Grey
Dialectical Hermeticist
Infernal Kombat
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five martial artists.
A black envelope. Found in your quarters, on the body of a fallen enemy, delivered by a silent black courier... however you came to possess it, it marks you as an entrant in Djuka Maximilian's private martial arts tournament on the Isle of Rains. The prize, aside from victory marking you as the greatest martial artists in Imeria and the chance to test your skills against the greatest fighters in the world, is a single request of Maximilian. But not one entrant is going to be free of political machinations, obligations, or personal grudges.
(also tempting to run this as a LARP for twenty people)
Heresies of Fire & Shadow
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five mercenaries
The Cult of Vasnok are a much maligned sect; confined to their Iron Tower by centuries of prejudice, increasing sanctions of their religiously-enforced slave trade, and a fanatical protectiveness of their god, said to sleep in the depths of the structure. But now, your captain owes them a blood debt - during an arena tournament, her aunt accidentally killed a contender. To release her aunt from imprisonment, your crew has been charged with flying in search of The Heresiarch, who has kidnapped a number of children and fled the port. The mission is comparatively simple; find, then kill The Heresiarch and his minions, rescue the children, and return to Towerpeak.
Of Rats And Men
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five Spireborn Rats.
Puddleglum Spire was proud, once. Her Stormknights were the terror of her enemies, her diplomats were the most cunning, her coffers the most full. But as other Spires quickly embraced the rising tide of skyships, Puddleglum was slow to react. The rest of the Cartel became strong, and Puddleglum was left the merest piece of the prize. Well, you won't let that happen again. You're the young aristocracy, the rats who skipped their etiquette lessons and sword drills for time in the workshops and gem-mills. You might not know how to talk to envoys flawlessly, but you can build a rail-rifle with your eyes closed. The problem is your parent's generation are dying, now. You know it. You know it's time to take responsibility for the Spire.
Now representatives from Kaiden's Spire are coming to negotiate a trade agreement - and to make things worse, you know one of them has an assassination contract hanging over her.
Whiteout
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for the crew of the First Note
While flying to Trollhaven as part of a diplomatic envoy to end hostilities between the Trolls and the City Engine, your skyship malfunctioned and crashed on the coast, in the ruins of an ancient outpost. A mixed crew of Engineers and Trolls, you need to find out what took your ship down and get to the city before another war breaks out.
Cure-All
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for the crew of The Excession
A Magus has allegedly produced a Panacea - a magical tree whose fruit can cure all ailments. Your captain, the so-called King of Pirates, has decided he's going to take it. And being that kind of guy, he's informed the authorities he intends to take it. You've been with the captain for decades, and you've pulled off a lot of ridiculous raids (including the theft of your ship, which was one of the first prototypes, right from under Inquisitorial guard), but maybe the King of Pirates is going to need that fruit by the time the day is done.
The Haunting of Logan Spire
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five professional exorcists.
The machine-shops and firing ranges, the bedrooms and ballrooms of Logan Spire are stained in blood. A massacre cleared out these august chambers and scattered the Logan family to the far corners of Imeria. But those old misdeeds have power, and the Spire has become haunted beyond all recognition; ghosts growing monstrous and powerful on the resonance of the place. Now it's up to you to cleanse these halls with ensorcelled revolvers and ivory bells.
Monomythic
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five doomed youths.
"For two hundred years, the Dragon-Emperor Imperus has squat on his throne, claiming to rule us all and using the Infernal Houses as a blunt instrument to enact his will. They say he was a man once. They say he slew his sister-daughters, the Queen of Blood and the Grand Witch, with his own two hands when he seized power. They say he can't be killed by any weapon forged by man.
Well, I bought these rifles from an Orc. The world has moved on; now we slay the dragon."
Bleeding Edge
A Crucible: Dismal Streets scenario for five detectives.
You're not liked. With the corporations putting pressure on the senate and the mayor's office, funding for the Magical Crimes Unit of Califresco PD is low. So low there are only six of you left in the department, expected to keep the peace in a city of 250 thousand registered corporate Citizens, (the rest of the 1.2 million population largely slum-dwelling unpersons) and one of the largest Magus populations in the world. But now some black market augmentations are killing their users, and the case has been dumped in your lap. When it rains eighteen hours a day and gangers with back-alley cybernetics lurk between the spires, do you have what it takes to get one more psychopath off these dismal streets?
Foundation
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five Outcastes.
You are not welcome in the Coral City. Whether you were born in the lowest caste, or have turned your back on your highborn mother, whether you are sacrifice escaped from the temples, or a man tired of being downtrodden, now you are among the Outcaste pirates on the islands of the Sky-Eating Sea. Alone, the combined might of the Temples of Night and Rain will crush you. You cannot hide from them long. No, to survive, you will need to band together and form your own city on these wild islands...
Tribunal
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five priests
A murderer stalks the streets of the Coral City, striking at your revered sisters and causing terror among the populace. The wardens of the Soil Caste cannot catch him, the seers of Night's Temple cannot see him - this one requires extreme measures. The Council has selected you five, one from each of the High Temples, to investigate and put an end to the killing. However you see fit.
From Beyond The Horizon
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five diplomats
Strange, pale-skinned men have come from the far north. They are dressed in leathers and metals and furs, armed with metal weapons. They are, understandably, frightened. Less understandably, they have proven violent. Now they're trying to build a settlement at the northern tip of the Wildlands, the twelve tribes have come together and chosen you five to try and broker some kind of peace with these half-souled foreigners from beyond the horizon.
Liberation
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five angry hunters
They've gone too far, this time. The Rapine Lash assaulted your camp while you were hunting, taking away your families to be enslaved and to live the rest of their days under the yoke of the Lash, or worse, sold to the Scaled Masters in their stepped pyramids. Only you five remain, and you intend to track down your loved ones, take them back, and punish the slavers for their crime.
What The Thunder Said
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five vainglorious fools
You strayed too close. The jungle came alive, and took your people. Spirited them away to the ziggurats of the Scaled Masters. Only you five remain. You could disperse, live among the other tribes. You could try to find another branch of your own people, or simply flee from this place and settle, somewhere, for what short and terrible years must remain to you.
No. No cowering. You are committed; you will call on the darkest powers of the old earth and sprawling mangroves, and you will burn the temples of their vile city or die trying.
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five martial artists.
A black envelope. Found in your quarters, on the body of a fallen enemy, delivered by a silent black courier... however you came to possess it, it marks you as an entrant in Djuka Maximilian's private martial arts tournament on the Isle of Rains. The prize, aside from victory marking you as the greatest martial artists in Imeria and the chance to test your skills against the greatest fighters in the world, is a single request of Maximilian. But not one entrant is going to be free of political machinations, obligations, or personal grudges.
(also tempting to run this as a LARP for twenty people)
Heresies of Fire & Shadow
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five mercenaries
The Cult of Vasnok are a much maligned sect; confined to their Iron Tower by centuries of prejudice, increasing sanctions of their religiously-enforced slave trade, and a fanatical protectiveness of their god, said to sleep in the depths of the structure. But now, your captain owes them a blood debt - during an arena tournament, her aunt accidentally killed a contender. To release her aunt from imprisonment, your crew has been charged with flying in search of The Heresiarch, who has kidnapped a number of children and fled the port. The mission is comparatively simple; find, then kill The Heresiarch and his minions, rescue the children, and return to Towerpeak.
Of Rats And Men
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five Spireborn Rats.
Puddleglum Spire was proud, once. Her Stormknights were the terror of her enemies, her diplomats were the most cunning, her coffers the most full. But as other Spires quickly embraced the rising tide of skyships, Puddleglum was slow to react. The rest of the Cartel became strong, and Puddleglum was left the merest piece of the prize. Well, you won't let that happen again. You're the young aristocracy, the rats who skipped their etiquette lessons and sword drills for time in the workshops and gem-mills. You might not know how to talk to envoys flawlessly, but you can build a rail-rifle with your eyes closed. The problem is your parent's generation are dying, now. You know it. You know it's time to take responsibility for the Spire.
Now representatives from Kaiden's Spire are coming to negotiate a trade agreement - and to make things worse, you know one of them has an assassination contract hanging over her.
Whiteout
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for the crew of the First Note
While flying to Trollhaven as part of a diplomatic envoy to end hostilities between the Trolls and the City Engine, your skyship malfunctioned and crashed on the coast, in the ruins of an ancient outpost. A mixed crew of Engineers and Trolls, you need to find out what took your ship down and get to the city before another war breaks out.
Cure-All
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for the crew of The Excession
A Magus has allegedly produced a Panacea - a magical tree whose fruit can cure all ailments. Your captain, the so-called King of Pirates, has decided he's going to take it. And being that kind of guy, he's informed the authorities he intends to take it. You've been with the captain for decades, and you've pulled off a lot of ridiculous raids (including the theft of your ship, which was one of the first prototypes, right from under Inquisitorial guard), but maybe the King of Pirates is going to need that fruit by the time the day is done.
The Haunting of Logan Spire
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five professional exorcists.
The machine-shops and firing ranges, the bedrooms and ballrooms of Logan Spire are stained in blood. A massacre cleared out these august chambers and scattered the Logan family to the far corners of Imeria. But those old misdeeds have power, and the Spire has become haunted beyond all recognition; ghosts growing monstrous and powerful on the resonance of the place. Now it's up to you to cleanse these halls with ensorcelled revolvers and ivory bells.
Monomythic
A Crucible: Darkening Skies scenario for five doomed youths.
"For two hundred years, the Dragon-Emperor Imperus has squat on his throne, claiming to rule us all and using the Infernal Houses as a blunt instrument to enact his will. They say he was a man once. They say he slew his sister-daughters, the Queen of Blood and the Grand Witch, with his own two hands when he seized power. They say he can't be killed by any weapon forged by man.
Well, I bought these rifles from an Orc. The world has moved on; now we slay the dragon."
Bleeding Edge
A Crucible: Dismal Streets scenario for five detectives.
You're not liked. With the corporations putting pressure on the senate and the mayor's office, funding for the Magical Crimes Unit of Califresco PD is low. So low there are only six of you left in the department, expected to keep the peace in a city of 250 thousand registered corporate Citizens, (the rest of the 1.2 million population largely slum-dwelling unpersons) and one of the largest Magus populations in the world. But now some black market augmentations are killing their users, and the case has been dumped in your lap. When it rains eighteen hours a day and gangers with back-alley cybernetics lurk between the spires, do you have what it takes to get one more psychopath off these dismal streets?
Foundation
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five Outcastes.
You are not welcome in the Coral City. Whether you were born in the lowest caste, or have turned your back on your highborn mother, whether you are sacrifice escaped from the temples, or a man tired of being downtrodden, now you are among the Outcaste pirates on the islands of the Sky-Eating Sea. Alone, the combined might of the Temples of Night and Rain will crush you. You cannot hide from them long. No, to survive, you will need to band together and form your own city on these wild islands...
Tribunal
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five priests
A murderer stalks the streets of the Coral City, striking at your revered sisters and causing terror among the populace. The wardens of the Soil Caste cannot catch him, the seers of Night's Temple cannot see him - this one requires extreme measures. The Council has selected you five, one from each of the High Temples, to investigate and put an end to the killing. However you see fit.
From Beyond The Horizon
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five diplomats
Strange, pale-skinned men have come from the far north. They are dressed in leathers and metals and furs, armed with metal weapons. They are, understandably, frightened. Less understandably, they have proven violent. Now they're trying to build a settlement at the northern tip of the Wildlands, the twelve tribes have come together and chosen you five to try and broker some kind of peace with these half-souled foreigners from beyond the horizon.
Liberation
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five angry hunters
They've gone too far, this time. The Rapine Lash assaulted your camp while you were hunting, taking away your families to be enslaved and to live the rest of their days under the yoke of the Lash, or worse, sold to the Scaled Masters in their stepped pyramids. Only you five remain, and you intend to track down your loved ones, take them back, and punish the slavers for their crime.
What The Thunder Said
A Crucible: Dark Age scenario for five vainglorious fools
You strayed too close. The jungle came alive, and took your people. Spirited them away to the ziggurats of the Scaled Masters. Only you five remain. You could disperse, live among the other tribes. You could try to find another branch of your own people, or simply flee from this place and settle, somewhere, for what short and terrible years must remain to you.
No. No cowering. You are committed; you will call on the darkest powers of the old earth and sprawling mangroves, and you will burn the temples of their vile city or die trying.
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