With Aberrant and Adventure! already converted to D20, I figure it won't be long before Trinity makes its appearance. Fans of the original game will remember the detailed world of the future presented in that game, as well as the convoluted metaplot that ran in the Darkness Revealed and Alien Agenda adventures. I hope to get some of the newer players up to speed on this amazing game world by presenting the above mentioned adventures in fiction form. The only warning I have to potential readers is that there's no guarantee the D20 Trinity will pick off where the Storyteller version ended. Still, it would make sense to do so, and with that in mind, I introduce you all to volume one of the Darkness Revealed trilogy, Descent into Darkness, in a story called "Remnants of the Dead".
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Chapter 1
It was still early evening as Rick Vega walked home. The streets of Downside hadn’t been constructed for the crowds they now held, and Rick held securely to his grocery bag as he wound his way through the throng of the city’s middle class. It was just another jungle to Rick, and he adapted as smoothly to his new life here as he did to the rain forests of his native Brazil. This jungle, however, was carved deep under the surface of the moon. His eyes adjusted easily as he moved through patches of light and shadow that sprinkled his path home. The current energy crunch had been solved by limiting the number of light strips illuminating public spaces, creating an artificial dusk that was normally missing this far underground. It was one such patch of darkness that shrouded the entrance to Rick’s apartment, and effectively cloaked the two figures waiting outside his door.
Rick slowed his gate slightly. Not enough to draw attention to himself, just enough to buy him some time. Whoever they were, he wasn't expecting them and his old instincts told him that meant danger. One figure had her back to him, and with the hood of her jacket up, her gender was all he could make out. It was the other figure that drew his attention, though. The second person was a man who shared Rick’s Sudamerican features. His dark hair and mustache matched Rick’s own. To the casual observer, the two could have been cousins and that’s what worried Rick. Although it was rare for anybody to break from the family, especially one of the gifted, the Pai had let him go. Rick had put as much distance between himself and the order as he could, but he still feared reprisals. If one of his cousins had pursued him all the way here, the parting couldn’t have been as clean as he’d hoped. Still, the man hadn’t spotted him yet, still chatting and smiling with his companion. If Rick could mingle back into the crowd, he could easily mask himself and escape notice.
He allowed the now quicker moving crowd to block him from the two waiting figures. He summoned up his will and let the psions flow over his skin. The tone of his skin bleached away, taking some of the darkness from his hair with it. A mental tug pulled his mustache back into his lip and a larger push forced out his figure, seemingly adding 40 pounds to his frame. His clothing strained to hold the changes, but when he was done he had transformed from an Hispanic refugee into a blonde Caucasian. The transformation was too crude to hold up under anything less than a casual glance, but in the shadows cloaking the street in front of his apartment, he was sure he could pull it off. He resisted the urge to look at the waiting man as he moved nearer. He clutched his groceries tighter and tried to shuffle like everybody else, willing himself to blend into the crowd. The strange man didn’t even look twice. He simply kept talking to his partner, laughing at whatever small joke she had just made. Rick kept himself from smiling in turn, and continued to shuffle by. He had limited options for his next step, but once he was out of sight, he would have time to decide what to do. Unfortunately, he never got that time. As focused as he’d been on the man, Rick was surprised when his eyes were drawn to the woman. With a surprisingly casual gesture, she pulled down the hood that had shrouded her. With her other hand she pointed unerringly at Rick.
“There he is,” she said in a startlingly matter-of-fact way.
As her partner moved to intercept him, Rick realized it would be pointless to run. He got the impression this woman could find him wherever he went.
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Chapter 1
It was still early evening as Rick Vega walked home. The streets of Downside hadn’t been constructed for the crowds they now held, and Rick held securely to his grocery bag as he wound his way through the throng of the city’s middle class. It was just another jungle to Rick, and he adapted as smoothly to his new life here as he did to the rain forests of his native Brazil. This jungle, however, was carved deep under the surface of the moon. His eyes adjusted easily as he moved through patches of light and shadow that sprinkled his path home. The current energy crunch had been solved by limiting the number of light strips illuminating public spaces, creating an artificial dusk that was normally missing this far underground. It was one such patch of darkness that shrouded the entrance to Rick’s apartment, and effectively cloaked the two figures waiting outside his door.
Rick slowed his gate slightly. Not enough to draw attention to himself, just enough to buy him some time. Whoever they were, he wasn't expecting them and his old instincts told him that meant danger. One figure had her back to him, and with the hood of her jacket up, her gender was all he could make out. It was the other figure that drew his attention, though. The second person was a man who shared Rick’s Sudamerican features. His dark hair and mustache matched Rick’s own. To the casual observer, the two could have been cousins and that’s what worried Rick. Although it was rare for anybody to break from the family, especially one of the gifted, the Pai had let him go. Rick had put as much distance between himself and the order as he could, but he still feared reprisals. If one of his cousins had pursued him all the way here, the parting couldn’t have been as clean as he’d hoped. Still, the man hadn’t spotted him yet, still chatting and smiling with his companion. If Rick could mingle back into the crowd, he could easily mask himself and escape notice.
He allowed the now quicker moving crowd to block him from the two waiting figures. He summoned up his will and let the psions flow over his skin. The tone of his skin bleached away, taking some of the darkness from his hair with it. A mental tug pulled his mustache back into his lip and a larger push forced out his figure, seemingly adding 40 pounds to his frame. His clothing strained to hold the changes, but when he was done he had transformed from an Hispanic refugee into a blonde Caucasian. The transformation was too crude to hold up under anything less than a casual glance, but in the shadows cloaking the street in front of his apartment, he was sure he could pull it off. He resisted the urge to look at the waiting man as he moved nearer. He clutched his groceries tighter and tried to shuffle like everybody else, willing himself to blend into the crowd. The strange man didn’t even look twice. He simply kept talking to his partner, laughing at whatever small joke she had just made. Rick kept himself from smiling in turn, and continued to shuffle by. He had limited options for his next step, but once he was out of sight, he would have time to decide what to do. Unfortunately, he never got that time. As focused as he’d been on the man, Rick was surprised when his eyes were drawn to the woman. With a surprisingly casual gesture, she pulled down the hood that had shrouded her. With her other hand she pointed unerringly at Rick.
“There he is,” she said in a startlingly matter-of-fact way.
As her partner moved to intercept him, Rick realized it would be pointless to run. He got the impression this woman could find him wherever he went.
