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prince

Page history last edited by Ragboy 14 years, 8 months ago

Act I: The Prince and the Wrestlers


 

 

The Limey

 

The heroes arrive at the rendezvous point (feel free to use your favorite spot), where they meet The Limey, their current handler. He takes possession of Wang Bao Li and hands him off to a couple of his plainclothes compatriots, then settles up.

For bringing back the scientist, he offers $1000, American. He offers to double the reward on this mission if the heroes agree to undertake another one for him.

 

It seems one of their operatives, codenamed Blackjack, disappeared while delivering a diplomatic pouch to a Greek operative on Olympus, a Greek colony world near the Geneva system. They have confirmed that the Greek operative never received the pouch, and was subsequently killed during an operation on Geneva. Though the British Star Empire is on friendly diplomatic terms with Greece, they do not want to break certain protocols by sending agents directly in their employ. Providing a small ship (if necessary) and modest finances, the Limey asks the heroes to find the diplomatic pouch, and the fate of Blackjack.

 

The direct rewards modest (about enough to keep the heroes flying for another year), but indirectly, the Special Service handler hints that additional employment is always available to trustworthy operators.

 

The Limey has no information on Blackjack’s meeting and does not provide even a description of the agent. He wishes only to retrieve the diplomatic pouch and any information on who may have seen or possessed the pouch. He also tells them that they must be on the trail within a week, as the pouch contains time sensitive information.

 

If the heroes decline, the Limey takes their refusal with grace, though he never contacts them again.

 

If they accept, he gives them the promised reward for the previous mission and provisions a ship if they need it. Note: He will not give them another ship if they already have one, and expects any issued ship to be returned in good condition.

 

Information Gathering

A week should give the heroes enough time to rest and recuperate if necessary, and to use their resources to get information on the upcoming mission. Feel free to roleplay this out if that’s your group’s wish, but the following information gathering results are all they can find.

 

General System Information

Investigation: Olympus is used by small-time merchants looking to avoid hefty fees and taxes to access the Free Trade Lanes (the Geneva system controls access to the FTL’s)
Raise: Acarnan is the center of illicit trade on Olympus)

 

Streetwise: In-system crime is centrally controlled by a group of Ethiopian dissidents that fled Earth after the Italian invasion. They call themselves the Sayafa Gyah (if anyone speaks Ethiopian, it’s roughly translated as “to be attacked by a flaming sword.”
Raise: Iskinder Kelile is known to be on planet. He was a Grazmach, or general, in the Ethiopian army and is wanted by the Italians for alleged high-level assassinations and mass killings).

 

Espionage

 

Streetwise: All major espionage services have operatives on Olympus
Raise: Several services have reported a new player in the game, though little is known about them. Major services have reported turned agents with the activity is centered in Olympus.

 

Investigation: Three years ago a British spy ring was uncovered in the Geneva system. This team was said to be outside the British Special Services purview. Apprehended members staged a daring escape from an orbital prison and disappeared.
Raise: Around the same time the British Special Services liaison was found to be a double agent, believed to be with the Soviets, but later found to be associated with an unknown third party. The agent, Michael Kinnin, escaped from Federal space before apprehension and last known whereabouts was the Geneva system.

 

Blackjack

 

 

Note: A roll of 1 on the skill die (regardless of the Wild Die) alerts Eisenfaust to the heroes’ investigation. See the Counter Operations section for some ideas on results.

 

Streetwise: Blackjack is a near-legendary agent that had a near-legendary fall after he flubbed an operation in Spanish space, nearly causing an inter-system incident that threatened to bring in the Martians.
Raise: Physical description of Blackjack – Balding, thin and thick lipped. He is missing a piece of his left ear.

 

Investigation: No information
Raise: No Information….
Raise3: Photo of Blackjack.
Raise4: Blackjack’s list of aliases: Dane Williams (official name in British Special Services records) and Michael Kinnin.

 

The Great Mountain

The Greek colony world of Olympus is a desolate and unforgiving place, though many also feel that it has a terrible beauty. Essentially a world of jagged mountain ranges encased in continent-sized glacial shelves, Olympus is sparsely populated, but rich in resources. Ice and metal are mined here, though the true value of Olympus is its position in the space lanes. Occupying a little-known lane that bypasses the Geneva system, Olympus is used by smugglers to avoid the exorbitant fees, tariffs, and taxes charged by the Genevians for access to the “Free” Trade Lanes. For more information on Olympus, consult the System Brief.

 

Acarnan

Acarnan is situated partially in a sheer cliff face on the mountain of Acarnan and partially in semi-submerged concrete bunkers along one of the mountain’s ridgelines. Tunnels from the spaceport to the town proper provide access to a central “square” that is completely underground. On the rare warm days, the townspeople climb out of their bunkers and hold festivals on the mountainside.

Access to the town via ship is gained by setting down on the extended landing platforms. Landing platforms extend from the port and can support up to four freighters and eight smaller ships (eight total platforms). Each of the platforms retract into the spaceport, depositing ships in protected bays, so the port itself can support double the number of ships if necessary. When extended, the landing platforms are protected from falling ice and rock by a shelf of rock that extends from the mountain.

As the heroes approach, read this introduction:

 

Your ship breaches atmo on a beautiful clear day. Jagged primeval mountains rise for as far as the eye can see, seemingly encased in glacial flow. Making final approach to Acarnan’s cliff-side starport, you see a chunk of glacier half the size of a tramp freighter sheer off further up the mountain and then shatter on the protective stone overhang above the landing platforms. The jagged pieces tumble into the foggy gorge below.

 

Acarnan is the central hub of the smugglers’ trade on Olympus. Though small, the town has spaceport facilities as well as the logistics infrastructure to ship Olympus’ resources off planet. In addition, Acarnan has become a meeting place for other unsavory characters and is the home of a burgeoning organized crime family led by the Ethiopian expatriate / fugitive from Italian justice, Iskinder Kelile. Should the heroes not have Acarnan as their initial destination, a simple Streetwise check in the other two spaceports on Olympus (Loga or Episkopi) directs them to the seedy town. The heroes can just as easily pick up the information below in any of the spaceport towns on Olympus.

 

Shake the Trees

The heroes have one main mission on Olympus, to find the fate of Blackjack and the diplomatic pouch he carried, but they’ll have to negotiate the strange allegiances and shadowy organizations of Acarnan to achieve their ends. The two main organizations they must deal with are the smugglers and Iskinder’s group, the Sayafa Gyah, neither of which are very welcoming of strangers. The heroes’ best bet is to hit the bars and start talking to folks.

 

General Information

Streetwise – Trade into and out of the system is controlled by the starport at Acarnan, which is controlled by two groups: The smugglers and the Sayafa
Raise: The smugglers are led by Tazio Nuvolari and the Sayafa are led by Iskinder Kelile. Raise2: Roma transports tried to dock at Acarnan a few weeks ago, but were turned back by a group of rogue starfighters. Everyone thinks they were in the employ of Iskinder.)

 

Smugglers

General -- Streetwise – The smugglers don’t talk to anyone unless you have sponsorship. They stay over at the old British chapterhouse near the spaceport.
Raise: Alfred “Bud” Wilcox is the envoy into the smugglers – He can get you sponsorship…for a price – he stays at the Fat Lady most days.
Raise2: Trouble with the smugglers and the Ethiopians. The Sayafa commissioned a shipment and the smugglers lost the transport ship.)

 

Missing Shipment – Streetwise – Talk to Bud. He’s the contact.
Raise: Iskinder’s pissed, but Tazio has promised to produce the missing shipment before the end of the month.

 

Ethiopians – The Sayafa

General – Streetwise – The Ethiopians don’t talk to anyone. Ever.
Raise: Iskinder keeps to himself. Most of his group’s business is off-planet. And he never, ever talks to anyone directly.
Raise2: Iskinder’s shipment was related to his newest venture: Guerilla war on the Italians.

 

Iskinder – Streetwise – Leader/Mob Boss of the Sayafa Gyah
Raise: Has some strange ones visiting him out at the compound. Lots of artists and that. Traveling Villanova Brothers are out there now.
Raise2:He’s a veteran of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

 

The Sayafa Gyah – Streetwise – Means something like “to be attacked with a flaming sword” in Aharmic.
Raise: It’s an Ethiopian group with ties to major smuggling operations.
Raise2: Led by Iskinder Kelile who’s looking to take the fight to the Italians for the invasion of Ethiopia).

 

Traveling Villanova Brothers

General – Streetwise – The brothers’ performances are crazy. They dress in odd costumes and act out some silly stories before engaging in violent brawls with each other or their opponents.
Raise: They are on planet now, but contracted to Iskinder’s mob.)

 

Bud at the Fat Lady

The only way to get anything out of the smugglers is to get sponsorship from Bud Wilcox in the Fat Lady. He’s the “shipping agent” for Tazio’s group and all “outlander” requests come through him. Bud is rather easy to deal with. For $500, he’ll put the heroes on the list as a “certified shipper.” This is basically the fee the heroes must pay for the privilege to ask Bud more questions. With a Persuasion raise, he’ll forego the initial fee, but information costs money. For every additional $100, he’ll divulge the following information. If the heroes pony up $500 for the whole list, he’ll set up a special meeting with Tazio:

  • The smugglers lost a transport somewhere in the southern mountains. It carried a special commission for Iskinder Kelile.
  • Tazio, the smuggler captain, has promised the Ethiopian that he’d find the transport and bring back his commission before the end of the month. But everyone knows he’s used every ship he has and no one can find it.
  • He’ll pay a king’s ransom to find that ship and Iskinder’s commission.
  • There’ve been Italian agents in town lately looking for information on the Ethiopians…but the agents keep disappearing. They were around a few weeks ago looking for some English operative named Blackjack.
  • Another group, not Reich or Roma but surely related to them, were asking specifically about the transport. No one knows anything about them, but they’re well funded.

 

The Italian

 

Tazio Nuvolari, once a champion racecar driver, became a persona non grata to Italy and Germany when he refused to shake Hilter’s hand after winning the 1932 European Grand Prix. Though he worked as a spy for the British for a few months, Tazio was too notorious to be of any use to them. Hopping an interplanetary transport just minutes before the Gestapo kicked in his door, Tazio ended up traveling with a group of space merchants, learning to pilot and more importantly, the trade. He landed in Olympus last year and soon maneuvered into a position of power with the then disorganized smugglers guild.

 

The only way to get to Tazio is through Bud’s “screening” process. The Italian knows all that goes on in the Arges System, and a bit outside the system, however he’s direct and to the point when the heroes come calling.

 

He knows where Blackjack is, but will not give up the information unless the heroes deliver a letter to Marguerite Monnot, a French singer-songwriter currently living in Iskinder Kelile’s compound. He likewise lets them know that no one can get in to see Kelile under any circumstances…though he has a way. If the heroes agree to find the crashed transport and Kelile’s lost shipment, the Ethiopian will likely meet with them.

 

The only other way for the heroes to get into Kelile’s compound is if one of them is a famous artist or performer…

 

The Lost Transport

If the heroes have met with Tazio and agreed to find the lost transport, he provides details on the ship, the Cello Rosa, and its last known whereabouts. The only information he’ll provide on the cargo is that Iskinder’s shipment was contained in a large metal box that is not to be opened. He also provides the tracking frequency for the ship’s transponder, though none of his own searches turned up any sign of the ship or the transponder signal.

 

Search Pattern

 

The heroes can travel to the last known coordinates of the Cello Rosa to start their search. It takes a Notice raise (with ship’s sensors) to find the transponder signal of the ship, but to get things moving, the heroes can find the ship’s transponder signal after a day of concentrated sweeps.

 

The Cello Rosa crashed into a glacier on the back side of Mount Sinis (about 500 kilometers NNW from Episkopi). As the heroes ship descends they should see that the small transport punched a hole through the glacier and subsequent damage filled the hole in with ice. The heroes can negotiate the treacherous entry with a successful Climb check at -2. Additionally, with a successful Notice, they find a more traversable path through a crevasse (Climb check). With a successful Tracking, the heroes notice the tracks of large bird-like creatures all around the crash site. A raise reveals that the creatures went into the hole.

 

The transport sits in a hollow space within the glacier, its wings and tail section are sheared off, but otherwise undamaged. Pilot, co-pilot and the two other crewmembers are dead and have attracted a pack of Ugats.

 

Ugats 2 per Wild Card

 

Getting In

The ship is a small transport based on the Bristol Beaufighter.

 

 

The cockpit area is quite smashed and the semi-digested remains of the pilot and copilot are all that’s left. The tail section and wings were sheared off and destroyed, leaving the main body of the fuselage intact.

Accessing this area is treacherous due to the unstable glacial cave and the shattered ship. With a Notice check, the heroes discover that the easiest way in is the shattered ball turret on the top of the fuselage. Taking this way requires a Climb check, with failure indicating a nasty cut from a strip of jagged sheet metal (2d6). If the heroes attempt to negotiate through the rear or fore of the ship, it requires an Agility raise to get into the ship. On an Agility success, they cannot find their way in. On a failure, they’ve shifted the precarious ship and must make an Agility check or suffer 2d6 damage from falling ice. A “1” on the skill or ability die for any of the entries indicates a major shift and all heroes within 2” must make an Agility check or suffer 4d6 damage from falling ice and be trapped. On an Agility raise, the hero receives damage, but manages to avoid being trapped. On a major shift of the plane and collapse of ice, that entry is buried and cannot be used unless the heroes spend several hours digging it out.

 

The Cargo

 

Inside the cargo hold (really just a walled off area of the fuselage) are two wooden crates. One is a small square crate (about the size of a modern television) with markings indicating passage from the Italian Ethiopian Control District on Earth. This is Iskinder’s shipment and is easily maneuverable out of the ship by two characters (Climb check at -1 to get out of the ball turret – which should be the obvious egress point once the heroes are inside the ship). If the heroes open the crate, inside is a metal box, slightly smaller than the crate, but with handles to ease transport. If the heroes open the metal box (Lockpicking), the discover Iskinder’s prize: a small cylinder of unknown black metal. The cylinder is very cold to the touch; seemingly colder than it should be. No other information is available and the cylinder seems to have no other purpose. A Knowledge check concerning the metal or analysis of other kind reveals nothing further.

 

The second crate is a long, casket-like box with no markings. This is a shipment secretly commissioned by Eisenfaust. The crate contains a plain wooden casket inside which rest the petrified remains of a human-like creature. Also in the box is a black binder full of intelligence about the creature and its discovery. See the Intelligence Analysis section for more information. The remains themselves are worth about $5000 to any organization interested in ancient stellar human artifacts. The binder is worth even more (around $10,000).

 

Return of Der Abendroth

Once the heroes have secured the cargo in their own ship and taken to the air, have relevant parties make a Notice check -2 (or standard Notice check with sensors) to detect an incoming attack. Hauptmann Abendroth, altered by his last encounter with the heroes, has returned for his revenge. The cyborg flies down and latches himself onto the heroes’ ship. Three fighters attack at the same time, attempting to disable the ship.

Der Abendroth attempts to bash his way into the heroes’ ship and disable them and the craft from the inside.

 

Der Abendroth

Gloster SS.18 \"Gauntlet\"- 3

 

If Abendroth takes a wound, he attempts to escape, throwing down a smoke grenade and flying out of the ship. The Gauntlets fight until destroyed or evaded.

 

If the heroes are captured, Abendroth delivers them to a waiting freighter and they are taken into custody by agents of Eisenfaust. They are tortured for information for a few days before being punched out of the airlock.

 

Mission Mostly Accomplished

When the heroes return with the shipment, Tazio sends a message to Iskinder, and the Ras replies immediately with a request to meet the heroes. Tazio gives the letter to one of the heroes (a woman if there is one in the group, or anyone he seems to trust).

 

Iskinder wants a meeting immediately, and sends an escort party consisting of his right-hand man Tenagne and a group of Sayafa toughs. They take possession of the shipment and escort the party to a waiting truck for transport to their compound. The truck travels a mile-long tunnel leading up the mountain that is heavily guarded by Sayafa troops. The tunnel opens out onto a road that leads to the compound which is built into the side of a cliff. Gun trucks and small starfighters cluster around the compound and it looks like the Ras keeps his crew ready for war at all times.

 

Tenagne orders his men to take the shipment on and escorts the heroes to the front door where they’re turned over to a servant.

 

Tenagne

Sayafa Regulars - 4 per wild card

 

The Ras of the Sayafa

 

The heroes’ first impression from the outside of the compound may alarm them. Iskinder has the firepower and resources of a small army. When they cross the gates into the enclosed courtyard, they may be even more alarmed. Odd modern art sculptures dot the massive room and even stranger paintings and murals spread across the walls. Various oddly clad people wander through the tableau, some strumming instruments, some gathered in groups speaking urgently and some seemingly in a drug induced haze.

 

Tenagne makes no comment to hero inquiries, but leads them from the courtyard and into a wide, plush hallway crowded with classical paintings and sculptures and on to a pair of heavy black wooden doors. Here he stops, pulls out a handheld radio and speaks quietly into it. After a few minutes he receives a crackled reply, turns to the heroes and gestures for them to enter.

 

The Hall

 

Iskinder’s hall is a gathering place of artists, musicians, engineers, and other unsavory characters. There is a constant cacophony of activity from two musicians dueling at their instruments to the incessant banging of Philibdos, the robotics genius, on one of his creations, to performance artists setting off various explosives. Iskinder is typically found at a heavy oaken table doing paperwork or talking to his wife, the beautiful Russian artist Afanasiia.

 

Today, Iskinder is in his usual position at the center of chaos, as a servant brings the heroes forward. He stands and gestures for the heroes to be seated around the table and shouts a goodhearted greeting. As they are seated, he asks for the metal box. He seems unconcerned if the heroes have removed his possession from the box, and sets everything aside.

 

“Now,” he says. “I understand you seek a man you call Blackjack, and that you believe that Tazio can lead you to him. I can tell you that although the Italian will lead you to where this Blackjack currently resides, the information I have will keep you alive long enough to retrieve what you truly seek.”

 

Iskinder is an enigmatic and powerful man who brooks no disrespect. He is also an eccentric that surrounds himself with geniuses of various disciplines. He offers the heroes $5000 for returning his property to him and further offers to tell them the secrets he knows about Blackjack. His only price is that the heroes engage in a bit of “performance art” with his favorite artists, the Traveling Villanova Brothers.

 

If the heroes refuse, he thanks them again for retrieving his shipment and tells them to talk to Tenagne about payment. He also allows whoever is carrying Tazio’s letter to deliver it. Marguerite Monnot is in the main courtyard working out a new ditty on her lap steel.

 

If they accept, he invites them to stay for dinner. The gathering is raucous and the food is amazing. Afterwards, the big show begins…

 

The Big Show

 

The heroes are to be part of the Villanova Brothers’ production. Anyone with art-related Knowledge skills has heard of the brothers, as they are minor celebrities and notorious for seriously injuring participants in their shows. Some say their shows were like the worst of Shakespeare smashed into the best of professional fighting and then wrung through inscrutable performance art. With an espionage-related Knowledge raise, the hero knows that the brothers are believed to be casual spies for the Soviets.

The rules of the “performance” are simple. The heroes pick up to three “champions” to be part of each brothers’ “play.” They are warned that these performances typically degrade into hand-to-hand combat matches. No weapons, armor or other items are allowed on the “stage.” Once the champions are chosen (with much cajoling and cheering from the crowd), the performance begins.

 

The Fat Brother

 

The performance begins with Mikpokotikos’ interpretation of a New Zealander folktale about a girl and her little dog called the Champion of Springtime.

 

 


 

 

You’re not clear how the tailor could have created such a frilly pink confection large enough to fit on the grossly fat man that trots out into the spot light. At first there appears to be a shaved rat trailing the monstrosity on a silvery leash, but the yapping bark gives it away as a dog. The man mimes through a series of scenes, prancing about the empty stage calling to the audiences’ imagination a young girl torn apart by the loss of her true love. And then she sees her love returned. The massive man in the frilly dress looks directly at you, his eyes betraying the murder he intends while his hands and body mime how the girl’s love has betrayed her, how he has only returned to gloat on his new found fortune and, more importantly to the young girl, his new love. The little dog growls, as if on cue.

 

 


 

Mik fights in a sumotori style, seeking to batter and overbear his opponent with his sheer bulk. His combat style deals only non-lethal damage. The little dog nips at Mik’s opponent; it is considered very bad form to the watching audience to harm the dog.

 

Mikpokotikos

 

The Little Dog

 

If Mik is defeated, he rises (regardless of his wounds) and good-naturedly grasps his opponent in a giant bear hug before bowing to the clapping audience.

 

If the hero is defeated, he or she wakes in a bed a few hours later unless other arrangements are made.

 

The Thin Brother

 

Simples’ (pronounced sim ples) performances are quite more subtle than his brothers-in-art, though he does tend toward staging games of wit and agility. His performance is based around an old Romany story called The Orphan of Caltrega.

 

 


 

 

A young man steps onto the empty stage and the spotlight dims, as if in wavering candlelight. As he talks of the wandering life of the Romany, his hands move about deftly pulling out clusters of dying flowers, white doves, and coins that flash and fly about before disappearing. His monologue becomes specific, about a young man, a gambler, who wanders the world looking for the man who can beat him at a game of chance. It becomes apparent that he is not looking to be bested, but for the only man who can defeat him…the father that left him when he was still wet from the womb. At a dusty roadhouse somewhere outside of Milan, he encounters a man. Looking squarely at you, he motions and a table is carried out by a black clad form. Two chairs follow. And the game is on in earnest.

 

 


 

The game that Simples plays is a complex four-level game similar to checkers called Four Spot. As the hero and Simples play, their moves are projected on a screen behind them. The game is divided into four key stages, with play in each stage giving the winner advantage in the next stage, until the final play for position that determines the winner.

 

To simulate Four Spot, follow these rules for each stage:

  1. Each player is dealt an initiative card (highest card grants a +1 to the skill roll. Whoever receives a Joker gets a +2)
  2. Each player makes a Gambling check or Intelligence check -2. The winner receives an advantage of his or her choice:
  • +1 to the skill check in the next stage
  • Best of two cards for initiative in the next stage

 

The final Position roll is conducted thusly:

  1. Each opponent totals up all advantage wins for the previous four stages.
  2. Each opponent totals up Joker initiative bonuses from previous stages (if any).
  3. Each opponent makes a Gambling roll or Intelligence check -2.
  4. Apply previous advantage bonuses and Joker bonuses (but not other initiative bonuses).
  5. The winner wins the game.

 

If the hero cheats and is caught, Simples, as the boy, throws the table aside and attacks, all the while continuing his story; the boy confronts the man who is obviously his father and a sham. Like Mik, Simples deals only non-lethal damage.

 

Simples

 

As the game progresses, so does Simples’ story. If the hero shows initial advantage, the character of the young boy begins to realize that his opponent may be his father. If the hero wins, the young boy is elated and Simples enthusiastically hugs the hero. If the hero is defeated, the boy dejectedly leaves the roadhouse on his long road to find his father.

 

The Dark Brother

 

Malvagita’s specialty is illusion. His performances are filled with horrible phantasms and buckets of blood often as the climax to exuberant and pretentious stories of devotion, honor, and love. The man is small and always dresses in lurid black and red costumes with a leering demonic mask in the Japanese Noh style.

 

 


 

 

There is a sudden flash of light and a bang and then complete darkness. After the initial shock, the crowd is abuzz as a faintly glowing purple cloud appears in the middle of the stage. First a series of lights and then silent images are projected on the cloud, the latter depicting a young man and older woman walking in a summer forest scene. The scene is supported by a sprightly flute and into the silent image dances a garishly dressed satyr. Though surprised, the couple animatedly talks to the creature and he gives them a blessing. As they look into each other’s eyes, all in the audience can feel their everlasting love. Out of the silent image dances the satyr in the flesh, his flute piping a jig as he moves across the stage. The image in the cloud ages, and the woman is now much older, though the young man seems to have not changed. The song changes to a desperate pitch and tune, the satyr spins and spins crazily while in the image, the woman’s skin rots and sloughs off of her yellowed bones. The last image is of him screaming, skeletal hands upon his throat. The satyr explodes in a flash of red light and out of the purple cloud marches the skeletal woman, her dress in tatters. Her burning eyes take in the screaming crowd and then lock on you.

 


 

As the fight begins, the story continues. Malvagita’s visual story appears at various places around the stage and his persona changes throughout the fight. The young man cursed with everlasting youth and everlasting love, is pursued by his skeletal bride. At one point, he escapes by boat to another place and finds respite for several years, but his bride finds him, ripping apart his newfound love, always seeking the young man’s tender flesh. The satyr returns often to cavort and tease, though his aspect becomes more demonic each time, until the hero is fighting a horrid devil in lurid red light.

 

Malvagita

 

Unlike his brothers, Malvagita’s martial style is brutal, and he fights with abandon seeking to wound and kill, if possible. Malvagita uses the shadows and his own illusions to his advantage gaining the benefits of Dim light. He uses his Teleport ability to move to places of complete darkness. With a successive Stealth check, he may strike with the Drop on his opponent (+4 attack and damage).

 

If the hero is defeated, Mik rushes the stage to stabilize and assist the downed opponent, chiding his brother for his violence, though if the other heroes attempt to intervene, he defends Malvagita with his life, as does Simples. If things get really crazy, the brothers conduct a fighting retreat to their ship and take off into space.

 

Aftermath

 

Iskinder rewards the heroes whether they defeat the brothers or not, though the rewards are greater for a decisive win. If the heroes have conducted themselves in appropriately (disrupting performances, ganging up on the brothers, pulling firearms etc) then he forcibly ejects them from his compound. Killing anyone in his entourage draws his eternal ire and he and his troops fight to the death to avenge the killing.

 

To determine what reward he provides the heroes, evaluate the following:

  • Character’s cooperation in each performance with a brother (+2 to -2) – high marks for roleplaying within the brothers’ story, even to the point of letting the opponent win to further the story.
  • Acting! (+2 to -2) – Skill successes that enhance the hero’s standing with the audience should give him or her high marks. Attempts to disrupt the performance, the story or poor artistic skill checks should get low marks.
  • Results of the bouts (+2 to -2) – Win or lose, it still matters. This is really just a series of wrestling matches with trappings.

 

At the end of all the bouts, total up the bonus/penalties and have the hero with the highest Persuasion skill roll a Persuasion check with appropriate bonus/penalty.

  • Failure: Iskinder tells the heroes where Blackjack currently resides (the Chateau).
  • Success: Iskinder provides a report on Blackjack’s movements and activities, as well as where he resides. (See the Intelligence Analysis section).
  • Raise: Iskinder provides all of the above and lets them know that the Chateau’s main entrance and approach is heavily guarded by mercenaries. He provides a map to a secret entrance to the Chateau.

 

Intelligence Analysis

 

The heroes could come out of Act I with one or more of the following:

  • Blackjack’s current location
  • Report on Blackjack’s activities and movements over the last few months.
  • Unknown humanoid remains
  • Binder of information about the remains
  • Prisoners

 

Blackjack

The man seems to have moved about erratically since coming to Olympus. He stayed with a woman in Iskopi for several weeks before disappearing for a time, only to reappear in Iskinder’s retinue. If the heroes have Iskinder’s or Tazio’s report, it is specifically noted that he met with the Greek operative he was supposed to meet with, but delivered nothing to the operative. It also notes that Blackjack was a voracious drinker, often drinking himself to extreme sickness.

After leaving Iskinder’s a few weeks ago, he reappeared in the company of a merchant that bought the old Chateau on Babadon’s Peak near Iskopi. The merchant has several mercenary companies in his employ and conducts his own affairs without dealing with Tazio’s smugglers or Iskinder’s organization (much to the chagrin of both).

If the heroes have Iskinder’s map, it shows a stealthy approach to Babadon’s Peak and a secret entrance to the Chateau through a series of glacial rifts and caves.

 

Remains

Analyzing the remains requires an appropriate science/Knowledge check and/or access to the binder for Investigation checks. The creature is not human, but is humanoid. The bones, though petrified, retain an odd jellied like consistency. With a skill check raise, the examiner realizes that the creature’s bone structure would actually allow it to morph its appearance significantly. On an Investigation raise specifically, the hero finds a slip of paper in the binder with the following information:

 

Delivery: Tyro -- (set of coordinates)

Approved: Hede Massing

 

Anyone with an espionage background can make an appropriate Knowledge check to recognize the name as a Russian operative. A Knowledge raise reveals that that Hede Massing was a Russian NKVD operative that disappeared from service a few years ago. Speculation was that she defected or was killed, though no evidence either way has surfaced.

 

Anyone with a spacefaring background can make an appropriate skill check to realize that the coordinates are in the Arges system. On a skill raise, the hero can pinpoint the coordinates in the outer band asteroid belt. These coordinates produce no information if fed into a navigational device, other than to confirm that they are in the Arges system’s outer asteroid belt.

 

Prisoners

Eisenfaust operatives use their Mind Wipe abilities to keep the heroes from finding out more information, however, Lieutenant Vadim Timoshenko does not have this ability. If he is encountered with an Eisenfaust strike team, and captured, he may reveal the following information under extreme duress before he poisons himself:

  • “We will bury you. All of you! And your Martian slave drivers, too!”
  • “We do not answer to any man. Any belief. Any creed. We are Eisenfaust!”
  • “The People are coming. They will change you. Everyone.”

Roma prisoners can only reveal their mission: Capture Iskinder Kelile and return him to justice.

 

Counter Strike

 

There are several groups that might not like the heroes snooping around on Olympus for various reasons. Feel free to use any of these encounters to “kick in a door” when things are getting a little slow.

 

Eisenfaust Agents

 

Eisenfaust has designs not only on Olympus, but on the larger political situation between the various nations and those nations and the Martians. Whenever the heroes fail an information gathering check with a 1 on the skill dice, word gets back to the shadowy org that someone is snooping around. They immediately dispatch a troop of their agents to find out what the heroes know and to shut them down.

 

Eisenfaust Agents 2 per wild card

 

If this encounter occurs more than twice, the agents are accompanied by Vadim Timoshenko, a Ukrainian lieutenant (wildcard) in the organization.

Timoshenko

 

Roma Enforcers

Italy has specific designs on the Greek-held system. Most importantly, they seek the head of Iskander Kelile as a war criminal.

 

Bringing evidence of Roma soldiers in the system to Iskinder Kelile grants the heroes a +1 bonus to influential skill checks. He'll also pay top dollar for a prisoner.

 

Roma Enforcers 1 per wild card

 

 

 

Navigator

Main Page
Prelude: In the Service of the King
Act I: The Prince and the Wrestlers
Act II: Invasion of the Steel Men
Act III: Mind Agents of Eisenfaust
Background Information
System Brief: Olympus
Ships and Vehicles

Mooks and Wild Cards

 

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