Setting Backstory​

1. Aurora Flight to the neighboring star system is permissible for commercial travel. Previously travel to the Alciel System was only legally permissible by a small handful of voyager vessels commissioned by the Grand Guild Coalition. Now flight beyond the Lulcia star system has been deemed acceptable however still regarded as extremely dangerous. Vessels are advised to travel in fleets and only on or near the Isochronal Aurora Current(IAC, is a steam of Aurora Light that can keep a ship fueled with Aurora, so long as they stay whithin the current.) 

   1. Lulcia System: The solar system surrounding the smaller White Star. 

   2. Alciel System: The Solar System surrounding the much larger Red Star. 

   3. Isochronal Aurora Current: The main route of Aurora Travel through space from one terrestrial body to another.  These Aurora Currents come in perfectly timed cycles. They are also how cultures from across the stars keep a measured calendar standard. 

   4. Grand Guild Coalition (GGC): A group of head Masters from many triads and impartial leaders from countries spanning all over the planet of Alyria. This coalition of guilds and monarchs gets together to discuss the academic expansion of the Alyrian People. They make most of the acceptable rules regarding spellcraft, technological progression, and what literary works are accessible by the general public. 

2. The Grand Guild Coalition and the Council of Scholars have commissioned many commercial fleets  to embark out into the Alciel System. The purpose of this is to embrace the new species and cultures from the neighboring star system and further the known knowledge of the Accresphere. The commercial vessels are all clumped together in fleets of 10 or more vessels. These fleets are the safest way to traverse open space. Though dangerous, this does not stop solo vessels from embarking out and risking the dangers of the unknown worlds beyond the Lulcia System. 

   1. Council of Scholars: A group of scholars who travel as far as they can to acquire as much knowledge as they can. Their goal is to ensure that all knowledge is accessible to everyone who wishes to learn. This belief often puts them at odds with The GGC.

   2. Accresphere: The many endlessly expanding planes and great astral sea between the planes.

3. Those who wish to book passage on an Alciel bound vessel must make a formal request with either the GGC, the Council of Scholars, or one of the many Factions who have already been accepted onto one of the vessels. There are a few types of tickets one could obtain granting them a different station on the vessel. 

   1. Passenger Tickets, granting one easy access onto the vessel at a pretty hefty cost. 

   2. Voyager Tickets, Meaning you have special skills useful to the GGC. However, if your services are required, you would be expected to provide them at no charge. Arcanists, Magus, Navigators, Physicians, Archeologists and many other skilled people are needed for the safe and expert study of the new system. 

   3. Crew Tickets, Meaning you are employed by the captain of the vessel and are expected to work to keep the ship in flight. The services could range from Mechanical to Entertainment and beyond.

   4. Mercenary Tickets, granting you permissions to travel aboard the vessel and are expected to keep the other passengers protected in case of danger. 

There are other less legal ways aboard the vessel. Using the connections of a criminal faction, or sneaking aboard yourself. If you get aboard through illegal means, you will need to keep your identity as a stowaway a secret and will need to skirt the military and mercenary crew who pose a threat to your safety. If discovered you run the risk of imprisonment or even execution.

 

Introduction:

The travesties and horrors of the Crimson war left the world of Alyria in shambles. A toxic Aurora Fallout permeates the air throughout most of Lansaag, the great desert that separates the East and Western Countries. A massive arcane explosion left a permanent wound on the arid landscape. The massive wound is known as the Crescent Scar. 

  In the years following the cataclysm, society began to piece itself back together using a combination of the two warring factions technologies. Aparthan Industrial advancements combined with the northern counties affinity for arcane manipulation. Alyrian civilization had advanced by leaps and bounds. The Crimson age slowly became a tragic part of Alyrian HIstory as a new enlightenment age took its place. The age of Aurora-Tech. 

What once took months of traveling on perilous roads, now takes mere hours on the Arcutech Collective Railway. Soon after, Arcanists created flying machines that could take them all over Alyria using the potent fuel source known as Aurora. With this arcane energy, nearly anything is possible. Even traveling the stars above. 

By riding on the predictable Aurora Stream, Alyrians have managed to travel to nearby planets within their solar system and become pioneers of the open space. Adventurers were slowly becoming a thing of the past until the Astral Frontier expanded out to commercial and individual travel. Now any wanderlusting adventurer  with enough Gems seeks their fortunes out in the seemingly endless void of space. 

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Boarding the Ship(1 episode)

All protagonists start off  awakening early the day they are to be boarding the Alciel Bound Ship. They wake with their prospective factions and head to the transport vessels that will take them to the Voyager ship's departure zone in Taydallin City. 

The protagonists can procure passage on the vessel in several ways. One way on the ship is by working on the ship as part of the ships crew. To do this one must have a skill the ship might need. Skills like physician skills, Mechanics skills, culinary skills, navigation skills or many other skills a spacefaring ship might require. A crew member is given a bunk with which to sleep in and a locking storage space that they can use to store up to 3 large objects, 5 medium objects, 20 small objects and any number of tiny objects. They are also rewarded with a per diem between 10-20 Gems a day to spend on food or other necessities. 

Another way to gain passage is by having a guild procure a Voyager Passport. A voyager pass is a small green rectangular card with a metal wire coil around one end and Aurora infused runes carved along the front of it and a sicular glass chip embedded into the back. This pass  allows skilled guilds folk special access to travel upon the voyager vessel but doesn't grant any of the special amenities that a Passenger Passport offers. A voyager may freely roam the ship and has the privacy of their own chamber to store their things in and rest. However, obtaining food is entirely on themselves or their guild to provide. 

A Passenger Passport comes in 3 tiers. Tier 3 being simple passage and access to the tier 3  free roam about the vessel and nothing more. This passport can be purchased for 5,000 GS. A tier 2 passport gives a passenger a single free meal a day, 3 free beverages (alcoholic or otherwise), and a modest living quarters egypt with a washroom and quick Aurora pad access. This pass can be purchased for 10,000GS. Tier 1 gives a passenger a large multi tiered living space large enough for 5 people to comfortably cohabitate. Along with the luxury suit, the Tier 1 pass also gives the passenger access to otherwise restricted locations, as well as a Quick Escape Ship directly attached to their living space. A passenger with tier one also 3 gains free meals per day cooked directly by one of the many skilled chefs employed by the Voyager and complimentary refreshments delivered every morning by the Voyager Hospitality Staff. 

When the protagonists arrive at the departure point on the ship, they’ll find themselves standing before 3 massive gates casting imposing shadows before a great trench. Each gate has a lengthy line of soon to be passengers stretching back roughly 120 yards. Surrounding the departure point is a beautiful city with looming buildings druid crafted from aurora infused trees. A pristine castle peaks out over the treetops a few yards away from the departure zone.

The first of the 3 gates is painted a Forest green color and is labeled Voyager. Most of the people queued up behind it appear to be wearing some kind of clerical or traveler's garb and are toasting many many boxes with them. 

The Middle gate is colored a wine red with a sign labeled Passenger Gate. The queue for this gate is split into 3 separate lines. The people in these lines appear to be from all over Alyria and seem to come from many different class levels. Anyone from working class folk to high ranking nobles can be seen standing in this line. 
The final gate is a deep gold color and says Mercenaries on a sign hanging from the top of the gate. Those queued up in this line all appear to be varying types of experienced adventurers. Most mercenaries join the expedition by paying their way just like the passengers but are given separate accommodations due to their expectancy to be rowdy or excitable. Because of this they are expected to stay in the taverns located throughout the ship.

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Ship Layout:

One Large Voyager Ship Large enough to hold over 1000 people. The ship is split up into 3 sectors. The Crew Sector, the Passenger sector, and the Guild Sector. Each sector is located somewhere in the ship's lower deck. The upper deck and main lobby are a shared space for all passengers and crew on the ship. 

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Main Lobby:

The main lobby is laid out like a layered balcony system. 3 tiers accessible by Aurora powered lifts. The lowest tier in the main lobby is mostly Utility or Essential Services. The Mechanics Department, The Infirmary, The Fire Force, and the Vessel Guard Patrol. These services as well as a few other municipal services are spread out along the perimeter of the lowest Floor. 

In the center of the lowest lobby floor is a park with 3 paths that spirals from entry points 

The two balcony floors above overlook the garden park and service buildings below. All the shops and stores are spread out among the second floor and all the restaurants and bars are located on the third balcony floor.

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Ship Upper Deck:

The upper deck has a gorge view of the great expanding space and gorgeous celestial bodies that pass by. They can also see the beautiful Aurora Stream flowing under and around the ship. Occasionally performances and events are held in the upper deck balcony. The middle of the upper deck(the port), surrounding the center mast, is a pool of brackish water fed by two waterfall fountains. A large ornamented bridge with a brilliant view of the upper deck and the breathtaking astral sights arcs over the pool.

The Arena and training grounds sit atop the ship’s upper deck. The 8 story spiral building sits halfway between the ship’s bow and the port. The first floor of this building is for training and practice. Directly above that is a tiered competition arena where the daily winner of each floor wins a victory prize that grows larger with every floor they advance to. 

The ship’s control deck (or quarter deck) sits raised up just before the stern with no apparent access points. From the starway leading up to the stern, the captain along with a team of Arcanists and Magus can be seen interacting with some sort of gyroscopic globe glowing with Aurora. Surrounding the transparent globe are rotating metal bands  that twist and spiral in motions that seem to synchronize with the captain's hand movements.

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The Underbelly:

Rumors circulate about endless labyrinthian halls in the lower decks of the ship. Rumors say some People wander down the wrong halls in the lower decks and get lost for days or even indefinitely. One bar patron offers a reward to any mercenary willing to search out and find their missing children. They believe they got lost in the maze but the ship’s Patrol Guards never found them.

The Protagonists (All with rooms adjecent to one another find themselves lost in the halls after leaving their rooms. The halls in front of and behind them seem to dim slightly and elongate. The sounds of the ship around them quiet then disappear entirely.  Any Emberkin or Auroran will begin to smell the pungent scent of burnt ozone and rust. The hallways and their branching paths stretch on seemingly endlessly. Occasionally the carpet color changes and stairs leading to higher floors can be found but there doesn't seem to be any changes to the halls after reaching the top of the stairs. Attempting to return to one of the former halls is impossible. Retracing steps has no effect either. 

An academic + Arcane check with a goal of 12 reveals to the protagonists that ambient aurora has been  seeping out from some of the rooms infused with aurora. Someone must have cast an etheriomancy spell in the hall and, in doing so, created some kind of endless loop effect to the hotel like hallways.

If they don’t pass the check they wander the halls until they feel the effects of exhaustion fall upon them. And they repeat this process. After 4 days of wondering and resting, the protagonists will eventually find themselves in familiar areas and then become able to navigate themselves back to the main lobby.

Opening any doors will result in the view of the same stretch of hallway. Only at the far end of the corridore stands a tall looming shadowy figure. It turns its gaze towards whoever is standing before the doorway. That protagonist must make a Presence + Fortitude Check with a goal of 14 or lose 2d6 morale and gain the demoralized condition for 2d6 minutes minus their presence skill. The figure will then begin to follow the party. It will always be behind them. If anyone looks at it, they will suffer the same fate. If they rest while the figure is following them, they will receive the same penalty.

Discerning what it is: An Academics/Religion + Arcane Check reveals this creature to be a Paraelgiese. Magi that linger around areas of strong negative emotion for far too long can become soaked in that negativity. A magi that has been darkened by the mortal melancholy takes on an eerie form and clings to dark places and shadows. They will spread their disposition to any mortals who stay too close to them. Some of them have been known to cling to the shadows of mortals who pass by and ooze a depressive aura until the mortal succumbs to the darkness and falls into depression. If the remains magi latched onto a mortal for too long, the melancholy they sustain can stain their psyche and leave irreversible mental damage. Paraelgiese often take on a slim shadowy appearance. A long limbed torso with a bent necked head that clings to walls and skulks through shadows. Often much darker than the shadows they cling to. 

Attacking the creature: If approached by someone who can see the figure, it will envelope the hallway with a haze of gloom. All aggressors must make a Presence + focus check or suffer the blighted condition, lose 3d6 morale and take 1d4 blight damage. The creature is immune to all physical damage, blight damage. However, when the figure is dealth aurora damage, its darkness shys away slightly and its eyes open wider shedding out bright light. The darkness quickly re envelopes the figure. If 25 or more aurora damage is dealt to the creature before the start of its next turn, all the darkness fades away from the creature revealing it to be a magi. Still long and lean with a twisted frame, but now glowing with aurora light. Attop its head floats a halo of pulsing light.

Opening more doors after the first: If a protagonist chooses to open another door after the first they will roll on a d8. Use the chart below to determine what is beyond the door that they open. 

1. Another hallway. (no change)

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2. Another hallway but with a rat chewing on some kind of dead animal. An Academics + Medicine Check with a goal of 8 reveals that the animal is a soft furred forest mink. Otherwise no change.

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3. Another hallway, but upon opening the door the protagonists all hear a high pitched whistle and feel a sudden dizzying sense of vertigo. Protagonists must make a Physical + Focus check with a goal of 12 every hour or suffer the sense impaired condition on the first failure. The stunned condition on the 2nd failure, the tired condition on the 3rd failure, the prone condition on the 4th failure, and the unconscious condition on the 5th failure.  Closing the door does not cause this effect to end. The only way to end the effect is to complete a rest. 

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4. A modest wooden room with a person laying on the ground unconscious. Also in the room is a cart with trays of week old food and a locked oak chest scratched up all over the lock. The unconscious person wears a red and white striped vest and has a leather satchel that is being used as a pillow. They do not stir or awaken when the protagonists enter the room. If awakened, the person jumps to their feet with their hands out to either side adopting a defensive stance. Their demeanor quickly shifts from concerned to relieved. “Oh thank Orryl the Breathless! You’ve come to save me!” they shout with a thickly accented Taylin. (The accent indicates they are from Hillska) Standing before the party is a short bearded haltija with long antlers wrapped in purple leather strips. “Name’s Beal Th’ Opond! But you can call me Th’ if you’d like!”

Th’ explains that they’d been trapped for going on a week now by their assumption. They’d been running a fetch-type delivery service for the wealthy folk down here. Supposed to be bringing some meals to some noble family, but ended  up horribly lost.

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5. A whirling dark void in the center of an impossibly hopeless void. In the very center of it all is a small pink speck. The speck starts getting bigger and bigger until it’s revealed to be a long barbed tendril. It attempts to grapple whoever opened the door.The protagonist must make a Physical + Acrobatics/Athletics check or become grappled by the thing, taking 2d6 piercing damage as well as 1d8 acidic damage. It will attempt to pull the protagonist into the void. Up to two adjacent protagonists may attempt to help make an Athletics + Fortitude check with a total goal of 20. If the check is failed, the grappled protagonist gets pulled into the void, their fingers grasping at the door handle. 

At this point, the narrator will explain separately what horrors the protagonist experiences. The eldritch hellscapes they are pulled through until their mind breaks. After which, they find themselves sitting alone in a hallway with only blurry flashes of the horrors they endured. Shortly even the flashes fade away like waking from a dream. The protagonist suffers a psychic scar. 

Eldritch Psychic Scar. Whenever dropped below 0 Health or below 0 morale, the protagonist will find themselves back in this hellscape, but only in mind. Their body takes on a foreign aura and begins acting strange and speaking in strange languages. The body will disengage with whatever the party is doing and fly away, returning shortly. The time they spend in the eldritch hellscape feels like double the time they are unconscious for. The narrator will describe some sort of prison made from bioorganic material. The bars like massive bones. Endless horrors await in the plane of nightmares. 

 With the force of a titan, the door is flung shut and the protagonist is gone. Opening the door again only reveals the same long hallway. After 5 minutes the sound of a door slamming heavily can be heard around the corner. Sitting before the door dazed, is the missing protagonist. 

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6. Another hallway but with 2 children huddled under a credenza cowering from 3 of the tall shadowy figures. The children are too afraid to move out from beneath the credenza. The shadowy figures loom above them twisting their crooked necks around and mimicking horrified twisted faces in the pools of rippling voids on their heads. The figures react to the party in the same way that the first shadowy figure did. 

The two cowering children fit the description fitting the missing children from the bar patron. 

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7. As this door opens, so does another door 4 meters down on the opposite side of the hall. The two doors are portals to one another. When looking through one door they can see out of the other door and vice versa. When a protagonist tries stepping through one door they will exit through the other. 

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8. Beyond the door lies a large library room that’s been torn to pieces. In the center of the room is a violent blue energy field streaming from ceiling to floor. Crackling flashes of blue light rip out from the energy field and arch around the room. Whatever the crackling bolts of energy touch are branded with trails of corrosive scaring that radiates blighted aura. (Touching these blight scars result in 3d6 blight damage.) 

Laying slanted on the stairway in the far right side of the room is the charred upper half of a scholar. Their eyes and the inside of their mouth is burned out and glowing with a ghostly blue color. Through all this, they appear to be mouthing something over and over. 

Mental + Awareness check with a goal of 8 reveals a few interesting items in the room. (1 aurora pistol. 1 arcane focusing staff, 1 book of recorded spell experiments, a bowl of 4d6 Iris pearls)

A middle aged human man in scholarly garb pops his head up from behind a bookshelf.

“Don’t come in here! Get away!” As the man shouts the pulsing energy beam projects another flash of crackling energy towards the scholar. Panicked, he holds up his arm in defense. When the bolt comes in contact with his hand, it dissolves into wisps of glowing blue ash. He lets out a cry of agony and falls over.  Navigating the room requires moving from one point of safety to another while dodging the flashes of volatile arcane energy. To move from one safe spot in the room to another requires a  Physical + Acrobatics check with a goal of 12 or the protagonist takes 3d8 blight damage. On a successful check, one can move from one desired point of safety to the next without incurring damage.
If a protagonist reaches the fallen scholar, he will tell them that the arcane disturbance can be deactivated by pulling the two discs in the center apart but it will require at least three people to accomplish. Someone skilled with aurora channeling can part the aurora field, revealing two rune discs spiraling around one another. Another can act as a lightning rod to attract the attention of the aurora bolts so they don’t strike the magus. And one more person, someone strong, to pull the spinning discs free from the field. Doing this should stop the disruption and put an end to any aurora radiation seeping out of the room.
- Distracting the Aurora Bolts: Physical + Acrobatics check with a goal of 12 or take 3d8 blight damage.

- Parting the Aurora Field: Arcane + Focus Check with a goal of 14 or anyone within 3 meters take 3d8 blight damage and suffer the blight condition. 

 

- Pulling the discs free: Athletics + Fortitude check with a goal of 13 or everyone involved must reroll the check.
 

If the protagonists succeed then the energy field disrupts then explodes, dealing 6d8 Blight damage to everyone in the room. If all are knocked unconscious they awaken in the infirmary after receiving medical treatment. All protagonists must roll 1d6. On a 1 they suffer a blight scar. Whenever they would take blight damage, they take double damage and lose half as much morale. They also gain the ability to blast out an arch of blue arcane energy once per day. A target within 30ft must make an Physical + Acrobatics check or take 3d8 blight damage and suffer the blighted condition.

None of the scholars or items in the room survived. Only the protagonist and party survived the explosion.  

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The Protagonists Awaken in the Ships Infirmary. 

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