General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
I've been working on some Adventure/Scenario/Mission Ideas (and possible story ideas) for RPG scenarios I'd like to see written up as outstanding adventures, or am writing up myself.
These are not really adventure, scenario, or mission seeds, as much as "grafts," because some of them are far too complicated and developed to be mere seeds. But they can be "adaptive ideas" for others to use in order to develop their own scenes and plotlines.
The description of such scenarios can be as simple, or as complicated in nature, as you'd like to make it, if you'd like to present some adventure ideas of your own in this thread. These are some of my recent ideas.
D&D/Fantasy Adventure - Hide: In this adventure the characters are exposed to some magical device, spell, or curse of which they are completely unaware. However, soon after this occurs grisly murders and vicious crimes begin to appear in any setting in which the characters are operating. At first the crimes appear as if they are targeted at the party and those around the party (such as family, friends, etc.) Only later do the charters begin to realize that some of the clues surrounding the attacks point to the party itself. The entire adventure hook relies upon the fact that one of the party members is the brutal and vicious murderer, but even the killer himself is unaware of his role because the magics or curse involved transforms the character into a brutal and vicious Mr. Hyde type character without the character even being aware this is happening to him. More than one character could become such a "Hyde" and develop such a new sub-conscious "Hide" persona, or the curse or magic may fluctuate between party members, hopping between characters. The player doesn't know who is Hide, and neither do any of the characters until they devise a way to figure out some method of trapping or destroying the Hide. Anyone killed, raped, etc. by the Hide is permanently affected by the crime or attack.
Sci-Fi Scenario - Hide: this is a variant of the Hide adventure above but is caused by a virus, a pathogen, scientific experiment, or alien technology gone awry.
Horror/Weird - Hide: A variant of the Hide scenario caused by supernatural, demonic, cursed, or weird/unexplained, or alien forces.
Sci-Fi Scenario - The Protean Wolf: The crew of an exploration vessel approaches an odd, spherical shaped craft that is apparently deserted. While closing on the vessel certain crew members black out, awakening on the alien vessel. But each crew member (the characters) awake in a body not their own and have only partial memories of their past. They cannot be sure if the people claiming to be their crew mates are really their crew mates. They must explore the alien vessel, find a way off and back to their own vessel while in this state of uncertainty about the identities of each other. In addition there is an alien aboard who can shape shift into any form it desires and it infiltrates the crew members as they explore. A similar scenario could be achieved in a fantasy setting using a shape shifting monster and magic to cause the party members to awaken in an unknown locale in bodies other than their own.
Modern/Espionage/Military Mission - Other Words: An Intelligence Agent has been communicating with a person over the internet whom he has never met. The person running the Intel agent (a case officer the Agent has also never met) has asked that the agent stay in touch with, but not meet, with the contact but has not given any details about the contact. The players do not know if the contact is a friendly, a hostile, a mark, an agent, a dupe, an ally, or what they are. All they know is that they occasionally pass encrypted and encoded communications between each other which are then forwarded to other parties without first being decoded or deciphered. The communications are complex and seem vaguely familiar but are not readable. One night while emailing each other on a secure server the contact demands the player or players meet with them and says he has something he must give them. This is strictly against the operational orders you have been given but the contact provides detailed information about you which not even your case officers, family, or friends are aware of. Worse the contact gives detailed background information about both a family member and colleague who disappeared seven years ago, at about the same time, but on different continents. The player is told Three Words and given a location and told that the contact must meet them immediately, it is a matter of national security, and life or death for thousands of people. Right before the contact signs off he sends the player an animated Avatar in an attachment that gives them an internet address in a Virtual World. The address in the Virtual World is the same as a street address in the real city in which both the player and character are operating. (For example say the player is playing in Atlanta, then the Avatar gives a real address in the real city of Atlanta which corresponds to a real address in the fictional game Atlanta as well.)
D&D/Fantasy Adventure - Against the Giants: I got this idea from old D&D adventures I used to play and really enjoy, about infiltrating and destroying the lairs and homes of different types of Giants. It is similar but in this adventure the party is sent out to destroy the lair of a group of giants who have been raiding and decimating human settlements along the frontiers. But as the characters infiltrate farther and farther into the lair of the giants they realize the giants are something very different than what they appear to be. In addition they are far more dangerous than any ordinary giants, but they may also be completely innocent of what they are accused of.
Window of Heaven/Axis of God: This adventure/scenario (or set of adventures) can be fantasy, or horror/weird, modern, or even superhero setting in nature, but would probably work best as horror or fantasy. The characters discover an extremely sacred and ancient Icon, as well as a group of protectors who ask that the party help escort the artifact to safe keeping at the main church in the capital. En route the party is ambushed and most, if not all, the protectors killed, and several party members badly injured. Remembering the tales the protectors told about the Icon being able to heal the sick and injured, and even resurrect the dead the party take it out to look at it. While gazing upon it several of the party members have their souls sucked into the Icon, and their bodies fall inert to the ground as long as their souls remained trapped. An evil, demonic, supernatural force had placed a curse upon the Icon so that it now acts as a covert soul stealing device, and transfers the souls of those stolen into the inner world of the Icon itself, which is populated by dangerous and very evil supernatural creatures who reside there, having themselves been attracted by and entrapped by the curse. The souls of the characters arrive in the Icon stripped of everything, completely naked. However the Icon itself is alive, a sort of Virtual Supernatural World, and is still holy and desires to be free of the curse, and to rid itself of the evil beings within it. The Icon gives clandestine aid and others kinds of assistance to the characters who are within it, and seeks to lead them to secret and hidden clues, relics, artifacts, saints and allies, and weapons and armor within itself that can help the souls of the characters defeat the evil forces and break the curse.
Torsion and Rubric: This is one I've been thinking about doing for a long time. Only recently have I worked out most of the details in my mind and notes. The setting can be most any type of game, such as fantasy, modern, Victorian, adventure, military, espionage, sci-fi/futuristic, superhero, or even weird/horror. The player or players are contacted and called in by what is apparently either the military forces in the area or some type of Intelligence apparatus. It turns out they had a foreign operative working undercover among enemies who have discovered the schematics or design to a new type of ship (it can be Naval, Spaceship, etc.) that possesses a dangerous new type of propulsion system or a dangerous new type of weapon. One that would be a real threat to your government/kingdom/empire/alliance/locality/military (whatever the case). The operative was supposed to have made a rendezvous to pass along information about the new type of ship but never made the meeting. The people who have contacted you want to hire you, because of your past experience in some way (related to operative, same nationality, prior work history, etc.) to go in and investigate, to see if you can find their missing man and recover the information. Once you are emplaced and begin your infiltration and investigation however it becomes clear that nothing is what it appears to be. You find your target but he appears to know nothing of what you speak nor to be anything like described (he is apparently not an operative of any kind, just an ordinary worker). You lose contact with the people running you and you begin to suspect they were not who they presented themselves to be. Furthermore there appears to be no information regarding a new ship at all, however you discover something far more dangerous than a new ship design, propulsion system, or weapon, and it appears you were somehow involved in its creation. Worse still, you begin to discover evidence that you may not even be who you think you are.
Ghost in the Machine: This adventure can be played as a Modern mystery, Horror/Weird, or even possibly a Superhero scenario. It can also be played as an Alternative Reality Game or a Parallel Reality Game. (The number of characters is determined by the number of players plus the NPCs - a number unknown to the players.) A group of people know each other through past personal associations, but some of the group are known only through their internet personas. Everyone in the party plus the NPCs play the same on-line game or are part of the same on-line community (such as Second Life, etc.) They are all involved in the same game/activity and begin playing a new adventure/scenario that seems very strange, bizarre, and challenging. As the game proceeds the players discover that some of the on-line NPCs are not who they claim to be. One is discovered to have died years earlier, another has been a missing persons since a few days after the game started, a third is wanted by the authorities and the players discover from the FBI that this person is known to be on the lam. As the game proceeds clues are also discovered that point to the fact that one or more parry members (those actually participating in the RPG, ARG, or PRG) may not be who they seem to be either. As the game proceeds things begin to occur in real life (in either game terms and/or actual reality) which mimic things occurring within the game, or things occur in the game that mimic real life. (For example a real crime might have occurred in reality and the same type scenario is played out within the game, and/or within the game within the game.) Players begin to have bizarre encounters, both within the game and within the game within the game. They find the missing person but that person refuses to return to the authorities claiming their life in endangered. They see ghosts and virtual people. They are found by bizarre creatures and discover missing or stolen items, and then discover a weird artifact that seems as if it is very ancient, and possibly even alive.
Stile of the Future: This is a scenario/mission I am writing exclusively for my D&D Campaign setting. Outside of Antioch, Syria are the remains of the dwelling place of the little known hermit Andromon, who like Saint Simeon had been a Stylite and lived as an ascetic in the desert atop a column, or pillar. Unlike Simeon, Andromon was not well known or famous except in his local area. However within the Orthodox church he had a loyal and devoted cult following because of his ability to fall into trance and then give uncannily accurate predictions of the near future. Many considered him a Byzantine prophet in the vein of the Old Testament prophets. Andromon had recently died and his body was taken by his friends and buried in secret at an undisclosed location. However his last writings had been smuggled to the church at Constantinople where it was discovered that right before he had died Andromon had built a large and well decorated Stile as a pathway over a cliff face near where he had once dwelt as a boy-shepherd. According to his last writings the Stile had really been an elaborately decorated and encoded prophecy about the next two hundred years of Byzantine future events, including detailed descriptions of coming natural disasters, plagues, wars with the Persians, battles with the Muslims, Viking invasions, and a cryptic reference to an invasion from the supernatural realm. Hoping to find the stile, have it copied, and then the information it contains mugged back to Constantinople for analysis, both the Emperor and the Church hope to use the prophecies to give them an advantage of foreknowledge about the coming years. Unfortunately that area of Syria is now under armed conflict with the Muslims and Persians in bitter and vicious on-going fighting. Suspecting an armed Byzantine invasion would probably fail and possibly plunge Byzantium into war with both the Persians and the Muslims (and the Byzantines would much rather have them fighting each other) it is decided that the Basilegate will be sent disguised as a group of pilgrims to investigate, locate, copy, and if it is real, then possibly help decipher the Stile of Andromon. It is believed that neither the Persians or Muslims are aware of the Stile and therefore pose no direct threat to its discovery but the Byzantines want all record of the mission kept confidential so as not to arouse suspicion, and so the Team will receive no back-up, no re-supply, and no assistance or support of any kind. They alone will know of their mission and purpose. However as the team proceeds to Syria and as they begin their investigations it quickly becomes apparent that if the Persians and Muslims are ignorant of the mission of the Basilegate Team then the same cannot be said for certain supernatural forces closely dogging their heels.
Below is a Crawl, designed with design principles developed in this brief essay:
The Crawl of Man: The King of Kitharia, on the world of Ghantik has made contact with the human world (our world). That king has sent an embassy to the Court of the Emperor of Byzantium in order to establish good relations between mankind and the Eldeven peoples of Ghantik (Elves, Eladrin, etc). It is decided in council that the Byzantines (eager to investigate just who these strange people from another world really are, and believing that the Eldevens may just be the legendary people of Prester John) will also seek to establish good relations by sending an embassy to the Kitharian Court at Samarkand. Preparations are made for the expedition and it is decided that the Basilegate will be sent as representatives of the emperor as well as two priests representing the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Orthodox Church, along with a number of tributary gifts, including four Roman war dogs, as the Eldeven emissaries have never seen hounds from Earth before. After making the trip to the other world the Basilegate and the priests encamp with their Eldeven guides during the first night of the march to Samarkand. In the morning the party awakes to find they have become separated from their Eldeven guides for unknown reasons and after marching about lost eventually find themselves at a set of huge ancient ruins obviously built by some kind of giant people. Seeking a place of shelter against on-going storms they make camp in the ruins only to find in the morning that the two priests who are accompanying them have also disappeared. The dogs track the missing priests to a small cleft in the mountainside stone which leads to a set of small stone steps descending into a large underground enclosure that seems labyrinthine in design. Meanwhile, above, a large and vicious creature that no one in the party has ever seen before attacks the camp and drives the rest of the party to the cleft. The Byzantine weapons seem to have little permanent effect upon the beast above and the party cannot fight their way through the creature. Alone, on a world they know nothing about, the men of Byzantium and their war hounds are cut off from all aid, with little food, no water, and only the personal gear they carry. They are forced to seek another avenue of escape, or to simply wait and see if their Eldeven guides can find and rescue them in time.
Last edited by Jack7; 10th December 2008 at 06:29 PM..
The Memory Palace – (I am writing this scenario as an adventure placed in my own D&D Campaign World. However, with a little adaptation it could serve as an adventure, or set of adventures, for practically any gaming world or for nearly any type of gaming genre.) The characters awake in a deserted, huge, and labyrinthine library. They wear nothing but simple robes - all gear, weapons, armor, and personal possessions are missing. They have no memory of how they arrived at the library, and do not know where they are. Inside the library are books and magical devices, some of which speak, and some of which display complicated and illuminated images, which describe one of the real and “past adventures of the party.” As the story of that past adventure unfolds, told in a sort of miniature shorthand, moving from clue to clue, the players are led to various rooms throughout the library that contain their missing equipment. But various puzzles always disguise or camouflage or protect the equipment. As their equipment is recovered other clues seem to lead to books and magical devices which describe an adventure the party will undertake, “an adventure apparently in the future”, one that has yet to be undertaken. As the clues progress they lead to underground and secreted areas of the library, apparently long deserted and hidden that are inhabited by magical and supernatural monsters and creatures, some of whom oppose and seek to kill the party, others who are apparently allies and guides. Some of the apparent allies become enemies as the party proceeds through the underground areas, some of the enemies seem to become transformed into allies as the “future adventure” continues. As the party moves through the underground area they begin to spring numerous traps and obstructions to their way, and they find yet more clues, devices, books, and artifacts which now seem to be detailing the present situation and that seem to be providing a sort of shadow-record of the “present adventure of the party.” As the adventure proceeds the players are led through a series of chambers that lead them above ground once again, this time into a huge and seemingly ancient palace. Inside the palace they encounter yet even more bizarre and ever stranger artifacts and devices than they have yet encountered, as well even more and more dangerous magical and supernatural creatures, apparently guardians of the palace. Included among the wonders of the palace and the interior decorations and furnishings seem to be copies of Elturgical spells never before encountered by the party, as well as Elturgic devices of a kind the party has never before heard mention or even rumor of. As they move through the palace the characters begin to uncover clues about what had happened to them prior to their appearance in the library. And what they discover is that one of them has locked within their mind the distant memory of a prior event that can potentially lead them all out of the palace and into a much, much more dangerous set of circumstances, and into a far larger mystery.
Good stuff here. Was wondering what you were looking for in terms of feedback though. Constructive criticism? People to post their own? A little of both?
Good stuff here. Was wondering what you were looking for in terms of feedback though. Constructive criticism? People to post their own? A little of both?
__________________ All role playing advice is given without knowledge of you and your group. Only you and your group knows what is fun for you. What you are doing is not badwrongfun. My advice is offered based on what I think might be fun for you to try.
"Art is the demonstration that the ordinary is extraordinary." - Amedee Ozenfant, Foundations of Modern Art
"I already have a place where I can get little recognition for my accomplishments, advance at a very slow pace, and have to work hard to eke out minimum rewards for my efforts. It's called work." - toberane.
I guess either is okay if ya really got nothing better on ya, just stay well clear of Vista if you want my opinion.
More seriously, I'll let you clarify RR.
You talking like all Paranoia and stuff, or just wanna know how much experience ya get for remembering stuff you keep forgetting you had forgotten?
Terra-Ghantik: (Terra) Black Sea a’Fire - The Strategion and the Thematic War College of Constantinople send a secret and rather large shipment of Greek Fire to assist the Phaphlagonian Theme and the city of Amastris destroy a pirate fleet which has been raiding all along the southern shores of the Black Sea. The Navy sends the Greek Fire by ships disguised as merchant vessels. The pirate fleet though has been a ruse, designed to force Constantinople to respond. When the imperial ships sail out into the Black Sea the shipment is intercepted, then captured and the ships sailed to Trebizond, currently held by the Kingdom of Georgia. The Georgian King, who created the fake pirate force, wants the Greek Fire to fight a horrible and huge sea monster, the Orkeen that has been raiding his lands and fleet. The Empire, unaware that the monster is real sends a small, fast and disguised Raiding Fleet carrying the Basilegate and Imperial Marines across the Black Sea to Trebizond with orders to recapture or destroy the Fire. The Navy fears the Georgians may learn of how Greek Fire works and wants the shipment neutralized. The Basilegate, upon entering Trebizond learns of the Orkeen and also learns that half of the Greek Fire stores have been shipped north across the Black Sea to the Bosporus for delivery to the Khazars. After finishing at Trebizond the Basilegate finds that the Hoshi is also enroute to Bosporus to investigate a strange plague, tales of giants seen walking the earth and rumors of the Dead rising from their graves.
Terra-Ghantik: (Ghantik) Caer Sidhe – The Caerkara learns of a legend that a City named Caer Sidhe rises from off the South Western coast of Ireland on the night of Samhain. Understanding that a similar legend exists in Ghantik, their home world (the language terms are even similar), the Caerkara seeks the help of the Basilegate to investigate. The parties arrive in Wales three weeks before the night of Samhain and while waiting for the appearance of the ghostly city they begin to notice a series of bizarre and horrifying events. The Consociatio arrives in secret to sabotage the mission. An assassination ensues and an entire village is burned to the ground along with all the villagers. Finally the night of Samhain arrives and the party sails out to the city, having 13 hours to explore the city from under the sea, before sunrise the next morning. If the parties are still within Caer Sidhe after sunrise then they will sink beneath the sea trapped below the waves in the lost city.
Outland Frontier: Joliet’s Gambit - The Joliet, a coal powered coastal fishing boat has been converted into a shallow draft river exploration boat and is being dispatched on an expedition with three Amateur American archaeologists and a professional privateer and adventurer. The expedition has also hired the players to accompany them on this expedition due to their previous experience as explorers. The expedition is to proceed down through the Gulf of Mexico, around the tip of the Yucatan and down the coast southeast of the city of Chichen Itza. There, near the coast, and reachable by a small river that exits in the ocean is a site where a series of stelae have been discovered displaying a series of glyphs in a previously unknown language, and apparently representing an unknown people-group. Even more interesting the area seems pockmarked by small holes in which ritual artifacts have been buried in shallow pits. According to rumor even the Mayans shunned the spot, whose name for the entire area was ghost-grave. The pits seem far too shallow to have been dug thousands or even hundreds of years before, and yet the objects they contain seem quite ancient, and unknown. After making a preliminary sweep of the area the expedition discovers what appears at first to be a sea-cave with other artifacts scattered about it but when the cave mouth is explored it is found to have been intentionally camouflaged and partially obscured. When the debris is cleared away it leads to an apparent underground, sea level river way, which is wide enough and deep enough for the Joliet and her crew to penetrate.
Hammerstroke: The Dead Drop – While war rages between the nations of Georgia and Russia in the province of South Ossetia the Hammerstroke team must infiltrate the area in the middle of open hostilities to investigate Intel concerning the possible smuggling of a new form of Russian bio-weapon. The weapon was originally thought to be nuclear material stolen from a derelict Ukrainian facility near the border (never shipped back to Russia and kept for the black market) but recent Intel has verified (as much as is possible) that the weapon being smuggled is most likely a bio-weapon stolen from an ill-secured Russian bio-weapon’s facility near Voznesenskaya, by Red Mafia agents who are trying to sell the weapon to Chechnyan terrorists who hope to gain control of the weapon and then smuggle it through Azerbaijan and into Waziristan, the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is rumored that once there, Al Qaeda hopes to use the weapon against US troops and Afghan population centers. The team is told that the smugglers are heading for the deserted Ossetian village the City of the Dead to make the exchange with the Chechnyans. The team is to proceed immediately to the rendezvous location in disguise and assuming cover identities.
Enigma: The Unreachable Below - While Vadding in the subway system underneath the city the players discover what appears to be an old subway line off from the old main line, and about 50 feet below the old line. Doing some research among the people who inhabit the underground they discover that one old woman has heard tales of the system the players discovered and that supposedly it was used between the First and Second World Wars as a secret transport system, and that supposedly it is haunted and had been long ago flooded out. Doing more research the players discover old microfiche and even older microcard records in the library that mention a series of unsolved murders and strange disappearances in the area surrounding where the abandoned and secret line met the old main line. The players discover one other historical record. There is mention in an old book on the history of the city that says that a secret subway line terminated underneath a building that could be reached by no other method and could be seen, “only from the underground, never from the above ground.” The players decide to launch an exploratory expedition to discover the truth for themselves.
Artifice: Wonderland - A Research facility working with the Aidelheim University Laboratory on the colony planet of Soderg XII makes an amazing and mysterious discovery while cracking open geological samples recovered from a nearby asteroid belt. No one will discuss the findings directly but several rumors begin to circulate outside the security corridor established by the University and local militia forces. The colony capital of Brazzin rushes in a security and analysis team to try and stabilize and establish the situation before anything dangerous occurs but by the time they arrive sixteen hours later the entire facility is flooded with a gelatinous substance of unknown origins, the research team has been ripped apart by some unknown force, and three university buildings are destroyed, having been partially imploded and then set afire, resulting in a loss of life to over 79 students. 23 others are unaccounted for. There is no sign of the material the security team sent from Brazzin was sent to recover. The Artifice Team is asked to help the authorities investigate exactly what happened, and if possible, to help recover the missing material.
Spheres of Influence: The Napoleon – While on her maiden cruise the brand-new Federation Battleship, the Napoleon, the most advanced warship of her kind, disappears near the far frontier of the Alpha Quadrant. The ship remained missing for almost two years when it suddenly reappeared on sensors designed to surveil the Gamma Quadrant. Several months later it appeared in Romulan Space and apparently attacked and stole supplies from a colony outpost, causing a huge diplomatic incident and nearly triggering new border hostilities. One week later it attacked and stole supplies from a Federation protectorate outpost. Review of sensor records and logs revealed that the Napoleon was operating completely independently and without crew. There was no sign of life or corpses aboard the Napoleon and yet the ship functioned and performed flawlessly, executing every action and maneuver as if occupied. This has led several Federation scientists and Naval analysts to speculate that the crew were either hidden in some way and yet engaging in subversive and pirate activities, the ship was being remotely controlled by some very sophisticated and unknown means, that somehow the ship had developed Artificial Intelligence and could operate independently and without crew, or that the ship was perhaps even a new type of instrument or weapon of the Borg. In any case, anxious to learn more about the situation, it is felt by both military and civilian officials within the Federation that the Napoleon may be the biggest threat to peace in the Quadrant since the Borg. The characters, their team, and ship are dispatched to try and hunt down the Napoleon, to investigate and discover exactly what is going on, and if possible to help rescue or recover the crew.
Modern/Espionage/Military Mission/Superhero – HMS Valence: (I wrote this scenario as a combination mission for the games Enigma and Hammerstroke.) During the latter stages of the Second World War the British converted an older Destroyer/Convoy Escort vessel for a secret series of joint experiments in the North Atlantic to be undertaken alongside the US Navy. The stated purpose of this experiment, according to later declassified documents, was to produce a hybrid tracking vessel which would be able to combine both new Radar and Sonar advances into a single unified form of detection apparatus which could provide a floating shield wall of vessels that could intercept both airborne and seaborne threats long before they ever reached Allied territories. However there were those who believed the vessel, originally named the Sea Spritz, and later rechristened the Valence, actually had a far more impressive, important, and secretive function. Perhaps even an insidious one.
While operating in the North Atlantic in 1944 there was a reported incident in which it was stated that a short-wave radio listening station in Hong Kong intercepted a message, supposedly from the Executive Officer of the Valence (officially operating on the other side of the world) that said simply – “Co-Valence confirmed, all hands lost until further notice… End transmission.”
The Valence was found five days later, adrift in the Indian Ocean, by a colonial supply ship headed for Bombay. The Valence was completely intact, but there was no sign of crew aboard, and no sign a crew had ever been aboard. There was no fuel aboard ship. There were no stock or supplies for crewmembers of any kind. The only indication of human habitation was the fact that a note was found in the Captain’s private quarters, dated May 31st, 1916 on which was scrawled in an almost illegible hand, “The future is the past as yet unwritten.”
The ship was towed to Bombay where it rested at port and under guard until after the end of the war. Then it was briefly remanned and sailed to England where an official enquiry was conducted and thereafter it was mothballed and the Admiralty sealed all prior records and logs regarding the ship and her mission(s).
In December of 1951 the ship was supposedly refurbished and brought out of retirement by a private concern that many investigators later came to believe was actually a front for either an MI6 or a CIA operation. The ship was sailed towards the Antarctic according to official course plots but in August 1952 a transmission was intercepted that placed the ship near Eniwetok, still operating under the designation of HMS Valence. The ship was spotted for the last time approaching the Midway Islands when it supposedly disappeared from radar. Spotter planes were dispatched, along with several patrol vessels, none of which could locate the ship or any sign or wreckage, sabotage, or crew. The ship had simply disappeared. All hands were presumed lost, no one was ever recovered, and the ship was listed as lost at sea, officially declared a victim of storm, misadventure, or accident. The Captain was officially listed as John Davison, whom it was later discovered was really McDonald Ferguson former US Naval Officer and one time section head of Research and Development for the OSS in Asia.
In early December 2012, the Space Shuttle Atlantis encountered problems while on a maneuver to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere during her final mission. After the flight she was due to be retired to make way for a new generation of reusable ramjet spacecraft. During the final orbit the Atlantis had faced thruster engine malfunction and an electrical systems failure that had caused NASA to redirect the orbiter for an emergency landing at Diego Garcia. It seemed the landing would be successful until the Atlantis mysteriously disappeared from USAF Space Command tracking stations 24 nautical miles from the emergency landing strip.
A Search and Rescue Team that included both Air and Naval forces was immediately dispatched to the last known position, but no indication of wreckage of any kind was discovered. No recorder or marker buoys, no data recorders, no transmissions or emergency beacons of any kind. What the Navy did find was an uncharted and deserted island with a most peculiar feature. On the cliff face of the island, facing east by south-east was what appeared to be the hull of a ship, partially exposed lengthwise, but seemingly still intact. The remainder of the ship seemed to be encased in the volcanic rock of the cliff face. Both satellite imagery and Naval reconnaissance seemed to confirm that the ship was indeed the HMS Valence.
The Pentagon, after investigating the matter has decided to dispatch the Hammerstroke Unit, along with a Navy SEAL Team to the island to see what can be discovered about the ship wreck, if it is indeed the Valence, and if so how the ship got there. At the same time the NSA, having learned of the discovery events from their ECHELON satellite communications stations on Diego Garcia, and their operatives within the Pentagon, has decided to dispatch the Enigma Group to the island, ostensibly to see if they can discover what really happened to the Atlantis, but also to see if they can discover what happened to the Valence, and why. Neither the Hammerstroke Unit and SEAL team, dispatched by submarine, or the Enigma Group, brought in by helicopter from Diego Garcia, are initially aware of the other operating in the same area.
There is a big thread linked to in my sig that also deals with adventure & campaign ideas- I'm posting a link to this thread within it so that those who go there can find your thread as well.
Modern/Espionage/Military Mission/Superhero – In Through the Out Door: (I also wrote this scenario as a combination mission for the games Enigma and Hammerstroke.) Somali pirates intercept a cargo vessel moving from Africa to an unknown port in Asia. They hope to take grain, oil, and electronic components for sale on the Black Market. What most of the pirates don’t realize is that the ship has been under surveillance by US intelligence operatives for some time, because the ship, officially flying under the flag of a commercial firm from Hong Kong is really under the control of North Korean military forces. The ship has supposedly been selling missile components to customers in Africa, Asia, Pakistan, and certain parties along the borders of the Russian Federation.
Aboard the ship is a US Agent working undercover, and the hidden hard copies of most of his discoveries (he was taken by surprise at night when the pirates attacked and overwhelmed the ship and had no time to destroy his findings, but he did have an opportunity to alert US forces that the ship had been captured). The US is not particularly worried about retaking the ship from the pirates until it is discovered that an Al Qaeda weapon’s expert, also having discovered the North Korean smuggling operation, is actually covertly directing the pirate operation and has had the ship rigged with explosives and had suicide agents planted secretly within the pirate crew. The AQ weapon’s expert wants the missile components for himself, plans to smuggle what he desires off the ship, then blow it up as a diversion and cover after US forces attack to retake the ship.
Fearing a possible heavy loss of life and the unraveling of their entire eleven-month anti-smuggling operation the Pentagon decides to try and emplace the Hammerstroke Unit into the ship surreptitiously. With a stated mission assignment of recovering the Intel on the Korean smuggling operation, extracting the US Agent, and if possible, freeing the ship and evacuating the crew before the ship is scuttled. If all else fails they are to sink the ship so as to prevent Al Qaeda operatives from gaining possession of dangerous long-range missile components. If Hammerstroke cannot recapture or sink the ship within twelve hours then a US submarine will destroy the vessel and all aboard. But the Team can find no real means of entry to the ship that would seem worth the risk, and/or that would not alert the pirates to the fact that the ship has been boarded. Not, that is, until they join forces with the Enigma Group. Because the Enigma Group has a man, and a new piece of equipment, that might just do the job.
Modern/Espionage/Military Mission – Operation Golden Horn: (This mission was written specifically for Hammerstroke, but could be played as a Single Agent Enigma scenario.) Gerald Bull helped the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein build a prototype Supergun during the Iran-Iraq War for a project codenamed, Babylon. The continued development of such guns and artillery pieces was considered a danger to the security of a number of different nations and interests and Bull was assassinated in March, 1990. Unknown to many people however was the fcat that Bull had a brilliant and innovative undergraduate student at the time who was one of his direct research assistants during his career as a freelance weapon’s designer. This student was of mixed Romanian and Czechoslovakian ancestry, and his name was Tessai Koblenski. Those who knew Koblenski often called him Bull’s “Little Horn,” or his “Golden Horn.” After Bull’s assassination Koblenski fled to the United States for asylum and agreed to help the US Navy develop an electromagnetic railgun for use on next generation warships. Koblenski and Bull had disagreed on the basic principles upon which a supergun should be developed, Bull promoting launching warheads into orbit by means of chemical explosives, Koblenski believing that electromagnetic superguns would be far superior and more versatile guns, if also far more difficult to develop and build.
The US Navy established Koblenski with a new identity and a secure location from which to work. He worked for and with the US Navy until 1998 when he mysteriously disappeared.
In June of 2005 he apparently resurfaced (according to CIA reports) in Bogotá, Columbia. Some believe he had been in the private employ of a Columbian Drug Cartel seeking his expertise to develop microguns that could shoot down US and Columbian military aircraft. Others believe he had been kidnapped by either a cabal of Columbian Drug Lords or perhaps even by the FARC looking to sell his expertise to foreign governments for their operational, logistical, and financial support. Koblenski disappeared again in early 2006, and no Western Intelligence agency was again able to successfully track him.
Recently however a State Dept. employee who was traveling in Sousse, Tunisia received an encrypted message with instructions on how to establish a dead drop at a particular location in the capital city of Tunis. After decrypting the message analysts came to the conclusion that the message likely originated from Koblenski.
Dead drop arrangements were made and a series of exchange communications were undertaken. The CIA learned that Koblenski (supposedly) was being held captive and forced to work for an unknown client who wanted to continue Bull’s work of developing an indirect fire supergun, but this time in an electromagnetic form. A prototype had already been developed and had shot a 12-kilogram warhead with spent uranium encased inside into a sub-orbital trajectory. The gun itself was buried underground at an unspecified location in Tunisia, only the barrel pointing upwards, (which was also buried except for the tip of the muzzle) which was ordinarily covered and camouflaged when not in use.
Because of the unique ammunition developed by Koblenski the fired projectiles will be able to “self-direct” once in orbit, meaning they can land anywhere within effective orbital range once repositioned for reentry. The gun is not a direct fire gun as with most railguns, but is rather an indirect fire gun that will use very specialized and very dangerous warheads. It is speculated by US gun experts that very sophisticated targeting computers would be needed to assure targeting accuracy and proper calculations for effective employment of the gun.
The contact has alluded to the fact that the gun, since it uses electromagnetic energy to fire the warheads, will be practically untraceable, even at the moment when fired, that the warheads employed are specifically built to produce an extremely low profile radar and detection signature (appearing as small as a single bird on a tracking screen – though often the projectiles move too fast for normal tracking methods anyway), and that in some way they are self-directing and self correcting as to targeting (details are vague). Add to this the fact that the gun itself can be built and housed underground and you have a very dangerous stealth weapon of enormous destructive capabilities. The contact has alluded to the fact that the ultimate aim is to produce an underground super-railgun with dirty-bomb and chemical and biological warheads on the order of 30 or more kilograms, that can be launched into orbit, repositioned and that will strike as silently and as stealthily from above as the user desires. It would be nearly impossible to stop such projectiles via means of a current “Shield Defense Program.”
Despite the fact that the dead drop has been under constant surveillance by the CIA and several exchanges have been made no identifications of any contacts has been successful. Indeed the CIA has never even seen a human being make any exchange at the agreed upon location, yet outgoing messages are taken and incoming messages are left for later interception. The unknown contact however has made many indirect and coded allusions to both Bull and Koblenski that make Intel analysts reasonably certain that the contact could only be Koblenski. The contact apparently wishes rescue and to assist with an operation designed to find and/or destroy the prototype super-railgun he supposedly has been helping to develop.
The Hammerstroke Unit is sent in to try and find out how messages are being left at the dead-drop, and by whom, to find Koblenski if he is still alive, to gather any real evidence about the super-railgun (assuming it really exists), and to discover any other information that might be useful to both the CIA and the Pentagon in this case.
The Tesseract and the True Cross – (This is the briefing of the actual adventure. For Background Information on this dungeon see here: Time Riddles) The capital city of Kitharia, Samarkand, is under threat of invasion. A large army, moving from the West is already en route to besiege the city. With the Kitharian border force already stretched thin patrolling the frontiers, and with their main force exhausted and in a process of rebuilding after the Second and Third Mastred Wars (in the outer colonies against the Mastred and their giant allies), little lies between the current invading force of Caladeem and the capital city. If the Caladeem reach Samarkand before the border units can respond to try and help blunt the attack, and before word can be sent east to the main army (still in a process of reorganizing with inexperienced units), then the capital itself may be surrounded and cut off from resupply. An effort thereafter to lift an already firmly established siege and rescue the capital could be extremely costly and with insurrection against the Samarl (The Priest King of Samarkand) from within a real possibility due to his support for pursuing Thaumaturgy over Elturgy the entire government could be in danger of collapse. Desperate to save his government and to pursue his overall intention of displacing Elturgy with Thaumaturgy the Samarl seeks help from any source available. According to an ancient prophecy uncovered by his chief historian the city can be saved from the invasion by obtaining a peculiar relic, one that is supposed to have originated in another world and that should not be recoverable for another 600 years. Further researching the bizarre prophecy, and employing the Samarälear (The Seat of Sacred Sight) for guidance, the Samarl decides that the prophecy must refer to the human relic of the True Cross. Furthermore any existing pieces of the Cross are on Earth (Terra) not on Ghantik, yet the Samarl feels it must somehow be possible to obtain possession of it or it would not be prophesied about. (But is the Samarl correct, or is he merely reading into the prophecy what he wants to see?) Since the prophecy gives a clue about the possible location of where to begin looking for a piece of the True Cross, the Samarl immediately readies a secret expeditionary mission and sends the party of the Caerkara to find the relic if possible, and return it to Samarkand as soon as it is retrieved. The party has less than three weeks to reach their destination, locate the site, find the relic (if possible) and return to the capital with the relic. Even then it is unknown how the relic might be employed to turn aside or stave off the invasion. All possible resources are made available to the party of the Caerkara to get them underway and to the first site as soon as possible, including use of the Samarl’s secret Airboat.
Arriving at the spot where they are told to start looking for the relic, the Caerkara, finding nothing, decide to dig and see if the relic has been covered, or buried in some manner. They dig their way into a bizarre chamber that then transforms and reseals itself behind them. Exploring further they find an enclosure made of a strange substance, seeming like a cross between metal and marble, but when they try to penetrate it with Elturgy it becomes liquid and they pass through it into what appears to be a long hallway. The passage through which they entered seems to have disappeared and all attempts, both physical and Elturgical, to break out of the trap into which they have fallen utterly fail.
The party has actually penetrated into a very peculiar and unique dungeon. Within this dungeon is a device, originally called the Gwǽlķythőrĵ, which routinely patrols the entire area of the dungeon. At any time it discovers any living creature within any area it inhabits it will automatically send that creature either forwards or backwards in time to some other time point in the history of the dungeon. The Gwǽlķythőrĵ is the time device alluded to in the Background Information on this dungeon.
The Eladarin Wizard named Curåijộryl had designed it as both a guardian for his established home, and as a device that would allow him to live forever. Because of the events described in the background the device escaped his control and became a sort of renegade automaton, trapping the very Wizard who had created the device, driving many of his incarnations mad, making the rest desperate to escape their endless tesseract and prison. Only twice has anyone ever been believed to have escaped the prison, both were incarnations of Curåijộryl. Once an incarnation of the Wizard escaped outside of the dungeon and into another world (the human world, our World). Unable to return to his native world he began studying the human world and human customs, becoming fascinated with religion and Thaumaturgy, and spent his remaining years as a monk and chief librarian in a monastery and chapel in Syria, hoping to discover anything that might lead him home. He never did find anything of any real use regarding his own world, but through his researches he did discover a peculiar set of references which eventually led him to the city of Jerusalem, where he uncovered several important artifacts, including a piece of the True Cross which he brought back with him to his monastery and secreted in his living quarters at the library. Until his death it remained his prize possession. Several other time incarnations of Curåijộryl became aware of the “hole” in the tesseract that led to Terra (Earth) but none ever pursued it for though they eventually figured out the hole probably led to the human world, they also assumed it was one way. (In this they were correct.)
One other incarnation of Curåijộryl eventually escaped the dungeon, this time into the distant past of his own world (Ghantik), through means unknown, but that incarnation was by that time thoroughly insane and ruthless, having been driven utterly mad by the constant time fluctuations. It is that incarnation of the Wizard that Ghantikan history remembers as brutal, vicious, evil, powerful, and cruel. And it is that incarnation of the Wizard Curåijộryl that is spoken about often in legend, lore, and story.
Because of the nature of the Gwǽlķythőrĵ it existed in the dungeon at any and every era simultaneously. Players were moved around constantly in time, and sometimes in space, always to another incarnation of the dungeon. Sometimes a more primitive version, sometimes a more advanced version. And each version contained different artifacts, versions of the Gwǽlķythőrĵ and of Curåijộryl, different creatures, etc. For purposes of creating this dungeon I drew seven different maps of the place, which Curåijộryl had originally christened Saŗaouỹl (the place of the Returning), each map showing different stages of construction. The most primitive map contained seven rooms; the most complex had eighty-four areas including rooms, corridors, hallways, secret areas, laboratories, etc. There were fourteen different versions of the Wizard Curåijộryl, and four different versions of the Gwǽlķythőrĵ.
The purpose of the dungeon was to escape to a time when the Gwǽlķythőrĵ could be controlled, or to gain control of it by other means, and then locate the Wizard and try to elicit his help to find the piece of the True Cross. Then somehow find a way to escape the dungeon and return the relic to Samarkand. Unknown to the party they keep meeting different incarnations of the Wizard, some in disguise, as they are transferred form one time era to another.
It did not matter how long one was in the dungeon because one was constantly being transported through time within the dungeon, so time in relation to the outer world was ordered very differently.
Futuristic/Sci-Fi/Mission: An Academic Exercise – (I wrote this scenario as an espionage/SAR/recovery mission for both the Artifice and Spheres of Influence games.) The identical twin brothers of Virgil and Vincenias Tueller lost their parents at age two. Their parents disappeared mysteriously in a privately funded exploration of deep space, far outside the border space of the Federation, in the Gamma Quadrant (though some believe the mission was actually directed at the Galactic Core). When the parents of the boys and their research vessel failed to reappear or make any contact with their Federation Operations Center after 8 months absence, they and their entire crew were presumed either lost, or dead. Since a family friend, an Addisite, had cared for the boys it was decided that they could both remain under the care of the alien until such time as the legal affairs could be decided. After four years unofficial custody the Addisite legally adopted the boys, without challenge, and he raised both youngsters on the Addisite homeworld, just beyond Federation influence, within the orbit of the Colonial Confederation. Both boys were raised as Addisites though both had numerous contacts and interactions with the human colonists who made up the majority of the population of the Colonial Confederation.
At the age of twelve it was discovered through a routine genetic medical examination on the Addisite home world that the two boys were not identical twins at all, but rather, clones. Furthermore since cloning, except under conditions of extremis, was illegal in both the Federation and the Confederation it was decided that the background of the boys should be further investigated. It was then discovered that the human couple that had claimed to be the parents of the boys were not the genetic parents of the clones (not either one) and that furthermore the process that had been used to clone the boys was of a technique seemingly unknown to any Federation or Confederation database. It was decided to conceal this information from both children until they reached the age of maturity.
The boys grew and stayed with their adoptive parents until the age of twenty-three when both enrolled in college. Vincenias eventually entered Starfleet Academy where by the age of 29 he obtained the rank of First Lieutenant in the Military/Naval Police. At the age of 32 he became a Squad Commander in the Federation’s elite Hostage Rescue Team.
Virgil pursued an academic life becoming a moderately successful, though very unorthodox theoretical research physicist. By the age of 31 he had taken the Heisenberg Research Chair at the University of Kollok, in the Sirius Star System. On or about the time of his 33rd birthday Virgil disappeared. He was supposed to have met his brother and father jointly at Mars Station for a shared birthday dinner and because their adoptive father had decided meet them together to tell them both about the peculiarities of their background. Their Addisite father had brought documentation regarding the fact that their human parents were not their real genetic parents, that they were not twins, but in actuality clones, and to disclose any other available information about their mysterious past. Virgil never showed for the dinner.
Three days later Vincenias was approached by Star Fleet Intelligence to ask his assistance with locating his brother, and to see if he would agree to be part of a Search and Rescue Mission.
Vincenias was instructed that his brother was not just a theoretical physicist, but that he was a man of many and diverse talents. He was a covert intelligence agent, a brilliant cryptologist (well ahead of his time), had his own genetics laboratory, was an unofficial adviser to several important think-tanks, had in secret written dozens of classified scientific papers, and was also an inventor, specializing in the creation of new weapons and defensive systems. Because of his background and his numerous secret contacts throughout the Federation and with different alien species Starfleet Intelligence is most anxious to recover Virgil, and to recover him safe and unharmed. In particular Virgil had recently perfected a new form of visual apparatus (part bio-molecular machine, part nanotech, with a genetic coding sequence which acted as a computational and control program), which could be implanted within a human eye with non-invasive surgical techniques, and that allowed the human wearer to see at night as if in broad daylight. Furthermore it also allowed men to see in various ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, and even to possess both telescopic and microscopic ranges of vision. This advance gives human military forces and the Star Fleet a huge advantage over alien species, and since the technology is both new and completely secret Star Fleet Intelligence fears that someone may have surreptitiously discovered Virgil’s invention and seeks to develop a version for their own species. Then again, despite obvious appearances to the contrary, Virgil has become secretly but immensely wealthy due to his covert projects and motive could be as simple as economic extortion or theft. Vincenias has also complained of “visions” during this time in which he has seen the missing Virgil and some analysts believe the brother-clones may be in some type of long range telepathic contact with each other, even though there has been no previous reports of such capabilities between the two. To further complicate the matter the civilian Federation Intelligence Agency has reasons of their own to recover Virgil and so they are also working to find the missing man, and Star Fleet Intelligence fears that Federation Intelligence will botch the operation and endanger Virgil’s life.
The mission is for the Crew of the Federation Stealth Craft the Stark, and Vincenias Tueller, to try and find out what happened to Virgil Tueller, then try to locate him, and if possible to effect a rescue and recovery. Intercepted Federation Intelligence reports hint that they suspect Virgil was kidnapped by Orion Pirates who are working for an undisclosed client who wants to extract information from their hostage.
However Star Fleet Intelligence believes that Virgil may have left of his own free will and was thought to be in disguise and heading towards Kzin space for a meeting with an old Kzinti genetics expert with experience in alien genomic structures. The mission will eventually lead to encounters with the Kzin, the Romulans, the Crakken, the Academicians - an obscure scientific and religious cult, and against the Vagr.
I always wanted to run a fantasy scenario based on forbidden planet; i.e. that an item in the PCs general environment feeds off of human dreams and creates very powerful monsters that serve the unconscious desires of the PCs and NPCs without any of them realising. I would call this scenario "City of the Dead Gods" because the inhabitants of the town/city might come to believe that ancient gods were walking amongst them at night.
This could actually be used as a nice backdrop to a campaign because it would make the PCs home base town/city a bit more interesting. You could really have some fun with it; for example if the baker secretly loves the barmaid at a local tavern, his thought-monster might kill someone who insults her leading to an interesting mystery. Or maybe his avatar goes all King-Kong and climbs a tower with her in its arms whilst the mages battle the creature and try to rescue her.
I can see many ways of dragging this out for many sessions without any explanation of what is going on. It would also be fun to get the PCs in trouble when their thought-monsters go on the rampage and act out their desires and they get the blame. Imagine if the PCs were trying to buy something but give up when the price is too high and find out something smashed the shop open that night and stole it. "What do you mean you were asleep when this happened citizen! Can you prove your whereabouts last night?"
__________________ I don't know half of you, half as well as I should like and I like less than half of you, half as well as you deserve!
I always wanted to run a fantasy scenario based on forbidden planet; i.e. that an item in the PCs general environment feeds off of human dreams and creates very powerful monsters that serve the unconscious desires of the PCs and NPCs without any of them realising. I would call this scenario "City of the Dead Gods" because the inhabitants of the town/city might come to believe that ancient gods were walking amongst them at night.
That really is a very good idea. That film was way ahead of its time. It would make a great adventure template/idea for any number of different RPG genres.
You should write it up.
And somebody should definitely do a modern remake of that film.
D&D/Fantasy Adventure - The Invulnerable Immortals:(I wrote this scenario specifically for my D&D milieu. However with a little adaptation it could work in any background/setting.)
Byzantine spies have discovered that supposedly the Persians have come into possession of a new form of armor, armor that is so strong and tough that it seems to be invulnerable to normal weaponry. Byzantine agents have even seen the armor in demonstration when a twelve-pound ballistae stone, thrown by a captured Roman artillery piece was used against the armor. The force of impact from the projectile killed the wearer, but the stone itself shattered against the armor, and seemed only to very slightly dent it. Arrows fired from the strongest bows merely bounce off the armor and no blade or spear seems able to penetrate it.
If such reports are true then such a development threatens to shift the balance of power in the East, making Roman armies both susceptible to Persian forces and unable to counterattack effectively. Already overstrained by fighting joint wars against the Persians and the Muslims, both the Emperor and the Byzantine War College are in a state of near panic over word of these reports.
However, there is one glimmer of hope. Other Byzantine spies at the Persian court have discovered that the Persians have not built such armor themselves, that instead they are purchasing it at great expense from other, and as yet unknown parties. At present only a small squad of Persian Warriors, ten to be precise, possess such armor. They are ten of the Persian Courts most trusted royal bodyguards, of the Persian Special Force known as the Immortals. But the Persian King intends to buy many more suits of such armor and is dispatching his ten Immortals to Bactria, (shadowed by a secret force of 50 other Immortals) disguised as merchants and with a caravan train of gold, an odd assortment of animals, and other goods with which to purchase the armor.
In Bactria, near the Khyber, the Persians are to make the exchange with their unknown contacts in order to secure an initial shipment of two hundred such suits of armor. The Persian Court thinks the expedition is a secret known only to them, but now that the Byzantine Court is aware of this matter through their spy network they plan countermeasures.
The Thematic War College at Constantinople is readying a raiding force of 300 Cavalry soldiers that will be sent riding to Bactria as soon as they can be assembled, properly briefed, and dispatched. But the Emperor has sent word by fast messenger to the Basilegate Team, already operating in northern Armenia, to proceed with all due dispatch in disguise as Greek traders to intercept the Immortal Caravan and watch them, to report on movements, and to, if possible, learn more of the armor and the exchange situation. If necessary the Basilegate is to engage the Immortal force in delaying and sabotage operation so that the raiders can reach and (hopefully covertly) kill the Persian Shadow Force before the trade is made.
In any case the Basilegate is charged with the mission of following the ten Immortals and trying to discover exactly who they are trading with, to disrupt the transaction, and to then escape alive so that they can report back to the Emperor as to who the Persians are dealing with, and why.
A Christmas Adventure. This adventure was played three years ago by my players and is designed to be played at or around Christmas time. It can be modified in any way, but was originally played by the party of the Basilegate. It is in synopsis form only.
Manna and the King - The Emperor of Byzantium is contacted by the Khan (Krum) of Bulgaria (a traditional enemy of the Empire) who is requesting assistance for his kingdom and his family. A plague has stricken the Bulgarian Kingdom and has killed several thousand, and infected many others. Those infected usually die within a few weeks, the mortality rate is high and the chances of survival once infected are low. The Khan has promised the Byzantines that he will cease all border hostilities, will cease his plotting against the empire, will become allied to the Byzantine empire and will even consider personally converting to Christianity (as well as converting his court) if the Byzantines can prove a miracle by curing his daughter of the plague.
The emperor, sensing a chance to convert an ancient enemy and to make a powerful ally of the Bulgars, consults the Abbots of the church for any possibility of a miracle. After consulting ancient texts the church authorities decide that the best chance to cure the girl is to have her anointed with the manna, the reputed miraculous healing liquid that accumulates around the tomb of Saint Nicholas every year a few weeks before Christmas Mass.
The emperor dispatches the Basilegate with orders that they are to accompany an embassy of monks and a living Saint to Myra, the ancient burial place of Saint Nicholas (Santa Clause), recover some of the manna and then transport it in a reliquary to the court of the Bulgarian khan where it will be used to try and cure the Bulgarian princess.
When the party arrives in Myra they discover that the grave of Nicholas has been desecrated, his body stolen and the recently collected manna missing. Rumors abound about a vicious and hideous creature who has murdered several priests and monks and who was responsible for robbing the grave.
At the same time the party learns of accounts about a strange party of men, whom some swear are not really men at all, which preceded the Basilegate to Myra and had also been asking questions about the creature who had robbed the grave of Saint Nicholas. The entire area is in near riot due to the desecration of their patron Saint along with the appearance of the unknown and murderous creature. The Basilegate has less than two weeks, at most, to find the body of the Saint, recover it from the creature, rebury the body, obtain the manna and travel to the court of Bulgaria to try and save the life of the Bulgarian princess.
As they begin their search a strange light in the night sky begins to shine extremely brightly, and they are approached by three odd men, whom many locals think are angels, but others think are Magi from Baghdad.
(BC/CC/TC)
Linear Mode
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