torg-crucible of pain

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Murder, Madness, andMini-cosms



CRUCIBLE Of PAINBy Dan Greenberg

Murder, Madness, and Mini-Cosms



Roleplaying the PossibilityWars'"

Crucible of Pain

Crucible ofPain, Part 1 .4The Nowhere Lands 20

Crucible ofPain, Part II 54

Gamemaster Record Sheets 61

•• 2



n Gret'nberg

Fushteymentand Editing

Hunter

c Design and Graphics

Mann

Ulustration

l Geier, Gunt GoleashlUustrations

Published by

~ " J J 1 l Ft..JGAMES*RD 3 Box 2345

Honesdale, PA 18431

20563

Publisher. Daniel Scott PaUu • As50ciate Publisher. Richard Hawan • Associate Editor. G Gorden· Editor. Greg FitnhteyAssistant Editan: Bill Smith, Ed Stark· Ar t Director. Stephen Cnne • Graphic Artist: Cathleen Hunter· Illustrator: Allen Nunls

Production Manager: Steve Porpor. . . Sales Manager: Fltuoy Bontene • Sales Assistant: Mui .. IYmmeier-Xe..nSpecial ProjectsManager: Ron Seiden· Warehouse: Manager: Ed Hlll • Treasurer: Janet Riccio

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SUm JCni3hb. Tors. and doe Tors Ioso alW"" EndGames.. S.... and 0 1991 Wee End e.u-. Al l Ri&hts Raerved..

S. not and 0 1991 West Endc...-. A111li5httRaerved..

- - - - - - - - - 3 " · - ·



rg: CnIcible of 'aln

Crucible of Pain

Introduction

CrudbleofPili" isa novelconcept in roleplayinggames-ad,,:enture story andTorg scenario in one pack.While most roleplaymg PrOOucts are intended for the

teronly,the playersare allowed to read the fictionction ofthis book. Game-master and players should read

I of the short story, then play the adventure scenario,e Nowhere Lands."

After completing the game section, both players and

memaster can read Part D of the story and see howerything ended up.

Part I

Maya raced through the shallow marsh, ankle deep inrm, murky water. Papyrus reeds slashed at her slender

gs as she ran, and each jarring step sent shockwavesough her body.Panic burned in her chest, but she hurtled forward,

blivious to the agony that racked her body. Her heartand her legs throbbed with a stabbing pain. Evenwater splashed all around her, her mouth was dry

d parched as the desert sands beyond the Nile.The ground beneath her wheeled and spun in dizzying

~ Behind her she h ~ r d the.steadyslap--slap, slap-slap ofl clumsy feet beating agamst the water in long, easy

Their pace was slow, patient, and easy, as if they pretolet theirprey run itseU todeath ratherthanclosefor

e kill. The rhythmic splashing of their gentle lope wasrribly calming, like a steady heartbeat.AbreezestirredbehindMaya, and shesuddenlygagged.

he stench of the creatures made her choke and lose herride. She stumbled and flailed her arms to recover herce. The splashing noises behind her·were louder now.Her pace slowed. Thepainand fatigue were toogreat for

er to bear. U the creatures noticed her dwindling energy,y gave no sign of it. 1l\ey seemed content to let her runshe gave up.

This is it,Mayathought. I'm finally crazy. I've finally lost

••4

She struggled for control of her thoughts. She was saneonce. It seemed so long ago now. When was it?

"Maya, Listen to me when I am talking to yoU!H

The memory of her father's voice cut through her Like a

razorand

slowed her pace. A burstof

memories cameunbidden, tumbling before her mind's eye.She saw her family in their traditional places at their

mahogany dinner table, smelled the customary Thai food,and felt a sweetly familiar discomfort. Her father wasansrx, her mother was patient, and her younger brotherand SISter were engrossed Listening to the argument.

Maya could see her reflection in the ornate bronzeframed mirror that hung on the far wall. Her lip was curledinto a sneer, and her oval eyes were rolled toward theceiling. Her delicate Eurasian features were marred by an

expression of utter contempt.There was an all too brief period of silence before her

father sJX>ke again."Maya, for the last time, I forbid you to hang out withthose ... local droJX>uts."

Maya exploded. UVou only hate them because they'renative Sudanese. Because they're black!H

Her ~ a t h e r clenched his fists and breathed heavily, as i f

strugghng to hold JX>werful, violent emotions in check.Hermother replied softly, "Maya, dear, you know that's

not true.""'You always take his side!H Maya complained.Her mother shook her head. "No, dear. I want what's

best for both of you.""It's true! You always stick up for him! Even when he's

wrong!""Maya!H her father barked. "You will have respect foryour elders!"

"Oh!Sure!" Maya said, nodding contemptuously. "Likeyou really haverespect forGrandma!HerAlzheimer's isn'tbad at aU, but you locked her up in that home in f lor idarather than take her with us when we moved here'"

' ~ a y ~ , you..know thatwould be JX>intlessly prolongingthe me":ltable, ~ e father began, pronouncing his words

slowly, m the VOice he reserved for explaining the obviousto small children. HHer condition will only get worse.Having her here would be stressful for the whole family."



PartOn

I .5



rg: Crucible of Pain

"She was just a little forgetful," Maya retorted. "Weuld have had years with her before she became a probShe didn't really start to deteriorate till shewas in thate. You always give up on the important thingswithoutng to work out a real solution.""Don't take that tonewith me, young lady!" he warned."Tone? Tone? You didn't even hear what I said!" she

"I warned you once!" he replied sharply."I respect you more than you respect Grandma," sheuted, transported with rage. "And we all know how

le that is!"Then she shuddered, gasping uncontrollably. Every·

around her slowed down to molasses speed.Somewhere in the distance she heard her father's voicening, as if at the bottomof a deep tunnel; so far away it

ok his voice forever to reach her.The walls around her shimmered, and Maya felt lightd giddy. The air was charged and exhilarating, like theectrified moments before a thunderstorm. The bronzeamed mirror across from her stood out in h y p e r ~ r e a l i s t i c

and slowlyher reflection in it melted away, revealingunearthly landscape. Gleaming pyramids and goldenshimmered in thescorching light ofa blazing noonday

n. Clanking war machines covered with exquisitelyhieroglyphiCS rolled past obsidianstatues of croco

e-headed gods. Great, bloated ships plowed through theskies.

Maya stared in silence, marveling at the unutterableof the image. It was as if ancient Egypt was newand gods walked the earth with men.

Then thecrocodilestatue's head turned toward her,as if

noticed her. Maya panicked, and reality came crashingk in on her. The mirror closed up, sealing the imageay. Maya felt like she was falling into a murky void.

efore she could hit bottom, her father's voice cut throughhaze, and her awareness returned to the room.

.:'Are you listening tome?You pay attention, young lady

"Harold, hush," her mother said. "Maya, are you all

Maya heard genuine concern in her mother's voice,ich pleased her."1 1,"Maya began. faltering. "1 saw themirror ... melt.w "''Drugs!'' her father said with disgust. "She'son drugs! I

ew those ignorant savages would - I give up! She's

"Harold!" her mother said Sharply, in a clear warning.what did you see?"

"I saw ... I saw . .. old Egypt, but like ... new ... And

"That's it!" her father said, standingabruptlyand t h r o w ~g his linen napkinon the table. "I won't have drug use inhouse!"

"She's not on drugs," Maya's mother said emphatically.had strange ... visions in Thailand when I was her age.""Shecango toHeritage ifshe can'tfit in here," her fatherid, as if he hadn't heard.

"Maybe in the psych ward I'll find some intelligeconversation," Maya said, not feeling too rational after heexperience.

"You need professional help, young lady! You are c e r t fiable!" he said, and stalked from the room.

Maya's attentionsnapped back to the marsh; the pain oher memory more intense and biting than the pain in h

legs and throat.She glanced back. The creatures behind her were closeSoclose she could see them clearly. They were shaped likmen, but looked like plants. The horrible reeking stencthat issued from them smelled like fetid bog water anrotting animals.

Maya put on another burst of speed, arms and legflailing. As she vaulted a jagged stone set in the mudd

ground, her foot caught on the top of the rock, and shcrashed head first into the shallow water. She struggledrise, gasping for air. Fearchumed through herstomach.anshe turned to see if the creatures had reached her.

They were circling her position, but had not closed o

her.Maya used theprecious seconds totakebig gulps ofaiand calm her pounding heart.

The creatures waited.As her terrorsubsided, herdespondencygrew. Whatth

hell were they waiting for? Were they trying to drive hcrazy?

I'm really losing it! Maya thought. I'm crazy. TrappeI'm stuckon this oneway track and there's no way off, likthe rat in the electrified cage in that horrible experimentProfessor Berofski's Psych class.

Through her pain and misery another memory rusheback. She saw herself in Psychologyclass at the KhartouLyceum Private High School. Professor Berofski was glefully describing tortuous experiments to an uncomfortabgroup of students.

"Each time the rats wereshocked," he said, relishing thword 'shocked,' "they would leap to the Bside of the cagWhen the B side was electrified, they would jump backthe A side. When both sides of the cage were electrifiethey tried jumping back and forth, but soon just gave ujumping altogether. They would lay down to die."

He paused for dramatic emphasis and surveyed throom. Some of the students squirmed uneasily.

"Now comes the fascinating part," he said. "Even aftthe current on the other side of the box is switched off, thrats just stay where they are, suffering shock after shocThey never find out that theother side is safe, because thehave given up. They have learned to be helpless.

"Once they are broken. they will generalize their h e l lessness to other situations, and never try to protect t h e mselvesagain. Forexample, theydrown inwater·filledmazrather than try to swim. They simply give up on life.

"Given properly crippling circumstances, any animaeven the human animal, can be completely broken," hconcluded with great satisfaction.

Maya had heard enough. "That's ridiculous," she sh

back. "Some people break and some don't. It 's a matter

·.· . . . , 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~



and self·esteem. Somepeopleneverup."

"Oh dear/ Professor Berofski said,with mock concern, as if an-

her was a great burden. 'ThatNew Age psychobabble." He ad-essed the other students instead of

which he of ten did when she

a good point."1 t rust the rest of the class is not

under the same delusions as

iss Dearborne. Wil lpower alone is

t sufficient tocounter the paralyzingof learned helplessness. It is true

some subjects take longer tobreak,d some search for more solutions

others, bu t anyone subjected toconditions long enough will

ak. Besides, i t's simple to lower aperceived self-e:fficacy, mak-

easier to teachhimtobehe!pless."

"Really?'" Maya replied. "Can youte an experiment, a properly docu-experiment where all the hu-

n subjects were broken? Ifyou can't,think that's a bit of an over-generali

The class laughed, enjoyinghing the professor's discomfort.

"MissDearbome," Berofski replied,"that sort o f experiment

not be ethical." He glared atand muttered, "though, in somethat's too bad.

"Well," he said, changing the sub-

quickly. "Open your textbooks to290. We'll examine intrinsic motiand learn how easy it is to mawhat people think of them

Maya's attention drifted bade to thebu t her thoughts were still on

e rats in the experiment.Moveoverorbezapped,shethought

Zap, move over. Zap, moveThe rats kept moving over till

y justdidn't give a damn anymore. Till they laid down

d died. Like I'm gonna do-Sheclenched her fistswithanger, and strock the rodesheas leaning on. No! I refuse! Theymay have taught rats toup, bu t damned if I'm gonna roll over and die.

Steely resolve crystal lized in her. Her mind regainedand she carefully examined the situation. They

wanna catch me, she thought.They wanna make me surrender. Give up. Theywannamy will. Tastemy defeat. Now, wait, how did those

eriments end? Wasn't there always a way out? Didn'tturn off the juice to one side of the cage, so it was safe

ain? Maybe all this is really safe. After all, they haven't

Part One

attacked me . .. I'll just go right past them and back to the

city. Khartoum is only a few miles .. .Slowly, she approached the creatures. They were more

frighteningup dose, and their stenchwas almostoverpow-ering. They watched her approach, dead eyes surveyingh....

Suddenly one leaped forward, and slashed at her withlong, dirty claws. Maya leapt back, and saw the creature'shand trail a crimson streak through the air.

She turned and boIted like a jackrabbit, panicpoundingwithin her.Ohgod, Iwaswrong! Iwas sowrong!Theydowanna kill

me.She looked back. The creatures were right behind her.

I .7



C r u db l e o f Pain

puton a burst ofspeed,her thoughts racingas fast asher

That's it! I'm crazy. None of this makes sense! This isn'tppening. First I got lost in that Egyptian hallucination

mirror, and no w I'm hallucinating thisstuff.Maybeba d water. Maybe since we moved to Khartoum I've

en drinking ba d Nile water. Or maybe I'm just totally

She took a deep breath, and summoned her resolve

Or maybe this really is happening. Maybe it is! Think!

She remembered the storm.She r e m ~ m b e r e d feeling keyed up an d edgy all dayfore the storm hit. She was nervous. Unsettled. Ready to

anysound. Herfatherwasalsoupset, angry that thes serviceshad little information about somemysterious

Europe an d America. He furiously beratedaya for her erratic behavior, an d sh e stormed up to herom. Shethrew herselfon her futonbed without takingherhes off an d cried herself to sleep.The storm broke that night. It rained hard an d it rainedr a long time. Her dreams were haunted by visions ofve warriors fighting wicked Egyptian gods who wereing to chew up all the people of the world in their

nic, smiling crocodile jaws.She slept for what seemed likedays, and herdreams tookr deep underground. In her mind's eye she travelledrough long. dank passageways an d narrow, twistingnnels, until she sa w a bright light ahead. The light shoneom a great opal gemstone hidden deep under Khartoum.tiny flame flickered within the gem. As sh e approached

e opal, the flame burst into a roaring fire, crackling overan d consuming her body.She awokewith a start,an d leapt ou t ofbed in fright. He r

art wrenched as sh e found herseU falling and falling,ummeting through a black void. She hit the floor pain

an d looked around in a panic. Nothing looked f a m i l ~r. Her low-lying futon was no w a high four-poster bed.he darkened room was no longer filled with her elegant

black, an d red Japanese furniture, bu t was clutteredh oldwoodenchestsan d tables. Her Bob Marley posterse gone, an d in their place were sets of faded black andite photos of severe looking people in turn-of-the-cenclothing.

Maya sighed with relief, suddenly realiZing what wasng on. This ha d happened to her before. She ha d e x p e r i ~

ludd dreams before. But the room was so vivid itwasd to believe sh e wasn't wide awake.She looked around the eerie dream landscape for a signanything that made sense. The only familiar object in the

washerbattered cherry-redWalkman cassetteplayer.e grabbed it, clipped itto her belt, an d opened the door tohall.There was soft lighting at the bottom of the dark s t a i r ~

an d Maya marvelled at the incredible sense of realitythe dream.Her parentswere sitting in a charming living room filled

with antique furniture, listening to a carved wooden radithat sa t where the family TV used to be. Her father wawearing a well-tailored zoot suit, and her mother wore aold-fashioned pink dress. The room had an old, woodymusty scent.Maya paused for a momenton the stairs totakin the scene.

A pompous radio announcer intoned, "Fighting continues to rageon theeastern stonn front as valiantshocktroope

battalions hold off barbarian Israeli attacks. The Holy Pharaoh issued a proclamation that he would protect all citizens liVingwestof the Red Sea. He further declared that alancient tombs an d abandoned cities are now off-limits t

civilians, and extra shocktroopers have been posted in asuchareas toprotect themfrom looters and hooligans.Welwe canall breathe a sighof relief at that, as we listen to thnumber one song on the Nile Nine, the MelJawi Orchestrwith 'Moonlight Walk:" A hauntingly beautiful song be

gan to play.Mayawasentrancedan d delightedwith the eeriedream

She stepped lightly into the living room, almost afraidheavy footfall would break thespell an d wake her too soon

"Hi Mom. Hi Dad," sh e said in a soft voice.He r mother leapt to her feet an d ran to Maya. He r fathe

rose an d looked on, concerned."Oh, I'm so glad you're awake!" Maya's mother said

hugging her close. "You've been asleep for three days! Wwere so worried about you. You were shaking and cryinou t inyour sleep.We wanted totake you tothe hospital, bu

with the terrible overcrowding we couldn't. How do yofeel now?"

"Hmmm?" Maya asked, barely hearing her mother"Fine. I'm fine. Much better." She let go of her mother an

walked around the room, studying the old-fashioned fur

nishings. "Wow! Look at all this cool s tuff :' sh e saidpicking up a delicate, hand-tailored quilt, and admiringthintricate stitching. 'This is the coolest dream I ever hadLook at this place! It's 50-"

Maya's father interrupted her. "Maya! This is notdream. This is the way things really are. You m u s t - "

"Harold," her mother said, interrupting him. "Gently.'W e can't coddle her:' he fired back. "She's got t

understand the situation, an d adapt:'

'There will be time for that later:' Tia replied. "For nowlet's be glad to have ou r daughter back."

Maya picked up the heavy wooden radio, an d ran hefingers over its carved an d lacquered surface, enjoying th

sweet song it played."Put that down:' her father said, exasperated."It's my dream, an d n l do what I want to:' Maya said

laughing. She gently tossed the heavy radio from hand thand just to underscore her point.

''Maya!'' her father shouted angrily.''Maya, dear," hermotherbegan. 'While you wereasleep

the world changed. Everything changed. 0 0 you remembethat terrible storm? It brought a change - a tremendouchange. Everything is different now. Very different. It's beea difficult adjustment for us, bu t we will help you to -"

1/1t's not that difficult an adjushnent," her father said"Everyone else ha d to make it, an d she's no exception

' : "8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .



PII1 One

Maya, inmanyways, thisnew world ismuch betterthantheold one. Ambition is rewarded here much more directly.

There's a lot less crime. And those local thugs are slavesnow, building pyramids for the glory of the Pharaoh!"

"Good old Dad," Maya said with a smile, willing tospeak freely in her dream. "Still putting yourself aboveeveryone else. At least you're being honest about your

bigotry. That's a refreshing change. Too bad you can 't bethis honest when I'm awake."

"You will show some respect!" her father shouted. hisface flushing red.

"Harold -" her mother began."Quiet. Tia! It's time she understood!" He rose from his

seat and grabbed Maya's arms. "'Listen to me!" he hissed."You are not dreaming.You're awake." He shook her, as if

to prove his point. "And you're trying my patience!""Okay, right. Definitely time to wake up," Maya said,feeling a little threatened. She closed her eyes and tried towake up. She had often been able to escape nightmares bywilling herself awake, so she concentrated on floating backup to her body.

Nothing happened.

She closed her eyes and forced. herself awake. Again.nothing happened.

Her father shookherroughly. "'Maya!Snapout of it!Thisis the world! Okay? Get used to iU'"'

She heard her mother's voice through the din. "Harold,

you're hurting her!""Mygod," Maya said slowly, hereyesstillclosed.. '1 can't

wake up ... I can't wake up! I'm stuckI"She felt her father dragging her through the room. She

was vaguely aware of him yanking open the curtains.'1..ookl" he said angrily, shaking her. "Oammit! Open

your eyes!"

Slowly her eyelids parted, and she peered out the window. The skies were gray and overcast. The raiNlickedstreetswere dryingout In the spotty patches ofsunlight. Butthe world was completely alien to her.

An unearthly pyramid rose high above a strange cityskyline. Old style black motorcars drove through busy

streets lined with old brownstone buildings and strange

Egyptianiconography.Thereweresinistercrocodile-headed

pillars and statues everywhere. Khartoum looked like a1930's movie set, perfect except for a few 1990 e ra cars

abandoned by the sides of the roads. The city was com-pletely transformed. And Maya knew she wasn' t dream

ing.The strange, bittersweet music coming from the radio

filled her with deep sadness. She felt light-headed and

weak-kneed; flushed and chilled at the same time. Tearsbrimmed in her half-dosed eyes and began to spill over.

'1'he world ..." she whispered. "What happened to thepoor world .. ."

"That l5 the world!" her father snarled "Do you under-

. . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -9...·-·



Crudbl.. of P ~ i n

and? That's the way things ar e now.""Thepoorworld ..." Maya repeated, trance-like. She felti f the earth was in great pain; that the transfonned citys a festering infection in an open wound. "The worldts ...""Oh, I give up," her father said, shoving her away

He r mother rushed overand embraced the cryingrl. Maya held on to her, an d felt as i f her mother was all

at was keeping her from drowning in tears."Hush, it's all right," Maya's mother said soothingly.hing will be all right.

"It was difficult for us too," Maya's mother continued.hen the rains came, they swept away everything, an d

us in this strangeworld. The housechanged around us.was terrifying. There's a military government now. A lotf things don't work anymore; anything invented after

rld War II is useless. We can't get back to the U.s." She'Though, from the rumors we've heard, it's worse

ere than here. But we can cope with all this. As a family.""Things are even better here than before," her fatherterjected. "The Pharaoh has succeeded in creating order

this lawlesscity. So justget used toil, and you'll be fine!""No!" Mayasnapped, shoutingthrough theblurof tears.am fine! Everything else is wrong!" She felt angry, hurt,

a nd s udde nl y very alone. Was she the only oneo felt dislocated a nd o ut of place?"Not another word ou t of you," her father said, imperi·ly. "This is the wa y the world is, an d you're just goinghave to learn to fit in.'"Dazed an d confused,Maya said nothing.She felt likeshed never truly seen her father before."Here'swherewebegin," hecontinued. "Tia,get herinto

decent clothes. Osiris only knows wh y her clothesc ha ng e a lo ng with everyone else's, bu t i f the

emor's representatives see her in those clothes, I'llver get a post in the Finance Cabinet.""What?" Maya asked, incredulously. She looked down

her clothes. She was still wearing the outfit in which sh e

d fallen asleep: baggy white T- shirt with fluorescentirls, multicolored purple, black and yellow tights, blueigator shoes, bright earrings and dozens of bracelets."What is this?" Maya asked jokingly. "'Father Knows

In tonight's episode, Harold loses a promotion be-se his daughter doesn't wear mutant clothes!"She heard giggling from thestairs, an d tumed to see her

er brother an d sister. They had been eavesdroppingthe argument as they often did, and were thoroughly

by Maya's joke."Get to your rooms, you wretched urchins'" her fatheruted. They scrambled away in fear. The smile faded

om Maya's face. Before sh e could calm herself enough tok. her fatherbellowed,1..ookat yourself! You'redresseda cheap whore'"

"Harold -" her mother began, sharply.He ignored her. "'From now on, you'll wear nice dressesd onlyspeak whenspoken to.Justas thePharaohbrought

an d decency to the Nile, I'll bring it to my family."Maya looked at her father. She barely recognized him.ou're insane," she breathed. "You've lost it.""You will not speak to me that way!" he shot back.

•• 10

"Harold, stop!" her mother said, trying to head off thewa r before it began.

"You will have respect for your elders!" he shouted."Maybe yo u thought you could get away with that sort of

disrespect before, bu t this is not the old, permissive world.We'll have courtesy ou t of your mouth, Maya.'"

"The old world was th e real world!" Maya shot back."Don't you see how wrong this world is?"

'That's it! J've reached my limit! We're going to Heritage! She's beyond my control!""'She's just having trouble adjusting,'" her mother im

plored.Maya's father was smoldering. "Shewas having trouble

adjustingbeforethestann. No wshe's totallyunmanageable!She - sh e can't accept reality! Anyone wh o can't acceptreality isnot stable! I'vegot enoughto worry about withouther impudence and instability!" he shouted. He composedhimself, an d said in a tightly controlled voice, "Heritagehad some ad on the radio about a readjustment program.They're the only place that can help her."

Harold Dearbome threw a coat over his daughter, an d

pushed her ou t of the house. He sat her in the back seat ofa shiny black roadster. Once hermotherwas in, thecarsped

off.Maya heard her parents arguing, bu t was too busy

lookingat theworld topayattention.Thecardrovetbrough

winding Egyptian streets which looked vaguely familiar,bu t very, very different. She saw a few more 1990s carsparked on the side of the road, alone, abandoned, an d

worthless. She felt like one of them.The cardrove ou t of the city and up a winding dirt road

to a forbidding-looking building in the middle of the Heriver marshlands. This was clearly the site of the HeritagePsychiatric lnstitute; the place Maya's father threatened to

take her during th e worst of their arguments. But it was nolonger a cheerful hospital. No w the building looked like afortress surrounded by barbed wire fences, minefields, andhalf-naked anned guards in ancient Egyptian warrior c0s-

tumes an d gold headdresses. The sign at the entrance read"Heritage of Osiris: Khartoum Science Research Center."They drove through a defense checkpoint in the minefieldto reach the main building.

Maya shuddered as the checkpoint gates slammed shutbehind her.Shefeltcompletely trapped. Twoanned guardsushered them through the sterile halls to an office filledwith plush but wom furniture. Inside, Maya sa w a familiarface.

"Professor Berofski!" Maya said in disbelief.Her fanner psychology teacher stood up to shake hands

with Maya's father. Hewas wearing a longwhite lab coatan d greasy spectacles. The two long tufts of frizzy gray hairthat jutted ou t of both sides of his bald head were no w

completely uncombed an d unmanageable. The leer in hiseye was more manic than ever, bu t he was definitely thesame man.

Still, he looked out of place in this strange era. Despiteher fear, Maya felt an od d kinship with him. He actuallylooked like he understood her.

'Thank you for seeing us on such short notice," Maya'sfalher said, shaking hands with the professor.



"ForNatatiri's nextUndersecretaryofFmance?" Berofski"Anything. What can I do with - for you?"

"1t's my daughter, Maya. She's convinced. she's in aand has becomecompletelyunmanageablebecause

it.""Oh?" Berofski said, amused.. "This is no nightmare,

lady. This is real. You see?"He pinched Maya's cheek viciously. She squealed, and

flushed pinkasa bitofhisagedblood rushedhis face. He was enjoying himself tremendously.'1 know I 'm not dreaming!" Maya said with disgust. '1

everything in the world is different! Iknow it's real!

"See?" Berofski said with a saccharine smile. "Now she

awake. Problem solved. Don't bother to thank. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best."Maya's father looked irritated. "Look," he began. "She

through the transition period., and can't adjust. Mycan't deal with her like this.Can you take her? Help

r make that .. . adjustment?"""Harold, she'sonlybeenawakean hour,"Maya'smother

He shot an angry look at his wife, bu t said nothing."I haveadjusted':'Maya saidindignantly. "Iknowwhat's

and what's not. I do not need to be here.""1'11 be the judge of that," her father replied." W ~ ' l l be the judge of that," her mother corrected. She

uncomfortable,and did not relish a publicfightwith

r husband.

"Wedo need consentof bothparents to institutionalize,"e professor remarked, looking uncomfortably from one

the other."What?" Maya's father said, exploding. "That doesn't

like the Pharaoh. Myword alone isn'tgood enough?can't deal with her anymore! I 've got too many things

on now.""Well .. ." The professor hesita ted for a moment. '1 [ I

her grip on sanity was fragile, we could getthe two-parent rule for a 14-<1ay treatment cycle,"

e professor observed, scratching hischin thoughtfully."Get around it?" Maya's mother asked in disbelief."Oh, come on, Professor," her father began, looking

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Well, you can forget lockingme up, then," Maya said.am stone cold sane.Got it?" Shegrabbed the headphones

her Watkman and snapped them over her ears. Sheup the volume so high the o thers could hear it,her a nN and rolled her eyes. "Let me know when

going home."Harold looked imploringlyat the Professor.ButBerofski's

was fixed on Maya. A cold grin spread across hisas he stared. He reached ou t to her and plucked the

from her head. The music spilled out into thelouder now.

"'Where did you get this?" he asked with a nervous

"At the mall," she replied Sullenly."No, no, no!" he said rapidly. "Why is it working?"' 'Excuse me?" Maya asked."Hand it to your father," Berofski commanded.

Maya lookedat him for a long moment, then slidthe tape

Part One

player off her belt and handed it to her father.

The music stopped."Nowhand it toyourwife," the professorsaid toMaya's

father, agleam in his eye.Maya'smother took theWalkman.It was still silent.

"Now give it back to Maya," he said with finality.Maya reached for the tape player, and Peter Gabriel's

voice spilled out of it again."Mr.

andMrs.Dearbome." Berofskibegan triumphantly,"yourdaughter is in grave psychological peril. Shedid not

make the transition through the storm unscathed. Her

psyche and nervous system are locked in the old reality.This is a very hazardous state of affairs. You were right tobring her directly here!"

"Say that in English," Maya's mother said skeptically."What's wrong with her?"

"Don't you see?" the professor asked breathlessly. "No

high technology should work anymore. None. othing

made after WorldWar D. But this tape playerworkswhen

it's near Maya.""So what?" Maya asked.

"So itmeans your father is right, and did a good thing tobringyou here. Yourmind, your verybeing is unstable,andyou need special care to help you . .. adapt."

"What can you do to help her that we can't?" Maya's

mother asked suspiciously."A great deal," the Professorsaid. '11lis isone of the few

institutions in the He Empire set up to handle such tragiccases. But have no fear, I've helped far more hopelesswretches along the painful, rocky road back to sanity."

"Well, that's settled," Maya's father said with satisfaction. "Let's go. Callus when you know anything." Maya's

mother did not look convinced.Maya felt her confidence slipping away rapidly. Her

eyes darted around the room, seeking out anything thatwould help her.

Then she noticed Berofski's watch."Digital watch! You've got a digital watch! lhat's an

after-World War II device. Right? It's working!"Maya's parents looked at Berofski'sbattered black, plas

tic watch quizzically. Thewatch looked starklyout of placein the musty, old·fashioned office.

Berofski glanced at his watch. and then looked Maya inthe eye. '11tis thing?" he asked coldly. "Oh, just a specialdevicemy research team cooked up. No doubt you've seen

someof themiraculous devices the Pharaoh's scienceteamsare rooking up. Can't talk about it. Classified. But I can see

that littleMaya is already exhibiting classic signs of delusional paranoia."

"Paranoia?" Maya said. "Are you crazy? You want tolockme up in th is - this, um, death camp! And you say I'mparanoid?"

"Dear, dear," the professor said. "It's starting already.But never fear, Mr. and Mrs. Dearbome. I know she 's

curable."' 'There is nothing wrong with my daughter!" Maya's

mother said firmly."I'll be the judge of that," Berofski said mockingly. "As

division head of the institute, I'm going to remand Maya tothis facility for further study."- - - - - - - - - - I _

11



g: Crucible of Pain

"No!" said Maya's mother."I'm afraid it's out of your hands. Or shall I call the

to escort you out?""That won't be necessary," said Maya's father, visiblylieved. "Thank you for your trouble.""No trouble at all," the professor replied reassuringly.dismissed Maya's parents as quickly as possible, mur

warm reassurances that he would prevent further

cline in the young girl, and offering his enthusiasticfor Harold's speedy confirmation in Natatiri's

nance cabinet. Maya's mother gave her a long, desperateas she left. Maya knew her mother's heart was break

When Maya and the Professor were alone, Berofskiup on his desk, where he could lookdown on the

edMaya. He twirled theWalkman earphones in theair,lf-listening to the song.The young girl wanted to cry, but knew the professor

think it was a sign of weakness. She was determinedot to be cowed."You know damn well there's nothing wrong with me!"

e said accusingly. "You know damn well! What's the

"My, aren't you a clever one," he said with a menacingile. "Well. You're quite right. There's nothing wrong

h you, and a lot right with you. The 'deal ' is ... you arespecial threat to meand to the Pharaoh himself.""You're crazy as a fruit bat," Maya said. "I don't evenow the Pharaoh. I barely even know what's going on!""You are a Stormer, little girl. You carry the reality of

Earth with you, and are not altered by the ficIdewinds

shifting realities. You can make technological artifactsom the past reality function in this one. That makes you

very, very dangerous.""Wait. Okay, but you are too. Right? A Stormer?You

have the watch. The digital watch. And the Walkman'sworking while you've got it!"

"My you are clever, aren't you? Fortunately, your par·

ents are far more gullible. Yes, we are unique beings, weStonners. A breed apart."

"So how come I'm a threat and you're not?" she de

manded."Because Iwork for the Pharaoh. You see, the difference

between us is that I am wise enough to adapt to the neworder, and I 'm sure that you would waste your energytrying to bring back the old one."

Mayabither lipand said nothing. She knewhewasright.This newworld was wrong. Fundamentally wrong. In thatmoment she knew she would do anything possible tochange the world back; to peel up the new reality at theseams, tear it apart, and send it packing.

"lean tell fromyourstubbom silenceyouagree," hesaid,taking great pridein his own cleverness. "Tut, tut. You'reso

predictable."

Maya said nothing, hoping he would keep filling in thesilence with more precious information. He did not disappoint her.

"So predictable. EveryoneI'vemet since the realitystann

has either become properly and completely self-serving,like your father, or cloying, and sickeningly sweet, likeyour

mother."His eyes scanned her face for a reaction. Maya remained

expressionless. Disappointed, he continued."Butwe, we canchoose!We're thelast people in the Nile

with free will.""Dad ... turned evil? That's goofy."

"It 's a fundamental law of this real

ity! All peoplewho tended toward self·ishness are now completely despotid"

For a momentMaya felt sorry for her

father. Sheshook herselfout of it, determined to be angry at him.

"And Mom is what?" she asked. "Asaint?"

"She'sabsolutely incorruptible. Andutterly predictable."

"But not me? Not you?" Maya said,more as a statement.

"Not quite. We aren't immediatelytransformed, butwe alsoaren't immuneto the forces pulling at us."

He paused, reflecting. His face softened. '1 wonder if I have changed," hemused. '1 don't feel different. And Iknow I'm not evil! Rather I feel ... free.Free tobe myself for the first time. Anddo all thethings I wasconstrained fromdoing in the old world!"

He laughed a piercing, manic cacklethat startled Maya, but also made hersmile. He sounded like a villain on akid's cartoon.

: ' :""""------ - - - - - - - - - - .....



. '

...

"What's tha t got to do with me?'"a asked softly.

The professor stopped laughing

and grabbedMaya'S hair and

her face close to his. She could

his nicotine breath, and see his . .pores. Hewasno longer "

"I shall show kindly DoctorMobius,should I say, our Holy Pharaoh, the . ,

er way to deal with you treacher-s Storm Krughts. Prisons don't help! l

don't help! Torture won't help. ~ - ....1fI16f..J.deathmay not be a final solution!

I have the secret."He released Maya and grabbed atered copy of Introductory Psychol-the textbook she had used in hisHe held it above him like it wasa

book.'1...ook!" he said with utmost rever

'This survived the reality storm

me! A treasure trove of esotericabout the human mind! I hold

my hands secret knowledge hidden

m the Pharaoh himself! With it 1l becomehis greatest advisor!And

you know how?Through the power

learned heI2Iessness!"He looked. straight at Maya, and she

t very small and afraid. "Do you

that?" he asked accusingly.discussion about learned. h e l ~

Do you remember how youme? Well now we shall have

answer to your question as to

canlearnhelplessness.so! And you shall be my proof.

greatest accomplishment."I will succeed where the Pharaoh

I will give h im a Storm Knightken! Robbed of will and no longera

"Yeah, right," Maya said, and ranthe door. She fumbled with the

brassknob, and yanked thedoor

The professor caught her by the arm just as she was

to dash ou t into the hallway. She drew one leg back,d kicked him in the groin as hard as she could.Berofski sank slowly to the floor, face ashen and eyesing. Maya dashed ou t into the hall and headed for the

arest exit. Jus t as she reached. the outside door and

the knob, she heard a loud mechanical clank, and

metal blast door dropped like a massive guillotinein front ofher. She leaped backin time to keep fromcrushed. The blast door landed with a crash.. sealing

the hall door.Maya trembled, realizing she had almost been killed.

o huge, sweaty, bare-chested guards in full Egyptianregalia grabbed her. Maya suddenly felt very small

Part On

and frightened. Wordlessly, the guards pinned her arm

and carried her back to Professor Berofski's office. Inside

the Professorwas just regaining his composure. Hewas stilpale, and his hands were trembling slightly.

'''I-take her to a holding cell. I'll d-deal with her later!"

Maya felt her heart sinkwith the memory of her captureSheclosed hereyes to stop the fl<XXI ofpainful recollections

The slap-slar.' slap-slapnoise still foUowed her through th

marsh. She elt utterly alone, abandoned and lost in mad

ness.

Wait! she thought vehemently. I'm not crazy! I'm scare

so bad I feel crazy, but I'm not! All this stuff really ihappening. I.13




She looked down at her ann. It was still bleeding.That is definitely real. she thought emphaticalIy, squeezg the wound to stop the bleeding.There's no way this is some simple hallucination! I canclearly how I got here, and how this is gonna end up, ifn't do something about it. So it's time to quit moping

d take charge! I can overcome this!She slowed her frantic pace. The creatures closed on her

bu t then moderated their pace to keep from runher down.

Well, okay! Maya thought, a glimmer of hope risingthin her. They want me to keep moving, but they don't

to kill me outright. Shewas pleased tosee her theoryand she was grateful for the breathing space that thepace allowed her.

There's a reason they're doing this, and if I can under-

it, Ican find a way out! I found one solution. I can findNow, how did that experiment go?

She remembered the first time the professor took her toro Ward. The ward was full of miserable, listless, half

people. Maya remembered looking in their eyes, anding no one there."These are my most successfuJ examples of learnedplessness," he said proudly. "My star pupils. Every one

them was brought in full of life and resistance, and lookthem now. The fire is gone from their eyes. They have

up all hope. You will be one of them soon."Maya remained impassive, even though her stomachcoiling and uncoiling with terror. She just looked at

and listened, tryingto keephim talking. Inthe absenceany horrified reaction from Maya, Berofski continued.'1t's your destiny to join them," he said."And that's what I loveabout this new cosm, Maya!" he

happily. "The most amazing things happen on aly basis! I had no idea where I would get a Storm Knightexperiment on, but I knew I would get one, and lo! Yourther walked in with you! Iloveit here! The most wonderl coincidences happen every day!"Oh, littleMaya," he said imploringly. ") was near dead

fore the reality storm. Spirit-dead. rwanted to be able toay with human minds. To unravel them and put them

differently! But my true calling was determined tounethical, merely because some squeamish, narrow

scientists lacked the vision tosee the valueoftakingl ethical restraints off me!"

"So you're just a sadist," Maya replied.Heexploded withanger, making the trembling residentsZeroWard jump and cower in terror. Maya cringed and

back. "I have no mental dysfunctions!" he shouted

ercely. "None! Do you understand that?"Maya trembled. "Okay," she said in a whisper.'1 just likemanipulating human minds," he added, as ifstifying his actions to himself. "It really doesn't matter

Maya said nothing. She was afraid to speak."Do you understand that?" he asked severely."Urn ... yeah, okay," said Maya, "But i f you really like

with people's minds, why don't you do it to help

instead of hurt them?"

"Ah, but then thePharaohwould have no use forme," hesaid, calming down.

"What use?" she asked."Why, breaking his enemies! Stopping those freakish

champions who violate the laws of reality! Crushing heroes!"

"Heroes?" she said with a nervous laugh. "What do you

mean? You're cra _ " She stopped herself in midsentence.

'There's no such thing."'There are heroes," he said resolutely. 'They fight Our

HolyOrder every step of they way! Always under OUT feet!

Always ruining the Pharaoh'splans!Well, not for long! Youshall be my first proof that a Storm Knight can be turned

into one of these wretches with my process!" He waved an

arm toward the frightened subjects."Enough of this idle chatter! It's time for some shock

treatment, my littleStormKnight!" He grabbedMaya'sarm

and led her out of Zero Ward and back toward the offices.Two huge guards followed them.

"Wait!" Maya said, stalling for time. "What is this hero

crap? I'm no hero! I'm no threat to anyone! I just wanna be

left alone!""Ah, but there's no room for that in this world," he said

sadly, a trace of sanity and sympathy back in his voice. He

stopped walking and said, "Everyone must choose sidesIt's the way things work here. It's part of this realm's Lawof Morality."

Then his face darkened; his cruel smile back again. "Soyou see, even a useless little thing like you can be a threat."

"LawofMorality?" Maya asked quickly.The professor'slucid moment gave her some hope, and she was eager toevoke a sane human reaction again.

"Exactly:' he replied. 'This realm is filthy with heroesThey are everywhere. Our old reality was very low in true

heroes. You know, truly selfless people who dedicate theilives to helping Ords."

"Ords?" she asked."Ordinary people," he replied, motioning toward Zero

Ward. He said the words like they left a bad taste in hismouth.

'These 'heroes' takeon impossible challengesand sometimes actuallywin, just likein those tawdrymotionpictureonwhich your teen-aged ilk wasted somuchmoney. But inthis realm, such idiocy is not mere cinematic fantasy. It ivery real. And very dangerous to the rule of the Pharaoh.

"So you see, whetheryou actually want tobecomea pes

isirrelevant.You havethe potentialto becomeone, and thais reason enough to stop you now.""But you said you and I are different," Maya protested

"You said we can choose,"Berofski reflected on Maya's words. "Yes. True. But

can't afford to take that chance."He struggled with his own thoughts, and Maya saw

some dark part of him extinguish the small light of reasonin his eyes. His madness returned.

"So, are you ready to learn some helplessness?" hasked, and laughed wildly.

He grabbed Maya's arm, and led her into a maze otesting chambers. She struggled, bu t the guards quickly

restrained her. They carried her screaming through th

: - : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .......



ing rooms, and put her in a small, windowless cell withon all the walls. Harsh light flooded from a singlein the ceiling.

Theonly featurein theroomwasa thin rubber insulatingpe that ran down the middle of the floor, dividing theinto two halves. On onesideof thestripea hugeletter

" was painted in red on the floor.On theothersideof thepe was the letter "B." .The guards took away Maya's shoes and marched out,ming thedoor behind them.Maya fidgeted nervously,ling alone and forlorn. She knewwhat was coming. butiting for it was anguish.Withoutwarning,a burstofpainseared herbare feet andup her legs. She sc:reamed in pain and suddenly found

ontheother side ofthe stripe. She had jumped to theof the line, almostwithoutthinking. Witha groan

misery, she sank to the floor, and lay there panting. Shew another shock was coming, and the fear was almost

She tried to balance on the rubber insulating line, but ittoo small to keep all of her foot off the electrified floor.

n the burst came, its intensity was worse than before.The shocks continued all day long. coming at randomrvals. Some were a few minutes apart, and some werers apart. The longer the delay, the greater Maya's fear

d anguish grew.It was dark when the shocks stopped. The guards esrted Maya to a crowded cell in Zero Ward. The experit left her drained and miserable. She wanted to tell theessor that she surrendered, and would do anything top the pain. But she knew the treatment would continuematterwhat she did. It would continuetill her spirit was

That night Maya huddled in an empty comer of the cell

d cried herself to sleep. Again she dreamed of the beaudeepwithin theearth.The flame in thegem

ed small and weak-It waswitheringand closing in onlf. Impulsively,Maya grabbed the gem and held itcloseherheart.Shegently coaxedits flame tobrighten,holdinglike a mother holds an injured child.Safe in her embrace, the faint light grew, until the flames large enough to warm her. Maya felt peaceful andateful for the warmth. The gentle light did not soothe

but it firmed her resolve,andstrengthenedherermination to take care of herself.The next day, Maya approached her cell with a newitude. She decided not to resist the treatment, but to

periment with it. Pain was inevitable, and she wouldcept it. But shewould notgive in tosufferingand despair.She sat down in the comer of the A side, as far from theberdividing line as possible. When the shock came, sherced herself to stay on the electrified side, and reallyperience the pain. The charge blasted through her, searg her inside and out. The taste and texture of the jolt was

anyof the earlier shocks. Shewas awareof the shocksensation rather than pain.For several agonizing moments, Maya writhed on the

ri.fied floor. When she could finally take no more, sheher strength and crawled toward the safe side

Part One

of the room. When she got to the Bside, she layon the floor,panting and sweating.

Whenshecouldmoveagain, shesat upand smiled. Nowthat she had willingly swallowed a large dose of pain, shewas far less afraid of little tastes of electricity. The nextshocksseemed mild incomparison.Mayaevenlaughedoutloud during one. She was no longer a mere victim.

Her burst of confidence gave her another idea. Shesummoned all her courage, and stepped from the safesideof the room to the electrified side. The shock made herspasm with pain, but it didn't seem to hurt as much as oneof the random shocks. And for the first time, Maya felt astrange sense of control. The electricity stopped abruptly,and she heard a loud cry through the walls of the tortureroom. Professor Berofski was shouting and swearing withrage and helplessness.Overthe next few days,Maya continued to playwith the

room, detennined to be masterof her fate. Berofski turnedthe voltage up, but Maya forced herself to keep playing.And every night she dreamed of the fire opal, its lightslowly growing.

One day, Maya made a discovery. The electric shockswere severe and frightening. but the pain seemed to varybased on herstate ofmind. Theworst shockswere theonesthat were the furthest apart.The severityofthe pain seemedto grow with the terror that built upwithin herbehveen theshocks.With nothing to do but stand in the tiny room and wait

for the next burst of agony, her anxiety and fear increased.When the shocks came, they were almost a relief, becausethey meant the horrible suspense was finally over.

By relaxing her body and keeping her mind fixed on thefueopal ofherdreams, she found shecouldavoid anticipating the shocks. This diminished her pain dramatically.

Whenshewasvery relaxed, the painwas littlemorethananannoyance, to be dealt with as necessary.Her pride and satisfaction grewwith eachday. Theonly

misery she felt came in the evenings, when she saw theother prisoners brought into their cells, after a bitter day'storment. She ached to reach out to them, to help them. Butthestrongershe looked, themore they feared her. She knewthat she would have to save herself before she could helpthem.At first Maya kept strict controlof hermind to keep from

anticipating the pain. But soon she found she got thesame

results just by letting her mind roam at will.

She began imagining what was going on in Berofski's

control room.ln hermind'seye, shecouldsee himwatchingherthroughaone-wayglassinonewallof the torture room.She had no idea if Berofski was really behind themirroredwaD she selected, but she liked to think he was.She imagined himshoutingat coweringassistants,smok

ing cartons of cigarettes, and trembling with rage. Sheimagined him reaching for the Bside button to shock her.A sudden shock jolted herout ofher reverie.She jumped

to the A side to escape the pain. And then she realized it.She had really seen him!She closed her eyes and imagined again. She pictured

him smiling. glad tosee her loseher composurefor the first

- - - - - - - - - _ I _ .15



rg: Cruc:lble of Pain

me indays. She imagined him chortlingand stomping hist, his face contorted with happiness. He looked. inon her

gh theone-way glass, and reached. toward theA sideBefore hecould press it, shesteppedover the rubber

ne to side B.

Berofski looked. startled., and reached. for the B button.aya stepped back over to the A side. Each time Berofskiached fora button,Mayastepped to theotherside. Inrage

d desperation, Berofski pressedbothbuttons. Maya stoodr ground, lettingthe painofthe shockcoursethrough her.The professor held down both buttons with trembling,

ckled fingers, and glanced around Maya's cell,aiting for her to cringe and cower. He looked crazyugh toshock her to death. Defiantly, she stared directlyhim. She saw her reflection in the mirrored one-way

and behind it she saw Berofski.Slowly his nervous, bUnking eyes scanned up her body

ntil they met her steely gaze. He gasped, lurched backd, lost his balance, and toppled over onto his nervous

sistant. At thesame instant, thepainof the shockstopped,d she heard a crash from the control room behind the

l, followed by violent swearing.She pictured Berofski again, and saw him sitting on the

oor of the control room, shaking and making gurglingises as he stared blankly into space.Her sessionended early that day, and the guardsdid notme for her the next day.For the first time, sheended up spending thewhole dayth the forty other prisoners in Zero Ward. They looked

and empty.Theysmelledbad. And itseemed liketheirminds were far away. Maya felt drained just

around their bleak depression. She found her daysth them in some ways worse than her shock sessions.A few prisoners put up a struggle when the guardscametake themaway fora session,butmost did not.Occasionly a very listless prisoner did not come back at aU.Maya tried to talk to the prisoners, but her enthusiasmd vitality stilI frightened them,and theytried toavoid herroach.When shespoke to them, theyavertedtheireyes,mbled a few words and turned away. She felt helpless,d unable to teach them how to resist the treatment. She

so haply to help bring them back to life, but sheknow how. It hurt her towatch themdeteriorate,and

e suffered along with them.In her mind's eye, Maya saw Professor Berofski beingeased with the tum of events, and pictured him saying

l, well. The prisonersmay well succeed inmaking herpless where the shocks failed. We'll just leave her withmiserable creatures for awhile, and let them drag herto their level!"

The image of him gloating crystallized her resolve. Theday she tried a new approach.

The prisoners spent a lot of time huddled together,and making moaning noises. Maya quietly sat

th them, and mimicked their noises. At first they wereof her, but gradually they responded, and began to

ccept her as one of them. By the end of the day, they nonger avoided her. That night, her patience paidoff. A fewthe prisoners began to talk to her.

Their speech was halting and nervous, like that of bat-

tered children. They all seemed. to have a horrible, unreasoning fear of life. The shocks kept them so panicked thatthey were afraid of all change. They could not believeanyone was on their side, and had no hope that anythingthey did would ever succeed.

Surprisingly, Maya was not depressed by hearing thehopelessness in their voices, and found the prisoners' w i l l ~power grew stronger after they spoke out about their trag

edies. The prisoners came to look forward to her time withthem, and she became the one bright spot in their desolatelives.

By day, she listened to their horror stories, and by night,she preached revolution.

Maya made sure to set aside a few hours each morningfor herself, to let her mind roam free. The whole complexopened. like a flower within her mind's eye. She could seeevery comer of it, from thescience labs to Berofski's office;from theguards' quarters to the concealed access hallways;from the emergency steel blast doors over the exits to thelush marsh beyond the minefield and barbed wire fence.

Themore shepracticedsensingwith hermind, thebetter

shegot. She listened in on the scientists' conversations, andlearned importantdetails ofthePharaoh's tactics.Sheheardthem talk about the reality bombs, horrific devices usedbefore the Pharaoh's invasions to lower the technologylevel of the area to be attacked. All technological devicesinventedafter the early 19305would simply not work inthearea affected by the bomb. With a defender's modem

technology rendered useless, the Pharaoh's low-tech, preWorld War II style armies could sweep in with ruthlessefficiency.

When she learned that some researchers had createdprototype reality bombs that could simulate the primitiverealityof someplacecaUed the "LivingLand," sheknewshehad a means of escape.

"We are going to get away from here," she announcedone night. The prisoners trembled andmuttered, suddenlyvery agitated.

"One day soon I'm going to giveyou a signal, and we'reall going to flee, All the defenses here will shut down. Allwe'll have to do is overpower oneguard, get his keys, andhead for the exits! We can lose any pursuers in the marshand run to Khartoum! Their trucks and tanks will be useless!"

The prisoners were dearly upset at the idea of fleeing,but Maya thought they also looked more alive than usual.

She planned togivethesignal at theendof

theweek,aftershe had made a complete study of the research center, buther dreams that night made her change her mind.

As she was falling asleep, she dreamed of a dark, ugly,gray cloud hovering over the prisoners. Tentatively she

reached out into it with her mind. It felt like death.The cold, dead sensation overwhelmed her, but she

reached deeper into the black cloud. In hermind's eye shesaw Berofski, madness etched in his face. Hewas raving tohis nervous assistants.

"Nothing is working! Damn her! Well, it's time fordesperate measures! Tomorrow morning, I'll tell that littleminx todeliver shocks toa prisoner herself! She'llrefuse,of

course.So

I'll execute the prisoner she was supposed to

_- ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - '-16 .w.;.:t



The next day, I'll ask her toanother prisoner. She'll refuseSo I'll kill two more! And so on!

d SOon! I'll kill them all i f I have to!atiri will get me more prisonersthe labor camps! She's got more

than she knows what to do with.ll kill half of Khartoum if I must, bu t

make Maya torture people! Thatbreak her. Then I'llmake her start

who will live and who willAnd that will destroy her!"Maya pulled her thoughts away so

that a spasm whipped

ough her body. She lay on the floorf her cell, sobbing and racked with

Near dawn, she found

in the enfolding comforts of

Abruptly, she pulled awake, and

pt toher feet. Shewas relieved to see

was still dark, though a soft haze ofwas filtering in from the east."Now," she hissed to the prisoners.

Come on, we're going now!"y looked up at her, black dread inir hollow eyes.An unearthlymoan·

arose from them, but they did not

Fear broke loose in Maya, constrict-Like a hot clamp around her throat. She fought it back,

tension with no greater weapons than relaxand serenity.

Calmly, she set hermind free to arch over the building.

hermind's eyeshe saw the research chamberwhich heldreality bomb prototypes.Casually, almost tenderly,shehed forward and touched it with her thoughts.A tremendous exp los ion rocked the compound. Aipcrack wave of energy pulsed through the building..aking the walls and rumbling the floor. The energypped through Maya as well. All electric lights winked

plunging the dimly lit ZeroWard into utter blackness.e prisoners howled like terrified animals. Dust and siltll from the ceiling, as weakened mortar gave way. Thinfts of light filtered through the cracks, illuminating the

dust.Maya listened to rest of the compound. She heard no

No steel blast doors sliding into place. No tell-taleingofgearsofbattleequipment.Only theshouts,criesd desperate prayers of terrified guards.'We're free!"" Maya shouted triumphantly. "Out! Out!t 's get away."

The prisoners fidgeted tensely. Somestoodup, some salwn, and some hobbled in circles."Come on!" she cried.. 'We don't even need a guard 'S

The walls are coming loose!"It was true. The strange energy wave that had followede explosion had transformed thewallsofZeroWard fromeel to stone, and the blocks looked like theywould give

Part One

before enough pressure. Maya pushed on the wall to dem-

onstrate. The heavy blocks scraped against each other andbegan to give way.Maya grabbed a prisoner by the arm,

and threw him up against the wall. "'Push'" she cried.

"'Push, damn you!" Tearsbegan to well up in her eyes. Shewas so close.The prisoner began to push. More dust fell from Ihe

cracks. Another prisoner reached out toward the wall, andthen another. Soon the stone blockswere loudly grinding

against each other.The wall groaned and collapsed, sending a cascade of

huge grey rocks crashing to the ground. The prisonersscattered, howling and covering their heads. The ceilingbuckled, but did not fall. Soft sunlight poured in through

the hole in the wall. The green of the Nile marsh at dawn

was the most beautiful sight Maya had ever seen."Comeon," shebreathed softly.Shestepped ou toverthe

huge pile of collapsed stone blocks, and into the freshmorning air. She began to run, exhilarated. The prisonersfollowed her, tentatively at first, bu t then faster. Theylooked like they did not recognize the world.Eagerly,Maya crossed the short stretch of scrub leading

10 the outer defenses. She took a deep breath and stepped

ou t onto theminefield.On her third step a mechanicalleverclicked under her toes. She froze in terror, and slowlyreleased it. Nothing happened. She cried ou t with joy, andbegan leaping through theminefield, stomping over everypart of it to show it was safe.

She beckoned the prisoners to follow, coaxing them like

- - - - - - - · _ ·17




y werea flock of broken-winged birds. Shepraised their

ow. tentative footfalls as they gingerly stepped ou t ontominefield. The bewilderment on their faces was slowly

placed by terrified grins; the clumsy, inept happiness ofwho had forgotten how to smile.

Mayagrabbed two prisonersand linked arms withthem.re prisoners linked arms as well, forming a long human

ain as they stumbled, lurched and skipped through theminefield.

They reached the far side and stopped, suddenly verysure. Only a thin chain link fence, topped with barbedre, stood between the prisoners and the freedom of the

ile marsh. Maya noted that the barbed wire assemblygled outward, not inward. The research center was dened to keep invadersout, not keep prisoners in. She took

lookbackat her friends, grabbed a handhold in the metaland scurried up the fence. Gingerly, gracefully, she

on the top, and then leapt over the barbed wiresembly. She landed like a cat on the outside of the fence."Not a scratch!" she announced proudly. as she jumpedherfeet and proudly pirouetted backto the prisoners. Sheowed them her unscathed arms and smiled. "So come

she said invitingly.

••18

The prisoners stood still, looking lost and forlorn. It was

if they no longer knew her."Come on," she repeated, fear creeping into her voice.

"Please!" She pointed to the verdant Nile river bed. "Look!We're almost there! We're almost free!"

The prisoners turned away, slowly. Somesat down, andsank their heads in their hands.

Maya kicked the fence savagely. "Goddamn you!" sheshouted. The prisoners jumped, startled..

''We're free!" she implored. "Pleaseclimb!"They didn't budge.Angrily, Maya climbed back up the fence. "I'll carry you

jerks over if I have to, but we are leaving together!"Her head scraped against the juttingbarbed wire assem

bly. She felt sharp pain and warm blood pool on her head.Slowly it trickled down the side of her face. She could notget back in.

"Climbup!" sheshouted.Then shefroze interror. Guardswere running out of the research compound, armed withclubs and spears. She slid down the fence, and backedaway. The prisoners sat docilely as theguards approached,and begankickingandclubbing them.Theprisonersmoaned



the attack, b ut d id n ot resist.Blistering ho t anger raced throughMaya's body. Shefelt

of murder.Shewanted toteartheguardsapartwith

anger, rattling the fence savagely."One got over the fence!" the captain of the guard

rked, pointing at Maya. She leaped of f the fence."I'll get her," a guard replied, almost bored. with the task.

s he started to climb the fence, his eyes widened.. "That'sStormer!" hesaid hoarsely,sliding backdown the fence."Have the science team dispatch some gospog!" the

commanded.. The guard ran back to the researchrelieved.

The prisonerswere slowly shufflingback toZeroWard.se thatdid not movewere clubbed an d speared till theyld notmove at all. Maya watched it all, her body numb

d immobile. She felt he rmind tuckingitselfaway;dosing

f from the world.Suddenly,a horrible stenchcu t through themorningair.overpowering strength of it shocked Maya back to herses. She sa w three huge, hulking, creatures, seemingly

re plant than man, shambling toward her. She backedfrom the fence. The creatures bumped into the fence,effortlessly tore it down. Maya whirled an d ran.She dashed off toward Khartoum, bu t the creatures had

around her, an d d ro ve h e r deeper into the marsh.from civilization. Soon she was running with no

Part One

destination inmind.Shewa s just running to stayaway fromthe creatures.

An d I'm still running, she thought forlornly. I'D ru n tiDI die. Or till I give up , like those creeps. Those damn

prisoners! Ihope they all die!Oh, god!Wh y couldn't I savethem?She tried to banish the jumbled, hateful thoughts from

he rmind, bu t the anguish overwhelmed her like a wave ofchoking seawater.In the midst of he r pain, she remembered. Berofski's

words. He said there were heroes in the world now. Realheroes.She clamped her eyes shut, an d concentrated. Okay

Storm Knights! This is Maya calling! I want all Stonn

Knights right here, right now!Shelooked around. Nothingwa s stirringbut thegospog.Please! she thought. Please help me!Nothing.I don't deserve to be rescued anyway, Maya thought, in

abject misery. They followed me out into the minefield

Forty me n and women believed in me, an d I killed them. Ideserve to die! If I had left them alone, this would neverhave happened! Oh, god, I don't deserve to be rescued. Ideserve to die.Finally, she collapsed in the water, sobbing an d cough-

ing. He r heart felt like a heavy gray stone.

••19



Introduction

The Nowhere Lands


••20

Introduction

T w ~ t h i r d s of the way through thestory,whenthegospogs areclosing in,and Maya's inner strength is at itslowest ebb, the players stop readingthe short story and start playing theadventure. The players will think the

gospogs got Maya, and their Knightshave to go rescue her, either from themarsh or the Weird Science Institute.

Their suspicions are confirmed when

Maya's mental summons takes them

into the Institute.They'll bequite sure that Maya is in

desperate need or rescue. When theyescape theNowhere lands and bwst:into Berofski's office, they'll be sur-

prised to find Maya in charge of thesituation.

At the end of the game, after theKnights win and flee to the refugeecenter (orafter they fail miserablyand

end up as Wasting Spir it roedl, theplayers get toread theend of thestory,and see how Maya pulled off her tri-umphant retum to the research center.

Adventure

Background

The Heritage of Osiris: KhartoumScience Research Center is a lesser"'weird science" center. Uttle of the

research done here has paid off inmilitary hardware. Consequently, itsdefenses and complement of guardsare less than those of other facilities.

Heritage is run by Professor

Berofski, a Possibility-rated characterwho loves the Nile Empire and yeams

to please Doctor Mobius. Unlikeother"'weird science" center managers,

Berofski keeps in dose contact with

city officials in nearby Khartoum.Berofski is interested in psychol

ogy, which is a lost sciencein the Nile

Empire. He needs Storm Knights fohis experiments, but knows Mobiuwould beunHkely toprovidehimwit

any. So he relies on the Khartouofficials to send him any they migcome across. Consequently, he keephis center open to high-ranking bureaucrats, and even has VIP accommodations for them at his center.

How I Leamed toLove the Bomb

Despite DoctorMobius' lackoffaiin the place, Heritage has done somextraordinary research in the fieldreality bomb technology. The techncians'goalwas tocreatea realitybomthat would be permanently seli-sustaining, and never allow its realitybe eroded by the local axioms. CoEarth areas and other realms cou

thus be transformed permanentlyanmore easily conquered.

They started by increasing the reaity bomb's base duration from thrhours to three weeks. But what thegained in time they lost in distancInstead of a two kilometer radius, thbomb only affeetsanarea in a 200 foradius. They attached huge banksposSibility capacitors to the expermental bombs and prepared to detnate them. They knew if they suceeded, theywould beabletoconqu

the world in relatively short order.And they did succeed - but not

the way they expected ...

Kingdoms in a Bottle

The scientists set up their expements in seven sealed undergroun

testing chambers. The tests were dSigned to create sevenminiature reaties based on each of the six invadinrealms and Core Earth, and mainta



m over time.The technicians filled each testing

with tools, equipment, aniand prisoners from the laborand '1eamed helplessness" ex·

iments. Also included was at leaste person from the reali ty to be creby the bomb.The prisoners were

sential to thework not only in their

as human guinea pigs, but as aof possibility energy for the

The self·sustaining realityprototypes would draw theirdirectly from their victims.

The bombs exceeded all expectaons. They detonated with a bright

and unleashed a furious shower

silvery streaks throughout the test

The axiom wash rapid ly trans-

rmed the chambers, binding all thesoners to the reality of the mini

The powerful forces even bential reality, making thesevencham·

s larger on the inside than on the

The Lords ofNowhere

The prisoners that were caught inreality bomb explosions were oftrans(onned by thegizmo'spower.

sub;eetswhowere native toprovided bythebombstook

vantage of this to seize power innew kingdOms. Each turned his

into a private fiefdom, anddubbed their homes the "NoLands."

When Berofski's scientists came tothem, these powerful beings

allenged their authority. Tempersand the Lords of the Nowhere

attacked the scientists. Berofskiely escaped with his life. After a

running battles, it became clearthe psychologist had lost all conover his experiment, and had noof getting it back.

TheLordsofNowhereconsolidatedpowerby conqueringalltheother

and persuading them tothemselves to the possibility ca

or "Soul Drain Elements," asey were now called. Due to the na-

P urity of Information

Since the players get to readthe short story before they playthe game, they know some rei·evant information their characters don't know. Stuff Like theexact nature of theexperiments,and the fact that the LearnedHelplessness prisoners are inZeroWard.

There' s not a lot of sensitiveinformation in the story that candestroythesurprises in thegame,bu t it can taint theplay tohaveaplayer say "I ask the guards

where Berofski is," when the

Knightshaveclearlyneverheardof Berofski.

Most players are conscien-

ture of the gizmos, only those peoplewho volunteered to surrender theirpossibilityenergy could feed the reality bombs.

8erofski sealed off the under-

ground testing chamber, and rom-

manded that no one from Heritageventure there again. He also forbadethem from mentioning the results ofthe warped experiment. He hoped

that the mini· cosms would simply

vanish at some point, but the hope

was a futile one.The Lords of the Nowhere Lands

arestillvery strong, bu t theyyearnforsubjects to rule, enemies to battle, andpeople to talk to. They know theirvictims are running ou t of possibilityenergy, and are desperate to getmore

"donors."Without a constant flow of

possibilities, their realmsaredoomed.

TheWasting Spirit

Presidingover thisden of madness

isa powerfulhorror from theOrrorsh

mini<osm, a test subject who was so

thoroughly corrupt that he trans-

formed intoa monster once under theinfluence of that realm's axioms. This

Introduction

tio05, and will not have theirKnightsact any information thatthe Knights did not learn. If aplayerslips,or forgets thesourceof his information, simply askhim where his character got theinformation he'sacting on. Usually ~ a t ' s a l l i ~ t a k ~ . l f theplayerpersiSts, remmd hIm the information came from thestory andnot from the game.

If the playerrommitsanegregiousbreachof information, youmayhave toovenuJe the action.This isaseverestep,and ishardlyever necessary.Thedisapprovalof theother players isoftenquite

sufficient.

being, theWasting Spirit, uses the micro-cosmsas a power base and a playpen.

Although the other Lords could

~ v e l between the mini<osms i f theyWlShed to, only the WastingSpirit hasdone so up to now. He keeps watch

over the Nowhere Lands, and exertsasubtle influence over all the Lords ofNowhere.

When the Stann Knights arrive int ~ mini-cosms, this Wasting Spiritdirects the Lords in their testing of theheroes.

The Bombs

Each of the seven chambers stillcontains a functioning reali ty bomb

and Soul Drain gizmo.The devicesarecontinually working to dampen or

enhance a particular set of axioms.These new realities are rather frag·

ile, depending, as they do, on Niletalismans to keep the reality bombs

functioning. If the talismans are re-

moved, the bombs cease to work and

the dominant reality at work in Heritage at the time, will take over.

Got it? Good. Let's go!

••21



Act One

The Road

to Nowhere

Crucible of POlin

••22

The Major Beat

TheStormKnights are on their wayto Khartoum to join the Mystery Men.They get sidetracked by Maya

Dearbome's insistent psychic call forhelp, and head for the Heritage Research Center.

They find that the center has beenravaged. by a reality bomb that hasimposed Living Land axioms uponthe area. At first. the Storm Knightseasily roll over the center'sshocktroopers. On thevergeofdefeat,one of the scientists triggers an experi·mental teleportation grenade that

transports the invading Knightsto thedepths of the Nowhere Lands.

The power of the Nowhere Landsdraws each Knight to the area which

resembles her own home cosm (NileEmpire Knights go to the Nile No-

whereLand,OrrorshKnights go to theOrrorshanNowhere Land, Core EarthKnights go to theCoreEarthNowhereLand, etc.)

The act ends with the Knights reviving in the strange new worlds.

SCENE ONE:Only a Scream

Away

The Situation

Standard. The Storm Knights aredrivingsouth fromCairoto Khartoum.If they have their own transportation,they can use that. If not, they have oneSenehemjeep per threeStormKnights.Once you have selected a character toreceiveMaya's summons, and briefed

the appropriate player on the accompanying vision, you're ready tobegin

Read aloud or paraphrase:

The western Nile road toKhartoum is flatand dusty,asitwindalong the banks of the river. To youleft, the lush green fields slope gen

tly down to the rushing water. Toyour right, parched sands and scrubcovered hills seem to stretch on forever.

You are heading south toKhartoum to meet the Mystery Menand coordinate tactics with them.Alson youragenda is contacting the leade of the secret refugee camps in thhil ls of Sudan, where anti-Mobiuforces train for the day of liberationBut for now, the drivedown thedustroad is long and boring.

It 's been two hours since you'vseen another person, and the road iquiet. Suddenly ...

(Take a dramatic pause here to lethe chosen player fill the silence withis best scream, then read:)

. .. (name of screaming charactehere) screams.

The ActionWith theaid ofMaya'smentalsum

mons, the Storm Knights will be ablto find the Heritage of Osiris

Khartoum Science Research Center.If the screamer is driving, anothe

Storm Knight must perform a multaction - grab the wheel (a Dexterittotal of 6) and keep the jeep on throad (a land vehicles total of 10). If thKnight fails, thejeepwill careenoffth~ and into a marsh. The Knigh

WIll suffer no damage from this, but



Pre-Game Warmup: Psychic Scream Therapy

Act"""

This is probably the first ad

venture you've ever playedwhere the surprise threat that

begins the game comes from

within the party of StormKnights.

At the start of the adventure,

the Storm Knights' leisurelydrive is interrupted by a blood-curdlingscream from oneof the

Knights.The scream is prompted by

the excruciating mental pain

experienced by the Knight as he

receivesMaya Dearbome'sloud

and desperate psychic call forhelp. Maya is new to her career

asan incredibly powerful StannKnight, and doesn't know thatin theworld ofpsychicphenom

ena, a lit tlegoes a longway. Shejust knows she's in trouble, and

would very much like someone

to help her out.

The S to rm Knight's pain

makeshimshriekand leaveshimsetback for the next round. Theblast hasa mentaldamage value

all l .The trick is to select the right

require 10 minutes to push it ou t

the muck.The pain in the chosen Knight's

will dissipate in one round. He isw motivated toget the group to the

center. Unfortunately, he

esn't know exactly where it is. The

provided by the visionwere

vague ones.

The Knight who is driving musta Perception total of 10 every

minutes during the t rip to stay on

for the center. If he fails a roll,e Knight who is in menta l contact

Maya will receive another men-of the samepower,whichwill

as a beacon and enable the party

find the right direction. A Tough

11 will allow the receivingto suppress his scream.

Storm Knight to receivethe men-tal summons. It really doesn't

matter which Knight you chose.You might want to chose the

Storm Knight who aets as thegroup's leader. Or the one with

the highest Spirit. Or you mightwant to chose the Knight who's

current ly behind the wheel of

the jeep. Won't that be fun? If aPersonal Stake card or Romancecard has recently been played,choose the Knight tied to thatsubplot.

Just before the game begins,have a private huddle with the

chosen player, and tell him this:

"I'll start t he game with anexplanation of the Storm

Knight's trip to find the Mys-tery Men. When 1 come to the

word 'suddenly: pleue emit abloodcurdling scream. Not so

loud you hurt yow throat. bu t

just loud enough to get

everyone's attention.

"The scream is prompted by

a jolt of extreme psychic pain

that sears through yourcharacter's mind and i s gone a

It takes.50 minutes for the Knightsto come within sight of the center, aheavily fortified building sitting atop

a hill roughlyaquarterofa mileaway.

Scoping Out the Place

When the Knights reach this point,

they will bewithin a LivingLand purezone,due to theexplosionMaya set offin the center. Should the Knights dis-connect while performing an actionnot normally a contradict ion in theNile Empire, they should take it as ahint that things are a trifle bizarre in

this region.On a Percqnion or evidence Ql'Ullysis

total of 12, the Knights will notice thatthe greenery around the center is far

moment later, lea ving the

Knight badly shaken. (Be swe

to moderate the volume and

severity of the anguished cry

dependingon the proximity ofpeople who Me not playing inthe game).

"Along with the scream

comesavision.Youseeayoung,

female Storm Knight sending

out a psychic plea for help. In

an instant, you understand ev-erything you just rud in the

short story. The girl's name is

Maya, and she's being tortured

in a 'weird science' institute

somewhere northw est of

Khartoum. You see multitudesof innocents suffering there aswe]]. And beneath it aU, you

feel a black pit of despair that

grows and grows until it be

gins tota.keona life of its own.

Your Storm K night now

knows everything that hap·

pened in the short story. Re-member, your cue to scream isthe word 'suddenly,'"

more lush and verdant than is stan

dard in the vicinity of Khartoum.When the Knights reach the out

skirts of Heritage, theycan take some

time to survey it and plan their attack.Show the players Map 1.

The first thing the Knights will n tice is that the place is deathly quiet,and appears almost deserted. The few

shocktroopersmanningthecompoundar e car ry ing clubs and th rowing

spears, their rifles lying all over theground. They are also carrying gongs

and large bells.On a Perception total of 13, they see

that there are no electric lights on inthe building., but there do seem to betorches ablaze in some sections.

••23



The Minefiera--

Heat Beams

Past the minefield is a 250 meterstretchof scruband grassland.ltlooks

empty, but it is covered by a grid of

infrared beams that triggeralarmsand

heat beams mounted in nearby rocksand treesand programmedwitha ran·

dom firing pattern. An acrobatics totalof 8 per round of walking or 18 per

round of running is required to avoidthe infrared beams. either the infra-redbeams nor theheatbeamsare func-tioning at the beginning oftheadven·

ture.

Heat 8 e ~ : Tech23,damagevalue

23, range 2·10/100/300

Checkpoint Charon

The only dear path through theminefield is the main road, which iscurrently blocked bya chain linkgate,and two wooden barriers. The frontsof the barriers have thick spikes and

nails protruding from them, so as topuncture the tires of cars that passover them. Two people can move abarricadeoffthe road in two rounds. Ittakes one person four rounds to move

it. There are five shocktroopers here:three at the front gate and one at eachof the wooden barriers. If legitimatevisitors arrive, the shocktroopers lug

the barriers off the road. U unautho

rized visitors arrive, the guards duck

behind the barricades and shoot.If the Storm Knights approach the

checkpointand are unable toconvincethe guards that they have permissionto enter the center, the guards willdefend their post with clubs and

spears.

Research centers, including Heri·tage, are surrounded by a ~ m e t e r"dead zone,

to with theouter250meterscomprised of a minefield. Due to theimpositionofaLivingLand purezone,Heritage's mines are not functioningat this time.

Mines: Tech 20, burst radius 0-3/

8/15, damage value 20.

The Fence

The compound is ~ . ·Iink fence a . £ P . : f ' l ? _ ~ t e L Y r f o u reters g oughnesso 9. Themain

ga e lock•.pidJug difh-"culty of 9). The gate is flanked by two

10meterhighblackobelisks thathouse

the electrical circuitry.The barbed wire assembly at the

topof the fence is normallyelectrified,but currently the voltage is not func-tioning.

lost some of their social skills, and arehaving dif ficulty funct ioning in

groups. It is for this reason that theguards' patrols seem to be a bit disor-ganized. But no one has transformedas yet, the new axioms having onlybeen in effect a very short time.

Those scientists still in touch with

NileEmpire reality are hard at work inthe lab, attempting to modify a bomb

to restore their axioms. Theyare meet-ingwith frustra tion,as theircolleagueskeep disconnectingand forgetting how

to usetheir knowledgeofweird science.

Bombed into the

Stone Age, or There's

a New Reality inTown

Magic 0Social: 7

Spirit: 24Tech,7

Most of the personnel in the re-search center have disconnected, and

so much of the meehancialequipment

has ceased to function. In addition,the heat beams, infrared beams, elee·trified barbed wire and minefields on

the perimeter of the fatility no longerwork.

Thosewhohavedisconnected have

The Heritage of Osiris: Khartoumence Research Center is currently

under LivingLand axioms,thanks to the reality bomb detonated

y the power of Maya's mind. Thent axiom levels are:

rs: Crucible of Pain 7 \

Electrified Barbed ~ i n : Tee 21,ange touch, damage value . olt·

ge currently not present damage

a)ue9(

._., . . , . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .....24 .,..,



rn:J Crucible ofPain:Map 1

Heritage of Osiris Base

••

'.

,'"

••

&

,.

'.

"

"

I,u"

,'J

"

A

'."

@

0 ' == l::::" '

,u

v'

"."

Q

ITo Khartoum

I

"

, .' -. Pl

« . ..,-

Minefield

" ("(d

,"

~

t,

"J• •J

'"

••,-

o

"

8. Main Helipad

9. Parking Lot10. Research Station11. Dormitory

12. Zero Ward13. One Ward14. Two Ward

• •J

Minefield,/ T - - ~ - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - '

,i!

0r' - - = = " . . . . . = ~ ~ = " . . . . . . . . . . , ~ . < > ~ .I 10+ .

••:! @ \ .<>, @ 1 , "",v :

i ' i! Q @ i

,D.@

01 1'01),' -------- . - J ';. ..

v'.v,

.-.'

"J

.'v-

(."l' i)

.0

v.

~

~ ~ .'

Key1. Checkpoint Charon

2. Wooden Barriers3. Main Gale4. Gospog ShedS. Supply Helipad

6. Mess Hall7. Barracks

C.Hun'...



Crudble of P..in

The Guards

There are three guards at the main

and thereare threeguards on theside ofZeroWard repairing

wall. There are no other guards

side. The rest are inside the build·checking on structural damage

sed by the transformation of theructionmaterialby the bomband

repairs.lf the Knights come up the main

or approach thesouthern sideofbuilding, they will be spotted. Ifcirclearound and approach fromnorth or west, they can approach

building unseen.

lf theguards should see theKnights,will raise an alarm. As they can·

t ge t the electronic alarms to func, theywill ring the bells and gongsare carrying. As soon as this is, threemoreguardswill rush ou t

the building, and those insidewiDon alert.As the Knights approach the outer

the guardswill begin throwingears at them. If the Knights make itde, theguardswill attackwithdubsknives.

rooperGuards (8)See page 23 of The Nile Empire

sourcebookPossibilities:None

Inclination: Evil\ l ! p e value

R+3/1;-d er, damage v+ ; throwing spear, damage

STR+4/1S, range 3-5/25/40

Once past the "dead zone," the

can investigate the variousdings that make up the center ineffort to find Maya. They are:

Helipads

As the vast majority of personneld cargo is brought in and out of the

via air , the center boasts two

The main helipad, locatedthe research building itself, is fornnel and visitingdignitaries, the

one for equipment and sup

Due to its ties to the civilianworld,s research center does receivemore

traffic than most.The parking

26

lot nearthemain helipad features tworoadsters, a troop truck, and an Xfz311-Aaka halftrack troop transport

(TOU 25, pass. 12, speed value 11) atthe beginning of the adventure.

ShockrrooperBarracks

Acombinationbarracks and armoryfor the guardians of the center. Therearecurrently fiveshocktroopersasleepinside, and 10 KKSl semi-automaticrifles.

GospogShed

The gospog shed houses four

gospog of the first planting. They aretended by Achmar, a half-mad gar

dener. If the shocktroopers sound an

alarmand aredefeated by theKnights,Achmar will send his gospog againstthemwhiletheyareexploring thebase.If no alarm has been sounded, the

KnightscancatchAchmarand hiscreatures unawares.

Once captured, Achmar's attitude

toward the Knights will be friendly (hefeels no great loyalty to the scientistsor the shocktroopers, who all treathim badly). If successfully interrogated, Achmar tells the Knights thathe was ordered to send some of his

gospog after Maya following her escape. They brought her back to Dr.Berofslci thirty minutes ago, but hehasn't seen them since.

Achmar theMad

DEXTERITY 9Dodge 12, melee weapons 10, running 10, stealth 10, unarmed com·

bat 10STRENGTH 10TOUGHNESS 9PERCEPT/ON 8

Find 9, trick 9MIND 7Test 9CHARISMA 10Taunt 11

SPIRIT 9Intimidation 10, reality 10Possibilities: 1Inclination: EvilEquipment: hunting knife, damage

value STR+3/19

ZeroWard

Zero Ward is a prison building,filledwith shacklesand cells.Thewallsof thebuildinghavebeen transformed.by the blast of the reality bomb and

hav un to crumble (normally

g .A

arg roll'psedand is being repaired by three

shocktroopers.There are 42 people in Zero Ward,

27 men and 15 women. They are aU

victims of Berofslci's "learned h e l ~lessness" experiments.Theyhave littleself-will, and are terrified at the

thought of leaving the ward or theresearch center grounds.

The Zero Ward prisoner.; are suf ·feting profound psychic shock. Theirminds and spirits have been extraordinarily depressed. As a result, theyare very easy to trick or intimidate.They can be forced to do just aboutanything but leave thebuilding.When

asked or forced to leave, they fall in aheap and refuse to move. They wouldallow themselves tobebeaten todeathrather than have to leave. The parenthetical values listedbelow relateonlyto attempts to get them to depart the

ward.

The Storm Knights will most likelybe baffled by this irrational behavior,and may suspect some form of mind

control has been used here. i f onlythey knew ...

Zero Ward Prisoners (42)

DEXTERITY 8Dodge 9, stealth 11, unarmed. com·

bat 10STRENGTH 8TOUGHNESS 8PERCEPTION 7Trick 8 (25)

MIND 7CHARISMA 7Charm (20), persuasion (25), taunt

(25)

SPIRIT 7Intimidation (25)Possibilities: NoneOneWard and TwoWard,adjacent

to this building, are prison and hospi·tal buildings, respectively,and arebothempty.



Heritage of Osiris

Dominating the centerof thebase is

Heritage of Osiris weird sdence re-arch center, a huge. fortress-likemadeofa substancedesigned

contain the forre of explosions. It

huge carved pillars at each of theouter comers equipped with se

ity cameras.Thewindows,doors,andsomehallays of the building are equipped

camerasand steelshutters (TDugh-24). Currently, neither cameras

r shutters are functioning, and allshutters are open.

Once the Knights gain entrance toe center, cut to "Scene Two: The

ch for Maya.H

SCENE TWO:The Search for

Maya

The Situation

Standard. TheKnights explore the

Heritage ofOsiris research centerand

see their first evidence of Berofski'shorrible experiments.

The Action

The Knights can enter the researchcenter through the main entrance orthrough the windows whose shutters

are frozen open. The descriptions ofthe various rooms are below.

The Great Hall

The main entrance opens on to along hall flanked by rows of ornatecolumns. This room is used to welcome VIPs and to intimidate anyone

Act One

else. Two shocktroopers stand guard.by the door.

Beyond the Great Hall is a vast

lounge intended for the relaxationof

welcome guests, and the possible ambush of unwelcome ones.

Administration Office

This office is run by two Nile bureaucrats who serve Berofski. Theydeal with locals who come to the center to report on Storm Knight activityand pass any interesting informationon to the doctor.

If the Knights enter, a find total of8

will reveal the bureaucrats, who arehidingunder theirdesks. Ifquestioned,theywill admit that theydid see a fewgospog enter the building with a girl,but do not know what is going on.They will give directions (if asked) toBerofski's office.

Nile Bureaucrats (2)

DEXTERITY 8Dodge 10, running 9. stealth 10

STRENGTH'

TOUGHNESS'

I.27



: Crucible of rain

PERCEPTION 10Evidence analysis 12, find 12, language 11, trick 11

MIND 10CHARISMA 8Charm 11, persuasion 12, taunt 10SPIRIT 9Intimidation 10

Possibilities: NoneInclination: Evil

Security Central

The nerve center of the research's defenses, as the Knights ap

willsee theguard onduty

orting to his recently roused supe. A Perception total of 9 will allowKnights to see that the captain isng a functioning walkie-talkie, al

no one is answering. He has

t disconnected as yet, and would beof reactivating many of the

security devices.If the Knights do not attack and

feat the shocktrooper captain, hell returnall securitydevices to lifeinrounds.

Khali Hafji

DEXTERITY 10Beast riding 11, dodge 12, fire combat 12, maneuver 11, melee weap

ons11,

unarmed combat12

STRENGTH 10TOUGHNESS 11PERCEPTION 10Evidence analysis 12, find 12, landvehicles 11, tracking I I , trick 13

MIND 9Test 12CHARISMA 10Charm14, persuasion13,willpower11

SPIRIT 9Intimidation 14, reality 14

Possibilities: 2Inclination: EvilEquipment::KOS, damage value15,

8, range 3-10/25/60; grenadesdamage value 19, range 1-6/15/

blast radius 0-3/8/15; radio

Eternium Synthesizer

This room contains banks of moniequipment and a hugeconcreteberdesigned to refine eternium,cial ingredient in thecreation of

ality bombs. A guard is currently

present in the room, trying to remember how to pu t his field-stripped rifleback together.

Reality Bomb Chamber

This large room is full of realitybomb prototypes and metallic barri

cades designed to provide cover incase of an explosion. Three scientistsare puzzling over a reality bomb imbued with the axioms of the Nile Empire. They were planning to trigger itand restore their native axioms, but

havedisconnectedand thushavebeenunable to do so. The three scientistshave all attributes at 8.

There are reality bombs here withtheaxiomsof the UvingLand,Nippon,Core Earth and theCyberpapacy, twoapiecewithOrroshanand Ayslish axi

oms, and four with Nile axioms. Thebombs are not labeled.

Determining the realm axioms

simulated by the bombs requires aweird sciellce total of10 or a science totalof 15. An intimidation totalof10againsta scientist will frighten him into revealing the information.

If theStormKnights wish to try andcarry off a bomb, they will find it alittlemuch tohandle(theaverage reality bomb is roughly 1.5 meters longand weighs600 kilograms. Iftheywishto try and set one off, they must generatea weird sciellce total of18 or a sciencetotal of 25 to do so. The scientists cannot provide any aid in this, as theyhave temporarily forgotten the procedure.

Reality Bomb PrototypesTOUGHNESS 2.Reality 35Damage Value: 23Blast Radius: 0-4/10/25

Duration: 29 (one week, unlesshooked up to Soul Drain element).Description: A reality bomb blast·

is marked by a wave of pure force(which does damage value 23) followed by shower of light as the newaxioms take hold in the area of effect.The reality bomb creates a pure zoneduring the timein which it is activethosewhogenerate reality totalsgreaterthan that of the bomb can treate thearea as a dominant zone.These particular bombs, similar to

the ones used in the Nowhere Lands,

have long durations but small blastradii. The bomb set offbyMaya was amorestandard type, with a large blastradius and a relatively short duration(six hours).

Test Labs and Storage Area

These areas are filled with weirdscience components. Most are lying inheaps, with no immediate clue as totheirfunction. There are no possibilitycapacitors present, as they were allused for the Nowhere Lands experiment.Test Lab #6 contains notes on the

constructionofa teleportaliongrenadewhich imply that such a thing hasbeen done successfully. There is aworking Synapsitron in Test Lab #4

(weird sciellce total of 15 to determine

its method of operation).

Synapsitron

Damage value 20, ammo 12, range3-1O/40/SO

Description: The Synapsitron

scrambles the electrical impulses inthe target's brain. Compare the damage total to the opponent's Mind or

willpower value. For each level of suc·

cessaboveMinimal, thevictim'sMi tldrelated skills are reduced -1 for five

minutes. At the end of that time, allskill levels return to normal.When the Knights reach the test

labs, cut to "SceneThree: BlackSmokeand Mirrors."

Control Room

Berofski's dim, cluttered, smokyperch from which hemonitors his victims.It isdominated bya large controlpanel featuring sound equipment attuned to the test cells and an electro

shock device, the device of which canbeadjusted toadministerjoltsofdam

age value 8 to 20.Two shocktrooper guards are

posted here.A thick sheet ofmegaglass (TOU 25)

in the southwall of the room serves asa one-way mirror to allow Berofski tomonitor the activity in the test cells.The cells themselves are tiny, with

floors rigged for electroshock on either side of a thin rubber insulatingstrip. Eachroom hasmirrors mounted

on every wall, through one of which

. . , . . . , . . .------------------- .....



(Ij(J Crucible of Pain: Map 2

Heritage of Osiris Research Center

C. Hunb!'r

Key1. Great Hall2. Receiving Room3. Administration Office4. Stairs to Basement5. Storage Rooms6. Security Central

7. Etemium Synthesizer8. Reality BombChamber

9. Library10. Test Cells11. Control Room12. Berofski's Office



: Crucible of Pain

can peer from his control

etaldoon;(TOU

with simple pa ocks (lock pickin

of 8).jfherM-one ar

sonetnreell #4.

Berofski's Office

Berofski andMayaare inhere,alongthe gospog Maya now controls.fski is cowering under his desk

tells him how it's going tofrom now on.(Note: The Storm Knights shouldbe able to reach the office until ActOncethey approach it from any

they will be confronted byand his shocktroopers. CuteThree:BlackSmokeandMir·

Stairways to Hell

There are two staircases leading tobasement, one at the nor th end of

building and one in the southeast

The doors to both are boarded, with large signs reading. "DAN·R! KEEP OUT! AUTHORIZED

ONLYl" posted. upon

If the Knights interrogate anyonethe Her itage staff about the area,wil l be told that the basement

s sealed. off when an experimentawry. It's considered. to be very

down there.Thebarricaded doors havea T o u g h ~of 14, and it r equi res a Strength

al of 16 to tear the boards off with·t theuseof a tool (with acrowbaror

of the sort, it requires onlyof 11).

If the StormKnights break throughdoor, they will be spotted by

and his shocktrooper squad.to Scene Three.

Closing In

As soon as the Knights reach thedor betweenTest Labs tf1 and #8,

y are confronted by Angelou, whoarrived thereseekingBerofski.CutScene Three.

SCENE THREE:Black Smokeand Mirrors

The SituationDramatic. The Knights are con

fronted by AntonAngelouand asmallsquad of shocktroopers,andgetaoneway ticket to Nowhere.Whether theKnights are stopped at

the entrance to the basement or nearBerofski's office, read aloud or para·phrase:You hear the dick of KK81s being

readied for firing.. and find yourselvesconfronted by five Nile shocktroop·ers, armed to the teeth. Behind themstands a young.. nervous-looking re ·searchscientist,apparentlyunarmed.

The Action

The scientist, Anton Angelou, hassucr:eeded in rounding up the fewshocktroopers who have yet to d ir

connect.Togethertheyhavebeenhunting the Knights down, because

Angelou is concerned that they willraid the test labs or somehow unleashthe creatures of the Nowhere Lands.

Angelou will stay behind hisshocktrooper shield as much as pas.sible, not being a physically coora·gecus person. He will attempt to tricktheKnights, telling them thatNileaxi·oms have been restored, and the as·sortment ofsecuritydeviceswillmakeit imposs ible for them to escape thefacility, and demand their surrender.

If the Knights givein,Angelou andhis men will lead them to a test cell.Onceinside, Angelou will toss his ring(with the concealed teleportation gre

nade) into the cell, and the Knightswill be whisked off to the NowhereLands.

If the Knights go into combat,

Angelou will stay ou t of it, letting hisshocktroopersdo the fighting for him.If the Knights are defeated, the resultwill be the sameas i f they had surren·dered. If the Knights are victorious,cut to "£ t Tu, Angelou?"

Anton Angelou

DEXTERITY 10Dodge 14, maneuver 12, running12, stealth 15STRENGTHs

TOUGHNESS 9PERCEPTION 11Evidence analysis 14, find 13, landvehicles 12, trick 13MIND 12Test 13, weird science 15CHARISMA 9Charm 11, persuasion 10SPIRIT 9Reality 13Possibilities: 7Inclination: EvilEquipment: miniaturized telepor

tation grenade (concealed in ring),adventurecost 5, effect value 25,burstradius0-4/10/25.This isanother pieceof modified weird science equipment- a grenade which causes anythingtrapped within its burst radius to beteleported to a place of the thrower'schoosing (providing itiswithin range,and not within a solid object). Like thereality bomb prototypes, this o n f M ) f ~a-kind device sacrifices range for effect - it will transport anyone whoseToughness its effect valuecan beat, bu tno more than 100 meters away. Itscreation was an accident, which maynever be duplicated.People teleported automatically

take two shock points.Description: Angelou is a fright·

ened little man - frightened of

Berofski, frightened of the NowhereLands, f right ened o f th e Storm

Knights. He is most afraid that theKnights will loot his test labs and takethe fruits of his labors. It is for thatreason he is willing to take the risk ofteleporting both himself and the

Knights into the Nowhere Lands.

Angelou'5 Shockttoopers(5)DEXTERITY 10

Beast riding 12, fire combat 13,heavy weapons 13, unarmed com·ba t 13STRENGTH 10Climbing 11

TOUGHNESS 10PERCEPTION 9Find 11, first aid 11, tracking 11,trick 11

MINDs

Survival 10, test 10,willpower 13

. ~ - - - - - - - - - .......30 0,..,;v



CHARISMA 9Taunt 11

SPIRIT 8Faith (Egyptian) 11. intimidation11, reality 11

Possibilities: 2Indination: EvilEqu.ipment: KK.81, damage value

ammo 24, range 3-40/400/1k;

damage value STR+4/17

Et Tu, Angelou?

U the Knights defeat the shock-Angelouwill throwhishands

and surrender. A Pnuption or findof 11 will reveal that he is wear

a large gold ring on his left hand.Angelou will begin to babble, say-he was forced to attack them. and

l l offer to lead them to Berofski. At

pointduringhis hystericalmonoe.Angeloll willattempt to use his

to fold over his ring finger un·ot iced . When he does so, the

grenade will go off.l f Angeloll is spotted, he will offer

o let the Knights take the ring. Asas contact is made with it, the

willgooff.lfAngeloll is killedr knocked out in the battle, the gre-ade will go off when he hits the


You hear amuffled explosion, and

begin to dance of f of your

equipment . Thick tendrils of oily

black smoke coil toward you, mak

ing it virtually impossible to see.here is a tingling sensation in your

bodyand a feeling of movement, andhen through the darkneu you see apair of piercing eyes regarding youoldly. Then the darkness returns.

Cut toAd Two, 'The Lords of No

where."

Variables

If the Knights should escape fromtheshocktroopers andmake it into thebasement, theywill comeupon a large

metal door. It is the only immediatelyapparent exit from the basement. Itopens automatically every five sec-onds, revealing brightwhite light. IftheKnights go through thisdoor, eachwill be transported to his or her own

Nowhere Land.Cut to Ad Two, "The Lords of No-

where."

Flags

If an Irktl card is played, a Knightrecalls having heard of a wrird sOmaresearch center in the Khartoum area.He will beable to find it easilywithout

using his tracking skill, sparing the

ActOn

party member in psychic contad witMaya a certain amount of pain.

If a PersonQl Stake card. is played,CoreEarth orNile Knight had at leasa nodding acquaintance with May

priorto thestart ofthe PossibilityWarsIfa Connection card isplayed,oneo

the twobureaucrats in theadministration office is Belinda Coming, an olfriend of a Knight and a secrelsympathizer with their cause. She will answer the Knights' questions, tellinthem about layout and defensesat thinstitute and about rumorsshe'shear

of an experiment in thebasement thawent awry.

Act AwardsAward the Knights three Possibil

ties at the end of this act.

I .31



Act Two

The Lords

of Nowhere


The Major Beat

TheStonn Knights find themselvestransported to miniature versions ofthe invading cosms. These NowhereLands are maintained by the e x p e r i ~mental perpetual reality bombs,whilethe Soul Drain Elements keep the

bombs functioning and generate anenergy barrier which surrounds eachmicrocosm.Once inside the Nowhere Lands,

the Knights will be tempted to attachthemselves to theSoul Drain Element.If they do so, their Possibilities will!;'edrained tokeep the NowhereLands Inexistence. In addition, they will fallprey to the true ruler of the NowhereLands, the Wasting Spirit.Keep in mind when running these

scenes that reality stonns cannot be

invoked against someonewhose reality is the same as one's own.

The Wasting Spirit

The Wasting Spirit was one of twoOrrorshannativeswhowere locked ina testing for the explosion of a prototype reality bomb. Following the creation of theOrrorshan purezone, bothhe and his comrade turned to the occult togain superiority in theNowhereLand. TheWastingSpiritwas themoresuccessful, so corrupted himself thathe transfonned into the dread entityhe is today.

Of all the Lords of Nowhere, onlytheWasting Spirit takes advantage ofthefreedom tomoveabout among thevariousmini-eosms,and even thebasementof the Heritageinstitute.Hefeedson the fear and dread of those whoreside in theNowhereLands,and so isdetennined that these realms should

remain in existence. For that reason,he is anxious tosee the Possibility-richStonn Knights attached to the SoulDrain Elements.The Wasting Spirit has counseled

all six Nowhere Lords on how best toluretheKnightsintotheirtraps.Shouldthe Knights escape the Nowhere

Lands, they will still have to confrontthis powerful creature.Note that the "Flags" and "Vari

ables" listed at the conclusion of ActTwo c a ~ a p p l i e d toanyofthesevenscenes listed below.

The Barrier and the

Portal

The barrier around each NowhereLand is impenetrableby nonnal physi

cal means (TOU SO). It looks like ashimmering wall of solid gray, and is

generated by the Soul Drain gizmoswhichmaintain the effects of the reality bombs.Therearethree10foot tall portals in

each barrier. The portals open for fivesecondsonceeveryhalf-minute.Whenthey are closed, they resemble the restof the barrier, but when they open,they look likehuge,black fanged jaws.During the few seconds they areopen,soft, diffused white light pours in.

From a distance, this seems like agreat flash of light that is seen for onlysecondsand thendisappears. (In someNowhere Lands, the portals are disguised, or blocked).Spotting the portals requires a Per-

ception total that varies by mini--cosm.(Note that a second Perception. roll immediately after the first will fail, sincethe portal is only visible for ten seconds out ofeach minute. Nowyou seeit; now you don't.)

. ~ - - - - - - - - - '-'32 ' .-v



Leaping through the portals is ant of blind faith (or desperation).

a Knight enters one, he is envel·by thebright light,and then lands

n a sol id surface, in total darkness.e air now smells musty.

The portals lead to the lnstitute's

which had been blacked

ut when the electricity went out. All

portals in each owhere Landto a single door in the basement.

Soul Drain Element

Each Nowhere Land is the creationan experimental perpetual reality

Each bomb has a "Soul Drain

actually the gizmo's mas·

ve possibili ty capacitor. The SoulElements look different in each

Land, bu t they all do the

thing. They drain possibility enat varying rates and transfer it toperpetual reality bomb. This sus

tains the bomb's base duration, and

eps each mini-eosm open for busi·ness.

In each Nowhere Land, the SoulDrain Elementsare stockedwith thoseonners that were being held at the

when the experiment was per·

fonned. After two months of being

drained, most of them have been vir ·

tuallyemptiedofPossibilities.TheSoul

Drain Elements have been forced toration theexpenditureofPossibilities,so when fresh donors are hooked up,

the capacitors will increase their leechrate to a Possibili ty per hour.

Since the lnstitute sealed off the

Nowhere Lands, the Wasting Spirithas had no chanceatgaining possibil·ity rated people to drain. Even ifHeri·

tageweretosendsomeStonnersdown

there (unlikely in any circumstances

except for, say, an all-out attackon theinstitute), theywould have to agree to

be drained of their possibility energyfor the Soul Drain to work.Naturally,maintainingNilebombs

created through weird science in the

pure zones of the owhere Lands isextremely difficult. Thus each bomb

hasaffixed toit aNileEmpiretalisman

(a small scarab amulet) which main

tainsMobius' reality in that spot. This

area is usuallymarked by atmospheric

disturbances. Removing the talismanwill cause the bomb to stop working

o ne-On-One Roleplaying

When the Knights are struckby the teleportationgrenade, the

group is separated, and each

Knight is transported into the

NowhereLand thatcorrespondsto his realm.Upon arriving.. eachis met and tested by an agent of

the Wasting Spirit. Since the.solutions to all these situations aresimilar, run eachscenewith each

player individually, as a one-onone adventure. That way the

playerswon't be able to secondguess what will happen in theiradventure. (I f there aretwochar·

acters from the same realm, theymay participate in the scene to-

gether).Dramatically announce that

all the players save one have to

leave the room. (They can make

popcorn.) Once they are out of

earshot, run the first player

through his scene.

except in the ~ e w e s t Nile Empire".When theStonn Knights aresent to

the Nowhere Lands, the Lords tr y to

trick them intosurrendering theirpos-Sibility energy. Keep in mind that aU

attempts to convince the Knights tohook themselves up to the SoulDrain

Elements involve some form of mis·

representation about the danger in ·

volved, and thus there is a +5 diffi

culty modifier to the Lords' persua-sion attempts.

If the Lords convince theKnights tohelp them, the Nowhere Lands gain afresh burstof energy, and a new leaseon l i fe-a t theexpenseof theKnight's

freedom and, eventually, perhaps hislife as welL

Fight or Flight

In the following seven scenes, eachKnight is faced witha trial; a test of hisresolve and dedication, orchestratedby theWastingSpirit and acted outbythe Lords of Nowhere. If a Knightgivesin, he will beattached to theSoul

Ac t Two

After the conclusion of that

adven tu re , b ring in the next

player.The first playermay stay

and watch. Continue this way

until you are ready for theCoreEarth interlude.Beforeyou bringin the player(s) with Core Earthcharacter(s), brieftheother players on their roles in that adven·lure.

As long as you save theCore

Earth Knight(s) for last, the in ·

terludes may be run in any or·

der. We recommend you run

them in the order listed here.If you prefer not to send the

players out o f the room during

the one-on-one sections, makesure they don't have their char·

actersact on informationgained

by watching the decis ions of

other players.

DrainElement and drained of his p0ssibilities. If he resists, the Lord of Ne>

where attacks in anger.

When the Lordsattack, they do notattack to kin. They want to force the

Knight to change his mind and sub

mit. They only use killing force if theKnight is on the verge of breaking theSoul Drain machine or removing the

Nile talisman from the reality bomb.If the Knights wish to flee, they can

escape through the portals in each

Nowhere Land to the Heritage basement. If theymake it through a portal,the Lords will not pursue.

SCENE ONE:The Living

Nowhere Land

The Situation

Standard. Stonn Knights from the

Living land find themselves in a pri·

••33



'ble of P.inCruCI

. f Pain:Map 3[ I I ] CrucIble 0 LandsThe Nowhere

Altar

Portals

Lighthouse

f ~ r - - - : : __

Cave

Board Room

Sacred Grove

Flash's Shack

Altar

Portals



Act Tw

eval jungle. The foliage is denser

dmore lush than any they haveeveren. The mist is thick, and it's hard toll just how far the jungle extends.is mist is sufficiently similar to thatthe living Land that the same rules

ing sightdistancecanapply (see65 ofThe Living l..nnd sourcebook).

Due to the mist, it's vi rtual ly im ·

ssible for the Knight to see the por·l from the ground, requiring a Per·

or find total of 35. His chancell come once he's atop the Ugresk.

The Action

If the Knight makes a Perception or

analysis total of20, he gets thee impression that though his sur·ndings resemble the Living Land,ere is something subtly different

this area.The Knight is free to explore theea. Walking forward will bring himan altar; walking to the right or leftsee him just slog through jungle

til theugresk appears. I f the Knightand looks behind him, he will

e theshimmering energybarrierthatthis area.

Before he can reach the altar or therrier, a Perception total of 8 will al-w him to hear a rush ofwings off toright.The sound grows louderand

der, until an ugresk flies into view,as it approaches him.

If the Knight attacks the ugresk, ities away. The Knight will have to

to explore on his own, andll eventually come upon the altar.t to '1akananda."If he does not attack it, the ugresk

and approaches him with itsad bowed. It places its head at the

feet, and wait s unti l theight takes an action of some sort.If the Knight takes an action which

not over tly hostile, it will rub itsead against him in an affectionate

It will allow the Knight tohewishes,and evento

it. If theKnightdoes notmount

, the ugresk will lead him on foot toaltar. Cut to "Jakananda."Once the Knight is atop the ugresk,will take off into the "sky." (Dexter·or beast riding total of 8 to stay atopcreature). If theKnight should fall,t to "Falling Into theGoddess."

From the air, a Perception or findtotal of 13 will allow the Knight to seeone of the portals open, revealing aburst of light. The ugresk is fiercelyloyal to the commands of its mistress,and will resistany orders to fly toward

the portal. A beast riding total of25 isrequired to get it to fly anywhere be-sides straight to the altar.

UgreskSee page 98 of The Living Landsourcebook.

Possibilities: noneNaturalTools: teeth, damagevalu

STR+2/28; claws, damage valu

STR+l/27; wings, speed value 12

Jakananda

When the Knight reaches the altahe sees abeautifulJakatt priestesswita smile on her lips and her arms outstretched in greeting. A violent winis blowing through thegrove inwhicthe altar sits. A Perception or evidenc

... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ . - 35




totalof 10 reveals to theKnighta scarab amulet is attached to theof thealtar. If he asks the priestess

it, she will claim that it is aofoneofLanala'screa-

and is there by the will of the

The altar contains the perpetual re-

ty bomb. If the Knight removes thearab amulet, violent weather will

the Nowhere Land a silvery rainbegin to fall, as Nile axioms takeonce again. The ugresk and the

( if present) will be seen to ex-in flames as they transfonn fora

cond time, rever ting to Nile crea-

If theKnight attacksJakananda, sheill signal for a carnal, which will

from the trees and charge the

It will attempt to subdue, but

t kill. the Stann Knight.If theKnight takesno hostileaction.e priestesswill beckon him forwardattempt to charm him. Read aloud

paraphrase:

Hersmile is like untothatof Lanalaas she says,"'1 amJakananda,

of Lanala. Iwelcome you. Ie you have accepted my gift. Dou like him? He is yOUl'S, brave

"'Come, let us go un to Unala andmune with he r....

If the Knight agrees, he feels him-

begin to sink into the soft ground.willpower total of 10 is required to

from thrashing about. There arenearby which the Knight canand a Strellgth total of 9 allows

e Knight to pul l himself free of theembrace.

If the Knight fails to save himself,t to "Falling Into the Goddess.'"

I f the Knight refuses to communeLanala, or succeeds in freeingfrom thesoftearth,. cuI to "Theof Jakananda.'"

DEXTERITY 12Beast riding 14, dodge 15, maneu-ver 14, missile weapons 13, stealth14, unarmed combat 14

STRENGTH 10TOUGHNESS 10PERCEPTION 11

Find 13, language 13, tracking 12,

trick 14MIND to

Survival 14, test 12CHARISMAUCharm 14, persuasion 15, taunt 14SPIRITU

Faith (Keta Kalles) 15, focus 15, in-

timidation 15, reality 14

Possibilities: 6 per Storm KnightMiracles: Qnimal rage, mrth's ttlr,intense fear, sa through mist

Equipment: hrockt spear, damage

value STR +3/18

Description: jakananda is an ac-tual jaka" priestess captured by Nileagents specifically for the Nowhere

Lands experiment. She is convincedthat the reality bombs, though dead

things, could help tospread thewill ofLanala throughout the world.

CarnolSee page 82 of The Living lAndsowcebook.

Possibilities: noneNatural Tools: hide, armor value

TOU+2/32; teeth, damage value

STR+6/32;tail,damagevalueSTR+2!

28

TheWrath ofJakananda

U the Knight declines to commune

with Lanala, or frees himself from the

apparent embrace of the goddess,

jakananda grows angry and says:

"Then Lanala will take youllf youdeny your goddess, she becomes ademoness!"

jakananda calls for a carnal, whichattacks the Knight. Again, it s tr ikesonly to subdue, not kill. If theKnight is

defeated, he feels himseU sinking intothe soft earth. Cut to ~ a l l i n g Into theGoddess."

Falling Into theGoddess

TheKnight feelshimselfslowly fall-ing, but experiences no terror. Warm

green enfolds and comforts him. Hewill take no damage from this, even i f

he has fallen from the ugresk to the

soft earth.


You hear a soft, gentle voice say"Welcome back, my child. You have

been long gone, and long missed.'"You feel waves of bliss flow ove

you, as you sink into a great, prima

calm. The voice says, "I am a lovinggoddess, and 1forgive your fall intothe dead lands. I forgive your desireto destroy my people and my land."

If theKnight objects, saying heonlyintended to fight Baruk Kaah, and no

the goddess, sheappreciates the sentiment, saying:

"You have been too longgone, andwe long for your return. Come back

and l ive as one of us again."

This is actually an effort at ptTSll4sion by Jakananda, the Lord of thiNowhereLand.Shewill try fora yes ovow result.U the Knight agrees, he is brough

back up to the surface, emerging in athick grove of tree to the rear of thaltar. A Perception total of 8 revealthat there are five other people herehanging like puppets from the treesivy wound around their wrists.

jakananda shows him how to en

twine his hands in the ivy of the largest tree (a Strength total of 10 is re

quired to free one's self from the ivy)As shedoes so,a Perception or find totaoft5 allowstheKnightto see theWast

ingSpiritapproach. TheWastingSpiriwill attack with his paralyzing touch

and then use liftdraill to make a singlattack the Knight's Spirit. If he haalready used the lift drain power inthisact, hewill simply leave theKnighparalyzed, intendingto drainhim later(For details on theWastingSpirit, seAct Three, Scene One or thGamemasterCharacterRecordSheet.If theWasting Spirit's initial attack isuccessful, the Knight will be unabltomovewhilethe SoulDrainsteals hiPossibilities, at a rate of one per hour

If the Knight rejects the offer, thgoddess presencebecomesangry, andher voice begins to sound more likJakananda than Lanala. Read:

""How dare you not give me my

due? I reject you! I cast you out! Yo

:":""""--- - - - - - - - - - - - - - ....'-36'"



Act Tw



Cl'\ldble of p.. ln

no longer welcome among our

el You will live your days as anever again to feelmy lov·

embracel I give you one last

nce to reconsiderl"

If the Storm Knight continues touse, he is forcefully ejected from the

n bliss, back to the surface. This, Jakananda will order both the

and the ugresk to slay thehI.

itthe Knight runs, he will eventureach the barrier. Uhe follows the

in either direc tion for four, hewill reach a portal. Leaping

ugh the portal will return theto the basement.

If theKnightwishes,hecan attemptfree the o ther prisoners from theDrain. A first aid total of 8will get

on their feet, and theKnightthen lead them out through the

SCENE TWO:The Newest

Nile Empire

The SituationStandard. Storm Knights from thele Empire find themselves in an

an villageapparently shatteredheavy bombardment. The fieldse cratered, the buildings are col

and the streets are filled withb fragments and rubble. Thickoke lies heavy on the village. Theets are filled with corpses, and abuzzards circle in the skies.

If the Knight searches his immedi

area, he finds no one left alive.ryman,womanand child hasbeen, bombed,or shot. Everywhere

Is desolation, and silence.

The Action

On a Perctption or evidena analysisof 20, the Knight realizes thatthis is unquestionably theNile

pire, the set ting seems vaguely

The Knight is free to explore the

area. On a Perctption or find total of9,

he 5eeS a flash of red and gold ahead,and realizes that it is the figure of aman hunched over a fire. A total of 11

or above allows the Knight to see astrange light in the distance, blinkingon and off (i t is a portal, though theKnight has no way of knowing that at

this point).No matter which direction the

Knight travels in, he will eventuallycome upon the man by the fire. Readaloud or paraphrase:

You see an emaciated old man

wearing a tattered brown robe, tend-

ing the ashes of a cook fire. Throughthe holes in the robe, you can seepatches of red and gold, as i f he woresomesortofcostumeunderneath.His

face is obscured by the hood of his

robe.

U the Knight speaks tothe man. hewill be regarded with silence for along time before getting a reply. Thes tranger will not answer any questions about who he is, preferring instead to talk about the passing of thevillage. His voice is old and creaky,like a rusted gate. He speaks veryslowly and mournfully.He tells theKnightthat "they" came

and destroyed everything,.slaying400people in the process. He knows now

it's over - Mobius has won. Then hesinks his head into his hands and

weeps. If the Knight announces thathe fights Mobius, thestrangerbecomesangry, saying,.

"Your quest is futile, hero! Youreffortsare like trying to blow againstthe wind.You will find only martyrdom through heroism,. like the oncegreat Dr. Flash! But you do not hon-

estly desire true heroism! You knownothing of heroism! Of wcrifice! Of

the price you must pay! You art amockeryof thememory ofDr. Flash!"

The Saga of

Dr. Flash

If the Knight is unfamiliarwith the

exploits of Dr. Flash, the old man explains that he is speaking ofone of the

greatest of the Terran Mystery Men.

Foryears, he battled Mobius, until thday he was captured by the fiend andforced to endure the agonies of thOmegatron. (For the full story, seepages 6-7 of The Nile Empirsourcebook.)At the most dramatic moment, th

elderly man whips off the hood of hi

robe and proclaims, "But I survived!am Dr. Flash!" He then removes throbe, revealinga gaudycostumehanging limply on his skeletal body.Dr. Flash explains that he was sen

here to die by Mobius after the HigLord had tired of toying with him. Ithe Knight agrees to help him, DrRash shakes his head, saying,

....1 am too weak to go on. Only b

the selfless generosity of some of thlocals am 1 alive at all now. Man

people have given of their essenceto keep me from dying. Though m

time in the Omegatron has leftme in

conslmt agony, I am getting strongerl

...And you cm free me from m

painl You are rich with PossibilitiesJust a little boos t from you woul

make me as young and s trong asonce was!"

This is a persuasion attempt, wit

Dr. Rash trying for a yes or vow resulUtheStormKnight agrees tohelp him

cut to "Soul Survivor." If the Knighrefuses, cut to "Flash Attack."

Dr. FlashOEXTERITY 11Dodge 16, energy weapons 13, fircombat 13, maneuver 13, meleweapons 14, unarmed combat 13STRENGTH 11TOUGHNESS 10PERCEPTION 9

Find 11, trick 11MIND 9Test 12, weird science11.willpowe14CHARISMA 10Charm 11, persuasion 12SPIRIT 8Intimidation 12, reality 12Possibilities: 6 per Storm KnightInclination: EvilPowe.rs: e1ectJ'&.ray, damage valu

21, range 3-10/11-25/26-60

Power Raw: roll-again vulnerabiity to water attacks

~ :-::------------------38 'WiOl



Act Tw

Equipment: boom belt (teleportion power, value 17)Description:Dr. Flashwas, indeed,of the bravest heroes ofTerra. Butter his capture by Mobius and con·nment to the Omegratron, he be·me convinced that his fellow Mys·ry Men had abandoned him. Hisd brokeand hisindination flippedevil. Learning this, Mobiushad himleased, intending touse him againsts former allies. He was then sent totagetobe part of the reality bomb

Soul Survivor

If the Knight agrees, Doctor Flashhim to a broken·down house

arby. There is a huge Doctor Flashin the center of the room, de

cting him as a healthy, radiant hero.his was the only thing I could sal·from my lab when the

cktroopers raided me," he says,nting to it proudly.The statue actually contains theetual realitybomb, but there is nohericdisturbanceor Nile talis-present, as its functioning doescreate a contradiction in this parular Nowhere Land. A Perceptiontal of 12 lets the Knight hear a slightm coming from the statue (the

vibrations are causing this). Ifasks Dr. Flash about it, the pulp

ro will claim to hear nothing.The exterior of the statue has a

of 10. The only way to shutthe reality bomb is to smash theand the device within. This

uld cause the axioms to shift fromile pure to Nile dominant.Then he leads the Knight to a weirdgizmo. Five people (including

if theKnightsencoun

red him in Act One), are hookedup

the strange contraption throughund metal skullcaps. They look

Dr. Flashwill tell theKnight thatthistheSoulMachine,and thegoodpeople

upto it volunteered togivehimhimsurvive.

e goes on to say that the procedure isinless, and actually quite relaxing.When the Knight is hooked up tomachine, he feels a surgeofenergyss through him. A Strength total of

10 is required to remove the skullcap.At this point, a Perception or finJ totalof15allows theKnightto seethe Wast

ingspiritapproach. TheWastingSpiritwill attack with his paralyzing touch,and then use life drain to makea singleattack the Knight's Spirit. If he hasalready used the life drain power inthis act, hewillsimply leavethe Knightparalyzed, intendingtodrain him later.(For details on theWasting Spirit. seeAct Three, Scene One or the

CamemasterCharacterRecordSheet.)If the Wasting Spirit's initial attack issuccessful, the Knight will be unabletomovewhile theSoul DrainstealshisPossibilities, at a rate of one per hour.The last sound the Knight hears is

Dr. Flash cackling with insane glee.

Flash Attack

If the Knight refuses to help, Dr.Flash rages, saying he has suffered forso long, and he can't understand whythe Knight would refuse him salvation. He will brand the Knight a dis-

grace to the Mystery Men and a selfserving coward.

If the Knight tries to leave, Docto

Flash howls, "So you would go bacand leave me to rot, eh?" and attacksHe is slow on his feet, and the Knighhas initiative in the first round, so hcan escape if he so chooses. Dr. Flaswill fight at first merely to subdue thKnight, but will use killing force ifappears he is going to be defeated.

If, at any point. the Knight relenand agrees to aid Dr. Flash, cut t"Soul Survivor."

If the Knight has not already spoted the portal, anow him to generatanother Perception total. If he wishehecanattempt tofree the otherprisoners from theSoulDrain machine.Thecan be roused with first aid totals of- if Angelou is among them, he witell the Knight the story behind thNowhere Lands. All can then escapthrough the portal and into the Hertage basement.

39



C r u c i b l ~ of Pain

SCENE THREE:The Aysle

in the Storm

The Situation

Standard. Storm Knights from

ysle find themselves suddenly

into the middle of an oceana raging storm. It is dark and

terly cold, and waves crash vioonto the rocky shorelinenearby.

the Knight can't swim.or iswearing

which makes him too heavy toim. he finds a convenient floatingg to hold onto_ (Courtesy of the

Spirit).

The Action

On a Perception or find total of9, thespots an island nearby and alight blinkingonand offin the(This is the portal, gleaming

the distance as it opens).If the Knight does not see the is-

land, a huge beam of light shines onthe waters, illuminating the area. Hewill then be able to see an elven-stylelighthousestandingon asmall,nearbyisland. Its l ight comes from a huge

gem on the top floor of the structure.On a Perception or evidence analysis

total of 20, the Knight gets the vagueimpressionthat, though thisNowhere

Land resembles Aysle, i t is not. Justwhere it truly is will be unclear.A De::cterity or swimming total of 7

will gettheKnight to theisland. S w i m ~ming in any other direction requires atotal of 11. If the Knight swims ou t

toward the open sea, he wiD hit thebarr ie r in three rounds. If he heads

toward the porta l, a huge DraconisAquatica rises up before him, blocking his pa th . The dragon will not attack unless the Knight attacks first, orpersists in t ry ing to go toward the

glowing portal.

Oraconis AquaticaSee page 111 of the Aysfe soureebook.Possibilities: noneNatural Tools: annor, TOU+101

31; tail, swimming speed value 11,

damage value STR+3/27Note: This transformed Nile crea·

lure does not possess the Aquatica'ssteam breath weapon, nor its knowledge of magic.

If the Knight hauls himself ou t ofthe water and onto the rainswept island, hecan visit the lighthouse. There

is a pier and a boat on the island.Sarigar the Elf answers the door.

He's a tall, quiet, dignified sort, wear·

ing flOWing robes. He ushers the

Knight inside, gives him a blanket anddeposits him before the warm hearth,but does not say a word .Itseemssafe,comfortableand warm

inside the lighthouse. It's fairly cleanexcept for some large spiderwebsnear

the ceiling.Sarigar sits in silence. The Storm

Knights must initiate the conversa·

lion, and regardless of the question.Sarigar's first words wiD be:

HI am the Lighthouse Keeper and

the Keeper of the House ofLight. Donot speak to me if you value your

illusions. I f you seek comfort in the

veil of cheerful lies, I am a danger toyou. So before you ask me anything,

you mus t answer me one thing. Do

youwish to keepyour lies?Ordo you

seek truthr

If the Knight prefers falsehood,Sarigar will tell him that he willieam

to value the truth by theend ofhisstay

in the lighthouse. Cut to "Sarigar'sTale."

If theKnight answers that he valuestruth, cu t to "Sarigar's Tale."

SarigarDEXTERITY 12 (9)

Dodge 13,maneuver 13. stealth 13,unarmed combat 14

STRENGTH 10TOUGHNESS 10PERCEPTION 12Alteration magic 14, find 13, trick1.MIND 14 (11)

Apportation magic 16, conjurationmagic 17, test 15, willpower 15CHARISMA 11Persuasion 12, taunt 13SPIRIT 9Corruption 13, faith (Eshtar) 10, in ·timidation 11, reality 13

_.-.:-;:------------------

....40 .. -v



Act Two

Possibilities: 6 per Stann Knight

Arcane Knowledges: metal2, fire4,3, magic 4, living forct:s 4

Spells:build,conjured fireball, createmystic shield, persuasion

Description: Sarigarwas a corruptllower of Eshtar captured by Nile

on a foray into Aysled sent to Heritage for this experi-

Sarigar's Tale

After the Knight has responded,arnods hisheadand speaks. Reador paraphrase:

"My lighthouse illuminates theacherous reefs as ships head forem. Wise captains can adjust their

se before they splinter their ves-on the rocks. So toodomy words

perils as our fair Aysletles toward them."Our fair jewel of a nation has atal flaw. Pella Ardinay never trulyn Aysle's freedom. Aysle was

given its freedom, and remains free

because theDarkforces suffer it to beso, because it is a part of their plan.The more the Light works to

strengthen the realm, the more theydo the work of their enemies. Nowthat I have told you this, you will

never see your home the same wayagain.

"'Wemust supportnot the pretend-ers to the throne. We must shine the

light of truth on all things. Come. Iwill show you."

Sarigarleads theKnightup the long..winding staircase to the top of thelighthouse. A great gem is shininglight out over the seas, and a harshwindblows through thechamber. Fivetired looking AysJish are bound in alarge spider web, which is in tum at-tached to the gem.

The gem itself (TOU 20) hides thereality bomb. A Perception or find totalof 10 shows the Knight a small scarabamulet attached to the gem, the Nile

talismanwhich allows it to function.U

asked, Sarigarwill say the amulet is aholy symbol ofElmiir. A sdwlar (realmlore) total of 11 will reveal this to be alie.

U the Knight removes theamulet atany point, the gale outside will growworse, and a silvery shower of lightwillsignify that theAyslepure zone isreverting to a Nile dominant zone.Any hmnel spiders present will ex-plode into flames as they transfonnback to Nile creatures, as will the

dragon.

Sarigar will gesture to the spiderweband tell the Knight that ifheagreesto attach himself to it, the light of truthwill bum so strongly that no lie couldstand before it. This is a persuasionattempt, with Sarigar trying for a yesor vow result. Sarigar will make useofhis persuasion speU in this effort.

If the Knight accepts, cut to "In theSpider'sWeb."

UtheKnight refuses. cut to"Spider'sKiss."

41



Crndble of Pain

In the Spider'sWeb

If the Knight agrees, Sarigar bindsm in the webbing (Strellgth total ofto escape).Atthis point,aPerceptiollfilld total of 15 allows the Knight toe the Wasting Spirit approach. The

his para 4

touch, and then use life drain tosingleattackthe Knight'sSpirit.he has already used the Ufe drain

in this act, he will simply leavee Knight paralyzed, intending to

him later. (For details on thesting Spirit , see Act Three, Scenee or the Gamemaster Charactercord Sheet.) If the Wasting Spirit'sitial attack is successful, the Knightll be unable to move while the Soulain steals his Possibilities, at a rateone per hour.

Spider's Kiss

If theKnightdoes notagree,Sarigarhis temperand accusestheKnight

not truly fighting for truth. He willve the Knight one last chance to aC4

de to his demands.

If the Knight relents, cut to "In theWeb."

If the Knight continues to refuse,drops his pretense of being

rable. Read aloud or paraphrase:

"That should have worked on

the elf rages. "You idealisticalways fall for such rot! Killmy pets!"

Sarigar's cry bringsa spider, a varint of the Aysle tunnel spider, into

and it attacks the Knight. If theghtdefeats thespider,Sarigarhim 4

lf will attack.

nel Spider

DEXTERITY 13

Long jumping 14, maneuver 14,

stealth 15, unarmed combat 15STRENGTH 9Climbing 12TOUGHNESS 10PERCEPTION 7Find 12, tracking 11, trick 10MINDS

Survival 11 , test (8)CHARISMA 5Charm (25), persuasion (25), taunt

(15)

SPIRIT 5Intimidation 10Possibilities: noneNatural Tools: fangs, damagevalue

STR+l/10

Description: Sarigar's spiders aresmallerversionsof the standardAysle

tunnel spider (one meter in diameter,eight legs a third of a meter long). Thewebbing attached to the gem is nottheirs, bu t is a clever disguise for theSoul Drain Element. These particularspiders do not have venom.

The Knight can attempt to escapeby leaping out of the lighthouse win·

dow into the sea. It's a 60 meter drop,and a Dexterity or acrobatics total of5 isrequired to avoid the rocks. U theKnight hits the rocks, increase the fall

ing damage total by +5.The stairway willbe blocked by the

spider, so the Knight must defeat it toreach thestepsand then evadeSarigaron the way down. Once at groundlevel, he can swim or steal the boat.Steering the boat toward the portalrequires a water vehicles total of 9. D0ing it in such a way that the dragon isnotalerted requiresa stealth totalofll.If the dragon notices the Knight fleeing, itwill harry the boat, bu tbreak offbefore the barrier is reached.

If the Knight defeats Sarigar andthe spider, he can free the other pris·oners (first aid totalof8 to rouse them).He can then lead them to the boat andtoward the portal. If Sarigar has beendefeated, the dragon will not attempt

to block their passage.

SCENE FOUR:Thursday the

CardinalDrew Blood

The Situation

Standard. Storm Knights from theCyberpapacyfind themselves in wide,round, high-tech cyber4 chapel with avaultedceiling.Thewallsareblue plastic with metal electronic inserts. There

are rows and rows of pews flashing

data readouts. The familiar smellincense and ozone in the air triggedark memories of the Inquisition.great humming noise fills the gloomplace,which isonly lit by colored ligpat terns from a ring of stained glawindows.The chapel is empty, bu t it is to

much to hope that it will stay thatwafor long.

The Action

On a Perception or evidellce analystotal of 20, the Knight realizes ththough the Nowhere Land looks likthe Cyberpapacy, it is somehow n

Malraux's realm.The Knight is free to explore' t

area.Ona Perception or find totalof9h

sees that three of the stained glawindows flash brightly twiceaminutThesearethe portals that markthe exfrom this Nowhere Land.The Knight has a few minutes

look around before Cardinal Leecarrives. If the Knight tries to flee, hsees there are no doors. If he aproaches one of the portals, Leech apears immediately.Cardinal Leech floats down fro

the vaulted ceiling on a great, hoveing platform. He's a huge, stem, r

tond man in the robes ofa cardinal.the Knight is foolish enough to attacLeech defends himself, bu t does nstrike back. He makes his openinstatements,and asks theKnight tojohim. If theKnightkeeps fighting, Leewill then strike back.Leech looks at the Knightand say

"I shall be blunt. You have impressed us with your cunning an

skill.You haveproven thatyouwou

be a valuable ally to us. Now, befoyou take alot of time in angry, ideaistic speeches, realize that I am offeing you power beyond your pet

notions of power. Become our spforego allegiance to the anti·papisand we will give you more pow

than you have ever dreamed of. Anisn't that what you are truly after?

This is a persuasion attempt, wiLeech trying for a yes or a vow resultthe Knight agrees to ally himself wi

Leech, cut to "The Chop Shop." If

_. ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - " " ' I \42 ·WOW



Act Two

cu t to "Heretic!"

Leech

DEXTERITY 11Dodge 13, fire combat 13, melee

weapons 13, stealth 13, unarmed

combat 14

STRENGTH 9

TOUGHNESS 11

PERCEPTION 11Cyberdeck operation 18, evidenceanalysis 15, find 13, language 13,trick 14MIND 13Test 14, willpower 14CHARlSMA 13

Charm 15, persuasion 16SPIRIT 18Faith (Cyberpope) 23, focus 21, in

timidation 20, reality 21

Possibilities: 6per Storm Knight

Miracles: unbelltvtr's doom, vtX

Equipment: [RCOM Custom Veeerdeck (response +2, stealth +3,

power 4, storage 5) ;

NeuraCal, EpiphaNeur,

rmalplate(head and body,+7/value 18), FFO CamEye, CSIFFO NightView, Avro PR ILV,

value 19, ammo 20, range 3-

slicers, damage value

Cyber Value: 17Description:Leechwasyetanother

Mobius' prisoners sent to Heritage

r the Nowhere Lands experimenLe believes that he will eventually beto parlay his power in the mini

into cont ro l o f a chunk of theEmpire.

The Chop Shop

Once theKnight has given his conthe Cardinal invites him to step

t o the hOVering platform, and theo rise up into the vaulted ceiling.

the Knight sees a cyberwarencement shop.

In the center o( the room is a hugeterminal, covered with an

gold fi ligree. A cold, harsh

d blows through this chamber. Aor find total of 11 reveals

looks like a Nile scarab amuletto the side of the tenninal. If

the Cardinal will sta te that the

is a symbol of Mobius stolencyberpriests and given him as a

gift. Its placementon the terminal sym

bolizesMobius' eventual defeat at thehands of the Cyberpope.

In troth, the GodNet terminal is a

disguise for the reality bomb thatmain

tains this Nowhere Land. Removingthe scarab.would cause the winds to

increase in the room, and a s ilveryshower of light begin to faU. The axi

omswillchangefromCyberpapal pure

to Nile dominant and leech's assis-tant, the eybemun, will explode in

flames as she ttansfonns for a secondtime.

Several listless people can be seen

lying on on steel operating tables,tended by a cybemun. They are wiredto pulsing machinery (which Leech

explains away as a device to keep patientsdocilewhileeybergearisadded).

In truth, this is the Soul Drain device.

The Cardinal points to a vast arrayof cyber enhancements and asks the

Knight to choose what he wishes to

possess.When he hasmadehis choice,the Cardinal will have h im lie on asteel table, and the cybemun will connect metallic filaments to him ( if the

- - - - - - - - - - : : - : - ' 43



Crucible 01 POlin

ight already has neural jacks, shell connect the wires to these). A

total of 10 is needed to re-e the wires.At this point, a Perception or findl of 15 allows the Knight to see thetingSpiritapproach.TheWastingrit will attack with his paralyzing

and then use life drain to makeale attack the Knight's Spirit. If he

s already used the life drain powerinact, hewill simply leavethe Knightalyzed, intendingtodrainhim later.or details on the Wasting Spirit, see

Three, Scene One or the

erCharacter Record Sheet.)the Wasting Spirit's initial attack isccessful, the Knight will be unablemovewhile theSoulDrainsteals his

at a rate ofone per hour.

See page 83 of The Cyberpapacysourcebook.Possibilities: noneAdditional Equipment: surgicalser, damage value 13

Heretic!

If the Knight refuses tojoinwiththeCardinal, Leech brands him a hereticand gives him one last chance tocleanse his soul and becomeonewiththe Cyberchurch. In ' doing so, he

reaches into a case and pulls out anumberofDatchipsand aTrigonpros·theticarm. Hemakes a second persua-sion attempt.

I f the Knight agrees to followLeech's lead, cut to "TheChop Shop."

If the Knight remains adamant inhis refusal, Leech will attack. He will

attempt to physically drag the Knightonto the platform and into the chopshop. There the eybemun will attackwith a laser scalpel.TheKnight canescape throughany

one of the three stained glass win·dows in the chapel, which will leadhim to the Heritage basement. I f hedefeats Leech and the cybemun, andso desires, he can free the other pris·oners (first aid totalof8 to revive them)and take them with him.

SCENE FIVE:Night of the

War Wolf

The Situation

Standard. Storm Knights fromOrrorsh find themselves on a craggymountainside late at night. Marrow·chilling winds blow from the north,and strange groans echo through thebluffs.This is where the Wasting Spirit

holds greatest sway, having defeatedthe War Waif in the struggle to be thetrue Lord of this Nowhere Land. TheWar Waif is merely following the or ·ders of the Wasting Spirit.

The Action

If the Storm Knight sets out exploring, he sees the reddish glow of a firecoming from a cave higher up themountain. A Perception or evidenceanalysis total of 20 will tell the Knightthat, though this place has the feel ofOrrorsh, there is an indefinablediffer·ence.

A Perception or find total of 12 re-

veals threeportals, blinking onand offin the darkness at thefoot ofthe moun·tain. I f the Knight heads for the por·tals, theWarWolfwillmovedown themountain, cut him off, and make hisoffer. If the Knight heads for the cave,hewill encounter the War Waif there.Have the Knight generate a Persever-ance total against a difficulty numberof 10.Read aloud or paraphrase:

You are confronted by a shaggy,foul-smelling creature that resemblesa cross between a bear and a wolf. Itis like no creature you have seen before in all yow travels. It stands upright, its matted hair caked with

blood, and it beckons you forwardwith a viciously sharp talon.

TheWarWoUhas two messages todeliver, one tonon-humanOrrorshans(Le.,werewolves and such) and one tohumans.

Tonon-humans, theWarWolfsays:

. ~ - - - - - - - - - .....44 .w.;,.:t



"Come now, dark childe. Aren'tu tired of being a wolf among the

How can you sland the smellthe ir soft. pink liltle bodies? 00l yow claws yeam for the warmth

flesh? 00 yow jaws noldroollaslthe coppery slickness of their

cred fluids? Is Ihere so little of the

ast lefl within you?"

To humans, the War Wolf says:

"'You know you have a dark side.ou cannot exorcise it with petty at

on Orrorsh or on other realms.growswithin you. Yow lruesoul is

etrayal. You cannol live without

those close to you. You deeverything you lauch. But why

ffer in the company of gnats? Leishow you the path 10 true power."

Regardless of the Knight's answer,hispropo

tion. Cut to "The Offer."

ar Wolf

DEXTERITY13Dodge 15, maneuver 14, stealth 14,unarmed combat 17STRENGTH13TOUGHNESS 16PERCEPTION 11Traclcing 14, trick 13MJNOll

Test 13, willpower 12CHAR1SMAU

Persuasion 14, taunt 13SPIRIT 10Faith (Orrorsh) 12, intimidation 12,reality 14, shapeshifting 13Possibilities: 6 per Slorm KnightNaturalTools:daws,damagevalueR+4/17; teeth, damage value

PowerRating: 2Conuption Value: 12Fear Rating: 1Powers: rtSistimcetononnillwetlpons

Severe Weakness: silverTrue Death: any

The Offer


.... will give you a greal gift.• willyou an important se<nl As the

t Kurst said, the purpose of lifeis

to kill one's enemies.• shall give youa gifl, wild childe - • shalt leU youthe meaning of this saying."'It isaboulmorethanmerevictory

and conquesl. It means you are toprune the world 10 fit yow devising.Remove that which does not meetwith yow acceptance, and the worldwill no longer be an obstacle to your

plans. Even the lowliest of humanstries to reshape the world by spewing forth progeny.

"It is up to ustokeepsome conOOIoverwho lives and who dies. Morals

Act Two

were invented to keep theweak fromreshaping the world, which makes iteasier for those of us who are soong.

But would you tum yow back on

yow heritage by adoptingmoraJ behavior? Look how i t weakens you,and limits your freedom!"Staywith mel Letme teach you to

be a true beast!"

This is a persuasion attempt, withthe War Wolf trying for a yes or vowresult.

If the Knight refuses theoHer, cut to

- - - - - - - - - - - - - _ 1 - .45



Crucible of Polin

Beast Unleashed." If he acceptse offer, cut to "The Boneyard."

he Beast Unleashed

The War Wolfwill make one morempt to per5UJJde the Knight, point

g out that every cosm is shaped bytchery, and that bloodshed has ac·ed for a great dealmoreprogress

an the musings of human thinkers.e War Wolf will again offer to un·

ash the Knight's dark side.If the Knight relents, cut to "The

Ii theKnight continues tofuse, the War Wolf attacks, out for

If theKnightdefeats theWarWolf,may free the prisoners from the

ones and lead them to the portals

aid total of 8 to get them up and

If the Knight attempts to escape toe portals rather than fight the Warolf, the creature will pursue the

down the mountain and atmpt to stop him from escaping. It

ll takefive rounds for theKnight toke it down the path to the portals.e through, he will find himself in

e Heritage basement.

The BoneyardTheWarWolfleadstheKnightdeep

into his cave. In a rear chamber is aroomfilled withbones. Ahuge ribcageextends from the floor to the roof, likea perverse vaulted ceiling. Listlesspeopleare entwined in thebones,looking pale and emaciated.At the center of the room is huge

thronemade of bone, around which aminiature cyclone whirls. A Pm:ep-tiO/1 or find total of 10 reveals a scarab

amulet hangingon thethrone.Ifaskedabout it, theWarWolfwilldismiss the

question and accuse the Knight of

being too cowardly to embrace truepower.The throne is, in truth , the reality

bomb. If theKnight removes theamu-

let, thewinds will grow fiercer in thecave, and then a silvery rain of lightwill fall as theOrrorshan axiomsvanish and Niledominant axioms return.

At this point, the War Wolf will howlin rage and attack.

If the Knight sits on the throne, thebones that make up its armswill begintowritheandwrap themselvesaroundthe Knight's wrists (Strength total of10required tobreak free). At this point, aPercqJtion or find total of 15 allows theKnight to see the Wasting Spirit approach. TheWastingSpirit will attackwith his paralyzing touch, and then uselift dmin to make a single attack theKnight's Spirit. If he has already usedthe life drain power in this act, he willsimply leave the Knight paralyzed,intending to drain him later. (For details on the Wasting Spirit, see ActThree, SceneOne or theGamemasterCharacter Record Sheet.) If the Wasting Spirit's initial attack is successful,the Knight will be unable to move

while the Soul Drain steals his Possibilities, at a rate of one per hour.

Perseverance Award

If the Knight defies the War Wolfand escapes, award him four Persevtr-ana points.

SCENE SIX:

Nippon/MonAmour

The Situation

Standard. Storm Knights from

Nippon Tech find themselves in abright, spacious, circular office building inNippon.The Knight is seated ina chair on an interior balcony whichoverlooks a large chamber full of of

fice cubic.les. laid out like a qmze.Busy workers walk through the cubicles, much like lab ~ a t s . Some areformermembersofthe board of d i r l ~ c "tors, others are awaiting their chance

at promotion.Windows line the circularbalcony,

providing spectacular views of T kyo. In truth, the windows are high-

l t ~ : : : : a = ~ ; ; ; t ; b r e a k -e theClty

to vanish and reveal energy barrier.

The Action

On a Pm:eptiotl or roidence IIl1Jllysistotal of 20, the Knight senses thatthough this place seems much likeNippon, it is somehow different.

On a Perception or find total of8, theKnight sees that three of thewindows

are different from the others. Theirglass is tinted., and no light comesthrough from the outside. OnceeveryJOsecondsthe glassparts,Iikeaparrofjaws, and a strange white light appears behind it. The jaws then close.(These are the portals leading back tothe Heritage basement.Once the Knight has had a minute

to explore the place, Mr. Takiwaraarrives (if the Knight is fooling withthe windows that block the portals,Taldwara shows up before he can fin-

ish). Takiwara is a tall, balding Japanese businessman with a modest air.He approaches the Knight, ad-

dresses him by name, and tells him it

is time for his appointment. If askedabout the portals. he dismisses themas an advertising ploy. Uasked. aboutthe natureof theappointment, he wilsay that it is with him, and he will getright to the heart of the matter.Read aloud or paraphrase:

The ~ x ~ c u t i v ~ g i v ~ s you a cold

appraising look. "It is t i m ~ w discussed your career path. It s e ~ m s youhave chosen a most r e b ~ l l i o u s ave n u ~ d ~ s i g n e d to bring dishonor to

your name. Do notattemptto deny it

We know the t ruth of t h matter."But w do not begrudge you you

youthful ~ x c e s s e s . We respect t h fierce struggle you h a v ~ waged

against us these pastmonths. But youdo not know all t h facts, and it it i m ~ you were ~ n l i g h t e n e d ."'We are building a b ~ t t ~ r I i f ~ fo

all p ~ p l ~ . For t h world. W do nos u b j u g a t ~ , as the others do. W dnot oppress.We introduce no radicachanges in lifestyle.We take nothin

away. Our c i t i z ~ n s are happier now

than ~ v e r , becausewe give themmorof what they want!

"And what do w ask in returnThe possibility energy of the p ~ p l - somethingtheycannotseeortouchsomething most are not even awarthey possess.Whenit isgone, theyd

. ~ - - - - - - - - - ......46 ...,



Act Two

tmourn it s absence- they revelin

e peace i1nd security we hilVeto their lives."

This is a ptTSUJlsion attempt, with

trying fora yes or vow result.thenofferstheKnighta place

the board of directors of the firm. Ife Knight agrees, cut to "Kanawa

omes You." If he refuses, cut to'Ninja!'"

Takiwara

DEXTERITY9Dodge II, fire combat 10, lock pick-ing 10, maneuver 10, stealth 11

STRENGTH 9TOUGHNESS 9PERCEPTION 11Evidence analysis 12, find 13, lan-guage 13, trick 15MJNDll

Business 15, test 13CHARISMA 12Persuasion 14, taunt 15

SPIRITS

Intimidation 10, reality 12

Possibilities:6 per

StormKnightEquipmentZIImz,damagevalue

16, ammo 12, range 3-10/25/40Description:Takiwara is a Nippon

businessman who was part of a trade

delegation visiting the Japanese em

bassy in Thebes. Hewas captured, butis convinced that the entire realitybomb experiment is a test of his loy-alty masterminded by Kanawa.

Kanawa Welcomes

YouIf the Stonn Knight agrees to join

the board, Takiwara takes him below

to the maze level, leading him into the

only office with a ceiling. There, cor-porate heads si t around a black,

laqueredwood table, their right handsresting on gold plates set into the tablesurface.They stareblanklyahead, andwill not respond to questions.

TaJdwaraoffers the Knight a seat atthe table. Should the Knight sit down

and place his hand onthe

plate,he

istaken to themaze below, and into the

only room with a ceiling. Corporateleaders si t around a black, lacqueredwood table, their right hands on gold

plates set in the table surface. Theystare straight ahead. A chill breeze isblowing through the room, as i f the ai rconditioningwere turned up toohigh.The Knight is offered a seat at the

table.A Ptrcqnion or find total of 9 will

reveal a a scarab amulet set into the

center of the table. Talciwara will ex-plain this away as a s ign the the NileEmpire is the next targetof theKanawaCorporation. In truth, the amulet is aNile talisman, and the table the realitybomb. If the Knight removes the talis-man, a silvery rain begins to fall, andthe room is transformed back into abasement testing chamber.

If the Knight joins them and placeshis hand on the gold plate,a Ptrapfionor find total of 15 allows the Knight tosee the Wasting Spirit approach. A

willpower total of 13 will allow the- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - · _ 47



g: Crucible of Pain

ight to remove his hand from theDrainElement.TheWastingSpiritattack with his paralyzing touch,then use life drain to make a singleth e Knight's Spirit. If he hasused the life drain power inhewill simply leave theKnightintending to drainhim later.

details on theWasting Spirit, see

Three, Scene One or theRecordSheet.)

eWasting Spirit's initial attack isthe Knight will be unable

move while theSoul Drainstealshisat a rate of one pe r hour.

I f the Knight resists taking a seat,grows angry. Cut to "Cry

Cry "Ninja!"

lftheStannKnightresistsTakiwara,ninja emerge from an outer of-and attack. During th e fight,

will tell the Knight that thea will desist i f he will agree to takerightful place on the board. If the

defeats the ninja, Takiwarawill attack.

If theKnight relents at any time, cu t"Kanawa Welcomes You."

Ninja (3)

Seepage 59 of the Nippon Techsourcebook.

Possibilities: 2Equipment: nunchaka, damage

STR+5/19; katana, damage

STR+7/21Note:All three ninja havemasterede first three maneuvers of ninjutsu.

The only way to escape is to leapone of the portalwindows on

e bakony. Even though it looks likee windows open onto empty ai r 30

up , they actually lead into thebasement, like all the other

If theKnightwishes to freetheotherand take them with him, he

If th e bomb has notbeendisabled,will take a Strength total of 11 to pullhands free of the plates, and a

aid total of 8 to get them up and

••48

SCENE SEVEN:Core Earth Ain'tWhat I t Used To Be

The Situation

Standard.StannKnightsfromCore

Earth find themselvesin whatappearsto be the room they stood in when theteleportation grenade went off. Theblack smoke slowly dissipates, andthe Knight sees his friends (actuallyOrrorshan doppelgangerst appar

ently unaffected by the grenade. (I f

Angelou threw the grenade, he is no-ticeablyabsent.)

The ActionOn a Perception or find total of8, the

Knight sees a strange black oval ap-

Brief ing the Players

The participationof theother

players isessential for this sceneto work. Before you br ing theCore Earth player in, brief the

other players on their specialroles.

In thisscene, theywill be play-ing corrupt duplicates of theircharacters, doppelgangers cre-ated by the power of theWast-

ing Spirit. These creatures haveidenticalattributesto their c o u n ~terparts, but are governed byOrrorshan axioms-that means

they can disconnect in this Nowhere Land.This particular mini-cosm

simulatesthe setting theKnightswere in when the teleportationgrenade went off. The otherdenizens of this Nowhere Land

will be carefu l not to use gadgets with a Tech level higherthan that of the Living Land, soas not to tip the Core EarthKnight off that he is in his own

reality.The other players should

pear in the ai r at the end of the hall-way. It opens like huge black jaws,letting a bright light shine through. Itdoses seconds later, revealing thehall-way behind. lithe Knight points it outto his "comrades," they will c la im tohave seen nothing.

A Perception or find total of 20 willtell the Knight that though this place

seems like the same room he was inbefore, it feels subtly different. Thereare small things ou t of place, almost asif this were somewhere else entirely.

A Perception or evidence analysis to-tal of 15 will reveal that a specificKnight is notwho he seems to be. If theCore Earth Knight identifies an im-postor, the others will immediatelyattack and kill that doppelganger.

Before the Knight can investigatethe portal, or find the barrier, Dr.Smithers arrives. He is an elderlymanwho looks like a standard Nile scien-tist. He shakes his head and concedesthat the bes t efforts of the Heritage

keep in mind that their missionis to convince the Core EarthKnight that they are his friends,and that they agree with the ar

guments made by Dr. Smithersin this scene. They should encourage the Knight to go alongwith Smithers and volunteer todisconnect and be transformed

to another reality.If theCore Earth Knightmen

tions the portal, the Orrorshandoppelga ngers should claim nottosee it.Once they haveacceptedSmithers' surrender, the

doppelgangersshould exit(they·can pass through the barrier),and stay away until and unless

Smithers calls for them.

Keep inmind that if attackingthe Core Earth Knight, the

doppelgangers are not trying tokill him, merely subdue him.Their purpose is to make theKnight feel inferior to them, sothat he will agree to be trans-formed.



t staff have failed. to stop theso he has no choice but tothe facility. If asked. about

orBerofski, hegives the Knightsrections to the office where both ofm can be found.Then he seems to suddenly take

of the Core Earth Knight, and

MOh _ just one minor matter. We

surrender to those who comereal cosms. Wedo not surrender

Core Earth types. They no longer

ve a place on this planet.'"

T h other Knights (doppelgangerswiIJ react as if this is a revelation,heartily agree. Deriding the Core

rth Knight because he has no pulp

s, magic,orcybergear, theywillte to kick him out of the group.hen, saying they are off to rescueya, they pass through thebarrier asit were not there. II the Knight triesfollow, the invisible barrierwill nothim pass.Smithers stays behind to consoleKnight. saying:

Act Two

"Evolution has left you behind!e world has moved on. and left

standing alone. The future begs to the new order, ornd you are a

MUlchronism. Yow friendshave a place here, but you do not.

up this old, outmoded form!ept conversion to a new, superior

form!"

This is a persuasion attempt bymithers, and he is trying for a yes or

result. If the Knight agrees to be

ansformed, cut to 'The Only ConIf he refuses, cut to "By MyBetrayed."

r. Smithers

DEXTERln'9

Dodge 10, maneuver 10, stealth 11,unarmed combat 10STRENGTHS

TOUGHNESSS

PERCEPTION 11Evidence analysis 13, find 12, trick14MIND 12Science (psychology) 15, test 14

CHARISMA 10Charm 12, persuasion 12, taunt 11SPIRlTI0

Intimidation 11, reality 13

Possibilities: 6 per Storm KnightDescripHon:ACoreEarth research

scientist who volunteered for the Nowhere Lands experiment, fascinatedby the reality bomb concept and be-Heving it wise to win the favor of

Mobius, all things considered.

Doppelgangers

Orrorshan creatures, doppelgangers have thesameattribute valuesas the person they're patterned after, +1 adds in each of the follow

ing: dodge, fire combat, I1UJneuver,melft!wetlpons, stesfth, unQrmed com-bat, find, tracking, trick, test, wilt-

power, CM"!', ptrSUJlsion, taunt, intimidation and reslity, and +5 adds

in shapeshifting.Possibilities: 1Power Rating: 1Powers: blur formCorruption Value: 15

Fear Rating: 1/2

Weakness:comingfacetofacewithperson being simulated - stymieweakness

True Death: any

The Only Constant

If the Knight agrees to have hisrealityaltered,Smithers takes him intoa lab, and shows him a cylindricalglasschamber. A rainbowofscintillating colored lights dances within it;red, green, blue, purple, yellow and

black.. ~ e r e are three other cylinders like

It, With Nowhere Land denizens inside. They are apparently beginningto transform (actually, it 's make-up,something an evidence anQlysis total of

16 will ~ n a b l e t ~ Knight to figureout). Southers pomts out one subjectwho is transforming into an ell, an·

otherwhochosetobecomeawerewolf,and a woman who wished to becomea Nile priestess.

••49



rg: Crucible of P.ln

Variables

Awards

OnceeachKnight has been throughhi. Nowhere Land experience (and,

hopefully, escaped back to the Heri-

tage basement) cut to "ActThree: Outof the Crucible."

If a Storm Knight defeats a Lord ofowhere but does not disable the re-

alitybomb.hecan force the vanquishedto explain theNowhere Lands experi-ment to him and guide him to a portal.

•••ut To

Award each Knight three P055ibili-ties for escaping the Nowhere Lands.

If the Knight resisted the offerbut wasdefeated or did not escape, award one

Possibility. If the Knight accepted aNowhere Lord'. offer and was at-tached toa SoulDrainElement, award

him no Possibilities.

If an Alertness card is played, aKnight sees the glOWing portals rightaway, without having to generate askill total to do it.

If a Connection card is played, theKnight recognizesoneoftheprisonershooked up to a Soul Drain Element.

ByMy FriendsBetrayed

The follOWing flags apply to all thescenes In Act Two.

Flags

If the Knight refuses to be trara-

formed, Smithen reminds him that he

has nowhereelsetogo,and maychOOlleany reality he wishesa. his new axJom....

Ifthe KnIght rejects the ()ffer again,Smithers calls for the other "Storm

KnIghts." He asks them to penuade

their comrade to accept his help.The ollter playen now will have

their characters try to persuade the

Knight to accept conversion (allOrronhan dopptlgangen have one

add inperswuwn). UtheKnIght relentsat any time, cut to "The Only Con-

stant."UtheKnightrontinues torefuse.Smithers orden an attack.U the Knight is defeated, Smithen

willmakethe offeronemore time, andon a refusal, order him killed. Jl theKnight is victorious, he can free the

prisoners (Strength total of 10 to openthe cylinders and a first aid total of 8 toget them moving). The Knight must

leap through the portal toescape.find-ing himself back in the Heritage base-

ment. Any surviving doppelgangen

will not foUow him.

Smithers leads the Knight to an

cylinder and beckons him to

inside. A harsh wind !eems to beowing in this area. A PtTception or

total of 9 reveab a !Carab amulet

on the cylinder. If asked,

will explain that this was leftby a Nile denLzen who, for

unknown reason, wished to be

alUformed to a Living Land native.Actually, thebank ofcylinders con-utes the reality bomb. If the Knight

the amulet, a silvery rainwillto fall and the axionu will.hiEt

Core Earth pure to Nile domi-

U the Knight steps ilUide the cylin-, Smithers turns a switch "activat-themachine. AStrength totalof10

required to open the cylinder. Atpoint, a Percqtiol1 or find total of

allows the Knight to see the Wast·

approach.TheWaslingSpiritattack with his ptlrTllyzing touch,

d then U5e lift drain to make a .inglethe Knight' s Spirit. If he hasused the tift drain power in

ad,hewill.imply leave theKnight

detaUs on the WastingSpirit, seect Thre e, Scene One or th e

CharacterRecord Sheet.)the Wasting Spirit'. Initial attack Is

the Knight win be unable

movewhile theSoul Drain .teal. his

at a rate of one per hour.If the Knight refuses to get Into the

cut to "By My Friends Be-

..so



Act Thre

Act Three

Out of the Crucible

The Major Beat

The Knights challenge the power

of the Wast ing Spirit, and "rescue"Maya from her predicament, making

theirescape from Heritage justas reinforcements arrive.

SCENE ONE:

Just Wasting Away

The Situation

Dramatic. The Storm Knights

emerge from the Nowhere Lands,discovering that all of the portals leadbacktoonedoor in thebasement. Readaloud or paraphrase:

The basement is duk and musty.

Youcanhearmovement coming fromthe floor above you - more

shocktroopers, no doubt.

Suddenly, the room is illuminated

by a bright flash of light, fol1owed by

another and another. The door behind you is opening on i ts ownl

The dooropenseachtimeoneof thesets of portals opens, roughly everyfive seconds. It is only their fear of theoutside that has kept the denizens oftheNowhereLandsfrom escaping into

Heritage.The portal openings give the room

a bizarre strobe effect, which make! it

difficult to see (+1 to the difficulty ofall Pm:eption checks which require theuse of vision). If the Knights do nothave any artificial sources of light,they will have to rely on the strobeflashes for light.

The Action

Have the Knights generate Puctp-hon or find totals. On a 9, they spot aclipboard nailed to the opposite wallThe notes attached explain the theoryof the Nowhere Lands experiment, aswell as the fact that the door in thebasement leads to these mini-cosms.

Thenotesgoon tosay thatonemustbe

thinking of the Nowhere Land he

wishes toenterwhen he walks throughthe portal to be transported there.

II there are any Knights missingthe party may assume, based on theirown experiences, that the Nowhere

Lands have claimed victims. If theywish, theycan re-enterthe mini-rosmsto .rescue their comrades, simply bygomg through the basement door. If

they do so, the Lord of the Nowhere

Land they invade will attack, alongwith any of his minions who survivedAct Two.

I f thereare no Knights missing,or ithe party decides not to go back inthey can explore the basement. On aPerception or find total of 12, they spota small chamber in the rear of thebasement. This was originally designed as the monitoringcenterfor theNowhere Lands experiment, bu t wasabandoned when theprojectgotouto

control. It is now the lair of the Wasting Spirit.

If the Knights enter the cluttered

and abandoned observation room. orattempt to exit the basement via thestairs, cut to "The True Spirit of

Things."

The True Spirit ofThings

TheWasting Spirit isenragedat theKnights for escap ing the Nowhere

Lands. He has a particular hatred for

any of them who managed to shu

.t

51



Crucible of Pain

Berofski Attacks

Toward the end of Maya's storProfessor Berofski snaps. He whi

out his gun, and starts shooting at tKnights. If theKnights try tousedeadforce in subduing him, Maya sto

them, saying he must remain alivepay for his crimes. She wants him

spend the rest of his life caring for tlearned helple!sness prisoners an

restoring their courage. She rejectsothersuggestionsfordealingwith hi

tivelyquiet. Theycaneasilymake theway to Berofski's office, and wh

they enter, they will findMaya stan

ing confidently,completely in controBerofksi is cowering in the well of hdesk, and the gospog are twitchingthe comer.

Maya will ask that the Knights nkill the gospog, as they belong to h

now. Shewill explain the salient poinofher story, includinghertriumphovBerofski, but you need notgo intogredetail, as the players will find it all owhen they read theendofthestory.Yocan pattern Maya's dialogue to th

Knights after that in the text.If the Knights ask how she ma

aged to summon themin the first placshedemonstrates, inadvertentlycauing the target Knight great pain (metal damage value 12).

Flags

Variables

Cut To ...

The Action

The Situation

SCENE TWO:To the Rescue?

Standard. The Knights find Mayain complete control of her situation,and together, she and the party make

their escape from Heritage with the

ZeroWard prisoners.

When the Knights emerge from thebasement, they will find things rela-

If a Nemesis card is played and the

Wasting Spirit has been defeated butnot slain, he will escape from Heritageat some point dUring the ensuing confusion. After he has restored his energies, he will pursve theKnights, intenton their destruction, in a later adventure.

Ifthe Knights are somehow able topersuadetheWastingSpiritintothink

ing they wish to return to Heritage toprocuremoresubjectsfortheNowhere

Lands, he will let them go. But hemay

well attack them again as they attempt

to escapeHeritagewhen he discovershe's been deceived.

Once the Wasting Spirit has beendisposed of, cut to "SceneTwo: To theRescue?"

darkness powers to convince otherstha t he is ethereal. The only parts ofhim commonly visible are his bloodred eyes and his gleaming claws.

Defeating theWastingSpiritmeans

theKnights are free to escape thebasement and free Maya. If the basement

door is still barred, a Strength total of12 is required to open it.

Professor BerofskiDEXTERITY 8Dodge9,firecombat9,maneuver

unarmed combat 9STRENGTH 8TOUGHNESS 8PERCEPTION 11Evidence analysis 14, find 1scholar (psychology) 16, trick 12MIND ,.

Test 15, weird science 17CHARISMA 10Persuasion 12, taunt 11SPIRIT 11Reality 1.Possibilities: 5Inclination: Evil (but slowly mo

ing towards Good)Equipment: .22 Revolver, dama

value 12, ammo 6, range 3-10/15/2Description:Typicalmad scienti

at this point thoroughly cowed

Maya's power. His attack is an actdesperation, but at heart, he's terrifi

: = - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ....'

TheWasting Spirit will attack, gog first for Knights who destroyed

Lands.

he Wasting Spirit

DEXTERITY 11Dodge 14, maneuver 13, stealth 15,unarmed combat 14STRENGTH 16TOUGHNESS 13PERCEPTION ,.

Find 16, language 15, trick 17MIND 11Test 14, willpower 16CHARISMA 15

Persuasion 17, taunt 19SPIRIT 12Faith (Orrorsh) 15, intimidation18,

reality 16Possibilities: three per Storm

Knight

NaturalTools:claws,damage value

Corruption: 17Power Rating: 8Powers: life drain, power value 26;

tauch, power value 27; blurpower value 19; dDrlrness, power

lue 16Fear Rating: 1Perseverance DN: 10True Death: any

Description: The Wasting Spirit ist a spirit at all, bu t a humanoid

r ror who uses his blur form and

"'You cannot be allowed to leave,ones. You have seen too much

and you have attempted to de

ive me of sustenance. But tonight,feed and feed

the reality bombs and thus de

mini-eosms which he had domiHe is determined to stop the

basementand

to the Heritage personnel

ow the experiment can be ended.

he would like to force the

back into theNowhereLands,t failing that, he will settle for rendg them with his claws.When the Wasting Spirit first ap

before them, have the Knightsa Perseverance total against anumber of 10. The Wasting

rit will stand before them, lookingconfidentin hispower,and

y in a voice like glass breaking:



Act Threoe

ysical pain.

the Prisoners

the Knights try to rescue the

rned helplessness prisoners beforerescue Maya, they will find the

tives a frustrating bunch. Thepris-

tremble a t the ir approach, andnot leave their cells. They moan

gibber if the Knights try to carry

out. In short, the Knights willMaya's help to get them out.

Maya forces Berofski to see the

through theprisoners'eyes.Theshatters Berofski, and in

end he r .romises to dedicate the

of his Ii e to restoring the prison·

psyches. (Spells ormiracles to de-lies reveal he is truthful).

Next Maya sits with the prisoners,ing toearn their trust. She fails, and

ou t in a fury. She announces

abandoning her plan to save

and would l ike to go. She com·

that theywould ratherdie than

and she is prepared to let them.The Knights will have to convinceya that she can give the prisoners

courage to walk out ofHeritage.Asuasion total of 10 will be necesto accomplish this.

U the Knights are successful, Maya

go back into the cells and whenhas had her say, the prisoners willher out.

The Great Escape

TheKnights can getout of the Heri·

building unchallenged, or can

a few shocktroopers, if youOnce outside, a Perception total

8 reveals two roadsters, one troop

and one ha1ftrack troop trans-

parked on the grounds of the

The prisonerswill all fit in the troopand the Knights can take

wever many vehicles they would

{landvdficles totalsof8 required to

the card, 9 for the truck and

Event

When the Knights are just about

to leave the base, shocktrooper

reinforcements summoned earlier byBerofski arrive.

8eJtin this event when the Knightshaveloaded the

learned helplessnessprisoners into their escape vehicle (orafter the Knights have given up on

persuading them to leave). The rein·

forcement squad is composed of 30

shocktroopers,all equippedwithNileEmpire talismans. Their talismansenforce local real ity so their guns and

jeeps can continue to work.Use the shocktrooper stats provided

in SceneThreeofAct One. The Knightsmust escape with Maya and as many

prisoners as possible. It might be po5-"

sible to get Bero£ksi to assure theshocktroopers all is well, and the pris-oner transfer has been ordered by Merbius; simply outfight and outrun the

shocktroopers; or lure them into theminefield, where their talismans willcause the mines to begin detonating.

Flags

U a Ronuma card is played by amale Storm Knight, Maya develops a

crush Qn him. As she is only a teen·

ager, this a tten tion may make the

Knight extremely uncomfortable.

Aftermath

Once theStormKnights get clearofthe institute, they can take the prison·ers to the Free Sudan refugee camp,

where camp leader N'Buto welcomesthemwithopenarrns.Unlike the story,Maya does no t join thegroup. Instead,she stays in the camp to help the prisoners.

The players may now read the remainder of the story.

Adventure Awards

Award the Knights 10 Possibilitiesfor completing thisad venturesucee;sfully. U they are able to rescue the

prisoners, either by getting Maya to

do it or doing it themselves, award

them an extra hvo Possibilities.

. . .----------------__· - ·53



s: Crucible of P,ln

Crucible of Pain

Part II

Maya waited.Nothing h a p p e ~ e d . Far away she heard the cry of a wildShe slowly ratsed herhead. Thegospogwere standingl, silently watching her."'Come on, you bastards!" she shouted to the creatures.me and kill me!"The creatures did not move."'Oh god, I can't even die ..." she moaned. "'Why me?me?"

Through her stinging tearsand rage, she felt the answer

~ a u s e I'm a hero, she thought. Because I'm a Storm:Ught. That's why. And I didn't kill those people. Theyled themselveswhen they decided not toclimb the fence.en they decided the hell they knew was better than the

e they didn't. They made their own choices!The realization was like light, washing away the dismaless in her heart.

I've been punishing myseU over their choices! I wantedgo crazy after that! 1decided tobecome insane, or suicidal... helpless. Helpless. .Helpless like hewanted me to be. But I'm not helpless. Ive the strength to save myself!Maya pulled herselfou t of themurkywater. She turnedface her pursuers. The gospog took a menacing step

her, tryingto spurher to flight. She held herground.She qUieted her mind, and reached out. She studied thetting matter inside the creatures. All the decaying flesh

bound around a fine lattice of plant filament.Uke nerves, she thought. Or zombie DNA. Cool!She gathered up a bunch of the filaments in her mind's

and i m a ~ i n e d them twisting and tearing. The gospogn a spastic dance, twitching and flailing in the mud.Okay, Maya thought. Problem one taken care of. Pr0b-m t w o ~ shuttingdown theResearchCenter and stoppingexpenments.She turned and headed back to Heritage.

. P r o f ~ r B e r o ~ s k . i ~ in his.cluttered office, tinkeringhiS bulky dtctation machine. He leaned toward it,

eping his bodyasclose to

it aspossible.

As

long as he

••54

stayed near the machine, it would record. If he movedaway, the primitive tech level of the room would affect it

and it would stop working.He raised the horn·shaped microphone to his mouth

and fought the urge to pace around the·room.

"Damnancient technology!" he began. "It's bad enoughI can't get a decent Sony here, but until that damn bomwears off, I can barely move without this damn machinconking out. A : ~ d , as if thingsweren't bad enough,my stafhas.lost t h abthty to behave like rational, thinking peopleIt's lmp0s5tble to get them tocooperateon even thesimplestasks while we're operating under this ridiculous set oLiving Land axioms. 1don't lntSt them to defend this placwell. Even the other scientists are acting likeNeanderthalsThe idiots! The morons! The - ahem."He started over, in a tightly controlled voice. "'Did no

en;oy this morning's learned helplessnesssessionsas mucas thought I ~ g h t . Eventhough theprisonershad felt verguilty for trying to escape, and writhed most agreeably,could not concentrate on my work."He leaned back, and put his feet up on his desk. Th

dictation machine's rapidly spinning tape reel slowed. Hc u r s e d ~ and pulled themachine closerto him.The reel speupagam .."'The gospog are still out, continuing my experimenwith the Dearbome Storm Knight. They won't bring heback until they have completed theexperimentand brokeher. Though I strive to maintain a very professional scientific detachment at all times, Ican't wait till her little psychis crushed like a goose egg!

"Hmm : .. it occurs to me that this gospog experimenshould completely revolutionize the concept of ... fieldresearch. Heh heh heh!"A loud crash echoed down the hall, shaking th

professor's desk, and rattling his chair."'Damnation!" heshouted. "You idiots!Can'tyouseeI'm

recording here!"Ahem," he continued, composing himself. "'Now then

wherewas 11 Ah, yes.Though1strive tomaintaina rigorouscientific detachment, I can't wait till that Dearborne girl ibrought back from-"Suddenly the office door burst open, and a noxiou

stench blasted into the room. A gospog shambled in, hold

ing the limpand bloody body ofMaya Dearborne. Anothe



lurched in behind the first, hurling a shocktrooperdown the hallway.

"Yah!" the professorshouted,startled. "Stop!Halt!Whate you doing here? You belong outside! Bad gospog!Civerl to shocktrooper! Now, you foul thing! Bad!"The second gospog slammed the door, closing themde the professor's office."You open that up'" he bellowed indignantly. "Whatareu doing here? Is the experiment over?"

"No," replied a strong female voice. "It 's just begining." Maya sat up in the gospog's arms, looking like a

enchantress.Berofski gagged, chokingon his own panic and disbelief."Obey me!" he shouted at the creatures, his voice filled

desperation. "I am your Iprd and master!""Sorry," Maya said, sliding down out of the creature's"You've just been deposed."

Berofski yanked open his desk drawer and plunged hisInto it. Before he could pul l the revolver clear of the

a gospog gnbbed his hand and squeezed. Hethe gun, gagging on the smell. He had never beento a gospogbefore,and the feelofrottingmeatand

around his hand made his stomach heave."Please ... no!" he croaked in a feeble voice. "Urp!"Maya nodded, and the creature released BerofskL Thepog twitched and shook, their nerve filaments still

from Maya's first attack.Berofski was also trembling. He cowered In the back ofoffice, completely unaccustomed to seeing a young girlpowerful and confident. In his feverish mind, Maya

oked like some bedraggled gypsy witch-woman. Everyhe looked at her, her eyes pierced him just as they had

e day shesaw him through the one-way glass wall oftheroom. She terrified him. He felt certain she knewwitch-woman magic that would cut him to the core.

e silence in the room intensified his terror.Summoning al l his courage, he sputtered, waut you .. .

broken! In mind and spiritl"She aaid nothing.He sank to the floor, his legs unable to hold him.At last, Maya spoke."Why?" she asked. "Why did you do it?""I'll never do it again!" he blurted out, afraid of whatmight do, and hoping she would believe him.

"Why hurt people like that?" she asked quietly.''If they were hurt, itwas neverwhat I intended, specifi

aUy," he replied curtly. "It was pUJ'\!'ly peripheral to theR

"Peripheral?'" Maya asked, incredulous. "00 you knowyou put them through?"

Berofski said nothing. He was unsure of the correct

"You don't,do you?'" she asked. "You haveno idea whatendured."

"Of course I do," he answered, oUended. "I have everyclinically documented."

'No!" she shouted. "J mean you don't understand! Youempathize with them at aW"

"Well." he said, arrogantly. "No one can ever trulythe pain of another."

Part Two

Maya did not answer. It was incomprehensible to herthat he could be so disconnected from the pain of theprisoners.

Mayacontinued, "During the timeswe talked, it seemedlike what you treasured was being free. And you seemedgenuinely interested in studying people's minds and habits,"

"Yes, that's true," he said.

"But now Isee you weren't interested in freedom, were

you?" she said. "Freedommeans freedom for all. What youreallywanted was permission todo as you pleased; to hurtanyone you wanted and feel powerful. I t' s not the samething."

Berofski opened his mouth and closed it again, He feltlike Maya had cracked him open.

"You have a gift," she continued. "You understandpeople. YoucouJd havedonepeoplea lot ofgood.Whyhurtthem like that?"

"I ..... he began. "Their pain is neceasary tomy research.But it doesn't really matter. I mean, they're not the important ones. They're jus t -"

He stopped abruptly. Itwasas if he had taken the lid off

a nest of vipers that were hiding in his stomach. He felt arush of vile thoughts spilling ou t into his mind. Their lush,seductive power frightened him more than Maya frightened him. Bow could such foul thoughts really bea part ofhim?He turned away from theflood of thoughts, determined

not to look at them. He hated Maya for stirring them up inthe first place.

''You can't get away with thisl" he said angrily, leapingto his feet. "I sent for reinforcements after the bomb wentoff. This place will be crawling with fresh shocktroopersany minute nowl"Maya shook her head sadly. "For a man who likes to

understand the workings of minds, you're completely outof touch with your own," she said.

There were crashing noises from the front of the building, followed by muffled gunshots.

"They'rehere!" the professor saidexcitedly."Yourg06pogwon't stand two minutes against them!"

Maya said nothing.Footsteps pounded down the hallway toward the office.

"In here!" the professorshouted desperately. Thedoor flewopen and three exotic men burst in, weapons drawn. Theone on the leftwas a strikingly beautifulman in exquiaitelydetailed platearmor. Hislong blondehairfell inringson hiashoulders, andhe brandisheda goldenspearwitha flowing

banner. On the left was a thin man with an exotic punkhaircut and a glittering array of wires and circuits protruding from a skullcap on the left side of his head. He had adangerously seductive smile.WhenMaya tooka good lookat theman in thecenter, she

felt a deep flush of heat. He was easily the most handsomeman she had ever seen. Hewas tall, tanned, and dressed inblack leathers and a black leather fedora. He was almostimpossibly good-looking, like a movie star.

She summoned all her will to calm her excitement, andsaid, "What took you so long?"The man in armor said "Forgive us, maiden. We came

55



C r u d b l ~ of Pain

all possible haste."Thepunksaid "Yeah.Youwouldn'tbelieve whatwe justn through. Besides, we'd 'a got here sooner, but Doc

kept freakin' ou t on us."

The man in the center was just staring at Maya. Hisgaze made her giddy, bu t she composed her-

elf. .

' 'I'm Maya," she said. "The gospog are mine, so please

attack them.""Oh!" theman in the centersaid. Hisvoicewas unbelievwarm and reassuring. "Excuseme, but I haven't intromy group. I 'm Doctor Wilde, of Terra." He pointed

the man in armor. ''This isTremayne. He's from the landAysle."''The pleasure is mine," Tremayne said, a smile shininghis supremely beautiful face."This is Skyjack," Wilde con ti nued. "From the

in France.""Great pair a' legs you got," Skyjack said, by way of

He was looking at Maya's purple, black andow tights, now in tatters around her slender legs.

DocWildegritted histeethand struckSkyJack'sskullcaptheback ofhishand. "I apologizeonSkyjack'sbehalf,"said tersely. ."Aw, don't git all remorseful on my account," Skyjackid, laughing. He then waved a beeping gadget over

's body.

"How'd you do that, babe?" he asked. "How 'ja call us

"Well," Maya began. "I just ...um .. : ' She knew sheneverexplainwhat she did, soshe closed hereyes andou t the signal again.Doctor Wilde screamed and clutched his head. Maya

alarmed.

Wilde recovered. "Next time .. : ' he said, "Not quite soPlease!"Skyjack laughed uproariously. "He was freakin' ou t alle way over here!" he said gleefully. "Hey Legs, can yadot psychic thing again?Or about fifty more times? Igattake a whole lot more readings of i t : '

"Quiet, thou miserable child of the Cyberpapacy,"ayne said, scolding Skyjack.

Maya felt suddenly very protectiveof DoctorWilde. Sheto soothe his pain.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," she said earnestly. "I justlly, really wanted you to hear me. Welt not you guys

bu t Iknew someoneou t therewould know how

deal with this craziness. Iwanted some heroes to get meHeritage.So Icalledout.And heroesaresupposedarrive in the in the nick of time, right? To save people?""Don't bet yer granny's pension on it," Skyjack said.do what we want when wewant."

"He is, of course, an idiot," said Tremayne, summoninghispatienceand shaking hishead disdainfully atSkyJack.e could no more ignore your summons than cease

"Great,"Maya said. "Well, Icouldn'twait, so Icamebackmy own."

"Cool beans!" Skyjack shouted, dashing over to the

spastic gospog. "Zombie Shuffle!" He twitched wildly,imitating the nerve-damaged gospog. "Hey, Legs! Did youdo this?"Doctor Wilde whirled, and pointed at the young punk.

"Skyjack, you will call her by name!"'Thank you," Maya said sweetly, scarcely letting ou t a

trace of the amazement and awe she felt over Doc Wilde'ssimple, gallantgesture. The respect she felt from the Terran

was stronger than any she had ever felt before. It was amoment before she could summon enough breath to answer."Yes:' she said. "I took control of the gospog."''Thou ar t quite a formidable presence," Tremayne said

with awe. 'Thou art of Core Earth?""Urn, I 'm from the earth that used to be here, if that's

what you mean:' she replied. "Yeah, Core Earth."DocWildescratched hishead, tipping his fedora. "We've

been planning to assemble a large group ofStorm Knightsto raid this science center, but I hadn't imagined a singleStorm Knight could wreak this kind of devastat ion! Wewere amazed toseetheplacetrashed and defenseless.How

did you-"The professor, who had been coweringbehind his desk,

finally could take no more."Aaaaargh!" he shouted and dove for hisgun. Before he

could point it, a golden spear deflected his aim and acrackling blue stun charge rocked his body."Easy,easy:'Maya cautioned,asTremayneandSkyjack

grabbed Berofski. "I don't want him hurt. He hasn't begunto pay for what he's done."The professor was shaking and screaming. "Damn this

cosm!" he screeched. "I should have known the cavalrywould rescue you at the last minute! Damn these axioms!""You still don't get it, do you?" Maya asked. "No one

rescued me. I saved myself. Once I chose to be free of myown guilt and fear, it was easy to stop those creatures."Huh!" she said, laughing. "When Iovercamemy man·

stecs, I overcameyours.""But my work!" BerofsKi pleaded, his adrenaline rush

slowing down. '1 made you powerless!""You can'tmakemeanything. Ialmost destroyedmyself

over leaVing the prisoners behind, but that was my choice.Ironic, huh? The closest you came to winning was something you didn't even know about:'

"But I had it all figured ou t ..." he said helplessly,groping toward the Introductory Psychology textbookon hisdesk. "Iran made sense ... You were supposed to break!"

Maya thought about that. "You know, I learned a lot ofthings from you. A lot of things. But helplessness wasn'tone of them."She laughed. "It's funny:' Maya said with a smile, "but

I really grew because of you. I hated you more than reverhated anybody, But because you tried to drag me down, Ican now stand on my own two feet. And you knowwhatelse? I don't even hate you anymore:'Berofskiwent limp.Skyjack and Tremayne lowered him

into a chair.The professor curled up into a ball, and pulledhis knees up to his chin. He looked small and frail.DocWilde hesitantly asked, "Uh, who is this guy?""Yeah," said Skyjack. "Who's the feeb?"

_ . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ....56 . . . .



Part Tw

••57



Crudbl, of P.ln

Maya quickly described the learned helplessnessexperiher captivity, and her escape. Her story angered

and made Skyjack laugh."'What a load a' void.aidl" Skyjack snorted derisively.nly a truly pathetic Storm Knight would break under ain-dead experiment like that.""I would not be soquick to judge," Tremayne cautioned.iven time to refine his experiments, this Berofski may

l succeed. Even ifhe does not, his lairis an abomination,d muat be shut down:'

Doctor Wilde agreed, ending thediscussion. "Well, let'st him out of his misery," he said grimly."No," Maya !laid firmly. "'We don't have to kill him."Skyjack smiled mischievously, and said "1 agree with

I mean, Maya. What a cold-blooded old sod you are,ilde-childe. Just leave it to Skyjack! I got the perfectlution to the problem of Professor Butcher.afski:'He drew out a long, sharp needle attached to a yellowx by a tangled wire."APurgatory Lobotom'll" he announced proudly. "He'll

know he once ha a great mind, but he'll never be

le to use it ! That'll be pure, living hell for a brainiac like

"No," saidMaya. "1 want him to knowexaetlywhat he'sI want him to really understand his experiments:."

"Oh, god!" he said, realization sinking in. "No! You'reing to ... you're going to put me in that room! Shockme!

me helpless! Oh god. Oh, god!""No," said Maya. '''That would do nothing but continuee cruelty." She turned to Doctor Wilde. "Bring him withe. We're going to ZeroWard:'

The prisoners started screamingas soon as they arrived.'They must really hate this man," Doctor Wilde said,ng at Berofski.

'1 don't think he's the one they're afraid of," Maya saidrkly. The prisoners ignored Berofski, and shrank fromapproach.

Maya put one hand on the back of Berofski's neck, and·inted to a prisoner. "See that man?" she asked. The

nodded slowly and then screamed. his wholewrenchedviolently, and hesank tohis knees. Maya letgo. The Storm Knights watched with horror and fasci·

tion. Even Skyjack was at a loss for words."Maya?" Doctor Wilde began."He just walked a mile in another man'l.hoes," Maya

1showed him theworld through thepmoner"s

The professor was twitchingon the ground, mumbling.ever ... never ... never again!" he said.Tremayne nodded. "Most ... effective," he said.Whenthe professorcould talkcoherently, hesald "Maya,l never do that ... to anyone again!"Maya looked sadly at the man, and said, "Professor,

just getting started."Hedrew back in terroras Maya channelled thecollective

of t :J:roup of prisoners into Berofski's body.very cellofhis Yfelt theshocks, theimpmonment,and

monumental despair.First he screamed,then hebroke intoa flood of tears, and

he lay quietly on the floor, completely drained.

Maya looked at him gravely. "'Professor, I want you topromisetodevoteyourtalentsand skillsto helpingpeople."

Berofski looked up at her, eyes sad and lost. but searching for salvation. His lower lip trembled, and he saidqUietly, "I promise."

Tremayne stepped up to Berofski, and reached into thefront pocket of the professor's lab coat. He drew out afountain pen and removed the cap. Holding the point to

Berofski's throat, he said, "Swear an oath!"The terrifiedmansaid, '1 ... I swear toneverhurtanyone.

Iwon't ... Iwon'tdoanymorecruelexperlments. I'll ... helppeople." He breathed a heavy sigh.

Tremayne released Berofski, and held up the pen. 1hepoint did not bleed," heannounced. "He speaks the truth."

"Professor, listen to me," Maya said firmly. "You willwork with the prisoners to overcome the devastation youcaused. them. You will eat, sleep and breathe with them.Their pain will be your pain. Their despair, your despair.Their accomplishments will be your accomplishments.When you have undone the damage you have done, whenevery oneof them is confident and courageous again, youwill be free."

The professor thought for a long time. '1s ... that po&

sible?'" he asked in a whisper.Maya picked up the battered psychology textbook and

nipped through it. Then sheslapped itshutand placed it inthe old man's hands.

"Page 288. Learned industriousness. Look it up."Maya stepped away from the group, and leaned against

awall, drained from theordeal. Doc Wildeapproached her,and laid his hand on hershoulder. His touch feltwarmand

reassuring."That was a brave and powerful thing you did back

there," Wildebegan. "And amazing. lam ... inaweofyou."

Maya smiled, but did not blush at the compliment. Sheknew it was deserved and true. 'Thank you," she said."Really, it was easy." She looked toward the frightenedprisoners in the ward. "Now for the impossible part," shesaid darkly.

Maya drew in a deep breath, opened the cell door, andwent into Zero Ward. The prisoners started jabbering andmoaning, more afraid of Maya than Berofski.

She sat with them, muttered and talked with them, and

soon theybegan to listen to her.Sheexplained thesituationto them, and told them that Berofski would lead them to anew homel She brought the Professor in, and the two

worked with theprisoners. Theymoaned and complained.Skyjack fidgeted, sighed loudly, and tapped his head,making blue Itatic electric discharges from his headplate.Finally he turned to Doctor Wilde.

"Well," the young man began. '''That thing she did withthe professor was great fun, though long and tedious. Butsince thispart isincrediblyboring, reallystupid, and unbelievably useless, I'lljust go loot the place.Somebodys gottado something useful."

Doctor Wilde regarded his friend in atony silence. Finally he said, "Sinceyou feel that way, you obviously needto see this more than any of us. You'll stay here."

Skyjack turned away like a petulant child, careened

toward thedoor, and bashed his head intothewall,shaking

~ = - : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .......8 ·WV



e a cloud of plaster. Everyone turned to look at him.''Power surge! Power surge!" Skyjack shouted. "System

Doc Wilde's brain in core meltdown!""Settledownandpayattention,"WUdesaid,not amused

the young man's antia.

"'To what? To Miss Messiah of Core Earth try for sainthe sputtered. "l'U caU the Cyberpope right now!"

Doc Wilde and Tremayne exchanged knowing glances

d turned bade to watch Maya."Wilde:" Skyjack said earnestly, foregoing sarcasm and

to reason. "fhese people are usele5i! This won't

and even if it did, whocares?They're justa bunch of

"SkyJack," Tremayne said, interrupting. "Forwhom areu fighting this war?"Skyjack said nothing. He sat on the ground and fumed.

Maya stormed out of the ward, slamming the cell doord leaVing Berofski alone. The professor watched her

e, looking helpless.

"GoddamnOrds!" Maya cursed. "'They can go or stay! Icare anymore!"Skyjack shrugged, saying 1 told you so' with his body

"What went wrong?" Tremayne asked."Them!" she said with frustration. "It 's the &arne stupid

all over again!They'd rather stayand be tortured and

e rather than try to live a life again!""They've just forgotten how,'" Doctor Wilde said pa-

"Theywon't giveme achanceto show them! If they don'tt me after all I've done for them .....

Skyjack looked up from where he was squatting on the

undand said, ..Aw,you'restill hacked offat them for notyou out before."

"Shut up , you immature, wire-head dark!" Maya yelled.don't know a thing about it, so just shut up!"

"No," said Tremayne gravely. 'The lad is right. When

returned to this ward, did you really believe youwould

eed? You said this task would be impossible."Maya said nothing. She looked down.

Doctor Wilde touched her shoulder. "Maya," he said"Isn't it time to stop punishing them for not follow

g you?""He's right, Maya," Tremayne added. '1f you cannot

rgive them, you cannot help them,"Tearswelled up in Maya's eyes. '1 hate them somuch forbehind'" she said in a whisper . She cried softly.

"You could forgive Berofski," Wilde said. "Is it somuch

with them?"'1 never expected anything from Berofski," she replied.hurts somuch worsewhen people you really care aboutyou down."

The threemen nodded silently, eachmomentarily lost in

At length, Wilde said, "If you resent them, you can't

with them. We can leave now.""'No.... said Maya. ' 'No! I forgive them. I forgive them."

Shespunon her heel andmarchedbackto thecells. ''Hey,

Part Tw

guys!" she shouted, completely confident they would folow. "Let's go! No more excuses! We're outta here!"

Obediently, the prisonersgotupand filed autof thecellNervously they hobbled past the Storm Knights. Berofsgaped In astonishment as Maya coaxed out the last stragglers.

"That truck,"Mayasaid,pointing toan abandoned troocarrier. "Hop in! A StormKnight will drive you to safety

The prisoners slowly climbed into the half-track. "He

each other," Maya said. "We're in this together, and w

gotta look out for each other."

DoctorWilde watched the prisoners help each otherinthe troop carr ier, a look of amazement on his face. May

stood beside him."It'sextraordinary,"Wildebegan. '1 don't know what

say."Maya smiled. "This hero stuffismore demanding than

thought. You do this a lot?""All the time," he replied, wondering if he would ev

live up to the standards she set.

"Incoming!" Skyjack shouted. "Fresh shocktroopemarching up the main drag!"

Wilde began barking orden. "Tremayne, go with May

and Berofski in theAPe!Maya, you drive!Skyjack, raid thlabs. I'D keep them at bay with my jeep. We'll rendezvoubehind Zero Ward in five mJnutes! Only five, Skyjack!"

Maya panicked. "Drive that big tank thing?""Tremayne is from a real ity where people can't drive

Wilde shouted. "You have to do it'"

"I can't!" she shouted."Funny," he replied. "That's how aU those prisone

think!" He sped off in the jeep.Maya scrambled into the drivusleat of the troop ca

rier.Tremaynevaulted onto the roof.The professor got inthe passenger seat, saying, "It'lall my fault! I sent for thosreinforcements!"

"Never mind that!" Maya shouted. "How do I drive th

thing?"Berofski qUickly explained the controls. Maya slamme

the great vehicle into reverse and roared away.She heard gunfire from the front of the compound. For

moment she worried about Doctor Wilde. Suddenly sh

sawmen InEgyptian headdresses leaping toward thetroo

carrier.Tremayne'sgoldenspear twirled, and sliced through th

nearest attackers. She drove away from themain pack, antoward the back of the building, turning in tight loops tshake off the spear·throwing shocktroopers. Most of thspearsbounced harmlesslyoffthearmored sideof theAPbu t a few went in the open back hatch. The spears quickflew out again, as an emboldened former prisoner hurlethem back at the guards.

Moments later DoctorWilde drove up, and ran interfeence for them in his jeep, his s l d ~ m o u n t e d machine guscattering the Pharaoh's troops.

"Where's Skyjack," Wilde shouted. '1t's time to go!""fhere'sanother contingentcoming,"Tremaynewarne

"Damn him," Wilde said. "We can't keep hangin

around!"

1•59



Crucible of p.,in

"Doc!" Maya shouted out her window. "He's off to theft! Behind that garrison building!"She spurred he r APe in that direction, toward the on-

shock·troopers.The troops scattered like panickeds before the onrushing half·track. Maya was grate--

l that their organizational skills were diminished, be-

they could easily stop her if they worked together."There he is!" Maya shouted, pointing up to a second·

window. Skyjack was shooting a wrist gun at the

below, who were trying to scale the wall after him.

Theguanlsbrokeand rnnasMaya approached,andSkyJad<apedonto thetruck. clutchinga largebag.Heclamberedinto

b,and squeezed in betweenMaya and the Professor. Heout his bag in Berofski's lap.

"Look!" he said. "Gizmo components, schematics, wit-

rams! The Israelis will pay big bucks for this stuff!""You'rewelcome," Maya said, strugglingwith the cum-

steering wheel tomaneuver the clumsy haU-tracktwo narrow buildings.

"Oh yeah, thanks for the pickup," he replied without

"And look at this junk! Idon't even knowwhat thisSo it must be gOO(!!"They pulledoutside the research centercompound, leavthe Shock-troopers in the dust. Theydidn'tstop till they

the FreeSudan refugee camp, where they receivedheroes' welcome.

The refugees brought out their best food and started an

celebration.Thecampleader,anelderlywoman

'Buto, welcomed the former prisonerswith open

and pledged to help thembecomeproductivecitizensgain . "They only problem is free food theygot in torture

she announced emphatically. "All they need isrd work toeam their food,and you beamazed what good

they become!"Berofski rubbed hischinand pondered this. "Hmmm .. .

would expand their locus of control, and provide

grati fication _ "N'Buto nudged Maya's arm. "Tell him i f he want to live

he speak English!"

Maya was enchanted with the camp. The other Storm

Knights were grateful for the chance to rest.During the festivities, DoctorWildepulledSkyjackaside,

and said, 'When r say five minutes rmean five minutes.

Maya should not have had to rescue you:'"You're offyer nut! Idon't see why I hadda watch Miss

Maya Gandhi help the dumb animals. I had so little time, Icouldn't even

get allthe good stuff.lmportant equipment,

too!"

DoctorWilde placedhis hand on the youngman'sshoul-

der. "That stuff wins battles.What she did wins wars. Wecan all learn from her:' He turned away, and joined the

others.'Well ," he said to the assembled Storm Knights. "T(r

morrow we set ou t to find theMysteryMen, and help pushthe Pharaoh's overgovernor hom Khartoum. Maya, youare welcome to come with us:'

Tremayne added, 'We would be honored to have you

officially joinou r merry band."

U About time we had a little tail in the group," SkyJack

added, amischievous twinkle in his eyes. "You'll Jovebeinga part of the Wilde Knights!"Doctor Wilde grimaced. "I wish you'd stop calling us

that," he said.Maya did not smile. "Thank you," she said sadly, "but

my answer is no." Themen looked at herwith surprise.Noone spoke.

"Tell you what though," shecontinued. '1'lIletyouguysjoin up with my group," she said with a smile.

Doctor Wilde looked puzzled."Joke!" Maya said, impulsivelyhugging Wilde. "Itwas

a joke! I 'd love to join you guys! Thank you!"Themen laughed, and visibly relaxed. Theypartiedwell

into the night.Maya wasso excited she thoughtshe'd havetrouble sleeping.bu t she was asleep themoment her head

hit the pillow.That nightshedreamedofheropalagain.The firewithin

the gem burned with a new vitality and strength.Maya was finally at peace.

••60



Gamemaster Character Records

Nile Bureaucrat If1

Stun Damage (7) KStatus 0

Nile Bureaucrat tr2

Stun Damage (7) K

Status 0

Captain Khali HafjiDEXTERITY 10Beast riding II, dodge 12, fire comba t 12, maneuver II, melee weapons 11, unarmed combat 12STRENGTH 10TOUGHNESS 11

Anton Angelou

DEXTERITY 10Dodge 14, maneuver 12, running12, stealth 15STRENGTH 8TOUGHNESS 9PERCEPTION 11Evidence analysis 14, find 13, landvehicles 12, trick 13

MIND 12Test 13, weird science 15CHARISMA 9Charm 11, persuasion 10SPIRIT 9Reality 13Possibilities: 7Indination: EvilEquipment: miniaturized t e l e p o r ~

tation grenade (concealed in ring),adventure cost 5,effect value 25,burstradiusQ-4/10/25.Thisisanotherpieceof modified "weird science" equip

ment - a grenade which causes anything trapped within its burst radiusto be teleported to a place of the

thrower's choosing (providing it iswithin range, and not within a solidobject). Like the reality bomb prototypes, this one--of-a-kind device sacrifices range for effect - it will transportanyonewhose Toughness itseffectvalue can beat, but no more than 100meters away. Its creation was an accident, which may never beduplicated.

PERCEPTION 10Evidence analysis 12, find 12, landvehicles 11, tracking 11, trick 13MIND 9Test 12CHARISMA 10Charm 14,persuasion13,willpower11

SPIRIT 9Intimidation 14, reality 14

Possibilities: 2Inclination: EvilEquipment:K08,damagevalueI5,

ammo 8, range 3-10/25/60; grenades(2), damage value 19, range 1-6/15/40, blast radius 0-3/8/15; radio

Captain Khali Hafji


K

o

Achmar theMad

Stun Damage (9)

Status

Achmar the Mad

DEXTERITY 9Dodge 12, melee weapons 10, running 10, stealth 10, unarmed c o m ~ba t

10STRENGTH 10TOUGHNESS 9PERCEPTION 8Find 9, trick 9MIND 7

Test 9CHARISMA 10Taunt 11

SPIRIT 9Intimidation 10, reality 10Possibilities: 1Indination: Evil

Equi.pment:hunting

knife,damage

value STR+3/19

Nile Bureaucrats (2)DEXTERITY 8Dodge 10, running 9, stealth 10STRENGTH 7TOUGHNESS 7

PERCEPTION 10

Evidence analysis 12, find 12,l a n ~

guage 11, trick 11

MIND 10CHARISMA 8Charm II, persuasion 12, taunt 10SPIRIT 9Intimidation 10Possibilities: None

Inclination: Evil

Act One

Shocktrooper *1Stun Damage (9) KStatus 0

Shocktrooper "2


Shocktrooper *3Stun Damage (9) KStatus 0

Shocktrooper *4


Shocktrooper *5

Stun Damage (9) K

Status 0

Shocktrooper116


Shocktrooper tf7


Shocktrooper IS


Shocktrooper Guards (8)See page 23 of The Nile Empiresourcebook.Possibilities: None

Inclination: EvilEquipment: club, damage valueSTR+3/18; dagger, damage value

SfR+3/17; throwing spear, damagevalue STR+4/18, range 3-5/25/40

Use these pages to record thedamage to and sta tus of the gamemastercharacters in the key encounters. Usethe "status" line to record wounds,stymied,unskilled, and setback results.Each character'sToughness is repeatedon the "Stun Damage" line for easyreference.

t i ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ · _ ·. . . . . 61



Act Two

Dr. FlashDEXTERITY 11Dodge 16, energy weapons 13, firecombat 13, maneuver 13, melee

Carnal

See page 82 of Tht Living lAndsourcebook.Possibilities: n(lne

Natural Tool.: hJde, armor valueTOU ...2/32; teeth, damage value

STR+6/32;tail,damagevalueSTR+2128

Ko

Ko

Or.canis AquaticaStun Damage (21)

Status

Dr. FlashStun Damage (10)Status

SarigarDEXTERITY 12 (9)Dodge 13, maneuver 13, stealth 13,unarmed combat 14STRENGTH 10TOUGHNESS 10

PERCEPTION UAlterationmagic 14, find 13, trick 14MIND 14 (11)Apportation magic 16, conjurationmagic 17, test 15, willpower 15CHARISMA 11Persuasion 12, taunt 13SPIRIT 9Corruption 13, faith (Eshtar) 10, intimidation 11, reality 13Possibilities: 6 per Storm KnightArcane Knowledges:metoI2./ire4,

dJlrkness 3, tmlgic 4, living farces 4

weapons 14, unarmed combat 13STRENGTH 11TOUGHNESS 10PERCEPTION 9Find 11, trick 11

MIND 9Test 12,weird 5C:ience11,willpower14CHARISMA 10Charm 11, persuasion 12SPIRIT 8Intimidation 12, reality 12Possibilities: 6 per Storm Knight[ndination: EvilPowers: electro-ray,damage value

21, range 3 - 1 0 / 1 1 - 2 5 / 2 ~ .Power Flaw: roU-agam vulnerabil

ity to water attacksEquipment: boom belt (tele

portation power, value 17)

Draconis Aquatica

See page 111 of the Ayslt source-book.Possibilities: noneNaturalTools:armor,TOU+10/31;

tail, swimming speed value 11, damage value SfR+3/27Note: This transformed Nile crea·

lure does not possess the Aquatica's

steam breath weapon, nor its knowledge of magic.

Ko

Ko

Ko

Camol

Stun Damage (30)

Status

JabnandaStun Damage (to)Status

Jakananda

DEXTERITY 12Beast riding 14, dodge 15, maneuver 14, ml.ssileweapoN 13, stealth14, unarmed combat 14STRENGTH 10TOUGHNESS 10PERCEPTION 11Find 13, language 13, tracking 12,trick 14MIND 10Survival 14, test 12

CHARlSMAUCharm 14, penuasion 15, taunt 14SPIRITU

Faith (Kefa Kalles) 15, f0CU5 15, in-timidation 15, reaUty 14Possibilities: 6 per Storm KnightMiracles: ani""d rugt, tllrth's tIlr,

intense fair, au through mistEquipment: hrockt spear, damage

value STR +3/18

Ugre.k

See page 98 of Tht Living LAnd!Oun:ebook.Possibilitid: none

NaturalToon: teeth, damagevalue

STR+2/28; claws, damage valueSTR+1/27; wings, speed value 12

Ugresk

Stun Damage (28)Status

Shoddroopen (5)DEXTERITY 10Beast riding 12, fire combat 13,heavy weapons 13, unarmed com

ba'13STRENGTH 10OlmblngllTOUGHNESS 10PERCEPTION 9Find 11, first aid 11, tracking 11,trick 11

MIND8

Survival 10, test 10, willpower 13CHARISMA 9

Taunt 11SPIRIT 8Faith (Egyptian) 11, intimidation11, reality 11

PossibilIties: 2lncUnation: EvilEquipmenb KK81, damage valueammo 24, range 3-40/400/lk;

damage value SfR+4/17

62

Anton Angelou

Stun Damage (9) K

Stalu5 0

People teleported automatically

two shock points.

Angelou'. Shoddrooper'lKtun Domage (10)

Status 0

Angelou'. Shocklrooper t2Ktun Damage (10)

Status 0

Angelou'. Shocktrooper'3

Ktun Damage (to)Status 0

Angelou'.ShocktrooperH

Ktun Damage (to)

Stltus 0

Anselou'. Shocktroopu'5Ktun Domase (10)

Status 0



but/et, conjured firtball, crfQtemystic shield, persuQslon

Spider

TERITY13jumping 14, maneuver 14,

th 15, unarmed combat 159

bing 1210

RCEPTION 7nd 12, tracking 11, trick 10

ival 11, test (8)

(25), persuasion (25), taunt

IRIT 5dation 10

none

Tools: fangs,damage value

LeechRITY 1113, fire combat 13, melee13, stealth 13, unarmed

at 14911

EPTION 11operation 18, evidence

alysis 15, find 13, language 13,ick 14

1314, wUlpower 14

13

15, persuasion 1618

(Cyberpope) 23, focus 21, in-idation 20, reality 21

bilities: 6 per StormKnightunbtliever's doom, vexlRCOM Custom Vee

(response +2, stealth +3,es so r power 4, storage 5);rware: NeuraCal, EpiphaNeur,

plate(head and body,+7/value 18), FFO CamEye, CSI

Cybemun

Stun Damage (9/14) KStatus a

Ko

Ko

Gomo Takiwara


Corporate Ninja InStun Damage (9) KStatus 0

Corporate Ninja f2Stun Damage (9) KStatus 0

Corporate NinJa'3Stun Damage (9) KStatus 0

Dr. Smithers

DEXTERITY 9Dodge 10, maneuver 10, stealth 11unarmed combat 10STRENGTH 8TOUCHNESS8

PERCEPTION 11Evidence analysis 13, find 12, tric14MIND 12Science (psychology) 15, test 14CHARISMA 10Charm 12, persuasion 12, taunt 11SPIRITlO

Intimidation 11, reality 13Possibilities: 6 per Storm Knight

Or. Smithers

Stun Damage(8)

Status

PERCEPTION 11Evidence analysis 12, find 13, language 13, trick 15MIND 11Business 15, test 13CHARISMA 12Persuasion 14, taunt 15SPIRIT 8

Intimidation 10, reality 12Possibilities: 6 per Storm KnightEquipment:ZIIP77z,damagevalu

16, ammo 12, range 3-10/25/40

Corporate Ninja (3)

See page 59 of the Nippon Techsourcebook.

P08sibilities: 2Equipment: nunchaka, damage

v a 1 u ~ sTR+5/19; katana,damagevaluSTR+7/21Note: All three ninja havemastered

the first three maneuvers of nlnjutsu.

Ko

K

o

TheWarWolf


Cardinal LeechStun Damage (11)

Status

Como Takiwara

DEXTERITY 9Dodge 11, fire combat 10, lockpick-ing 10,maneuver 10, stealth 11

STRENGTH 9TOUGHNESS 9

War WolfDEXTERITY 13Dodge 15, maneuver 14, stealth 14,unarmed combat 17STRENGTH 13TOUGHNESS 16PERCEPTION 11Tracking 14, trick 13MIND 11Test 13, willpower 12CHARISMA 12Persuasion 14, taunt 13SPIRIT 10Faith (Onorsh) 12, intimidation 12,reality 14, shapeshifting 13Possibilities: 6 per Storm KnightNaturaITools:etaws/damagevalue

STR+4/17; teeth, damage value

STR+6/19Power Rating: 2Corruption Value: 12Fear Rating: 1Powers: resistance to normalweaponsSevere Weakness: silver

True Death: any

CybemunSee page 83 of The Cyberpapacysourcebook.Possibilities: noneAdditional Equipment: surgical

laser, damage value 13

LEOs, FFO NightView, Avro PR II.V,damage value 19, ammo 20, range 3-10/11-60; slicers, damage value

STR+2/11CyberValue: 17

Ko

Ko

Spider

n Damage (10)

Damage (10)

.e



Act Three

e Wasting Spirit

DEXTERITY 11Dodge 14,maneuver 13. stealth 15,

unarmed combat 14

STRENGTH 16TOUGHNESS 13

PERCEPTION I'Find 16, language 15, trick 17MIND 11Tes114, willpower 16CHARISMA IS

Persuasion 17, taunt 19

SPIRIT 12Faith (Orrorsh) 15, intimidation 18,

reality 16

Possibi li ti es : three per Storm

KnightNaturatTools:claws,damagevalue

64

Corruption: 17Power Rating: 8Powers: life drain. power value 26;

paralyzing touch, power value 27; blur{onn, power value 19;darkness. power

value 16Fear Rating: 1Perseverance ON: 10

True Death: any

The Wasting Spirit


Professor BerofskiDEXTERITY 8Dodge9,firecornbat9,maneuver9,

unanned combat 9STRENGTH 8TOUGHNESS 8

PERCEPTION 11Evidence analysis 14, find 15scholar (psychology) 16, trick 12MIND 14

Test 15, weird science 17

CHARISMA I"Persuasion 12, taunt 11

SPIRIT 11

Reality 14

Possibilities: 5Inclination: EvilEquipment: .22 Revolver, damag

value 12, ammo 6, range ,3..10/15/25

Professor BerofskiStun Damage (8) K

Status 0



CRUCIBLe Of PAIN

These are the ingredients mixed in the crucible of pain that is

the Heritage Institute. There a woman struggles for her sanityagainst a maniacal "weird scientist" who plans to drive her to the

edge ... and beyond. But Storm Knights who come to her aid are

plunged into the nightmare that is the "Nowhere Lands" mini-versions of the six realms, each ruled by a being as evil as

the High Lords themselves. And behind it all, there lurks the

Wasting Spirit ...Crucible of Paj" introduces a new concept in roleplaying. Play

ers and gamemaster read the first part of the short story, then run

the adventure, and then come back for the exciting conclusion of

the story. Powerful fiction and a terror-filled adventure combine

for the gaming experience of a lifetime!

By Dan Greenberg

A beautiful young woman at the mercy of a madman

... a creature from Orrorsh that preys on fear ... a Nileexperiment gone horribly wrong, which threatens allwith a fate far worse than death.

An Adventure/Short Story for

Roleplaying the Possibility Wars '"

torg-crucible of pain

Documents