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Part 3: City Of Darkness

Episode three features a hidden Ancient site on Mithril. Marooned on an enemy occupied planet, with a lifeboat of NPC's waiting for rescue, and with limited resources the party discover the real reason for the Sword World presence on Mithril.

As the party get near the starport, perhaps 10 km before, they will come across a small valley where a lot of activity can be heard for some distance. Looking into the valley they will see a makeshift military camp and a excavation site.

The military camp is temporary home to the Sword Worlds 13th Lift Infantry Company (part of the Sacnoth Lift Infantry Brigade, a TL12 conscripted unit), and the excavation workers. It consists of a fenced compound 340m by 500m. There are three ground vehicle gates, each with a guard hut each side (inside the fence). WWII style guard towers are situated in each corner and roughly the middle of three sides (total of seven). There are seven barracks, a medical barracks, three separate ammo bunkers, a vehicle maintenance shed, a large HQ building, a barn, a storage silo, and five animal pens. Additionally, 25% of the compound is confined by an inner fence surrounding a vehicle park. The vehicle park has 5 tanks, 3 APCs, 6 air/rafts, and numerous tractors, bulldozers, and other earth-movers. At night the whole camp is flood-lit.

The excavation site looks like a small, yet industrious, strip mine.

Now the party could lack curiosity and move on to the starport in single-minded fashion, or they could sneak around and try watching what's going on (maybe even try to figure out what the Sword Worlders are doing). If they sneak about one of the player characters will 'accidentally' stumble into a half buried tunnel.

The tunnel is approximately 5m in diameter, perfectly straight, and inclined down at about 30°. The sides of the tunnel have a smooth yet rippled (almost melted) feel, and it looks like the tunnel was drilled by a 5m diameter laser beam. The entrance is on the far side of a hill to the valley with the excavation and angles back to point to somewhere under where they are digging.

Exploring down the tunnel leads the party to the Ancient site, a large cavern originally shaped like a slightly irregular octagon measuring 5100m by 4200m, with a vaulted ceiling. Where the tunnel enters the chamber (half way up one wall) that whole side has partially collapsed into a large rock-fall pile of flint-like rock. The pile runs along 4200m of the long side, intrudes 750m into the cavern, and is 135m high at its peak (where the tunnel exit is). The floor of the cavern is covered by an arrangement of blocks (some alone, some in piles of two, three, or more) ranging from 50m to 450m in length, between a third and a half of the length in width, and up to half the length in height. Gaps between the blocks or piles are typically 150m wide. In the middle is a 'plaza' 500m across with a ziggurat in the centre 150m across by 75m high (flat topped). The cavern floor and walls, the blocks, and the ziggurat are all made of the same dark grey rock ... yet have a feel and finish like quick-form cement. The whole thing has an air of an Aztec city, except the blocks (which should be buildings) are solid with no doors or windows ... like a crude recreation of an Aztec city's form and shape without any details. The whole site is lit by a weak ambient twilight-like light of no discernible source.

Click here to see map (125Kb).

To complete entering the cavern the party must descend the rock-fall. While there are no chunks greater than fist-sized, the whole thing is unstable and prone to sliding and shifting. The safest way to descend is by rope, but there is nothing at the top to attach it to (the last person down could hold a rope for the others).

Exploring the bulk of the site will be a spooky task. There are no artefacts, or other items. The only movable stuff is the pile of debris from the rock-fall. Also there is a very fine layer of rock-coloured oily dust over everything (like dark grey talcum powder). Apart from the ziggurat the only other item of note is that, should any character climb on a block he may notice a pattern of lanthanum and boron strips inlaid in the top (initially camouflaged by the dust). Any character with Engineering skill can make a routine roll to determine that the pattern is functional (like a starship jump drive grid) rather than ornate ... but will be unable to say what that function is.

This just leaves the ziggurat.

The ziggurat is the key to the structure, the centre of the web (so to speak). Ascending the ziggurat the party will discover what appears to be a control panel of some kind. It has the overall shape of the Transporter console from the original series of Star Trek. Yet again it seems to be a crude recreation of a thing, rather than the thing itself. It is made of the same dark grey quick-form cement like quality, and there are no makings or controls evident, save for a vague outline of an alien hand with three fingers and a thumb (roll to see if any character recognises a Droyne hand).

Should anyone place their bare palm flat down on the panel (within the outline) the trap will be sprung: the party will find themselves back outside on the hill and will be unable to find the tunnel again. Should anyone have been wearing a psionic shield they will see the metal strip pattern imbedded in the blocks flair up prior to the transition. Continuing to wear the shield will result in a mild headache. Psionic characters will be unable to shake the feelings of disquiet they experienced whilst in the cavern.

The party may now continue as they see fit. An explanation of what has happened is in the last episode (The Harvest).

Unless the party has survey equipment omit giving exact measurements but use approximations.

A special note about Psionic characters. Any psionic character will have a sense of power emanating from here. 'Life detection' will detect no living minds nearby. 'Telempathy' will, however, register every block as emotionally charged (specifically: fear, pain, suffering, the last few seconds before a painful and/or violent death). Upon entering the cavern, any telepathic character will 'hear' a thousand whispering voices fall silent in expectation ... as if the party has just entered a stage in front of a large audience. Wearing psionic shields will offer partial protection only, the 'harvest' will overwhelm these devices.

For sound effects in the cavern play "The Alien Planet" from the Alien soundtrack, in the background on continuous loop. Start this upon reaching the end of the tunnel and seeing the cavern for the first time.


 

     

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