The Seventh Weird Thing: The Lost World Engineered by the Colony AI to Mirror Ancient Greek Myth

 The Seventh Weird Thing: The Lost Colony    

This can me adapted to other systems but I will present the write-up exactly as I wrote it for Cypher System a while back. This is an extension of my Orion Consortium Explorers plot I alluded to in the 1st Weird Thing. It is an homage to all those old Star Trek episodes where they find a planet ruled by some god, specifically that one where it was Apollo.

Cypher System Orion Exploration Services Plots:

Current Year by the Orion Calendar: year 3,321 following the age of heroes; two hundred years since the discovery of FTL technology and meeting the Recorders.

Episode One: The Lost Colony

A remote world called SKO339, 83 LY in to the Unknown Expanse, has been emitting an emergency beacon for several weeks. The beacon is on a universal Dominion Frequency, but Recorders have indicated the world is off-limits in their old Survey records. Survey info suggests the inhabitable mainworld may have Terran Empire artifacts present.

The System: A single star, main, with 4 gas giants and five inner worlds. Main planet SKO339-3 is 3.9BYO with a human-compatible atmosphere and ecosystem. 50% water on surface. Strong volcanic activity. A single moon (SKO339-1). Gravity is .92 Orion normal. Population: 35 million Terran divergents; likely a lost colony. TL late bronze-age

The planet Themyskos

The Basics: A low-tech world, lost colony, modeled after ancient Greece. The similarities are alarmingly suspicious, though the Orions do not know this. The world is 50/50 water and land, extremely habitable with a lush ecosystem.

In Orbit: 24 powerful ancient orbital satellites in place around the planet, equipped with matter conversion weaponry. The satellites are aggressive only if attacked. They use antimatter weapons and powerful defensive shields to protect the planet, and appear to be tied in to some sort of local network broadcasting on eleven-dimensional frequencies. In a single LaGrange point rests a derelict, mostly intact space station. Evidence of the remains of other old stations can be seen, but its all wreckage.

The Dead Station: There’s an ancient abandoned orbital station, clearly of Terran Imperial origin. The station is long dead and pock-marked with damage from collisions.

1.       Coupling the station’s computer to a power source reveals about 95% of its recordings, managed on quantum drives embedded in tungsten, have failed. What little is left appears to be a lengthy treatise on the ancient history of Lost Earth, primarily a full record of the archaic history of humanity. A valuable find!

2.       There is a single marker and small monument left by the Recorders indicating they visited, the date suggests they were here 1,000 years ago and the only information encoded in the marker states, “Archaic colony, Terran; revisit if warranted.” It is linked to an observer satellite but the observer satellite is missing from orbit.

3.       The station is haunted, by a half-dozen robotic drones of unknown alien origin, but they do appear quite ancient. They will activate if they sense life within 100m of their floating positions and seek to grab, encapsulate and begin to transform the host in 10 hours into a Hyperioth hunter-killer unit. The ESS Navigator’s records record a half-dozen other incidents with the relics of this unknown species called the Hyperioth.

4.       The remnants of a Terran ship are in a launch bay. It appears to be STL, an explorer class, and shows heavily modified…it was being used as a shuttle from space to ground and contains evidence that in the final days of the station they were scavenging and moving all they could, before the ship failed while docked. Two skeletons in space suits rest in the cockpit, the only corpses on the entire station. Their bones are so brittle from exposure to radiation and the vacuum that they crumble if touched.

Scanning the Planet: Evidence of a large (2 km) ship that crashed on the planet is visible from surveys in space. The ship created a swathe of destruction 30 km long that partially damaged a major settlement (the city of Spartus)

   All other scans confirm: no radio, no broadcasts, and locals appear to be in the late bronze age of technology. The Emergency beacon that the ship is seeking stands alone, and surprisingly is not coming from the wrecked ship; it’s coming from a religious temple on a high peak some 30 km from the location of the wreck!

The Landing Party: the explorer-class shuttle Nemescae is impulse drive only and has reactive camouflage on its hull to avoid detection. Captain Brial Thane will assign the team low tech equipment and clothing, and a set of protective equipment that is set to decay if outside of the radius of their biometric signature within 24 hours. The shuttle includes a full med-bay module in case there are wounded to be recovered. It is advised to investigate the crash first and then the source of the signal. A backstory about being foreign merchants is advised, or to call themselves “servants of the gods” if evidence becomes clear to the natives they have advanced tech.

A note on the Noninterference Rule: the Orion Commonwealth has adopted the Dominion rule of non-contact and non-interference with pre-spaceflight civilizations. Archaic worlds require careful handling and mitigating exposure to advanced technology. Attempting to uplift or exploit pre-spaceflight worlds is considered a high crime of both the Commonwealth and the Dominion.

Landing at the Crash Site:

The derelict is thoroughly wrecked, and appears to have crashed here about six weeks prior. The vessel is registered with the Dominion as a research vessel owned by a species called the Hellenathi. In the ruins the landing team can find:

1.       There are bodies in the wreckage, of human-like beings but with a light blue skin. These appear to be Hellenathi, and a deep medical scan reveals they are genetically divergent Terrans; may, like Orions and others, be part of a lost Terran colony that survived the collapse and recovered. The ship’s name translates to “Prospector One.”

2.       Every corpse appears to have died of either massive trauma due to the crash or massive trauma due to what appears to be a brutal attack. There are is biological material, including a shed 3-foot claw, left behind from the attacker, which shows a genetic makeup with a 5-pronged DNA helix that is completely alien.

3.       Inside the ship are dozens of cryostasis pods. The sip’s engine is a Warp-core, but very old; this thing takes years to move between worlds. There is a special section with extremely large pods; three are empty but one is damaged and contains the mummified corpse of a horrifying monster (the unknown entity locals are calling the Kerberos). It’s remains corroborate with the alien DNA found on the bodies.

4.       A few weapons can be found, but most of the weapons in the ship’s locker appear to be destroyed in the landing.

5.       The ship has evidence of a sentient AI but investigating reveals its core has been removed! A database is here, and can be downloaded; includes the ship’s universal language translator, which will let the ESS Navigator’s system begin translating the Hellenathi language.

6.       When the group lands, a cool voice communicates with them via broadcast, declaring itself the voice of Athena, goddess of Wisdom, and asks that the “starmen” assist in removing the debris and the other star beings to ensure that Athena’s people are kept safe. A really good sensor check to scan the source of Athena’s transmission (level 6) can reveal that it is bouncing off of the defense satellites and comes from an island some 100km in the bay.

7.       About 1,000m from the crashed remains a bunch of locals have set up a shrine and a cult seems to be present, but it is clear that the camp has been attacked several times. A man named Anakes says he has come to appease the devil with sacrifice, and the devil is Kerberos. He says the other two monsters have gone elsewhere, and the Hellenathi have gone to the mountain temple with the priests of Apollo, who offered them and their own “god” protection. The other two monsters, he says, are Empusa and Hydra. Hydra, he says, has gone to the coast where the city of Dremas lies. Empusa has gone inland, he says, to the Throne of Hephaistos, where the Hecatoncheires dwell. The group can identify this as a volcano about 75km inland.

8.       With the encampment is Alexios! He is the warrior come to slay the beasts. The oracle Athena speaks to him through a small metal owl, and tells him that he will aid the starmen henceforth, who are here to assist in destroying the beasts.

9.       Kerberos is a member of the alien Chimerics. These shape-changing beasts are consummate hunters who take on the forms and traits of those entities they can pull from the psyche of their victims. They physically change, and use their psionics to enhance their nightmarish appearance. The Kerberos chimera. The Navigator can analyze its complex DNA and determine that it is possible to “unravel” the being with a directed sonic attack, but that takes a Level 5 skill check to figure out.

Kerberos – Level 6 (30 Health), Alien Species (Chimerics); Hydra has 60 health; Empusa has 25 health

2 points armor; 3 points against simple kinetic attacks

Three Heads – can do up to three attacks (6 damage on a bite and Level 3 Might Defense check to resist being grabbed in the bite)

Serpent Coils – Kerberos is covered in snake-headed tentacles and a tail. Anyone adjacent to it must make a level 4 Speed Defense to avoid being bitten and poisoned; Level 4 Might Defense to resist poison or move down 1 on the wound track!

Weakness to Sonic Inability – Sonic Attacks of high decibel will cause the chimera to lose coherence; it’s form begins to falter and it turns into a serpentine goo, like a mess of interconnected worms or snakes. This happens immediately on a Level 6 Might Defense and takes 1 round to recover and reform. While in this state it is Level 3 for attack and defense, and can only attack with serpent coils.

Psionic Influence – any host target with an acute fear within 1km of the chimeric must make a level 6 Intellect Defense or those fears are realized and manifest as a psionic hallucination that imposes an inability on all actions for 1 minute; if there is a common “form” the chimeric can modify its body to look like that form (a general shape) until any who “believe” in that form are dead or more than 100km away.

Empusa and Hydra: The Empusa chimeric can change form at will but has a human woman’s form with a mechanical leg. She is traveling with a young local man named Aidesee, and goes to the volcano because they sense it holds the “forge” run by Athena.

   The hydra chimeric is the worst, and is on its way to find the Enclave of Athena to destroy it. It has 7 heads to attack with, and destroying one head by cutting it off causes two more to grow from the stump in one round. Fire will prevent this.

The Complication: if the group saves everyone from Kerberos, they learn from the cultists that three of the “voices of the new god, Spiros” with the blue skin, who call themselves Hellenathi, have gone to the Temple of Apollo. Anakes is more than grateful for their aid…he did not wish to sacrifice cultists to Kerberos to appease the beast.

Journey to the Temple: the group has a chance to see lush gardens, vineyards and farmsteads along the way, and if they have the record from the abandoned orbital station they can tell that this world was carefully modelled after the recordings of the “ancient brone age” quite carefully…suspiciously, in fact.

Roadside Encounters while traveling:

1.       Roadside bandits will mistake them for priests, merchant foreigners or pilgrims and try to shake them down.

2.       A festival is underway, and a new statue to the mystery god Spiros is being constructed. It looks like a large metal ball with an eye. The people claim Spiros ordered the statue made.

3.       On the way up the mountain a flight of seven harpies (l3) attack!

4.       A mass of pilgrims heading to the “Vessel of the gods” pass by.

The Temple of Apollo: three Hellenathi with blue skin are here, with the floating orb that is their AI system, called Spiros. Aaden, the leader, Quinos the warrior and Selense the healer and speaker seem to be happy to act as demigods. They are brandishing recovered tech, including projectile weapons.

   They have taken over the temple and demand worship of the new god. They claim the new god will be the only way to find salvation before the horrible monsters, sent to destroy those who do not believe. To the PCs they will try to convince them that they are actually in trouble from the monsters as well, and taking advantage of their “divine oracle” status to protect the core while waiting for help from their people.

   A few clues suggest not all is as it seems:

1.       If the group has researched the Hellenathi they know they use slow-STL ships that take years to journey between worlds.

2.       At some point if the group doesn’t do it then the ESS Navigator translates the emergency beacon message: its an invitation to come to this world, ready for the taking!

3.       The group realize the broadcast beacon is coming from Spiros. If the group approaches Spiros, they find out the AI willingly admits the message is to call other Hellenathi to the world. It indicates that the Hellenathi use Spiros to control the chmerics, and explain they enslaved the chimerics on their long voyage for use as soldiers. Spiros admits the chimerics have a weakness with sonic attacks.

4.       The priest of Apollo, Pythias, explains that the starmen and their new god are overwhelming, and that the being Spiros seems able to squelch Athena’s voice if it so desires. He has sent runners to other temples seeking help. He thinks Spiros is not a god, but a machine, like the ones “Denados in the city of Dremas along the coast has made under the divine inspiration of Hephaistos.”

Taking Action against the Hellenathi and Spiros: the group will find the Hellenathi a bit easy to deal with (level 3, health 9,  armed with rifles (6 damage) and personal defense shields Armor-3; Quinos is level 4 and health 12). Spiros is effectively defenseless (level 1) but has a powerful EMP burst that can scramble brainwaves for 100m around (level 7 or become stunned for one hour), and he can then jet out at a slow speed to escape (Spiros is basically a small drone). Spiros will be happy to help, though, but it’s slaved to Aaden. A hacking/computers check of level 6 can overcome the security protocols and free Spiros. Spiros will make sure they know that without the slave-bonding to the Hellenathi the chimerics are free to do as they wish, and they know that they are tasked with two goals: destroy the thing called Athena, and seize the Forge of Hephaistos.

   For the record, Spiros has spoken with Athena and realized Athena is a powerful, ancient AI. It will reveal as much if freed by the PCs.

The City of Dremas:

Notes: King Phydes is old and out of shape; Queen Elyta is friendly and helpful; General Cassios leads the forces to fight the hydra.

If the group arrives here its in time to see the hydra attack! Warriors are tossed about as it rips through, retreating beneath the bay waters if wounded enough to consider escape. It seeks the Isle of Athena, but is distressed to see that the signal appears to emerge from a location where no island is located!

The Isle of Athena: this island only appears if Athena wills it, rising from the sea floor out in the bay. The Isle is small and clearly artificial, with an ancient temple. An elevator in the temple can take a group to the ancient subterranean enclave of an ancient AI which dates back the fall of the Terran Empire, and she has been using the Forge to keep humanity alive on this world, trapped in the late-bronze age for all of this time. Her knowledge is based on the limited database of the ancient she has access to, and a lost programmer who directed her to keep humanity safe, and to never forget who they are….but all she knows who humanity is comes from the limited data she has on file!

   To this end, Athena has constructed quakes, revolts, withholding aid, oracular proclamations and any technique necessary to guarantee humanity never grows past its point of existence as the AI understands it. The Forge of Hephaistos is a relic of the lost colony, a functioning replicator system with automated mining. Other secondary AI are spread out at secondary sites, code named after the other gods, programmed to play their roles well. It is all an artificial construct, designed to keep the humanity of this world from ever advancing past the point where the record is vacant.

   The group may be tempted to illuminate Athena and expose her to the Origin Database, but they are at risk of triggering the AI to move its protocal to doing the same thing to the greater Orion civilization, seeking to subject it to a forced technological and social regression!

Possible Ally- Denados the Artificer: The man Denados is pushing the limit of what the ancient AI will allow. He is a forger and artificer in the city, one who has on occasion led pilgrimages to the Mountain of Hephaistos where gifts are given. But in secret he has learned to smelt iron and forge stronger weapons. He has devised a clockwork automaton which he keeps secret; he is aware the gods are covetous of his discoveries, as he sees it, and fear their retaliation; he worries, indeed, that the Hydra is here because of him!

   Denados is ally with Alexios, and forges a potent gladius for the warrior, made of bronze-coated iron, for him to use in his quest to destroy the monsters. He also forged the bronze owl of wisdom which accompanies Alexios, at the request of Athena when he was summoned to her temple. The form of the owl was forged by his hand, but its mechanical pieces within were enhanced by the will of Athena.

The Forge of Hephaistos: if the group visits this location first they will discover a vast underground complex tied to an impressive ancient Terran replicator factory guarded by immense robots (the hecatoncheires), administered by the AI Hephaistos. A huge geothermal engine draws power from the volcano and the planet’s core. Hephaistos will direct the group to speak with Athena, and threatens them with the robots (Level 8) if they refuse to comply. The empusa intends to sabotage the complex, however, and carries with her a nanovirus which will destroy the AI and leave room for the Hellenathi to program Spiros into the system. Empusa has her own designs, however….she intends to command the hecatoncheires to seek out and destroy her masters!

Resolving the Plot:

Optimal Resolution (5 XP):

--Group defeats the chimerics; Athena is safe; Alexios allowed to travel with them; Hellenathi stopped; Spiros freed; shipwreck purged/destroyed/recycled

Partial Resolution (4 XP):

--group does not defeat all the chimerics or Hellenathi, but does save Athena and maintain status-quo. Wreck may be destroyed, but key is that some equilibrium is maintained; may involve more deaths.

Rough Cut Ending (3 XP):

--group fails to adequately solve issue of chimerics, hellenathi and Spiros; Athena may not be safe at end of visit; wreck may not be destroyed. May have lightly violated the noninterference rule.

Disaster Ending (2 XP):

--Group aids Hellenathi, is responsible for destruction of Athena, liberates society and violates the noninterference rule in critical ways.

Renegade Resolution (+4 XP):

Group saves the planet, but figures out how to convince Athena to go “hands off” on the civilizations she is caretaking and to let them grow.

Edicts of the Exploration Services:

1.       Noninterference Rule – do not interfere with the natural course of development on pre-spacefaring civilizations; do not attempt to alter, exploit or otherwise influence their natural progression.

2.       Protection Rule – do not allow, or by omission of action allow to be harmed any sentient to come to harm, except when such harm is unavoidable and can lead to the catastrophic compromise of your vessel and crew if an attempt at action is taken. In situations of war always seek defense. Only the Directors of the Commonwealth can authorize wartime offensive action.

3.       Record and Preservation Rule – the discovery of our ancestors and the recovery of that lost information is of paramount importance. Do not overlook or omit an opportunity for discovery and preservation if the opportunity exists.

4.       First Contact Rule – when first contact presents itself, represent the Commonwealth with the greatest level of integrity and benevolence; avoid negative first impressions or a breakdown in communications whenever possible.