This is the first time I actually used an actual recording for the hololithic message.  I did my best to emulate a sane AI voice of UNITY – before she went crazy.  I have other entries where I have made her sound as close to SHODAN as I could.  I linked the actual voice excerpt I played to my group.

Our Brave Band of Adventurers:

• Charisma, a “human” -mutant- sorceress whose power source is Gamma Radiation which she was exposed to as a child.  As a child of the Atom her hair goes green in the presence of radiation and she progressively gets greener the more powerful spells she casts (and as she gets angry).  She has no love for the Technic League.
• Heidt, a ranger who has traded an affinity for nature for an affinity for machines.  This android has mastered cybertheurgy as well as the lasgun.  Has chosen the mechromancer archetype (blog post at some later point!).  Seeking to learn more about his history he has become an archaeological expert on all things related to the Rain of Stars.
• Rikku, an elven rogue who was adopted by Khonnir Baine when he found her wandering the wasteland near Torch more than a decade ago.  She claims to be a blood elf from a far-away land.  Her history is tied up with a nearby ruin.
• Sylvanus, a dark elf monk who escaped the clutches of mind flayer slavemasters in the area of the Scar of the Spider after a daring raid by surface dwelling heroes freed her.
• Brokthor, a human fighter who was raised by dwarfs and thinks he IS a dwarf.
• Tufast, a human cleric who serves the unpredictable goddess of thunder and lightning Dorana.  Much like his barbarian family he hates technology and has a particular spite for robots.  He sees the cleansing power of Dorana as the perfect antidote to the curse of the robot infestation of Nimmeria.
• Val Baine, a wrench wielding teenage girl and a budding tech mechanic.  Rikku’s little sister.
• Sanvill, a technology obsessed mage with a secret – he is a Technic League spy.

 

Lords of Rust

Session 9

By Rikku Yuffina Kyrus

We all take a long rest – but Whiskifiss gives us rough directions to his place, and leaves. In the middle of the night, eight Smilers knock on the front door. They are surprised the lasgun is on and they ask Gunshy to turn it off. We try to act like Gunshy is here, but it fails. Four run hastily away, and the remaining four take cover and shoot the lasgun. Brocktha, Sylvanus, and Hiedt dash to the back door; while I stay at the front. Tufast and Charisma are happily dreaming. We fight the Smilers off and go back to bed. Brocktha, Sylvanus, Hiedt, and I wake up late in the morning. We are surprised to find the place well decorated and smelling of some kind of tea. After a quick brunch, there is another knock at the door. We all groan as we open the latch. We are surprised to see steel clad men with tall mohawks standing at the door. The biggest man introduces himself as Sevoth Slain, lieutenant of the Steel Hawks, who are the gatekeepers of Scrapwall. The Steel Hawks are mostly dead because Kulgara killed most of them. Last night they saw us fighting the Smilers. They are enemies with them and would like to make an agreement. If we kill their hated leader, Birdfood, who is also a Smiler, we can form an alliance with the Hawks. We thank them and send them on their way. We leave for Whiskifisses home shortly afterwards.

We pass a heap of scrap and small buildings; but one of these constructions caught our attention. A big metal dish is to one side of the scrap wall. Huge vultures circle it, and occasionally land. We finally come to a small hole, about two inches tall and 4 inches wide. Two big rats come out and take us through the winding tunnels. We pass an unusually big hole (considering this is a rat tunnel) with clicking and clacking coming from inside. The passages are fairly clean and we see lots of different rats. Some are like our guides and Whiskifiss, but others are bigger and more ratmen looking. But one kind of rat I have never seen before is in these passages. They have really big heads and we can trace the faint outline of a brain in their fur. We eventually zigzag our way to Redtooth, the leader. She thanks us gratefully and tells us about her gang. Before the Lords of Rust and the Smilers came, the Red Tooth Raiders were the strongest gang in Scrapwall. But now they are broken. Some died in the war against the Smilers, others joined the Lords of Rust. We ask if she has ever seen Hellion herself. She says no, the only thing she sees is his eyes in monitors and hears his announcements. We ask about the brainy rats. She says they are called the cranium rats. They can talk in you head and she’s seen them move things with their mind. She has no control over them, but she does know they are not in favor of the Lords of Rust. We ask how strong the Lords are, just incase we want to take them on. She says the Lords are made of multiple gangs who have joined them. There was one gang devoted to Hellion, called the Thralls of Hellion. They lived around the big dish, which she believes was bringing power to Scrapwall.

The power stopped recently, so Hellion punished the Thralls; which led to the vultures eating the dead bodies. We ask about the mantacore. She says he is very dangerous. He lives in a cave near Scrapwall. He plucks people from the streets to eat them. She gives us directions to the cave. Red Tooth mentions something about a haunted metal ship in Scrapwall. She gives us directions to the ghost ship. We ask about the clicking and clacking in the big hole we passed on the way. Red Tooth says that is just their rust monster, Chirpers, who Whiskifiss handles. We say bye, thank you, accept our gifts, and take our leave. We talk to the cranium rats in our heads quickly. They say they dislike Hellion, and they might help. They didn’t answer any of our other questions. We make our way to the ghost ship.

On the way Hellion announces something like this “Unfocused anxiety index has been set to three. Comply immediately.” We stop in front of the ghost ship. We can’t see anything well through the necro mist Charisma identifies; so Tufast casts wind to a broken metal door. We go in. There is a long corridor. A broken door to the right emits a foul rotting smell. A dim moving light is beyond a door straight ahead. We can hear a soft grating sound coming from a door to the left. We peer through the door with the grating sound. The walls are melted. This room is piled with rubble and other things. When we get close the grating stops. We go to the smelly door. Two glass coffins sit to the right. Inside are two human skeletons with astronaut suits. One is female and the other male. They both look well preserved. To the left are four surgical tubes. Inside are the remains of skeletons. A hole in the wall is straight ahead. Brocktha opens the coffin with the female skelly. All the skeletons animate. We fight them. When they die we see their spirits fly upwards, and the stink goes away. We loot the decaying suits and find 3 gray access cards. We go through the metal hole. Ahead, past piles of rubble, is a metal door with a gray access card. The access machine is not working, so we try to yank it open. But before we can do so, a loud screech or scream sounds from behind us. Three poltergeists are hurling rubble (and grenades) towards us. When they are dealt with, we go outside to where the grating sound came from. This room has hidden treasures that we take, including a hololithic player. We go back to the gray door. I feel like something is following us, but I can’t see anything. We go through the gray door. When I enter I have visions of people running and screaming. I over come the visions and I see the others are seeing the same thing. This room seems like a look out. A body is slumped on a chair, probably dead. The body animates into a wraith when we enter. We enter combat. When it is dead the mist lifts, and we loot him. A will-O-wisp attacks us from behind. We kill it easily and go back to base.

We look at our loot and turn on the hololithic player. There is no picture, but a robotic female voice says,

“UNITY log entry, Earth Calendar Date 41, 110.9.20. As mandated by Imperial law I am to include an automated incident report when a major malfunction occurs. After leaving the wormhole my engines were severely damaged. Following emergency procedure I landed the ship on the nearest habitable planet. An earth class world with very little water but otherwise a healthy biosphere. Data indicates the flayer fortress ship is also on this world. I have dispatched a Myrmidon kill-team to investigate the location of the enemy vessel. Once the location is confirmed I will awaken the Adeptus forces as instructed. Please refer to incident report #12874 for details.”

While fiddling with some of our items we press a hidden button and a male voice,

“This is the final report of salvage module Chrysalis, Captain Yurion Valnko reporting. Divinity is lost; the rest of the ship’s crew is presumed dead or worse. The surviving crew of Chrysalis and I are boarding a launch and will attempt an emergency landing, but without AI control, the prospects of a safe landing are minimal. I’ve secured an inhibitor facet-if I can install it into UNITY interface, it should disable the AI’s security long enough for us to reclaim control and perhaps even signal help from home. I’m boarding the launch now, and will append further reports after our successful landing.”

It finishes and we put it away.