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Interlude – Six Months Ago
A ship from the House Linnaeus fleet emerges from folded space, but something is amiss. Large sections of the vessel have been replaced with jagged, black metal. The ship is in Audun’s orbit. Inside the command bridge, a startling sight awaits. The crew members have undergone a bizarre transformation, with metal patches now adorning their once-fleshly bodies. A spider-like construct skitters across the ground, climbing onto the shoulders of a man who stands out from the rest. His artificial nature is evident, his flawless skin a telltale sign.
“Scan the planet for large concentrations of the Essence,” the strange man orders. An automaton promptly obeys, and the viewscreen zooms in on Jahar and the Great Burrow. The man’s lips curl into a smile. “Fire the probe.” A puppet swiftly presses a few buttons and flips a switch. From the exterior, a metallic object is launched, arcing towards its target on Audun.
A cylindrical Flight Syndicate ship suddenly emerges from folded space. It forces through a communication that states they do not have a permit to be here and must surrender. The strange man tells his puppets to fire on that ship with the full battery of weapons. They do, and the highliner takes some devastating damage. The fire is returned, and the man realizes they are up against a foe that cannot be beaten…yet.
He calmly walks over to a console and redirects the flight path of his ship to collide with the Flight Syndicate’s. He also activates the self-destruct countdown, setting it to coincide with the moment of collision. Then he’s on to the escape pods, climbing into one and launching. The Flight Syndicate catches this and fires a shot, sending the escape pod into a wild spin. The man finds the front of the pod detaching, and he falls out. His body is revealed to be liquid metal, coming apart as he heats up. He is in tremendous pain from the look on his face. One chunk of him breaks off and goes hurtling off.
Planetside, we see something streaking across the night sky. A crater in the middle of the desert holds a pool of molten liquid. The liquid moves on its own. A merchant’s ship passes through the desert sea, and the metal worms its way up the side and into the hold. A staff has been leaned against a wall. The metal splits into two, capping the ends of the staff. It solidifies. The consciousness within it waits.
The Present
Jadyn, witnessing the strange man’s arm turning back to liquid metal, feels a surge of determination. The mouth of the Great Burrow may seem distant, but she knows she must act. The strange construct embedded in the side of the Burrow comes loose, shaking the ground. Spider-like legs emerge from its side, scrambling down the massive tunnel’s side and standing near the strange man. Jadyn realizes she needs help; this is something she can’t stop on her own. She attempts to quietly crawl away and climb back up to the top of the Burrow.
(Face Danger w/Shadow – 2 + 6 = 8 vs. 5, 3 – Strong Hit)
Jadyn manages to scale the sharp crystal walls of the Great Burrow and pulls herself over the cave’s lip as a beam of light shoots forth, erupting past the night sky and into the stars.
Oracle: Demand Strategy
It doesn’t take long for General Selima and her forces to cease their revelry in the fortress, their party for driving the Verfault out. They gather outside and find Jadyn staggering towards them, the eerie blue light piercing the sky. “What have you done?!” Selima demands.
“Something…it was on my staff?” Jadyn can’t make much sense of it herself. An entity living within the iron on her weapon. How was that possible? Some type of magic?
“Seize her! And this time, chain her up in the dungeon.” Selima orders her guards.
Jadyn tells them she wants to help stop what is down there, too; she
(Asset: Diplomat – Swear an Iron Vow, add +1)
(Compel w/Heart 1 +1 + 5 = 7 vs. 9, 10 – Miss)
(Pay the Price: The current situation worsens)
A large metal insectoid leg slams over Burrow’s edge, then another, until the spider-like construct Jadyn saw inside emerges. The strange man stands atop it, looking different than before. His skin has blue circuit paths flowing beneath it. The light beam continues to fire into the sky, unabated. He looks out at the stunned people and extends a hand. Tentacles emerge from the metal spider and plunge into the flesh of six guards. Their skin bubbles and reshapes in seconds, taking on the same metal patchwork appearance as his automatons on the now-destroyed ship. These transformed guards turn on their brethren.
(Oracle Question: Is Jadyn directly attacked by these automatons? Odds: Unlikely. Answer: (17) Yes)
One of these Assimilated Guards (Dangerous 0/5) staggers towards Jadyn, metallic tendrils emerging from his hands, seeking a host to spread its techno-infection to. Jadyn attempts to dodge the snapping mouths on the ends of the tendrils.
(Face Danger w/Iron – 3 + 2 = 5 vs. 3, 7 – Weak Hit. Suffer Move. -1 Spirit. I choose to resist)
(Endure Stress w/Heart – 1 + 1 = 2 vs. 1, 8 – Weak Hit. -1 Momentum)
A tendril makes contact, and Jadyn watches the scene around her dissolve. She’s standing on an endless obsidian plateau extending far into an indigo horizon, where jagged arcs of white lightning scar the sky. A structure sits on top of the plateau, a shape beyond the three dimensions known to Jadyn. The shape has an ever-shifted face of light projecting from it. The eyes contemplate her. The mouth opens. Millions of wires seek her out flesh…but she pushes back with her will, thinking of Captain Hardin, the crew of The Erasmus, and even poor Qasim. Then she thinks of Addahak and his death at the hands of the Verfault. She is freed.
When the surroundings of Selima’s fortress come back into view, things change. Even more of those gathered here have been transformed. The strange man has ridden the spider-like construct further down the slope of Jahar, working his way towards the coastline and the Desert Sea. Jadyn knows he has to be stopped to end this chaos. Those unconverted are being jumped and infected by those who have been.
(Secure an Advantage w/Shadow – 2 +5 = 7 vs. 7, 4 – Weak Hit. Take +2 Momentum)
Jadyn can slink away, moving with the shadows, never drawing attention from the automatons that are growing in number. A few minutes later, she’s scaling across rooftops, moving nearly parallel to the strange man. She moves to jump onto the back of the spider-like construct.
(Face Danger w/Edge – 1 +4 = 5 vs. 4, 6 – Weak Hit. Burn Momentum – Strong Hit)
She almost slips but, at the last minute, grips one of the spindly legs and climbs up to the large oval body.
(Oracle Question: Does the strange man notice that Jadyn has climbed on board? Odds: Almost Certain. Answer: Yes.)
He turns around. “Your part in this is done,” he states coldly. “You can go now.” Gesturing with his hand, a beam of blue light emerges towards Jadyn. She moves to dodge and strike him.
(Face Danger w/Edge – 1 + 6 = 7 vs. 5, 9 – Weak Hit. -1 Health. Resist)
(Resist Harm w/Iron – 3 + 4 = 7 vs. 3, 5 – Strong Hit. Shake it Off: +1 Health)
The beam strikes Jadyn, and she feels her mind flooded with images. Her nerves burn as they are overloaded with information. She knows the name of the man now – Paul (Formidable 0/10). He is of a people called the Vok from far away across the stars. He became aware of the Essence and took control of a corporate House ship with a drone. The technovirus spread through the ship and brought him to Audun. Like before, Jadyn suddenly realizes she’s standing on the obsidian plateau and shouts, “NO!” popping back to her reality, knocked back on the spider-like construct, Paul leers over her.
Jadyn pulls her blade and lunges for Paul’s left side.
(Enter the Fray w/Iron – 3 +3 = 6 vs. 7, 3 – Weak hit. Jadyn is in control)
The knife slips through his side, its blade carved from a fragment of a worldbreaker’s tooth. Paul screeches with electronic distortion and staggers back. He sneers and allows his body to reshape itself into a fluid weapon.
(Strike w/Iron – 3 +1 = 4 vs. 5, 10 – Miss. Pay the Price: It causes a delay or puts you at a disadvantage.)
Paul’s body morphs to avoid her blade this time and swings around to knock her over the side of the spider. She quickly grabs a leg, barely hanging on. Paul’s arm explodes into a dozen snapping tendrils.
(React Under Fire w/Iron – 3 +2 = 5 vs. 5, 2. Weak Hit. Take -1 Spirit)
(Endure Stress w/Spirit – 2 +3 = 5 vs. 5, 10. Miss. Take -2 Spirit & Forsake Your Vow)
One tendril enters Jadyn’s mind, and she can feel herself transformed into one of the Vox. The obsidian plateau and the entity within it make sense now. This is the Central Mind, the hub through which all Vox communicate. Something shifts beneath the obsidian plane. Luminescent blue fissures form across its surface, becoming cracks. A massive shape bursts forth, sending shards of obsidian needles flying. A worldbreaker – one of the old ones. Paul has linked the Vox with the minds of the mighty worms. Jadyn slips from the plateau, falling through indigo infinity.
Her eyelids flutter open. She’s lying on her back. The sky is dark. She can see the Flight Syndicate ships breaking through the atmosphere. Sitting up. Pain shoots through her spine. Her mind feels raw, scraped apart. Then she sees the horror. Jahar is in ruins. The sands of the Desert Sea pour over the once-great city. She sees them filling the Great Burrow. Hordes of people are running, screaming further down the slope. The Vox automatons stand watching out across the horizon.
Jadyn casts her gaze to where they are looking. A worldbreaker, the largest Jadyn has ever seen, floats on the sea’s surface. Its body is now a patchwork of leathery flesh and jagged metal. It opens its maw. It roars. The shockwave sends Jadyn crashing into a crumbling wall. The world goes blank. Chaos reigns.
To be continued in Starforged: Messiah coming September.
Vows
- I vow to avenge Addahak’s death against the Verfault (Extreme) 0/40
I vow to descend to the bottom of the Great Burrow (Dangerous) 6/10 – Failed- I vow to stop the House Verfault attack on Jahar (Formidable) 6/10 – Fulfilled
Summon a worldbreaker to terrify the Verfault (Dangerous) ⅖ – Failed
- I vow to uncover the true identity of Idris the Pilgrim (Formidable) 0/10
- I vow to hunt down Katulla the Shredder of Men (Formidable) 01/10
- I vow to stop the entity in the Great Burrow (Formidable) 0/10
Progress
Get to General Selima’s fortress (Dangerous) ⅘ – FailedDefeat Paul (Formidable 0/10) – Failed
This was an interesting playthrough because I leaned into the “letting things happen.” Going into the game, I wanted to play something set in my reskinned Dune setting and that was about it. My character was created entirely from random rolls as was the specific location and all of my NPCs, except for the strange man. That was a continuation of events that occurred in Starforged: Wrath of the Vok. I wanted to connect this to that one, but didn’t have anything set in stone. When I originally rolled up the cursed staff that spoke commands to Jadyn I didn’t think about it being connected to the Vok. A few sessions of play and Jadyn is compelled to go to the bottom of the Great Burrow. I started to ask what could be behind the staff demanding this and realized the metal on it could be a Vok in disguise. From there the final act of the story became obvious.
For Starforged: Messiah, I think I will be returning to my first Starforged character, Kei Becker, but don’t be surprised if Jadyn makes an appearance too.
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