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  1
  The Death of Grandfather is the seventh adventure in the Secrets 
  of the Ancients campaign. If you are a player, stop reading 
  now. If you’re a Referee, then you should ﬁ rst read Section 
  0: Secrets of Secrets to get an overview of the campaign. In 
  Section 6: Otherworld, the characters experienced a ﬂ ashback 
  to the glory days of the Ancient Empire, while Grandfather 
  probed their minds. They awoke from the ﬂ ashback just in time 
  to see SEVEN arrive. Grandfather activated his weapon...
  Adventure Synopsis
  The weapon does not work. SEVEN survives and destroys 
  Grandfather. The characters ﬂ ee through another teleporter, 
  bringing them to the third system in the pocket universe, where 
  there is a small colony of Droyne and humans who have lived in 
  Grandfather’s shadow for hundreds of thousands of years. 
  When exploring the Yaskoti culture, the characters may learn 
  of Professor Ankor, a radical Droyne scientist with an interest 
  in space exploration. They are also likely to run afoul of the 
  Church of Grandfather or be interrogated and imprisoned by 
  the Bureau of Security.
  Soon after the characters arrive, SEVEN’s minions start 
  arriving through the portal. The long-sheltered colony faces an 
  apocalypse, as the Ancient war begins again. If the characters are 
  imprisoned, they are rescued by another agent of Grandfather. 
  The characters have to escape the devastation and ﬁ nd the 
  only way off the planet – via a primitive space program created 
  illegally by Droyne rebels.
  There is a second portal in orbit that returns the characters to 
  the Spinward Marches...
  THE YASKOTI
  The Yaskoti are a culture of Droyne and Humaniti, settled on this 
  garden world by Grandfather as a control group. In the event 
  that he needs Droyne or Human servants, he can draw from the 
  population of the Yaskoti. He keeps their technology level limited 
  to TL7; advanced enough to be capable of rapidly learning, but 
  not so advanced that they can trouble his experiments. Anyone 
  who tries to advance the Yaskoti’s technology beyond this limit 
  is quietly removed, although social pressure from the Church 
  of Yaskoydray is as effective as secret assassins. The Yaskoti 
  have never travelled into space, and many believe space travel 
  to be impossible.
  The Church of Yaskoydray is the dominant religion. Grandfather 
  is portrayed as an all-wise and all-knowing creator deity who 
  protects their world and seeded it with life long ago. 
  The Yaskoti civilisation is reminiscent of the Droyne Empire in 
  its heyday; a council of Leader-caste Droyne make all important 
  decisions. Humans are almost all worker-caste, but they are 
  permitted to apply to join higher castes, with a large number of 
  Humans considered to be Sports, often acting as go-betweens 
  between the Droyne and humans.
  Their civilisation is broadly similar to 20th century Earth in many 
  ways, ﬁ ltered through the Droyne’s collectivist culture. 
  Referee Advice
  This is the scenario when wonder turns to horror. It is a disaster 
  movie, an apocalypse played out across the sheltered colony. 
  SEVEN’s agents are deliberately horrible and nightmarish, and 
  the low-tech Droyne civilisation is deliberately reminiscent of 
  modern-day Earth. The characters have just wandered into War 
  of the Worlds. The whole setting is about to be wiped away, so 
  you can run the game as a sandbox-style adventure. As long 
  as the characters eventually ﬁ nd clues leading to the secret 
  launch pad in the mountains, then any path to that ending works 
  perfectly well. 
  Once you reach Nightmare Breach (page 8), keep the characters 
  on the run all the time. Whenever they ﬁ nd shelter, take it away 
  from them. Whenever they think they have an advantage, hit 
  them with overwhelming force. Pull no punches – if there is 
  ever a time to eliminate player characters from the campaign, 
  this is it (replacement characters can be picked up in the next 
  adventure, or even from among the Yaskoti).
  SECRETS OF THE ANCIENTS
  THE DEATH OF GRANDFATHER
  
   
  2
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  Grandfather’s Host
  At this stage, the psionic copy of Grandfather is mostly dormant 
  inside the host’s mind. The host may have the occasional strange 
  hallucination or a persistent feeling of being watched, but keep 
  things subtle for the moment – Grandfather will become more 
  active in the next section of the campaign. The exception is if 
  you need a deus ex machina to get the characters out of a ﬁ x, 
  in which case Grandfather can exert himself. The psionic copy 
  has an effective Intelligence and Education of 15 each (+3DM), 
  a Psionic Strength of 12 (+2), and all relevant skills at 6.
  1. A DEATH IN THE HEAVENS
  Grandfather’s weapon is activated. The whole space station 
  erupts with coruscating energy. Deep within the station, portals 
  open and channel the force of a star into the weapon. A bolt of... 
  something that Humaniti will not even realise exists for another 
  20,000 years leaps from the station and blasts SEVEN. 
  Any other target would have been utterly annihilated by the 
  blast. That amount of destructive power could have shattered a 
  world. The energy discharge is of a magnitude more commonly 
  associated with novas. 
  SEVEN is unaffected. A ﬁ eld of shimmering energy surrounds 
  the living warship, harmlessly shunting Grandfather’s barrage 
  into another dimension.
  Grandfather reconﬁ gures his weapons systems, but it is too late. 
  A swarm of war-drones detach from SEVEN’s underbelly and 
  shoot past the space station to the planet below. It blossoms in 
  a hundred thousand thermonuclear explosions. Smaller drones 
  approach the station; most of these are taken out by the stations’ 
  point defences, but there are too many to be stopped.
  A robot appears next to the characters; it resembles a huge 
  metal Droyne. ‘Come with me’ it says, ‘evacuation protocols 
  have been activated.’ It speaks in perfect Galanglic. If the 
  characters refuse, it grabs them with inhumanly strong hands 
  and drags them towards a shimmering portal, similar to the 
  one they arrived through. All around them is chaos; missiles 
  explode, drones exchange bursts of weapons ﬁ re, the station 
  shudders and erupts with excess power. The robot closes metal 
  wings around the characters to protect them from shrapnel and 
  stray shots. 
  The robot pushes the characters into the portal. 
  Beyond the robot’s bulk, the characters can see the spindly-
  limbed ﬁ gure of Grandfather hanging in the air. SEVEN comes 
  closer, blocking out the sun. Like a nightmare made from metal 
  and hatred, it lashes out at Grandfather. It tears the Droyne 
  apart cell by cell, burning Grandfather to ﬁ ne ash. The architect 
  of the Ancients, the creator of the Vargr, the maker of minds dies 
  before the characters’ eyes. 
  Another hail of ﬁ re strikes the station, blowing it asunder. Another 
  swarm of small war-drones swoops towards the characters. 
  They launch a barrage of missiles towards the characters. The 
  robot extends its wings, blocking the missiles and saving the 
  characters. It staggers forward into the portal. There is a ﬂ ash 
  as the portal activates...
  On The Far Side
  The characters materialise in a forest at night. The soft glow of 
  inﬁ nitely repeated starlight illuminates the sky. Unfamiliar birds 
  rise startled from the strange purplish trees.
  The Droyne robot, catastrophically damaged, lies on the ground 
  nearby. The heat from its explosion-scarred body has already 
  started a small brush ﬁ re. ‘Yaskoydray commanded me to bring 
  you to safety...’ it says quietly, the perfection of its synthesised 
  speech a bizarre contrast to the blasted wreck of its form. ‘I 
  regret that this may be impossible. There is an exit portal from 
  this pocket universe in orbit...but...I am too badly damaged to 
  bring you there. Yaskoydray had... agent...Ceeeee...’ The robot 
  shuts down. 
  The characters are alone once more, on an alien world. 
  
   
  3
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  2. FAR FROM HOME
  The woods around the characters are thick and heavily 
  overgrown. There are no signs of roads or paths beyond the 
  occasional animal track. The characters see the occasional 
  familiar species, but most of the ﬂ ora is of alien origin. Searching 
  around the area where they materialised turns up no conclusive 
  evidence, but there is an odd symmetry to the topography 
  that suggests a buried bowl-shaped structure similar to the 
  teleporter the characters encountered in Section 5. A successful 
  Intelligence + Investigate check does turn up some discarded 
  containers in the underbrush, suggesting that someone made 
  camp here once, long ago.
  The Droyne robot is non-functional and cannot be repaired. Its 
  weapon systems are built-in and cannot be salvaged; at best, 
  the characters could make crude but unbreakable knives from 
  its shattered armour, if they lack more suitable weapons.
  If the characters have a radio, they can pick up distant 
  transmissions. They appear to be civilian radio channels. 
  Bizarrely, although the messages are in the Droyne language, all 
  the characters appear to have gained the ability to speak Oynprith 
  (a side effect of the telepathic ﬂ ashbacks in the last adventure). 
  Contact 
  After some time (or if the characters try transmitting a radio 
  message, or if the characters make their own way out of the 
  woods), the characters see lights approaching through the 
  trees. These are electric lanterns held by a trio of human 
  investigators who saw a strange ﬂ ash in the forest when the 
  characters teleported in. 
  The humans are a middle-aged farmer named Lan, his son 
  Thut and his daugher Oro. They are dressed in synthetic tunics 
  and have curious double backpacks that look oddly like folded 
  wings (a common Human affectation in the Droyne-dominated 
  culture). Lan and Oro have ancient hunting riﬂ es, and Thut has 
  a pistol. All the rest of their technology is consistent with their 
  TL7 civilisation.
  Playing Lan: Lan’s a simple farmer, who has lived all his life 
  on the edge of civilisation. He dislikes the Droyne overlords, 
  but has never known anything other than Droyne rule and so 
  accepts the status quo.
  • 
  Do not accept anything at face value; demand that the 
  characters explain everything to you in simple terms.
  • 
  Try to stay in charge, even though you are in completely 
  over your head.
  • 
  Do not let anything endanger your family. 
  • 
  If the players convince you that they can help your 
  family's fortunes or the status of humans among the 
  Yaskoti, go along with them reluctantly. Act as a brake 
  on any grand plans.
  • 
  Stroke your beard, square your shoulders, talk slowly 
  in a country drawl.
  Lan
  STR 9  DEX 6  END 8 INT 5 
  EDU 4 SOC 5 
  Animals (farming) 2, Survival 1, Persuade 0, Melee (unarmed) 
  0, Gun Combat (slug riﬂ es) 1, Mechanic 1
  Leather jack (1), Antique Riﬂ e (3d6–3)
  Playing Thut: Thut is frustrated by his small-town life, and 
  wants to move to a big city. He recently convinced his father to 
  buy a wired uplink for their home computer, giving him access to 
  the Yaskoti equivalent of the internet. Thut is a conspiracy nerd; 
  he believes the government are covering up alien visitors and 
  space travel projects. He immediately identiﬁ es the characters 
  as semi-mythical space travellers. 
  • 
  Be overlyenthusiasticabouteverything!
  • 
  Question the characters about space travel, about the 
  Imperium, about Grandfather, about everything!
  • 
  Do anything you can to get close to the characters.
  • 
  Shift nervously from foot to foot, ﬁ dget, play with your 
  gun.
  Thut
  STR 6  DEX 8  END 7 INT 9 
  EDU 6 SOC 4 
  Animals (farming) 0, Computers 0, Survival 0, Investigate 1, 
  Persuade 0, Melee (unarmed) 0, Gun Combat 0, Streetwise 1
  Autopistol (3d6–3)
  Playing Oro: Oro is a committed believer in the church of 
  Grandfather, the state religion of the Yaskoti. The church 
  teaches that Yaskoydray established the world and shaped it 
  for his people, and that he watches over them still. The church 
  claims that demons dwell in the ‘Outer Dark’, a lightless region of 
  space. (Remember, the pocket universe has no true darkness, 
  as it is lit by inﬁ nitely repeated starlight from the folded space.) 
  Grandfather dwells in the ‘lightful heaven’ and sometimes 
  dispatches divine messengers to the church. 
  • 
  Try to work out if the characters are divine messengers 
  or unholy demons. 
  • 
  If any of the Player Characters are of a race other than 
  Human or Droyne, they are deﬁ nitely demons.
  • 
  See everything through starkly religious terms. 
  • 
  Stand with your arms folded, do not admit weakness in 
  front of the demons.
  Oro
  STR 6  DEX 7 END 8 INT 7 
  EDU 5 SOC 4 
  Animals (farming) 1, Survival 0, Persuade 1, Gun Combat (slug 
  riﬂ es) 1, Steward 1
  Leather jack (1), Antique Riﬂ e (3d6–3)
  Lan may take the characters back to his farmstead, which is a 
  domed building surrounded by farmland. He has a groundcar, 
  powered by internal combustion, and a primitive computer 
  system connected to the equally primitive planetary network.
  
   
  4
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  Questioning the trio, or using Computers, turns up some clues 
  about ways off planet:
  • 
  The church holds that travelling beyond the atmosphere 
  is an insult to Yaskoydray's plan, but it is rumoured that 
  in the past, angelic messengers arrived in ﬂ ying ships 
  from space. The church may know more about ways 
  offworld. 
  • 
  Professor Ankor is a fervent pro-human activist 
  among the Droyne. He is a thorn in the side of the 
  government and a rallying point for those who oppose 
  the state and the church – and it is rumoured that he 
  has proposed a space mission. Ankor is a professor in 
  the university at the city of Ushen.
  The Guardians
  Lan and his children were not the only ones who saw the ﬂ ash 
  of light. Six hours after the characters arrive, a squad of Droyne 
  paramilitaries arrive in a heli-ﬂ yer. These are the local equivalent 
  of the police, and are known as Guardians. They investigate the 
  teleport site in the woods, take the remains of the robot away 
  as evidence and arrest the characters if they ﬁ nd them. The 
  Guardians do not want to kill the characters; they try to take 
  them alive if possible. If the characters ﬁ re back with high-tech 
  weapons, the Droyne retreat and call in the far better equipped 
  army. You may wish to skip onto Nightmare Breach, page 8, as 
  marshalling an armed force capable of going up against a well-
  equipped group of player characters takes time.
  The leader of the squad is a Droyne named Feartay; she is 
  an experienced Guardian with ties to the cryptic Bureau of 
  Security. If she gets an opportunity to question the characters, 
  she asks them:
  • 
  If they came from offworld.
  • 
  How they arrived.
  • 
  What they intend to do.
  • 
  If they intend to destabilise the state.
  Playing Feartay: Think of Feartay as a Droyne FBI agent; 
  cynical, world-weary, but completely professional.
  • 
  Look down on any Human characters; be alarmed by 
  an non-Human, non-Droyne Player Characters. 
  • 
  Pick holes in the characters' statements; do not 
  believe anything too unbelievable (and given she's a 
  representative of a single-planet, TL7 culture whose 
  development has been deliberately retarded, her 
  criteria for 'unbelievable' is quite restrictive).
  • 
  Keep your wings folded, never ﬂ ap them nervously. If 
  you do not have wings to ﬂ ap, then keep your posture 
  rigid and your back straight at all times. 
  Depending on the characters' answers, she either brings them 
  to the Church (if they have presented themselves as emissaries 
  of Yaskoydray) or the Bureau of Security (if she thinks they are 
  a threat). 
  Feartay
  STR 6  DEX 10 END 8 INT 8 
  EDU 9 SOC 8
  Admin 1, Advocate 1, Computers 0, Deception 1, Flyer (rotor) 0, 
  Gun Combat (slug pistols) 2, Investigate 2, Recon 0, Sensors 
  1, Streetwise 2
  Flak Jacket (2), Autopistol (3d6–3)
  Guardian Thug
  STR 8  DEX 7 END 10 INT 6 
  EDU 7 SOC 6
  Flyer (rotor) 1, Gun Combat (slug riﬂ e) 2, Melee (unarmed) 1, 
  Investigate 1, Recon 1, Sensors 0, Streetwise 2
  Flak Jacket (2), Riﬂ e (3d6)
  Getting to Ushen
  The nearest big city is Ushen, where there is both a church 
  stronghold and the University of Ushen. If there is a way off 
  planet, the search starts there. Lan can drive the characters 
  there in his groundcar, or they might be brought there in custody 
  by the Guardians. Getting to the city takes six hours by road. 
  If the characters linger too long at Lan’s farmstead, then it might 
  be attacked by SEVEN’s invasion force. See Nightmare Breach, 
  page 8.
  The Yaskoti & Vehicles
  One thing the characters notice as they travel to Ushen is the 
  lack of vehicles. The Yaskoti are heavily urbanised, and as 
  the Droyne can glide efﬁ ciently, they do not use groundcars 
  in their cities. Personal ground transports are used only for 
  moving bulk goods and travelling in the countryside. The 
  Yaskoti also use small heli-carriers and airships for fast 
  travel; such vehicles are comparatively rare and restricted 
  to the military and government. 
  Present this to the players as an interesting cultural quirk, 
  and as a way to show how the humans are second-class 
  citizens in Yaskoti society. The true purpose of this is to 
  make it harder for the characters to escape the city after 
  Nightmare Breach (page 8).
  
   
  5
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  3. AS GODS
  Ushen is the regional capital of the Yaskoti closest to where 
  the characters arrived. It is a city of some eight million citizens 
  (roughly six million Droyne and two million Humans), a city of 
  skyscrapers linked by huge industrial updrafts so ﬂ yers can soar 
  between buildings, a city of golden spires and curious minarets. 
  The Human population live underground for the most part, while 
  the Droyne live in eyries far above the ground. 
  If the characters enter the city openly, proclaiming their status 
  as offworlders and not hiding their high-tech gear, they will 
  either be picked up by the Bureau of Security or by the Church. 
  If they conceal themselves using Deception, they can pass for 
  ordinary humans and move around the city freely; Thut’s online 
  contacts can provide the characters with fake identity cards that 
  will pass a cursory inspection. 
  Unless the characters reveal themselves as offworlders or use 
  advanced technology, getting things done in the city takes time. 
  Random strangers from off the street cannot gain access to 
  Professor Ankor or other important dignitaries; the characters 
  may have to spend several days building up contacts and 
  exploring Ushen before they are in a position to learn about the 
  secret space program.
  Encounters in the City
  Drop in any of these encounters as the characters explore the 
  city.
  • 
  Security Patrol: The characters are questioned by 
  1d6+1 Droyne Guardians, who are looking for human 
  criminals and dissidents who oppose the Bureau of 
  Security. If the characters are disguised as ordinary 
  citizens, they have to bluff their way through the 
  interrogation. If they have not bothered to hide their 
  true identities, they are taken into custody.
  • 
  Public Demonstration: A crowd of several hundred 
  people, both Human and Droyne (mostly scholars 
  and sports) demanding greater investment in science. 
  Their chants call for the Church of Grandfather to 
  have less inﬂ uence over the direction of scientiﬁ c 
  research. Questioning any of the demonstrations 
  points the characters towards Professor Ankor in the 
  University.
  • 
  Human Casting: A trio of humans are undergoing 
  a casting ceremony in a public park. They are being 
  inducted into the Technician caste; as part of this 
  ceremony, they are permitted to eat food normally 
  restricted to the Technician caste and have their 
  ﬁ ngers surgically altered to be more dextrous. The 
  procedure is painful, but it must be endured to qualify 
  for the caste.
  • 
  Grandfather's Cloak: As milky night falls across 
  Ushen, the characters hear the songs of the priests of 
  Grandfather singing a hymn of thanks for another day 
  under the heavenly protection of God. If the characters 
  investigate, they meet an old Droyne priest who tells 
  them his favourite parable, the story of how the Yaskoti 
  were once evil and misguided, and how Grandfather 
  washed them away in a great gamma-ray burst and 
  then remade them. Characters who know about 
  the Cloning Machines (see Section 5: Otherworld) 
  recognise the root of this myth.
  • 
  Security Forces: The Droyne security forces conduct 
  a drill at the edge of the city. The characters see 
  armed Droyne ﬂ ying overhead, escorting an armoured 
  zeppelin crammed with artillery weapons. 
  • 
  The Changing Skies: Over the course of the scenario, 
  the endlessly repeated light from the three stars of 
  the pocket universe turns bluer and bluer. The stars 
  themselves are unchanged, but the milky whiteness 
  of the night sky turns blue. This is because the light is 
  being blueshifted – as the pocket universe contracts, 
  the ‘source’ of the folded light approaches the planet 
  at an increasing speed. In the early stages of the 
  scenario, the blueshift is almost undetectable; later on, 
  scientists like Professor Ankor notice it and realise its 
  horriﬁ c implication – the universe is contracting!
  You may also wish to raise the tension by running events from 
  Nightmare Breach (page 8).
  The University
  The University is Ushen’s pre-eminent academic institution. It 
  is one of the older structures in Ushen, and resembles a cross 
  between an old college (all ivy-covered Victorian architecture 
  and tree-lined walks) and a Droyne building (lots of low steps 
  and high drops for gliders). The university is on the cutting edge 
  of TL7; within those ivy-covered walls, they are experimenting 
  with quantum encryption, laser-ignited fusion and the ﬁ rst 
  equations that will lead to gravity manipulation. 
  Professor Ankor is the university’s star researcher; she is a 
  Scientist-caste Dronyne, but her radical views about both space 
  travel and human rights have made her suspect in the eyes of 
  the Bureau of Security. Ankor believes that the Yaskoti must 
  move off their homeworld and explore the universe (of course, 
  the best Yaskoti science proves that the universe is only three 
  parsecs across, contains exactly three stars, and came into 
  being 200,000 years ago, which is a lot younger than the stars 
  themselves. Creationism is alive, well and quite correct among 
  the Yaskoti). 
  
   
  6
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  If the characters enter the University secretly, they can either 
  question Ankor themselves or break into her ofﬁ ce, but they ﬁ nd 
  no evidence of her secret space program – she is already under 
  observation by the Bureau of Security, who spot the characters 
  if they act suspiciously around the University. There are signs 
  Ankor has performed experiments related to space travel, such 
  as calculations about escape velocity, estimates of rocket fuel 
  efﬁ ciency and oxygen consumption, as well as models of a 
  putative rocket capable of reaching orbit, but no proof she is 
  actually working on a full-scale version. 
  Among these ﬁ les, the characters also ﬁ nd observations of 
  objects in orbit, one of which matches the conﬁ guration of the 
  hyperspace portal.
  If the characters visit the University openly, they will be 
  brought to speak to Professor Ankor. She is overjoyed to meet 
  offworlders, and questions the characters enthusiastically about 
  everything. She asks for their help with her rocket program (this 
  is an excellent time to start Nightmare Breach, page 8).
  Playing Ankor: The Professor is a Droyne genius. Grandfather 
  permitted her to continue her work, despite the danger she 
  poses to his little bottle society, because she remind him of him 
  in his younger days. Another scientist might have been removed 
  by one of his agents (see The Agent of Grandfather, page 10)
  • 
  Speak quickly but precisely. 
  • 
  Take notes of everything the characters say.
  • 
  Rub your hands together in excitement.
  Professor Ankor
  STR 4  DEX 6 END 6 INT 14 EDU 13 SOC 10
  Admin 2, Advocate 1, Computers 3, Diplomat 1, Engineer (drive) 
  3*, Engineer (power plant) 2, Jack of all Trades 2, Leadership 
  1, Space Science (planetology) 3, Physical Science (physics) 4, 
  Pilot (rocket) 2*, Vacc Suit 2
  Church of Grandfather
  The Yaskoti civilisation exists at Grandfather’s whim. They know 
  they are literally a chosen people, that their God really did reach 
  down and create them to serve his divine plan. The Church of 
  Yaskoydray is the single most powerful force in Yaskoti society. 
  Most Droyne worship Grandfather in a distant way, and do not 
  believe he or his agents actually intercede directly. The senior 
  members of the church know the truth – Grandfather is not a 
  metaphor or a myth, but a real entity. Grandfather himself never 
  visits the Yaskoti, but his cybernetically-enhanced or robotic 
  agents do visit the church on occasion. 
  The largest cathedral in Ushen is located in the heart of the city. 
  It is a huge ediﬁ ce of glass and concrete; at the apex is a statue 
  of Grandfather looking down protectively at his creation. 
  The leader of the church is a Leader-caste Droyne named 
  Atos, whose ofﬁ cial title is the Coyn-Keeper. Atos pretends to 
  be a religious fanatic to keep the church’s faithful enthused and 
  loyal; in truth, he regards the church as nothing but a useful 
  instrument of social control for carrying out Grandfather’s 
  wishes. He is not one of Grandfather’s augmented agents, but 
  his human aide Caol is an augmented creation of Yaskoydray. 
  When the characters arrive in Ushen, Caol is off on ‘a secret 
  mission’, leaving Atos to deal with the characters himself. Caol 
  returns during The Agent of Grandfather (page 10). 
  If the characters secretly inﬁ ltrate the church, they learn about 
  its beliefs – Grandfather created this world for the Yaskoti and 
  that it is a sin to leave its conﬁ nes without permission. Only 
  Grandfather and his emissaries may travel ‘beyond the sky’. 
  The characters’ questions draw the attention of the Bureau of 
  Security.
  If the characters contact the church authorities, then they are 
  brought before Atos, who interrogates them to see if they are 
  emissaries from Grandfather or merely delusional. If they tell 
  him about an attack on Grandfather, he assumes they are 
  delusional and has them imprisoned by the Bureau of Security.
  If the characters present themselves as offworlders to the 
  church’s faithful, and demonstrate their high technology, then 
  they are assumed to be emissaries of Grandfather. Huge crowds 
  gather to praise the characters and ask for their blessings. The 
  characters are treated as living gods; with his grip on the church 
  threatened, Atos humbly asks to meet with the characters so 
  they can discuss the will of Yaskoydray. Once the Droyne priest 
  has private access to the characters, he questions them about 
  their dealings with Grandfather and may hand them over to 
  the Bureau of Security if he believes they are a danger to the 
  Yaskoti.
  Playing Atos: Atos understands that the survival of his powerful 
  position in Yaskoti society and, indeed, the survival of society in 
  general is entirely dependent on pleasing Grandfather. Without 
  his adviser Caol, he has to guess what Grandfather wants. Play 
  him as using bluster to cover up in lack of understanding.
  • 
  Demand that the Player Characters respect your 
  authority and social position. Shout them down if they 
  argue with you.
  • 
  Call your staff via intercom every few minutes and 
  demand they ﬁ nd Caol as soon as possible
  • 
  Hold your head high, puff out your chest, toy with a 
  handful of coins.
  Atos
  STR 4  DEX 7 END 6 INT 10 EDU 12 SOC 13
  Admin 3, Advocate 2, Diplomat 4, Leadership 2, Persuade 3, 
  Social Science (psychology, history) 4, Steward 3
  *Ankor’s skills refer to the rocket ship she has been secretly building and are of limited use when dealing with more advanced 
  spaceships of any type.
  
   
  7
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  Atos & The Space Program: The priest is aware of the 
  existence of an illegal space program and believes it to be 
  located somewhere west of Ushen. If the characters claim to 
  be emissaries from Grandfather, he asks them if they condone 
  the program, assuming that they must know more about it than 
  he does. 
  Bureau of Security
  This shadowy government department is dedicated to preserving 
  the status quo in Yaskoti society. Deviants are purged or exiled, 
  disruptive technologies are sabotaged or removed, and political 
  dissent is stiﬂ ed. The Bureau has spies everywhere. For many 
  years, the Bureau’s chief purpose was to keep the Humans in 
  their ‘proper’ place; recently, its remit has expanded to include 
  Droyne who are deemed a threat to society. 
  While the Bureau has connections to the Church of Grandfather, 
  it is a secular organisation. The Church’s goals and those of the 
  Bureau do not always align; the Bureau is not wholly opposed 
  to new technologies and beliefs, so long as their introduction is 
  carefully managed to as not to disrupt Yaskoti culture.
  The Bureau’s centre of operations in Ushen is an underground 
  facility beneath the city centre. From here, Bureau agents 
  monitor communications, spy on seditious gatherings and 
  dispatch agents to deal with ‘problems’.
  Under the Watchful Eyes: Unless the player characters 
  manage to conceal their presence in Ushen, they will be 
  identiﬁ ed and shadowed by the Bureau of Security. Teams 
  of black-suited Droyne stalk them wherever they go; their 
  communications are tapped (if possible) and anyone they 
  talk to is subsequently detained and interviewed by the 
  Bureau. Staying ahead of the Bureau requires a Hard (-
  4) Streetwise or Deception test, possibly modiﬁ ed if the 
  players were careful to conceal their activities in Ushen.
  Arrested: If the characters give themselves away, the Bureau 
  moves in to arrest them. Initially, this arrest comes in the shape 
  of a group of Bureau agents (two per player character, although 
  if the Player Characters are separated, the Bureau will pick the 
  Player Characters off individually). If the characters resist and 
  ﬁ ght back, throw more Bureau agents at them; if the characters 
  start blasting away with high-tech weapons and demonstrating 
  why it is a really bad idea to attack someone from a civilisation 
  that is ﬁ ve or more Technology Levels above your own, then 
  the Bureau sends in the marines, in the form of heavily armed 
  soldiers and air gunships. 
  If the characters keep ﬁ ghting, then skip onto Nightmare 
  Breach (see page 8). If they are arrested, they are imprisoned 
  in the Bureau’s dungeon. They will be dragged back out and 
  questioned by the head of the Bureau, Administrator Uate, as 
  soon as Nightmare Breach begins. 
  Bureau Files: The characters may choose to investigate 
  or break into the Bureau to learn about the illegal space 
  program. The Bureau is monitoring suspicious activity in the 
  western mountains; there are long-range photos of a structure 
  the characters will recognise as a launch gantry and a large 
  hangar. 
  Playing Administrator Uate: The bloodless administrator is 
  the guardian of state security in the Yaskoti. He has no time 
  for wild tales about aliens and dimensional pockets – he just 
  wants to keep the humans in line and ensure the safety of the 
  general population. He is utterly emotionless and inscrutable. 
  He smokes the Droyne equivalent of cigarettes, a sort of pocket-
  sized hookah that hangs from the wing.
  • 
  Do not draw out the interrogation of the characters; 
  they will be arrested and questioned again in the next 
  section of the adventure, so avoid making the game 
  repetitive. If you do end up interviewing them as Uate, 
  either cut the interview short or have Nightmare Breach 
  (see page 8) show up during the interview.
  • 
  Speak in a bored monotone. Never raise your voice.
  • 
  Show through your body language that you loathe any 
  human player characters.
  • 
  Ignore the characters when they talk about Grandfather 
  or alien races. Show interest only in Professor Ankor's 
  criminal activities and the characters' actions among 
  the Yaskoti.
  Administrator Uate
  STR 6  DEX 6 END 7 INT 12 EDU 10 SOC 10
  Admin 4, Advocate 3, Computer 3, Diplomat 4, Gun Combat 
  (slug pistol) 0, Investigate 4, Streetwise 3
  Body Pistol (3d6-3)
  
   
  8
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  4. NIGHTMARE BREACH
  The characters were not the only ones to come through the 
  teleporter from Grandfather’s space station. Servants (or 
  shards, depending on your perspective) of SEVEN followed 
  the characters to the world of the Yaskoti. Their mission is to 
  search the planet for Grandfather’s Family Archive, his method 
  of cheating death through resurrection. The player characters 
  have been designated secondary targets.
  With only a limited teleport ability, SEVEN’s invasion force 
  consists of three ‘easily portable’ elements.
  Neural Highjack Plague: A combination of organic and 
  cybernetic virus, this weapon infects the Droyne and subverts 
  their brains. The virus strips the host’s body for iron and other 
  metals to assemble tiny radio transmitters within the brain. A 
  side effect of this process is that the host is reduced to a near-
  vegetative state, effectively killing the brain. The virus takes 
  control of the host’s body, boosting the Droyne equivalent of 
  adrenaline and triggering the hormone response normally 
  associated with casteing into the Soldier caste. It spreads by 
  touch – or, more often, by bite or claw wound.
  In short, it is a Droyne zombie virus that turns its victims into 
  mutated monsters. The microscopic radio transmitters allow the 
  drones to communicate wirelessly with each other, turning each 
  pack of zombies into a local network. Anything one zombie 
  sees, they all see. The primary purpose of the zombie plague is 
  to turn the population of the world into an information gathering 
  device for SEVEN’s agents. Once infected, the zombies try to 
  spread the plague; once the zombie population hits a critical 
  threshold, they will disperse out over the surface of the planet 
  and look for Grandfather’s Family Archive.
  Those infected by the virus show clear signs of illness; the 
  subverted Droyne suffer from a fever, with blackened eyes. As 
  the plague progresses, the victim grows larger and stronger, 
  just like a Soldier-caste Droyne, but the added muscle and bone 
  mass is unevenly distributed and cancerous. 
  While these creatures are effectively zombies, they are not 
  undead or supernatural – they are hijacked Droyne, compelled 
  to obey the virus. They have no special resistance to damage. 
  They are not brain-eating monsters, and are not especially 
  carnivorous. A single bite to transfer the plague, then move on. 
  Droyne Zombie
  STR 8  DEX 4 END 10 INT 1 
  EDU 1 SOC 1
  Melee (unarmed) 1, Recon 1, Stealth 1
  Claw (1d6)
  Assassin Drones: These are second-line war machines, 
  designed to deal with ‘problems’ that might impede the spread 
  of the zombies. They are small ﬂ ying drones, each about the 
  size of a human, but equipped with disintegrators and other 
  high-TL personal weapons. A single one of these absurdly 
  powerful drones could wipe out most of the Yaskoti military on 
  its own. If the zombies spot the characters, then an Assassin 
  Drone is dispatched to eliminate the characters, arriving within 
  2d6 minutes. The standard offensive protocol for an Assassin 
  Drone is to level everything nearby with disintegrator ﬁ re and 
  then have the zombies pick through the debris.
  Assassin Drone
  STR 12  DEX 12 Hull 4 Structure 4 
  INT 9 EDU 9
  Gun Combat (disintergrator) 3, Recon 3, Sensors 3
  Traits: Armour 15, Grav Floater, Disintegrator
  Weapons: Improved Matter Disintegrator (Damage 3d6, Ignores 
  Armour) 
  Assemblers: Assemblers are large robots, barely big enough 
  to ﬁ t through the teleportation portal. They resemble skinned 
  horses made out of metal. As soon as they emerge, they start 
  harvesting resources from the surrounding area and constructing 
  another, larger teleportation device in situ.
  This second, bigger teleporter is designed to allow the second 
  wave of SEVEN’s invasion force to arrive. 
  Assembler Robot
  STR 15  DEX 8 Hull 8 Structure 8 
  INT 9 EDU 9
  Engineer (all) 4, Mechanic 4, Trade 6
  Traits: Armour 20, Integral Construction Tools
  Weapons:  
  Construction Tool (4d6)
  Droyne Player Characters
  If your group includes any Droyne Player Characters, they 
  are vulnerable to infection. Droyne characters who are bitten 
  must make a Hard (-4) Endurance test to avoid infection; a 
  successful Difﬁ cult (-2) Medic test made within 60 seconds 
  of the bite allows the victim to make a second Average (+0) 
  Endurance test to avoid infection. An infected character is 
  doomed (unless the infected character is also Grandfather’s 
  host, in which case he is mysteriously immune.) The virus 
  usually takes only a few minutes to subvert the host’s brain, 
  but the onset time can be delayed with medication. 
  Drone Non-Player Characters 
  Similarly, if the characters are accompanied by a Droyne 
  Non-Player Characters, such as Professor Ankor, then their 
  companion may fall prey to the virus.
  
   
  9
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  Scourge Machines: These are much bigger, much nastier 
  versions of the drones. Each scourge machine is the size of 
  a large aircraft, and has the sort of ﬁ repower more commonly 
  associated with capital ships, including relativity weapons and 
  antimatter cannons. The purpose of the scourge machines 
  is to annihilate Grandfather’s Family Archive as soon as it is 
  located, so they need the sort of ﬁ repower and shielding that 
  allows them to battle through the Ancient’s innermost defences. 
  While waiting for the scouts to locate the Archive, the Scourge 
  Machines put their ﬁ repower to use in wiping out the Yaskoti. 
  Scourge Machine
  STR 20  DEX 12 Hull 12 Structure 12 
  INT 15 EDU 10
  Traits: Armour 30, Grav Floater, Exotic Weapons
  Gun Combat (disintergrator) 3, Recon 3, Sensors 3
  Weapons: Ancient Matter Disintegrator (6d6, Ignores Armour),
  Antimatter Cannon (36d6)
  Invasion Timeline
  The attack by SEVEN’s forces do not happen according to a set 
  timeline; instead, it is left open to the Games Master as to what 
  transpires. The most likely scenario is that the ﬁ rst zombies 
  start showing up when the characters are exploring Ushen, but 
  do not attack directly. Instead, the characters spot some dark-
  eyed Droyne acting strangely, but the players assume it is just 
  another harmless example of local weirdness, not the precursor 
  to a zombie plague. Start with the attack proper at a suitably 
  dramatic moment.
  The events leading up to the invasion take place in roughly the 
  following order:
  • 
  The characters arrive through the teleportation portal.
  • 
  A short time later, a half-dozen assassin drones 
  arrive through the portal. One drone locates the 
  nearest population centre (the village closest to Lan's 
  farmstead) and travels there. The other ﬁ ve ﬂ y high 
  into the atmosphere and locate the largest cities. They 
  then drop capsules containing the zombie plague. The 
  infection begins.
  • 
  The assembler robots come through the portal.
  • 
  The zombie plague spreads. The Bureau of Security 
  becomes aware something is wrong.
  • 
  The ﬁ rst attack by an assassin drone occurs when 
  Bureau of Security forces attack zombies on the 
  outskirts of Ushen.
  • 
  The assemblers begin work on the new portal. 
  • 
  The zombie plague becomes an epidemic.
  • 
  More attacks by assassin drones occur.
  • 
  The zombie population reaches a critical threshold, 
  causing the zombies to disperse over the surface of the 
  planet, looking for the Family Archive. If the characters 
  were about to be overcome by a zombie horde, this 
  gives them a temporary respite, but it does mean that 
  wherever they go, they will encounter zombies.
  • 
  The assemblers complete the teleportation portal. 
  • 
  Scourge machines and more assassin drones begin to 
  arrive. 
  • 
  Scourge machines attack the Yaskoti.
  • 
  Yaskoti resistance crumbles; the Scourge Machines 
  kill millions every hour.
  • 
  The Yaskoti are wiped out. 
  SEVEN projects the entire invasion should take less than a 
  week. 
  Rumours of a Threat
  Depending on where the characters are, they hear rumours 
  of strange events. If they are ‘guests’ of the Bureau, they may 
  be brought before Administrator Utae and asked to explain the 
  video images of zombie Droyne and drone attacks. If they are 
  on the streets, or in the university, they see television news 
  reports that start with rumours about a mystery illness, and as 
  the invasion continues expand to report on strange sightings, 
  explosions and a curfew put in place by the Bureau of Security. 
  The Missing Archive
  Killing Yaskoydray may be satisfying (if ‘satisfaction’ is an 
  emotion that can be ascribed to a quarter-million year old 
  living warship), but it is an empty gesture unless SEVEN 
  can also annihilate Grandfather’s Family Archive. All of the 
  Ancients had facilities in place to enable them to cheat death 
  in one form or another, a way of resurrecting themselves. 
  Grandfather, for example, favours cloned bodies. If his 
  current form is mortally wounded, he psionically jumps his 
  consciousness to another clone body. 
  It is an unwritten law that each Ancient has only a single 
  ‘active’ version of himself at any time. All the Sons were 
  made from Grandfather, and they share in his ego. Each 
  of them believes himself to be the supreme intellect in the 
  cosmos and the last rival they could tolerate is another 
  version of themselves. 
  During the Final Wars, the Family Archives were the primary 
  target for all the warring Ancients. This is why the Final 
  Wars were so destructive – often, the only way to be sure of 
  eliminating a rival was to utterly destroy every planet where 
  he might have concealed his Archive. SEVEN intends to 
  tear Grandfather’s pocket universe apart until he ﬁ nds the 
  Archive.
  What SEVEN does not know and could never guess is that 
  Grandfather has already moved his Archive out of the pocket 
  universe...
  
   
  10
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  The characters may be followed by zombies at this point, but 
  they will not be attacked unless they provoke the creatures.
  Possible encounters during this stage of the invasion include:
  • 
  Public Curfew: The characters are prevented from 
  reaching their destination by a barricade erected 
  by Bureau of Security forces. All the Droyne in the 
  area are told to return to their homes. If questioned, 
  the Bureau forces insist that ‘human dissidents’ are 
  causing violence on the streets and a curfew has been 
  imposed for reasons of public safety. 
  • 
  Sick Droyne: The characters encounter a young 
  Droyne who is obviously very ill; he is feverish, weak 
  and increasingly delirious. He has been infected by 
  SEVEN’s plague. A successful Difﬁ cult (-2) Medic 
  check conﬁ rms that the Droyne is affected by some 
  sort of virus; analysing the Droyne’s blood or brain 
  tissue in a properly-equipped laboratory (say, at the 
  University) shows the presence of something bizarre 
  and obviously artiﬁ cial in the victim’s body.
  • 
  Fortean Events: A crowd has gathered around some 
  strange objects that fell from the sky. The objects are 
  small spheres of an unknown material that fell out of 
  a cloudless sky. The spheres caused minimal property 
  damage or injuries. Some Droyne suggest they are 
  blessings from Grandfather; others mutter about the 
  secret and heretical space program. In fact, these 
  are the capsules dropped by the Assassin Drones to 
  spread the plague; soon, all the Droyne in the crowd 
  start showing symptoms of the virus. 
  • 
  Lights in the Sky: The characters spot a pattern of 
  ﬁ ve lights moving in the sky, impossibly fast. No TL7 
  ﬂ ying machine could move with such speed and agility 
  – whatever is up there has to be using grav plates 
  or some other high-tech drive. The characters have 
  in fact spotted the assassin drones as they catch the 
  rays of Yaskot’s primary star. Point out the increasing 
  blueshift of the night sky, too.
  • 
  Wild Rumours: The characters overhear a bizarre 
  rumour about mass hysteria and rioting in outlying 
  settlements. Such behaviour is unthinkable for the 
  orderly, cohesive Droyne race. The only Droyne who 
  commonly defy the status quo are the rare Sport-
  caste, and there are unlikely to be enough Sports in a 
  community to band together to create the disturbances 
  described by the rumours.
  • 
  Military Build-Up: The characters see a ﬂ otilla of 
  airships pass overhead, escorted by a huge ﬂ ock 
  of Droyne soldiers. They are heading towards the 
  outskirts of the city.
  The Agent of Grandfather
  Caol is an agent of Grandfather, just like Vlen Backett is an 
  agent of SEVEN. He appears to be a dark-skinned human male 
  of Vilani descent in his mid-thirties, with a blandly pleasant face, 
  a muscular build and distinctive yellowish eyes. In fact, he is 
  old enough to remember the birth of the First Imperium and 
  his body is crammed with cybernetic augmentation and Ancient 
  technology. (If the characters chose to go with Grandfather at 
  the end of the recorded memories in The Secret, then Caol may 
  actually know the real-world versions of Emyakoy, Urd and the 
  other pregenerated Player Characters.) 
  For the last 30 years, Caol has been the advisor to the head 
  of the Church of Grandfather. This is a simple assignment, the 
  Ancient equivalent of babysitting. A month ago, he decided to 
  amuse himself by taking a ﬁ shing holiday. After all, what could 
  happen in a few weeks? 
  Then Grandfather died. Caol does not know about SEVEN’s 
  attack on the pocket universe or the failure of Yaskoydray’s 
  superweapon, but he knows something terrible has happened. 
  Using skills honed over millennia in service to the Ancients, he 
  tracked the characters down. 
  Caol contacts the characters, no matter where they are – he 
  has the authority to go anywhere in the Church or city, and can 
  break into the Bureau’s most secure prison with ease. If the 
  characters are lost or imprisoned, he can ﬁ nd them and get 
  them back on the path of the adventure.
  Once he ﬁ nds the characters, he introduces himself (Vlen’s 
  Inheritor Player Characters instantly notices that Caol reminds 
  him of his late uncle) and demands the characters tell him what 
  happened. 
  Playing Caol: You are the ultimate secret agent. Grandfather’s 
  death may be the most shocking revelation imaginable to you 
  but it still will not faze you. The mission must be completed.
  • 
  Adopt a comfortable posture and stick to it. Try and fail 
  to act human.
  • 
  You are the pinnacle of humanity. You are a cybernetic 
  demigod with powerful psionic abilities and a thousand 
  lifetimes of experience. Exude conﬁ dence. 
  • 
  Never show surprise or uncertainty. At most, defer a 
  problem or question to be dealt with later. 
  • 
  Swivel your head every so often, as if you can hear a 
  noise that the characters cannot detect
  
   
  11
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  Caol
  STR 15  DEX 15 END 15 INT 12 EDU 14 SOC 9
  Admin 2, Advocate 2, Astrogation 3, Battle Dress 3, Broker 2, 
  Carouse 2, Comms 5, Computers 5, Deception 6, Diplomat 2, 
  Engineer (jump) 3, Flyer 0, Gambler 2, Gun Combat (energy 
  pistol) 2, Gunner (turret) 3, Investigate 3, Jack of all Trades 3, 
  Mechanic 3, Medic 2, Melee (unarmed) 2, Persuade 2, Pilot 
  (spacecraft) 3, Recon 2, Sensors 2, Space Science (all) 3, 
  Stealth 5, Steward 3, Streetwise 4, Survival 3
  Subdermal Armour 4, Fusion Pistol-22 (8d6+8) 
  Caol’s Sacriﬁ ce: Caol is much, much more experienced than 
  the Player Characters. He works out (through subtle psionic 
  probes if nothing else) that Grandfather’s consciousness is 
  hidden in one of the Player Characters. Protecting that Player 
  Character becomes Caol’s primary mission. Caol leads the 
  characters out of their current predicament, if any, to a safe area 
  of the city. He then detects an incoming assassin drone. He 
  evaluates the situation, then speaks quickly.
  ‘I must engage the enemy to cover your retreat. Here is a 
  weapon. Use it sparingly, it will draw their attention. Find a way 
  to escape this planet. If you can make it there, there is a supply 
  cache in the village of Galor, under the church. Good luck.’
  He hands the weapon to a Player Characters other than 
  Grandfather’s host, then removes his jacket and peels off a 
  section of his skin, revealing a small compartment in his chest. 
  He removes another weapon and sprints off, inhumanly quickly. 
  A few moments later, the characters see him ﬁ re at a fast-moving 
  dot in the sky – an Assassin Drone. The Drone’s counter-attack 
  destroys the buildings around Caol, and the characters lose 
  sight of him. He has bought them time to escape.
  Caol’s Weapon
  Caol is armed with a TL22 Fusion Pistol
  TL: 22 Range: Pistol 
  Required Skill: Gun Combat 
  (Energy Pistol)
  Damage: 8d6+8  
  Auto: No 
  Recoil: -1
  
   
  12
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  5. THE FALL OF THE YASKOTI
  By this point in the scenario, the players should know the only 
  way into orbit is via the rumoured secret space program in the 
  western mountains. If they have not worked this out, then they 
  can either ﬁ nd references to the space program in the ruins of 
  the University/Bureau of Security or be told where to go by Caol 
  before he dies. 
  Unfortunately, between them and their goal is the end of the 
  world. 
  Battlefield Ushen
  The city is overrun. Millions of Droyne have become networked 
  zombies, the eyes and ears of the invasion force; whenever 
  the zombies run into resistance or spot something interesting, 
  assassin drones arrive to support them. 
  Keep throwing dangers and threats at the player characters. 
  They have no chance of taking down an assassin drone unless 
  they use Caol’s weapon, so most encounters with assassin 
  drones revolve around the characters ﬁ nding ways to evade 
  the hostile machines. Herd the characters towards the human 
  tunnels under the city if they do not think of taking refuge there 
  themselves.
  • 
  Lone Zombie: The characters run into a single 
  Droyne zombie. The creature is trapped inside a small 
  space (locked room, corridor, groundcar, tunnel) and 
  is executing a futile search pattern to ﬁ nd an exit. It 
  moves in circles, looking for fresh victims or something 
  interesting to look at. The zombie will not attack the 
  characters (unless there are Droyne in the group), but 
  instead watches them and transmits a message back 
  to the rest of the zombies. Unless the characters deal 
  with the lone zombie immediately, it summons a larger 
  pack of the creatures to the area.
  • 
  Zombie Pack: The characters encounter a large mob 
  (4d6+4) of Droyne zombies. This encounter can take 
  place almost anywhere in the city, in any area where 
  crowds might gather (shopping arcades, main streets, 
  public venues). If the zombies get close enough to 
  recognise the characters as the travellers who were on 
  Grandfather’s space station, they attempt to capture 
  and restrain the characters. The characters need to 
  either blast their way through the zombie pack, or else 
  ﬁ nd a way to escape the pack.
  • 
  Desperate Survivors: The characters encounter 
  a band of 1d6+1 Droyne survivors, who are still 
  uninfected. The Droyne beg the characters to help 
  them; they suggest ﬁ nding a vehicle and ﬂ eeing the 
  city. See Escaping the City, below.
  • 
  Flying Zombies: Droyne can ﬂ y; so can the plague-
  controlled zombies. This encounter takes place in any 
  open area (main street, parkland, atop a building). 
  Zombies circle overhead in a distinctive search pattern, 
  like a swarm of police drones. The characters need to 
  dart from cover to cover to avoid being seen. 
  • 
  Drone Hunter: The characters see a single Assassin 
  Drone ﬂ ying overhead. The drone does not detect 
  the characters – but if they run into any zombies 
  while the drone is nearby, it doubles back to attack, 
  demonstrating to the characters that the zombies are 
  connected to the drone weapons. If the characters are 
  attacked by the drone, they need to make Hard (-4) 
  Dexterity + Athletics checks to avoid being blasted by 
  its weapons; those who fail take 1d6 damage per point 
  of negative Effect. 
  • 
  Rally The Troops: The bulk of the Yaskoti military gets 
  wiped out within hours of engaging SEVEN’s forces. 
  The Droyne ofﬁ cers are overcome by the virus, but 
  the humans who make up the bulk of the infantry are 
  immune. They suffer casualties from zombie attacks, 
  and are incinerated by the hundred by drones, but still 
  are much more likely to survive than the Droyne. The 
  characters encounter a band of a dozen human soldiers 
  who have lost their Droyne leaders. The humans need 
  leadership, or they will turn to looting and violence 
  against the Droyne. The human spokesman is a 
  veteran soldier named Arod; he believes this plague is 
  Grandfather’s judgement and that the end of the world 
  is at hand. If the characters can convince Arod to rally 
  his troops and cover their retreat, they can avoid the 
  zombie searchers encounter.
  • 
  Zombie Searchers: A huge swarm of zombies 
  approaches the characters. The zombies are 
  dispersing, moving away from each other. The 
  characters need to ﬁ nd a place to hide where the 
  zombies cannot follow.
  • 
  Drone Assault: A squadron of Assassin Drones ﬂ ies 
  low over the city, ﬁ ring indiscriminately at the buildings, 
  humans and uninfected Droyne. The drones have 
  determined that Grandfather’s Family Archive is not in 
  Ushen, but it might be beneath it. Therefore, the drone 
  begin to wipe out the city, to clear the surface for the 
  Scourge Machines following behind.
  • 
  Into the Human Tunnels: With the drones blasting 
  anything on the surface, the safest place to take refuge 
  is in the tunnel network under the city. 
  
   
  Take To The Sky
  Instead of heading into the underground tunnels and leaving 
  the city by groundcar, the characters may attempt to steal 
  a faster ﬂ ying machine and escape the city by air. There 
  are two sorts of ﬂ ying machine in common use in Ushen 
  – large, slow hydrogen airships and small helicopters. Trying 
  to escape the city in an airship is suicide, as the blimps are 
  easy prey for Assassin Drones. The characters might be 
  able to take a helicarrier, although the only ones available 
  are in the military bases on the outskirts of the city or in the 
  Bureau of Security. 
  13
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  The Tunnels
  The tunnels are a warren of concrete-lined tunnels, linked to 
  huge vertical shafts lined with apartments. Some of main tunnels 
  are lined with shops and facilities for the human population. 
  Light is provided by electric lanterns in the ceiling. There are 
  fast subway trains in the larger tunnels; these trains are used 
  for transporting both people and cargo, and link to the vehicle 
  hangars at the edge of the city.
  As the human population are immune to the bizarre plague, the 
  tunnels rapidly ﬁ ll with humans and Droyne ﬂ eeing the chaos 
  of the surface. The entrances to several of the tunnels have 
  been blocked with crude barricades but if the characters search 
  they can ﬁ nd an alternative way down, or clamber over or blast 
  through a barrier. 
  There are few surviving zombies in the tunnels; those who do 
  make it down here are beaten to death by humans defending 
  their homes. However, as soon as the drone and Scourge 
  Machine attacks start in earnest, the main danger the characters 
  face is the tunnels collapsing on top of them.
  Navigating the tunnel network without a guide is difﬁ cult and 
  time-consuming; call for Difﬁ cult (–2) Intelligence + Navigation 
  rolls to ﬁ nd a way through. If this check fails, roll on the Tunnel 
  Hazard table. Alternatively, the characters can recruit a human 
  guide with an Intelligence + Diplomat or Streetwise check.
  Roll
  Hazard
  1
  Zombies: The characters run into another pack of 
  1d6+2 zombies. Unless they put these unfortunate 
  creatures down swiftly (within 2d6 rounds), their 
  location is transmitted to an Assassin Drone, who 
  blasts the tunnel from above causing a Major 
  Collapse (see below)
  2
  Human Looters: A gang of 1d6+1 human survivors 
  are moving through the tunnels, looting anything 
  they can salvage. The characters can either bluff or 
  intimidate their way past, or else ﬁ ght the looters.
  3
  Gas Leak: This tunnel is ﬁ lling with toxic gas from 
  a broken pipe. If the characters do not have protective 
  equipment, they take 1d6 damage. Any weapons ﬁ re 
  risks causing an explosion (4d6 damage to anyone in 
  the tunnel).
  4
  Minor Collapse: Pick a random character; the roof 
  above that character creaks, then gives way. The 
  character may make a Difﬁ cult (–2) Athletics check 
  to dodge away; if he fails, he suffers 2d6 damage.
  5
  Road Hog: A panicked human drives a groundcar 
  down the narrow tunnel. The characters are right in 
  his path. They can dodge or else try to take control of 
  the vehicle for themselves.
  6
  Major Collapse: The whole tunnel segment begins to 
  collapse. The characters need to either ﬁ nd a way to 
  prevent the collapse, or else run to the next section of 
  tunnel. This is an Average Dexterity + Athletics (co-
  ordination) test; those who fail suffer 1d6 damage for 
  each point of negative Effect.
  
   
  14
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  Escaping the City
  Once the characters have made their way through the human 
  tunnels, they arrive in a large vehicle hangar. There are several 
  different types of vehicle here, ranging from small groundcars 
  and minibuses to larger cargo haulers and earthmovers. All the 
  vehicles are powered by internal combustion engines. 
  If the characters are travelling alone, they can all ﬁ t into one or 
  two fast groundcars; if, as is possible, they have picked up an 
  entourage of survivors, then they can either take a minibus or 
  form a convoy of vehicles. The roads out of the city are clogged 
  with the blasted remains of other vehicles – the Assassin 
  Drones passed over this area earlier, blasting anything that 
  moved. However, the drones are now levelling the city and so 
  the characters have an opportunity to escape. 
  Apocalypse Zone
  Looking back at the city, the characters can see the Scourge 
  Machines moving in. These horrors are the size of passenger 
  aircraft; as they move soundlessly through the sky, their beam 
  weapons sear the landscape. Their blasts vaporise billions of 
  tons of rock in seconds, carving a deep crater where the city 
  once stood. They stalk through the seething black clouds, 
  searching for some clue to Grandfather’s Archive. In their wake, 
  no life survives. The city of Ushen is utterly destroyed.
  The same fate awaits every other part of this doomed world.
  Caol’s Supply Cache
  The characters may take a short detour to the small village 
  of Galor, some 50 kilometres north of Ushen, to retrieve 
  the supply cache mentioned by Caol. The village is empty 
  – all the inhabitants were Droyne, and their plague-infested 
  bodies are currently radiating out from the village in a spiral 
  search pattern, transmitting topological data back to the 
  Scourge Machines as they search for the Archive. 
  The supply cache is located beneath the small village 
  church. It reminds the characters of Uncle Vlen’s hunting 
  lodge on Alell (see Section 2: Homecoming); the cellar room 
  is crowded with keepsakes and curiosities from a hundred 
  cultures. There is a framed letter of commendation from a 
  Vilani noble from the First Imperium, the robes of a Zhodani 
  Consul, a set of holographs showing Caol with bureaucrats 
  and adventurers from the Second Imperium, strange alien 
  relics, an Aslan dewclaw in a case, and piles of other items; 
  old books, different sets of clothes, spare parts and high-
  tech gadgets. Useful items include:
  • 
  Another TL22 Fusion Pistol, similar to the weapon 
  he gave the characters earlier.
  • 
  A TL15 Grav Belt.
  • 
  A densitometer.
  • 
  A small and highly portable thermonuclear weapon.
  
   
  15
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  6. DRIVING HARD
  The characters drive or ﬂ y out of Ushen and (presumably) 
  travel west, towards Ankor’s secret launch facility. Across the 
  landscape, they see ﬁ res and devastation as the Scourge 
  Machines continue their search. The characters encounter the 
  occasional Droyne zombie, but these unfortunate creatures 
  are now dying off – a side effect of the plague’s reconﬁ guration 
  of the victim’s brain tissue is that it causes lesions and death 
  within 72 hours of infection. 
  The western mountains are 10 hour’s drive away from Ushen 
  under normal circumstances; the journey actually takes 
  the characters 16 hours, as they have to backtrack around 
  dangerous zones and ﬁ nd alternate routes. As night falls, they 
  see a ﬁ erce glow on the horizon. The burning continues through 
  the night; the air grows hot and acrid. As the characters get 
  closer, they can see a swarm of Scourge Machines digging a 
  vast trench across the landscape.
  The Great Crater
  The Scourge Machines have found something – not the 
  Family Archive they seek, but an Ancient structure buried deep 
  beneath the surface. This is an old experiment of Grandfather’s, 
  abandoned for thousands of years. It is a terraforming machine, 
  used to alter the atmosphere and gravity of the planet. The 
  Scourge Machines have blasted their way down to the machine, 
  creating a two-kilometre wide trench right across the characters’ 
  path. 
  Through the smoke and the burning rock, the characters can 
  spot some sort of alien structure at the bottom of the trench, 
  but it is utterly inaccessible – the temperature at the bottom is 
  in excess of 2,300º K.
  Checking maps, the characters discover that there is no easy 
  way to drive around the trench; one end runs into a bay, and the 
  other goes into a spur of the western mountains and is virtually 
  impassable. The characters need to ﬁ nd a way of ﬂ ying over the 
  trench. The players may be able to come up with a solution; if 
  they look for resources, they ﬁ nd an abandoned Yaskoti military 
  base nearby.
  The Damaged Airship
  The military base is a small one, used for refuelling and reﬁ tting 
  the army’s aerial artillery pieces. The plague wiped out the 
  staff here, leaving the place undefended. A brief search of the 
  military base ﬁ nds a single semi-functional airship anchored in 
  a hangar. The airship’s control surfaces are damaged, but can 
  be repaired with an Average (+0) Mechanic check taking 1D6 
  hours. Alternatively, the characters can ﬁ nd some other way 
  to control the airship (say, by using the grav belt from Caol’s 
  cache). 
  Once the airship is airborne once again, the characters can 
  proceed across the trench to the mountains. The thick smoke 
  provides cover from the Scourge Machines and Assassin 
  Drones for most of the journey...
  Hunters
  … but as the characters approach the mountains, they spot an 
  Assassin Drone approaching them. The drone locks weapons 
  on the airship, and it is clear that it is about to make a close 
  inspection pass of the airship and then may attack. The airship 
  has little chance of defeating a TL25+ drone on its own, but 
  the characters may have Caol’s guns, or be able to distract the 
  drone. 
  If the characters are unable to take the drone down before it 
  completes its inspection pass, then the drone spins around 
  and ﬁ res a single shot through the airship, destroying it. The 
  airship burns and crashes; unless the characters bail out and 
  parachute down to the surface, they are killed. 
  
   
  16
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  7. THE MOUNTAINS OF 
  GRANDFATHER’S WINGS
  The western mountains are known as the Mountains of 
  Grandfather’s Wings; the Yaskoti believe they symbolise 
  the protective aspect of their distant god. The mountains are 
  towering pinnacles of granite, with few inhabitants. The nearest 
  town – back when there was a nearest town, as opposed to 
  a glassy crater – is several hours away. This is the middle of 
  nowhere.
  Building a secret launch facility here took years of effort. Professor 
  Ankor could not have succeeded without sympathisers within 
  the Bureau of Security, but there are – or, more accurately, were 
  – many Yaskoti who chafed under the restrictive tenets of the 
  church, and wanted to see their species make the leap into 
  space. The launch facility was disguised as a mine, and rocket 
  parts and suppliers were shipped out disguised as ‘mining 
  equipment.’
  The Secret Base
  The base’s isolation has been its salvation. The plague has not 
  reached the base yet, and the 300 Droyne present are uninfected. 
  The leader of the base is Professor Ankor’s assistant, a young 
  Droyne technician named Koksayar. He has been monitoring 
  radio trafﬁ c from Ushen, and is aware that an apocalypse has 
  befallen the entire Yaskoti civilisation. To rally morale, he has 
  had the Droyne staff prepare the rocket for launch. He knows 
  this is a futile gesture, as the rocket has only enough range to 
  reach orbit, but the gesture kept his crew sane while their world 
  ended.
  If the characters have Professor Ankor with them, she can 
  explain the existence of the Ancient portal in orbit. Otherwise, 
  they need to make the case to Koksayar themselves.
  Playing Koksayar: The technician is on the edge of a 
  breakdown. He was pushing himself almost to the limit just to 
  get the rocket completed before the Bureau of Security found 
  them; now, his entire world has been invaded and destroyed. 
  He has not slept in days, and it is a miracle he is still even 
  slightly sane. The rocket has become his obsession and his 
  salvation. All he wants is to get it into orbit.
  • 
  You are exhausted; show this by slumping, yawning, 
  or losing the thread of the conversation.
  • 
  If the characters reveal they are offworlders, question 
  them about space travel. Beg them to help you with 
  the rocket launch.
  • 
  Never say die, even in the face of armageddon.
  Last Goodbye
  If the characters check the base’s astronomical observations, 
  they ﬁ nd that there is an object in orbit that matches the size 
  and conﬁ guration of the portal back to the original universe. 
  (If the players do not think to check, then Koksayar can point 
  this out.) The Droyne refer to it as Traissthurdusa, ‘little lonely 
  Sport with a bright eye’. An easy (+2) Astrogation or Pilot check 
  lets the characters work out that Traissthurdusa will be within 
  reach of the rocket if they leave soon. The launch window is 
  only another three hours. 
  The Droyne rocket is roughly equivalent to an Atlas-class rocket, 
  and can carry a payload of 20 tons to orbit. The Droyne offer 
  the characters spaces on the rocket (Grandfather psionically 
  manipulates the Droyne to ensure his chosen agents escape). 
  The rocket can hold a crew of up to 10 if the scientiﬁ c payload 
  and other supplies are discarded; it is up to the characters who 
  they wish to rescue from this dying world. If the characters have 
  no preferences, then Koksayar has his technicians and staff 
  draw lots to determine who gets to go. 
  The rocket consists of four booster stages; the crew capsule 
  has limited thruster capability, but is able to change orbit to 
  reach the portal. 
  Yaskonauts Away!
  With all preparations made, the characters strap into the 
  rocket. This is space travel at its most primitive – the characters 
  are going into orbit by sitting atop a big explosion of burning 
  chemicals. The Droyne handle most of the controls, so all the 
  characters need to do is ﬂ y the capsule when they reach orbit.
  10.
  Countdowns are endemic to all space travellers.
  9.
  Despite the impending destruction of their civilisation, the 
  Yaskoti technicians remain focussed and excited. This is their 
  moment, the culmination of years of work.
  
   
  17
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  8.
  Tons of pressurised rocket fuel pours into the engines.
  7.
  An Assassin Drone detects the hidden base, and moves to 
  investigate
  6.
  The main engine starts.
  5.
  The Yaskoti crew chitter farewell to their compatriots. 
  4.
  The assassin drone swoops over the launch facility, scanning 
  it. It determines that there is no sign of the Family Archive, but 
  that it is a target of opportunity. It loops around, charging its 
  weapons systems.
  3.
  Of course, all this is pointless. There is no Family Archive on 
  this world, or anywhere in the pocket universe. It is all a trap 
  for SEVEN.
  2.
  Once the characters are through the portal, it will shut behind 
  them, and never open again. The pocket universe will collapse, 
  destroying Grandfather’s wayward Son. All Grandfather needs 
  to do is ensure that SEVEN stays dead.
  And that means taking risks, like transferring his consciousness 
  into a host so he can set in motion a chain of events that will 
  eliminate SEVEN’s Family Archive.
  1.
  The rocket launches. The drone strafes the launch facility, 
  blasting it to pieces, but the characters are already climbing into 
  the sky on a pillar of ﬁ re. The acceleration slams the characters 
  back in their seats and rattles their bones.
  One by one, the booster stages drop away, until only the capsule 
  is left, ﬂ oating serenely in space. The Traissthurdusa is 6,000 
  kilometres away and approaching quickly. 
  8. INTO ORBIT
  In orbit, beyond the veil of the atmosphere, the contraction 
  of the pocket universe is clearly visible. The whole sky has 
  turned blue as the walls collapse in on themselves. The shift 
  is accelerating, and will soon exceed the speed of light – the 
  whole pocket universe will be destroyed in a matter of weeks, 
  perhaps sooner. 
  As Grandfather’s servants promised, there is a portal in orbit. 
  It looks identical to the one the characters arrived through on 
  board the Ancient ship, back in Section 4: Descent. As the 
  portal approaches the capsule, it responds to their presence. 
  The dull, meteorite-pocked surface of the portal shimmers, then 
  folds in on itself in a way the characters cannot quite follow, 
  revealing a glowing silvery gateway. It is a route back to the 
  Spinward Marches.
  The capsule approaches the portal, but as it does so, it begins 
  to rattle. The magnetic ﬂ ux from the active portal causes 
  havoc on board the Yaskoti capsule. Consoles spark, lights 
  ﬂ icker, instruments go dead. The engines fail, and the capsule 
  enters the portal at a slewed angle. A ﬂ ash of light knocks the 
  characters unconscious...
  
   
  Yaskoti Vehicles
  Vehicle
  TL
  Skill
  Agility
  Speed
  Crew & Passengers Armour
  Hull
  Weapons
  Ground Car
  7
  Drive 
  (auto)
  +0
  150 kph
  1 driver, 3 
  passengers
  6
  4
  None
   
  Heli-Flyer
  7
  Flyer
  +1
  220 kph
  1 driver, 3 
  passengers
  6
  3
  None
   
  Minibus
  7
  Drive 
  (tracked)
  -1
  120 kph
  1 driver, 15 
  passengers
  6
  8
  None
  Cargo Hauler
  7
  Drive 
  (tracked)
  -2
  80 kph
  1 driver, 9 
  passengers
  8
  12
  None
  Airship
  7
  Flyer
  -3
  50 kph
  2 pilots, 60 
  passengers
  12
  10
  150mm Howitzer (12d6) x2
  Machine guns (3d6) x 6
  18
  THE SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/08 - Mongoose Traveller/Third Party Materials/Campaigns & Settings/Secrets of the Ancients Campaign/sota7grandfather.pdf