Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future

Five to six Player Characters, on their way to somewhere else, get involved in the Case of the Missing Anthropologist on the desert world of Golus/Miazan.

Setup
The players have arrived at Golus Highport, enroute for a possible company job on Janda. While waiting in the bar of the transit lounge, the party observe an altercation between an attractive young lady and a Starport security official.

The young lady is demanding that “someone do something!” but the security official indicates that he is helpless to assist. Finally, the young woman declares that if Starport Security won’t help her, she’ll “do the job herself”. She storms off, and the players will later find her sitting at a table by herself, weeping.

If they ask her what is wrong, she will tell them the following:
Her name is Traci Calan and she is the daughter of the eminent Anthropologist Doctor Felix Calan of Miazan Imperial University, Miazan.

Doctor Calan has been studying the culture of the Olkathi, the native Minor Race of Golus and, in particular, one clan as it migrates across the great equatorial desert. His latest field trip was due to finish three week ago, as the ‘nThi Clan returned to its winter range in the northern foothills of the Koldai Mountains near the town of Tartesh, some one hundred and thirty kilometres southwest of Golus Downport.

Traci Calan has travelled out to Golus from Miazan to meet up with her father as he comes in from the desert, and to assist with the writing up of his field notes. She has been down to Golus, and out to Tartesh several times since she arrived four weeks ago, but there has been no sign of him, nor of his two assistants, Andrea Horsh and Leha Je’lan. The ‘nThi clan has also not returned to its habitual range.

Traci Calan has spent the last week trying to get help from the Planetary Manager, who governs Imperial affairs on planet, and her officials and now, in desperation has tried unsuccessfully to get help from the Starport Authority.

She offers the party Cr 10,000 each if they will help her find her father and bring him back to Golus Highport.

Background
Golus/Miazan A-350552 – D Non-Industrial/Poor
Graffias is a G7 IV star. Graffias VI has one small moon. Graffias VI is known locally as Golus after Aldeed Golus, IISS, who led the initial survey of the Graffias system in the early 800’s.

Low gravity (approximately 0.4G) and a thin, dry atmosphere make Golus a harsh world. A vast equatorial desert girdles the planet, and what little water remains is locked up in the small northern polar ice cap.

The human population of some 57,000 people are either involved with maintaining both the Downport and Highport facilities, or in prospecting and mining in the northern Hemisphere. Water miners are involved in a large project to tap the northern polar ice cap and bring water, via a system of artificial canals and aqueducts, into the Aldesarn Valley where the main human settlements are located.

Aside from Golus Downport, and the town of Tartesh, there are half a dozen small settlements in the Aldesarn Valley. Up over the rim of the valley, the land dries out completely as one heads south over the Koldai Mountains into the Great Desert.

Golus lies right on the Imperial Border in Miazan subsector. Its position across the tail end of the Rimward Main; lying within Jump-2 of two independent Outworlds; and Jump-1 from the subsector capital, ensures that Imperial officials keep a close watch on Golus during times of interstellar tension. Due to Golus’s sparse population and harsh environment, however, in times of peace the authorities tend to worry less about the hinterland of the planet, which, in the past, has proven to be beneficial for criminals and fugitives.

The Olkathi: a Minor Race
The Olkathi are the native inhabitants of Golus. Standing approximately 2.2 metres tall on average, these thin humanoids are adapted to life on a dry, low gravity world. Nictitating eyelids, and other physical adaptations, such as nostril flaps, keep moisture loss to minimum, and the Olkathi tend to wear voluminous robes and wraps to further insulate themselves against the heat of day and the cold of night. All Olkathi have an extra digit on each extremity.

The Olkathi live in clan groups that migrate from water source to water source across the desert. Each clan has its line of water traps and secret storage reservoirs and by frequently moving they reduce pressure on individual sites. Each clan wears platted cords about the waist, dyed in the colours of the clan.

A naturally curious folk, the Olkathi tend to regard off-worlders with a little awe, especially the technology that they bring, as the Olkathi had only developed to Tech Level 3 when contacted by Imperial Scouts. The Olkathi will happily use higher technological devices, if they understand their purpose, but generally don’t covert them, preferring technology they can manufacture and repair themselves.

Honesty and fair dealing, even to those not of the clan, are values intrinsic to Olkathi culture. But, if they find they have been fooled or, otherwise tricked, either as individuals or as a clan, Olkathi will become intensely hostile and endeavour to track the miscreant down in order to enact a suitable revenge.

Water is an extremely precious commodity to Olkathi. ‘Water Friend’ is a title indicating that the recipient is considered a member of the bestowing clan and is treated as such, including being given the locations of the clan’s water caches. Someone who intentionally wastes water or damages a water cache is considered mentally deranged and a danger to all Olkathi clans.

Olkathi cannot interpret maps or pictures (either stills or video) as they lack the necessary cultural references to interpret what they are seeing. They can, and do, make representations of journeys in the form of linear narratives, called ‘sand maps’, that, through a series of pictograms, show the landmarks one would see on a particular path.

The Adventure

The trip from Golus Downport to Tartesh, one hundred and thirty kilometres to the southwest, will take about an hour and twenty minutes. Calan has booked some rooms at the Hostel to use as a base.

In Tartesh, the players will catch their first glimpses of the Olkathi. The ‘nIngi Clan has become almost sedentary, camping in caves just north of the town and hanging around a stand pump in the main street.

The ‘nIngi have not heard from the ‘nThi for some time and eventually will direct the players to an elderly ‘nIngi who lives about an hour’s walk out of town.

The ‘nIngi elder, Chi’eba, will give the party directions on a sand map – showing key reference points - to a ‘nThi reservoir some two hundred kilometres west of Tartesh. She does this because Doctor Calan is a ‘water guest’, an important title in Olkathi culture.

2. Go into desert. Random animal encounters. Foothills of Koldai mountains
The party follow the directions and a day or so later are climbing up into the foothills of the Koldai Mountains. The terrain is very broken with winding gullies, full of thorn bushes, and razor-back ridges. Eventually, they will find a small, shadowy valley where some straggling plants are dying in the heat. The 'nThi reservoir, in a deep cave, has been breached and the irrigation lines destroyed. There are signs of hard booted footprints in the damp sand. The Olkathi wear soft sandals.

3. Meet some Olkathi. One has is wearing a hand computer as a trophy
Searching around the reservoir, the party come across three ‘water-drunk’ Olkathi – they have consumed more water than they usually do in a twenty-four hour period and are out of control. It transpires that they are from the ‘nGirgur clan, a lowly regarded clan, and have just been gifted a twenty litre can of water by ‘Skymen’. One of the ‘nGirgur is wearing a broken hand computer on a string as a trophy. On the screen visor of the hand computer can be seen part of the seal of the Miazan Imperial University.

4. Get directions from Olkathi to crash site of air/raft
The ‘nGirgur talk about how the ‘Skymen’ wanted to hunt a metal bird and how the ‘nGirgur helped them find a roost to hunt this metal bird. They can tell the party where the metal bird went down in a canyon not too far away.

5. Air/raft has been shot down. Sketch map in the sand indicates a box canyon as a place of interest
In return for more water, the ‘nGirgur will take the players to where the air/raft was shot down. As they draw near the spot, the ‘nGirgur will become more nervous and skittish, demanding their water before they take the players any further. At last, they will break and run, attempting to steal any water they can get hold of.

The players will notice a thin plume of smoke that will lead them to the downed air/raft. There are a couple of dead Olkathi scattered around the crash scene. These Olkathi are obviously from a different clan to the ‘nGirgur and while some are burnt, as if they were in the air/raft crash, others appear to have been shot. Traci Calan will be able to identify them as from clan ‘nThi from the colours of the platted cords they wear around their waists.

Amongst the confusion of disturbed sand about the wrecked air/raft, it is possible to make out where someone crawled under a near-by thorn bush. Next to where a body rested for a time, a small sand map, like that which the ‘nIngi elder, Chi’eba, made, indicates that a nearby box canyon is a place of interest.

6. Sign that an ATV has been parked nearby in the box canyon
Near the mouth of the box canyon is a pile of discarded thorn tree branches that appear to have been cut with a laser. There are also the tracks made by an ATV that appears to have been concealed under the thorn tree branches, and then to have moved off up the box canyon.

7. ATV tracks go up to canyon wall and then disappear
The ATV tracks are difficult to follow as the floor of the canyon is mainly rock. But it would appear that the ATV has moved up to a point on the canyon wall and then just disappeared. The canyon walls at this point are nearly twenty metres tall, and quite shear. There is loose and broken stone at the base of the walls, except at the point where the ATV disappeared, which appears to have been cleared.

If the players hunt around, eventually someone will locate a carefully concealed control panel near the place where the ATV disappeared. This control panel appears to operate a large concealed door hidden in the wall of the box canyon. A concealed path leads up the canyon wall. Eventually this path will become an obviously man-made staircase that eventually leads up to a concealed watch point. From this vantage, the players can see for some miles in all directions over the broken canyon country. They will notice a deep, circular depression or valley, approximately one hundred metres wide, near the watch point, but the valley rim appears very undercut and unstable. There appears to be no access to this valley from the high ground, but the floor of the valley appears to have been cleared.

If anyone investigates the floor of the watch point, they will uncover an iris valve door, carefully camouflaged to look like the surrounding rock. The door is electronically locked but this can be over-ridden by someone with tools and computer skill.

As the players are wondering what to do next, they will observe a pair of robots emerge from the shadows of the undercut valley rim and begin sweeping loose dust and rocks from the floor of the valley. At this time, a small satellite dish will deploy from a point just across the valley from the watch post and begin tracking around to locate a point in the sky.

Soon, the players will hear the sound of an approaching ship. The ship, which appears to be an armed 200-ton merchant ship, will come in from the south, manoeuvre over the hidden valley and then descend. A tractor unit will then tow the ship out of sight under the overhanging cliff.

8. Secret door to pirate base
There are two ways into the secret base – through the hatch in the watch point, or through the concealed door in the box canyon. The box canyon door control works on Infrared and is a Very Difficult task to over ride. The lock for the concealed hatch in the watch point is a Difficult task to over ride.

9. Encounter pirates
The secret base was built many years ago by a group of pirates working for the Black Comet Organisation – an alliance of criminals and revolutionaries active in the Miazan, Gamelea, and Nolgor subsectors. After the Black Comet Organisation was over thrown by the Imperial Navy it fragmented with many of its constituent groups going their own way. The secret base on Golus was abandoned for a time, and then reoccupied by a fresh pirate group.

About a dozen pirates are in residence while their ship is away. They use members of the ‘nGirgur tribe to keep an eye on the area around their base and so became aware that Doctor Calan and his ‘nThi where poking around in the area. Having taken care of Doctor Calan, the pirates have been preparing the service facilities of the base for the scheduled return of their ship, the Hevvekii.

The Hevvekii has a crew of ten – five crewmen and five boarders.

At this point, the players may try to infiltrate the base to locate and rescue Doctor Calan, or they may try a full assault. There are a number of possible outcomes, depending upon how the players are handling the situation, and how the Umpire wishes to integrate this scenario into an established campaign:

1) The players successfully infiltrate the base, rescue Doctor Callan and escape back to Tartesh to inform the authorities of the Pirate base. There is a possibility of a chase across the desert if the pirates can get an ATV or air/raft going in pursuit.

2) The players get into a running battle with the pirates in the base. If things are looking particularly bad for the players there is a possibility that Traci Callan will reveal that she is actually an Imperial Secret Service (ISS) agent. If she can get to a communications uplink, she can call in a squad of Imperial marines from the Highport to mop up the pirates.

3) Everything is as outlined in the scenario. If the players successfully secure the base, and rescue Doctor Callan, there is a chance they can gain possession of the Hevvekii. What they will be able to do with a rather odd ship of uncertain legitimacy could be a matter for future adventures. There are two extra-Imperium worlds within Jump 2, which could serve as possible boltholes.

4) Doctor Callan and his two assistants, Andrea Horsh and Leha Je’lan, are ISS agents, and have been working to uncover the pirate base. Horsh and Je’lan are ex-Marines and so are very competent in combat. Traci Callan is Doctor Callan’s daughter and is not aware of his ‘second’ job.

5) As above, except Traci Callan is an ISS agent and is the liaison operative for Doctor Callan’s ISS team. She is aware that something has gone wrong with Doctor Callan’s mission in the desert and in an effort to save the mission, she brings the players in to try and locate Doctor Callan.

Appendix 1: Animal Encounter Tables
ENCOUNTER TABLE, ROUGH TERRAIN

DIE	ANIMAL	ATTRIBUTES	WEIGHT	HITS	WOUNDS	WEAPONS	ARMOR	CHARACTERISTICS
1	8 Reducers	Flyer	6000	39/12	12	As Dagger	4	A4 F8 S0
2	1 Grazer		12000	39/15	12	Claws	None	A8 F2 S2
3	12 Grazers	Flyer	25	12/11	8	Thrasher	3	A5 F2 S0
4	1 Grazer		6000	34/9	10	Claws	None	A6 F2 S3
5	1 Eater		200	22/11	8	Hooves	2 Rigid	A3 F6 S0
6	4 Chasers		1600	35/12	1	As Dagger	None	A9 F7 S4

ENCOUNTER TABLE, MOUNTAIN TERRAIN

DIE	ANIMAL	ATTRIBUTES	WEIGHT	HITS	WOUNDS	WEAPONS	ARMOR	CHARACTERISTICS
1	1 Hijacker		800	25/8	3	Claws	None	A2 F5 S0
2	6 Grazers		1600	37/12	1	As Body Pistol	2	A6 F0 S0
3	4 Intermittents		400	24/14	8	Claws	4 Rigid	A5 F8 S0
4	5 Grazers	Flyer	400	21/8	8	Hooves	None	A4 F0 S3
5	4 Eaters		1600	32/9	1	Claws	2	A6 F7 S1
6	4 Chasers	Flyer	6000	40/18	24	Claws	None	A9 F7 S0

ENCOUNTER TABLE, DESERT TERRAIN

DIE	ANIMAL	ATTRIBUTES	WEIGHT	HITS	WOUNDS	WEAPONS	ARMOR	CHARACTERISTICS
1	5 Intimidators		1	2/0	6	Teeth	None	A4 F7 S1
2	21 Grazers	Flyer	50	15/8	11	Horns	None	A3 F0 S0
3	9 Grazers		100	16/5	8	Claws	None	A4 F1 S0
4	16 Grazers		800	38/13	1	As Spear	2 Rigid	A8 F0 S1
5	1 Gatherer		12000	54/24	14	Claws	2	A5 F6 S2
6	4 Chasers	Flyer	400	21/11	5	Claws	1 Rigid	A9 F6 S1

ENCOUNTER TABLE, BROKEN TERRAIN

DIE	ANIMAL	ATTRIBUTES	WEIGHT	HITS	WOUNDS	WEAPONS	ARMOR	CHARACTERISTICS
1	6 Hijackers		6000	40/16	4	As Dagger	2 Rigid	A3 F3 S0
2	1 Intermittent		30000	26/23	28	Claws	3 Rigid	A8 F9 S0
3	1 Intermittent		400	24/13	10	As Body Pistol	None	A9 F9 S0
4	1 Filter		3	3/5	3	As Dagger	None	A9 F5 S0
5	1 Hunter	Flyer	3	3/2	10	Thrasher	None	A6 F4 S0
6	1 Pouncer		3200	37/15	1	As Dagger	3	A9 F9 S0

Appendix 2: Pirates
There are twenty-two pirates in Captain Shoeul’s band. The crew of the Hevvekii consists of a pilot, navigator and three engineers, plus five boarders. Amongst the ‘ground crew’ are a couple of engineers to maintain the Hevvekii when she is at the base.

Access is through either the vehicle garage, hidden behind a false wall at the end of a box canyon, or down a ladder from the watch point on the ridge above the base. It is possible to access the base through the landing pit/tomo but this would require specialist climbing gear.

There are surface sensors that will detect the approach of grav vehicles or ships, relaying the information to the Comms room. There are three ships' lasers in remote sites, controlled from the Comms room, to defend against airborne attack.