir Peter to explain their actions. The fact that the root cause was some grey market fish sales seemed to please him not one jot. He 'advised' the party to leave Bz-II to let the wrath of the local Scraver crime family abate somewhat. He tempered this lecture on proper behaviour with a suggestion that they speak to the Imperial kitchens about their fish cargo.
Aldar, the master of the kitchens was enthusiastic and offered 105 FB per tonne. This caused some glee among all concerned.
When the Osprey arrived and Aldar was able to sample the wares, he raised the offer to 110, giving a profit of 2900 FB.
Balthazar conducted a search of the ship, failing to trace the source of the strange smell in the engine room (later attributed to the engineer's hidden still). He did however discover the ship's 'arboretum' in the skimmer garage and was strangely disturbed by the mysterious collection of stones, neatly sorted by colour and size in the ships medical bay drawers.
It was decided that the party would take ship with the Osprey to Madoc on the routine cargo run.
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Episode 3
Our heroes briefly delayed their departure from Bz-II to engage in a spot of shopping at the starport chandlers, in Annissa's case this was to purchase a number of treats for the crew. Captain Dan bought extra spacesuits and (as Erytri spacesuits are very rare) an extra rescue ball for Aquila.
The Osprey proved to be a very much speedier vessel than the 'Maru and the trip from world to gate was a mere 7 days.
During the trip, the group settled into their new environment. Annissa and Alectrona's cabin took on a more feminine quality with the addition of a number of drapes and decorations from Annissa's trunk. Brother Balthazar seemed genuinely pleased that Captain Dan's confessions were both frank and heartfelt.
Musa, Annissa's bodyguard was given the opportunity to practise gunnery using the ship's blaster turrets, although using frozen urine waste matter as targets struck some as a little unconventional.
Tanalu, the Hironem's fascination with 'aura' and the arrangement of furniture caused no small amount of curiousity.
The transit through the Bz-II gate allowed Annissa and some of the other passengers to observe a gate with the naked eye from the cockpit, rather than the ship's cameras.
The mystery jumpgate keys revealed their secrets :
The Questing group decided on a plan of action, to offload a cargo on Madoc, pick up another cargo of fish and take it to Leagueheim and sell it there, then pick up a cargo for Madoc, return and then make another 'fish run' to Bz-II, before making their way to Leminkainen and thence to Vuldrok space. The trip to Leagueheim would allow an opportunity to pick up technological supplies and spares.
The crew of the Osprey seemed willing to go along with the idea, although Captain Dan' had some reservations and felt that the Osprey needed a moderate refit of certain ship systems before it was ready for a trip into Barbarian space. He was cagey about the nature of the upgrades required but the impression was gained that it involved technology that the Church might frown on in general use.
The trip to Madoc from the gate was uneventful and the Osprey soon made its' way to the main island, Ata Dwagah. After offloading the freight and picking up a small cargo, the ship flew to the southern hemisphere to 'Copes atoll' location of “Steve's” – a small trading post and beach bar. The host, Steve had an arrangement with Captain Dan and allowed him to beach the Osprey for downtime and crew breaks. The islands location was at the edge of Anam's tribal territory and the place from whence the Osprey obtained its' fish cargoes.
The passengers and crew took the chance to stretch their legs and unwind, enjoying the sun, sea, fruit and chilled drinks. Musa and Balthazar observed Deke collecting sugar cane and heading into the jungle, presumably to service a hidden still.
On the first night of their stay, Musa and Balthazar were sleeping out under the stars when they observed a number of Ory'im coming ashore and standing near to where Aquila was roosting for the night. After a period of quiet observation, they departed, leaving the watching humans none the wiser. When they asked Steve, he suggested that perhaps the Ory' had never seen an Ertyri before. He also explained a little about the Ory', how they were an ancient race who had fallen from greatness and now felt that their God had abandoned them.
Casey's eyes were seen to glow when she was out at night swimming. Balthazar, whose own eyes glow as a sign of his Theurgic powers postulated that Casey was either a devotee of her own religion or a Pyschic of some kind. Being an Ukar, the latter possibility seemed the most likely.
The following day, Anam came to Annissa and asked for the aid of the Questing group on behalf of his tribe. Over at the next island, some 400km away, a group of Scravers were apparently looting a sacred site and threatening the Ory if they attempted to interfere. Being a minority tribe without major Guild ties, Anam's tribe were unable to legally obtain weapons and the Scravers had placed depth charges in the lagoon.
The whole group concluded that this was a wrong that had to be righted and resolved to do something about it.
Enquiries via radio with the Guild authorities on Ata Dwagah proved to be frustrating. A Chief Redmond revealed that a permit had been issued for archaeological work to take place on 'Clarkes Atoll' and that any irregularities would have to be referred to Leagueheim and that this would take days or weeks.
Realising that this was a brushoff, the party eventually resolved to fly to Clarkes' atoll and confront the Scravers directly, if they were reasonable people then perhaps some sort of compromise might be reached. If not… Brother Balthazar for one seemed happy at the prospect of dispensing some justice then and there.
Approaching low and unannounced, the Osprey caused some consternation among the Scravers. When challenged they showed contempt for the natives and insisted that their charter from the Academy on Leagueheim gave them permission to do what they liked and that the tribal treaties did not block their activities.
Tanalu examined the documentation and said that in his considered opinion, it was too vague as to who it granted permission to. Given the large quantity of weapons displayed by the Scravers, it appeared that they were in fact freelance 'reclaimation' operatives raiding sites for artefacts for subsequent sale. The group threatened the Scravers with the scrutiny of Imperial authorities and complaints to the League.
The Scraver vessel 'Greyfox' took off without warning and the Osprey gave chase. The Scraver's opened fire with their lasers as they raced through the upper atmosphere, leading to a running fight between the two ships, Musa's practise with the blasters proved its' worth as she manned the turret. Both ships took moderate damage in the exchange but Casey's piloting proved superior to the helmsman of the Greyfox, with additional engine power from the engines courtesy of Deke the engineer.
Osprey rammed Greyfox and used her grapples. Rather than force their way aboard, the Greyfox was given a chance to allow the Questing group aboard to seize the stolen Ory'im artefacts and confiscate goods as reparation. Rather than face a Brother Battle in full armour, the Scravers complied. Captain Dan was all for “Taking everything not nailed down to make up for the hundreds of damage done to the Osprey.” (The good captain had forgotten that the damage would be repaired at Imperial expense).
Goods seized included : A banned Decados radium blaster, a quantity of explosives and a machine gun. The Greyfox departed for the gate with a stern warning never to bother the Ory'im again and a suggestion that they not enter Madoc's atmosphere if they knew what was good for them.
Back on Madoc, the damage was inspected and the Scraver camp cleaned up. Musa defused the Scraver depth charges, much to everyones' relief. A quantity of camping equipment was recovered but all the light weaponry had disappeared, the presence of Ory'im footprints suggested that the locals had taken them for their own use.
The morning afterward, Musa and Balthazar awoke to see Ory'im departing back into the surf. Among the waves, lying on the sand was a small object. Musa picked it up and saw that it was a statuette of an Ertyri holding a jumpgate. The statuette was made of an unknown metal and the whole thing seemed not to be of modern manufacture.
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Episode 4
With the Osprey beached on Copes Atoll undergoing repairs, our heroes spent a day or so relaxing before boarding their ship and taking off with a cargo of fish, bound for Leagueheim. Captain Dan' assured his passengers that the jury-rigged repairs would hold for long enough to reach their destination but that another couple of hits would have resulted in more serious damage.
The 'uphill' run to the gate passed without notable incident, the crew growing more used to the presence of the Questing party and vice versa. The radium blaster captured from the Scravers was consigned to a trajectory that would take it into one of the gas giants in the system.
At the gate, the Osprey had the privilege of being 'lead ship' for the transit to Leagueheim. At the moment of transition, everyone aboard head a melodic chime that seemed to have no source. An examination of the luggage revealed that the statuette was softly glowing, or more accurately the jumpgate held in the claws of the Etyri was. The phosphorescence dissipated after a minute or so but the same could not be said of the curiousity that this phenomenon generated.
The Leagueheim gate was heavily guarded by League vessels and there were also a number of Inquisition frigates present.
The 'downhill' trip from the gate to the mainworld was uneventful. Musa made the suggestion that the gate held by the statue might represent an actual jumpgate, each gate being unique in appearance, and Aquila set to work with Alectrona to research this.
Not long before their arrival at Leagueheim, the model gate was revealed to be identical to that in the Grail system.
Planetfall at Leagueheim was something of a revelation for those who had never visited the world before (Alectrona knew it passingly, having studied at the Moonhaven on Leagueheim's natural satellite : Racer). The landing area alone was the size of a small prairie and the 95% urban cover of the planet was hard to take in -
Towers several miles high, streets like canyons and hundreds of square miles of abandoned factories or warrens of residential buildings.
Annissa arranged for accommodation at the Excelsior Hotel for her associates and the crew. Deke however insisted on being paid and given leave so he could go “Whoring and carousing”. This left Casey to oversee the repair work to the ship and the planned upgrades to make the wilderness trip more viable.
The double suite of rooms was suitably luxurious and everyone settled in for what looked to be a pleasant stay.
Musa managed to find a buyer for the confiscated weapons and explosives but was not happy with the price offered and so sought to get Annissa to make the sale later.
Annissa herself managed to negotiate a very reasonable price with the Excelsiors' management to purchase the fish for their own restaurants. She took payment in cash and placed the chest of money in the hotel vault (slipping the statuette in the chest, hidden under the layers of coins).
The Hotel clientele seemed to be 95% Leaguers with a smattering of nobles, mostly Xanthippe. The open acceptance of cybernetics showed the difference between attitudes here and in noble territory.
In the bar that evening, Alectrona, Captain Dan, Balthazar, Musa and Annissa noted that they were attracting the attention of a suspicious group of individuals, tough looking corporate types.
Over the course of the evening, the group took turns to go to the bar, revealing that the attention of the watchers was focussed on Alectrona and Annissa.
Captain Dan received an urgent page from Tanalu in the suite upstairs and en masse the group rushed back to their suite.
They arrived to find the door breached, Aquila unconscious and the suite a mess. There was a large bloodstain on the wall and dragmarks showing the removal of a casualty. Hotel security arrived soon afterward. It transpired that Anam had been resting in the fountain pool in the suite atrium, Tanalu meditating in his room and Aquila studying in the reception room when a group of masked intruders forced the door and stormed in, tasering Aquila.
However, they did not expect there to be a large male Ory'im in the pool and were messily surprised when he attacked from behind, forcing them to retreat.
Hotel management were apologetic and moved the party to a more secure and luxurious suite on the penthouse level at no extra charge.
Concerned for Caseys' well-being, it was decided to send Balthazar over to the ship to make sure she was safe. Everyone else retired for the night.
Musa set an alarm for 4am, reckoning on this being the most dangerous time.
Shortly after Musa awoke, she heard Dan woken by a call on his com-unit. It seemed that Deke was holed up in a brothel, hiding from a group of men who seemed to wish him ill. Dan set off with Anam to extricate him. Musa stood guard with Alectrona who was also now awake. Annissa slept on.
Some time later, Dan and Anam returned with a bloodstained Deke. Dan's clothes showed signs of energy weapons damage and he admitted that they had had to shoot their way out of the brothel, but hadn't killed anyone.
Deke was in a bad way, badly beaten and showing signs that someone had been in the early stages of torturing him. Alectrona also noted that Deke's body showed signs of the lifetime of violence, old scars, broken bones, signs of surgery and the removal of tattoos that must have covered 80% of his body and limbs at one time.
Guild security arrived soon afterward, accepting Dan's explanation that a drunken brawl had gotten out of hand. The Courtesans' Guild were not pressing charges for the damage to the brothel. Dan was fined 200 Firebirds but no further charges were due.
Casey intercepted an attempt to hack the computer aboard the Osprey via the ground umbilical. The intruders were attempting to access the ships' navigational data but were cut off before they could access too much data.
Annissa awoke to find a sedated and bandaged engineer in the reception room and a lot of explaining due.
It was decided that the stay on Leagueheim should be cut short, as soon as the repairs were complete.
On the subsequent trip to the weaponsmiths' quarter, Musa sensed that they were being tailed and this put the group on their guard. The sale of the weapons and explosives netted sufficient cash for the immediate purchase of a cargo for Madoc at the Agora (Marine engines and radar equipment).
The group returned to the hotel and checked out, Annissa discovering a note that read “Where's the map?” in the pigeonhole. Utterly confused, she left a reply : “What map?”.
Thus it was that our heroes departed Leagueheim a little earlier than planned without the upgrades to the ship they had hoped for.
En route to the gate, Casey located a hidden homing device attached to the inner hull. The device was protected by an anti-tamper charge, although it was also hypothesised that the charge could be used to remotely cripple the ship to facilitate her capture. Musa was able to defuse and remove the device and it was ejected from the airlock.
As the ship arrived at the gate, the statuette was closely observed. Osprey was once again the lead ship in her convoy and as transition occurred, the statuettes' gate once again glowed and this time a miniature gate transition glow appeared in the center of the gate. Alectrona and Aquila, being both gifted with keen eyesight observed stars within it. The constellations within it later proved to be those of the Grail system.
We left our heroes some two days out from Bz-II, puzzling over the mystery of the statue.
ACT TWO
Episode 1
Two days out from Bz-II, the captain reports that Annissa's elder brother is also inbound for Bz-II, perhaps to take part in the celebrations of the Emperor's birthday later in the week.
Our party land at the Imperial starport and offload their cargo, arranging to sell it to the Palace for 100 FB per tonne. They are quartered in the Imperial palace in a section given over mostly to Questing Knight groups, many of whom have gathered to honour the Emperor on his birthday. The quarters are lavish and secure, the floor shared with the same Questing groups that shared their investiture with the party.
The statuette is left aboard the 'Osprey'.
The group are summonsed to the Questing Council offices for a debrief by Sir Peter, this is in addition to the equally serious business of arranging dressmaking for the upcoming party.
The interview with Sir Peter went well, the Scraver heat largely dying down despite the incident with the 'Greywolf' and a complaint from some dubious archaeologists. The principled stance on alien rights taken on Madoc seemingly meeting with approval with members of the Council.
Sir Peter approved of the plan to refit/repair at Tethys and issued a voucher for the costs to be redeemed at Tethys shipyards. On return from Tethys, an assignment would be provided.
Anam passed on a message to Brother Balthazar on his return : “The lady who would like to mate with you sends her greetings and told me to let you know where her room is”. It would appear that Anastasia has not forgotten the Brother Battle.
The party was a low key, almost informal affair. The highlights of which included Casey's apparent case of raging hormones (“I'd do him” being her reaction to seeing the Emperor in person for the first time and her later spending a lot of time with one Raul Juandaastas) and Brother Balthazar being gently pursued by Anastasia.
Less pleasant was the meeting between Annissa and her brother. His chagrin at her choice of action was evident and he seemed to hope that she would soon come to her senses and abandon the Order to return home “When she tires of it”.
Fashion statements of the evening : Anam, resplendent in an ornate warrior's shell vest and ritual fishing spear. Aquila in full beak lacquer and embroidered coat. Casey in an almost Obun-esque outfit with Xanthippe styling.
Following her first dance with Raul, Casey spent some time in conversation with Aquila, gleaning some basic phrases in Obun from him. Speculation about why was rife among the party.
Throughout the stay on Bz-II, Deke stayed in his room listening to Dan's classical music and drinking quietly, this shift in his behaviour was noted by all, as was his ability to have a short conversation without swearing.
The ship lifted off the following day, bound for Tethys with a freight cargo of electronic components and materials.
Some hours out from Bz-II, an Imperial stealth ship decloaked alongside and asked to dock. There was a flurry of activity as various items of contraband were rapidly stashed away.
By order of the Emperor and Questing Knight Council, the party were to be taken immediately to Stigmata for an immediate and secret mission. Annissa, Balthazar, Musa, Alectrona and Aquila had a few minutes to pack before being ushered aboard the stealth ship and the Osprey left to go on its' way without them. Rakim the Raccoon was left in Caseys' care. Dan gave his blaster to Balthazar when their destination was secretly mouthed to him.
It took six days to reach the Stigmata gate and a further six to reach the planet, where they party were offloaded onto a shuttle and taken to the planet surface. On landing they were given a brief orientation concerning the draconian security methods and conveyed to an administration block.
On the way to the admin block, they witnessed the conversion of two medical orderlies by an infected wounded soldier being offloaded from a medical shuttle and earned some respect by opening fire without a second thought at the monstrosities that took shape from the men's remains. “BRING FIRE!” bellowed Brother Balthazar.
Once inside, they were greeted by Salima Sahar of the Imperial Eye who outlined their mission : To travel to Daishan and attempt to recover a sample of a vaccine against symbiote infection. Somewhere on Daishan, a research bunker contained the last work of brilliant Masseri scientists and the data of its' location had recently been rediscovered.
Shaken by the scene on the landing field, the group still volunteered for the mission and they were literally rushed to a waiting shuttle.
Aboard another stealth ship, the party were conveyed to the Stigmata gate. At the gate an Avestite frigate asserted its' right to inspect the ship and unfortunately Brother Balthazar let slip their destination. The Avestites were then arrested by the Eye and Balthazar given a withering look.
In the Daishan system, the ship docked at a spacestation, the secret base from which missions into Symbiote space are launched. Sadly the station is somewhat rickety and power outages were common throughout their stay.
Annissa, Alectrona and Musa had to climb several floors via an inspection shaftwhile Balthazar and Aquila waited for a lift to be repaired. On the command deck, the nobles were introduced to the base commander who gave Annissa a charm against symbiotes and his best wishes. While waiting for the lift, Balthazar was approached by three manifest light commandoes who hinted that there was more to their mission than just vaccine “We do not approve of negotiation with the enemy”.
The party were shown their transport to Daishan – An Al-Malik scout ship with her pilot, Zelaya Helbron. On completion of the mission, the group were told they could keep the ship, a princely reward.
Daishan was scorched to the bedrock by fleet bombardment during the retreat from the world hundreds of years ago and the equipment provided was for desert survival and coping with a radioactive wasteland. All energy weapons and shields had to be left behind as they would be damaged by the radiation. Assault rifles, ballistic armour and radiation suits were issued.
Salima, confronted with Balthazar's information from the Manifest Light outlined the sealed orders they were to be given :
That a faction within the Symbiotes was said to be against the war. The party were to locate an alleged node of Symbiote activity that intelligence indicates is part of that faction. A channel of communication between the Empire and the Anti-war symbiotes is desired with a view to negotiation. Recovery of the vaccine is of secondary importance to this goal.
The trip to Daishan took six days.
Approaching the planet, the ship was attacked by a lone 'pod-ship' that had been dormant for decades. A running battle saw the scout ship fleeing for the atmosphere from the much larger symbiote craft. Damaged, the symbiotes rammed the scout ship, knocking out Musa, Aquila and the pilot but also causing the destruction of the symbiote ship.
In a spin, the ship ploughed into the atmosphere and only heroic efforts by Balthazar got the vessels' nose up before it struck mountains. Emergency systems kicked in at the last moment and the ship crash landed on… Snow?
Daishan is not a radioactive desert… it is an iceworld, clean of taint…
Taking stock after the crash, the party determined that their objective lay some four days march away in the foothills of the mountains. The ship needed at least a week to repair and the spares aboard were insufficient, so parts would be needed from the bunker.
The radiation suits would serve as rudimentary protection against the elements but it would be a long cold walk to and from the bunker.
We leave our heroes bruised and shaken by their landing, planning their trek to the mountains.
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Episode 2
We find our heroes trudging their way across the snowy wastes of Daishan toward the probable location of the research bunker that hopefully contained the vaccine data and the parts to repair their ship.
The first day of their three day trek passed without incident, although the cold was beginning to tell on Aquila. On the second day they group were attacked by an unnatural combination of bird and predatory cat. The Imperial rifles issued to the party served them well and the attack was beaten off with minor injuries only to the party. The following day saw another, larger attack by the flying cats was also driven off, again with only minor injuries. (Only Musa and Annissa had damage to their suits at this point).
The party's route followed the line of a stream, which as they neared the mountains seemed to show signs of being warmer than mere meltwater and the banks showed patches of greenery and the tracks of small animals.
In the foothills of the mountains, the stream flowed through a vale of unnatural warmth and life, centered on a pool. The area was a bubble of warmth amid the ice. While examining the vale from a safe distance, Balthazar noticed that the party were surrounded by at least a dozen human looking individuals. When challenged by these hunters, the party opted to comply with their demands and surrender their weapons (Annissa, Alectrona and Musa recognised the accent of the hunters as being of Al-Malik origin). Under guard, the group were led to the camp of the hunters in a hidden valley. There they learned that these were the survivors of the Al-Malik expeditionary force that was abandoned here 25 years previously. They were introduced to their leader, Sister Sergia of the Brother Battle order.
Sergia explained that the bunker the party sought was the nest of a Symbiote hive (no mention was made of the mission to open negotiations or the vaccine, just the need for starship spares) and that these symbiotes demanded a blood tithe each year of a man and a woman from the survivors. Sergia agreed to aid the group in return for a promise that the survivors would be rescued.
Entering the bunker via a ventilation shaft, a rather orifice like organic tunnel, two of the party began to hallucinate although Musa and Annissa both saw very similar visions - Leading both to suspect that Sergia was not all that she seemed to be.
Inside the bunker, they soon encountered Blaz-Daal, a Symbiote who was a scientist working in the bunker. Sergia's demands that they kill him on sight were ignored and Annissa was forceful in her order that no-one was to fire without provocation.
Blaz-Daal agreed to show them the way to the hive leader Ja'zeel. On the way, the group encountered Gregor... symbiote that asked them to kill him, again they stayed their hand (Annissa knocking Sergia's hand aside when she fired at Gregor) and when two more Symbiotes arrived to placate Gregor, again there was restraint.
Arriving at the upper level of the bunker, all hell quite literally broke loose in short order. As they emerged into the great hangar bay, they saw Ja'zeel, the hive leader in the center of the room. He reacted to Sergia's presence with what appeared to be horror and revulsion (plain even on the features of what seemed to be a giant tortoise like being) and she immediately attempted to open fire on him. Once more, the party interceded and she screamed 'Traitors' at them and called upon the forces of darkness to aid her. Shadow swirled around her and she seemed to swell around within her skin, growing claws, eyes rolling into her head and glowing with an unholy light.
Sergia and Balthazar engaged in a titanic battle, while the rest of the group fired at her as opportunity permitted. Despite his power armour, Balthazar was barely holding his own as blow after blow of his was deflected by a wall of icy cold darkness.
Bullets were similarly stopped dead but Aquila seemed to manage to get some of his shots through, knocking chunks out of Sergia's flesh but she seemed to feel no pain. Ja'zeel used some form of Symbiote power that seemed to draw life from Sergia, causing her pain but not slowing her down.
Eventually, Sergia collapsed and a swirling pattern of darkness rose from her unconscious form. The shadow tried to enter Balthazar but was repelled by his aura of piety (He had called upon the Pancreator as battle was joined) and turned its attention to Alectrona and she was possessed in the same manner as Sergia.
Aquila continued to fire, putting two bullets into Alectrona but she concentrated on Balthazar. Soon afterward, she collapsed as Annissa struck the back of her head.
The Shadow left Alectrona and swirled around Sergia, who had been trying to crawl away. Sergia screamed, spasmed and lay still. The Shadow disappeared leaving an eerie silence.
Under close supervision, Balz-Daal administered a dose of Elixir to the injured Alectrona, who regained consciousness soon afterward.
The dialogue with Ja'Zeel was both cordial and constructive. The party's willingness to listen and lack of overt hostility enabled them to convince the Symbiotes to hand over a sample of the vaccine. After Musa allowed the Symbiotes to 'know her thoughts' the party's good intentions, the starhip parts were made available.
Musa attracted some odd looks from her colleagues when, after Ja'Zeel asked if anyone wished to join the Symbiote race, her refusal was a little lukewarm "Not right now..." not seeming to Balthazar in particular to be quite emphatic enough.
Ja'Zeel explained that no human on Daishan would ever be converted against their will and that if the humans respected his right to exist, they could return as the planet was healed by the 'World Egg' from which the Symbiotes derived their life energy.
Mission accomplished, the group made their way back to the valley of the survivors and 'explained' that Sergia had died a heroic death in an encounter with Symbiote drones but in so doing had won a victory, freeing them of the blood tithe (Ja'Zeel had denied such a tithe had existed and it was suspected that Sergia had, in fact, been sacrificing people to Dark Entities).
Eight of the survivors were to accompany the party to their ship and on to space station Edo. The rest, should they wish, would be evacuated by transports the party promised to send.
The journey back to the ship was uneventful and the repairs did not take long. Once clear of the planetary atmosphere, communication with Edo was re-established and a preliminary debriefing conducted. On arrival at Edo, the party were questioned for hours under theurgic supervision and deemed clear of taint.
Agent Sahar was more than pleased, as was Captain Aldotti. The party were sworn to secrecy and assured the survivors would be resettled on Leimenkainen. A reward of 60,000 firebirds plus 1,000 firebirds each was paid and the group given passage back to Stigmata.
At Stigmata, it was discovered that the Osprey had arrived some days previously, having guessed the party's likely destination and been impounded. After their re-union (Casey seeming to win a wager that all the party would return), Captain Dan was somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of money now in their possession.
The Osprey was given priority transit papers as far as Byzantium Secundus. En route, Dan and Casey were spending a lot of time with the ships think-machine, running design specifications on ship upgrades.
Alectrona after her Possession seemed to be showing a greater diligence in her religious observances and Annissa too seemed to find the clear signs of the battle of Light against Dark a real spur to renewed faith.
At Byzantium, the debrief by the Questing Knights was unexpectedly brief and gentle. The Emperor's will seemed to be that no questions about the past weeks were 'appropriate' and that the Knights and Cohorts had served well. No-one at the Order seemed willing to press the point.
We leave our happy band on a 48 hour stopover on the throneworld, shopping and ordering a cargo for another run to Tethys. The plan being now to proceed to Tethys and upgrade the ship using the bulk of the reward money.
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Episode 3
Business concluded on Bz-II, our heroes set forth for Tethys with a cargo, ready to spend a few weeks planetside getting their ship upgraded.
A routine run up to the gate and down to Tethys, largely spent in training and relaxing in equal measure.
Planetfall on Tethys saw Captain Dan, Casey, Deke and Tanalu taking charge of the ship in drydock while the Questing Knights and Cohorts with Anam took up residence in the facilities of the Order.
Over the course of the next three weeks, the group spend much of their remaining reward money on items they deem to be useful on their planned foray into Barbarian space.
Toward the end of the last week of the refit, Captain Dan reported that his efforts to locate a suitable additional gunner for the crew had been less than successful. It would appear that his own blacklisting by the Charioteers is deterring most applicants. However one applicant seemed unwilling to be choosy and made it to the interview stage.
Antonio DeMosta, former member of House Masseri and a disgraced member of the Charioteer guild applies for the post.
DeMosta seemed to be more than aware of Captain Dan's past and there was a certain degree of ribbing and needling. However Antonio seemed willing to sign on with the ship and his qualifications were more than adequate. He was warned in no uncertain terms by the captain to keep his hands off the pilot.
After signing the ship's articles, Antonio was briefed on the details of their planned destination - Vuldrok space.
Antonio seemed somewhat astounded that the shipboard life was so centered on 'self improvement' and the very low levels of 'fun' as he saw it. He spent some time aft with Deke, sampling the secret produce of the still and learning some snippets of gossip.
Brother Balthazar's dedication to the swear box also came as something of a surprise to Antonio.
Passage through the Tethys and Bz-II gate's was routine but before the jump through using the key to the 'lost world' Antonio was shown the statue and it's strange behaviour explained.
Annissa, Alectrona and Musa took a sweepstake on how long it might take Casey to bed Antonio, although over the course of the flight, no real interest was shown in either direction.
As lead ship on the jump, the statue did indeed cause a chime and began to glow. This time however, the statue was on the bridge and therefore exposed to direct line of sight of the gate. Filiments of light radiated out from the statue, reaching to the gate, visible within the ship but almost certainly too diffuse to be seen from any distance.
The Osprey emerged from the gate into the middle of a battle...
Two vuldrok Galliots and a number of smaller vessels were engaged with a small convoy of three transports and half a dozen light escorts. The design of the transports and escorts differed slightly from the Vuldrok craft and the communication traffic was in an unknown language, similar to the dialects native to Al-Malik space. The Osprey engaged the Vuldrok, putting the new weapons systems to good use. Although achieving a 50% hit rate with the missiles led to some raised eyebrows in Antonios direction.
However, Vuldrok ships lack shields and Musa's laser fire stripped away the armour they use for protection and those missiles that did hit, did so to deadly effect. One Galliot broke off her boarding action and the other took a critical bridge hit and tumbled away venting atmosphere and smoke from a burning bridge.
The battle was not entirely one sided however, the Osprey taking damage to her thrusters from a barrage of cannonfire that took down her shields.
The convoy tentatively hailed the Osprey, mistaking them for a Hawkwood vessel. After a cautious flypast, the escorts allowed the Osprey to join the end of the convoy and invited them to land at their starport with their thanks.
The ships turned out to belong to House Ramakrishna, former rulers of Shaprut and relatives of the Al-Malik. The world the Osprey had 'discovered' was Hargard, split between Vuldrok and this minor house.
The Osprey sighted an unusual vessel outbound from the world, shaped like a giant squid. The Ramakhrisna vessels explained it was a 'Nizdarim' vessel, Dan and Alectrona recognised the name as the legendary ancient adversaries of the Ory'im. Anam was visibly disturbed by this news, as the Nizdarim occupy the role of devils in Ory' mythology. A stoneage adversary from their prehistory, their seeming to have starships long after the Ory' fell from technological life has many disturbing implications.
Indications from orbit were that the Ramakrishna domain was higher technology than the rest of the planet, explaining perhaps why they have retained their independence.
After landing, an invitation to a meeting with a local noble was extended by a very polite functionary. Whilst obviously heavily escorted, the overall impression given was of cautious welcome.
Alectrona, Annissa, Antonio, Musa and Balthazar met with Baroness Ana Ramakrishna who explained that the convoy had been attacked by one of the thanes loyal to the planetary overlord Sigfaddir Firestorm but due to the fragmented nature of Vuldrok alliances this would not necessarily bring down the wrath of the warlord.
Balthazar's characteristic honesty and directness revealed that the Osprey was indeed lost and without hope of immediate backup, although their mandate as Questing Knights was seemingly accepted as a legitimate reason to be in the system.
In recompense for the efforts made in their defense, the Ramakrishnas offered to repair Osprey and supply replacement missiles.
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Episode 4
Our heroes decide to do a little exploring of the Ramakrishna city while waiting for their ship to be repaired. A language chip for Antonio's cyberware is requested to help with the language problem (although many of the locals speak Urthish, a chip with the local dialect and the Vuldrok tongue is considered a handy investment for the future).
Alectrona, Annissa and Musa head out to the market and bazaar to pick up some local clothes and a little local colour.
Antonio misinterprets an instruction to do a little low key reconnaissance as an order to take Deke off his job overseeing the repairs to the ship and take him to a starport bar at ten in the morning. Fortunately it is a little early for alcohol and the chat with two local military pilots is amicable and fuelled only by the excellent local coffee.
Balthazar and Aquila avail themselves of the local library, reading Ukar translations of local texts as Aquila cannot read the local script.
Annissa buys a small cargo from a local spice merchant and pays in hard currency, much to his delight.
The party's wanderings are cut short by the local security service who politely guide them back to the governors residence where the Baroness regretfully informs them of a problem. The sons of Thane Gundbrand, killed in the space battle have sworn a blood feud against Osprey and out for revenge. Rather than risk being seen to be shielding the Osprey, House Ramakrishna would prefer the Questing Knights to leave their territory.
The party decided to make a run for the gate, with a two day head start on the incoming Galliots they believe that they can get through. If their key proves defective for the return journey, there ought to be just enough time to compute the jump by hand.
The ship departs post haste and makes its' way to the gate with two Galliots now in pursuit, joined by a third.
At the gate, the party are alarmed when their key fails to open the gate to Leminkainen. The third Galliot's arrival time is projected as perilously close to the completion time for the jump computations (18 hours).
With a few minutes to go, the Osprey is attacked by two smaller ships lurking in the gate traffic and a vicious fight ensues with the short-range guns of the Vuldrok inflicting multiple hits and breaching the hull in several places. The bridge canopy is holed by a shell and a fire started amidships. The fire control systems of the ship seem erratic and weapons jams seriously hamper the Osprey's attempt to defend herself.
Aquila is in the process of preparing the final stages when Osprey is grappled and a boarding attempt made. Antonio severed the cable attaching the enemy vessel to the Osprey as the first boarders attempt to enter the hull.
At that moment, with the enemy Galliot now opening fire... Aquila punched in the codes and the ship darted forward into the gate horizon.
On emergence into Hawkwood space, a lone Vuldrok boarder was found clinging to the hull.
Evidently in some sort of battle rage, Balthazar was somewhat enthusiastic in his subdual of the prisoner, who (having been outside the hulls Sathra dampening field) was not in a fit state to defend himself.
The Imperial and Hawkwood gate patrol cleared the damaged Osprey for immediate passage to Leminkainen and the journey to a friendly port began.
The prisoner was uncommunicative for the first few days, although by the morning of the second day, his blonde hair had turned snow white. He later exhibited what was suspected as being some form of Psychic affinity for electricity.
Brother Balthazar was driven almost to distraction by this exhibition of Sathraic heresy and was vocal in his desire to either liquidate the prisoner or hand him over to the Inquisition.
Captain Dan, himself a reformed Sathraist took to his cabin rather than be around either the captive or the irate monk.
Once he was coherent, the captive gave his name as Gunnar, son of Gundburg and whilst he refused to beg for his life, stated that there would be a ransom for his return.
After much debate, it was decided that handing Gunnar back to his father, who was a Thane allied to the sons of Gundbrand might at least reduce the number of ships after them and potentially make friends.
This resulted in the decision to conceal Gunnar's presence on board from Imperial and Church authorities (technically harbouring an un-Penitent Psychic and a hostile barbarian to boot).
On arrival at Leminkained, the Questing Knights (Annissa and Alectrona) were interviewed by Sir Richard Hawkwood at the Questing Knight chapter house and commended on their initial exploratory foray into Vuldrok space.
When the Knights announced their intention to return, it was revealed that there were Imperial Eye and Order operatives in Vuldrok space and some information on how to contact them was provided.
Anam's presence aboard was kept from Gunnar with some difficulty but it was decided that the existence of the Oro'ym must not be discovered by the Nizdarim.
Repair, re-armament and replenishment completed, the Osprey left once more for Hargard.
At the gate, the Osprey used the Vuldrok tactic of a high speed entry into the destination system to avoid any waiting ambush and made their way to Hargard unmolested.
The chosen destination was the neutral Thanedom of Eldrid the Wise and her Agora city of Elfhome, it was there that Gunnar's father was to meet them. It was felt that the sons of Gundbrand would have less local support and be less willing to start a major altercation if they followed Osprey there.
The actual exchange went swimmingly, handing Gunnar over in a local park for the price of a decent blaster pistol. For his part, Gundburg said that his men and ships would stay out of the blood feud hereafter.
Contact was made with an Eye operative masquerading as a tavern keeper who revealed that there were a number of matters that the party could help with if they were so inclined.
These included : Rumours of an Known World prisoner being held in a local warehouse rather than sold in the Ostmark slave market and a cache of 2nd Republic weapons being stored somewhere locally.
Annissa seemed uncomfortable with arms dealing/gun running, even when it involved the weapons being taken from barbarians and given to the Emperor. The more humanitarian concerns of a prisoner from the Known Worlds drew the party's interest.
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Episode 5
Our heroes decided that they would attempt the rescue of the alleged Imperial captive in the warehouse district.
Hrothgar the Imperial Eye agent was asked to supply a pair of vans – one for the trip in and another for the journey back to the ship after a discrete changeover.
Musa and Antonio were sent on a recce, which was not a stellar success – a corrugated iron warehouse with a first floor office being reported as having windows and an office on the ground floor. Sufficient doubt as to the efficacy of the reconnaissance existed as to merit sending them back for a second look. Antonio's eyesight was criticised more than Musa's, who maintained that her attention was on the driving.
Initially, Antonio advocated the use of I.R. night vision gear and agreed with Annissa's suggestion that they use stun gas but neither were available and so the group settled on the use of Gel round ammo “slapper rounds” to subdue the opposition rather than kill them.
Aquila was sent on an aerial recce later that night and determined the location of the office and the rough layout of the warehouse interior.
Casey suggested ramraiding the warehouse but a stealthy approach via the side fire escape was settled upon, hopefully bypassing the two guards on the front door.
Antonio, Musa and Deke took the lead with Alectrona remaining in the van and Annissa and Balthazar covering the rear in case the guards heard anything and approached.
Antonio managed to open the door and in short order, all hell broke loose. Within were three Vuldrok – two guards and a merchant. Fire was exchanged through the door, the short range resulting in many hits from both sides.
The two guards from the front rushed around the corner and engaged Annissa and Balthazar in combat, the first guard being swiftly cut down by the sword of Brother Balthazar.
The merchant threw a grenade which landed among the three on the landing. Musa attempted to kick it away but it rebounded off the edge of the landing, Deke was attempting to pick up and throw the device when it detonated, his body taking the full force of the blast.
In plain terms, everyone within the area was spattered in steaming gore.
The fight was over swiftly, the remaining Vuldrok being cut down by sword, blaster and bullet.
Antonio, quite badly hurt was sent back to the van and Musa, less wounded than he, pressed on. After a search of the building, a hidden trapdoor was discovered, leading to a cellar.
Musa and Annissa investigated, following the scent of ordure. The cellar contained three cells – One empty, one containing a female captive and the third holding some kind of large animal, bound in chains and beaten nigh to death.
Annissa decided to take the animal with them as the group beat a hasty retreat to the van with the captive and the merchants strongbox (Balthazar deciding that the ledgers within would prove of use, quite apart from the quantity of cash present).
The captive, a young girl of about sixteen, announced herself as Dame Alicia Silvers of House Hawkwood.
The return to the ship was without further incident, albeit subdued. Deke had not left much by way of remains and those that remained were left behind.
Dan seemed to take the death of his engineer badly and the rest of the crew appeared shocked.
While the question of Alicia's quarters was being discussed, Hrothgar contacted the Osprey with news that the sons of Gundbrand had entered orbit and one of their ships would soon be landing in the city. Unable to return to Viyanagar and unwilling to chance a fight with the engineer dead, the party were more than happy to be given directions to the lands of a Thane with whom Hrothgar had done business before, who would hopefully be willing to let them stay while their wounds healed and the sons of Gundbrand finished their business in Elfhome.
Flying to the southern part of the continent, the Osprey was directed to a valley, wherein a friendly sounding Vuldrok named Snorri sent guidance co-ordinates for entry to a concealed cave entrance on the valley wall. The valley contained a large village and was overlooked by what appeared to be a converted observatory, now doing service as a fortress.
Once landed within the cavern, Snorri extended the hospitality of the thane to the crew. Leaving Anam, Tanalu, Aquila and the alien animal aboard the ship, the rest of the crew headed down to the village.
At the village, Snorri took them to the ale hall which also provided guest rooms. The barmaid, a strapping woman called Gudrun made them welcome and helped them choose rooms.
Arrangement of rooms :
The people of the village seemed welcoming enough, politely curbing their curiousity about the outworlders and generally being hospitable. Annissa and Balthazar encountered a girl who addressed them in perfect Urthish, a thrall (slave) taken from Gwynneth when she was a girl. She was pleased to be able to find a priest to take her confession. Cassandra seemed no less content than serfs back in the Known Worlds.
Annissa returned briefly to the ship, having to hitch a ride on a tractor to get to the mine entrance, an unusual experience for a noblewoman.
On arrival on Osprey, she checked in on the alien animal and discovered that it appeared to be practically be invisible, the hair being able to diffract light in special way. Collecting Rakim, Annissa headed back to the village, having to walk back.
Antonio struck up conversation with several locals who turned out to be crew on a raider class ship operated by the village (The 'Firedrake') when they weren't working in the village at various trades.
Musa, having satisfied herself as to the extreme defensibility of the village took her effective convalescent leave seriously and availed herself of a long bath followed by mugs of beer in the alpine sunshine and guntalk mixed with light flirting with one of the marines from the Firedrake.
Annissa people-watched and worried about the moral well-being of their Hawkwood charge.
Dan, for his part, spent most of his time propping up the bar and talking to Gudrun.
We leave our heroes in the ale hall of the village as the locals sing songs and tell tales while plates of steaming meat and vegetables are passed around.
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Episode 6
Our heroes made their way to bed. Annissa comforting a tearful and tipsy Alicia as the full impact of her liberation hit home. Alicia filled Annissa in on her life story and the full reasons for her wanting to stay out of Hawkwood control.
Casey gave vent to her frustration about being 'mothered' to Alectrona. Alectrona learned a number of facts about Ukar culture amid the invective.
The next day saw our heroes learning more about the village. Dan and Gudrun the barkeeper seemed to be getting along famously, Dan looking happier than some had seen him in weeks. Dan had buttonholed Antonio about Deke's death, telling him simply to “Earn it.”
Balthazar spent some time talking to the village Shaman, gaining permission to erect a Holy symbol for those in the village still adhering to the Universal faith.
Annissa and Alectrona went tree climbing with Alicia, Annissa's homelife not having included matters aboreal. She did however seem to have a real talent for it, unlike Alicia Hawkwood.
Samples of the tinned foods were brought from the ship for Gudrun and the clientele of the tavern to sample in advance of the market in two days time.
Balthazar offered his considerable strength to help with tasks around the tavern and village. He stumbled across Gudrun in the hayloft with (presumably) Dan and was asked in no uncertain terms to go away by Gudrun.
Antonio continued his 'Schmoozing' of the locals, learning about customs and culture. He was able to learn (as was Musa, through some 'schmoozing' of her own) that their furry 'guest' was a creature known as an Ishkin, a native sentient race from Wolfs Lament. Ishkin are apparently a full member of the Vuldrok star nations, represented in the 'Great Althing' – the Vuldrok interstellar government.
During a visit to the ship for a theraputic massage session from Tanalu, Antonio was informed that the Ishkin seemed to be either a Theurge or a Psychic of some sort, if Tanalu's understanding of the auras was correct. Antonio was impressed by the efficacy of Tanalu's therapies, gaining a newfound respect for the alien's talk of balancing the aura of the ship as a whole. Tanalu stated that he felt Antonio would benefit from further treatments to realign his energy flows in general. Tanalu also announced that he was aware that Annissa and Alectrona sometimes moved items around the ship and made perhaps his first observed joke, pointing out that he “prepared their soup after all…”
Further analysis of the captured ledger led to the conclusion that the 'Althar' mentioned within was perhaps engaged in something a great deal more unwholesome than mere slavery, perhaps even collecting sentient beings for sacrifice. Enquiries among the Vuldrok revealed that Althar was some sort of merchant who often employed raiders to steal to order. It seemed that Althar had sometimes not been entirely fair or honest in his dealings and had fallen foul of the Thane for nearly getting them killed in a raid he had hired them to carry out.
Examination of some of the captured parts showed that some were obviously of Known Worlds manufacture, others though were local – including a component from a capitol ship. The implication therefore being that the Vuldrok possess far larger ships than commonly thought.
It was at this point that the Thane was revealed to be Gudrun, having masqueraded at her old profession to better get to know the true nature of the party.
Gudrun proposed that in return for her help getting past the two Galliots, the party assist her in carrying out a raid she had been considering for some time but lacked the manpower to pull off. There was considerable moral resistance to the thought of assisting in a mission that might lead to innocent deaths merely for profit, even if it was recovering items that otherwise might fall into less ethical hands.
Eighteen months previously, Althar had hired the crew of the Firedrake to raid an outpost on Khotan and recover some computer components. He neglected to inform them of certain aspects of the defences and the mission nearly ended in disaster.
It seems Hrothar, the Imperial Eye agent in Elfhome supplied her with spares to repair her ship, which explains her debt of honour to him.
Her ship was revealed to be a Kurgan raider, captured some years previously and part of her share of a very successful raid on a Kurgan convoy. The fact that raiders from Hargard had hit Kurgan shipping was something of an eye opener for the party.
Among the items recovered was a computer core from an old 2nd Republic shuttle, part of a mission to evacuate a research base on Khotan at the end of the Republic. The data indicated that either the ship or elements of her cargo were concealed in a cavern deep inside one of the mesa on Khotan, underneath a base belonging to the 'Gonjeen' faction of Khotan.
The nature of the cache seemed to be unclear and there were some misgivings voiced that if it were weapons, perhaps it would not be entirely in Imperial interests to allow Gudrun to get her hands on them, however she did assure the party that her raiding interests did not lie in that direction. However, better perhaps that she obtain it than the likes of Greolf the Grim of Frost, the warlord banging the war drum among the Vuldrok, proposing a pre-emptive strike on the Empire before the Empire invaded the Vuldrok worlds. Greolf is an ally of Sigfaddir, the local major warlord, who in turn is liegelord of the two brothers stalking the party no less.
Annissa insisted on two things : That a stealthy approach be taken to the raid, attempting to enter the mesa and caverns without alerting the people on the plateau and that the crew of the Osprey would receive one third of the haul, whatever it turned out to be.
The plan would need to be refined and the Firedrake would not be able to leave for several days, her crew being scattered among their homesteads and there being a village market to run on Wednesday (a day hence).
The evening turned into a party as the word was sent out that a 'raid' was in the offing. Kegs of ale were broached and many toasts offered to friendship and the success of this joint venture.
The irony of Imperial Questing Knights and Cohorts in an alehall with a horde of drunken Vuldrok bellowing “VIK! VIK! VIK!” was not lost on our heroes…
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Episode 7
Our heroes awake on the morning after the night before, some of them in a somewhat delicate condition… Annissa in particular finding loud noises and bright lights somewhat distressing, as for that matter did Casey (who was much more vocal and colourful in her complaints). Annissa spent much of the morning in “silent meditation” in a darkened room.
Antonio realised that the improvement in his ribs was not temporary and that it would seem that Tanalu had performed some sort of healing on his damaged innards. Antonio resolved to buy the Hironem some sort of presence.
Alectrona reported the first of a series of increasingly strange dreams to Balthazar.
The day before the town market was spent in preparation for the market itself and the trip that was to follow it. Gudrun outlining some of the finer points of her plan to 'extract' the artefacts from Khotan. The Thane mentioned in passing that her crew had salvaged other items on the ill fated raid some eighteen months previously, including a computer core from a drifting wreck.
Gudrun was surprised at the reaction that the name of the wreck elicited from Alectrona and Annissa, not knowing that “Raven” was the name of the ship operated by Hakim Al-Malik and his Xanthippe bride, Hecate. Gudrun thought the core of little use as it was too heavily encrypted for her to access and said she would pass it on to the party in lieu of some small notional percentage of the haul from the upcoming raid.
Casey was something of a stereotypical disgruntled teen for much of the day, complaining to all and sundry about the injustice inherent in the control exerted over her private life. Antonio advised her to speak to the Captain as it was largely from him that most of the edicts came. The young Ukar seemed calmer after a period of meditation in the arboretum and spent much of the rest of the day pre-flight testing Osprey.
A less riotous evening was spent by all and the day of the market dawned, a dawn witnessed by Dame Alicia and Annissa as Annissa rousted Alicia out of bed to help set up the stall for the market.
Market day went well, the vanload of tinned and packaged foods from the Osprey being readily exchanged for a collection of preserved and dried Vuldrok produce, items of handicrafts and a sum of local currency. Brother Balthazar bought himself a large war axe, further cementing his image among the townsfolk as a battle-shaman of some sort.
Antonio bought a basket of fresh greens and fruit for Tanalu by way of a thank-you.
The evening was spent in preparation for the coming days departure.
Osprey was to hide in the radar shadow of Firedrake until clear of Hargard and then the two ships would make their way to the gate and thence to Khotan.
Sadly, Casey found keeping formation during part of the flight to be quite tricky (blaming turbulence) and there was concern that the bluff may not have been successful. Some hours out from Hargard, the two Galliots did indeed appear to be giving chase but with a head start and an advantage in speed, the pursuers would be a full day behind by the time the Osprey and Firedrake arrived at the gate.
Throughout the trip to the gate, Alectrona was beset by more strange and portentous dreams which she discussed at length with brother Balthazar, who recommended that she spend time in prayer and meditation.
A day out from the gate, Alectrona awoke from a disturbing dream at the exact instant that things became distinctly chaotic at the gate. The great metal plates welded to the gate structure began to glow and the sigils inscribed on them became plainly visible on sensors – great Ur-symbols of the sort seen on Gate-builder statues.
These however were crafted by Vuldrok hands. The plates sparked with coronae of electricity and at that moment, the gate activated. A flotilla of ships emerged from the gate, Symbiote warcraft! As the ships emerged, the plates appeared to discharge great bolts of lightning at the incoming vessels at their moment of transition and most of them were destroyed in the space of seconds. Those that emerged successfully were fallen upon by every Vuldrok ship waiting at the gate and the whole action was over in under an hour - as far as could be seen, not a single Symbiote ship escaped.
The utility of such runlore was obvious to all aboard but it was also plain that the Church would not look favourably on such pagan magick as this.
With a day to spare, the ships jumped to the Khotan system.
Alectrona's latest dream seemed to contain elements of either prophesy or a hint that she was in some way sensitive to the presence of Symbiotes. Given her exposure to Lifeweb based healing after her possession (during the mission that no-one ever discusses in front of those not on it) there was some initial concern that Alectrona might be showing signs of 'taint' but this was quickly dismissed due to her clean bill of health in the Stigmata system. Brother Balthazar suggested a trip to either Grail or Nowhere might be in order.
Gudrun was willing to show Annissa and Alectrona the wreck of the Raven and so the two ships took a detour.
A day or so later, the wreck came into view and it was plain to see that she was in very poor shape – Heavily battle damaged with signs of a reactor explosion in the aft section of the ship. Both bridge escape pods were absent, indicating that some of the crew had lived long enough to abandon ship.
The decision was taken to board her via the hole made by the previous Vuldrok boarding party.
Once aboard, auxiliary power was found to have just enough reserves to generate a weak gravity field and some life support. However, before the party could explore too far, scratching sounds were heard behind a bulkhead. Antonio dismissed the sounds as some object rattling against the door but others suspected something else. As Balthazar opened the door, a suited figure attacked him with a wrench. “Night-crackers!” was the cry as he opened fire, having to put multiple shots and then axe blows into the shambling figure before it would stop moving.
Several other husks attacked the bridge and there then followed a rather macabre and unpleasant period of room by room clearance of the remaining husks. Annissa was somewhat traumatised by the experience as she had only heard of such things in travellers tales and fables, not thinking them a real menace.
A search of the ship showed signs that members of the crew had made a stand in the command area after stripping the medical bay and galley of useful items before finally setting the reactor to overload and abandoning ship. It was decided to finish the wreck off with gunfire, lest any husks or their contagion remain and harm the unwary.
Dan was greyfaced after seeing the footage from helmet cameras of old comrades-in-arms shambling in unlife and then the destruction of his former flagship. He retired to his cabin and even Antonio could not tempt him out with a bottle of moonshine.
Ironically, the data-core gave up its secrets mere hours after the encounter with the wreck of the Raven and showed fragments of internal sensor logs detailing the conversion of most of the crew to husks in the week or so before she was abandoned. The plague started during the period the ship was in the Hargard system and continued when the ship jumped to Khotan. The rest of the core had been rather professionally wiped.
Talk of Hakim and his alleged 'treasure' set people thinking and in a moment inspiration, Annissa had her pet Raccoon scanned in the med-bay. Under Rakim's skin was an ID chip which contained all the biomedical data a veterinarian would need to treat him. This in itself revealed that the 'Raccoon' was in fact 70% geneered guard animal (a 'doggoth') and 30% Raccoon! Rakim's 'attack dog' traits have never been tested due to Annissa previously having kept Rakim away from any and all danger. Doggoths are allegedly more than capable of ripping the throat from a grown man…
The rest of the data seemed to refer to orbital data for a body orbiting several A.U. out from Khotan's star.
It was decided to investigate this after the Khotan operation but without the Firedrake…
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Episode 8
Our heroes begin this session a day or so out from Khotan, preparing to rendezvous with Firedrake and take Gudrun and Daljak aboard before engaging in a spot of archaeology on the surface.
As the two ships entered orbit, they were challenged by a flight of Gonjeen fighters who queried their purpose and identity. Annissa decided not to announce the true identity of the ship and claimed that it was a recent prize taken from the 'Hawkwyrd' and still needed repainting.
Descending to the planet surface and flying nap of earth, Osprey made her way to the hiding place near the target. There she was camouflaged using chameleon netting that Captain Dan had concealed in external storage bins (“a leftover from the old days”).
Marching through the night, the raiding party (Alectrona, Annissa, Antonio, Musa, Balthazar, Gudrun and Daljak) managed to reach their first objective, their daytime hiding place without being attacked by the unusual local wildlife.
After a day unmolested by eight legged lion analogues, the party arrived at the mesa undetected. They did however spot what appeared to be a mining camp at the base of the outcrop, evidence that the settlement at the top was exploring the mesa's interior.
After some searching, the secret entrance was discovered and the party entered. The tunnel led into the ventilation system of what appeared to be a bunker of some sort.
Exploring the interior, they came across signs that the bunker had been partly decommissioned and then finally abandoned in a hurry. A skimmer surrounded by skeletonised bodies and packing crates led to some worry that the bunker held some contagion (the air system did seem designed to filter incoming and outgoing air after all). The crates contained assorted computer components, cables and what was labelled as a 'Mark V fire control computer' (which is two models up on that installed on the Osprey). A broken lab phial seemed to indicate some sudden death had overtaken the men.
Further exploration led to the lab level wherein was discovered several sets of sealed protective power armour (ceramsteel) and what appeared to be a computer and nano-tech research facility.
Some deduction led to the conclusion that the bodies were looters who had removed canisters from the lab and accidentally dropped the phial within. The contents of the phial remained a mystery but any number of lethal chemicals could be responsible.
The power cells in the suits were depleted so they could not be worn, only carried.
Examination of the exit door of the hangar level in which the skimmer was located revealed faint vibration, perhaps mining machinery. A sly peek out of the hangar door revealed a large cavern beyond and within that, a second Republic frigate being salvaged by Gonjeen miners and engineers.
A plan was hatched whereby the skimmer could be used to exit the bunker with the more valuable and portable items, although Annissa felt that the level of gain was somewhat low.
Antonio managed to get the skimmer running and our heroes made their exit, flying over the heads of some startled Gonjeen troops. Fleeing at speed with sporadic gunfire following them, the skimmer made for Osprey, already warming up for a swift exit.
Escaping pursuing fighters, Osprey and Firedrake cleared the orbit of Khotan III and a rendezvous arranged on Khotan IV to exchange cargos.
Gudrun claimed the power armour and loose components but demanded cash in recompense for the difference in value between the skimmer and her share. With 2,000 firebirds from Annissa and the pistols that Antonio had somewhat callously looted from the bodies of the looters plus the old van in Ospreys cargo bay, Gudrun was happy with the deal.
Dan then shocked the crew by announcing his intention to leave with Gudrun. The events he had witnessed on the Raven had been too much and he decided that he did not wish to return to the Known Worlds. A life free of Church scrutiny with a woman who cared for him seemed more attractive than having to worry about the Inquisition and endure the stigma of his past.
Casey took it badly, initially blaming Balthazar. Annissa pledged to provide Dan with his share of any profits as best they could. After a few farewells, Dan took his few belongings and crossed the short stretch of cold desert to the Firedrake.
Dan had explained to Annissa that she now faced a choice – Either maintain Osprey as a ship owned by a noble house and with a hireling crew or under a Guild captain with the owner aboard. A subtle legal difference but with an impact on Casey, who would need to sit her Masters examinations to be eligible to be the captain.
This led to some serious thinking en route to the co-ordinates of the mysterious object detailed in the computer files on Rakim's chip.
The object transpired to be a planetoid, about two kilometres across. Within the body was a small installation, a Second Republic survival shelter for spacefarers. The escape pod from Raven was within the small hangar but there was no sign of the occupants. Only when the party removed their suits did anything unusual happen. A computer announced “Genetic identity confirmed” and a concealed door opened to reveal a tunnel deeper into the rock.
Within the planetoid was a base… self contained accommodation and life support for up to twenty people and at its center… a Xanthippe style biodome in a cavern, maintained by simple gardening golems.
A concealed entrance at the surface led to a hangar large enough for a frigate with maintenance facilities.
Accessing the base computer revealed a message from Hakim and Hecate :
Leaving the secret base behind, the ship headed on to the gate.
The Ishkin awoke shortly before the ship arrived at the gate, announcing herself as ka'ra, an engineer. Grateful to Annissa for saving her life, she pledged her loyalty to the noble who had pulled her from her cell.
Sadly, at the gate things went badly, badly wrong…
Without warning, six Gonjeen fighters began an attack. Making repeated head-on passes they raked the Osprey with cannon and missile fire. The bridge took the brunt of the attacks, Casey being severely hurt in the first pass and forcing Antonio to take over the controls as Annissa pulled Casey from her seat and to the infirmary. Musa returned fire from the dorsal turret (the only weapon that could be effectively brought to bear) whilst the auto-gun system took what pot-shots it could. Before the fighters were all driven off, damaged or destroyed, they managed to set the cargo bay afire, damage two of the laser cannon and shred the bridge still further, their final pass leaving Antonio badly injured. A secondary explosion took Anams left leg off at the thigh. Only sterling work by Tanalu and Alectrona saved the lives of the wounded.
The bridge was depressurised, filled with shredded components, gore and dangling wires. Musa realised that if the fighters came back, the ship was defenceless and thought that the Mark-V would at least give them a chance (their Mark-III was just so much scrap). The unit took some time to initialise and boot but seemed to interface successfully.
Damage control drills (Dan's legacy) worked well and fires were soon brought under control, the holes in the bridge were patched. Pressure was restored and an assessment made – Osprey had no working fire control systems and it would take some hours to jury-rig new flight controls. More pressing was the fact that both pilots were undergoing life-saving surgery in the medical bay and were inches from death.
As Aquila worked on the bridge, ship systems began to activate and self test. When the ship actually stabilised its attitude and began to fire her engines, confusion became alarm.
The ships tannoy crackled to life and a well spoken female voice began issuing damage reports and status updates. Initially it was thought that the computer was just 'smart' but after some direct questions from Annissa, some signs of a definite personality were detected, along with a dry sense of humour. Musa had apparently plugged a prototype A.I. into the ship… Programmed to obey the ships commander, 'she' accepted the direction of Annissa, bringing the ship onto a course for the gate.
The intention now being to jump Khotan to Hargard to Leminkainen to Bz-II where repairs would be required at an orbital yard and then to Madoc and Leagueheim.
Alicia exhibited alarm at going to Bz-II but was assured she could hide aboard the ship and then stay on Madoc for a while to lay low.
As the ship transited the gate, the statue once more made the ship 'chime', which led to A.I. to query just what was happening (more evidence of personality). As damage was discussed the computer announced that it could 'deploy auto-repair nanites' which caused some alarm.
Broken jamjars, it suggested, would make a good substrate for effecting repairs to the ships windscreen. Arriving at Leminkainen, the Imperial cruiser Furious hailed the ship and offered to help but under the circumstances, they crew declined and decided to make their way onward.
Once it was established that the A.I. could recall its nanites and conceal its presence, the crew calmed down (those not already under the influence of heavy painkillers and post operative medication). Brother Balthazar announced his intention to return to a monastery as things were getting a little too complicated for a simple man such as himself.
We leave a somewhat battered and confused party preparing to jump to Byzantium…
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