A long time ago I tried getting a submission off for the
Traveller Mailing List. Once I think I managed to get the first
paragraph off, but unfortunately the bulk of the posting (the
interesting part) didn't make it. I gave up, and the list has
been so quiet lately, that I thought it was defunct. But today
I recieved a small sign of life. So, for the fourth or fifth
attempt:
(By the way, I ASSUME this posting didn't make it before, as I
never saw ANY reaction, good, bad or indifferent, to it. If
you've seen it before and simply didn't find it interesting
enough to bother answering, could you please send me mail, so I
know that at least the damn thing made it out? Thank you.)
I wrote (a long time ago):
> Before we get to the main body of this submission (in which I
>solicit help with my Traveller campaign) there's a small matter
>to take care of first: One of my players, Sven Munther, has
>recently joined this mailing list. Would you, when replying to
>this posting, do us the favour of marking the submission plain-
>ly (like "Rancke's campaign" or "No peeking, Svend") so Svend
>can avoid getting any forewarning of the horrors awaiting him?
Oops. It seems that the body of the text didn't make it. Sorry
about that. Here it comes:
(OK, Sven, hit "n" now.)
I've been running a traveller campaign with a friend for a
couple of years now, and we've decided to involve our players
in the ever-popular "Riddle of the Ancients". But we have some
problems with that.
For one thing, neither of us are particularily enamoured with
the official version of the riddle. We find it... unconvincing,
to say the least. And not only unlikely, which would not matter
- - would indeed be a plus - if the story was a good one, but
uncommonly bland and anticlimatic.
You may disagree about this, but even if we had liked the
official version; even if it had been marvelously well-crafted
and intricate tale, a veritable tour-de-force, a masterpiece of
poetic imagination, it would still have one absolutely fatal
flaw: the players know it beforehand.
So what we've done is to whomp up an alternate version of the
riddle. We've tried to keep as many of the clues that has been
puplished in various Traveller adventures as possible, but we
are not fanatic about it, since our players hasen't encountered
any of the clues yet. What I'd like to ask you, is to point out
weaknesses of the story (preferably with suggestions on how to
plug the holes) and especially suggest embellishments of your
own. It is our ambition to make this story the crowning point
of the campaign, and to provide something **really** memorable
for our players.
OK, here it is,
The TRUE Secret of the Ancients!
(Well, ya didn't REALLY believe the one about Grandfather, didya?)
There were TWO ancient races, and neither of them were the
droyne. The first were the MASTERS, amoeboid 4-kilo parasites
capable of taking up residence inside another creature and con-
trolling it's bodily functions (anybody recoqnize these little
slimeballs? Well, I'm not above borrowing from a master). For a
number of reasons they preferred intelligent hosts, and they
enslaved most of the known part of our galaxy, annexing the
technology of their slaves in the process (this is the reason
for all those diverging technologies found on different Ancient
sites). They experimented on human, lupine and other stock from
Terra and on numerous other races from other worlds in their
efforts to produce the perfect subject. They were altogether
extremely not-nice, and if anyone wonders why I don't call them
Slavers and be done with it, it's because "slavers" is quite an
ackward word in danish.
To the reptiloid 'STREE, the manners, outlook, pilosophy and
behaviour of the Masters were an abomination. Their genetic
manipulations were downright blasphemous. Added to this was the
fact that Masters reproduced about once a century by fissioning
and seemingly lived forever (barring accident or violence). As
anybody familiar with geometric progressions will know, that is
nothing less than a catastrophy waiting for a chance to happen.
The Masters firm resolve to enslave any being they could (and
exterminate any being they couldn't) was real unpopular too. So
shortly after the first contact with the Masters, the 'stree
quietly began organizing an extermination program of their own.
The 'stree was an extremely old race even 300.000 years ago.
They had been mostly confined to their own planet by their
concentration on the social and psionic sciencies. Now they
evolved their own technology in record time, enlisted the
diminutive droyne as troops (most droyne were too small to host
a Master, and their psionic talents helped them detect the
caracteristic double mind of a masterdriven sophont) and went
to war!
Provisional timeline:
- -300.000 The Masters thrive. They transplant humans to other
worlds, experiment on various terran and otherworldly
fauna in an attempt to breed the perfect "steed", and
generally muck about.
- -250.000 Masters contacts 'stree planet; final war begins and
lasts for 2.000 years, resulting in the total (total?)
extermination of the Masters.
- -248.000 The 'stree retire to their planet leaving droyne,
vargr and humans to their own devices.
-75.000 Nadir of droyne race. The mysterious "Grandfather"
('stree wanderers) visits about 20 droyne worlds and
introduces the coyns.
328 Foren Caliphren Doon is marooned on Frisini (later re-
named Beck's World) in the Regina subsector. He finds
an ancient Master stasis field and releases a Master.
Establishing proper control of Doon without destroying
his mind (completely) is difficult, but "Number One"
has both time and patience.
335 Doon is rescued. Number One decides to search for
other survivors. As a cover he makes Doon establish
the Octagon Society.
423 Number One fissions.
499 Number One and his "brother" Number Two decides to
abandon the search and leaves for the core, where they
intend to infiltrate the very top of Imperial society.
Unfortunately (for them) upper-class imperials rou-
tinely employs psionic adepts as security guards, and
a Master-driven person is amazingly conspicious to the
telepatically endowed.
800 The Masters, now 32 in numbers, succeeds in provoking
the psionic suppressions in order to eliminate psionic
adepts and lessen the risk of exposure. The move works
to a degree, but the highest levels of the Imperium
continues to employ psionic adepts in secret.
1116 The Masters unleashes a plot to eliminate Strephon and
put a successor that they already controls on the Iri-
dium Throne. The move is not totally succesful.
Provsional campaign outline:
The players are in year 1112 now. In 1113 they will be sent
on a long exploration voyage into the Foreven and Far Frontiers
Sectors. Here, on the egde of charted space, they will encount-
er the planet of the 'stree, the first humans to have done so
for six or seven centuries. On the surface the 'stree seems to
be just another low-tech barbarian culture, and the description
of them will be aimed at reinforcing that impression. You know;
big, strapping, muscular, spear-toting lizard-men wearing loin-
cloths and tough expressions. The 'stree elders will take the
opportunity to scan the player's ship's library data (child's
play to a cybernectic telepath). They get suspicious over some
clues to the existence of the Masters (Hey, The Psionic Sup-
pressions were rather conspicuous). They can't be sure, but de-
cides to check it out. On leaving, the captain will recieve a
'stree servant ("We have a parting present for you, Captain.").
If nessessary with a little pressure ("Oh, I couldn't accept
that." "Very well, Massa Captain; in that case we'll have to
excecute him...").
They should return to The Spinward Marches in 1116, just in
time for the s**t to hit the fan. First the 'stree will somehow
manipulate the players into a round trip of The Marches in
order to look for proof of the existence of the Masters, culmi-
nating in a visit to Twilights Peak. Next they will have to vi-
sit several of the warring factions in order to discover which
one is controlled by the Masters. An extremely vicious fight to
eliminate said Masters follows. Finally, their 'stree friend
will agree to help them clean up the mess and restore The Impe-
rium, but they'll have to figure out how by themselves.
Well, there you have it. Any comments?
Hans Rancke, University of Copenhagen
..[email removed]
- --=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
- - I hate it when people call me paranoid.
It makes me feel persecuted.