The Gateway to Eternity
In the beginning Father Silas Threlkelder – of The Order of the New Dawn, assembled a team to crew a ship for him. It was all very mysterious, and paid far too well so they (including Dr. Em, Xeno Prime, Elvis Elton Elric III, and Eddie Chang) eventually went for it. They ship they were taken to for them to pilot/crew was apparently A slow freighter mostly carved out from an asteroid. After boarding and beginning a slow exit of the Chimi-Chonga system Klatamine warships sprung up from behind a neighboring moon. It was then that our heroes’ craft shed it’s exterior rock casing revealing the strange craft beneath that jumps into hyperspace and is gone.
They blast through hyperspace, avoid the cosmic horrors contained within as best they can, before arriving at the Balion system. There the Father leads them to a Zdru Mahash temple that sits atop an even older structure, an underground chamber left by Aldous Kerlock. It contains a brief account of the Human exodus from Earth and the human wars of conquest and colonization that shook the galaxy to its foundations. But most importantly it contained a map. A map that not only described the location of six unknown/mysterious worlds (PoM), and more importantly what appears to be directions to Sol System.
After a fleeting encounter with a Karfun strike team the away team rejoins the ship and they beat feet for the Sol System. When they arrive they are greeted by the AI / Mech driven mission control center on Mars. They land on Mars as their own instruments indicate an Earth like body entering the system and falling into orbit around the sun. This world was indeed the Legendary Terra from which Human expansion swept of and across the galaxy, in record time no less, and from it came a ship bearing the Terran Ambassadors (Allah Charra, Gargle, Kane, and several others) as well as a man called Dead Zone who appeared to be of extreme age and was being kept in complete stasis. The Mechs who own the Martian Spaceport, appeared to happily greet their guest, they had Dead Zone taken away for safekeeping. Silas goes of to meet with the Terrans and Mech leaders, leaving the newcomers scratching themselves in wonder.
When they return, Father Threlkelder announces that he and Kane and some of the others are remaining on Mars to take care of some business here in the Solar system. The ship’s crew would now be a strange mix of various galactic races and even odder Terran mutants. They would now strike out in their ship to explore the places left marked in the stars by Aldous Kerlock many thousands of years ago.
What follows is a very brief summary of the adventures of the first two Points of Mystery (PoM) as found in the Temple on Balion. There may be glaring omissions (accounts of monster fights in hyperspace and such, but I’m sure you won’t have to worry about that in the future) or inaccuracies – this is where your note taking comes into play.
But roughly it went as follows:
I A stop at Groovix Space-Station for weapons, supplies, information and hijinks. Also your own vessel for its own holographic disguise system scans several ships. And other intrigue.
II Woodhope the failed colony: This was the first PoM they decided to investigate. There had been several attempts to colonize this densely forested world of super-trees, but two things defeated them. Firstly the vast array of intelligent, and aggressive and dangerous life forms that already lived there, and secondly an odd phenomena that caused technology to stop working as one descends bellow the level of the treetops. They started at the Top 30 million year old World Tree, rising 5 miles into the air it is ten miles wide at it’s base. As they make their way down the tree the make friends with two humanoid races, first the Dicak who guide them through the top levels of the tree, and then the Bocu. The Bocu are clearly the dominant intelligent life form on the trees. From their developing nature-based technology to their Magic wielding Shaman, the will obviously come to rule the planet someday. They know what the party is looking for and they tell them that the entrance to the Temple of the Ancients lays beneath the roots of this very tree. One of Bocu, a Shaman Initiate, is sent to guide them, and making their way through the lower gates they plunge through dark dank tunnels fighting killer bugs and then giant worms. In the end they enter into the Temple of the Ancients, where different beings have different experiences, see different things, gain different powers, but all go into the strange Transmogrification Chamber, everyone (new characters coming in will have already been on two side missions and have been exposed to this twice already, same as everyone else). The experience alters them forever [a separate handout will contain the changes that should be reflected on your character sheet. Various weapons of the ancients are also recovered as well as the first piece to a larger puzzle. Then they retraced their steps and journeyed back to the treetops to the extraction point, and back on into space.
III A brief stop on Skolaxis followed by a quick getaway.
IV A Confrontation in Hyperspace: After making contact with Outsider agents on Skolaxis, they find they are being trailed through the ether on their way to the next PoM. The ship’s brains urged them to stop and fight and not lead them anywhere. The enemy ship broke up into a small squad of fighters and a battle ensued. The party won but their shields were damaged and the ship was quite in need of repair. However they decided to press on incase their destination had been revealed, they were determined to get there first.
V Ferrus: An isolated system, far from any inhabitable planets, and even farther from any Jump Grids. He is a human colonized system at the very edge of collapse. The system had been colonized long ago by several damaged colony ships that Aldus Kerlock abandoned here as the wave of human expansion swept the galaxy. They knew who had left them behind and reviled him for it. But they made the best of a bad situation, and the three competing faction, Colonialist, and the Pilgrims claimed their chunk of the system. Move ahead several thousand years and the star, Ferrus, begins to go dark and cold. As their sun grew dark and their main power source faded they increasing fought amongst each other for what resource remained. Those that are left are concentrated on the main world of Ferrus III.
The party did not get a warm welcome on their arrival and had short negotiations with representatives of each faction. What was clear was that between their constant fighting and their distaste for anything associated with Aldus Kerlock a peaceful settlement was not immediately apparent. The Pilgrim Ambassador, being them most reasonable seeming, was then spirited away to hyperspace where he made a deal to sneak the party in and lead them to where they needed to go. Descending into the Dark Rift they entered into the Caves of the Watcher, where they slew the Outsider entity that guarded the place, and so came to the strange entrance to a Temple of the Ancients. The entrance tunnel was covered in pulsing glyphs of magical energy with a mummy like figure seated on a throne at the far end, beyond which other tunnels can be seen branching out. The corridor was half choked with the desiccated remains of the many beings that tried to make it to the end but were stop dead in their tracks. Hilarity ensues from here until ultimately the entire party has entered into the magical zone and shot past the gates of deeper slumber. There followed a strange adventure, that now seems no more than a fleeting dream, at the end of which the dreaming mummy turns out to be Aldus Kerlock’s second in command who lets them awaken and pass into the Temple beyond where they have varied strange experiences that change them even more [see handout]. They also find four cell phones of the Ancients, and the second piece of something larger. When they are done they head back out to the surface and back to their shuttle. They are attack by a giants “berserk” industrial-bot on the way back, so they are happy once it is defeated and they can get away from this place.
VI Neutown: Unsure of where to go from here Gargle remembers that a strange woman he spoke to on Skolaxis told him to seek out an entertainer named Leucretia Davos who is working in this part of the galaxy. Mz. Davos’ name also appeared on a list of potential contacts given to them by Father Silas. They find her performing at the Grand Imperial Hotel on Neutown (the entertainment capital for the system that is being terra-formed). The soon discover that Leucretia is being held at the hotel against her will. From here there are numerous shenanigans and various complicated plans are raveled. But in the end Xeno Prime uses some newfound magic and summons a Nightgaunt that abducts Leucretia and delivers her to their ship.
V Leaving that system in a hurry Leucretia identifies herself as an agent of the Galactic Union and points them to coordinates within hyperspace and tells them to make top speed. In hyperspace vile Outsider creature/ships lays in-wait for them. Their already battered ship fends off several waves of enemies as it runs and guns it through the ether. Soon something much larger begins to over take them that they can neither fight off nor outrun. Fortunately, emerging from the chaos of hyperspace before them is a vessel so vast and powerful that soon looms over your pursuers and wipes them from existence.
VI The Galactic Union Base Ship: Zaxarax
This vessel is under the command of Admiral Chun Yun Alleman.
Following is a list of representatives of the varying Galactic Union factions. You have spoken to some but not to others. But this where we will be starting up at, where new and old characters will be introduced, and where any lingering plot questions can be filled in as best they can to this point:
Sister Felecia Gavian – Order of the New Dawn
Oricion Bogos (Lorcia) – Spacing Guild
Elmer Einstein Ervin – League of Spades
Calicus Nodax (Lorcia) – Brotherhood of the Atom
James Guzman – Explorers Guild
Natholiax (Turoooloa) – Galactic Science Services
Helena Raynor – Monitors
Galvorian Galiel (Golitu) – Galactic Council Senator
Sentus III (Zdru Mahash) – Galactic Council Senator
Exas Zim (Jaxin) – GU Chief of Medical Research
