v1.09 Version Number 1.09

WELCOME TO THE DYSTOPIAN AGE! Welcome to Warcradle Studio’s Wild West Exodus (often referred to simply as WWX). An exciting and fast-paced tabletop miniatures game. Wild West Exodus will immerse you into the darkness of the weird West, a world far more sinister than the one in our history books. For thousands of years the progress of humanity has been influenced by clandestine alien forces who seek to reshape the world for their own purposes. Whether this interference has taken the form of corruption or influence it has plunged the world into a terrifying new age of arcane science and heroic gunfighting set against the backdrop of a stellar conflict that has been waged for millennia!

Warcradle Studios is a trading name of Wayland Games Limited. Wild West Exodus and the Wild West Exodus logo are trademarks of Wayland Games Limited. Illustrations and Designs are copyright © 2018 Wayland Games Limited. This book is printed under the copyright laws of the United Kingdom and retains all of the protections thereof. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks herein including, but not limited to Wild West Exodus, Outlaws, Enlightened, Lawmen, Celestians, The Crown, The Union, The Watchers, The Order, character names and all associated logos are property of Wayland Games Ltd. This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events are purely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without prior written permission from Warcradle Studios. Duplicating any portion of the materials herein, unless specifically addressed within the work or by written permission from Warcradle Studios, is strictly prohibited. In the event that permissions are granted, such duplications shall be intended solely for personal, noncommercial use and must maintain all copyrights, trademarks, or other notices contained therein or preserved all marks associated thereof. Product information is subject to change. Warcradle Studios also publishes books electronically, content may differ between electronic and printed formats First Printed September 2017 in the United Kingdom, Version 1.08 Printed July 2018. Registered Office: 17-19 Eldon Way, Hockley, Essex, SS5 4AD, United Kingdom For more information on Wild West Exodus & Warcradle Studios visit: www.wildwestexodus.com | www.warcradle.com  v1.09

WARCRADLE STUDIOS Written & Developed by Stuart Mackaness Managing Director Richard Lawford Art Direction Roberto Cirillo

Background Art Digital Rules & Setting & Design Sculpting Development Sarah Cawkwell Jon Cartwright Brandon Beren Chris Pond Craig Gallant James Ginn Matt Clarke Daren Mcaninch Chris Pond Johnny Morrow Agata Stolarska Eduard Reed Lee Trayler Paul Ridgon Toby Scarisbrick Sam Bevan Curtis Scuffins Benjamin Sephton-Smith Jon Webb

Special Thanks To The Dark Council, FR Caym and His Outlaws.

i v1.09 

CONTENTS

GAME OVERVIEW...... 1 REACTIONS...... 30

GLOSSARY OF TERMS...... 2 TAINTED...... 31

ANATOMY OF A UNIT CARD...... 5 CONDITIONS...... 32

ATTRIBUTES...... 6 THE PLAY AREA...... 34

BUILDING A FORCE...... 8 PORTALS...... 40

UNITS...... 11 WEAPON TYPES...... 42

FORTUNE...... 13 WEAPON QUALITIES...... 43

TURN SEQUENCE...... 15 UNIT COMMON RULES...... 46

ACTIVATION...... 19 ADVENTURE SCENARIO AND DEPLOYMENT...... 48

MOVE ACTIONS...... 21 COMMON ADVENTURES...... 50

RESERVES...... 24 INDEX...... 140

COMBAT ACTIONS...... 25

ii v1.09 GAME OVERVIEW

GAME OVERVIEW

In WWX, two players take control of blazing gunfighters, supernatural warriors, mighty machines and devious commanders and pit them against each other in a thrilling encounter across the frontier and beyond. The player who destroys all of their opponent’s models or achieves their adventure objectives wins the game!

This book provides all the rules and background you need to start playing in the world of Wild West Exodus. Whatever your experience level, you’ll quickly be leading your chosen Force onto the field of battle to dominate your foes. Exploring Wild West Exodus is a hugely rewarding experience where hobbyists collect and paint finely detailed Warcradle Studios miniatures representing the denizens of this epic dark fantasy world. You will require miniatures to represent each member of each unit in your Force. Many people find collecting, building and painting the miniatures to be as important as actually playing the game.

These miniatures are available from all good retailers as well as from www.wildwestexodus.com.

1 GLOSSARY OF TERMS v1.09

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ADVENTURE: In Wild West Exodus, an better suit, their width still the same as the Adventure is the scenario which determines round base sizes but elongated along their the specifics of the game you will play. The length. We call these Oval bases (though Adventure is randomly generated by players technically they are stadium shaped). They at the beginning of each game or by the appear as M(O), L(O), or XXL(O). For rules tournament organiser in competitive play. purposes where reference is made to a This suggests how many Points the player round base it can be considered to refer to gets to spend on units for their Force. Once the oval equivalent. Base Size is important Forces have been selected, players then for working out intervening Obstacles and consult the Adventure to determine the size terrain (see Shoot Actions, Wounding and of the Play Area as well as other variables, Terrain sections for more details) including objectives for winning, such as DICE – D10: Wild West Exodus uses ten-sided conditions of victory, deployment and the dice (abbreviated to d10). Each side on a terrain pieces that will be placed. Unless d10 has an increasingly high value ranging otherwise noted on the Adventure scenario, from Ace (or One) to Ten. If a rule requires games last for five turns and are played on a you to roll a d5, roll a d10 and round up to 3x3 foot Play Area. the nearest even number before halving FORCES, POSSES AND UNITS: In Wild West the total (see Rounding up). Exodus a Force consists of one or more ENGAGED: Units that are within the Melee Posses. Led by a Boss, each Posse contains range of an enemy model or have an enemy a number of units. Each unit consists model in their Melee range are considered of one or more models. Before players to be Engaged. If your unit contains models have determined the Adventure they are that are Engaged, then the unit itself is about to play they should first choose the considered to be Engaged. If models in Bosses and their Posses that you would either Engaged unit make a Move Action like to include in your Force (see the away from the Melee range of an Engaged Building a Force section). enemy model, then that enemy model may BASE CONTACT: This means that the model make a Backstab Reaction (see Reactions). in question must have their base physically Any models in an Engaged unit that do not touching something (usually a template have an enemy model in range of a Melee or terrain piece). Not all of the base of the Weapon must move towards the closest model must be within that area, only the enemy model in step one of the Resolution edge needs to be in contact. Phase (see Resolution Phase on page 17). BASE SIZE: Models are designed to be FRIENDLY FIRE: Friendly models cannot mounted on specific bases. Bases are usually usually be nominated as the Initial Target round and the Base Size is indicated on the of an attack. However should the target Unit Card as S, M, L, XL or XXL. The dynamic Scatter, be redirected or use a template that sculpts of Wild West Exodus sometimes look touches friendly models, the hits and Grit better on a longer base. In this case, we have checks are resolved and cause Wounds in a number of stadium shaped bases that exactly the same way as though they were

2 v1.09 GLOSSARY OF TERMS against an enemy model. A player may not in the Play Area at any time. Measuring is choose to fail a Combat Action once the roll always between the closest points of the to hit has been made and so cannot avoid models or units you’re measuring to and hitting their own models. from. A model’s base is included when measuring distances, it’s not just there to INITIAL TARGET: When a model makes an help the model stand up! You may measure attack against an enemy unit, an Initial Target how far weapons can Shoot, how far your must be declared. The Initial Target is always opponent’s weapons can Shoot, the distance the closest model in the targeted unit to the from scenery pieces, Line of Sight, Charge model making the Action. distances and anything else you can think LINE OF SIGHT: Unless specified otherwise, of. After all, people in the Exodus world have all models have a 360-degree Line of Sight. access to all manner of maps, charts, range- It can be imagined they can turn to face finders, binoculars and other more esoteric their enemy as required. For the purposes measuring devices. of determining Line of Sight, a model can Weapons with a range of “-“ have a range see through other models in its unit but not of base contact only. If a model’s weapon through any other models or terrain that uses a template then the template must are larger than their Base Size, unless the be placed in contact with the base when target model is of a greater Base Size than being fired. the intervening models or terrain. Line of Sight can be drawn from/to a model from PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE: Bases of any part of its base horizontally, to a point models cannot overlap, but on occasion vertically up to its Base Size in height. it may be impossible to place a model This prevents modelling for advantage, without doing just that. To resolve this, or being restricted from adding height models affected may be moved outside of through basing or conversion and makes their Activation but only by the minimum a model’s interaction with scenery more amount necessary to prevent bases from straightforward. When measuring Line overlapping. You must ensure that the of Sight, trace an imaginary line from minimum number of models are moved to the two visible outmost points of the accommodate this process. bases of the two models that Line of PLACING AND REPLACING MODELS: Sight is being checked for. Regardless of Occasionally models are replaced or placed Base Size, any model or piece of scenery in a new location as a result of a rule or other that lies within this corridor should be interaction. Placing or Replacing a model considered providing an Obscured effect is not considered movement and so does when working out relevant modifiers to not trigger a Backstab Reaction or other Aim checks etc. Remember if you cannot effect. There must be room for the model’s draw Line of Sight to any part of a base in the location in the Play Area that model’s base, then that model cannot the model is placed. A model cannot be be made the Initial Target of an attack. placed in impassable terrain or with its base MEASURING: In WWX measurements are overlapping obstacles, buildings or another made in inches (“) and very occasionally feet model’s base. You must maintain Unit (‘). You are allowed to measure any distance Coherency if possible when Placing. When

3 GLOSSARY OF TERMS v1.09 replacing a model, the centre of the new have an odd number or value you should model’s base must be in the same position always round the number upwards to its as the centre of the model it has replaced nearest even value before halving. Example, (using the Path of Least Resistance in cases if you need half of seven, first round up to eight where this is not normally possible). and halve it to get four. PLAY AREA: Wild West Exodus can be SCATTER: Rather than effects, weapons, played on any flat surface with at least 3’ x and units always arriving on target or 3’ of space. Often players may want to use a as intended, occasionally the chaos and gaming mat or play on a specially designed vagaries of conflict will cause things to gaming table so that their battles can take Scatter to an unintended position. When place in an area that matches the look of a rule calls for Scatter, the process for their miniatures. Some Adventure scenarios determining direction is as follows. Roll may specify a larger Play Area. Experienced a d10 and the target point moves in the players should feel free to experiment with direction indicated by the upwards facing different Play Area sizes regardless of the point of the die. The distance will be scenario played. determined by the rule or quality calling for the Scatter. POINTS: Players use Points to assemble their Force for an Adventure. A player WITHIN: If a rule refers to a model being will first spend Points to include a Boss. ‘Within’ a certain distance to a point in the This Boss will have a retinue known as a Play Area, then a part of that model’s base Posse, which is the core building block of must be within the distance given. Example: your Force. The Posse will list a number of Within 3” means that part of that models units and upgrades for the Boss’ retinue. base must be within 3” of the target. The player may continue to spend WOUNDED, DESTROYED & REMOVED FROM Points on additional units and upgrades. PLAY: If a model is Wounded and no rules are Furthermore it is likely you will want to applied that might change that fact (such as include further Boss models to then add the Mettle rule) the model is Destroyed. At units and upgrades for these new Posses that stage, if no rules are applied to change as well. There is no limit to the number that fact the model is then Removed from of Bosses a Force can have, provided you Play. Certain rules and interactions applied have the Points to include them. to a model may refer to removing a model RE-ROLLING DICE: Some rules give you from play or that a model is Destroyed. In the ability to re-roll one or more dice. This these cases, the model is not considered to usually means you get to roll the die for a have been Wounded, so any rules that might Check again. However, the same die cannot have applied to it, cannot do so. A Wounded be re-rolled more than once. model will always be considered Destroyed and then Removed from Play unless an ROUNDING UP: At times in the game you in-game effect or rule indicates otherwise. may be required to do something with half a Models that are Removed from Play are given value, such as half of your Force, half of literally removed from the Play Area and take the elements in a Posse or half the range of a no furtherpart in the Adventure. weapon. When dealing with an even number this is a straightforward process. Where you 4 v1.09 ANATOMY OF A UNIT CARD

ANATOMY OF A UNIT CARD

Every unit in Wild West Exodus has a Unit Card like the one shown here. There are a number of elements to the Unit Card which need a little explanation.

Unit name. The number of models in the unit.

The unit Base Size. Common rules that apply to this unit.

Special Rules specific to this unit. These are the Unit Factions this unit Traits. is affiliated to.

The Points cost to include this unit in your army.

This unit is unique.

Unit Attributes.

The weapon’s range.

The Piercing Value of the weapon. The Rate of Attack for that weapon. Weapon type. Here it shows a This weapon has an additional quality Ranged Weapon if a Critical Success is rolled to hit. 5 ATTRIBUTES v1.09

ATTRIBUTES

In Wild West Exodus, each model possesses the following Attributes, which represent in numerical terms its physical and mental strengths. Important: An Attribute can never be reduced below 1.

Q – QUICK: This Attribute indicates the M – MIND: This Attribute represents the distance, in inches, the model may model’s strength of will, determination travel in a single Move Action. Quick and self-control. It is the means by which Checks may be required to avoid being the malign influence of fell powers can rammed by rampaging beasts or to leap be mastered or resisted. a collapsing bridge over a ravine. A - AIM: This is used for shooting L – LIMIT: Each unit in the game with Ranged Weapons or throwing has a Limit Attribute. objects. Aim represents When Activated, a unit the model’s accuracy may take a number and skill with hitting of Actions equal to a target at distance their Limit rating. with weapons such as Free Actions are pistols, crossbows, or in addition to the acidic spit. number shown for the Limit Attribute. G – GRIT: Grit reflects the armour, F – FIGHT: This constitution and any represents the model’s supernatural resistances prowess in close quarter that the model may fighting and reflects their natural possess, enabling them to shrug off reflexes as well as their skill with a successful hit against them. Should various weapons from axes, knives and the model suffer a hit from an attack, it swords all the way up to huge buzz saws, must make a Grit Check. If the Check is massive hammers or wickedly sharp failed, the model is considered Wounded teeth and claws. and removed from play as a casualty.

TRAITS

Traits are a series of words that define every unit in the game. In and of themselves a Trait has no effect on the game, however they are the trigger for certain special rules and actions. Traits are also key for selecting units for your force and for identifying individual units for scoring victory points. Example traits might include the unit’s Faction, their unit type, their species, gender, rank and whether they are mounted or can fly. 6 v1.09 ATTRIBUTES

ATTRIBUTE CHECKS: TARGET OF TEN In WWX all Checks are taken against a target number of TEN. Doubtless there are a range of modifiers that will come into play, but at its heart, whenever a Check is called for it will invariably require a d10 to be rolled and your relevant Attribute to be added to the result. If the total scored is TEN or higher, the Check was successfully passed. Should the total be less than TEN, all manner of misfortune awaits the unit in question…

CRITICAL SUCCESS! When CRITICAL FAILURE! When making a Check, a roll making a Check, a roll of of a 10 before modifiers a 1 before modifiers is is always considered a always considered a failure success regardless of regardless of any bonuses. any penalties. No Unit No Unit Common or Special Common or Special Rule, Ability or Effect Rule, Ability or Effect can Force a Critical can Force a Critical Success to be re-rolled. Failure to be re-rolled. Furthermore, Furthermore, rolling a Critical Success rolling a Critical Fail may trigger some may trigger some additional effects on additional effects on certain weapons or certain weapons or rules which will be rules which will be clearly stated on the clearly stated on the weapon profile on weapon profile or under a Special Rule. your Unit Card.

7 BUILDING A FORCE v1.09

BUILDING A FORCE CHOOSE YOUR FACTION The flexibility of the game means that if you want to spend all your Points on Your Force for Wild West Exodus must Bosses, that’s absolutely fine! If your Boss be taken from one of the eight Factions takes a Posse you must at least take a unit of the game. Each has its own play style in Slot One of that Posse. and array of fantastic Warcradle Studios miniatures. Often players will start with one of the Posse Sets that appeals to them as a THE POSSE way to begin their journey into the game. Assuming you decide to take a Posse, There are no bad choices when it comes your next step is to choose which type to selecting a faction so our advice is to go of Posse you want for your Boss. All for the Faction that includes your favourite Bosses belonging to a Faction can take looking models. the Faction Posse if they wish.

BOSS UNITS Every Faction has a Faction Posse, which represents the most common form of Once you have decided which Faction you Posse found in their Force. Each Boss wish to play in a game you must choose may only take one Posse and so must your first Boss. Bosses are the heroic (or choose to either take their Theme devious) leaders of a Force. Posse, the Faction Posse or no Posse at all. Because of their wildly different Bosses in the world of Wild West Exodus backgrounds and loyalties, Outlaws come in all shapes and sizes. From the work slightly differently in that they have gigantic crystalline Indigo Alpha of the a large number of Theme Posses that can Watchers to the innocent looking Nino de be taken as allies for another Faction. We Oro from the Hex, you never know what will look at Outlaws in more detail in the you might find yourself up against. Outlaws section. In addition to being amongst the most powerful units in the game, Bosses provide certain benefits or additional abilities to the units under their command. You must include a Boss in your Force and they must have the Trait of the Faction you have chosen to play.

Once you have chosen your first Boss for your Force it is time to look at taking a Posse for them. You don’t have to take a Posse at all however, you can just go ahead and choose a second Boss instead.

8 v1.09 BUILDING A FORCE

tombstone theme Posse In a LAWMEN Force, instead of a Faction Posse, Wyatt Earp may take this Theme Posse. If three or more slots are filled then Faces and Bosses in this Posse may re-roll failed Grit checks. Legendary Wyatt Earp is required for other Legendary units to be included in this Posse.

A Lawmen unit with the A Lawmen Face and/or Tombstone Trait. Lawmen Hands unit.

A Lawmen unit with the A unit with the Tombstone Tombstone Trait. Trait (even a Boss) or Lawmen Hands unit.

A Lawmen unit with the A Lawmen Face unit and/or Tombstone Trait. a Lawmen Support unit. WEX-LM-902-Wyatt-Earp-BK v1.09

Posses can be found on Posse include Stonewall Jackson and Jesse cards. These cards detail any of the James in the same Force? Was it their prerequisites for the Posse along love for the Confederacy that unites with any restrictions, limitations and them for the adventure ahead or benefits. Each slot in a Posse has one or something more mercenary? more options for which the player must decide on which units to include. Slots OUTLAW POSSES must be filled in sequence with units for the second slot only being selected Outlaws are the most diverse of all the once the first slot is filled and so on. Factions in Wild West Exodus. United in oppression Outlaw Bosses are prone to You may continue to add units to fill each make brief and cautious alliances with slot until you either run out of Points or others like themselves who operate run out of slots. If you run out of slots in beyond the laws of the land. Unlike the the Posse you can either choose another alien Watchers or the corrupt Hex, Outlaws Boss (and a Posse for them if you wish) or still ally themselves with those who at you may be able to upgrade units in your other times would be an oath sworn existing Posses. enemy. Why such agreements are made The great thing about Posse building depends on who is making them. Perhaps and combining them to form Forces is it is the promise of wealth or technology the narrative that such combinations but usually it comes down to something generate. Perhaps you would like to far more primal on offer. Power. 9 BUILDING A FORCE v1.09

Outlaws may be taken as a Faction as usual. When including allied Bosses with their Each Outlaw Posse will fight alongside Posses in another faction, you may not any other Outlaw Posse in the same Force. have more allied Posses than you have Petty differences (or even fundamental Bosses belonging to the main Faction. ones) are temporarily laid aside for mutual So, in an Enlightened Force consisting advantage and the promise of a successful of two Enlightened Bosses, you could adventure. Whatever the reason you can take up to two Outlaw Bosses such as be certain that once the dust has settled the Earl Shepherd or Marcus Wayward. there’s an even chance it will be your ally’s As tempting as Johnny Ringo and his knife at your throat… Cowboys might be, you couldn’t include them as well until you had taken a third Like other Factions, the Outlaws have Enlightened Boss. a Faction Posse. While it is available to all Outlaw Boss units, it is restricted to only allowing those Bosses to mostly take Outlaw units that have the Mercenary Trait. In this way it represents a desperate band of cutthroats and sell- swords who have been hired by the Boss to undertake a particularly dangerous or personal mission where their lives are as disposable as their loyalties.

For most Outlaw Bosses, you will more often see them taken with their own Theme Posse. More than any other faction, the Outlaw Theme Posses are wildly divergent and characterful from each other and are one of the main attractions to taking an Outlaw Force.

ALLIED POSSES Most Outlaw Theme Posses (and some other Faction’s Theme Posses) can be included in other Faction’s forces. There are some obvious exceptions, Stonewall Jackson would never ally his forces with the Union for example. These alliances are detailed on each Boss’s Theme Posse card. If the Posse is taken in a force that it’s boss does not belong to, it is considered an Allied Posse.

10 v1.09 UNITS

UNITS The smallest grouping of models on the FACE UNITS Play Area is called a unit. Units can be a single model or a number of models, These are friends or paid henchmen depending on what kind of unit you who support a Boss. Faces are have included in your Force. All units individuals with their own stories and must be deployed and finish any Action motivations. Faces can be Activated taken as a single group of models. in the same Activation as another unit if a Triggered Activation is used. Once Units of more than one model behave another unit’s Activation is complete, as a group. When they are Activated, you may immediately Activate a Face they all must take the same Actions. unit that has not yet Activated this However, when attacking, they may turn. This is treated as a new Activation, declare those attacks against different so you must draw an Action card and target units. If possible each Action apply any effects (see Adventure Cards must be attempted by every model in section for more details). the unit before taking another Action. HANDS UNITS UNIT COHERENCY The nameless men, women and monsters If a unit consists of two or more models who make up the bulk of a Posse. Usually then they must follow the rules of organised unto units of multiple models, Unit Coherency. At the start of an a Posse’s Hands can be thought of as Action, all models within such a unit the hardest working group of units in should be within Unit Coherency of a Force. They are often underestimated at least one other model in the same and usually indispensable. unit. Coherency is 3” unless otherwise specified by a Common or Special Rule. Hands can spend Fortune though do not generate it. When adding Hands units to If a unit has one or more models out your Posse you are often able to take of Unit Coherency at the start of its additional weapons and increase the Activation, the unit gains the Disordered number of models in the unit. Condition and must make a Move Action to regain Unit Coherency. If the SUPPORT UNITS unit regains Coherency, it ceases to be Disordered at the end of their Activation. The big guns, mighty machines and However, if after making a Move Action to esoteric monstrosities of the West. regain Coherency it has still been unable Support units can spend Fortune though to do so, the unit remains Disordered. usually do not generate it.

Some Support units (as well as some Hands units) have the MACHINE Trait. This

11 UNITS v1.09 means that they can move and fire Heavy Deployed ARTEFACT units may be weapons more easily than other units. considered friendly depending on which Force has generated or deployed them. Some Support units (as well as other Most can be used by either side in an units in the game) have the VEHICLE Adventure and all ARTEFACT units can Trait. Vehicles have a few additional rules be designated as the Initial Target for worth repeating. Combat Actions. Units with the VEHICLE Trait may fire all of the Ranged Weapons that they STRATEGIC UNITS are equipped with. They may target different units with different weapons. Angry Mobs, Booby Traps and Innocent Civilians are just some of the Strategic Units that are at play in Wild West Exodus. ARTEFACT UNITS You may include a single Strategic unit From Profane Shrines to Totem in your Force for each Boss you include. Poles the frontier is scattered with Some Special Rules may enable you all manner of weird and wonderful to include extra Strategic units above objects. Artefacts are usually brought this limit. Strategic Units are not part into play through Special Rules. They of a Posse but are considered to be do not have a Points cost. friendly models.

12 v1.09 FORTUNE

FORTUNE

Bosses, Faces and other influential units replenished to its initial Fortune rating have a Fortune rating. Each unit with at the end of its Activation. Fortune starts the game with a number of Fortune chips stacked by their card Units that do not have a Fortune rating and which are equal in number to their can still use Fortune chips. The Largesse Fortune rating. Each unit’s Fortune Chips Unit Common Rule allows a unit to are replenished back to their Fortune spend their Bosses Fortune chips as their rating at the end of their Activation. If own, as long as that Boss is present in the the model cannot Activate, it does not Play Area. replenish its Fortune Chips that turn. Designers Note: It should be Fortune can be spent in several remembered that a unit with ways by a unit. “Each use of Fortune Fortune recovers its Fortune chips costs a single Fortune Chip unless back up to its initial Fortune rating otherwise stated. Players should feel at the end of its own Activation. confident in using whatever Fortune Spending Fortune chips in this Chips they have available during the manner is likely to leave a model unit’s Activation Knowing they will be with less Fortune chips to use in their Activation!

13 FORTUNE v1.09

SPENDING FORTUNE

FOCUS A unit can spend a Fortune TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM When Chip during their Activation Phase to a model is nominated as the Initial force a Check to become Focused (see Target of an attack, you can pick a Focused Actions). different friendly model within 3” of the targeted model. This friendly HUNKER DOWN A unit can spend a model must be in range of the attack. Fortune Chip to immediately Hunker The nominated friendly model now Down regardless of whether it is their becomes the Initial Target of the attack Activation or not. as they dive in front of the bullet, or push their comrade aside at the last LUCKY SON OF A GUN After failing a minute, nobly sacrificing themselves Check a unit may spend a Fortune in the process. Chip to re-roll the die regardless of whether it is their Activation or not. VETERAN INSTINCTS When this model As mentioned before, you can never is nominated as the Initial Target of an re-roll a die more than once or re-roll a attack, this unit can spend two Fortune Critical Failure or Critical Success. Chips to immediately gain the On Lookout Condition. You may make a PUSH IT A unit may spend a Fortune Give ‘Em Hell reaction to the attack as Chip as an Action Point and may do so though you had the Condition prior multiple times during an Activation. to being targeted. You cannot use The first Action Point gained in this Veteran Instincts and taking One for fashion for a unit costs one Fortune the Team against the same attack. Chip, the second costs two Fortune chips, the third costs three and so on. WALK IT OFF A unit can spend a Example: A unit using Push It to generate Fortune Chip in their Activation to three Action Points would have to spend immediately remove any and all six Fortune Chips to do so. Stunned, Disordered and Hazard Conditions applied to it.

Note: If the unit is out of Coherency, it will immediately become Disordered again.

14 v1.09 TURN SEQUENCE

TURN SEQUENCE

for the first turn instead. Regardless of the INITIATIVE PHASE outcome, both players must discard their Action Card face down to form (or add to) 1. Determine Initiative their discard pile for the Action Deck.

2. Draw Adventure Cards On subsequent turns both players simply draw a new Action Card and the Initiative ACTIVATION PHASE goes to the player with the highest number in the top left hand corner. In cases of a tie 1. Draw from the Action Deck Initiative goes to the player who did not have the Initiative on the previous turn. 2. Player with Initiative Activates a Unit 2. DRAW ADVENTURE CARDS 3. Opposing Player Activates a Unit Both players draw a number of Adventure Cards based on the agreed Points Limit 4. Repeat until all units have Activated for their Force. This number of cards is the this turn maximum number of Adventure Cards you may hold at any time. RESOLUTION PHASE At the start of each turn, players draw 1. Move Unengaged Models sufficient cards to bring their hand up to the card number determined by their 2. Discard Unwanted Adventure Cards Points Limit below. 3. Check Victory Conditions POINTS LIMIT CARDS

999 Points or less 3 INITIATIVE PHASE 1000 to 1499 Points 4 1: DETERMINE INITIATIVE Both players shuffle their Action Deck 1500 to 1999 Points 5 and draw the top card. The player with the highest card number found in the top Each 500 Points +1 left-hand corner chooses who is Player A. thereafter Unless the Adventure specifies otherwise, Adventure Cards have two uses in a game Player A has the Initiative for the first turn. and should be kept secret until played. However, if Player B was the first player to Adventure cards include effects for both finish deploying their forces they may draw Guts and Glory, either of which may be a new Action Card and see if the number played but not both. in the top left corner is equal to or higher than the card Player A drew at the start of Adventure cards may be played for deployment. If it is equal or higher then Glory once a specific objective has been Player B may choose to have the Initiative achieved. The player is immediately 15 TURN SEQUENCE v1.09 awarded the Victory Points indicated on the an Attribute for the Activation. Guts can card. Though small in number, these Points also provide additional Action Points will accumulate as more Glory is achieved. which can be added to the player’s Though achieving the main objective for current Action Card to provide a greater the Adventure will provide the lion’s share number of Points to fuel a unit’s actions. of the Victory Points in a game, it is possible Additionally, there are several symbols that a player that seeks Glory above all on the Guts end of the card and if other concerns might still win the battle. revealed provide one of the benefits listed to the bottom of this page. The other end of the card from Glory is Guts. The bonus provided by Guts There are also some units that have is immediate and is achieved at the access to Guts bonuses through a expense of the Glory that might Unit Common Rule like Teamwork. otherwise have been obtained by the These units do not need to discard an card. You may apply as many Guts Adventure Card with the symbol to use bonuses to a single Activation as you this ability. wish. Guts can often provide a bonus to

GUTS SYMBOLS INTERRUPT If you do not have the Initiative and your Adventure Card has this symbol on it you may reveal the card to your opponent and choose to gain the Initiative for this Activation only. This reveal must be made before your opponent draws their Action Card and declares the unit they intend to Activate. If your opponent has an Interrupt card as well, they may then play their Interrupt to regain the Initiative for the Activation. If you hold further Interrupts, you may then try to seize or deny the Initiative once again in this Activation and so on.

RESTORE If your Adventure Card has this symbol on it you may reveal the card to restore the number of Fortune chips on a unit of your choice back up to their Fortune Value.

TRIGGERED ACTIVATION If your Adventure Card has this symbol on it, after making your first Activation you may declare you will be making a Triggered Activation. You must reveal and discard the Adventure Card with this symbol that enables you to do so. Once your first unit’s Activation is complete, you may immediately Activate a Face unit within 8” of it that has not yet Activated this turn. This is treated as a new Activation, and requires you to draw a new Action card. Further unactivated Face units within 8” of the Activated Face may make a Triggered Activation provided in each instance you can reveal and discard the required Adventure Card or have the relevant Unit Common Rule. Simply declare each Triggered Activation in sequence once the current Triggered Activation is completed.

16 v1.09 TURN SEQUENCE

ACTIVATION PHASE 3: OPPOSING PLAYER ACTIVATES A UNIT Once the player with the Initiative finishes 1: DRAW FROM THE ACTION DECK their Activation, the Opposing player The player with Initiative reveals the now Activates a unit following the two top card of their Action Deck. The card steps above. drawn has an Action Points Value on it. The Action Deck consists of 48 cards Players continue to alternate Activations, and the Action Points appear in the each Activated unit spending Action following frequency: there are four Points and taking Actions as described cards with 1 Action Point, fifteen cards below. This continues until both players with 2 Action Points, twenty two cards have Activated all their units. Unless the with 3 Action Points, six cards with 4 players both have the same number of Action Points and finally one card with units in their Forces, it is possible that 5 Action Points. several Activation Phases each turn will comprise of just one player Activating The player declares which their remaining units. Once all units in play unit they intend to make that are able to Activate have done so, the an Activation with. More turn moves to the Resolution Phase. detailed explanation of Activations and actions can Once the last Action Card from the deck be found on the following is drawn, shuffle the discard pile and pages. For now it is enough to create a new Action Card deck to draw know that Players Activate a from. Without looking, draw the top unit at a time, a unit may only three cards and discard them face down, be Activated once per turn and that forming a new discard pile. This ensures during their Activation a unit may make that the player cannot be certain that the Move Actions, and Combat Actions. ratio of the cards they seek may still be available to them in the deck. The Wild 2: PLAYER WITH INITIATIVE ACTIVATES West is an unpredictable place after all! A UNIT The Player with the Initiative must Activate a unit that hasn’t Activated this RESOLUTION PHASE turn. The Activated unit may spend the Action Points indicated on the Action 1: MOVE UNENGAGED MODELS Card to make a number of Actions up Starting with the player who has the to their Action Limit. Once the unit has Initiative, both players take it in turns completed its Activation the Action Card to select one of their units that has is discarded to the Action Card discard one or more models Engaged by the pile face down. Remember every unit enemy. Any Unengaged models in that with a Fortune rating receives Fortune unit must be moved up to their Quick Chips back up to that level at the end Value in inches towards a model in the of their Activation. enemy unit that has Engaged them. This move will trigger a Backstab Reaction as normal if a model moves into and

17 TURN SEQUENCE v1.09 then out of an enemy model’s Melee Weapon range. Once both players have completed this movement for each unit, the Resolution Phase moves to the next stage. 2: DISCARD UNWANTED ADVENTURE CARDS Starting with the player who has the Initiative, both players take it in turn to discard any number of their unwanted Adventure Cards face down. On subsequent Initiative Phases, players redraw additional cards to bring their hand back up to the maximum number determined by their agreed Points Limit.

3: CHECK VICTORY CONDITIONS The Adventure’s Victory Conditions should now be checked to see if either player has achieved them. If Victory has been achieved or a number of turns specified in the Adventure have elapsed, the game ends. Otherwise, a new turn begins and Initiative is drawn for once again!

18 v1.09 ACTIVATION

ACTIVATION Each unit can only Activate once per ACTION CARDS turn. When Activated, a unit may take an Action. Actions fall into two categories: When Activating a unit, the controlling Move or Combat. Each type of Move or player must use the Action Card drawn Combat Action costs an Action Point. that Phase. Each Action Card has an Once the Action is complete, the unit Action Points Value on it ranging may carry out another Action or even between 1 and 5. take the same Action again. However, a A unit has as many Action Points unit carrying out the same category of available as the card indicates. However, Action (so two or more Move Actions or each unit has a Limit Value, so spend your two or more Combat Actions) costs two Action Card wisely! It is possible that you Points for each additional time rather may wish to Activate a character with than the usual one. a Limit of 3. This would mean that you A unit can spend as many Action Points could make up to three Actions in an as they have available but may only Activation. However you may find that make a number of Actions equal to you only have drawn an Action Card with their Limit rating. This does not include a Value of 2. In this instance, you would Free Actions. have to either Activate a different unit (such as a unit of Hands that have a Limit Example: Belle Wilson makes a Walk Move of two) or else Activate the Face or Boss Action from behind some barrels. The but accept that you only have the Points Action costs her one Action Point. If Belle to take (at most) two Actions rather than Wilson was then to make a Shoot Action, the potential three that they might have it would cost her a second Action point as made otherwise. a Shoot Action is a type of Combat Action. However, if instead she elected to Walk Remember that the Limit of a unit is the again or Hunker Down, then as those are number of Actions each model in that both Move Actions, it would cost her two unit can make each turn, not the number Action Points to do either. Of course, she of Action Points that they can spend. could spend a point of Fortune to Hunker Example: A unit of Mexican Caballeros Down anyway, so perhaps there is even with a Limit of 2 can happily spend five more to consider! Action Points on a Focused Shoot Action Remember every unit with a Fortune (costing a point for the Action and a point rating receives Fortune Chips back up to for making it Focused) followed by a that level at the end of their Activation. second Focused Shoot Action (costing two Points for the second Combat Action and a point for making it Focused). A full list of the types of actions and their Action Point cost can be found below.

19 ACTIVATION v1.09

ACTIONS a second Shoot Action, however this repeated Action costs her remaining two When Activated, a unit may make a Action Points. The Countess has now run number of Actions equal to their Limit out of Action Points and cannot take any (as described under the Units section). more actions this turn. Each Action normally costs one Action Point regardless of how many models are in the unit. All models in a unit must TYPES OF ACTION take the same Actions when declared. SPECIAL ACTIONS If a unit declares the same Action again Each of these Actions may only be made in an Activation, each repeated Action once per unit per turn, regardless of the costs two Action Points rather than the number of Action Points available to usual one. the unit. FREE ACTIONS FOCUSED ACTIONS If an Action is described as a Free Action, (COST: +1 ACTION POINT) it means that it does not cost any Action Provided the Action is linked to an Points and does not count towards the Attribute, a unit may declare that the Limit for a unit’s Actions in a turn. Like Action they are about to take in their all Actions, they usually must be taken Activation is Focused. Focusing an as part of a model’s Activation however Action costs 1 Action Point in addition some weapon qualities or other in game to the Action’s cost and still only counts effects may cause a model to take a Free as a single Action. For the duration of Action outside of Activation. that Action, the unit gains a +2 bonus to their checks. A unit with the Tasked REACTIONS Reactions are a type of Free Actions that common rule can only make Focused are triggered by another Action taking Actions if within 12” of a friendly unit place. They are most commonly taken with the BOSS Trait. You cannot Focus outside of an Activation and are taken by any Action outside of your Activation. the opposing player’s units in reaction to an Action made by one of your units. Example: The Countess Byron is having You may not Focus a Reaction. a great deal of fun electrifying some low-class Outlaw scum by starting her Activation with a Focused Shoot Action at a cost of 2 Action Points. She has drawn 4 Action Points this turn so after spending one for the Shoot Action and one for having Focused it, she has two Action Points remaining. The Countess has a Limit of 3, meaning she could take a further two actions. The Countess chooses to make 20 v1.09 MOVE ACTIONS

MOVE ACTIONS WALK (MOVE ACTION) FLIGHT (SPECIAL MOVE ACTION) Movement in Wild West Exodus is A unit with the FLIGHT Trait may declare a determined by a model’s Quick Attribute. Flight Action. Units making a Flight Action Each model in the unit can move up to may be placed up to 18” from its position their Quick Value as inches of distance. at the start of the Action. Ignore any terrain Example: A Quick of 5 means that the restrictions on the movement but the model moves up to 5” in a single Walk unit must not end their Flight Action in Action. Models can pivot around their impassable terrain or Engaged in combat. centre as many times as they want during You cannot Focus a Flight Action. movement, but must move in straight lines. You may not move through another IN COVER (FREE MOVE ACTION) model’s base. Measure the movement from the front of a model’s base. Any If a model in a unit is in a building or moves effect which causes a model to be placed to base contact with a piece of terrain on the Play Area a particular distance they automatically make an In Cover Free from another model or reference point Action. While in base contact with the should be measured exactly like a Walk. terrain piece they receive the bonuses for You can Focus a Walk Action and gain +2” being Obscured as normal, however their to the distance you may move own Ranged attacks do not count the terrain piece for the purposes of giving an If the Walk Action brings the unit Obscured bonus against an enemy target. within Melee range of an enemy unit Important: Stunned or Disordered units then both units are considered to be cannot make In Cover Free Actions. Engaged in combat. HUNKER DOWN DASH! (SPECIAL MOVE ACTION) A unit that is about to make a A unit not Engaged in combat Walk Action may spend an additional may make a Hunker Down Action Point to gain a Dash bonus to Special Action to gain the the distance they can move. A unit Hunkered Condition (see Conditions). that makes a Dash, can move up A Stunned unit, or one with the to a distance equal to their Quick STRUCTURE or ARTEFACT Trait cannot attribute Value +d5. This Walk Action Hunker Down. Except for an In Cover may be Focused as normal (which Free Move Action, you may not make would give a total distance the further Move Actions if you have made unit can move equal to their Quick a Hunker Down Action this Activation. A Attribute +2 +d5 in inches). unit with the MACHINE or VEHICLE Trait may not make a Hunker Down Action.

21 MOVE ACTIONS v1.09

RAM (SPECIAL MOVE ACTION) Transport itself are, of course, two separate units and must be Activated A unit with the VEHICLE Trait may declare a separately. While units in a Building may Ram Action. The unit makes a Walk Action Shoot and Strike, units in a Transport as normal, but can only travel in a straight may not take any Actions other than Get line. If the Ram Action brings them into Out unless specified by the Transport base contact with a friendly or enemy unit (such as having the Open Topped rule). at any point in that movement then the friendly or enemy unit must pass a Quick If a model with the Capacity Special Check or suffer an automatic hit. Models Rule is destroyed or moves off the Play that are hit by a Ram Action are Wounded Area while a unit is occupying it, all unless they pass a Grit Check with a -2 the models in that unit must make a penalty. Once the Ram Action is resolved, Grit Check with a -3 penalty. Surviving the model (if it has survived the Ram) is models are placed in Coherency within moved the minimum distance necessary 3” of the point on the Play Area that the to allow the enemy unit passage (see Transport was destroyed or removed. the Path of Least Resistance). The vehicle making the Ram Action continues its UNIT COMMON & SPECIAL RULES movement until it has travelled its full Quick, potentially hitting further models Common and Special Rules provided it encounters. Ram Move Actions can by units within a building cannot affect trigger Backstab Reactions. You can Focus units outside of that building. Any range a Ram Action and gain +2” to the distance. given on those rules are considered to only extend within the building itself and ENTERING BUILDINGS OR cannot affect units outside of the building TRANSPORTS or in a different section (in the case of large buildings). Similarly, units outside Units may enter an unoccupied building or of a building that have a range to their a friendly model with the Capacity Special Common or Special Rules that reaches Rule. This rule will specify how many Small the building, cannot affect any units that Base Size models it can transport (buildings might be inside. can usually take 10 models). It is possible for Medium Base Size models to be transported, Common or Special Rules that require but for transport capacity purposes each base contact or specific positioning or Medium based model counts as two Small interaction between units or models based models. Unless deployed in the (such as Shoulder to Shoulder) cannot friendly model with the Capacity Special be used while in a building. Rule during deployment, the unit usually becomes MOUNTED by making a Get In GET IN (MOVE ACTION) Action. You cannot transport Large, XL or XXL models unless specified. To enter a friendly transporting model or building with the Capacity Special Rule, a Transported units as well as the unit must meet any Base Size requirements 22 v1.09 MOVE ACTIONS and all models must be within 3” of the GET OUT (MOVE ACTION) Transport model or building’s base. This keeps things manageable and units unable To leave an Unengaged building or to embark immediately should be able friendly transporting model with the to do so easily in a subsequent Activation Capacity Special Rule, a unit usually assuming the transporting model does not must have already been deployed in move. Once a unit is inside a transporting the building or friendly model or have model or building, the unit is temporarily successfully carried out a Get In Action. removed from the Play Area and put aside, To make a Get Out Action, the unit is taking care to make it clear which models placed in Coherency within 3” of the are in the building or transporting model. building or transporting model’s base. Unless the Transport model has the Firing You may not make a Get Out Action in Platform Special Rule, a unit cannot make a the same Activation that you made a Get Shoot Action in the same Activation it has In Action, nor if the unit is Engaged. made a Get In Action.

MOVING OVER TERRAIN CLIMB: Units attempting to move between pieces of terrain that are across a scenery piece that is more greater than the model’s Base Size than two base sizes higher than it, must make a Quick Check, with a +1 must attempt to climb it. The unit must for each inch between their starting make a Quick Check with a modifier of position and the gap (essentially how -1 per Base Size that the scenery piece much of a run up they get before is higher than the model’s Base Size. If jumping). If the model succeeds, it can the model fails this Quick Check, the continue to move normally. If it fails, it unit’s Move Action ends (though they will fall as described below. are free to make another climb attempt if the unit has remaining Action Points FALLING: A falling model must take and wishes to make a further Move a Grit Check with a piercing modifier Action). The result of the Quick Check equal to -1 per Base Size that the drop applies to all models within the unit. is higher than the model’s Base Size. It is likely that falling will cause the unit JUMP: Models standing on a Building or to go out of Coherency. Furthermore, a Area Terrain with the Obstacle feature model that falls automatically gains the may attempt to make a jump during a Stunned Condition. In some extreme Move Action. This allows them to cross circumstances, you may rule falling from small gaps between buildings, jump a piece of terrain is immediately fatal off Area Terrain with the Obstacle as no amount of fortune will save you feature or over a ravine etc. However, if you fall off a five storey building or such heroics comes with a greater into a deep ravine from a cliff above. We risk of failure (especially if it is a long suggest discussing any fatal drops with way down). Models crossing a gap your opponent before the game begins.

23 RESERVES v1.09

RESERVES

Reserves are parts of a Force that can be unit held in Reserve can make each called upon to reinforce their allies or to turn is a Reserve Action. The Activated hide your Force’s true size and strength unit makes a Reserves Check by rolling from the enemy. a d10 and adding to it the turn number as well as half their Boss’ Mind Attribute PLACING UNITS IN RESERVE (reflecting their leader’s ability to coordinate their arrival). When deploying your Force, you may RESERVES CHECK = D10 + choose to keep back up to half the number HALF BOSS MIND + TURN NUMBER of units in your Posse. Units must be placed TARGET TEN OR MORE into Reserve or deployed in their entirety. Support units and those units containing Should the unit pass the Reserves models with a Quick of 2 or less may not be Check it is immediately deployed placed in reserve unless otherwise noted. within 6” of the rear table edge of their Models in Reserve can then be brought deployment zone or the specified into play using a Reserves Action. Units in reserves entry point for the Adventure. reserve may not Focus their Actions. The unit may then make additional Actions up to their Limit as normal, remembering to deduct the cost in RESERVES Action Points of the Reserves Move (SPECIAL MOVE ACTION) Action. Models cannot be deployed A unit held in Reserve must Activate within 6” of an enemy model. Should as normal. However, the only Action a a unit fail its Reserves Check, its Activation immediately ends.

24 v1.09 COMBAT ACTIONS

COMBAT ACTIONS

Any model with a Fight or Aim Attribute of range but must be in Line of Sight) of 1 or higher is able to spend an Action until the unit is wiped out or each hit has point to make a Combat Action (which been resolved by passing a Grit Check. can be Focused as normal). Attacks from a model are made with a single weapon A model may not normally target against a single target unit. different units with a single Action, although different models in the same Multiple models in the same unit can unit may select different target units. make an attack as part of a Combat Action and these attacks can each be directed at The most common Combat Actions are the same target unit or against a different the Shoot Action (blasting someone target unit if they so choose. at range with a shotgun or rifle, for example) and a Strike Action (slashing at someone with a cleaver or sword). RATE OF ATTACK GRIT CHECKS AND WOUNDED All weapons have a Rate of Attack. The Rate of Attack for a weapon represents There are often times that a unit must how many Aim or Fight checks the model make a Grit Check, such as when a wielding it may make for each Shoot or model that has been allocated a hit from Strike Action. Once you have chosen an an enemy attack. A Grit Check is made Initial Target and worked out the score against a target of TEN as normal by rolling needed to hit (including any bonuses a d10 and adding your Grit Attribute then or penalties for being Focused, target applying any other modifiers (such as In Cover etc), make a number of Aim or terrain). If you pass the required Grit Check Fight checks equal to the Rate of Attack of the model is not considered Wounded. the weapon being used. You should roll all of these dice at the same time. If the total is less than TEN, the Grit Check is failed and the model is considered The opposing player must then pass Wounded and removed from play as it a Grit Check (one at a time) for each has been destroyed. A failed Grit Check successful hit. Apply any effects (such as may be re-rolled by spending a Fortune Conditions or qualities) after each Grit Chip (see Fortune). Check as they occur until all remaining hits have been resolved by passing Grit GRIT CHECK = D10 + GRIT +/- MODIFIERS Checks or the target is Wounded. TARGET TEN OR HIGHER

If the Initial Target has been Wounded COMMON GRIT CHECK MODIFIERS and removed from play, any remaining PIERCING: The Piercing Value of the hits and associated Conditions are weapon is expressed as a penalty which applied to the next closest model in is applied to your Grit Check should you the enemy unit and so on (regardless be successfully hit by that weapon. 25 COMBAT ACTIONS v1.09

OBSCURED: Receive +1 to your Grit end of the Charge Action and will not Attribute for each piece of terrain or gain the Free Strike Action. unit that the Line of Sight from the enemy crosses. If the Charge Action brings the unit within its Melee Weapon range of an HUNKERED: Gain a +1 to your Grit enemy unit then the unit making the Attribute if you are affected by the Charge Action is considered to be Hunkered Condition. Charging and both units are Engaged in combat. Models in a Charging unit may GO ON LOOKOUT immediately make a Free Strike Action (SPECIAL COMBAT ACTION) against enemy models in Melee range. This Free Strike Action may be Focused A unit not Engaged in combat for an Action Point as normal. may make a Go On Lookout However If the Charge Action does not Special Combat Action bring the unit into Melee Weapon range to gain the On Lookout Condition then the Charging unit must pass a (see Conditions). Quick Check or it immediately gains the Disordered Condition. CHARGE (SPECIAL COMBAT ACTION) Example: Captain Rani Nimue needs to secure an objective nearby that is guarded by a unit Unless it has already made a Shoot Action of five Constructed Menials. She will need that Activation, a unit with a Fight Value to destroy all of them in order to claim the of 1 or more can make a Charge Action. objective. Luckily Nimue has 4 Action Points This special Action targets an enemy to spend this Activation, her controlling unit in Line of Sight and nominates an player first checks the distance between Rani Initial Target just like any other Combat and the Menials which is 8”. Nimue has a Action. In a Charge Action, the unit may Quick of 5” so will need to close the distance move up to their Quick Value in inches to be sure to get into range. Nimue spends exactly like a Walk Action except that an Action Point to perform a Move Action, this movement must be made so that moving her 5” closer to the Constructs. She the unit is closer to the Initial Target at does not declare a Shoot Action as this the end of the Action than they were will prevent her from charging so instead at the start of it. Units making a Charge she declares a Charge Combat Action and Action must retain Coherency. You can nominates the Constructs as her target. With Focus a Charge Action and gain +2” 3” left to travel she easily makes it into range to the Charge distance. If the Charge with her Quick of 5”. Captain Nimue may now Action causes the unit to move through perform a Free Strike Action which costs no Area Terrain, it must pass a Quick Check additional Action Points to perform. or gains the Disordered Condition at the

26 v1.09 COMBAT ACTIONS

STRIKE (COMBAT ACTION) Walk Action. This movement must be up to their full Quick Value to bring them A Strike Action may be made by your within their Melee range of an enemy unit when they are Engaged in combat model in the Engaged unit. Any models with an enemy unit. You are Engaged forced to make this Free Walk Action in combat when one or more models may not make an attack with their Melee in your unit have an enemy model weapons in that Action even if the move within range of one or more of their has now brought them into range. Melee weapons. STRIKE = D10 + FIGHT +/- MODIFIERS Once you have spent the relevant Action TARGET TEN OR HIGHER Points cost to make a Strike Action, you must declare which model in your unit COMMON STRIKE ACTION is making the Action first and what their MODIFIERS: Initial Target is. The closest model in an Engaged unit to the model making FOCUSED: If you Focused your Strike the Action is the Initial Target. If two or Action in this Activation gain +2 to your more models are eligible to be the Initial Fight Attribute. Target, the attacking model may choose HUNKERED: A unit that has the Hunkered which it is. Condition receives a -1 penalty to their Next choose which weapon the model is Strike Actions. taking the Strike Action with. You must fully resolve each hit from the weapon used in the Strike Action before making additional hits with the same weapon due to Rate of Attack or Special Rules.

The attacking model makes a Fight Check by rolling a d10. Then add its Fight Attribute and any modifiers. If the total is equal to or greater than TEN then you succeed in hitting the target. If the total is less than TEN the blow goes wide of the mark and you miss. On a successful hit, the target must make a Grit Check or be Wounded (see Grit checks and Wounding).

Once all the models in your unit that are in range of the enemy unit have made their Strike Actions, any models in your unit who were not in range with their Melee weapons must instead make a Free

27 COMBAT ACTIONS v1.09

MULTIPLE WEAPONS Once you have spent the relevant Action (STRIKE ACTION) Points cost to make the Shoot Action, you must declare which model in your A model may only use a single weapon unit is making the Action first and which in a Strike Action (unless they have a weapon they are using to make the Special Rule that specifically allows Action with. You must fully resolve each them to do this). If the model is listed as shot and weapon one at a time. carrying a second or third Melee Weapon then each Strike Action the model must Each model may choose a different choose which weapon to use. Some target unit and declare the Initial Target models have multiple weapons of the (which is usually the closest model to same type that are not listed on their the shooter in the unit). If two or more Unit Card. If it does not appear on the models are eligible to be the Initial Unit Card then these additional weapons Target, the shooting model may choose are present only for aesthetics purposes which it is. on the model and play no further role in the game. The shooting model makes an Aim Check by rolling a d10, add your Aim Attribute and any modifiers. If the total is equal to A DANGEROUS PLACE or greater than TEN then you succeed in hitting the target. If the total is less than If a model is not specified as being TEN the shot goes wide of the mark and armed with a Melee Weapon, you miss. On a successful hit, the target it is assumed to still be armed must make a Grit Check or be Wounded with a knife, claws or other Basic (see Grit checks and Wounding). Melee Weapon. Such weapons are only specified if they have some Once you have finished the Shoot Action property or ability beyond those with the first model in a unit, you may of a conventional weapon. Models select another model in the unit to make that do not carry even these basic their Shoot Action. Continue choosing weapons are identified by having the and resolving the unit’s shots until all Unarmed Unit Common Rule. the models in the unit have made their Action, or there are no eligible Initial targets left in range and Line of Sight.

Important: You may not make a Shoot Action if you are Engaged in combat. SHOOT (COMBAT ACTION) Furthermore, unless the model has the VEHICLE or MOUNTED Traits, it may To make a Shoot Action with your unit, not make a Shoot Action if a Charge one or more models in your unit must Action is made in the same Activation. have an enemy model (or friendly ARTEFACT model) within range and Line SHOOT = D10 + AIM +/- MODIFIERS of Sight of one of its Ranged Weapons. TARGET TEN OR HIGHER 28 v1.09 COMBAT ACTIONS

COMMON SHOOT ACTION additional weapons are present only for MODIFIERS: aesthetics purposes on the model and play no further role in the game. FOCUSED: If you Focused your Shoot Action in this Activation gain +2 to your Aim Attribute. VEHICLES

OBSCURED: Suffer a -1 to your Aim Units with the VEHICLE Trait may fire all Attribute for each model or terrain of the weapons that they are equipped feature directly between the shooter with in the same Shoot Action. and the target. They may target different units with different weapons. LONG RANGE: Suffer a -1 to your Aim Attribute if the target is more than 12” away.

TARGET ENGAGED IN COMBAT: Unless using a template, Shoot Actions suffer a -4 to your Aim Attribute if the Initial Target is Engaged. This penalty does not include any additional Obscured penalty caused by models blocking Line of Sight to the target Engaged in the combat. Furthermore, if a Critical Failure is rolled when making the shot, the hit is instead resolved against the closest model to the Initial Target within 3”. If there is no other model within 3” the shot simply misses. Where there is a choice of models, your opponent chooses which is hit.

MULTIPLE WEAPONS (SHOOT ACTION) Usually models may only use a single Ranged Weapon in a Shoot Action. If the model is listed as carrying a second or third Ranged Weapon then each Shoot Action the model must choose which weapon to use. Some models have multiple weapons of the same type that are not listed on their Unit Card. If it does not appear on the Unit Card then these

29 REACTIONS v1.09

REACTIONS Reactions are a type of Free Actions that GIVE ’EM HELL (REACTION) are triggered by another Action taking place. They are most commonly taken Should a unit with the On Lookout outside of an Activation and are taken by Condition be declared as the Initial the opposing player’s unit in reaction to Target of a Combat Action by an enemy an Action made by one of your units. You unit, it may immediately make a Give ‘Em may not Focus a Reaction. A unit may Hell Reaction. At any point during the only perform a single Reaction against enemy unit’s Combat Action the unit On an Action. Reactions can trigger their Lookout may make a Free Strike Action own Reaction as they are a new Action. or Free Shoot Action against them (however their Rate of Attack is 1 for the Free Action). If the Free Strike Action BACKSTAB (REACTION) or Free Shoot Action is out of range, it While within the Melee range of an missed as usual. If a unit On Lookout enemy model, a model is considered to does not wish to make a Free Strike be Engaged. If a model moves out of the Action or Free Shoot Action and instead Melee range of an enemy model, it risks wishes to hold their nerve and not react being struck in the back. (thereby retaining their On Lookout Condition for a future opportunity) it A model can make this Reaction against must pass a Mind Check. If it fails, it must the first enemy model that leaves its make the Free Combat Action as normal Melee range each turn. Make a Free (at any point during that enemy unit’s Strike Action against the enemy model. Combat Action). If it passes the Mind Check, it does not have to make the Give Models that are Embarked in ‘Em Hell Reaction. vehicles or buildings cannot make a Backstab Reaction.

30 v1.09 TAINTED

TAINTED

Units with the TAINT Trait are referred to as Tainted. Should the last model in a Tainted unit fail their Grit Check and be destroyed, before you remove the model from the Play Area make a Taint Check: TAINT CHECK = D10 + MIND TARGET TEN OR HIGHER

If the Taint Check is failed the model is destroyed as normal.

If the Taint Check is passed the model is replaced with a single model Hex Beast unit. The first time it is Activated, the Hex Beast counts as having made a Reserve Action for that turn. As a Hex Beast has a Limit of 1 it will not be able to take any further Actions unless the controlling player has any Adventure Cards in their hand that increase a unit’s Limit attribute. The Hex Beast may then act normally from the following turn. If a Hex Beast model is not available or if the Tainted model was already a Hex Beast or has the Reanimated rule, the model is instead removed from play.

On a Critical Success, the model is not replaced with a Hex Beast and instead counts as having passed its Grit Check.

On a Critical Fail, the model is replaced with a Hex Beast as outlined above, however the Hex Beast is under the control of the opposing player!

31 CONDITIONS v1.09

CONDITIONS

A model or unit many be affected by one It is quite possible (and often quite or more Conditions during the game. likely) that a model or unit will be Conditions are either negative or positive affected by several different Conditions and are always applied immediately and at the same time. Resolve the effects before any other modifiers. Conditions of any Negative Conditions first. Then usually remain in play until the model apply any Positive Conditions. or unit’s next Activation. A unit receiving multiple instances of a particular Remember that an Attribute can never Condition do not gain a cumulative be reduced below one (if it has a value). penalty or bonus, so a unit can be Stunned several times in the same turn but will only suffer the penalties of the Stunned Condition once.

32 v1.09 CONDITIONS

NEGATIVE CONDITIONS

YELLER CHECK: Should a Hand unit end of their next Activation unless they consisting of a single model (either are out of Coherency in which case the through casualties or as its starting Disordered Condition remains. size) receive one or more Negative Conditions it must immediately take a HAZARD: Until the end of special kind of unmodified Mind Check their next Activation, a known as a Yeller Check. If they fail the model affected by Hazard Check they withdraw from the battle cannot make Special or Free and are immediately removed as a Actions (including Reactions). The model casualty. If they pass, they receive the loses the Hunkered Condition if it has negative Condition as per normal rules. it. The model must take and pass a Grit This includes units with the CONSTRUCT Check at the end of their Activation or and AUTOMATA Traits as even unfeeling they are Wounded. If they pass the Grit amalgams of man and machine will Check, remove the Hazard effect from loose their effectiveness when isolated them. SPIRIT models are unaffected by during the chaos of battle. Hazard Conditions.

DISORDERED: If any model STUNNED: A model affected in a unit receives the by the Stunned Condition Disordered Condition, it suffers a -1 penalty to all applies to all models in that Attributes (excluding Limit) unit. The unit loses the On Lookout to a minimum of 1. The Condition is Condition if it has it. Furthermore the removed at the start of the unit’s next unit gains the Tasked Unit Common Rule Activation. A unit with the MACHINE, and its Limit is reduced by 1. A unit will STRUCTURE or ARTEFACT traits cannot lose the Disordered Condition at the normally be Stunned.

POSITIVE CONDITIONS

ON LOOKOUT: A unit that is HUNKERED: A unit that is On Lookout (usually from Hunkered (usually from making a Go On Lookout making a Hunker Down Action) may make a Give Action) gains +1 to their ‘Em Hell Reaction against an enemy Grit Attribute. However, they suffer -1 unit targeting them. The On Lookout to their Fight and Aim Attributes until Condition is removed at the start of a the start of their next Activation. The unit’s Activation or if they have made a Hunkered Condition is removed at the Give ‘Em Hell Reaction. start of a unit’s Activation unless they are in a Building in which case it continues without the model needing to make another Hunker Down Action. 33 THE PLAY AREA v1.09

THE PLAY AREA

The skirmishes and adventures in Wild If troops move over Open Ground West Exodus take place over varied and Uneven Ground during the same scenery and environments. From the Action, then their movement over Open forested tribal lands of the Warrior Nation, Ground is normal and movement over to the dusty streets of the Lawmen Uneven Ground counts as double the protected frontier towns and the mesas actual distance travelled. Each model and mountain paths rife with Outlaws in a unit that spends a portion of their and predatory aliens, the terrain will help Move Action in Uneven Ground (even and hinder your attempts to win the day. part of their base) count that portion of Movement as the distance traversed The ground in a Play Area is divided (remembering again to round up). It is into three forms to simulate this: Open suggested that models in a unit in the Ground, Uneven Ground and Impassable Uneven Ground are moved first to make Ground. As each player’s collection of maintaining Unit Coherency easier. terrain is going to vary, players should discuss before the Adventure which Example: A unit of Union Riflemen with a terrain features will be Uneven Ground Quick of 5 makes a Walk Action. Normally and which will be Impassable Ground. the unit would be able to travel five inches Everything else in the Play Area is in this Move Action. However, after the assumed to be Open Ground. first three inches of the unit’s Walk Action it reaches Uneven Ground (in this case, OPEN: The open, flat spaces of the Play a clump of trees which are Area Terrain). Area are considered Open Ground and Each model in the Union Riflemen unit do not impede movement at all. The may only move a further inch into that vast majority of the Play Area will be Area Terrain (or may move two inches in Open Ground (except in particularly open terrain). challenging Adventures). IMPASSABLE: This terrain cannot be UNEVEN: Here we see terrain such as entered and usually represents locations sand dunes, scrub, crops and even hills in the Play Area that are to be avoided (although particularly well-worn paths rather than traversed. and roads might be considered Open Ground). Walkways between buildings and railway tracks should also be treated DESTROYING TERRAIN as Uneven Ground. Terrain cannot normally be destroyed in All distance count as double when moving Wild West Exodus. Though the small arms through Uneven Ground, so every inch fire (and even mortar shells and plasma moved counts as 2”. For example, a unit of blasts) can cause damage to the façade Union Riflemen has a Quick of 5. It can only of a building or rip apart a tree we are travel 3” through a woods (remembering more concerned in an Adventure with that we always round up). the damage done to any units seeking 34 v1.09 THE PLAY AREA shelter. Should an Adventure require Remember: If you cannot draw Line terrain to be destroyed to complete an of Sight to any part of a model’s base, objective, the Adventure will specify then that model cannot be made the how this can be done. Initial Target of an attack.

OBSCURED: For each piece of terrain that TERRAIN partially blocks the Line of Sight of a Shoot Action, the model making the Action Terrain can be grouped into two main receives a -1 Aim penalty. The model that categories: Area and Buildings. Both of is the target of the Shoot Action likewise those types of terrain should be given receives +1 to their Grit Check for each a Base Size for determining its height. piece of terrain that partially blocks Line This may seem counter-intuitive as their of Sight to them. actual width may vary wildly. What we are interested in is their height and more During a game it will be obvious that specifically whether their height makes certain terrain pieces will naturally confer it difficult to see enemy models beyond certain advantages and drawbacks to it. Terrain size is determined by turning a any models deployed in, on or near Base on its shortest edge and comparing them. We call these advantages and it to the physical height of the terrain. A drawbacks Features and most terrain roughly agreed approximation is all that will likely have one or more of them. is needed. Terrain that is taller than an XXL base is classified as XXL+ and blocks DANGEROUS: Models in base contact Line of Sight to all Base Sizes. immediately gain the Hazard Condition.

HIGHER GROUND: In many settlements and LINE OF SIGHT AND TERRAIN out on the frontier, hills are strategically important positions, overlooking the For the purposes of determining Line entire Play Area and giving support and of Sight, a model cannot see through Ranged units an excellent opportunity to terrain that is larger than their Base Size. shoot at the enemy. Line of Sight can be drawn from/to a target from any part of its base, to a point While on Higher Ground a model can vertically up to its Base Size. This makes Focus their Aim checks for Free and a model’s interaction with scenery more count as Obscured against any unit straightforward. When measuring Line except those who are also on Higher of Sight, trace an imaginary line from the Ground. For Line of Sight purposes, two visible outmost points of the bases terrain with the Higher Ground feature of the two models that Line of Sight is must physically be Base Size XL or larger, being checked for. Any terrain that lies but regardless of their true size they are within this corridor should mean that considered to be Base Size XXL+ and so the target is considered Obscured when models on it can always draw Line of working out relevant modifiers to Aim Sight (and have it drawn against them) checks etc. over smaller terrain pieces. When other

35 THE PLAY AREA v1.09 pieces of XXL+ sized terrain block the Below are some common types of Area Line of Sight of a· model on Higher Terrain, however players should agree Ground, you should get a model’s eye on variations so as best to suit their own view to determine whether the models scenery collections. All area terrain gives the in your unit can see over the particular obscured bonus unless specified otherwise. terrain piece.

IMPASSABLE: No model can be deployed TYPES OF AREA TERRAIN on or be placed on or in this piece of DEEP RIVER: Uneven, Dangerous terrain. Any model that would be moved to this location involuntarily stops its FENCE: Obstacle. movement as soon as it touches the Impassable piece of scenery. FOREST: Uneven.

OBSTACLE: If a model cannot fully cross HILLS: Higher Ground. Area Terrain with the Obstacle Feature as Uneven, Dangerous. part of a Move Action, and its base is wider HOT SPRINGS: than the Obstacle, then it cannot cross it. If JUNGLE: Uneven. the base can fit on the Obstacle then it can stop on top of it. Depending on the height MESA: Uneven, Higher Ground. of the Obstacle, players may consider it Higher Ground. Models may need to climb OUTHOUSE: Obstacle. to cross an Obstacle. Models on an Oval ROOFTOP: Higher Ground Base may cross Obstacles if they have the LIVING MOUNT Trait. SHALLOW STREAM: Uneven.

UNEVEN: Halves distance travelled for SMOKESCREEN: Uneven, provides Shrouded Move Actions that cross it. Common Rule and Disorder Condition.

STACK OF CRATES: Uneven, Obstacle. AREA TERRAIN TAR PIT: Uneven, Dangerous. Area Terrain covers loose groups of individual pieces, such as forests, rocky WATERFALL: Uneven, Obstacle. ground, water features and so forth. If the terrain piece requires a Get In or Get Out Action then it is a Building. BUILDINGS Otherwise it is Area Terrain. Before each game, players should identify Before the Adventure begins, players any scenery on the board that will be should identify what Area Terrain is classed as a Building. This will usually be present. While any part of any model’s a man-made structure with (ideally) four base is in inside a piece of Area Terrain walls, one or more floors and a roof. Every it is affected by the features of that player will likely have their own unique Area Terrain. collection of buildings and scenery, so 36 v1.09 THE PLAY AREA some common sense and communication In almost all respects, it is best to think of with your opponent will be necessary the unit now occupying the space that when dealing with your own buildings. is represented by the building model - its walls are the edges of the unit. All Small or unusually shaped buildings distances relevant to the unit (for Shoot should always be considered Impassable and Strike Actions etc) are measured to and treated as Obstacles rather than true and from the building itself. buildings. For larger buildings that can be interacted with during an Adventure, When entering (or leaving) a building, you players should agree on a Base Size Value do not have to rely on physically modelled before deployment. This will usually be XXL doors or entrances. It is assumed the models if it is a single storied building or XXL+ if it either sprint to the nearest entrance, or has two or more levels. A Building should be else use their weapons to make their own. large enough to have a capacity for 10 small To leave the building on a subsequent based models to occupy a level. Should turn, an Unengaged unit must make a a level be smaller than this it is suggested Get Out Action and be placed within 3” that it is not considered to have a capacity. of the building. Units must be placed in Coherency when taking this Action. Units will always occupy the lowest level possible in a building first. Higher levels Units in a building are of a building cannot be occupied unless considered to automatically the lower level is occupied. have made an In Cover Free Move Action (so counts as Obscured by Buildings are impassable to all models the building), and receive the Hunkered except for Small and Medium Based Condition while inside. Furthermore units. Only one unit of Hands or Support the model’s Base Size is still used for may occupy a level of a building at a claiming the Obscured advantages time but multiple Boss or Face units from any intervening terrain. Units in can occupy the same level. The unit is Buildings can only make In Cover, Strike, considered to be in Coherency while Shoot and Get Out Actions. occupying the building. If a unit moves within 3” of an SHOOTING INTO BUILDINGS unoccupied building, it may enter it by making a Get In Action, though it A unit in a building can be targeted by cannot do this in the same turn that it any enemy that can see the building makes a Charge or Get Out Action. A itself. In other words, if an enemy can see capacity of 10 per level is the standard the building, it can see the unit inside it. for a building and should be assumed. Where a building contains multiple Place representative models from the units, hits are allocated to the unit with unit on a balcony of an occupied level the greatest number of models first (or or next to the building to remind you randomly decide if a tie). Remember a that the unit is inside and place the rest unit in a building has the Hunkered of the unit aside from the Play Area. Condition and that any penalties to 37 THE PLAY AREA v1.09 an enemy Shoot Action and bonus to TEMPLATE WEAPONS AND ENGULF your model’s Grit are applied based on the Embarked model’s Base Size, Template weapons that have the Engulf not the Base Size of the building. The quality can be devastating against enclosed Initial Target model in the unit may be spaces. Every model occupying a building is chosen by the player whose unit is in the considered under the template should the building. The unit receives the Obscured building the unit is in be hit by the centre bonus for being In Cover in the building. or centreline of one of those weapons. The Deadeyed Common Rule does not enable Example: Sam is playing a game with her an enemy to target a specific model in a Order against George’s Lawmen. Sam has building. Successful hits using a template a unit of three Cor Caroli Nyx Embarked weapon against a unit in a building will only in the Saloon. The Saloon is a two-story cause a single hit. building so counts as XXL+. It is George’s Activation and he wants to shoot at the SHOOTING OUT FROM BUILDINGS Nyx Cohort with Virgil Earp. Units within a building are considered As they are Embarked in a building Virgil to have a 360-degree Line of Sight, can shoot at the Nyx as long as he can which can be drawn from any part of the draw Line of Sight to any part of the building floor they are in. It is imagined Saloon though his actual target point models smash or open windows, or break is the closest part of the building model small holes in the walls to take shots out of within Line of Sight. As he is standing in where necessary. Treat shooting exactly the middle of the street directly in front of as a Shoot Action, accounting for any the saloon it should pose no difficulty! Obscured modifiers etc. Remember that However, there is a piece of Medium the building itself does not confer a -1 base sized terrain between Virgil and the penalty to your Aim for Shoot Actions as closest part of the building model. As the models within count as having made the Nyx are on Medium bases, they gain the In Cover Action. Of course units suffering +1 Grit modifier for being Obscured by from the Hazard Condition cannot gain terrain, as well as the +1 Grit modifier for this benefit because they cannot take being Obscured by the building and a +1 Free Actions. Range is measured from the Grit modifier for being Hunkered as they closest point of the building to the target. are occupying a Building. George has the choice of either having Virgil stand still and STRIKE ACTIONS AND BUILDINGS spending all his Action Points on multiple Shoot Actions or moving Virgil so that the If a unit moves into base contact with a terrain is no longer between Virgil and the building that is occupied by an enemy unit, closest point of the building, causing the the units are considered to be Engaged. Nyx to no longer count as Obscured from Regardless of the range of their Melee that piece of terrain (but still Obscured as weapons, units can only Engage (or be they are in a building). Engaged) in a building if an enemy unit

38 v1.09 THE PLAY AREA is in base contact with the building. Only LARGE BUILDINGS units in the lowest floor of a building can be Engaged in combat but once all defenders Most structures in Wild West Exodus on the lowest level are slain, units occupying can be assumed to be small enough the next highest level will automatically that a model can cross them in the time rush down to meet the attackers. However, represented by an Activation. However, to represent the difficulty of digging an if you have buildings that are comprised enemy unit out of a well defended building, of multiple sections you can rule that the attacking unit can never benefit from they are large buildings. If players agree, Charge Action bonuses against a unit in a for particularly large buildings such as building nor do Melee Weapon ranges for a saloon, the capacity of a level may be any Engaged unit extend beyond the base increased to 20 or 30 (always increase in of the building itself. tens if possible) and should be specified before the game begins. While Engaged with a unit in the lowest level of a building, the Initial Target For structures split into discernible model in each unit may be chosen by that sections, before the game starts, agree unit’s controlling player, representing with your opponent how many sections individuals stepping into the breach to there are to a building. Each section fight. Where a building contains multiple is treated as an individual building units, hits are allocated to the unit with and a unit may not be spread or split the greatest number of models first (or between sections. randomly decide if a tie). Units can move between sections as per the standard rules and a unit can move ROOFTOPS from one section to the next by taking a Walk Action (and this is the only time The roof of a building can often allow that such an Action is permitted in a units to be positioned on them. In all building). Simply move your models respects units on rooftops should be indicating occupation from one section treated as having Higher Ground and are to the next. Units in each section must not considered to be inside the building be targeted individually. Units can only or in base contact with it. move between sections that touch.

39 PORTALS v1.09

PORTALS Portals are gateways that PORTAL MOVE (MOVE ACTION) instantaneously connect two points in the local area with each other. Most To move through a Portal, a unit must of the factions in the Wild West use meet any Base Size requirements and all Portals in one form or another and their models must be within 3” of the Portal means of generating them varies. The Model’s base. If only some models in arcanists of the Hex use their majiks the unit are close enough then the unit and hexes to step through shadowy cannot make a Portal Move Action. This voids while the Order utilise their keeps things manageable, and units technology perfected over millennia unable to Portal Move immediately on countless worlds. The Warrior should be able to do so easily in a Nation utilise spirit totems while subsequent Action or Activation the Enlightened and Union use Void assuming the Portal Model is not Engines. In game terms all operate in destroyed or has collapsed. Once a unit very similar ways, but their means of makes a Portal Move Action, the unit is generation and control will come from temporarily removed from the Play Area. a specific source. The entire unit must then immediately You may always choose a friendly Portal be placed in Coherency within 3” of Model as the Initial Target of an attack, if another Portal Model on the table. you wish. MANIPULATE PORTAL To travel through Portals, any Portal (SPECIAL COMBAT ACTION) Model may be used (friendly or enemy) and should be imagined as being Manipulate Portal can affect enemy as interconnected through some invisible well as friendly Portal Models. A unit web of tunnels between them all. That must have a specific rule that enables said, as the paths between Portals are them to generate a Portal (whether complex at best, in order to make use of from a weapon, generator, artefact or an enemy Portal as an exit the unit must other means). When a unit attempts to pass a Mind Check with a penalty of -1 generate or collapse a Portal, it must for each enemy Portal Model in play. make a Portal Check with a success Units with the Portal Mastery Special target of TEN or higher. To do so the Rule ignore this penalty. If the unit fails model must roll a d10 and add both their its Mind Check it must exit through a Mind and Aim Attributes. This combined friendly Portal Model, if there is no other score then suffers a penalty of -1 per friendly Portal Model it must leave by inch of distance between the targeted the Portal it entered from instead. Only Portal position and the closest model in Small or Medium Base Size models may the unit making the Portal Check. If the normally use Portals. Check fails, then the Action ends with no further effect. 40 v1.09 PORTALS

If the Check is passed, either Destroy the Designers Note: Most Portal Models targeted Portal Model or place a new have the Insignificant rule and so Portal Unit at the targeted location. The do not have Activations and are not Portal Model scatters d5-1” in a random considered to be friendly models. direction. Any Portal Model placed However some models have the within 1” of a model, Impassable Terrain, Portal Model rule and Activate as a building, obstacle or outside of the normal. This more unusual type of Play Area is immediately Destroyed”. Portal Model includes Hexaliths, Greater Spirit Totems, Void Engines and Profane Nests.

41 WEAPON TYPES v1.09

WEAPON TYPES

There are a wide variety of weapons used in Wild West Exodus. They are broadly split into two types – Melee and Ranged. A model may only use a single weapon in a Combat Action. Some models have multiple weapons of the same type that are not listed on their Unit Card. If it does not appear on the Unit Card then these additional weapons are only present on the model for aesthetic purposes and play no role in the game. Regardless of the weapon type, weapon hits are always resolved sequentially and not simultaneously.

MELEE WEAPONS: The weapon RANGED WEAPONS: Ranged may only be used in a Strike Weapons are used primarily for Action. If a model does Shoot Actions. You may only use not have a Melee Weapon listed, it is one Ranged Weapon per Shoot Action. assumed to be armed with a Basic Melee Except where specified otherwise, Weapon (such as a knife, fist or claw). Ranged weapons may only be used in Shoot Actions and cannot be used if the unit has made a Charge Action in that Activation.

42 v1.09 WEAPON QUALITIES

WEAPON QUALITIES AMMO CLIP: Each hit from a weapon with CLOSE WORK: This Ranged Weapon may this quality may gain one of the following be used as a Melee Weapon in a Strike additional qualities for the duration of Action using the model’s Fight Attribute that hit: Brutal, Disrupt, Shred or Stun. rather than using Aim. If used as a Melee Weapon, then for the remainder of the ATTUNED: During any Focused Combat turn the weapon has a Melee range of Action this unit may give all Attuned 2” and when used in a Strike Action it weapons it carries a Piercing equal to suffers a -3 penalty to the Fight Check. half the wielding model’s Mind Attribute. Example: Legendary Walks Looking has a COMPLEX: A model using this weapon Mind Attribute of 7. She spends an Action suffers a -2 penalty to any Aim or Fight point to make her Strike Action Focused, Check. If this weapon has the Indirect giving her Spirit Blades a Piercing of -4 quality, it cannot spend +1 Action (half of her Mind attribute). Point to ignore the Indirect quality. BEACON: The weapon acts as a homing DECAPITATE: When an S, M or L target is device for friendly models in reserve. hit by an Action made with this weapon, Should the weapon hit an enemy unit, then the hit becomes Lethal. If the hit is any friendly unit held in Reserve gains +1 to already Lethal it becomes Brutal as well. their Reserves Checks. A unit successfully MACHINE, SPIRIT or STRUCTURE models using this bonus must deploy as close as are unaffected by Decapitate and so the possible to the targeted enemy unit. benefit is not conferred. BLAST: This type of weapon uses the Blast DISORDER: If the Initial Target fails a template when determining hits, centred Grit Check by a hit from this weapon, on the Initial Target. If the model fails their in addition to being Wounded, the unit Aim Check when using this weapon, it is gains the Disordered Condition. SPIRIT assumed the shot is a dud and has failed to or STRUCTURE models are unaffected by detonate. Should any model be successfully Disorder. If the unit is already Disordered, hit by the weapon then any models the hit gains the Lethal quality instead. touched by the template are automatically DISPLACE: When an enemy model in a unit hit. When used in a Free Shoot Action, a is hit by this weapon in an Action, the enemy Blast weapon does not use the template model scatters d5” in a random direction and instead causes d5 hits on the target (remembering the Path of Least Resistance (with a maximum of one hit per model). of course). The unit gains the Disordered BRUTAL: After resolving one or more Condition if the model scatters out of Unit successful hits on the target unit with Coherency. Models in the unit cannot be this weapon, resolve a further single placed out of the Play Area, into Impassable automatic hit on the same unit. You may terrain or within a building or model with only gain a single additional hit from this capacity. Models within a building or within weapon in each Action. a model with capacity cannot be Displaced.

43 WEAPON QUALITIES v1.09

DISRUPT: Any MACHINE or CONSTRUCT the intended target and then the template model hit by this weapon gains the Stunned scatters d5+1 inches in a random direction. and Disordered Condition, even though it Any models touched by the template might not normally be able to do so. If the are automatically hit. Use the centre of unit is already Stunned and/or Disordered, the template for determining direction the hit gains the Lethal quality instead. for calculating Obscured bonuses to Grit Checks. A model may spend an additional DRAG: When a model with this weapon +1 Action Point to ignore this quality when successfully hits an enemy model, the using this weapon in a Shoot Action. enemy model is moved d5” towards this model (remembering the Path of Least LETHAL: Successful Grit Checks must be Resistance of course). Models in the re-rolled against hits from this weapon. target unit cannot be Embarked, dragged LINKED: Combat Actions using this weapon out of the Play Area or into Impassable may re-roll failed Aim or Fight Checks. terrain. A failed Grit check from an attack using this weapon also causes the target OVERCHARGED: A weapon with this unit to gain the Disordered Condition. quality gains the Disrupt and Hazardous qualities for the duration of that Action. ENGULF: Hits using a Torrent or Blast If the weapon already has both of those weapon with this quality ignore Obscured qualities it gains the Lethal quality as well. bonuses to Grit Checks. If an Initial Target in a building is hit by this weapon, every PARRY: The weapon or shield is designed model occupying the same level of that for deflecting enemy attacks. A model building are automatically hit as well. with this weapon or shield forces a single successful hit per Strike Action to be re- FATAL: Hits with this quality ignore the rolled. Models with the VEHICLE Trait or the Mettle rule. Reanimated Common Rule may not Parry. HAZARDOUS: A model hit by a weapon PORTAL WEAPON: The weapon may be with this quality immediately becomes used as normal for its type. It is assumed affected by the Hazard Condition. If that the Portals it emits are very small and the unit is already affected by a Hazard designed to cause vortex damage to a Condition, the hit becomes Lethal instead. target rather than create a fully functioning HEAVY: Unless carried by a MACHINE, the Portal. Alternatively, the weapon may be weapon can only be used in a Combat used to make a Manipulate Portal Action. Action if the unit does not make a Move REFINED: Actions made with this or Charge Action during that Activation. weapon score a Critical Success on a INDIRECT: A weapon with this quality does natural roll of a 9 or a 10. not require Line of Sight to its target and REVOLVER FAN: Once per Activation, ignores Obscured penalties. Make an Aim the unit may spend an Action Point Check as normal. If the Check fails, the shot and double its Rate of Attack with this is assumed to go wide and not cause any weapon in a Shoot Action. During that effect on the game. If the Check is passed, Shoot Action the model receives a -2 place the centre of the Blast template over 44 v1.09 WEAPON QUALITIES penalty to their Aim Attribute. When the Blast, centred on itself. Not only does this using the Revolver Fan quality, the Blast automatically remove the construct weapon cannot score a Critical Success. from play as it is a suicide weapon, but the Blast also catches two other Constructs in SHRED: Attacks using this weapon ignore the unit. They both fail their Grit checks and the Obscured modifiers to Grit or Aim are also removed, without resolving their conferred from the first piece of terrain in its own potential Blasts. Now the controlling path. Should there be further terrain pieces player may choose one of the remaining which can confer Obscured bonuses, then two constructs and detonates their Failsafe these are applied as normal. Implants, one at a time. SMOKESCREEN: This weapon may be TANGLE: In addition to passing a Grit Check targeted at the ground instead of at as normal, a unit hit by a Tangle weapon an enemy unit. Should the weapon must pass a Fight Check. If it passes, the successfully hit, place a Blast template at unit suffers no additional effect. If the unit the point targeted. The template remains fails, the unit immediately receives the in place until the end of the turn. While Stunned and Disordered Conditions. Units in play, the template is considered Area with the SPIRIT Trait are immune to Tangle. Terrain and any model touching the template receives the Shrouded Common THROWN: Once per Activation the weapon Rule and suffers from the Disordered may be used as a Ranged Weapon with an Condition. Furthermore, the template 8” range with the Rate of Attack indicated. counts as an XL sized piece of Area Terrain TORRENT: Use the tear shaped Torrent providing an Obscured bonus as normal. template with this weapon. The narrow SPECIAL: This weapon may only be used end is placed flat touching any point of by the model once per Activation. the edge of the attacker’s base, with the centreline touching the initial target of the STUN: If a non-VEHICLE or CONSTRUCT shoot action. If the Initial Target is not hit Initial Target passes a Grit Check by a by the attack, it is assumed the weapon hit from this weapon, the target model has failed to fire. Should the Initial Target gains the Stunned Condition. If the be successfully hit then all models touched model hit is already Stunned then the by the template are automatically hit. This hit gains the Lethal quality. does not include the firing model! Models SUICIDE: If a model uses a weapon with that have their Line of Sight completely this quality, the model is removed from blocked from the original attacker by play once the Action is resolved. If the terrain can still be affected by the torrent weapon uses a template, and there are but cannot be the Initial Target. When multiple models potentially hit, the used in a Free Shoot Action, a Torrent hit must be resolved before any other weapon does not use the template and models in the unit may shoot. instead causes d5 hits on the target (with a maximum of one hit per model). Example: A unit of five Constructs detonate their Failsafe Implants. The first Construct (of the controlling player’s choice) resolves 45 UNIT COMMON RULES v1.09

UNIT COMMON RULES

AGILE: This model passes Quick Checks for PRODIGIOUS: This unit gains +3 (or +3” climbing and jumping automatically and where applicable) for Focused Actions may re-roll failed Grit Checks from falling. rather than the usual +2.

DEADEYED: Against units of multiple RAPID: This unit can Focus Move Actions models, this model’s Aim Check may for no additional cost. target any one model in the enemy unit within Line of Sight as the Initial Target. REANIMATED: The unit is always The unit may target units with the Target Disordered and has a Limit of 1. Each time Priority rule, even if they are more than the unit receives a Negative Condition 12” away (subject to range and Line of one model in the unit must immediately Sight as normal). pass a Grit Check or suffer a Wound. This unit cannot be affected by Carpathogen DURABLE: The unit may ignore the or any other rule that would enable it to first point of Piercing from an attack. return to play (or become a Hex Beast) However, if the hit is caused by a weapon once destroyed. with a Piercing of -4 or greater then Durable has no effect. SHROUDED: Successful Aim Checks against this unit must be re-rolled. ELITE: The unit may choose to count the Guts bonus provided by Adventure Cards SKIRMISHERS: The unit has a Unit played during their Activation as being +1 Coherency of 4”. Action Point instead of the actual bonus SURE FOOT: The unit ignores the penalty printed on the cards. Units with the ELITE for Uneven Ground and may re-roll skill automatically pass YELLER checks. Quick based checks. LARGESSE: This unit may allow a unit from TARGET PRIORITY: This unit may only be their Posse to spend Fortune Chips from targeted by a Shoot Action if they are this unit as though they were their own. the closest enemy unit in Line of Sight or METTLE: This unit does not count as being if they are within 12” and Line of Sight. Wounded by a failed Grit Check and TASKED: All models in the unit must instead receives the Disordered Condition target the same enemy unit in an Action. (even if not normally able to be Disordered If the target is destroyed the remaining or if the hit would cause them to become models lose their Action. This unit can Disordered anyway). If the unit is already only make Focused Actions if within 12” Disordered, it is Wounded as normal. of a friendly unit with the BOSS Trait. MOVING TARGET: Provided this unit has TEAMWORK: Should a Face or Boss in this made a Move Action of at least 7” this Posse finish Activating within 8” of this turn, successful Aim Checks against this unit, you may immediately Activate this unit must be re-rolled. unit as though an Triggered Activation 46 v1.09 UNIT COMMON RULES has occurred. This counts as this unit’s TRAILFINDER: After both sides are Activation for the turn. This unit cannot deployed, starting with Player B, each use Teamwork if it has already Activated player may choose one of their units this turn. with the Trailfinder make a Free Walk Action with it. This does not count as THE QUICK AND THE DEAD: Once per turn, the unit’s Activation. Trailfinder selection unless Hunkered, this unit may declare and movement alternates and continues they will use this rule against an enemy until all units with Trailfinder have been model’s Combat Action that declares moved once. them as the Initial Target (but before dice are rolled). This unit must make a UNARMED: Unarmed units do not even Quick Check. Should they pass the Quick have the basic Melee Weapon that units Check, all hits from that model’s Action usually carry. Units with the Unarmed against this unit are ignored and this unit rule confer a +2 modifier to Grit Checks becomes Hunkered. If this unit fails the to enemy models against Melee attacks Quick Check, then they are hit as normal. this unit makes. This unit’s Melee range You may not use this rule against hits counts as base contact. using Blast or Torrent templates. UNIQUE: A player cannot field multiple TOUGH: This unit does not count as being units that share the same unique name. Wounded by a failed Grit Check and If the unit has a different name, but is instead receives the Stunned Condition the same individual, the card will specify (even if not normally able to be Stunned who it counts as for Unique purposes. or if the hit would cause them to become Stunned anyway). If the unit is already UNSTOPPABLE: This model may make Stunned, it is Wounded as normal. Ram Actions even though it does not have the VEHICLE Trait. Furthermore, the unit ignores the Heavy quality for any weapons it carries.

47 ADVENTURE SCENARIO & DEPLOYMENT v1.09

ADVENTURE SCENARIO AND DEPLOYMENT DECIDE ON YOUR GAME SIZE COMMON ADVENTURE TYPE

Both players should decide on what size 1-2 = Supply Run game they wish to play. In a tournament, the organiser will have set the game size 3-4 = Higher Ground beforehand. Common Adventures are 5-6 = Stake A Claim designed for a 3’ x 3’ for games of 1499 Points or less. For games of 1500 to 2499 7-8 = Send a Message Points, we recommend a 4’ x 4’ Play Area. For larger games players may wish to 9-10 = Treasure Hunt proportionally increase the Play Area. SET UP TABLE SELECT YOUR FORCE The chosen Adventure will state what Players should build their Force, using size board will be used for the game. one or more Posses, as per the Building A standard game uses a 3x3’ table. a Force rules. Players should then set up scenery in a mutually agreeable manner, ensuring neither side of the board has an unfair ROLL FOR ADVENTURE advantage. In an organised event, it is Players decide on the Adventure Type to likely the organiser will have set up the roll for. The Common Adventure Type is tables beforehand. included below. Future expansions will give other Adventure Types to consider. RESERVES Once a Type has been agreed on, roll a d10 and select the corresponding When deploying your Force, you may Adventure from the Type chosen. choose to keep back up to half the Alternatively, if players prefer, they number of units in your Posse as Reserves. can choose their own Adventure. In an Units must be placed into Reserve or organised event, it is likely the organiser deployed in their entirety. Support units will have pre-selected the Adventure and those units containing models with being played. a Quick of 2 or less may not be placed in reserve unless otherwise noted. Models in Reserve can then be brought into play using a Reserves Action. Units in reserve may not Focus their Reserve Action. More details on this can be found under Move Actions later.

48 v1.09 ADVENTURE SCENARIO & DEPLOYMENT

DEPLOYMENT If one player finishes deploying all their units first, the other player continues to Both players shuffle their Action deploy the rest of their Force until all Deck and draw the top card. units are deployed. The player with the highest card number found in the top left Any units with the Dispersed hand corner chooses who Deployment Special Rule is Player A and so deploys are deployed, starting first. Player B discards with Player B. Finally any their card face down to units with the Trailfinder form a discard pile for rule take their moves. the Action Deck. Player Players move their units A must retain their card one at a time alternately, until after deployment. again starting with Player B.

The Adventure will describe player deployment zones. GAME BEGINS Usually they will be on Player A has the Initiative for the opposite sides of the Play first turn. However, if Player B was Area. Player A chooses which the first player to finish deploying deployment zone they wish their forces they may draw a new to deploy on, and deploys Action Card and see if the number one unit. in the top left corner is equal to or Player B then deploys one higher than the card Player A drew unit in the other deployment at the start of deployment. If it is zone. Continue to alternate equal or higher then Player B may until one player runs out of choose to have the Initiative for units to deploy. Each player the first turn instead. Regardless continues to take it in turns of the outcome, both players deploying one unit into their must discards their Action Card chosen deployment zone. face down to form (or add to) their discard pile for the Action Deck. Players now begin turn one of the game, following the steps outlined in the Turn Sequence section of the rule book.

49 COMMON ADVENTURES v1.09

COMMON ADVENTURES

VICTORY: After five turns, the Adventure ends and the player with the most Victory Points wins the game. Should one player no longer have any models in the Play Area at the end of step three of the Resolution Phase, their opponent scores an additional 5 Victory Points and the game immediately ends. SUPPLY RUN HIGHER GROUND Supply drops are always a risk on the The fortunes of war are ever shifting. Recent frontier. Carriages laden with gold for the activity has seen previously inaccessible banks attract many a greedy eye, while territory open up, with an area of strategic food, water and fuel drops are a target for importance suddenly there for the taking. the hungry and desperate. Get in, dig in and wait for reinforcements.

In Supply Run you must secure the supply Place a small building (approximately drops while fending off the rival Force. 4”x4”) on each of the two skull points Place a small based supply token on marked on the map. each of the three points marked on the map with a skull. OBJECTIVE: Each turn, if you have a unit Embarked in the building on your side of OBJECTIVE: At the end of each turn a the Play Area gain 2 Victory Points. player scores a Victory Point for each of the supply tokens they control. In a Each turn, if you have a unit Embarked Supply Run, a token is controlled if you in the building on the enemy side of the have one or models within three inches Play Area, gain 4 Victory Points. of a token, with no enemy models within three inches of the same token.

50 v1.09 COMMON ADVENTURES

STAKE A CLAIM SEND A MESSAGE Gold, the fever dream of the old west. A rival faction needs to be taken down a The rumour of it sends Forces on a mad peg or two. The time has come to send a scramble to secure ground and profit from message. Maybe it’s their colours that need the find. Whether to fuel their ambition, burning - or maybe they do... someone to further their political gains, or just to needs to get in, cause some mischief and gamble and drink away, a chance to stake get out again. a claim of a rich seam can’t be passed up.

Divide the Play Area in to four quarters Place two Small Base objective markers as shown on the deployment map. per player as shown on the deployment map (the skulls indicate the point that OBJECTIVE: In the Resolution Phase of each of the parallel lines meets the front each turn, each player scores two Victory of the deployment zone). Points for each quarter on the enemy side of the Play Area that has one or more of OBJECTIVE: Each turn, if a player has their units completely within it, with no one or more models in base contact enemy models completely within the with an objective marker touching their same quarter. opponent’s deployment zone they score 2 Victory Points. Additionally, at the end of the Adventure, each player scores five Victory Points for If they have one or more models in each quarter where they have one or more base contact with an objective marker of their units in the quarter of the Play Area touching their own deployment zone with no enemy models in that quarter. they score 1 Victory Point. 51 COMMON ADVENTURES v1.09

TREASURE HUNT Rumours of an abandoned wagon train have circulated town. No one knows who, or what hit the travellers, but their remains have been left to bleach in the sun. No doubt there will be something of value in the debris.

Each player takes 3 small based loot markers. Taking in turns, each player places one of the loot markers on the Play Area, no closer than 6” to an edge, their deployment zone or another token.

OBJECTIVE: If a model is base contact with uncovered and only one treasure token has a token at the start of their Activation, they been found, both remaining loot tokens are can make a Search (Special Move) Action: automatically treasure. Roll a d10. On an odd number, the token is nothing of value, remove it from the Play A player gains a Victory Point at the end Area. On an even roll, the player finds a of each turn for each treasure token that treasure token and gains 2 Victory Points. has only one or more friendly models Once three treasure tokens are uncovered, in base contact with it and no enemy remove all other loot tokens from the models in contact. Play Area. If there are two loot tokens left

52 v1.09

From the Badlands of North America to the icy realm of Antarctica the world of the Dystopian Age is a wild and dangerous place. It is a generation since the end of the American Civil War and Queen Victoria has been on the throne for over forty years. While Louis-Napoleon builds an alliance in Europe, the nations of the Far East are roused to action against the growing threat from the West. Now the greatest scientific minds of the age have unlocked secrets that the human race was unprepared for as super science and alien technologies bring the world perilously close to annihilation.

THE DIE IS CAST Through manipulation, fear or conquest, many nations of the world have formed An ancient entity has been subtly alliances with mutual economic and influencing humanity for thousands defensive benefits, often around of years for its own purposes. This common cultural or geographic ties. The interference has attracted others to remaining great industrialized nations take an interest in humanity and their of the world, while powerful in their own knowledge has fallen into the hands of right, have found that they are over- an alliance of scientists known as the matched and have been driven to join Covenant of the Enlightened. Combining or form larger alliances until, as the end the newly discovered Element 270 with of the century draws near, seven distinct a limitless power source known as RJ- power blocs have emerged. 1027, the Enlightened have ushered in an age of phenomenal scientific These seven great powers appear evenly advancement; bringing to reality matched in their war-making potential projects and ideas that were the stuff and this brings a grim prospect: If a total of dreams only decades before. This global war were to erupt there would unearned and disjointed scientific likely be no clear victor. As the world progression has, however, come with teeters on the edge of such a catastrophic neither morals nor safeguards and war, the great powers battle tirelessly to the world has been plunged into a gain a decisive advantage and emerge Dystopian Age. triumphant with a mix of military might, subterfuge, diplomacy and economics.

53 v1.09

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD THE WILD WEST The Dystopian Age is an era where Perhaps most important of all, however, individuals can make their mark with is the conflict unfolding on the American opportunities for personal gain as well Frontier. The Union of Federated States as the national interest to defend. Whole has emerged traumatised and hardened regions have been devastated by conflict, from a bloody and protracted internal and yet others are relatively untouched, conflict known as the Ore War. It now yet others remain untouched, transformed tries to brutally enforce its rule across by the massive expansion of industry and the sprawling and lawless land claimed technology into hives of activity that feed by the proud Warrior Nation, all manner the fires of this terrible struggle. Worse yet, of Outlaws, wild creatures and elements it appears that the world itself is changing of the Enlightened. as if the roiling conflict is enveloping the natural order as well as that of humankind. The cities of the East Coast of the Union Bizarre weather events erupt with are austere and distant places compared increasing regularity, mighty storms blow to the rapidly expanding and vibrant up and then suddenly vanish. At sea and in towns that have sprung up across the the air, ships and flying craft mysteriously West. Towns like Red Oak, Tombstone, vanish only to reappear miles off course, Deadwood and Retribution rival each their crews having no recollection of the other for attracting the most exotic and missing time. deadly of the inhabitants that call the frontier home. There are key regions around the globe that offer the potential to grant There are factions at work in the West a decisive to those who dare to claim beyond the ken of the global power them. Many of these involve the alien blocs. While these forces on the Frontier or otherworldly artefacts that are are not ignorant of the larger world being discovered. These artefacts defy around them, it has little immediate explanation, which makes them only impact as the Union serves as both more sought after. Most notably the protector and oppressor; isolating the Enlightened has uncovered a strange Frontier from the wider world except structure in the Sudanese desert. for those few agents that slip through Undoubtedly this is the cause of their the ever-tightening net. There is much presence in the region and the reason more to be found in the West than just for their fierce resistance to the Crown’s a plot of hard-earth and the scrabble for eastern expedition. Yet further east in gold. With so many vying for power and Africa, the streets of Lagos bear witness influence; the Frontier is truly a place each night to extraordinary masquerade where a man or woman might not just scenes where the phantasmagorical make their fortune but become a legend. performances hide the battle between A legend to be remembered, a legend to the agents of the Dark Council and the be feared. Welcome to the Wild West. Outlaw guilds for control of the city.

54 v1.09

THE UNION OF FEDERATED STATES

Tarnished by a recent Civil War and brutalised by the horrific technologies it unleashed to claim victory, the Union is a dark reflection of its former glory. The conquest and subjugation of the former Confederacy and the deeper south, as well as the new opportunities opening in the West stand as grim consolation for the Union’s war- wearied soul. The Union cheer the formidable military might their country now wields to ensure that never again will anyone have to pay the brutal price that freedom demands. Nothing, however, can truly extinguish the fire of the American spirit. Scarred and brutalised by their own experiences, the Union’s military industrial complex is well-aware of the depths to which man can fall – the only hope is to be found in having strength and resolution to stand tall in the face of great adversity, whatever the cost. First draft of ‘Rise of Our Nation’ EYE OF THE BEHOLDER by the Committee on Public Information. Yet, at the heart of the endeavour, at the very core of that great nation-in-infancy, Manifest Destiny. Two words that fissures were already forming. The define the Union of Federated States. A corners of the Union hid a dark shadow, rejection of the old order of the world where the voices of the dispossessed, and the foundation of a new nation the disenfranchised and the excluded in the midst of a pristine land blessed echoed in fear and anger, striving for with natural resources. The Union was their own hopes and dreams to be heard, founded as a beacon of freedom and to be acknowledged, and to be included equality in the world; a country where in the great endeavour. every man and woman would have a voice, where every person’s rights would Those voices went unheard, their be sacrosanct. Emerging from a war for demands went unnoticed, and so, even independence against the stagnant as the Union began to take its first few and oppressive Imperial British Crown, steps on the world stage at the end of the Union of Federated States was born the Eighteenth Century. Suffused with into a future that could not be denied. its victory over the Crown, the Union was [Editor’s note: Starting strong! I like it.] ready to accept its role as champion of liberty and freedom, to prove to all the

55 v1.09 nations of the Earth that it was possible when Crown forces swept down from for a free people to work together to staging points in the Dominion and create perfection. But the fault lines of ransacked the capital, the Union could division and failure were already there. not be brought low. The bones of the new nation were strong and united the ENEMIES WITHOUT will of the people were indomitable. For decades, the Union flourished – ENEMIES WITHIN at least externally. Each of the former colonies in America had become a Despite this sense of invincibility, the Federated State, brimming with pride fractures that grew deeper and deeper at their new standing and the part that with each passing triumph could not be they had each played in defeating one ignored forever. The Crown did all they of the greatest powers of the world to could to give succour to the diverging earn their freedom. A feverish energy ideology separating the northern states swept the land, and the newest nation on from the southern. The grievances were Earth began to press out in all directions, many and were deeply felt on both sides. moving from the original Crown Colonies But it was not the Crown who eventually into the surrounding countryside. set brothers and sisters against one another in the Union. But the Crown was not about to lose such a precious jewel so easily. There For nearly a decade the Union had were constant skirmishes as the Crown tolerated the presence of a group from pushed and prodded its wayward child the Covenant of the Enlightened, a in a thousand petty ways. The dissatisfied global coalition comprising of many and dispossessed within certain States of the pre-eminent brilliant minds of were nurtured and goaded into all the age. This cabal of Enlightened had manner of treacheries. To the North, the ensconced themselves deep in the Crown Dominion of Canada was incited western territories, hiding from the to cause all sorts of problems, while prying eyes of the world. While most around the world the fledgling navy of the Enlightened arrogantly declared of the new nation was harried at every themselves to be the sole custodians turn. The newly born French Republique, of the fruits of their brilliance, the so quick to support the Union in their Enlightened led by Burson Carpathian war for independence, elected to remain were of a different philosophy. Unlike outside the conflict. The Union would their peers elsewhere in the world, these stand or fall alone. ‘Egalitarian’ members of the Covenant believed that the marvels that they But whether it was driving back northern developed should be made freely land grabs from the Dominion, the rising available to all who could afford them. outlaw posses in the South and West of Where money could not be readily the country, or naval clashes with the given, perhaps some other currency Crown, the Union withstood it all. Even might be offered such as land titles, 56 v1.09 mineral access or information that might and future considerations were traded at lead to further breakthroughs. Like their a feverish rate for juiced rifles, automata, peers elsewhere in the world, these men sonic cannons and RJ-1027, the wonder- and women could turn their genius to fuel that allowed all these infernal create the most destructive weaponry devices to be powered. The Ore War imaginable. All they needed were willing escalated into all-out Civil War, a conflict customers desperate enough to pay the likes of which had never been seen their price by man on Earth before.

It is impossible to know in hindsight if Entire towns were turned to storms the War Between the States would have of ash, twisting on infernal breezes occurred without the offer of support roaring up into blackening skies. Armies from Carpathian and his Enlightened. were swept from the field as streams It is possible that men of reason and of crimson power flashed beneath the peace living and ruling on either side rising clouds of smoke and dust. In the of the great divide might have come first year alone, over a million souls were to some accommodation. Many of the lost, civilians and soldiers together, as the differences were fading even as the nation went mad, tearing at itself like a violence grew imminent. It was argued diseased animal without reason or sense. by several statesmen of the day that, if given enough time, peace would have And that was only the beginning… been possible. [Editor’s note: This will play well to the South. I like it.] CONFLICT ON A NEW SCALE Brutal raids on towns and villages swept THE ORE WAR out from dark, foreboding forests, The initial flashpoint in 1860 was a cutting down farmers, merchants, and dispute over whether state or central craftsmen and their families. In acts of government should have control over reprisal, the forests were set to the torch, the extensive oil and mineral reserves of the raiders screaming their last agonised Mississippi and Texas – indeed, the Civil breaths into the fury of the flames. War was also known as the Ore War for The war spilled beyond the borders of just that reason. the Union and soon the Republic of Carpathian and the Enlightened Peers Mexico became a battleground too. The loyal to him, knew that the wealth and Mexicans were drawn into the conflict power they required for their greater to aid the Confederates in exchange for work could only be had if these tensions a promise of favourable terms after the and fears were stoked. Weapons of conflict ended. terrible efficacy and horrific power found Armoured landships crawled across the their way to any faction who might churned, muddy ground, shrugging off conceivably triumph in the coming blasts that would have shattered castles. conflict. Money, credit, contingencies,

57 v1.09

And then, as they fell upon fortified the Union, Odysseus Grant, was quick enemy positions, they were rendered in to see the advantages as well. They were turn into pyres for their crews, as even essentially being offered the chance to more powerful weapons were brought field advanced weaponry the Confederacy to bear. could not hope to match. They would launch an offensive that the rebels would And all the while the factories of the have no means of countering. Enlightened weighed and measured, making certain that the Confederacy Grant’s family had been murdered and and the Union were evenly matched so he had been hideously wounded by that neither would have the decisive a raiding party armed with these new advantage and equal currency and titles hellish weapons early in the war. As a were pledged by both sides should result, he had developed a hatred of both they be victorious. That very balance, the Enlightened and the Confederacy. of course, only made the conflict much This attitude had only hardened through more terrible. [Editor’s note: Excellent, the grinding, endless years of conflict. the more blame laid at the feet of the Knowing now that his opponents would Enlightened the better this will play with be helpless before him, he would not the government. I like it.] wait for a moment more than necessary for Tesla to supply a small unit of soldiers SALVATION THROUGH with his lightning guns. They were BETRAYAL dispatched on a raiding mission, deep behind enemy lines, to make a show of In the end, as the bloody years trailed force and shock the rebels, it was hoped, by, redemption came from the same into quick submission. quarter that had provided the tools of Just in case they proved recalcitrant, destruction. One of the most brilliant however, Tesla was given control of the scientists in the Enlightened, a young Pipeworks, a massive manufacturing Serbian by the name of Nikolai Tesla, centre in Washington, to convert to his was horrified by the bloodshed and the own compound of factories, laboratories, unending pain Carpathian and his peers and staging areas. If the war were to had unleashed. Against the counsel of continue past this moment, the Union the other more conservative Enlightened would not lack for these new weapons. and his patrons in the Prussian Imperium, Tesla travelled from Europe to the Union and offered his expertise and assistance THE FINAL CRESCENDO in ending the war. The Union soldiers learned, all too soon, The government in Washington, headed that possessing more deadly weaponry by the beleaguered Abraham Lincoln, than the enemy does not necessarily, knew at once what they were being rob the enemy of their own lethality. The offered, and accepted graciously. The battles that ensued were perhaps even most senior General of the Armies of bloodier than any that had gone before,

58 v1.09 but Tesla’s new technologies were terrible command tried to rally their forces in to behold, capable of blasting the life Richmond for the final battle, Jonathan from an enemy soldier no matter their ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, their most gifted protection. Men were fried alive while field commander, did his best with piloting the massive armoured vehicles the orderly retreat from Petersburg. or were seared into the hereafter as they Unfortunately, he was ambushed with slept in their fortress barracks. The skies his vanguard just ten miles from safety. of the South flared electric blue with His body was carried from the field, his the power of Tesla’s inventions, and the ultimate fate lost amidst the chaos of the Confederacy, no matter how brave their running battle. [Editor’s note: Not sure old soldiers or savvy their generals, could scarface is going to like being called ‘brutal not hope to stand against them. [Editor’s and merciless’. I don’t like it either.] note: Beautiful imagery. I like it.] Jackson’s loss was the final straw for Just as Tesla’s weaponry came into use, Confederate President Davis. As Grant the Confederacy had dug in at Petersburg. began to rain down hellfire on Richmond Less than 150 miles south of Washington, and the entire city burned, Davis this was the place from where they could instructed General Lee to sue for peace, defend Richmond, the capital of the making certain their offers of surrender embattled Confederate States. Between were carried to President Lincoln himself, the two cities, virtually all the strength as they felt Grant might be too inclined to of the Confederate Army was deployed ignore them in favour of his great, blazing in a defensive posture, and all but one of victory. Lincoln accepted the conditions the Union Generals agreed that it would of surrender, immediately commanding be impossible to dislodge them, despite Grant to cease his attack. Nearly three- Tesla’s magnificent weapons, without quarters of the city of Richmond had horrendous loss of life. been destroyed as the last fire went out and the Confederate Army was utterly Odysseus Grant, however, felt differently. shattered with less than a tenth of their He did not question that there would fighting strength remaining. be casualties. He only disagreed with his colleagues on one salient point; he believed the losses would be worth the victory THE ROAD BACK they would secure. Pushing south from By late 1865 the war was over, but Washington with the Army of the Potomac, the Union’s wounds ran deep. Six Grant meant first to crush Petersburg, thus million souls, almost a fifth of the total eliminating the final military threat to his population, had died or would not forces, and then push on to completely raze survive their wounds while the South Richmond, the spiritual and political capital was largely devastated. In addition, of his enemies. there were even greater threats rising Grant was brutal and merciless in all around. The Crown, always eager these final attacks. As the Confederate for an easy opening, attacked the Union both financially and militarily, 59 v1.09 weakening them abroad. In the West, abolition of slavery in the country after the indigenous tribes threaten to halt the War of Independence, black citizens westward expansion, if not unleash have become steadily more integrated outright invasion. Coupled with this into the country’s population, and was the ever-present fear that while an those of Latin descent are following all-out war was unlikely, a resumption suit after the acquisition of the bulk of of small skirmishes could erupt again the Spanish-speaking lands of North South of the Mason-Dixon Line. It was and Central America, so much so that clear that the Union Army could not be Spanish is close to gaining recognition disbanded or reduced to pre-conflict as an official language alongside levels. The war might have ended, but English. The overall effect is that where this was certainly not peacetime. many empires encompass many different peoples, societies and creeds, The Union continued to function as it the people of the Union, whatever their had during the war, with conscription origins, are slowly but surely coming and recruitment continuing apace. to think of themselves primarily as one Service in the Army was seen in many people united by a common cause - the quarters as the greatest honour one survival of liberty. might achieve. It became fashionable for the most wealthy and best families The men and women of the Union were to send their second-born sons and not alone in their sacrifices. It became daughters to officer training to serve. painfully clear to President Lincoln that he could not rule effectively with such a SACRIFICE AND UNITY diverse array of enemies and challenges rising up against him. The nation needed As Union society shifted to acknowledge to be able to respond to these countless and accommodate the need for a well- threats with a speed and versatility trained, well-prepared standing army, that the Founding Fathers had just not most states saw more and more of their imagined. He was best suited, of all the surplus resources going back into a men and women alive, to shepherd his military who had already won its war. A beloved nation back to peace, but he massive bureaucracy stretched out from could not do it from the White House. Washington to oversee taxation and other support activities to ensure peace THE DEATH OF A PRESIDENT and the slow recovery of the brutalised country. Sacrifice was the watchword Using his ever-expanding web of agents on the thin lips of these agents of the to assist him, Lincoln plotted his own government, and sacrifice was the assassination in 1866. Enlisting an actor national virtue they embodied. friend of his son’s, a man who truly believed in the Union and what it stood for, plans One remarkable aspect of the Union were laid for a massive public attack that compared to other major powers is the would seemingly result in the president’s relative unity of its populace. Since the death. He would then be free to assume 60 v1.09 more direct control of the varied defences GROWTH OF THE UNION of the nation, while his vice-president, Andrew Johnson, a capable bureaucrat The Army places its faith in themselves with little to no imagination or drive, and their arsenal. Grant remained the would be left as a figurehead to rule in his General of the Armies, and although his place. [Editor’s note: What the hell is this?!? bitterest foe was no more, he began to You can’t talk about this kind of stuff in view all threats to the Union as equally public. Cut it all out. I hate it.] despicable. He had seen the horrors of war. He had seen his family destroyed Knowing that for the ruse to succeed, he before his very eyes with the terrible would have to die, John Wilkes Booth was weapons unleashed by the covetous not afraid to give his life for his nation. Enlightened. He had seen the savages As planned there was a struggle, and a of the Warrior Nation tear his beloved juiced blaster roared within the confines soldiers’ limb from limb. There was only of a small private theatre box. When the one way his nation was going to survive smoke cleared the world reeled at the this terrible time, and that was through death of the President, even his own strength. [Editor’s note: Ease up on the family believed he died that night. The slaughter of the Union, eh? I don’t like it.] sacrifice made that night was by two men. Booth was caught as planned and To the north, the Union’s border killed for his actions and Lincoln would stretches the length of the Dominion of never be allowed to return to his private Canada to the cold reaches of Russian or public life again Alaska; frontier territory of the most inhospitable kind. To the south, the Abraham Lincoln was now relieved of war-ravaged and lawless hinterlands the trappings of office. He was free to of Mexico still harboured rebels and move out into the wide world in order to dissidents contesting the Mexican lead his extensive army of gifted killers Absorption into the Union in May 1868. through the shadows, conducting the infinite number of dark and dreadful The Army knew such challenges could deeds the times demanded of the nation not go unanswered. Whilst the northern should she expect to survive. Lincoln borders are reinforced against Crown knew that there were things the Union incursions and further reinforcements Army could not be called upon to do, funnelled into the West, the invasion whether it was investigating dangers of Gran Columbia in the Spring of 1869 to the wounded country, to ferret out ensured that not only were future plots and schemes that threatened her, attacks on the Union’s southern border or eliminate potential problems before discouraged but that further resources the public could even be aware of them. and territory enriched the lives and coffers His Secret Service was essential to the of all the member states. Such rapid health of the Union. [Editor’s note: Are expansion requires the deployment of you nuts? Do you want to go missing? Cut large garrisons of Union troops to ensures it all out. I hate it.] these new territories remain loyal to the

61 v1.09 manifest destiny that drives the Union far more efficiently than their great size ever onwards. Looking to repeat the would suggest. Reinforced with another gains made in Gran Columbia, the Union Enlightened development, Sturginium, army mobilises itself once more with an these massive structures are very resistant eye southward on the newly emergent to damage. Union airships, the core of its Socialist Unity of South America. aerial forces, are also highly resilient beasts. Filled with inert Helium gas – a by-product THE UNION ASCENDANT of the nation’s oil industry – they can absorb immense amounts of punishment while Building on the designs purchased from dishing out huge quantities of their own. the Enlightened during the Civil War, [Editor’s note: The official story here is that Union military technology is mostly Brigadier General Samuel Sturgis discovered an effective mix of the innovative and Sturginium while leading an expedition in the reliable. Though Carpathian and his Dakota Territory. The Enlightened then stole Enlightened continues to supply the it and took to south to the Antarctic to mass Union with RJ fuel cells, the nation has produce it. Are we clear?] warmed towards other, less fickle sources There is one thing that all of the men and of innovation. Union manufacturers, women who have answered the Union’s such as Orlington and Chace produce call can agree on: With weapons and an array of functional, but beautifully technologies such as these, the Union of engineered weapons and operating Federated States is still the greatest hope systems. Tesla continues to contribute for instilling liberty and independence in automata designs and spark reactors for the world. the military as well as to improve the lives of the citizens of the Union. As a result, the war machines of the Union are well AN UNCERTAIN AGE equipped with labour-saving devices for weaponry and control systems, allowing The President says that there will be time them to devote more crew-space to to return to the values that once made the their fighting compliments, especially nation a beacon of hope. At some point the Marine Corps sharpshooters. in the future, there will be peace again and the time for relinquishing weapons When it comes to offensive power, in all will come. Until that time, there can be no spheres the Union prefers relatively simple peace. Better to curtail freedom today that weapons: massed rocket batteries and big the Union may live on to be an example to guns – lots of them! Land Ships and Rolling the rest of the world tomorrow. Thunder battle tanks bristle with heavy cannons, whose long barrels, superior For without the Union, how else will ammunition and automatic loaders freedom in the wider world prevail? allow them to lay down heavy barrages [Editor’s note: Great ending, but that stuff at extreme range. Union warships are about Lincoln has to go. If the public knew driven by huge paddle wheels, rather than the truth…] propellers, allowing them to manoeuvre 62 v1.09

THE COVENANT OF THE ENLIGHTENED

The architects of the Dystopian Age, the Covenant of the Enlightened wield their formidable intellects to sweep aside those who stand in the way of Science and Progress. These masters of technology covet knowledge above all things and believe that it is only they who can steer humanity on a path to enlightenment. Whether with monstrous fusions of man and machine or with their terrifying and wondrous war- engines, the Covenant of the Enlightened take every opportunity to demonstrate their technological supremacy. The discoveries that were intended to herald a new era for humanity are instead used to punish those who would misuse them. Only when the Covenant are lauded as the rightful leaders of the Earth this new Dystopian Age can the world be brought into a new dawn of achievement and prosperity. Assessment by Service Agent Kingston AHEAD OF THEIR TIME - for the Director’s eyes only. Generally, to be invited into the Amis, Director Lincoln, it is human nature for a man or woman must have proven like-minded individuals to seek each themselves through extraordinary other out, to form deep and lasting accomplishments with extensive bonds and to establish communities peer-reviewed research or intellectual and societies in a world that often seems treatises. As such, most members were bent on keeping each person isolated relatively advanced in years and rather and alone. As you may already be set in their ways. By the early-nineteenth aware, one of the oldest such societies century, most of humanity’s greatest in Europe is La Societe des Amis du minds were clandestine members. The Nouveau Eclaircissement, founded in influence of the Amis was felt throughout Vienna in the early sixteenth century. the world, although of course, most The Amis, as they called themselves, people had never heard of them. were scientists, philosophers and free thinkers who enjoyed an active, lively Records show that by 1845 the scientist- correspondence, sharing their desires, explorer Barnabas Draynes Sturgeon, dreams, and scientific exploits through a member of the Amis, had acquired written letters and occasional symposia. extra-terrestrial artefacts from the crater at Bimini. [Agent’s note: for more detail on

63 v1.09

Bimini please refer to my report last week world. Theirs was to be a genuine voyage on Caribbean meteorite strikes.] of discovery rather than conquest. The expedition was intended to prove a Sturgeon shared some of that extra- theory shared by Sturgeon and few other terrestrial material with his associates radical scientific minds: that the wastes of Eberhard Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff Antarctica were not empty and desolate, who had recently set up a facility instead they concealed treasures of at the University of Königsberg. At incalculable value. Sturgeon’s encouragement, the pair studied the artefacts for almost a year Sturgeon had kept back a particularly before unlocking the principles of curious artefact previously recovered at atomic energy. The potential of this the Bimini crater: a compass pointing breakthrough was clear to Sturgeon south instead of north. After further tests, and the other members of the Amis. along with his closest friend the Greek [Agent’s note: Regrettably, the Service was physicist Leonidas Vasiliou, Sturgeon not established at this point in history for formed the belief that not only was the if it had been, I am certain that we would device pointing to a particular location have monitored the activities of the Amis in the south but that it was indicating more closely. It is likely that enemy agents something beneath the surface of the from the Alliance, Commonwealth and Antarctic itself. Imperium had intercepted vastly more of the Amis correspondence than our own Following the arrest of Bunsen and limited network managed to.] Kirchhoff, Sturgeon accelerated his plans, pulling together the resources needed Tipped off by their spies, the Prussian to mount his expedition south. Despite Imperium had Bunsen and Kirchhoff great adversity, he still managed to secure arrested and claimed the material for patronage from certain valuable parties, their Teutonic Knight-Luminaries to notably Crown Prince Vladimir of the study. This acquisition triggered a series Russian Commonwealth. It was Vladimir of similar seizures all over the world by who introduced Sturgeon to a scientific agents from other governments. The polymath of extraordinary talent: Helsinki Amis were plunged into crisis. Their Markov. At first, he was a priceless asset apolitical nature was under threat but to Sturgeon’s cause, but later he was to a solution would present itself from an become a figure of infamy. unexpected source. A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT THE EXPEDITION SOUTH The expedition made landfall in In the midst of this intellectual upheaval, Antarctica in 1849 after a long journey Barnabas Sturgeon was planning another fraught with difficulties. However, to extraordinary expedition. This time his the surprise of everyone, not least destination was Antarctica, the vast Sturgeon and his friends, they soon ice-bound wilderness at the foot of the made what appeared to be a finding of

64 v1.09 great import. A series of reconnaissance Losing more than half of their original flights were undertaken by Miranda expedition along the way, it took Wells in her trusty modified Doncaster, over a year to finally reach the trench. the Eye of Reason. Her patrols inland When they arrived, what they found revealed an extraordinary sight located was more astonishing than the initial deep inside the desolate Antarctican reconnaissance had suggested. interior. A wide, chasm-like trench, many Buried amongst the eerie crystalline miles long and almost a mile wide was agglomerations and twisted metal revealed. Shimmering, gnarled spires spires, sunken into the earth and rock of impossibly polished metal and vast, was a strange doorway. Beyond it lay glowing masses of blue-green crystalline what would truly become a discovery rock spread out like a starfish across the of earth-shaking proportions – the ice. The landscape around the site was mysterious Antarctican Vault. different from what had been originally expected. Though most of the landscape THE VAULT was, as anticipated, frozen tundra, there were valleys and mountains that held Once they stepped through the starkly differing climates, flora and fauna. doorway, Sturgeon, Vasiliou, and their retinue vanished beneath the Antarctic Though Sturgeon had paid handsomely landscape for several days. A series of for the services of Maximilian Schneider earth tremors heralded their return and and his mercenaries to protect the they were changed profoundly by what expedition, it remained a journey of they had seen. [Agent’s note: Despite great hardship to navigate to this several high ranking members of the incredible site overland. Along the Enlightened defecting to the Union, we still way, Sturgeon noted subtle changes have no clear picture of what lies within to the landscape. These changes the Vault. I would concur with General were imperceptible at first but the Grant’s assertion that a military campaign surrounding valleys to the chasm to Antarctica is the most expeditious leading all the way back to their base means of obtaining its secrets of the Vault camp were in a state of comparatively for the Union.] rapid climate change. The permafrost and snow had melted away for the More excited and animated then he most part forming lakes or billowing had ever been, Sturgeon was still as clouds of vapour. Strange megaflora shrewd as he was brilliant. He had were seen sprouting from these freshly observed what had happened to fellow revealed landscapes. Though there members of the Amis who revealed their were the occasional attacks of large achievements to a greedy world without beasts and birds to contend with, the safeguarding them, so took steps to expedition most frequently saw ever ensure the Vault was not stolen from more exotic and otherworldly jungle him. In secret, Sturgeon sent his closest plants and vegetation. allies instructions to gather resources and material so that they might expand and 65 v1.09 fortify their camp around the Vault. The A GIFT FROM THE STARS facility was dubbed Wells Chasm after the daring aviator who had braved the By their seventh journey into the Vault, howling gales above the Antarctic to be Sturgeon and Markov had enough the first to spot the crystals and spires. research gathered to theorise that the Vault was the core of some massive Sturgeon, Markov, Vasiliou, and the alien object which had crashed on the others would embark upon several Earth centuries ago. There were records further journeys into the Vault. Inside from the time that spoke of “a ball of fire the inhuman megastructure, virtually in the sky” and a “great earth tremor”. everything they found was beyond their Expanding on this hypothesis and ability to comprehend. The excursions reversing the trajectory from the impact were not without their own inherent site in Antarctica, Markov noticed an dangers, as small parties could would unusual number of meteorite strikes become lost in the Vault’s labyrinthine recorded along the flightpath. This corridors and alien architecture. Most suggested that the object had begun painfully for Sturgeon, his closest and to break up before it landed. This then most intimate friend Leonidas, became pointed to the possibility that any parts lost in the Vault, never to be seen again. of the alien structure’s mass that had Putting aside his grief, Sturgeon gleaned fallen along the way could also contain enough from the artefacts they recovered Element 270. The nature of the impact, to set new paths of scientific discovery. erratic trajectory, and calculated size of Markov estimated that it would take the object implied a controlled crash, several lifetimes to fully explore and guided by some intelligence or pilot. catalogue the contents of the Vault. This suggested the object was some kind of colossal ship, perhaps akin to At the centre of these efforts was the an ocean-liner to the stars themselves, strange super-conductive mineral only much larger; perhaps a kilometre surrounding the Vault, and which or more in diameter. If such a craft had extended in great veins outwards from impacted with its full force it would likely it. Codified as ‘Element 270’, and later have devastated the planet. named sturginium, in honour of Sturgeon himself, the properties of this material While it was agreed that the discoveries would ultimately allow for accelerated in the Vault were the birthright of exploration of existing fields of scientific humanity, such a wealth of knowledge undertakings. The mineral would be needed to remain in the hands of a harvested and shipments sent from Wells few. This custodianship was vital until Chasm to their original landing site on the explorers had amassed sufficient the Antarctican coast. This harbour camp allies to ensure that no one nation was itself expanded into a second base of or interest group could pervert this operations for the expedition. Sturgeon profound discovery for their own petty named the new harbour facility Leonidas agenda. The Amis was nothing more Spire in honour of his late friend. than a correspondence group and with

66 v1.09 how helpless they had been to save Bonaparte of the French Republique, Bunsen and Kirchhoff, something more the boyar magnate Oleg Tatamovich, was needed to safeguard the Vault the spymistress Julianna Drakenburg, and the new age of science it would the communications specialist Mahlon unleash. Leaving Markov and several Loomis, the alternate energy prodigies others behind to continue the work, Nikolai Tesla and Augusta Byron, and Sturgeon returned to Europe to create the engineering auteurs Herman Haupt the organisation he needed. and Gustave Eiffel. This was also the first time that the polymath Burson A COVENANT IS AGREED Carpathian found notice amongst this group as a peer and signatory on the 1852 saw a conclave of the Amis held Covenant charter. in the Palazzo del Borromeo on Lake The conclave became the First Maggiore, Italy. This literal meeting of Symposium of the Enlightened and minds had one purpose: to secure a it was agreed that each Peer of the future for the great undertaking they Enlightened would have an equal had agreed on for the betterment of status within the Covenant. There were humanity. Freshly returned from his conditions to being granted a place Antarctic expedition, Sturgeon called in this new technocracy. To become for a new beginning for the group. No a Lord or Lady of the Enlightened, an longer would they be a loose collection individual must have their scientific of correspondents but instead Sturgeon merits recognised by the Covenant. declared that a more structured and Beyond that, a prospective Peer must independent movement was needed. offer land or some significant holding This “Covenant of the Enlightened” as or power base to serve as the location he termed it would be free from political for their own secure place of learning. or patriotic pressures from the nations Sturgeon offered Wells Chasm as the of the world and would be founded as model for the ultimate form of such a a technocratic oligarchy. The discoveries facility - what he called a Promethean of the Enlightened, such as those he Complex. Though many Peers could not had seen in the Vault of Antarctica, afford to build such a facility they were would be ostensibly for the betterment content for now to ally themselves with of humanity, but only when wider the half a dozen Lords and Ladies who humanity could prove itself worthy of could. Over time, and with the right those discoveries. Until such time, the opportunities taken, each Peer would Covenant would be custodians of the go on to found their own Promethean Vault and of the new age of scientific Complex and by this method, the enlightenment that it would herald. Enlightened began to develop a Other brilliant minds of the age decentralised structure and a web of stepped forward to join with Sturgeon strongholds across the globe - essential including the warmaster Maximilian if their independence was to be assured. Schneider, President Louis-Napoleon 67 v1.09

THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE nations of the world were not yet ready for such power. For years the Countess had Returning to Wells Chasm with many attended the courts, salons and assemblies of the newly dubbed Enlightened, of power in Europe and knew how fickle Sturgeon was gratified to see that in his and self-interested governments could year of absence, Markov had developed be. Drakenburg was aware of a shadowy Wells Chasm and fortified it with new network moving within similar corridors of technologies to ensure that their position power to her own agents who appeared on the continent was relatively secure. It to have loyalty beyond any single nation. was regrettable that the new Eden that The true nature of this Dark Council she surrounded the Promethean Complex had yet to fathom, but her instincts warned was already beginning to be despoiled that it did not bode well. [Agent’s note: by the industry required for the progress While our own research on the Dark Council of humanity. A burden of the Covenant is undoubtedly more comprehensive than was the knowledge that for their destiny the material gleaned by Drakenburg and her to be fulfilled, the world must be forever spies, there is surely no harm in sourcing a changed. What use are verdant flora and copy of her notes to cross-reference with our wondrous fauna if not harnessed for the own? Our friend, Mr Morden, may be able to enlightenment of mankind? assist us in this matter.]

Markov, driven by a mixture of exploratory Despite these warnings, the fervour and in part by the need to Enlightened agreed at a Second prove the value of their discoveries, Symposium to dispatch envoys to the had pressed on doggedly and codified major scientific institutions around a huge amount of the knowledge they the world and share without bias their found in their exploration of the Vault. research, confident that as long as no He firmly believed the time was ripe for single nation was given preferential the fruits of these labours to be shared treatment or privileged access they with the nations of the Earth for the would be secure. Even the guarded betterment of humanity. Celestian Empire were receptive to the offer of mutual advancement. For several months there was heated discussion amongst the Enlightened as In the first few years, this balance and to the correct path. Thanks to Lord Lyon equality stimulated the greatest surge Playfair’s cypher the Peers were able to of innovation and invention since the discuss the matters in secret over their beginning of the Industrial Age. Regular Loomis telegraphs. Markov’s urging for and equal shipments of Element 270 the sharing of the Vault’s secrets was were delivered to each nation’s principle mirrored by Carpathian, Eiffel, Tesla and scientific institution in exchange for a the engineering genius Isambard Kingdom copy of the research documentation Brunel. There was a strong voice of caution, and prototypes of whatever applications however, from Countess Byron and Lady they made with the mineral. Drakenburg. They countered that the

68 v1.09

The voltaic arc technology that the acting as superconductors. Despite the Prussian Imperium had been exploring protestations of Markov and Carpathian, for years was given a huge boost when the Enlightened saw caution in keeping Tesla introduced sturginium infused the secrets of these most potent devices superconductor coils into the design. away from individual nations. For After seeing what Element 270 could these were devices that could project do for their metallurgical research, thrumming shielding screens of energy the Ottoman Sultanate sent Princess to defeat projectiles, kinetic enhancers Sherezad to study at Wells Chasm so that to augment engine efficiency and they might embrace this new age of machines that could influence local technology fully. Brunel’s transportation weather patterns. Most incredible of rotorcraft became a reality for the British all were bizarre temporal and distance Crown as a unique alloy of sturginium distorters; engines of near-surreal and copper created a revolutionary complexity that could cause localised metal combining light weight and warps in time, or teleport men and incredible strength. The Russian material enormous distances in mere Commonwealth continued to explore moments. The Enlightened arrogantly sonic applications now using sturginium presumed that no nation should have reinforced resonators for breaking apart these marvels as the applications ice-floes while the French Republique for warfare were all too obvious and finally made the breakthrough in their terrifying to them. attempts to miniaturise their thermal projectors so that the so-called heat [Agent’s note: Amongst all this lances could be mounted on excavating ingenuity, no-one seemed to notice machines to enable the construction when Burson Carpathian combined it of a vast network of tunnels beneath with molybdochalkos to create a casket France and her allies. The Celestian suitable for his own grand scheme to Empire made great strides in the fields of come to fruition. This most unassuming magnetic levitation and atomic energy of applications would set in motion events though true nuclear power eluded that would change the world far more them as it continued to confound the profoundly than any generator would.] Enlightened themselves. RULE OF THE CUSTODIANS Their hubris, of course, meant that the Enlightened retained most of the For a while, the Enlightened basked in gathered Element 270 for their own the glory of their accomplishments. The work. It was they who produced the wave of new technology, for which they most bleeding-edge applications as the earned the plaudits they had desired half dozen newly founded Promethean for so long, spread out across the world. Complexes around the world began Sturgeon dared to believe that what work on a series of extraordinary he termed the Sturginium Age would generators, each only made possible herald a new era of peace for all. by sturginium crystals at their core 69 v1.09

Across the globe the development nature Element 270 was having on the of rudimentary mechanical servants world. The arguments became heated known as automata grew rapidly and splinter factions began to form. from the machines carrying out Sturgeon used all of his influence and instructions on simple punch cards to patronage to finally carry the motion on millions of complex instructions being the day. The Enlightened would become engraved on silver disks so that these true custodians of the knowledge from mechanical beings could ape more the Vault which was now unleashed complex reasoning. The eagerness elsewhere in the world. All the secrets with which other nations absorbed and technologies would be developed the Enlightened discoveries and the exclusively by the Enlightened and innovations accelerated by Element 270 withheld from the world at large until was matched only by their drive to take they had proven themselves capable of these incalculably precious gifts and the responsibility for the great power turn them to warlike ends. Technology it contained. There would doubtless designed for weather control, disaster be some anger and even some military relief and agricultural resilience became repercussions from the other nations, the basis for whole industries of war. but as the Enlightened had contained The discovery of new metal alloys and those most terrible of technologies, chemicals went into the construction including the generators, for their own of Battleships and hulking Landships, arsenal, it would be a brief conflict. cannons and bombs.

The benefits of the Vault revealed, once THE REBELLION OF MARKOV again, the true nature of humankind. While Sturgeon was away, Markov Each nation was desperate for an had built a political power-base as advantage over the others and frustrated a cover for his true activities. His that their own developments would be followers, including Princess Sherezad shared impartially by the Enlightened. of the Ottoman Sultanate and Burson As the nations demanded more, the Carpathian of Romania, believed this Enlightened felt compelled to impose Custodian ideology was caused through rations on Element 270 shipments and fear and jealousy, in contravention of the demanded greater oversight as to its goals of the more egalitarian principles application. [Agent’s note: Predictably, the of the Enlightened. On this proclamation Enlightened would use any pretext to exert from the Symposium, the authority of undue influence and control over the other Custodians was challenged by a coup global powers. It is a testament to our instigated by Helsinki Markov. Secretly belief in the Union’s manifest destiny that an agent of the Russian Commonwealth, we did not capitulate to such demands.] Markov utilised his allies to set in motion Finally, in 1856 Sturgeon called for the an armed insurrection at Wells Chasm Third Symposium of the Enlightened to and Leonidas Spire and fled in the propose a solution to the destabilising ensuing chaos taking with him generator

70 v1.09 technology and a large shipment of Enlightened, even worse was soon Element 270 to his patron, Tsar Vladimir. to come. Although the revolt quickly subsided when its participants realised Fighting broke out between the the truth it had already served its purpose Custodians and Egalitarians, resulting for the traitor Markov. In the wake of in chaos throughout Promethean the revolt and its consequences, the Complexes around the world. Princess Enlightened left were shaken and shell- Sherezad and others took many of the shocked. They had believed themselves prized secrets of the Covenant back to and their new domain above the petty their homelands. Thanks to Markov’s concerns of nationalistic fervour and treachery the world now had access factionalism. That conceit, that prideful to the most potent weapons and self-assurance, now lay in ruins. technology the greatest minds on the planet could envisage. The world was set on a path that must surely lead to THE SCHISM self-annihilation. By 1857, although the Enlightened had Even the powers of the Generators managed to conceal news of the internal were twisted: weather control devices crisis from the rest of the world, Markov’s intended to green the world’s deserts treachery ensured that the Covenant were instead used to invoke tempests was split into two distinct factions. that devastated towns and villages. Custodians believed that advanced Terrifying force projectors were created technology should be guarded and with the power to make both metals hidden from the world until humanity and, more horrifyingly, flesh run like reached the maturity to use it, while the wax. Interminable minor conflicts Egalitarians believed that every man and continued to flare up around the world, woman had the right to self-determinism now enlivened by a desire for a rival and that it was the obligation of the power’s technological and scientific Enlightened to work with those nations secrets as well as whatever territory to bring about a new age. and resources it had to offer. For all the The Enlightened’s most ardent scientist- scintillating knowledge bestowed by patron, President Louis-Napoleon the supposed Sturginium Age, basic Bonaparte, had recently founded the human nature, with its greed, pride, Latin Alliance, a bold coalition of France, hubris, desire for power and dominance Spain and Italy. This emergent power remained unchanged. promised to be a safe haven for the But the efforts of the Enlightened scientists and researchers, just as the could not prevent human ingenuity French Republique had been these past developing ever more dangerous five years. As a signatory of the Covenant devices from the knowledge they Charter, Bonaparte was obligated had already unleashed. Pandora’s Box to establish a Promethean Complex, was well and truly open and, for the which he did with the renovation and expansion of Mont Saint-Michel. 71 v1.09

It was while meeting at Mont Saint- THE HEX SEED Michel that Julianna Drakenburg discovered that many of the secrets Desperately searching for a discovery stolen by Markov had made their way that might save the life of his ailing wife, onto the blackmarket. Louis-Napoleon Veronica, Burson Carpathian had come had purchased as many of these designs into contact with the mysterious Dark outright as he could to keep them out Council; individuals who had become of the hands of rival world powers. As bonded with an ancient alien entity a continued show of good faith with known as the Hex. [Agent’s note: What the Covenant, the Latin Alliance shared follows contains a significant degree of everything they had acquired and kept supposition based on anecdotal accounts. out of the public domain. [Agent’s note: When supported by what the Service has Though as all such technologies had witnessed in the field I cannot help but feel been stolen from the Covenant to begin that we are close to the truth of the matter, with there was little material gain for the even with a lack of hard evidence.] Enlightened by this gesture. I am sure Louis- The Hex itself existed in a geode-like Seed Napoleon was not unaware of this fact.] that was hidden away from the prying In light of the destruction unleashed in eyes of the uninitiated. Carpathian the world and the origins of Markov’s discovered the location and nature of the treachery, the Custodians easily assumed Hex Seed and, most interestingly of all complete dominance over the shell to him, that the base of this alien geode shocked Covenant. The most influential was a huge subterranean reservoir of a Peers ensured that those few Egalitarians crimson fluid. The fluid was referred to as who remained were consigned to the the ‘Essence of the Hex’ but, other than fringes of the organisation, effectively helping fuel arcane powers or being exiling them from the Enlightened. ingested to cause physical mutation Though they were entitled to attend or transformation, the potential of the future Symposia, any secrets from the fluid was largely untapped. The viscous, Vault were denied to them. The hope crimson liquid was provided to him in was that denied of further inventions, small doses and seemed to invigorate these ostracised members would wither his mind when a single drop is imbibed. on the vine. Indeed they most likely Tantalised by the invigorating properties would have, being subsumed into of the Essence, Carpathian thought that their own national interests over time. it might hold the secret to returning his Everything would have gone according wife to health. to the Custodians’ plan had it not been With the aid of allies in the Enlightened, for the actions of one Enlightened Peer Carpathian managed to steal the Seed. and a sturginium lined casket. The Dark Council had agents throughout Europe and Carpathian reasoned that it would not be long before he was identified as the architect of the theft.

72 v1.09

Nowhere in Europe would be safe for Carpathian had been marked for death. the experimentation he intended, but Using what resources and connections two of the Enlightened here in the it had, the Dark Council manipulated Union of Federated States had offered Odysseus Grant, who was at this time a him sanctuary. Gustave Eiffel and the promising army Captain now reputed to brilliant geologist Petronella Gage had have fallen to drink and paranoia. Fuelled been forced into exile thanks to their by rumours of a fresh European threat to support of Markov’s insurrection. They the security of the Union, Grant was set had secured the town of Payson in the on a course to destroy Carpathian and his Arizona Territory as an ideal home for newly arrived Enlightened entourage. Carpathian and his work. Taking the travellers completely by surprise, Grant’s bombardment killed SHATTERED most of the Enlightened landing party and Carpathian was smashed like a rag doll Crossing the Atlantic on the steamer against the Seed-carrying casket he had Lady B, Carpathian, his wife Veronica risked so much to bring to these shores. and their allies were aware that their Twisted and broken, as consciousness left prospective foster nation was wracked him Carpathian saw his wife, Veronica, with tensions as the northern and dead at his side - her body pierced by a southern states vied for control of the single bullet that had gone unnoticed in vast resources of the continent. They the cacophony of battle. hoped to arrive unnoticed. They could not have been more wrong. A NEW BEGINNING [Agent’s note: Here we must again make an educated guess based on the available Carpathian awoke days later atop the facts. As you know, the very existence casket containing the Hex Seed. He had of the Dark Council is difficult to verify, been carried many miles away from the let alone to what extent, if any, it has carnage but he barely heard or cared. influence here in Washington D.C. What His wife was dead and he was delirious follows in regard to General Grant is taken with pain. With consciousness came from information supplied in confidence the realisation that both his arms and by our friend Garrett Morden. Though his legs were shattered and he sensed the candour is appreciated, I feel it unlikely to onset of infection. Death would surely be welcomed by General Grant should you claim him before long. The Enlightened share any of the following with him]. made their careful way to Payson, where others of the Covenant were waiting The Dark Council undoubtedly would for them. The eccentric Doctor Francis have found itself severely weakened Tumblety immediately took charge of by Carpathian’s actions. Clearly it was the barely-alive Carpathian and began still more than capable of exerting to work on him. its influence and exacting revenge -

73 v1.09

As he recovered, Carpathian put aside devoted all his time and resource to the pain and despair of his wife’s death experimentation with the Essence. He and focused instead on the future. If exposed biological matter to the alien Veronica could not be healed then mineral and worked to create more of perhaps she could be resurrected? He the volatile crimson fluid. Tantalisingly, would need to make war against death he discovered that by mixing the fluid itself to achieve this vision. Eiffel and with gunpowder or other accelerants another Peer in exile, Emily Roebling, he could greatly increase the potency had overseen the renovation and of weaponry and combustion engines fortification of Payson. The town had - a process colloquially known as become a Promethean Complex built on ‘juicing’ them. Once he had stockpiled the example of Wells Chasm. Carpathian a sufficient quantity and designed dubbed his new home ‘The Warcradle’. suitably armoured and durable sturginium-enhanced containers for it, The entire town had been completely he announced the Fourth Enlightened rebuilt to their specifications, combining Symposium to be held in Payson at The classic European architecture with Warcradle. The date of this Symposium, the rough and ready materials of the the 27th of October 1859, had special American West. It contained extensive significance for Carpathian as it was also laboratory and meeting spaces, not to the date of his wedding anniversary. As mention formidable defences that would he stared into the glowing crimson fluid make the town a veritable fortress should he felt a connection to his wife, as well as it come under attack. Most important of all the promise of her eventual resurrection. were the catacombs excavated beneath The Warcradle, the deepest of which In the wider world, their authority would serve as a vault to securely store challenged by the announcement, the stolen Seed. Carpathian dismissed the Custodian leaning Enlightened the workers who had helped him before were in a difficult position. Fearing a collapsing the passageways that had led further division, Sturgeon and his allies them down. An alternative route, known at Wells Chasm acknowledged this only to himself, led him back out into the Fourth Symposium but claimed security hot dry air of Payson. As impressive as all concerns in the rapidly destabilising this was, for the nigh impossible feat he Union for a reason not to attend in person. aimed to achieve, Carpathian knew that he would need resources and a power- Many Enlightened did attend, however, base in the Union many times larger than including Princess Sherezad and he could currently call on. Now his work distinguished guests such as Amantine truly began. Dupin, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Louis- Jules Trochu. To them Carpathian unveiled his greatest invention, a new THE INVENTION OF RJ-1027 wonder-fuel he called RJ-1027. [Agent’s note: Presumably Carpathian believes that With the Hex Seed now shielded securely the pseudo-science of the name would beneath The Warcradle, Carpathian 74 v1.09 hopefully distance the liquid from its true one time, a whole third of the immense origins to the general public as well as to factory city turned over to the safe his Peers. Though the Service is fully aware storage and reprocessing of canisters. of the true nature of RJ-1027, I understand the need for such facts to remain within CIVIL WAR the Service at this time]. The sale and supply of RJ-1027 was only For the Enlightened, RJ-1027 represented the first step in Carpathian’s plan. The a near-infinite power source limited in cost of processing and generating more application only by their imaginations. of the Essence with the secrecy that That it had been developed and required was relatively high. The vast designed by Burson Carpathian, the self- majority of the world’s fuel requirements proclaimed Father of the Enlightened were still driven by coal, oil, timber and was undisputed. Available for all the gas. This was unlikely to change for the world to use, RJ-1027 rapidly became the next few decades as the application of means by which the designs of much of RJ-1027 tended to be for more advanced the new wave of technology unleashed technologies rather than the day to day. by the Enlightened became possible. Carpathian needed something to drive Sturgeon reluctantly contacted the purchase and distribution of the Carpathian via Loomis telegraph to technologies. [Agent’s note: The Union offer his congratulations and Carpathian did not disappoint in this matter]. graciously gifted Wells Chasm with the The initial flashpoint in 1861 was over first shipment of RJ-1027 canisters so the extensive oil and mineral reserves that their important work in the Vault of Mississippi and Texas. Carpathian might benefit. Although some of the and the Enlightened loyal to him knew Enlightened like Nikolai Tesla and Augusta that the power they required for their Byron still favoured power sources they greater work could only be acquired if had independently developed, within these tensions and fears were stoked. five years the Enlightened were almost Carpathian and his Enlightened needed exclusively powering their advanced to be in a position to demand autonomy technologies with RJ. and favour from whichever faction came The energy contained in an oil drum out on top. To that end, they began sized RJ cylinder could power a family to sell juiced rifles, automata, sonic home for six months before it would cannons, and of course, the wonder-fuel need to be switched for a new one. The that allowed all these infernal devices spent RJ cylinders would be collected to be powered to both sides. Thus, and taken back to The Warcradle where when the Civil War erupted in earnest, they would be recharged for a small fee. it was fought with the most destructive Within a decade, a million canisters of RJ- weapons ever devised by man. 1027 of all different sizes could be found Armies were swept from the field as in transit back to The Warcradle at any streams of crimson power flashed

75 v1.09 beneath the rising clouds of smoke now these were greatly expanded and and dust. Armoured landships crawled reinforced into massive industrial cities across the churned, muddy ground, on the land ceded to them by the newly shrugging off blasts that would have victorious Union. shattered castles. Millions died and the nation was devastated as the war ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE SELF dragged on, the Confederacy and the Union equally matched through the Knowing better than any other what the availability of Enlightened technology. true purpose of the Enlightened was, As year after bloody year passed with no Carpathian directed his servants and sign of an eventual winner, Enlightened acolytes at The Warcradle, making it the elsewhere in the world began to fear most advanced source of weapons and that it would never end. They predicted research in the world. The aloof Sturgeon with certainty that the country would be and his allies at Wells Chasm saw the reduced to a smouldering cinder before emergence of Carpathian and those who the war reached a conclusion. followed him as a dangerous, unstable element within the Enlightened. The Eventually, it was Nikolai Tesla who broke Union Civil War had been a flashpoint faith with the rest of the Enlightened driving on scientific endeavours around and intervened, despite Sturgeon and the globe as well as the demand for the other Peers warning him not to. RJ-1027 and the technologies that it Taking his voltaic technologies with him, could power. But the conflict had also Tesla journeyed to the Union, providing breathed new life into the Egalitarian them with what would turn out to be movement within the Covenant. Now the upper hand. Supported by Tesla- the notions of Carpathian became a Coil powered automata and devastating credible alternative to the principles Rolling Thunder tanks, the war ended espoused by Sturgeon. within months. The exhausted populace on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Following the betrayal of Markov, line finally brokered an uneasy peace. the facilities in the Antarctic have [Agent’s note: Director Lincoln, have you been expanded, with a large shipyard ever asked Nikolai why he chose the North and airfield producing all manner of over the South?] advanced craft to help the Enlightened project their principles across the Carpathian was furious, watching all of globe. While Carpathian and his allies the groundwork he had laid with the have chosen to portion out advanced Confederacy rendered useless with technologies equally and fan the their defeat. He immediately moved to flames of industry and conflict, so consolidate his holdings through the too have Sturgeon and the rest of the connections and alliances he had built Enlightened taken whatever steps they with northern interests. The foundation deem necessary against those same of several Promethean Complexes had nations to ensure that no power gains a been established during the war and decisive advantage. Sturgeon is Lord of 76 v1.09

Wells Chasm, now a bustling metropolis caused Nikolai and his assistants go to great built around the fabled Vault itself; and lengths to distinguish themselves from their Leonidas Spire, the great port on the Enlightened cousins. Having visited The Antarctican Peninsula presided over by Pipeworks myself, it is clear that beyond the Maximilian Schneider. From these two publicly accessible lobby and conference Promethean Complexes spread a vast room, the facility is still to all intents and network of tunnels, cut and blasted by purposes a Promethean Complex.] engineers with drills, ice-burners and the tireless TX 01 automata. Underground AN ENLIGHTENED PRESENT galleries contain workshops and farms illuminated by sun-like globes; made The Enlightened are vastly changed habitable by atmospheric controls; since their founding a quarter of a interconnected by railways and century ago. Now more self-focused pneumatic pressure tubes. and fractured than before, they are still collectively driven by the ultimate Elsewhere in the world, though not quite goal of elevating humanity through to the scale of the Union Civil War, other science. Hulking monstrosities guard opportunities have enabled Promethean the entrances to their labyrinthine Complexes to be established. Through promethean complexes that are dotted such agreements, the Enlightened around the globe. Overhead, their are usually left alone by their host bizarre and wondrous rotor craft ferry governments, although their methods materials back and forth between these and attitudes often make for tense strongholds. It is folly to mistake their relationships with the local populace. unusual appearance for weakness as The Promethean Complex known as they are bristling with concealed rockets The Gateway, was once the tiny south and searing lasers ready to annihilate Atlantic island of South Georgia. This any who would threaten them. Similarly, island-city is, quite literally, the entrance their fleet is usually hidden from view to the Antarctic approach, through beneath the waves, elegantly rising which all visitors must pass. The Crown only when needed to loose weaponry is resentful of being manipulated to sell that cleaves through enemy armour the land to the Enlightened. [Agent’s note: and shields. The Enlightened make The Crown may be resentful, but I think it prodigious use of their vaunted fair to say that now that our dependence generator technology, confounding on the Enlightened has faded, we are their foes or harry them from new and in open aggression here in the Union - unexpected quarters. particularly against our ‘guests’ out in the Badlands. Even the general populace now Thanks to the actions of the traitor see Carpathian and his Peers for what they Markov, the clash of nations and the truly are - opportunistic monsters making influence of the Hex, the Enlightened’s coats for themselves out of our widow’s plan to control the world through science weeds. I understand that this mounting and technology has come to nought antagonism towards the Enlightened has and the various groups and factions 77 v1.09 are left scrambling to follow the many the Enlightened continue to push the counter agendas they have devised. envelope of human advancement, Though the Covenant of the Enlightened harnessing any technologies they can still arrogantly places itself above the create or reverse engineer. petty jingoism of the nations of the Earth, rivalries between the Enlightened Beyond the predominant ideologies members are fierce. Competingwithin the Enlightened of Egalitarianism designs are often produced in different and Custodianship, the reality is more Promethean Complexes in an attempt to nuanced and each Peer pursues the earn their inventor prestige amongst their agenda of the Covenant in their own way. fellow Peers or lucrative contracts should Isambard Kingdom Brunel spends his time they feel that selling their creations will at a vast workhouse complex known as further their goal. An example of this Bletchley designing ever more impressive conflict was seen when Zerah Colburn’s engineering feats for his patron, Queen Blackhoof Automata was replaced as the Victoria. Brunel is convinced that the primary means of personal transport in world was at peace when the Crown’s rule the Union army by Erasmus Levett’s Iron was unchallenged and now puts his great Horse. The sickness and death caused by intelligence to work considering how best the Automata’s primitive atomic batteries to return the Crown to her former glory. resulted in such humiliation for Colburn For Barnabas Sturgeon at Wells Chasm, it is that he flung himself from the cooling about developing the secrets of the Vault tower of his Promethean Complex, the and dealing with those who would misuse Iron Citadel. them. For Lady Julianna Drakenburg at The Gateway, it is about keeping an eye on the Within their Promethean Complex, each scientific achievements of the seven great Peer rules as a technological autocrat power blocs and eliminating or seizing and is responsible for maintaining a emergent technologies that would prove militia or retinue armed with the latest a danger to the world. in Enlightened advancements. Some Peers make use of extensive mechanical Through these Peers and dozens more, augmentation to create a capable force the dream of the Sturginium Age has out of the physically injured or idealistic faded into the reality of the Dystopian volunteers. Others have explored the Age. It is only a matter of time before paths of automation to create marvellous the brilliant minds of the Covenant machines capable of a semblance of of the Enlightened are called upon to independent thought processing. Able defend humanity in their darkest hour. to carry out a variety of tasks with the Until then, they must each learn to find a world’s most advanced fleet of naval place in this era of constant warfare and ships, armoured machines and aircraft, strife that they themselves have created.

78 v1.09

THE WATCHERS HEGEMONY

A pan-galactic group that consists of dozens of species all working together to a common cause, the Watchers have been observing humanity for thousands of years. Their standing order is not to involve themselves in the affairs of a sentient species until they reach a level of technological and cultural sophistication. Once this level is reached, the Watchers reveal themselves and the world is honoured by joining the Watcher Hegemony.

On Earth, there is something wrong. Outside influences are interfering with humanity’s development. Technologies are available that are decades, if not centuries, beyond their time. The Watchers came to the Earth to free humanity from the various unnatural influences that had taken hold, however recent events have caused their mission to change. One day the Watchers will be able to recontact their people ad bring the full might of the Hegemony to this backwater ball of dirt. Until then, the Watchers rebuild their forces in secret, raiding settlements for raw materials and hunting down those who would threaten their own survival on this harsh and unforgiving alien world.

Diagnostic Event Recital are welcomed into the Watchers and the Amber Alpha Jocasta species is re-engineered as a new Clade. Each Clade has a function in the Watchers, For over six thousand years the Watchers from the crystalline architects of the Indigo have maintained peace in the galaxy. Led Clade to the personal protection services by the noble Guardians, the Hegemony of the Vermillion Clade. However, should of Watcher Clades have worked in unity the emergent race prove to have no to observe the myriad worlds for those purpose save that of being selfish, warlike, that might bear sentient life. Where such aggressive or unreasoning then they are worlds show promise, closer scrutiny is considered a threat to other sentients of the conducted. Self-awareness in life is both galaxy. In such circumstances, the Watchers a blessing and a burden on all other act without compunction to eradicate the sentients. Over the watchful millennia, species and reset the primordial elements should that new species evolve to a once more so that the world might give maturity that enhances the galaxy, they rise to a worthier race in the future.

79 v1.09

of each of the worlds in their care. As an Arkvault is responsible for routinely checking on hundreds of worlds and so once the observation is complete, the team transmits their findings and the Arkvault departs for the next sentient world. The return of an Arkvault to a world within a century is seen only in cases of urgency.

THE HUMAN CONUNDRUM The emergent human race first drew the closer scrutiny of the Watchers around THE ARKVAULTS four thousand years ago. A team of Watchers (known as a myriad) from the Travel between the stars is a lengthy Azure and Cerulean Clades discovered and complex process. Early in their something surprising while making history, thanks to technology gleaned a routine observation. Infiltrating the from the relics of a dead world, the primitive society on the island of Thera, Guardians developed and seeded large the Cerulean were impressed to find portal gateways at key points across the a cultured and innovative people. galaxy traversing distances that would Reference was made to an even more otherwise take centuries. Travelling from advanced civilisation on a distant their idyllic Sphere-Worlds through this island in the Sea of Atlantis. The Azure network of portals, the Watchers use Clade traversed the waters using their large spacecraft known as Arkvaults Etherwings, leaving the Cerulean to to extend their vigil to the hundreds continue inveigling themselves into the of thousands of planets that harbour higher echelons of Theran society. sentient life. These city-sized starships contain all the resources needed to carry Crossing the sea, the Azure Clade arrived out the Watchers’ mandate. Species from on the island of Atlantea and found an all the Clades are held in stasis in these unprecedented level of technological immense craft for while the journey sophistication and organisation for a between portals is near instantaneous, civilisation as primitive as the humans the journey within the star system were believed to be. No species had made itself can take a week until the ship is in such a technological leap in isolation position above the target world. from the others of their kind. How could it be that the Atlanteans appeared to Once in orbit, the Watchers’ Observation have mastered cold fusion while every Teams are able to make journeys to the other settlement on the planet was surface in moments utilising shorter still struggling with glass making and ranged portals. In this manner, the erecting stone monoliths? Returning to Watchers can conduct a thorough analysis their Cerulean allies, the Azure agreed 80 v1.09 to portal back to the orbiting Arkvault tend to the wounded as she prepared and inform the Hegemony of this her remaining forces for the next action unexpected development. decided upon by the Hegemony.

A SURPRISING WELCOME INTERFERENCE A larger team under the command of a Aboard the Arkvault, the analysis of the Viridian Alpha arrived a few days later humans was fascinating. Though they including myriad from the Grey, Azure, had potential to be a superb addition Icterine, Magenta and Viridian Clades. to the Watchers with their creativity and Charged with obtaining specimens of determination, it was clear that some these advanced humans for further external agency had influenced the study, the Watchers emerged from the humans of Atlantea. Though the humans portal gateway on Thera to find the themselves had been conditioned by Cerulean waiting for them without the some pseudo-religious doctrine it was need of subterfuge. The natives seemed clear that a greater intelligence was unconcerned by the arrival of the at work feeding them technological otherworldly visitors and the Cerulean and cultural directives through their quickly explained that the humans in subconscious. Identified only as The Thera had discovered their mimicry not Order, this previously unknown species long after the Azure had left. Rather than appeared to be extra-galactic or being fearful, the Therans had welcomed possibly even extra-dimensional. Both of them as brothers. The Viridian Alpha was these concepts had hitherto only been suspicious of this ready acceptance. In theorised by the Hegemony. her experience, such a fundamental shift in a culture’s beliefs should not so easily Interviewing the captive Atlanteans, be made. Focussing on the mission at the Watchers deduced that they were hand Icterine Engineers and the Grey proxies in some kind of war between built a staging ground near the township the Order and another party known as of Akrotiri while a reconnaissance force the Hex. According to the Atlanteans, of Azure and Magenta was despatched the Hex were a dark corruptive stain to Atlantea. Arriving in Atlantea the on humanity and their purpose Magenta managed to abduct several of was to cleanse that stain from the the humans before the armed militia, Earth. Regardless of how apparently known as Spica, began to respond. well-intentioned the Order might Surprisingly disciplined and accurate, the be, the interference in the natural rifles of the Spica cut down many of the development of a sentient species Azure and Magenta before they could could not be tolerated even if the escape with their captives. Returning Order were restricting their influence to Thera, the Atlantean prisoners were to the island of Atlantea. Furthermore, quickly transported back to the Arkvault no sign of a corrupting dark empire while the Viridian Alpha had the Greys could be identified on the planet. As the alien masters of the Order could 81 v1.09 not be communicated with, the second, the waves rushed in to fill the void Watchers had no alternative but to with a roar. As the sea settled there was remove their agents from the Earth to no trace that the island had ever existed, prevent further interference. save for the perfectly smooth kilometres wide gouge in the bedrock thousands BETRAYAL AT THERA of fathoms below the surface. As for Atlantea, rather than rematerializing in While the Watchers aboard the Arkvault another location, the island remained made plans to excise the island of as energy that was harmlessly vented Atlantea, the reconnaissance force at into space. Atlantea and all its people Thera was instructed to cease work on were gone and with them the Order’s the observation post and withdraw connection to the Earth. all assets from the planet. The Viridian Alpha passed on this news to the A DESPERATE ACT Clades under her command and was surprised when the Cerulean petitioned As the only survivors remaining from to be allowed to remain, in direct the surprise attack by the Hex, two contradiction of the directive given wounded Grey managed to fall back by the Hegemony. Surprise turned to to the geothermal generator that had alarm when, after denying this request, been installed to power the partially the Cerulean withdrew from the other constructed Watcher base. As the Hex Clades and entered a discussion with beasts and hordes of grimly determined the Therans. The reaction was swift and humans approached, the Grey realised unexpected as the Icterine and Viridian that there would be no escape for them. were attacked by murderous humans Not willing to allow the human’s betrayal and monstrous creatures emerging to go unpunished, the Grey overloaded from subterranean lairs. As the Cerulean the geothermal reactor beginning a psionically battered her to the ground chain reaction through the crust and and the blades of the humans pierced into the magma vent below. Joining her chest the Viridian Alpha realised too hands in a last moment of comfort, the late that she had found the Hex. pair were annihilated as a detonation ripped through the island causing a JUDGEMENT OF THE WATCHERS volcanic eruption so massive that the Arkvault in orbit could observe its effect. Unaware of the slaughter of their kin at Thera was obliterated as were the Hex Akrotiri, the Arkvault in orbit targeted corrupted humans and all trace of the the island city of Atlantea with a simple Watchers on Earth. The distant lands of sequence of commands. The starship’s Egypt and China would record storms large portal generators instantly of ash and fire in the sky that year and dematerialised a twenty-kilometre wide whole communities were washed away sphere of matter that included the island by the tsunami caused by the vanishing and the surrounding bedrock. After a split of Atlantea and the annihilation of Thera.

82 v1.09

RENEWED OBSERVANCE that an entire indigenous people had vanished. Suspecting the involvement For several months the Watchers on the of the Hex or the Order a reconnaissance orbiting Arkvault scanned for any sign force consisting of Cerulean, Azure, of the Order or the Hex. A heavily armed Icterine and Grey Clades was deployed observation team consisting of myriad from to thoroughly chart every human the Viridian and Azure Clades made several population and identify any extra- inspections over the following weeks and planetary influence. Very quickly it even infiltrating myriad from the Cerulean became apparent that the dominant and Magenta Clades could find no trace of culture on the continent of Europe was the influence of either faction on the Earth. being used by agents of the Order. It Satisfied, the Arkvault departed once more, logically followed that the Hex would be with a follow-up mission scheduled for fifty present elsewhere on the globe. years time. When that also found no sign of continued interference the centuries According to the reckoning of the passed and the observations became less European humans, the year was 1518 and frequent. Humanity continued to develop it was anticipated that before the next and it was hoped that after several more century was at an end, the Europeans millennia the species might prove worthy of would have spread to the lands they fulfilling their potential and take their place referred to as the New World. The amongst the Watchers. Elsewhere in the Watchers concluded that this expansion galaxy, the Watchers searched for evidence would spread the agents of the Order of the Hex or Order on any other world of and the Hex further across the planet sentients but found none. Disturbingly, and it might be impossible to remove however, in the ruins of two dead worlds, them strategically. The Watchers were fragments of technology were discovered. left with the unpleasant realisation that Though millennia old, the technology bore if they did not act soon they might need the hallmarks of those weapons used by to exterminate a large proportion of the Spica of Atlantea and though there was humanity to prevent further corruption no sign of life on either world perhaps there of their natural development. The had been long ago. Hegemony concluded that a decisive strike force must be deployed and remove RESURGENCE the Hex and Order once and for all. It had been almost over a century THE CLADES ASSEMBLE since the last observation when the Arkvault arrived in orbit. At first, all Operational command of the battlegroup appeared as unremarkable as before, was given to the Alphas of the Clades but a survey team from the Indigo Clade involved. Consisting primarily of myriad detected anomalous portal activity in from the Viridian, Magenta, Icterine, South America. After a Magenta Beta Indigo, Cerulean and Grey Clades, the and myriad were dispatched to the battlegroup was charged principally jungles to investigate it was found with the salvation of humanity. 83 v1.09

Translocating from the orbiting Arkvault, and his Conquistadores had arrived the host of some two thousand Watchers in the Bahamas looking for the fabled arrived ready for deployment. The Grey Fountain of Youth. The activity of the aboard the Arkvault had identified a Watchers had convinced the natives suitable landing point to construct a that something supernatural was taking base of operations. The Grey, Icterine place and when rumours reached Ponce and Indigo translocated to the surface de Leon, he became convinced that the on the islands of Bimini. Mindful of the goal of his quest must lie there. Defeating attack on their forces by the natives an unsuspecting patrol of Grey, the all those years ago, the islands were Conquistadores managed to gain access cleared of its indigenous population to a service tunnel. Adventuring beneath and the Watchers began to assemble an the islands many of the Conquistadores armoured beachhead from which the were killed or lost in the labyrinthine campaign could be conducted. network of corridors and vents. Fortune smiled on Ponce de Leon, as by chance FOOTHOLD he managed to avoid detection by the Watchers - until an encounter with a To ensure a ready supply of material and Magenta Lurker raised the alarm. troops for the task at hand, a gateway By this point the Conquistadores were was opened linking the base at Bimini deep in the alien complex and, though with the orbiting Arkvault. Over the they viewed the place as an ancient following months, the initial forces were temple of the gods, they understood expanded with the arrival of myriad enough of the architecture to know that from the Azure, Vermillion, Amber, the chamber ahead of them was a place Onyx, and Umber Clades. Their numbers of great importance. In actuality, the now swelling to over four thousand the humans had found the temporal relay base was extended further below the substation that supported the uplink surface. Geothermal generators and to the orbiting Arkvault. This apparatus atomic batteries were installed to supply was an essential part of the portal auxiliary power, though primary power technology and compensated for the was still supplied through the link with natural drift in space-time when using a the orbiting Arkvault. Scouting myriad portal over hundreds of kilometres. The from the Magenta and Azure Clades temporal regulator array was aboard the were deployed to not only secure the Arkvault but as the portal was required surrounding territory but also search for to be open to the planet for a prolonged traces of the Order or the Hex. period, the Icterine had incorporated a relay substation planetside to support THE DELUSION OF MAN the efforts of the ship. While his men ambushed the demons they found While the Watchers were busy preparing deeper in the cave (actually Icterine to strike down the Order in Europe, the and Grey working in the chamber), human explorer Juan Ponce de Leon Ponce de Leon stood transfixed by 84 v1.09 the shimmering fountain of light at Arkvault, causing crippling damage to its centre. Light streamed from him as the city-sized starship. With a flash that lit he crossed invisible protective shields up the sky, the Arkvault broke open and and entered the hazardous heart of the its shattered hull plunged towards the chamber. He was bathed in temporal planet. Even as its superstructure began energy, feeling both rejuvenated and to break apart as it slew through the impossibly ancient at once. atmosphere, the Watchers on the bridge of the Arkvault desperately tried to slow As though on holy or sacred ground, the craft and ensure that the impact did Ponce De Leon took a golden goblet not cause apocalyptic devastation to the from his knapsack and placed it into planet. Using what remained of their dying the fountain as though it would be strength, the Watchers ploughed the ship filled with life-giving waters. In a split into the uninhabited frozen southernmost second, his hand aged centuries and continent. The impact was felt in many then was gone. The goblet fell from parts of the southern hemisphere and his grasp and tumbled into the volatile caused tsunamis and firestorms that killed heart of the relay below. As he spun thousands, but the impact was not the around, clutching the withered stump planet killer it could have been and the of his hand, the sound of klaxons wailed shattered city-ship was buried under the and the chamber shook. Monstrous frozen sprawl of Antarctica. Magenta scuttled across the ceiling and the entrance was barred by a myriad of Vermillion Sentinels. The Conquistadores A NEW WORLD numbered less than a dozen and each In the outpost chamber, after what man knew that this must be their end. seemed like mere seconds had passed, the Then a pulse of white light filled the light faded and the Watchers recovered chamber and all was still. their senses. The Conquistadores had vanished, presumably vaporised and THE LINK IS SEVERED the surviving Alphas quickly moved to assess their own situation. The lower The gold from the goblet caused a levels of the facility were intact but spectacular and unanticipated chain everything from the first sub-level reaction to ripple through the apparatus. and higher was completely destroyed. The shockwave pulsed back through As the Grey brought the geothermal the collapsing portal vaporising all the generators online and the Icterine began Watchers within half a kilometre of the to make sufficient repairs to power up the portal gate on the surface. Within the relay surviving systems, establishing contact chamber and the surrounding complex, with the Arkvault proved impossible. the Watchers and Conquistadores were Once interference had been discounted frozen in an instant of time, protected from a closer examination revealed that the the terrible firestorm that raged above starship was gone, presumably destroyed them. The energy that pulsed through by the same cataclysm that had scourged the portal exploded inside the orbiting 85 v1.09 the base. The Indigo managed to smash give them purpose once more. For their way to the surface and a myriad of the present, they would have two key Azure were dispatched to reconnoitre objectives with each Clade contributing the immediate area. What they found to them as best they could. The first was at first confusing. The Humans objective would be to construct a large from Europe had settled the areas portal here on the Earth to reconnect previously uninhabited or inhabited by with the Sphere-Worlds. Though the indigenous peoples. Furthermore, activating such a portal would cause their technology seemed significantly in devastation for hundreds of kilometres advance of where it had been only hours around, it would be a small price to earlier. Cerulean infiltrators contacted pay to reconnect with their kin. Such the nearby human colony in the guise a portal would require a significant of travelling natives and confirmed quantity of materials, some of which the terrible truth that more than three would be difficult to source or replicate. centuries had passed on the Earth while The construction would likely take the the Watchers were frozen. The year best part of a decade to complete. In according to human reckoning was 1868. parallel to this first objective would be the second, to carry out the mission as AN UNCERTAIN PRESENT given to them by the Hegemony. Seek out the Hex and Order influence on Looking to their strength, the Alphas humanity and eradicate any trace of it. could count on less than four hundred This eradication would include any allies Watchers from the combined Clades. of these forces as well as any trace of This was not only insufficient to carry technology or other interference with out their primary mission but was also the natural progression of humanity. lacking the capability to immediately Already the Grey have begun improve their current situation. The construction of a new portal facility deep Watchers on Earth were left with a in Superstition Mountain in the Arizona troubling matter, after three and a half Territory. Incubation chambers have been centuries why had the Hegemony not designed by the Grey Elite and Icterine sent another ship? Presumably, their that will enable a new generation of Grey own Arkvault had been destroyed but to be cloned to reinforce the existing the lack of an update after a year or more Clades. The Watchers are not sufficiently would have been sufficient time for a numerous to conduct a large-scale open response. Yet nothing had arrived. Why? conflict on the Earth and so, for now, Riven by uncertainty, the Clades fell into must carry out their two-fold mission quarrelling and disharmony. The Amber discretely lest their enemies move too Alpha acted quickly and decisively to quickly against them.

86 v1.09

THE DARK COUNCIL OF THE HEX

The Hex just wants to be left alone. Hunted across the galaxy, the Hex has come to Earth to find a new home for itself. It calls out to those similarly abused and victimised so that it might find companionship and learn from their culture and endeavours.

The Hex has no sense of right and wrong, it only knows survival and the loneliness that eons of persecution have brought about. On Earth it has made new allies and bonded with many who are similarly persecuted, but the Hex’s gift of power is misused by humanity. Those who were the victim now have the strength to strike back at those who made them suffer. Led by a Dark Council the Hex manipulate and inveigle themselves in the great nations of the world, for only through control can they truly be safe.

From the pen of speculating that even in the coldness Doctor Burson Carpathian, of the aether, a flicker of life might be 27th October 1871 found. If they only knew the truth.

My beloved Veronica. DRIVE INCHOATE It is our anniversary once more and you The entity known as the Hex has existed are still not by my side. As I look back for billions of years. Where it came from, on the unfairness of our separation I or how it first came into being, none can cannot help but feel compelled to write say. Certainly, the Hex itself offers no this narrative in the hope that you might explanation on the subject. It is a being understand the nature of the faustian devoid of the concept of history, it keeps pact I have been forced to make. I hope no record and lacks all but the simplest that, in reading it, you will understand memories of its own past. The Hex is the what it has cost me, and what it may yet maxim of survival made manifest. It is cost me still. barely aware and yet driven with a single- It is said that life always finds a way to minded focus to survive at all costs. It is survive. Whether that is at the bottom of the quintessential fighter, an awareness the oceans, upon the highest mountain of existence without an awareness of self, peaks, or lost in the most inhospitable, driven to continue to survive against all scorching deserts. I remember the Amis odds, no matter what opposition might 87 v1.09 rise up before it, no matter what the cost. The Hex also remembers what Though that cost is great indeed. happened next.

MIND WITHOUT THOUGHT THE BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL Beyond its unending drive to exist, the The Helmera were destroyed utterly. Hex lacks awareness as most sentients Targeted by some force from beyond would understand such things. It is a Kerin, far outside the Hex’s own disembodied force, a creature of energy experience, the entire civilisation was that wants nothing more than to belong destroyed with a hatred it had never somewhere, to be a part of something encountered before. First to die were and to survive. It is driven by instincts those most closely related to the Hex. shared by every other organism in The entity had gifted vast stores of its creation to do whatever it takes to own power to several of the Helmera, continue its existence and to widen its and these were the first to be destroyed. understanding. Then the Tenebrae Seed, the crystalline geode matrix through which the Lacking any true sentience of its own, Hex interacted with the Helmera was the Hex is driven to bond with existing destroyed. The energy force at the core of minds. In doing so, it is able to utilise the being was diminished and damaged, those minds and the accompanying driven back out into deep space. body to provide form, function and purpose to its survival. Lacking a history, The Hex does not really remember the higher calling, or a culture of its own, it Helmera, but it does remember that it assumes these things from its partnered is hunted. The Hex does not remember organisms in order to thrive and perceive the Cupash either, or the Sindar, or the the universe through different eyes. Heelian nomads of the red planet. It has only the vaguest of recollections Although the Hex is unaware of its past of the seventeen attempts it has made on any practical level, the experiences to find a refuge. The attempts to find a that drive it exist somewhere in its being. partner in the vastness of space only to It recalls little of the Helmera, the first be thwarted yet again by the hunters civilisation ever to host the Hex, save for and forced to flee. Each time the Hex has their name and some detail of their world been driven from its adoptive world by of Kerin. It remembers when it called the hunters as they reduce to a charred out across that planet to draw several husk the natives that had offered the sympathetically minded Helmera to it. Hex the one thing it craves: a home. There is a vague recollection of bonding with them for the first time. It remembers well the flood of amazement and joy it THE SEEDS OF SURVIVAL felt upon first touching sentient minds, The hunters, known as the Order, are upon first looking at the universe with indefatigable. Driven by the need to physical eyes.

88 v1.09 survive against this ruthless threat, and understanding with those it brings the Hex has developed all manner into the fold, elevating them to positions of defences. Upon arriving at a new of authority and, eventually, clandestine planet, called there by some instinct control over any other local factions. it could never understand, it divides Through this eventual rise, the Hex itself into six equal Tenebrae Seeds. consciousness develops, using each Each Seed sinks through the crust of individual to multiply its own awareness, the planet, taking root far from prying experiencing the physical realm through eyes or population centres. In this way, the culture and intellect of the host. it hides its power from those that might harm. At the site where each Seed sets This process of influence and integration hold, massive quantities of biological may take centuries if not millennia on a matter are converted into Hex Essence. world to reach fruition. Once complete it This glowing, crimson ooze first forms is rare for the Hex to enjoy more than a a crystalline shell around the Tenebrae few years of relative peace and security Seed, giving it physical form, and latterly before the merciless Order return and creates a protective moat of viscous wreak destruction on those carefully fluid hundreds of feet across. From this crafted societies, driving the Hex back relative safety, each Seed calls out to out into the void once more. sympathetic minds amongst the native Occasionally the Seed’s call will go population; the outcast, the pariahs, the unanswered, its location is too remote castoffs of civilisation. for the natives to be aware or reach The Hex is a simple consciousness, it. By dividing into six it ensures that yet eternal. It knows nothing of the even if one or two Seeds go unfound, temptations of mortal creatures, the enough of the other Seeds will make a lengths to which they might go to obtain connection to ensure its survival. The power, and the depths to which they lost Seeds can then be rediscovered by might sink to keep it. Once these kindred agents of the Hex later in the process of spirits link with the Seed they can draw connecting with the inhabitants. Each on a portion of its power and strength Seed is linked to the others and even if which allows them to build a network of only one escapes the destruction of the further allies and support. This way those world, the Hex will survive. On its long who are linked to each Seed develop journey to a new home, the Hex will the influence in the world necessary to regenerate its missing substance until it protect themselves and the Hex as a is whole once again. whole. For physical succour, the Essence can be used to reshape biological matter THE DRIVE TO EARTH so that the desires of a being’s mind are made manifest in their flesh. The seventeenth attempt to create a home, on the planet Chy, was a true In exchange for this incredible power, disaster. The emotional and spiritual each Seed shares its need for inclusion connection between the Hex and the

89 v1.09 indigenous Chyne was particularly Hex had ever encountered. While the first difficult. Perhaps due to their crystalline Seed found a solid foothold amongst the nature, true symbiosis with the Chyne people of Thera, the second found none remained elusive even up to the moment amongst the warring tribes of Northern the dreaded Order arrived. This time, Europe to link with. That second Seed the Tenebrae Seeds had been unable instead watched and waited until the to create a sufficiently influential group emergence of the Roman Empire before of followers, and those that had aided it it felt the humans were advanced enough were quickly discovered and destroyed. to begin to establish itself amongst the The Hex was driven out, vast portions of civilisation there. its Essence burned away as the planet was scoured in stellar flame. The third Seed was supposedly found by monks of a particularly selfless The remaining awareness, insensate and introverted nature known as the with agony and its usual unfocused, Tian Shang who took it back to their emotive existence, sought desperately monastery in the mountains. I know not for safety. Drifting near the solar system what happened to this Seed, for it is as of the red planet it had once fled from lost to me as it is lost to the Hex. Perhaps aeons ago, for the first time the Hex the Celestians know more, but it plays found itself drawn back to a system no part in this narrative so let us give it it had visited before. Though the red no further thought. planet had been lifeless for hundreds of millennia, its neighbour, a watery blue The swamp-bound final Seed, so far world was home to an emerging race of away from the others, was left to its sentients known as humanity. own devices. It waited, dormant and uncontacted for centuries beneath the Not having recovered sufficiently, the Floridian swamps, the natives being Hex was only able to divide into four warned away by their so-called Great Seeds and fell to this new world in Spirit that nothing good would come the hope that this might be its final from contact. Unable to draw any of home. The first landed in the northern the local tribesmen into its sphere of hemisphere on an island known as influence, the Seed instead settled known as Thera while the second landed deeper into the wetlands. Its power near the frozen north of Europe. The leached through the murky water, third Seed fell far to the East in China, drawing what sentience it could from while the fourth landed far to the South the swamp dwellers and creatures in the steaming subtropical American of the dank, moss-shrouded wastes. swamplands that would in time become Unbeknownst to the Seed, its seeping known as Florida. power eventually reached a large, misshapen egg that had lain dormant, Though some four thousand years before ossified for millions of years. The creature our present day, even then humanity was that had laid such an egg had passed a diverse and complex a species as the from history so long ago there was no

90 v1.09 fossil remaining to tell of its existence. the Hex attacked, frantic to salvage what But nurtured with the crimson Essence of it could of the situation. The response the Hex, the egg quickened, eventually from these Watchers was equally hatching forth a creature who drew decisive and the island of Thera was on the link with the Seed to develop a engulfed in a fiery cataclysm, burying wicked intelligence and claim all of the the Seed deep beneath countless tons of surrounding bayous as her domain. lava, stone, and seawater. Lost beneath the waves of what came to be called THE ALIEN WITHOUT Mare Nostrum, the Seed was beyond the reach of the planet’s inhabitants, no After centuries on Thera, the first Seed matter the power that might be offered. developed its network among the sophisticated island culture. But then A SLOW RESTORATION something extraordinary happened. Something that the Hex had not The other Tenebrae Seeds recoiled from experienced on any of its previous host the destruction of the Thera. Now the worlds. Its adoptive home was visited by Hex was reduced to two active Seeds aliens. and its situation proved desperate indeed for the merciless Order were An alliance of different species, doubtless still out there in the world. collectively known as Watchers, had arrived from off-planet. The Hex It took more than a thousand years for the had never been present at a visit by second Seed to work its council of allies extraterrestrials before. In all previous into positions of influence and authority encounters with a new race of sentients, in the emerging European powers. it had been the Hex who had been Deep beneath the more obvious surface the alien presence arriving on their trappings of mortal power and prestige, world. The Hex did not recognise any these companions manipulated the of the Watcher species and that was rise of great empires that spread the both a source of fascination as well as influence of the Hex anew. concern. As it would anywhere else, it immediately set about drawing several of these newcomers to itself, thinking MY BURDEN to better understand their cultural On Earth, the humans who were drawn ideologies if possible. to the second Seed over time came However, the Watchers had their own to refer to themselves as the Dark mandate on the Earth and having found Council. Each individual considered agents of the Order already operating on worthy enough to join with the the Earth they brought them to Thera, Hex became a strong, driven leader not understanding the consequences despite their outcast status. The power this would have for the Hex and its gifted to them by the Hex made them human allies. With no choices left to it, formidable indeed. Linked as they were

91 v1.09 through the Seed, each member of the that in me it had met a being whose council was connected together on a indomitable will and all-consuming fundamental, spiritual level. By entering passion would reshape the gift it offered a trance-like state the councillors could into something that would change the communicate with each other over vast world forever. distances and through this telepathy came to know the minds of the others. In desperation, and half thinking it was Over the centuries it became a tenet a delusion of madness, I agreed and was for the Dark Council (insofar as the Hex drawn into the Dark Council of the Hex. had the need for such rules), that none I became immediately aware of other brought into its fold was capable of members in Europe, and elsewhere; the betraying its fellows. But the Hex had deeper and stronger pulses of energy never encountered a mortal such as I, and awareness flashing around the globe. I instinctively closed off his mind Burson Carpathian. and fell to my knees, burdened with an I had accomplished my scientific intense, spiking pain which threatened successes in virtual anonymity in to overwhelm me. Romania, sharing them with a small In that instant I not only gained the circle of friends and advisors through knowledge of all that had transpired metered correspondence. All of my for the Hex before this moment, but I grand schemes were tossed to the wind discovered that not only was I blessed when you, my beloved wife Veronica, with a pre-eminent genius but that I am fell ill with a wasting sickness so virulent also blessed with a rare brain chemistry that nothing I could do could halt its that enabled me to close off my mind to progress. It was at this lowest ebb, the others in the Dark Council. I would broken-hearted and despondent, that later learn that this was a talent never I inadvertently attracted the awareness seen before in a human. of the Hex, an entity all too familiar with isolation and fear. Tasting my dreams, I had the ability to hear the thoughts this kindred spirit reached out to touch of the others joined to the Hex Seed in my mind and introduce itself. Europe but could reveal nothing of my own mind to them, save that which I KINDRED wished to. I was now part of a larger collective, something bigger than the As the alien sentience reached out and man I had been and more far-reaching made itself known to me, it revealed than even the Amis I corresponded with. its own desperate troubles and offered I was part of the Dark Council of the me a chance to bond with it. With a Hex but on my own terms. A supremely simplistic understanding of the physical advantageous situation, as I am sure you universe, the Hex could not know how would agree, my dear. such an offer might be received by a man in my position. Nor could it know

92 v1.09

THE ESSENCE At the end of that first year, I felt the onset of crushing depression once again after I spent the next year learning all I could coming to the conclusion that the Dark from the Hex and from the other members Council and their limited knowledge of of the Dark Council. There was an easy the Essence could do nothing for you, familiarity among the Council due to the my beloved Veronica. While the Dark mental bonds that tied them together. Council continued to power play with I sensed very quickly that none of the the governments in Europe, I applied my others could isolate themselves from scientific mind to the very nature of the the gestalt in the way I had nor did they Hex and its Essence. I quickly became realise that I had done so. I parcelled out convinced that the Hex itself did not the occasional thought, the occasional comprehend the extent of its own power scheme or secret so that they would and how it truly interacted with the believe the link to be truly two-way, but creatures of the Earth. The alien power I determined to keep the knowledge of was, in some ways, laughably naive to the true situation to myself. the darkness inherent in humanity and how that could spark human ingenuity. I travelled all over Europe, maintaining I came to see links and combinations and strengthening the protective between the powers of the Hex and my web the Hex had spun around itself, earlier experiments that hinted at far gaining the full confidence of the other greater potential for this ruby Essence members. I discovered the nature of the than even the Dark Council seemed Hex Seed and, most interestingly of all to realise. The Hex could do nothing to me, that the base of this alien geode for you, but I was convinced there was was a huge subterranean reservoir of a something I could do to save you, given crimson fluid. The fluid was referred to as enough time. My goal was not a small the ‘Essence of the Hex’, but other than one. Once I realised the full power of the helping fuel arcane powers or being Hex, I would settle for nothing short of ingested to cause physical mutation mastery over death itself. or transformation, the potential of the fluid was largely untapped. The viscous, crimson liquid was often provided to THE TAINTED AND me in small doses as snuff and seemed THE HEX BEASTS to invigorate my mind by its very presence. Tantalised by the properties I have observed that the Essence of of the Essence, I thought that it might the Hex can cause physical warping of hold the secret to returning you, my creatures with prolonged exposure to it. darling wife, to health. I spent my In its captive state when used as RJ- 1027 fiercely guarded free time studying the power cells (I will explain about these fluid, plumbing its mysteries and power, later, I promise), the Essence is relatively seeking to unlock the potential I saw in harmless, however, should it be ingested, its vibrant ruby glow. injected or otherwise absorbed into the body the effect is quite different. The

93 v1.09 subject quickly exhibits the signs of Hex if not years after their transmutation. taint: their skin takes on an unhealthy But such stories are rare and for most pallor and their emotions are heightened the path of a Hex Beast leads only to a to an intoxicating level. The eyes of a volatile and violent death. tainted individual may also occasionally display a crimson tint that flashes and ENLIGHTENING OPPORTUNITY fades under certain conditions. The experience is highly addictive, but is not My peers in the scientific community of a true connection with the Hex. the Amis had begun to band together into a new organisation - the Covenant Should a tainted subject be mortally of the Enlightened. Ever the opportunist, wounded there is a chance, particularly I applied my genius to the aims of that if their death is drawn out, that in their new collective on the chance that they final desperate moments they will might further my goals. Gaining the inadvertently make contact with the trust and favour of various members Hex. At the crossroads of death, the of the Dark Council over a further two most likely response to a pitiful cry for years, I was finally granted knowledge of mercy or salvation is the silence of the the location of the European Hex Seed, looming void. Rarely though, the taint buried deep beneath the small city of within them makes a true connection to Innsbruck, Austria, high in the Alps. As a the Hex and they are infused with new member of the Enlightened, I now had life and energy. This is a crucial moment, the resources to act. only those with the strongest minds and sense of self can hold the energies I had been busy using my fierce intellect in check. Should an individual have the and will to obfuscate my intentions. strength of character a bond with the Trusting your brother, Vlad, to help me Hex requires, they return to full health bring together a loyal coterie of fellow and live to fight again. Those found countrymen, I used my contacts in wanting cannot control the energies the Covenant of the Enlightened like unleashed through their being and Herman Haupt and Gustav Eiffel to their flesh immediately begins to warp, supply the machinery and expertise their organs liquefying into volatile Hex needed to make my plan a reality. My Essence and, wailing pitifully, the cage first act against the Hex was to break of flesh stands again as a mindless Hex through the walls of the Schloss Ambras Beast. Mercifully such creatures do not using Haupt’s giant drilling machines live long. The Essence in their bodies and mechanical excavators. Once inside, catalyses quickly and within a few hours your brother and his men ruthlessly or days reaches a critical mass and they dispatched the Hex-warped creatures explode violently. There are tales of Hex guarding the site while I focussed on Beasts that have retained a link to their drilling down into the reservoir of former lives or have fallen under the Essence beneath the Schloss and the influence of a powerful agent of the Hex massive Hex Seed that lay at its centre. and continue to function for months 94 v1.09

The roughly cylindrical geode was this technology, and the Essence of the over twenty feet long, thick as four Hex, over the entire continent. men standing cheek to jowl, and warm to the touch. The enormous opal-like A NEW DARK COUNCIL mineral was placed into a sturginium- lined casket, before being loaded onto Elsewhere in the New World, the final a purpose-built wagon. The moment Seed had not been idle these past the casket was sealed, the Dark Council centuries. The nazombu witch Marie realised something was terribly wrong. Laveau had claimed the artefact as Although their gestalt ability to her own power source to rule over the communicate as a collective remained, denizens of the bayous as their queen. their arcane connection with the Hex This channelling of the Seed’s energy itself had been severed. The servants of was a beacon to those that had been the Dark Council arrived to reinforce the touched by the Hex in the past. site only to find my Enlightened and the Seed were already gone. Having been hidden amongst humanity for centuries, the enigmatic Shepherdess All this I did in secret, even from you, arrived at Laveau’s court. With the my beloved. You were so sick that I ability to mimic the form of humanity, did not want to worry you with the the Shepherdess claimed to have first risks I was willing to take. That journey bonded with the Hex on the long- as we absconded to the New World forgotten island of Thera. Laveau sensed together was the beginning of my new within the stranger something other- nightmarish existence as no sooner worldly yet also the touch of something did we arrive than you were taken familiar. While the Shepherdess was from me. Though death claimed you certainly not human, it was evident for now, I swore there and then that I that she had been linked with the Hex would dedicate all my genius to have and through that bond could share her you alive and at my side, no matter ability to disguise her true form. With this how long it took. gift, Laveau was able to move amongst humanity and spread her influence I placed the crystalline Seed at the free of the revulsion that her true form centre of my burgeoning industrial evoked in mankind. In the Shepherdess, empire spreading from a factory-fortress Laveau realised that she had perhaps I built in the American Wild West. found a true ally. From this base, I was able to utilise the crimson Hex Essence to power a raft of The Shepherdess was not alone, new technologies. To hide its origins, I however, for the beast-lord Carcosa Rex branded the power source RJ-1027 and had answered the call of the Hex and claimed that I had invented it myself. On presented himself and his people as today of all days I hope you appreciate another ally to the nazombu. Rex told the meaning of those numbers, my love. the story of his people, that they were Working from my stronghold, I spread the true inheritors of the Earth, the first

95 v1.09 people created by the Great Spirit in ages launched a clandestine war against my past. But the Great Spirit was ashamed fellow members of the Covenant of the by the Carcosa’s bestial nature and Enlightened in a bid to reach me and abandoned them in favour of creating find the stolen Hex Seed. humanity. Competing for resources in those early days, the human usurpers This war did not come without terrible hunted the Carcosa almost to extinction. cost. Since the disaster at Thera, the Hex Now Rex and his kind numbered less had avoided contact or conflict with the than three dozen and had heard the call Order through maintaining a low profile, of the Hex. Perhaps, by joining with the its supporters working from the shadows others Rex could obtain the salvation for to establish and maintain the protection the Carcosa he so desperately sought it needed. Now it is impossible for things and of course revenge on mankind. to return to the way they were. With my distribution of RJ-1027 over an entire In these three individuals, the Hex had continent, and a growing conflict that found itself a new Dark Council. might soon break out into the public consciousness, the Hex’s drive to survive CONTACT means that even if I can be found and dealt with, the status quo can never return. With the abduction and repurposing The hunters of the Order have emerged, of their Tenebrae Seed, the Dark and it is surely now only a matter of time Council in Europe had instantly lost before all-out war breaks out once more their connection to the Hex. They and this world, like the seventeen that remained politically inveigled and went before it, may burn in starfire. hugely influential despite the physical loss of power but their ability to trust The Hex clings to hope. Hope to forestall each other and influence the Crown, the seemingly inevitable by seizing back Commonwealth, Imperium and Alliance from me the technologies and the power was beginning to fade. They had to track I stole. Hope that then the Hex might be me down and reconnect with the Hex. able to burrow deeper into the societies of Earth. Hope that this time, unlike all Eventually, the Europeans learned that those times before, the Order will not Laveau, Rex and the Shepherdess had burn the Hex’s adopted home to ash in formed their own Dark Council, a unique an attempt to destroy it. alliance that excluded mankind. That could not be allowed to continue. The This is the price I am willing to pay, for enigmatic Third Man was dispatched what do I care of the world if you are not as an envoy from Europe to this new in it? Dark Council. After a meaningful display of his power which resulted in the death of the Shepherdess, the Yours forever, Third Man was accepted by Rex and Laveau and together the three of them Burson

96 v1.09

THE ORDER OF THE ALLSHARD

Existing in a formless realm of energy beyond mortal comprehension, the Order has been waging a ceaseless crusade against the malign influence of the Hex. On Earth, their followers believe in the righteousness of this cause but their true understanding of the powers they serve is shrouded in mystery and doctrine. For the men and women of the Order, they know that their crusade is just and that the very fate of humanity rests with them. With such a burden, the Order strive to put themselves above their human frailties and morality. The Order knows that should their crusade here on Earth fail; the world will burn.

From the confessional writings of the Order’s understanding continued High Sircan Horst Abner. to expand as they developed a thirst for knowledge that dwarfed the ambition Let me tell you of the true saviours of that had first driven them into the light. mankind. Their original name or what planet they might have called home While contemplating the deepest is now lost to time. But somewhere in workings of the universe the Order this fathomless universe, there was a found they were briefly able to re-join species who sloughed off their physical the material plane should their studies forms and ascended to a higher state of and curiosity drive them to do so; but being. Having departed from the physical time spent in the realm of the flesh was universe, they found themselves in a new anathema to them, its rigid, linear flow reality; a dimensional plane they refer as uncomfortable as gravity or any of the to as the Allshard. To those previously other limitations of the physical universe. bound to the perceptions of matter and energy, this realm took the form of a river A SHADOW ARISES of blinding light. Amongst this infinite stream of energy sparkled the very Within the Order’s ever-widening essence, the souls as it were, of those who understanding of the universe, they began came to be known as the Order. to sense the encroachment of a familiar shadow from the universe they had left The Allshard is a timeless realm, behind. This morass was known to them unfettered by the physical laws of our as the Hex, a relic of a life long forgotten. own. Within the cocoon of the Allshard, The Order, loath to allow the stain of this

97 v1.09 creature to corrupt the physical galaxy, felt and gathering fruits and berries from the first stirrings of compulsion in aeons. plants growing along the boundaries of The Hex had to be eliminated. the plains.

Bending their will upon the physical Even primitive societies have rules. With universe, the Order was able to touch rules come outcasts and misfits; those upon the sleeping consciousness of deemed unworthy of inclusion, who countless beings scattered among the had been relegated to the fringes, to stars. Refining this skill, they found that eke out what pathetic lives they could, not only could the subjects of this process demeaned and disrespected. It was convey information into the Allshard, but here, within these small, disenfranchised images, beliefs, and messages could be communities, that the Hex had taken subtly insinuated back into the sleeping hold, driving these outcasts further from minds thus contacted, in a process the the other Sindar, and then twisting and Order referred to as Gnosis. corrupting their flesh and their minds.

Through Gnosis the Order began to track The Order, driven by disgust and the shadowy taint of the Hex across the overconfidence, struck at the Hex too galaxies. Travel in the material universe soon, assuming their foe would be easily was the process of a mere thought for destroyed and thus the galaxy would be them, the entirety of creation in the aether saved from their debasement. The Hex, could be spanned in an imperceptible unaware of the Order’s existence, reacted moment. The consciousness of the Order instinctively and violently to the sudden found the still nascent Hex, studied it with attack. The Sindar who had been as hosts horrified fascination, and then moved and helpers lashed out in all directions, to destroy it utterly and erase its every arousing the ire of the nearby villages. trace from the backwater galaxy in which The entire emerging civilisation was torn they found it. It is worth noting that this apart in violent upheaval and open war. In distant galaxy contained an obscure ball the resulting confusion, the Hex escaped of dirt and water its inhabitants would into the wider galaxy with enough of its come to call Earth... essence intact to begin anew.

THE FIRST CRUSADE BURNING OBSESSION In one of the farthest corners of the Several things became clear to the firmament away from our Earth, the Hex Order at that time. The Hex, although a had settled upon a small, hot planet creature of energy like themselves, was whose inhabitants were millennia from limited in its power and scope. In fleeing discovering even the simplest machines. from the Order’s attack, the Hex revealed These four-armed natives, who called its inability to exist beyond the material themselves the Sindar in their own universe. The Hex seemed only able language, lived in discrete, primitive to touch upon a single world at a time, communities hunting the wide veldt which should, theoretically, make it

98 v1.09 much easier to eliminate it. The problem The initial phase of a Crusade begins with theories, of course, is that they can when the first hint of the Hex’s presence be disproved. on a world is identified. An exhaustive study of the planet’s societal structures An appreciable percentage of the is then conducted through the analysis Order’s capacity was deployed and of the dreams and subconsciousness engaged in the task of locating the Hex of the sentient natives in the process once more and this time eliminating it of Gnosis. This scrutiny is intended to for good. Through dogged persistence, find both the root of the Hex incursion the consciousness of the Order emerged and suitable organisations and also to from the bright river of the Allshard highlight individuals that the Order may for brief forays into the material realm. use as agents in the coming conflict. Countless lesser sentient minds were With the strength of the Hex corruption sifted through the scrying power of ascertained the Order are careful Gnosis for any sign of the Hex. to ensure that they have identified The events on the Sindar homeworld appropriate allies amongst the native repeated themselves again and again. inhabitants before declaring Phase One But now, aware that they were being of the Crusade to be at an end. hunted, the Hex proved far more elusive. As the Crusade moves into its second The Order perfected their ability to twist phase, the Order begins to shape the a society’s innate xenophobia to their beliefs of those native groups who have own ends, as the Hex always gravitated a sympathetic outlook on the tenets toward fringe elements of the societies of purity and discipline. The beliefs of they attempted to infiltrate. their unwitting allies are gradually and In time, as the Hex continued to evade subtly influenced towards a more close- destruction, the hunt took on a formal minded, intolerant worldview conducive structure. More and more of the Order to the persecution of the disenfranchised were drawn into the effort, their Hex-touched populations. Throughout higher contemplations and aspirations the first and second phases, the chosen abandoned for the destruction of the Hex. native allies are unwitting proxies in the Order’s conflict. Select individuals begin to have lucid dreams from a presence they CEASELESS VIGILANCE believe to be their godhead. The goal of the Second Phase is to use the population Through the millennia, the Order settled to cull those fringe groups and societies upon a fixed strategy in their efforts where the Hex might be harboured, with against the Hex. When the hated foe was the intention of eradicating the hated once again discovered, a crusade would shadow before it is allowed to fully take immediately be declared, following hold. Should the direct action aspects a rigid framework of events and of this phase of the Crusade fail, the techniques that would, it was hoped, groundwork will have already been laid bring about the destruction of the foe. for the declaration of the Third Phase. 99 v1.09

With this escalation of the Crusade, the of that single relic. All they know for Order will have consolidated its hold over certain is that their gods will direct them those organisations it has decided to use and provide instruction so that they may as proxies, imposing a more militaristic, play their small part in the greater plan. disciplined structure upon them. In addition, through Gnosis, the Order will During the final stages of Phase Three, agitate general trends of prejudice and a disciplined core of devout militia bigotry in the general population to arises: the Spica. These Spica will have create a hostile and deeply unwelcome been formed, trained in the use of these environment for the Hex. advanced weapons and are prepared to hunt down the Hex-influenced natives. The vassals of the Order will be inspired It is these holy warriors who are the to create advanced technologies and physical extension of the will of the Order. weapons for use against the Hex. These Over the centuries the Spica conduct a technologies are never imparted with the sacred but hidden war against the Hex education of the underlying principles. and the ruling Dark Council that serves Understanding of the technology is to push the Hex’s agenda of corruption not required, only explication. Through and murder. Relics such as the Spear of many generations of parents and their Light and Tumbler enable the Spica to offspring, entire bloodlines are focussed extend their campaign and reach even in the recreation of the weapons and the most distant or elusive of a tainted technologies required to defeat the Hex. populace. But there will come a point While one faithful family may perfect where even these fabulous devices are the replication of how to assemble a insufficient on their own to bring about complex relay or layer the steel for a the extermination of the Hex. sword blade, another may strive to achieve an exact copy of a sword hilt RISE OF THE COR CAROLUS that they were shown in their dreams. Others work on mining specifics ores, The replication of technologies is time- gem-working or learning how to inlay consuming and ultimately has its limits. inscrutable yet sacred holy runes into The more complex a technology, the the metal. Finally, a privileged family more families and generations must be would be shown how these elements dedicated to its creation. Something like combine to form this relic, such as an a relic blade might take a century to enter energised blade or portal emitter. This the service of the Crusade. However, family would now possess knowledge as technology such as the portals that allow to how the sub-assemblies are crafted or the Spica to instantly teleport between even become aware as to the identity of two points on the battlefield would take the other families who have worked over more than a thousand years to bring to the centuries on those components. A fruition. The final relic that can be taught thousand years might have been spent to a mortal mind is so complex that in across multiple generations of devout many ways the initial components are families all to bring about the assembly amongst the first revealed to the native 100 v1.09 servants. The completion of the first the Order wants in the Fourth Phase is Apothic Arch at the heart of the Order’s to become embroiled in a conflict with stronghold signals the end of that phase the mortal governments of the planet as and the commencement of the next. well as the Hex. A war on multiple fronts is unlikely to always be fought on the The Fourth Phase is marked by the Order’s terms. Better to restrict the Spica activation of the Apothic Arch. These and Cor Caroli to precision strikes of archways connect directly with the overwhelming power so that the natives Allshard and provide a bridge between can be strategically weakened and the the best warrior servants of the Order Hex confronted. By this time the Hex will and their patrons. Believing themselves have corrupted a small but significant marked for greater service, chosen portion of the planet’s population. Spica willingly enter the Apothic Should repeat strikes against their Arch expecting to receive some small post-war bases and supporters prove measure of the blessings of their god. insufficient and the Hex survives, Phase Instead, their bodies are invaded and Four will reach a conclusion. Under possessed by one of the ascended the direction of the Cor Caroli, the beings in the Allshard. After several construction of immense strongholds minutes of being wracked with agony, on each of the planet’s major continents the now smouldering host steps free is completed. These Bastion Armatures on the arch as a member of the warrior are hidden in remote locations and are elite - The Cor Caroli. These holy warriors staging areas for the final war against inform the assembled senior priests and the Hex. While the exterior fortifications commanders, the Sircan, of their true may be completed relatively early in purpose and finally, the real nature of the the Fourth Phase, it is the completion Order is laid bare for those leaders. With of the immense Revelation Gate at the the highest ranking mortal members centre of each citadel that signals the of the Order having now been made beginning of the Fifth Phase. fully aware of their role in the millennia- spanning conflict they are sworn to By the time the Order reluctantly secrecy. Only the Sircan like myself are commences with the next phase of privileged to know the truth of the Cor the Crusade, direct, open warfare has Caroli, the god-like alien masters we begun on all fronts. The Cor Caroli have must serve. grown to sufficient numbers and are deployed to seize every strategic and With the arrival of the Cor Coroli, the tactical resource on the planet to deprive Order’s Crusade is no longer relegated to it from their enemies. Every enclave the shadows, though a degree of secrecy of the Hex is attacked simultaneously, and restraint must still be shown. The instilling panic in the population and Cor Caroli will be too few and the Spica resulting in hasty, terrified reprisals from too mortal to escalate the conflict so the native governments in response to quickly that the native governments such violence. The entire world will be and powers be alerted. The last thing engulfed in war as the Order attempts 101 v1.09 to exterminate the Hex. The Cor Caroli servants of the Order and those corrupted are openly unleashed, and no quarter is by the Hex alike, are gone. The Cor Caroli asked – neither is it expected. This state of host bodies vaporise as the planet is total warfare may continue for years until cleansed. The eternal energy form of the Order determines that all indigenous each Cor Carolus is welcomed back into survivors have either sided with the the Allshard and a quiet vigil of several Order or have been infected by the Hex. moments is offered up to the memory When there is nothing to be saved the of the destroyed civilisation, another Order reluctantly moves to enact the final victim to the corruption of the Hex. Then phase in the last effort to destroy the Hex the eternal watch of the dreamers in before it can once again escape. the physical realm begins anew, in the anticipation that the Hex will emerge At the declaration of the Sixth and final once more on another planet. Phase, each of the enormous Revelation Gates is activated. Their true nature is Seventeen times the Hex has been revealed in that moment. They form a discovered. Seventeen times the Order portal, linking the gate room directly has come crashing down on them. And to the surface of the planet’s star. each time the Hex has forced the Order These gates unleash a burning tide of to burn a world. Each time the entity superheated gas that washes across the manages to escape and begins its cycle planet. Everything is destroyed; every of foulness anew. last vestige of the native populace, the

102 v1.09

THE EIGHTEENTH heart of the island to support what the Order believed would be the final battle After the eradication of the planet Chy of their long war. Within a generation, the Order believed that the Hex had the Cor Caroli would arrive to join their been completely destroyed at last. The servants in preparation for a massive crystalline-based native Chyne had assault. The Order supposed with some proven less susceptible to the touch confidence that their victory was at of the Hex, and their rigid, structured hand. But then Atlantea disappeared. minds had been more amenable to Gnosis. Despite this, it had still become An immediate campaign of Gnosis necessary to carry out the Sixth Phase on was begun, but none of their followers the world and burn it to ensure that the appeared to have survived the utter Hex was no more. eradication of the island. Even the subconscious of the tainted inhabitants For many years after the death of Chy, of Thera was unavailable to the Order there was no sign of the Hex and a as it appeared that the Hex enclave on feeling of hope began to emerge within Thera had been completely destroyed the gleaming river of the Allshard by a volcanic eruption. once again. Then the dreams of a soft, primitive people isolated within the There was no sign that the Hex had far spiral arm of a galaxy grew dark. survived the destruction of their island The unsophisticated inhabitants of the stronghold, but the Order was not Earth were not advanced far beyond the quite ready to believe that victory had ability to shape soft metals to their uses. arrived from such an unexpected and unprecedented quarter. They were right There was a darkness shading the to be suspicious. dreams of some of the inhabitants of Thera, a small, protected peninsula jutting into a long, narrow, land-locked FACTORS OF COMPLICATION sea. Through more careful observation, In all the time the Order had kept a the first two phases of the Crusade were watch across the galaxies for the taint implemented. A likely Hex infestation of the Hex, they had spared no interest was identified on Thera along with in the unrelated goings of the myriad of the most suitable force capable of lifeforms flourishing across a thousand confronting them, the people of the other worlds. So single-minded were neighbouring island nation of Atlantea. the Order in their crusade that entire The Crusade of Earth was well into civilisations were born, evolved and died the Third Phase, with Atlantean Spica without the all-powerful Order even working surreptitiously against the learning their name. Certainly, the Order tainted folk of the island city of Thera. had no concept that in the more recent The first Apothic Arch was nearing moments of the material realm, say a completion on Atlantea and construction mere few thousand years or so, that a of a Bastion Armature was begun in the close-knit federation of worlds had been 103 v1.09 formed, an organisation of sentient Confident with how they could impart races, unlike anything this galaxy had their technology through Gnosis to the ever seen before: The Watchers. humans of this cult, the Allshard moved at an expedient pace and within two It took decades of analysis and penetrative thousand years had progressed the Gnosis of the galaxy before the Order Crusade to the third phase with the Holy finally understood what had happened Order of Man at its heart. at Atlantea. At first, it was feared the Watchers were tools of the Hex’s Dark Since the resumption of the Crusade of Council, having clearly brought about Earth at an accelerated pace, the Holy the destruction of Atlantea. But it was Order of Man has developed quickly revealed that in this case, appearances into a well-disciplined secret army. Now were deceptive. These Watchers were known simply as the Order, we are a nothing more than younger races who fanatical force who mask our true beliefs had wandered unknowingly into the beneath the cover of a fringe religion. eternal war between the ancients. These In this way, carefully eschewing the galactic children would normally be of established concepts of Godhead and little consequence to the Order, but here the doctrines of the other orthodoxies on Earth they were a dangerous obstacle we can move amongst the spreading to the crusade. colonial powers to found enclaves across the globe. From these multiple RENEWAL strongholds, we are able to strike out against Hex activity and agitate the Keeping a wary eye out for any future local populations against the pawns visits from the Watchers, the Allshard of the Dark Council. Chapel-Fortresses maintained a vigil for many centuries have been built in remote areas as over the developing nation-states precursors to Bastion Armatures. Finally, of Earth. Eventually, after more than in my lifetime, the Apothic Arches have two thousand years, signs began to been assembled. The Cor Caroli finally emerge once more of the Hex taint. walk the Earth amongst the faithful - a The corruption was predictably more glorious sight to behold indeed. widespread in its resurgence.

As it was evident that the Hex was active ALLIES AMONGST THE HERD once more, the Order were forced to restart Yet for all of our recent successes there the crusade at the first phase. This time a have been setbacks as well. Our situation secretive religious sect, known as the Holy has become infinitely more complex Path of Man, proved the most predisposed since the appearance of other advanced towards the Allshard’s approach. Located technologies. These have suddenly in the densely populated continent of begun to appear across the continent as Europe, the newly daubed Holy Order if being purposefully spread to confuse of Man began to extend its power and confound our task. Perhaps these and influence throughout the region. are of the Watchers or even might be 104 v1.09 remnant Order equipment lost with THE ORDER MADE MANIFEST the destruction of Atlantea. Whatever their source, they are to be expunged The pinnacle of the relationship from the Earth with the same zeal and with our new Ottoman allies was the fervour as though they were infernal completion of the second Bastion Hex-blighted weapons. Armature. Though construction of the first had begun in the Rocky Mountains It is fortunate that in hunting down and many years previously, work had been destroying enemies of our orthodoxy we slow as it was carried out in secret and have found allies. After bandits using Hex- with limited resources. No such guile or tainted weaponry were found to be raiding restraint was required in the Ottoman the city of Edirne on the border with Sultanate and now a mighty Armature Greece, I despatched Sircan Dylan Callus has finally been completed. This and his Spica Iapetus to cleanse them from colossal fortress is known as Izadkhast the region. During this action Callus saved and lies amongst the rugged vistas of the son of an Ottoman noble and within Persia. The Bastion Armature located the year the Order had found sympathetic in the Rocky Mountains was finally supporters within the Sultanate. completed in 1870 and we have titled it the High City. Alongside Izadkhast they Sultan Suleiman Mustafa I has had his have become the focal point for most of eyes opened to the truth of the Order the Crusade’s activity. of the Allshard. Once he was given a version of the true nature of the Order As the regional politics developed, both that he could comprehend, he spent a in the Sultanate, but more particularly full day in counsel with his Grand Vizir, here in the Union, we have been Mehmed Pasha. Calling Callus to his disturbed to find more and more signs of court, he proclaimed that the Order of Hex taint emerging. The chaotic, rough- the Allshard were thereafter a permitted and-tumble nature of the western religion in the Ottoman Sultanate and borderlands is proving to be a perfect that he would consider whatever our environment for the Hex. The entity is requirements would be to establish driven to take advantage of the plight a stronghold in the Sultanate. His of the dispossessed and outcasts of the conditions were simple, firstly that his fevered expansion of this young nation. royal personage would be guarded by a To combat this rising corruption my phalanx of Cor Caroli at all times as he Sircans, under the guidance and with moved about his realm. Furthermore, the advice of our Cor Caroli, direct the the Sultanate required the Order to Spica in their training and preparation, deploy their forces alongside his own as stockpiles of advanced weapons build in the pursuit of mutually beneficial beneath the Bastion Armatures for the military objectives. These two points coming war. were readily accepted, and detachments of Spica are now routinely deployed I pray I have the strength to temper the alongside Sultanate forces. will of my masters in the Allshard. For if

105 v1.09 the Order cannot destroy the Hex here Sircan should I succumb to an assassin, in the American West or elsewhere in approaching old age or an accident. the world, then the burning of the Earth must follow. When in the field acting as the Allshard’s instrument she is equally impatient to bring about the unveiling of the THE ZEALOT AT MY HEELS Order’s true mission. This reveals itself as a disdain for the use of subterfuge My calls for temperance are heeded and stealth, instead portal jumping by many, as is my right as High Sircan, into combat directly and taking her foe but I am aware that there is a growing unawares with the precision application following building around that upstart of overwhelming force against those Elita Nura. Within our number she was tainted by the Hex through absorption only recently raised to the rank of Sircan of its essence or simply through being following years of service in the field manipulated by the Dark Council. She as a Mimreg during the Third Phase. finds that the seismic powers of her Nura’s selection was initially something Luminant Staff more than capable of of a disappointment to her, as with the eliminating either type of foe. construction of the Apotheosis Gates she yearned for the chance to join the For now her violent excesses and Cor Caroli. Unlike many of her rank within insistent urgings for progression of the the Order, Nura was fully aware of what Crusade have been forestalled by my apotheosis to a Cor Coroli entails but patient testimony and sermonising but this knowledge did nothing to dampen as open war looms ever closer it is only a her zeal. Her fervent desire to serve the matter of time before she gains enough Order more fully was thus recognised by support on the Council to convince the the Allshard and so Nura has been given Allshard to begin the next phase of the command of the Portal Vanguard - the Crusade. Nura’s commitment to the Spica Astraea. Order is absolute and her greatest fear is that her faith in its mission should be Nura believes that the last battle against found wanting in this most desperate the Hex fast approaches so she pushes hour, a fear whose voice she drowns out for Phase Five of the Crusade to be with strident calls for war. Should she enacted. As such, Nura’s voice is the learn of my true reasons for wanting to most extreme within the Order as she stall the furtherance of the Crusade she seeks to provoke a suitably devastating would decry me to the Allshard and encounter with the Hex that would perform a permanent excommunication justify the declaration of Phase Five and by severing my head from my shoulders. all-out war. Within the Council she is I pray I have the strength to see through considered a fractious zealot and I know my plan before I am discovered… she is marked to succeed me as High

106 v1.09

THE LAWMEN OF THE FEDERATED STATES MARSHAL SERVICE

The law is an elusive animal on the Union Frontier. After the brutal culmination of the Civil War, the western territories have entered the Dystopian Age, a time of such violence and upheaval that there is almost no hope for ordinary men and women to survive, let alone prosper. First amongst those who rise up to defend them are the Lawmen of the Federated States Marshal Service. These determined and resourceful men and women stand for the Law and act as judge, jury and, if necessary, executioner of those who would sow misery and mayhem. To: Whitelaw Reid, Editor, New York Tribune. LAW AND ORDER Sir, please find enclosed the article for Our great nation has grown and which you commissioned me. This piece flourished in the years since the explores the history and current status Founding Fathers landed upon our of the Lawmen of our nation. I have shores. When Abraham Lincoln interviewed a number of Marshals and considered the state of the nation, Sheriffs as well as their deputies as I laid he proclaimed that without laws, out for the folks back East the nature of this humanity could not flourish. He further vital service organisation. I look forward to stated that without men and women to receiving your feedback in due course. uphold them, the laws are not worth the parchment on which they are written. Minerva Bly, Tombstone, Arizona Territory, 1871 The men and women who enforce those rights and responsibilities are often *** the first, last, and only line of defence “Every citizen needs to know the limits between the innocent and those who of their freedoms, and the protections to would abuse and victimise them. I have which they are entitled as they go about extensively researched these individuals their daily lives. It is also necessary for a and have been fortunate enough to structure of punishments and strictures obtain several exclusive interviews. to be established, to ensure that everyone can enjoy the protections and rights of the Law.” – Abraham Lincoln

107 v1.09

SHIELD OF THE INNOCENT here that though the term Lawmen is used it is universally applied to both men While the Union Army is paramount and women who serve in the Marshal to the survival of the Union, they are Service. Though some older Lawmen a blunt instrument better suited to (and ‘Law-women’) have gone out of crushing insurrections and defending their way to make that distinction, for against foreign invaders than policing the vast majority that I interviewed, the communities and guarding against inclusion of both genders was so natural individual lawbreakers. When the Army that it warranted no comment. is deployed, countless innocents are often injured or killed in the process. At the heart of the Federated States Marshal Service is the concept that Government agents also move through the Law is sacrosanct, that it protects our great country. And effective as these and surrounds everything within the solitary individuals may be at flushing out borders of the Union. No man or woman, enemies of the state and threats to the regardless of social position or status, nation, they too, are ill-suited to the defence should consider their actions above of the individual civilian when the more the Law. The Law, the marshals believe, mundane laws of the land are being flouted. exists to protect everyone equally, and So when it comes to the protection of an to ensure that all citizens of the Union are innocent farmer, a blameless merchant guaranteed a fair and impartial field upon and their families, it is to the Lawmen of the which to strive for peace and happiness. Federated States Marshal Service that these people must turn. HIERARCHY OF THE SERVICE THE LETTER OF THE LAW So a little structure, then. At the top of the Federated States Marshal Service are the In order to understand what the Law has High Marshals, each responsible for a state become, it is important to appreciate or territory and all business conducted how it has evolved. I beg you to indulge therein. The High Marshals answer only to me and allow me to share a little history. the Nottingham Building and even then are granted wide interpretive powers A framework of professional law within their own jurisdictions. enforcement was established by the eastern states considerable years ago. Below the High Marshals are the It is known that the Federated States marshals, assigned to a major city or civic Marshal Service, based out of the centre within the larger state or territory. Nottingham Building in New York City, Relationships between marshals and has existed for over a hundred years, High Marshals vary wildly, from familial overseeing the establishment of local dynasties policing an entire state, to an regulating forces and the peaceful outright rebellion led by a large city’s implementation of the laws generated marshal against the dictates of that from Washington. I should point out territory’s High Marshal. For the most part,

108 v1.09 these men and women work together for books, and available for all to see and the greater good of the societies under read. The problem, however, comes their care, but there are fault lines built from the interpretation of that law. into the structure of the system that may Most statutes provide for a wide range shake the foundations of the Law in time. of punishments, for instance, and it This may be a cynical outlook, but it is a is up to individual Lawmen to decide pragmatic and honest one. what penalty is imposed. Further, each individual marshal and sheriff is given Below the marshals serve the sheriffs, extensive interpretive powers within looking after small towns, boroughs, their own jurisdiction, to decide what and other regions within the larger constitutes an infraction and what might jurisdictions. The sheriffs serve at the represent a simple misunderstanding or pleasure of the marshals, focusing on innocent confusion. those policies and priorities fixed at the higher levels through the use of deputies. Each Lawman is given wide interpretive powers and this can result in Deputies are civilians who have been considerable confusion when travelling granted special status by the High Marshal from one jurisdiction to another. In one at the request of the local marshal or region something that might be seen as sheriff. Deputies are the law-enforcement a minor transgression could command equivalent of citizen-soldiers and come the highest corporal punishment the from all occupations and walks of life. In next town over. The High Marshals are times of particular distress, deputies don constantly working to ensure that the uniforms that identify them as acting Law is being applied equally across the with the authority of the local marshal. land, but when so much power resides Deputies provide their own weapons in the hands of each local Lawman, such and equipment as well, forming more a task is not easy. of a well-ordered militia than a standing constabulary. If confronted with a Luckily, most established eastern particularly difficult case, a local sheriff jurisdictions have a long tradition of might deputise every able-bodied man precedent and custom to resort to, and woman in a town to try to bring and so implementation of the Law down a powerful criminal threatening throughout the more structured regions the general peace of the region. of the Union is generally equitable. Many of the marshal’s offices have been “In the soul of each law-abiding citizen functioning, in one form or another, since is an outlaw just waiting for their this structure was first put in place and chance.” – Judge Kingsley Stern their relationship with the Nottingham Building is well-established. A FLAW IN THE SYSTEM The newer territories, however, have The Law is the Law to any honest officer. proven to be a much more difficult It is codified, written in the ordinance region to assimilate into the existing

109 v1.09 structure and it is these that have claims, they will stop at nothing to force provided me with so much fascinating the Union settlers out of the territories insight into the real lives of these men and back to the safe havens of the and women. eastern states.

But the Union claims those territories FRONTIER JUSTICE and demands that their laws be followed there just as anywhere else in Wyatt Earp, High Marshal of the Arizona their domain. And so the Nottingham Territories is an imposing man. Well over Building has sent the High Marshals to six feet in height, with what could best impose the Law over the lawless, and to be called an ‘intimidating’ presence, he is protect the innocent civilians from those taciturn and hard to extract information who would victimise them. from. When he gives up his words, he is startlingly eloquent and his belief in “My fellow Lawmen and women, who dispensing justice is without question. have headed into the untamed frontier, are a special breed. We must be fiercely “Unfortunately, what works in a region independent. Resourceful. And utterly that has been civilised for over a dedicated to the Law.” He emphasises each hundred years might not be a perfect point with a slap of his hand on the table fit for territories still wet with the blood of those who carved them from the Each Marshal dispatched to the wilderness in the first place,” he says western territories knows that he or to me as we sit beneath the burning she is going to be alone and entirely Arizona Territory sun. dependent upon the organisation they are able to establish themselves. Their Wyatt Earp has made it his duty to serve marshals, sheriffs and deputies are each and protect the people of the Union responsible for an island of order and of Federated States from threats that safety amidst the chaos, with assistance might intrude upon their daily lives. often days or even weeks away. Laudable though this goal may be, it has nonetheless earned Earp few friends and Under such circumstances, the price of countless more enemies. His immediate leniency with lawbreakers is often steep family has suffered numerous personal and bloody. Each Lawman is forced tragedies at the hands of the lawless. to deal with this unhappy situation in Only his closest friends are able to their own way. Some maintain law and permeate the iron-clad demeanour he order through the force of their own maintains and so there are but few who personalities, granting wider powers can offer support and succour to the to the sheriffs and deputies beneath undoubtedly lonely man that must lie them. In so doing, they create a regional within the legend. character that might keep those tempted to veer from the righteous The enemies of peace and harmony on path on the straight and narrow. Others the frontier are everywhere and, Earp understand that terror is a superlative 110 v1.09 motivator, and so impose a rigid, brutal jurisdiction within your gloved hand can regime, where the slightest infraction is be a potently heady brew. punished swiftly with the full weight of the Law. This has resulted in a wide range of behaviours among the marshals of Only one thing is certain in the Wild the West. Although the vast majority West: The Law is a harsh, fickle mistress, of Lawmen came to their occupations and she often bows to the strongest honestly, through a genuine desire suitor. In the face of such challenges, to protect the innocent and hold the many a lesser man would have given up chaos and violence at bay, a lifetime a long time ago. But according to Earp’s of such struggles, especially against close friend Henry John “Doc” Holliday: the mounting odds currently piling up “Mother Earp raised no shrinking violet.” against the territories, cannot help but So Wyatt Earp continues to heft his take their toll. Even the strongest will shield and shotgun and strides out to may break if the burden of blood and the clink of spurs, ready to dispense death becomes too heavy. justice. He is rightly feared by those he faces in the city of Tombstone or further Among the High Marshals of the West afield, because he brings hell with him. are men and women who have come to very different methods for dealing with “The western territories are a violent, this pressure. Following my interview chaotic realm where the succour of the with him, I ascertained that Wyatt Earp eastern states is a distant hope, and has evidently retained a great deal of too far away to help the brave men and the humanity that drove him into his women trying to wrest a living from the lofty position in the first place. The Law unforgiving earth.” – Wyatt Earp within the Arizona Territory is as fair as he can make it, and a man or woman GUARDIANS OF THE WEST crossing through that arid region can hope for equitable dealings with the As has been true throughout time, those marshals and sheriffs they find there who dispense justice carry the greatest if they keep their wits about them. power in their fists. Back East, the marshals Unfortunately, as a traveller passes are kept in check by a rigid framework beyond the lands ruled from the rough of tradition and precedent that holds and tumble town of Tombstone, there them accountable to the politicians and is no telling what situation they might bureaucrats above them. In the western find themselves in next. territories, no such framework exists. “They call it the town too tough to die,” I Because of this, the men and women am informed by one of Earp’s deputies, who rise to positions of authority within a man well-known for gambling these lawless tracts tend to hold far infringements in border towns across more power over their fiefdoms than the nation. “I reckon it’s the town too their eastern cousins. Holding the safety damn stubborn to die.” of every man, woman, and child in your

111 v1.09

“The true character of mankind is dark, He began his career in Boston, a brilliant and must constantly be offered object and much-respected attorney-at-law lessons on the price of malfeasance, lest whose passion for ensuring justice was they wander from the bright path.” served brought him not only great – Judge Kingsley Stern respect from his fellow lawyers but also tremendous wealth. Focused on his FRONTIER JUDGEMENT career and with no intention of marriage or children, Stern demonstrated Every soul living in the frontier must remarkable acts of philanthropy, navigate their way through life by providing for those who had none. The utilising their personal moral compass, people of Boston loved him, but the regardless of whether the needle points criminal element rightly feared him. For to light or shadow. Soldier or miner, those unfortunates who transgressed outlaw or deputy, each has their own set too far above the law, the name Judge of standards, a code by which they live. In Stern was associated with a long drop the case of Judge Kingsley Stern versus and short stop. the criminal fraternity, that compass The lawlessness of the frontier of the points unshakeably to the creed that Federated States attracted his attention, guilt in all cases is a given fact. Only the drawing him to the territories as a severity of the transgression matters. moth to a flame. He learned swiftly Judge Kingsley Stern is an itinerant that the soft and privileged life he had Lawman serving in the territories. Judge led back in Massachusetts had not Stern is best described as a roving one- remotely prepared him for life out here. man lynch mob utterly convinced of his Subsequently, he set aside his law books, own righteousness. He believes that at applying his determination to mastering the heart of each law-abiding man is the arts of self-defence. That early an outlaw just waiting for his chance. training has long since metamorphosed In contrast to Earp, Stern is more than into an ability to dole out justice at eager to give me his opinions. the end of his beautifully crafted and masterfully balanced hammer. Judge Stern’s understanding of the law is so rigid that he has been known to hang What could be seen as a ‘hang ‘em high’ his own deputies on more than one approach to the law has drawn criticism occasion when he thought they might from other Lawmen who feel that have overextended their responsibilities. Stern’s zeal occasionally blinds him to In one instance, a sworn deputy stopped circumstance. Stern is not bothered by a bank robbery in progress by shooting the opinion of his fellow Lawmen, but dead the perpetrators. But the man was out of respect for their station, rarely not in uniform, and so his story came to deputizes among their ranks. Instead, a quick and painful conclusion at the he hires and deputizes people from end of Stern’s hanging rope. many walks of life who are eager to prove their worth. More often, their lack

112 v1.09 of experience and training means that There were dark things lurking in the Stern rarely gets to re-use their services. canyons, arroyos, deep caves and pine forests of this unforgiving and Only one thing is certain in the inhospitable terrain. Twisted monsters territories: Law or no Law, a man or from the darkest tales of the Old World woman intending to live out their days stalked the night for prey. A Lawman so far from civilisation takes their life and freshly arrived from the East might look livelihood in their own hands. askance at these stories, unwilling to give the slightest credence to the numb NO EASY PEACE babbling of an exhausted madman. But all too quickly, that veneer of genteel The end of the Ore War saw a massive disapproval would be worn away, or that influx of settlers flood throughout the particular Lawman would be heading western territories. They came from back East, all too often in a pine box. the defeated Confederacy, fleeing the brutal destruction of cities and towns; “My mom always said she heard that they came from all over the Union, Bass was so tough he could spit on a looking to take advantage of the vast brick and bust it in two!” lands of opportunity opening up before -Willabelle Shultz them. Each of them came with all of the preconceived notions of their past lives THE RESTLESS NATIVES firmly grasped in their whitened fists. The Union rightly claims all the lands With this exodus of new flesh came between the Dominion of Canada in the those who would prey upon them. North and way down South past Gran Confidence men, hucksters, and snake- Columbia to the Socialist Unity of South oil salesmen flourished, willing to American, but the natives of the so- take the last penny from a desperate called Warrior Nation believe differently. farmer new to the harsh conditions and These native tribes pose a wholly isolated lands. Desperados sweeping different kind of threat. Although the up from the South, or wandering in Lawmen in the East have been swift to from the broken Confederate armies, dismiss the tribesmen as vicious beasts, felt no qualms at earning a living off the those tasked with bringing Law to the backs of the hard-working farmers and territories believe differently. ranchers trying to make new lives for themselves in the territories. The Warrior Nation might not accept the rule of the Union of Federated States, but But in addition to these dangers, classic they still have a code of lawfulness of their archetypes of violence and greed that own and they impose it upon any who have existed for thousands of years, new, live on their ancestral land, no matter more insidious dangers arose to threaten what Washington or the Nottingham the men and women who would make Building might think. All too often, a the territories their homes. naïve settler might transgress against

113 v1.09 this native law, and feel the sudden his current path. Still under-resourced and irrevocable punishment crush him and over stretched, Reeves now fights into the dirt. It is the uneasy task of the valiantly to stem the flow of attacks Lawmen to untangle the intersection of on civilians. With the Apache Kid at his the Law of the Union and the Tribal Law, side under oath of a life-debt and Chief and navigate a path forward that might Raven Spirit lending him braves to help not result in open warfare. Fortunately protect the townsfolk under his care, for us all, there is a man up to this difficult Bass Reeves has become something task of upholding the law in the region more than that which he was. He has known as Indian Territory become legendary.

No lawman has earned the respect of the Warrior Nation to the degree afforded OTHER DANGERS Marshal Bass Reeves. His reputation In addition to these other dangers and for both fairness and determination, difficulties is the cabal of so-called coupled with his skills at the fast draw genius scientists who have swept across has settled many of the disputes he the western territories since the ending dealt with during his long career in that of the Ore War. Most of the Covenant troubled region. Grimly determined and of the Enlightened’s factory-fortresses fiercely loyal, Reeves commands the established after the war are scattered respect of those who follow him. With throughout the West. These semi- over three thousand outlaw arrests to his autonomous enclaves tend to police name, Reeves is valued by the Lawmen themselves, not allowing Lawmen of for his ability to deploy a cool head and any stripe near enough to impose the rein in the sort of impetuousness that Law. As their influence grows, they often Marshal Earp is known for. Consequently, spread that dubious protection over for newly appointed sheriffs, it is Reeves surrounding towns and settlements, whose activities in the East are cited as creating tension with the local marshals. the shining light to which all Lawmen should aspire. The Union Army, having received their orders from the more centrally-controlled Indian Territory encompasses not only high command in Washington, tend grounds sacred to the Warrior Nation to leave the Enlightened’s burgeoning but also land around an Enlightened forge-cities alone except in the instance Promethean Complex. In addition, of truly egregious offences, or if their there are numerous outlaw camps and name is Odysseus Grant. The Lawmen, the hunting grounds of a fell creature however, often feel the diminution of known as Wicasasni. Bringing justice their own authority more keenly, and and security to the towns in such a refuse to be called off so easily. The place proved an impossible task, even marshals and sheriffs work within the for Mashal Reeves. However, after he letter of the Law, but to the settlers saved the son of Chief Raven Spirit, the caught in the middle, this distinction so-called Apache Kid, Reeves was set on carries little weight. 114 v1.09

The tension between the Lawmen and the The Rangers are a force of roving Union Army is perhaps the most frustrating Lawmen who trace their roots back aspect of enforcing peace and justice in through Texas and the fierce battles the territories. The Army is often called waged there against all manner of foe. upon to deal with uprisings, large-scale Semi-autonomous units of sheriffs that savage incursions, or massive outbreaks operate in the grey space between of lawlessness. And when the Army is jurisdictions, the Rangers go where they unleashed upon the territories, they care will, and are not afraid to follow the very little for any civilians who make the scent of wrongdoing no matter where it mistake of standing inadvertently in their might lead. Although a band of Rangers path. To the military mind, the destruction riding into a marshal’s town might cause of an entire frontier shantytown might be some friction, most Rangers are savvy considered a small price to pay if a threat enough to finesse local politics in their to the Union can be contained. When an favour, and seldom will such tensions be overzealous commander is dispatched allowed to rise to a level that interferes into the territories, most Lawmen feel it is with the work of either group. their duty to protect the population, even from their own defenders. “At last, after thinking a heap about it, I came to the conclusion that I always did: that the boldest plan is the best THE FRINGE OF THE FRONTIER and safest.” – Wild Bill Hickok As dangerous and dark as the territories are, there are lands even stranger that A LEGENDARY RANGER lie beyond. The threats that menace the settlers of this region may be manifold, Some men earn their legends. Others but in the grand scheme of things, most contribute to the legends of others. of those can be handily dealt with by Some, like the Marshal known as ‘Wild’ Bill the stalwart folk who have dedicated Hickok, simply make their own legends themselves to the Law in the West. up and recount them for anybody who will spare the time to listen. Hickok is a When times grow truly desperate, and charmer; a story-teller extraordinaire and the enemies of peace and order become a man well versed in what the renowned too much even for the High Marshals to showman P T Barnum would call ‘the handle, the Lawmen know they must noble art of humbug’. He knows well the be able to call for aid, or the dream of magic a good yarn can bring to others, a civilised West will be lost. Short of having spent some considerable time calling upon the Union Army to come with a travelling show in his younger and crush the delicate balance of power years. His marksmanship skills were as and freedom beneath their hobnailed sharp then as they are now and many a feet, there are two organisations within contented visitor would leave the show the wider law enforcement community that night swearing that they truly had that can be summoned to help the local seen the greatest gunman on Earth. Lawmen when things get out of hand. 115 v1.09

For all his dramatic tendencies and his exaggerating and as long as he has a overblown, often hugely exaggerated glass of whisky, a comfortable seat and tales, Hickok is a canny, shrewd soul. Like a willing audience, he will still wheel so many of his ilk, he fell into the role out the showman of old and entertain a of Lawman without intending to. When crowd with the wild tales of Wild Bill. he first came out West, he did so with the intention of setting up a travelling Despite the somewhat menacing air show of his own, perhaps bringing of many Rangers (what Ranger Myrtle entertainment to what he perceived suggested I do when asked if she was as the poverty-stricken settlers of the prepared to be interviewed cannot be frontier. Instead of the struggling little reprinted, for example), men and women shanty towns he envisioned, he found like Myrtle and Hickok are veterans, flourishing settlements, rich with spending their lives on the bleeding prospects, loaded with opportunity edge between civilisation and chaos. and marred by those who operated If a marshal needs help but is loath to outside the law. Along with his friend turn to the Union Army, the Rangers are and fellow former showman, Bill Cody, always willing to answer the call. he excelled in the field of scouting and “Is there any way I can get this stuff off reconnaissance. As a young ranger, he my fingers without betraying my calm discovered a love for this unexpected exterior?” – Investigator Helena Miller new career and when Cody headed back East, Hickok remained, eager to keep his skills as one of the newly-named Rangers INFERNAL INVESTIGATIONS sharp and focused. He grew strong and When the darkness truly falls, and powerful, mastering the use of a rifle as the stuff of nightmares crawls out well as his pistols. beneath the clearing skies, only one As the years passed, Hickok took others group can shine a light on the taint under his wing, training them in the and corruption to enforce the Law. The arts of wilderness living and tracking. Bureau of Infernal Investigative Affairs, One young woman in particular – Grace an elite band of Lawmen working Myrtle – has grown to be every bit his directly out of Washington, who equal in skill and is in possession of a specialise in investigating the very personality as big as his own. They have worst crimes and infractions. Although become confidantes, even good friends many of the greater mysteries of the and he values her opinion more than Earth defy description or analysis, it is he’d ever openly admit. the men and women of Infernal Affairs who strive to keep the Frontier safe The stories of his own greatness that from the depredations of those malign he told in his youth have long been menaces that stalk the long nights. forgotten, replaced with stories that are every bit as true as he tells them… When some purportedly horrific creature mostly, anyway. Hickok is still fond of begins to threaten the peace of a frontier

116 v1.09 town, or a law-abiding citizen suddenly single marshal, sheriff, or deputy draws goes insane with rage and bloody- breath, that Law will be defended. minded murder, it is the marshals of Infernal Affairs who are dispatched to Their motivations are infinite, and their deal with the threat. methods range from the terrible to the inspired, but the dedication and It is Infernal Affairs who ‘watch the commitment of the Lawmen of the watchmen’. Should a Marshal, Sheriff western territories cannot be denied. or Deputy overstep their remit and put There are no riches to be had within themselves above and beyond the Law, the letter of the Law; she makes no it is Infernal Affairs who are mandated guarantees of fame or fortune. Most of to be the judge, jury and, if necessary, these men and women will struggle executioner of their fellow Lawmen. This against the darkness all their lives for ominous duty, along with the necessity little more than a roof over their heads, that Infernal Investigators have pre- warm meals, and maybe a timid smile eminence over their fellow Marshals or hushed greeting as they walk down and Sheriffs causes no end of grief and the street. Many will gasp out their frustration among those who perceive last breath into the dust of the desert, themselves to be the ‘real’ Lawmen in taking a bolt or blade meant for some the Frontier. But when desperation is innocent settler. But they answer the call the watchword of the day, most High nevertheless, willing to sacrifice their Marshals will concede and accept help own peace and happiness for the Law. from any quarter. Each Lawman, be they Marshal, Ranger, “I believe it is your round.” Infernal Investigator, Judge or Deputy, – Doc Holliday carries a thin tin shield or star on their person. This symbol, all but worthless TINMEN in the wider world, represents lifetimes of commitment and obligation to The western territories are haunted by an ideal without which they believe all manner of dangers, but they are filled civilisation cannot survive. They are the with opportunities as well. As long as first and only line of defence between settlers move westward seeking a new the falling night and the true wealth and better life, there will be those who of the Wild West: her people. They are follow close behind or wait up ahead in the guarantee of a quiet night. They cowardly ambush, to take advantage of are the promise of peace in the face of their innocence and naiveté. But there is viciousness and greed. Law, even in the West; and so long as a They are the Lawmen.

117 v1.09

OUTLAWS OF THE UNION FRONTIER

The Outlaws are a rag-tag mix of men and women. Each forging their own path in the world, each fiercely independent. To the Union and Lawmen, they are viewed as desperate and dangerous criminals. The term outlaw is as a slur among the men and women of the Union. In these troubled times, where war and wages thrive, cut- throats, bandits and mercenaries inevitably follow.

Separately, the Outlaws flock to charismatic men and women who offer them, fame, fortune or a glorious destiny. The Dystopian Age makes such individuals into outlaw nobility, their services for hire as displays of power to intimidate others. Outlaws can turn a rich man into a dangerous one. Of course, it goes without saying that this any relationship based on coin quickly turn predatory if an employer fails to keep his mercenaries well paid.

Though the Outlaws are a varied bunch, they largely fall under one of four Affiliations. The Mercenaries are those outlaws who fight only for money and power. Aided by biomechanical implants and experimental weaponry acquired on the black market, these Outlaws lead a reckless and fugitive lifestyle. They are less concerned with noble causes or lofty ideals and instead are driven by promises of fame and fortune.

The Confederate Rebellion continue to fight the Ore War on behalf of the southern states, even though that Civil war ended more than a decade ago. The Conquistadores are a band of supposedly immortal explorers who find themselves on a holy quest, fighting injustice as they go and answerable to no-one but their god. Finally, the Golden Army are the brave revolutionaries fighting to free their beloved Mexico from the oppressive Union.

Report from Judge Kingsley Stern a sad truth of the times that there are to High Marshal Frederick Douglass, those who have more and those who Washington have less and despite this being one of society’s natural laws, there will always It is my duty to report to you the current be those who will take what they want state of affairs regarding the miscreants without regard or care for those from who consider themselves outside and whom they take it. above the great Law of our nation. It is

118 v1.09

I have come to consider myself JESSE JAMES something of a shepherd to the people of the untamed Western Territories but Above others, this name must be marked no matter how diligently a shepherd and noted. It is said that the mercenary tends his flock, there is always a single man sees opportunity where others rule that must be observed. The wolf buckle in adversity. The recent Union Civil will have his day. And those so-called War and the perpetual border clashes Outlaws are imbued with predatory around the world present many chances natures. In a difficult environment where for personal gain. But in the lawless hard-working men and woman barely regions, the retribution for a failed gambit scratch a living from the unforgiving can be swift and it can be merciless. In terrain, these wolves thrive. Our world these hardened Territories, it appears that is changing and these Outlaws adapt Jesse James has gambled all that he has swiftly. They are in possession of three and all that he was in order to become a key qualities: strength, charisma and self-style ‘King of the Thieves’. cunning. By themselves, these traits are His very name is synonymous with useful to those seeking success in our division. Most law-abiding folk see world. When all three are combined… him as nothing more than a common that is where the real trouble begins. criminal: a thief, a bandit, a con-man When operating separately these and, most crucially, a killer. But despite Outlaw leaders are a danger, especially the blatant evidence of his crimes, there when they sell their services and ally are still those who consider this rogue themselves as mercenaries with our to be a hero, a paragon of the people enemies. What is most difficult to whose goals are thought be worthy and counter, however, is when these outlaws awe-inspiring. The man is an enigma band together in common cause. Usually and plays his cards close to his chest – it will be for a share of whatever spoils literally and figuratively. are to be plundered from criminality, He led a recent raid (and I am reluctant to but there have been cases where mutual acknowledge, a daring one at that) on the hatred on the Union or the Law has been newly-established Heavy Rail line, which sufficient to make temporary bedfellows supplies the border forts and Marshal of the most unlikely of miscreants. stations out here on the frontier. James I have taken it upon myself to detail those and his posse successfully de-railed the most likely to become known across this RJ-locomotive, an act which scattered a great nation of ours. Each is dangerous year’s worth of guns, vehicles and other beyond words and the Federated States equipment across the desert just west of Marshal Service should not rest until Kansas City. Before the Union had even they are brought to justice and taken to drawn up an inventory of the stolen goods, the gallows to feel the righteous caress any number of outlaws under James’ of the noose at their throat. banner were armed to hilt with weapons just as powerful as those back east, given

119 v1.09 that they originated at the Pipeworks. In headstrong and impetuous, Bonney rarely this one, bold act, Jesse James has shifted teams up with Jesse James. When he does, the balance of power out here. things allegedly flare up and the two egos clash. It is a simple case of Bonney It is my understanding that the man perceiving James as a broken man who should have been dead a long time ago, has served his purpose and who should but whether it be luck or some greater make way for a faster, younger man. In power at work, the man cheats death return, James likely sees Bonney as not repeatedly. A fight with a vicious beast only a challenger to his ill-fitting crown, known as a Weylyn (see my report on the but as little more than an upstart. It is said Warrior Nations) did not stop him and by that James coined the sobriquet ‘The Kid’, all rights it should have: both arms were which Bonney allegedly despises. ripped from his body. Bonney champions the opportunistic Further investigation suggests that James Carpathian’s RJ-1027 technology in its forged an alliance with Burson Carpathian, many forms and has been quick to switch the infamous scientist from the Covenant to ‘juice’ as the fuel is known colloquially. of the Enlightened. Carpathian’s name He utilises modern weaponry in his will appear over and over again in my various criminal activities, which include reports and I attribute much of the but are in no way limited to, bank and woes of the Frontier, as well as our great stage robberies, street brawls and on country, to that detestable technological occasion, simply ‘settling an argument’. autocrat. Whatever deal James struck He has been heard to bad-mouth Jesse meant that Carpathian gifted him with James in public on more than one two extraordinarily crafted artificial limbs, occasion and his jealousy of Carpathian’s said to be quite exquisite and intricate in ‘gift’ apparently knows no bounds. design. Bandits I have questioned (shortly before hanging of course) believe that the From reports – and from first hand price of this ‘gift’ means that Jesse James observations – Bonney has no sense of is now at Carpathian’s beck and call. I can’t guilt or remorse relating to the murders imagine a man like James cares much for that he commits and I am forced to Carpathian, but nonetheless, he has been conclude that the man revels in the given another opportunity to take and sheer, bloody joy it must bring to his steal from life what he so clearly believes repulsively tarnished spirit. William he is entitled to. Bonney is man quick to anger, quick to revenge and, it appears, quick to round BILLY BONNEY AND HIS up like-minded individuals who share REGULATORS his goals. He is the leader of a hopelessly loyal A man with a reputation as large as Jesse gang known as the Regulators, who James will naturally cast a shadow in tread a curious line between notoriety which other, lesser men will eternally skulk. and legitimacy. This is down to the William Bonney is one such man. Young,

120 v1.09 interfering of desperate Lawmen, men down more duel opponents than any and women who I am adding to my list other man in the West and this may well of those who require justice to be served be true. It is certainly not something our up to them in due course. deputies contest – at least not to his face.

For all his anger and youthful belligerence, Despite his tendency to bear grudges Bonney’s nature, I suspect, belies a and pursue personal revenge against calm, calculating intelligence. He acts any number of foes, Ringo is, in his own instinctively, but it cannot be disputed way, a superlative leader, commanding that at times he will plan meticulously respect and fear from those who follow before engaging in any sort of activity. his command. He is equally at home planning a bank heist as he is at opening He is young and physically impressive, and fire on a Lawmen posse just for the sheer it is this youth and vibrancy which lends and unbridled joy of it. him an edge that not even Jesse James can enjoy. To utilise the vernacular used by Ringo harbours a particular hatred of our these outlaws, he is the quick – and those own High Marshal Wyatt Earp and the in his way will likely become the dead. other Lawmen attached to the city of Tombstone. It is surely a matter of time JOHNNY RINGO AND before that situation comes to a head. HIS COWBOYS For now, Ringo and those who follow him stampede their way through the West, There are those in the frontier like the hard- robbing, killing, gambling and drinking working Lawmen who occasionally earn their way to their notion of glory. a degree of public repute through acts of selflessness and heroism. But there are more PANCHO VILLA AND HIS by far who become famous during their GOLDEN ARMY own lifetime for infinitely less salubrious acts. Those are the men and women for We move further south from the western whom the taste of notoriety is a finer wine frontier lands with this individual. Pancho by far. Johnny Ringo is just one man among Villa was born and raised in the hills of many mean-spirited, foul-mouthed and Northern Mexico. He is the eldest of five lawless villains, but he is also by far and children and records suggest he grew away one of the most bloody-minded. up in comparative poverty. As is often Set apart from many other by dint of his the way with large families, an individual inherent charm and good breeding, Ringo swiftly learns that the best way to be is supremely arrogant and self-absorbed; noticed was by making the most noise – using his “superior” intellect to bamboozle and Pancho Villa makes plenty of noise. his underlings and impress the gullible. As he grew from boy to man, what is Ringo is a crack-shot, cold-blooded killer; certainly a hair-trigger temper clearly a marksman without peer and he is justly dictated his path. In common with his feared for it. He is rumoured to have taken contemporaries, he is a bitter man,

121 v1.09 perpetually angry at what he sees as a number of interrogations of many of the unfair hand that Fate has dealt Villa’s cronies and followers. It is believed him. These traits have produced a most that he had a chance meeting with the dangerous individual indeed. Nazombu witch, Marie Laveau (note: see my report ‘Persons of Interest’) and from It seems that Pancho Villa has chosen to her, he received a prophecy. steer his own destiny. A desperate desire to improve his lot has driven him to acts Allegedly, she told him of a boy from of theft and banditry and, like so many Durango who would rise up at the head others who walk this ill-fated path, he of a ‘golden army’ and conquer the too has become a stone-cold murderer Americas. It seems that he has taken this of his fellow man. prophecy and determined to shape it to his own ends. His rebellion grew, both Despite his denouncement by the in size and in reputation and expanded authorities, Villa discovered that his acts beyond Mexico’s borders. The men of murder had not cause revulsion among and women who flocked to his banner his peers. Indeed, despite some obvious became known as his Golden Army in cruelty, particularly towards women, accordance with the prophecy. this pauper-made-good had somehow become a local hero. On the subject of Villa led a revolution in the south, taking women, I am reminded of a particularly lands where he could and becoming gruesome tale regarding Villa’s second rich and powerful in the process. He was wife. Though no doubt embellished in driven back by the Union many times parts, the story goes that in a fit of jealous and yet his passionate Golden Army rage Villa is said to have killed a man simply remained undeterred, engaging in ever- for massaging the foot of his wife. The more bold and daring acts. woman, Maria, was then blinded in one eye and badly disfigured by Pancho’s own Eventually, Mexico was no longer blade. Maria was left for dead to serve as a enough for Villa. He masterminded a warning to all others: This is what happens surprise attack on a Union garrison in to those who disrespect Pancho Villa. Texas. In this single act, Villa made himself known as a force that the government It is likely that Villa’s path became clear could no longer ignore and had to take when the Union swept in and occupied seriously. The riches of technology and Mexico. This was his country and he resources he seized during his next raid was not prepared to be told what to do on an Enlightened convoy were soon by – and I quote – ‘some blue-jacketed deployed in support of his army. soldier boy’. He fomented a revolution, slow to catch, but when it finally did, it It seems that he wants a share of the burned as outright rebellion. riches offered by the wealthy Union. As far as I have been able to determine, where The next part of this report is pure Pancho Villa is concerned, his share is ‘all’. hyperbole, information gathered over

122 v1.09

JUAN PONCE DE LEON He claims to have been guided to a sacred shrine some three centuries ago On encountering the self-styled where he found his Fountain of Eternal Conquistadores gang, I was struck by Life. As foretold to him in a vision, de Leon the spectacle as they came replete with took a golden goblet from his knapsack appropriately gaudy golden armour to and placed it into the fountain so that it add verisimilitude to their ridiculous might be filled with life giving waters. In a story and sobriquet. Of all the outlaws split second his hand had aged centuries operating on the Union Frontier, the and then was gone. The goblet fell from story of Juan Ponce de Leon and his his grasp and tumbled into the volatile Conquistadores is by far the most waters at the heart of the fountain. They incredible. By incredible I of course were beset on by all manner of strange mean that it is beyond credulity. Such creatures as the shrine shook violently an account cannot be taken as anything at the transgression. As his men were more than self-delusion and hearsay, cut down there was a blinding flash and however as we have so little to report de Leon and his men awoke to find that on this particular band of miscreant we three centuries had passed. must retell the extraordinary tale here. Unable to comprehend what had Juan Ponce de Leon emerged from the happened to him or his Conquistadores, Florida coast with claims that he is the de Leon lives with the delusion that he very same man who set out in search has been granted eternal life and now of the Fountain of Youth nearly three explores this new world like a traveling hundred years ago. Of coursed we cannot lord. Several of our Lawmen have believe even a shred of his preposterous tried to challenge this delusion but he claims for even in a world of mechanised dismisses their prattling as temptation corpse-flesh, shapeshifters and our to lure him from his righteous path. The own Federally endorsed super-science, Conquistadores under his command the fountain of youth is still considered remain loyal, though a few, like Tomasito little more than a fairy tale. To give the Bernal, have shown less of the zeal and man some credit, whether one believes fervour his supposed sacred task requires these claims about the outcome of de and only infrequently accompany him. Leon’s quest he cares not, for he is self- assured in the truth as he sees it. The Since his supposed “reawakening” Ponce reality may be stranger than the fantasy de Leon has led his men from the jungles however. I have spoken to him directly south of the Socialist Unity of South and he seems to view the events that America up to the Union Frontier. Along led him to this point through the eyes of the way he has broken countless laws and one who is trying to reconcile what he found himself righting wrongs where he believes with what he has experienced. finds them - upholding his view of justice Perhaps Investigator Miller may be a where he can. Though popular with the better person to interview him when he people, he has rightly drawn the ire of is apprehended? the authorities. Juan Ponce de Leon is

123 v1.09 a noble man with a delusional mind. by an enemy with a clear technological We can neither tolerate his brand of advantage – the surrender of Jackson’s vigilante justice nor the crimes he and his beloved Confederacy followed less than Conquistadores have committed when a month after his incapacitation. unsavoury characters have exploited their delusions to their own ends. But Fate plays strange games and Jackson did not die. A young socialite, sympathetic to the Confederate cause, JONATHAN JACKSON’S brought a man known as Kyle the Black REBELLION to see the dying General. In this moment, Jackson experienced the skills of the I broach this group with caution, for Enlightened at first hand and was saved despite their criminality, there are those from certain death. who regard them as heroes and their leader, Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, as Like all who make deals with such devils, nothing short of a military genius. Jackson was aware that the price for his resurrection would likely be steep – but it The capitulation to the Union’s terms by is a price that perhaps he must pay some the Confederate army in their surrender other day. For now, he has gathered his still- occurred more than a decade ago. Yet loyal forces to him, taken to the mountains this decision is still bitterly regretted by to make a camp of sorts and begun many, not least of which are those who developing his strategies once more. served under the command of General Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson. For over a decade, he and his men have waged guerrilla warfare against It is unquestionable that Jackson is the ‘accursed and arrogant’ Union. His regarding by most who fought in that tactics, over the years, have changed most brutal Civil War to be the most and evolved as new technologies are gifted tactician and commander ever brought forth (including those which to graduate from the Union Academy at allow his loyal followers to avoid West Point. He carved out a reputation detection), but Jackson understands during clashes along the Mexican front well that the fundamentals of war will and during this time, commanding the never change. He makes alliances and Stonewall Brigade, he earned his epithet. undertakes missions for his various He won virtually every battle he waged Enlightened patrons, often under the and having been laid low following an guise of legitimacy, but I deeply suspect ambush by Union skirmishers Jackson that he nurtures his dream of restoring knew eternal shame as he was carried the Confederacy to its former greatness. from that field of battle in a state close to The old warhorse, I would dare to death. None expected him to survive and suggest, has more than a few battles left without their most gifted commander – in him. not to mention being beset on all sides

124 v1.09

THE RAIDERS OF is the wronged party and his fervent belief WILLIAM QUANTRILL in this sustains him. A man with nothing to lose is a dangerous man indeed. Tragedy is a strange form of romance, particularly when it is attached to an individual. Much like his former MARCUS WAYWARD AND commander, Quantrill is perceived as a HIS EIGHT romantic hero in the eyes of Confederate Captain Marcus Wayward had sympathisers rather than the war everything going for him and nothing criminal he truly is. against. As a charismatic young soldier During the Ore War, Quantrill’s Raiders whose heroism ensured he rose through were a band of irregular Confederate the ranks, he was generally considered cavalry who specialised in guerrilla tactics - the pinnacle to which all young sweeping relentlessly through unprotected Confederates should climb. He was townships, leaving untold devastation in admired, respected and could generally their wake. Such actions bring a reputation do no wrong in the eyes of his superiors. and such a reputation brings a price. For That all changed the day he held up his William Quantrill, that price was exacted hands in surrender. when the Union detained female relatives For Marcus Wayward, there was no of the Raiders in a Missouri jail. Regrettably, understanding or sympathy. Nobody when that jail collapsed, killing and cared that he had taken the decision maiming the women and children within to save the lives of his squad who its walls, the Raiders were compelled to were hemmed into an impossible- exact a swift and bloody revenge with to-escape corner during a battle that Quantrill very much at the fore. claimed countless lives in the now long- The resulting massacres perpetrated by destroyed Tranquility river valley. In his Quantrill’s Raiders have left hundreds unexpected act of surrender, they saw dead. Despite the toll living life on the only a coward, a man who had turned his run has taken, for Quantrill the war will back on all that Confederate army stood never end. He rallies the most violent and for and he was duly stripped of his rank, the most extreme elements of the old his uniform, his weapons and his pride. Confederacy and its sympathisers and Ejected from the Confederacy under a attacks military and civilian targets alike. dark cloud, his squad startled everyone by refusing to allow him to suffer alone. Over time, many of the original Raiders They insisted on continuing to call him have gone, either to meet their makers, Captain and no matter how hard he tried or others, like Frank and Jesse James to shake them off – and admittedly, he chose to leave and have since found their didn’t really try at all – he couldn’t seem own causes. Quantrill remains a constant, to ditch them. however, and will often be found at the head of such attack. The Union rightly sees Collectively, they have become known him as a criminal, but in his eyes, it is he who as the Wayward Eight and they pick 125 v1.09 up mercenary jobs for whoever has Rest assured that my fellow Marshals the readiest cash. One of Marcus’ first and I will strive for as long as it takes decisions was to accept a Warcradle to bring these felons to the justice Ironhide as down payment for a dirty job they so richly deserve. No one person Carpathian needed doing. The crew trust is above the great laws of our country. Wayward to choose their jobs for them, You may trust in me that these but his decisions aren’t always good ones. ‘Outlaws’ will not prosper. A particularly ill-fated excursion was undertaken last year on behalf of Burson I remain, your most faithful servant, Carpathian. How many times does that Kingsley man’s name crop up in relation to the Outlaws of the Union Frontier I wonder? That excursion has left the Wayward Eight somewhat more of a broken and angry force of late. But I suspect it will take more than the loss of a limb and a few poor choices to keep down the irrepressible spirits of Marcus’ crew.

THE ONLY LAW It grieves me to pen details of these criminals, these Most Wanted. But the mercenary heart of every outlaw, whether surrounded by their brothers and sisters, or whether sitting along at a corner table glaring at the world, calls them to prove their worth – and to enjoy the fruits of this age of plenty on their own terms. Nobody is going to tell them what they cannot do, where they cannot go, or who they can or cannot kill.

Each of these individuals and others like them, are kings and queens in their own mind. They obey the only laws they truly understand: survival of the fittest and to the victor goes the spoils.

126 v1.09

THE WARRIOR NATION OF NORTH AMERICA

Preferring to live out their lives alongside nature, the Warrior Nation dwell in concord with the rhythms of the Earth, attuned to the seasons and the weave of life and death that binds all living things together. Able to wield a form of spirit energy, they are the defenders of the natural world, guardians of all things spiritual. Recent years have seen mounting aggression against the Warrior Nation in North America by the Union and their settlers. With growing threats and omens of darker times to come, the Warrior Nation understand that this must be the greatest cause in which they fight, for no land endures long if it cannot take up arms against those that wish it harm. Standing unified against their enemies the Warrior Nation are humanity’s greatest hope, whether the rest of the world realises it or not… From the Journal of Teutonic Knight- DAY 96 Luminary Kapitan Endris Tapfer. Most of my fellow knights are all too happy to stride into battle at the DAY 95 helm of a Hochmeister Automata Dreadnought, their physical frailness After three months of relative comfort shielded behind plates of thick armour. in my first posting, it is the damnedest I have always believed the true weapon worst luck that has seen me join the of a Knight-Luminary is his or her Imperial forces as they push through the mind, and conviction serves as our African tribelands. It has been decided armour. I have never sought to hide this that, given the feral nature of the Nguni conviction, and so my superiors have Clans, none of the Teutonic Knights often seen fit to appoint me to such heavier combat units would be required. investigative tasks, even unto the front There have been strange reports coming lines themselves, to better advance the into high command for months, and the Imperium’s understand of our foes, our venerable Oberst Scherer, commander own strengths and weaknesses. of the Knights Luminary on the African Front, has dispatched me to investigate. All of that changed, however, last night. Perhaps I have offended him in some manner to be given this honour? Having arrived in the valley the day before, we disembarked in good order 127 v1.09 from the Count Nostitz our Gewitterwolke protruding fangs and long, distended airship. The grenadiers had gone into the claws. Most walked on two legs like men, village first, clearing the outbuildings but their faces were corrupted visions of with bursts of electricity and flame. A a nightmare, with the features of any small section of Knight Armsmen went number of animals stirred into their in next, walking straight through the bestial mix. burning thatch and kindling walls. Still, no resistance was met. Finally, roaring The bolts of blue fire continued to rain overhead with the grace of eagles, a down upon the brave men and women squadron of Luftlancers fell amongst of the Imperium, who fought back with the drifting motes of ash and fire, their all the tenacity and bravery any officer charged pikes sparking in the night air. could hope to expect from them. The Luftlancers took to the skies once more, It was a brave show, no less valiant aiming their electro-lances down into for the apparent lack of opposition. I the swirling maelstrom of the melee will carry with me to my dying day the below, only to be struck from the air by image of those brave men and women, enormous shadows falling upon them stalking through the burning remnants from above. Their screams were cut off of that village, of that death trap, their abruptly as each warrior hit the hard- clear eyes peering into the swirling packed earth. smoke, backs straight, weapons held at the ready, willing to stand before any foe The Grenadiers fell back in good order, that might dare challenge the primacy dragging their wounded as they made of the Imperium. for the oberst’s position. Our final hope, a mighty Faust battle-walker, charged Until hell opened up and swallowed us into the fray, tossing shadowy forms in all. The leading elements were felled by all directions. For a moment it appeared hammer blows of blue power the likes of as if the tide had turned. The armsmen which I had never seen before. At first, I rallied around the Faust’s towering form thought we had been ambushed by the while the grenadiers, following standard bizarrely arrayed forces of the Covenant doctrine, established a firing line at the rather than the expected native beasts. edge of the village. How that thoughtless word would come back to haunt me as the battle unfolded But the nightmare had only just begun. before my eyes. Darker things still would emerge from those shadows. At first glance, I took Beasts, I had thought; African animals, the bellowing form to be fantastically caring nothing for the niceties of armoured rhinoceros. As strange as that civilized warfare. But the shapes that would have been, I cannot now swear emerged from the surrounding trees that to be the case at all. The vengeful were nothing human. Twisted forms gleam of blue in the creature’s eyes was that seemed to writhe and shudder with a perfect match for the shots slashing the guttering flames; light glinting from into our position. An aura of azure flame

128 v1.09 seemed to cling to its flanks. It became DAY 121 apparent, as it charged into the Faust, that it was much larger and far more I have learned that the phenomenon dangerous than any rhino I had ever seen. I had witnessed has not been an isolated incident. No hard evidence of With a single convulsive lurch of its what enemy might have caused such massive horned head the charging beast destruction had yet been found, and tore the leg from the Faust and caused although a multi-pronged attack seems the reeling warmachine to topple to the to have been their plan that night, ground. At this sight, and with the rest of each of the points of contact had been my Teutonic brothers and sisters either utterly eradicated by high command. No dead or down, the battle descended further encounters had been witnessed into a horrific rout. The regular infantry across the entire area of operation. It threw aside their arms and fled into was as if either we had destroyed every the darkness. There were no heroes last remnant of the mysterious foe, or of the Imperium there that night – at some decision had been reached by our least none, it seemed, who had not enemies to forego any further use of already been killed. I remember only the their strange new weapons. burning of my chest, the pumping of my legs, and the desperate, soul-crushing The general consensus at the front was certitude of death looming up behind that the Nguni people had received me as the screams of my companions assistance from the Covenant of the faded into the distance all around. Enlightened. My report countervailed that, of course, which was one reason I had been summoned to Berlin. Many DAY 100 of my peers believed that my mind had The oberst’s forces had been scattered. broken under the strain of that strange As far as I know, I alone survived, and battle. No known phenomenon could it took me three days to re-establish explain what I had reported, and some of contact with headquarters. By then, my closest associates among the Knights- the generalleutnant had ordered a Luminary agitated for my removal to a detachment of Lucifyre walkers down home for the mentally deranged. upon the savannah, supported by The annals of Graz contained occasional the Count Nostitz. The entire region mentions of similar phenomena from was devastated, not a single creature locales as scattered and distant as was left alive. Not a shred of evidence Australia, India, and South America. remained of the terrible ambush that None of these reports were more than had destroyed my unit. footnotes in the general record, and I have been removed from my normal none of them included enough detail to duties and sent back first to Graz, and clarify my confusion – or my concerns – then on to Berlin. any further. Never had a member of the Knights-Luminary or anyone else been

129 v1.09 present who could be counted on for a these strange accounts. None had been clinical, scientific observation. For every deemed necessary, until the momentary mention of such occurrences, a tidal ascension of the Nguni. wave of rationalisation and clarification would follow, sweeping away any DAY 197 possibility of further study. It was clear that no one had given such incidences I am now several days into my journey West much credence, but then, neither did it and one thing remains abundantly clear. I appear that an attack the likes of which have never enjoyed travelling by airship. I experienced in the tribelands had ever been reported. In the midst of a deployment, I find the incessant rumbling of the engines, The fact that each and every mention, from the hiss and whine of the machinery around the globe, ended in silence and tries my patience. Even with the most dismissal was incredibly disheartening to advanced craft of the Imperium bearing me. I began to doubt my own memory; me aloft, such as my time aboard the a terrifying prospect for a man of science Count Nostitz, the ever-present reality and the mental disciplines. of thousands upon thousands of feet of emptiness beneath me wears my Luckily, however, recent reports out patience – and my mind – further still. of the newly-reconstituted Union of Federated States spoke of episodes Unfortunately, the Prince Wilhelm is far from very similar to those I had collected the most advanced craft of the Imperium. in my researches. The noble savages of their western territories seemed These civilian aircraft have always to have manifested similar marvels in seemed even more ephemeral to their contests against the government me than the military craft, their forces and the more esoteric hosts structures seeming less solid than their of the Enlightened. Flares of azure counterparts. My sleep is plagued with flame, genetic anomalies charging the dreams of falling while my days are near- battlefields, and other, even stranger endless stretches of cold, shuddering sights had been reported. They echoed hell. The ceaseless knowledge that the the rumours that had circulated through endless miles of the frozen Atlantic our own ranks in the African campaign stretch beneath me is hardly conducive before Generalleutnant Didschus had to calming my fears. completely destroyed the tribal villages. But deeper still than these close-held But those reports had been made by terrors are the thoughts that have driven Americans, agents of the British Crown, me for these past months. As has been or other, equally less reputable sources. the case ever since that night on the No Teutonic scholar had infiltrated into savannahs of the Dark Continent, that the new world, and so no truly scientific which compels me relentlessly forward observation had yet been assayed of threatens the very Imperium itself.

130 v1.09

Once again this night, I have been cast The two principal towers, each much from my sleep in a cold sweat that has smaller than the docks of Berlin, were nothing to do with the Prince Wilhelm’s empty when we arrived. The Union, juddering progress over the frozen I knew, is much more enamoured of waves. Once again, my slumber has fixed-wing, heavier-than-air craft, as was been haunted by the screams of my evinced by the massive airfield located comrades as they were torn limb from just across the western river bordering limb, the wet, twisting crunch of their the great city. With Tesla’s defection to deaths at the hands of … heaven knows the barbarian nation, travel between the what. Images of cold, glowing blue eyes New World and the Imperium has been hunted me up out of sleep, their manic curtailed sharply. Our consulate in New howls echoing off the low ceiling of my York, which is reluctantly providing my stateroom even as I clawed my way free cover story, was severely understaffed. of the tangled, sweat-damp bedclothes. Making my way out of the city and into the west without arousing suspicion would It was a familiar awakening. It has been prove to be my first major challenge. my curse, night after night, for more nights than I care to count. Or so I had thought. In practice, once my papers had been scrutinized by And so here I sit, on the edge of the small the young Union officer at the base of bed in my stateroom aboard the Prince the tower, I was released out into the Wilhelm, making my slow, terrifying city and had not noticed anyone else progress across the Atlantic Ocean taking undue interest in my arrival. I towards a chaotic, backward world that found myself somewhat annoyed by might hold the secrets of the greatest what I consider their cavalier manner. threat to the Imperium or the proof of It was clear, from their reception, that my utter and complete ruin. the Union of Federated States did not As the growling engines fill the air find me particularly threatening. By around me with vibration and unease, I extension, they therefore do not find the cannot help but fear I march headlong Imperium to be a threat. toward the latter. I know it is irrational, but I find myself hoping for a future conflict in which this DAY 203 error can be corrected. I will admit that some of my trepidation The Consul, a man named Graf Kushner concerning flight was swept away as the (allegedly a distant cousin of the Kaiser) metropolis of New York City came slowly was far from helpful. It was clear from crawling over the horizon. The lights were the moment of my arrival that he bright, glittering on the waters of the bay cared nothing for my mission, or for as the Prince Wilhelm dropped out of the me, and wanted only that I vacate the clouds, approaching the tall docking consulate at my earliest convenience. I towers along the eastern waterfront. was grudgingly offered a small office in

131 v1.09 the basement from which to conduct be made mercifully sweeter with both my initial investigations, but at no time feet firmly planted on the earth. was the camaraderie of Graz, or even the basic decency of Berlin, in evidence. DAY 210 For the first time in my adult life, I found myself missing home. I must admit, as dismissive as I still feel toward these barbarian Americans, There were few reliable resources their Heavy Rail system is certainly to concerning my primary area of interest be applauded. With well over twice the in New York, as I knew there would be. width of the standard gauges of the Every beerhaus and tavern seemed railroad used through the more civilized full to bursting with self-styled ‘experts’ world, the Heavy Rail is able to carry an on matters concerning the western immense amount of cargo, a throng of natives and their barbaric habits, but passengers, and an intimidating array there was sadly little in the way of cold, of advanced weaponry, all wrapped in a reasoned observation. Everything I heard sheath of thick armour. sounded even more implausible than the whispered rumours that had plagued our I was impressed until it dawned on me own ranks prior to the Nguni incident. I the threats they must be guarded against was heartened, however, at a few details in their interior in order to validate such that seemed consistent across the various expenditure. tales I collected. Twisted, monstrous animals, shape-changing warriors, and I travelled by motorcoach south to the ubiquitous sapphire glow filled the Washington D.C., where I made certain stories of those who seemed to have at to avoid attracting the attention of any least crossed their Hudson River, to the agents of the Union’s Secret Service, their west, at one time. Bureau of Infernal Affairs, or the myriad other investigative bodies the ‘free and open’ society has created recently. I DAY 205 desperately wanted to take a walk past Though I have only been a couple days Tesla’s vaunted Pipeworks. Unfortunately, in this filthy, stinking city, I have realized the region surrounding the vast, that I needed to head into the great sprawling complex was a rowdy, lawless unknown of these contested territories moat, with law-abiding Washington on if I am to find the truth, the hard science, one side, and the blank-faced automata behind the stories. of Tesla’s guards on the other. I thought it best to stay true to my primary mission Kushner was not sorry to see me go, and and catch the first Heavy Rail moving given the quality of his hospitality, I was west toward the territories. not sorry to leave. I am eager to taste the vaunted frontier spirit of the American Not until I had seen how enormous West we hear so much about. And even these behemoths were did I understand more so, as the rest of my journey would why no Heavy Rail tracks were allowed

132 v1.09 to enter Washington. I was forced to pull could walk the packed-earth streets of my collar up and my hat down and board Kansas City without fear of judgement a crowded ferry down the Potomac or approbation, the natives were not River, to a massive stone temple to afforded nearly the same latitude, and Union hubris located five miles south of were seen as national enemies. the capital. This is not to say there were not members It seemed hubris, at first sight, but when of the various Warrior Nation tribes I finally caught my first glimpse of the present in Kansas City. Outcasts, exiles, Heavy Rail, as I said, I began to question and renegades could be found in many my initial response. of the lower dives along the outskirts of town. But these were men and women I avoided undue attention by securing with suspicious minds, living closed, a small and non-ostentatious economy isolated non-lives apart from both the class berth on the westbound train and society in which they lived and the wandered the length of the beast during societies which they had left behind. the long day of my journey. When we pulled into the big station in Kansas City, I A not-inconsiderable portion of my truly felt as if I had entered another world. remaining stipend was spent trying to warm various informants to my cause. I DAY 224 was offered tantalising bits and pieces, hints and whispers, but nothing that This is such an amazing land. Kansas City might provide a concrete clue as to my is a dizzying mix of metropolitan chaos, next course of action. frontier grit, and uniquely American I collected notes on an entity known contrasts. It appears as if these western to the natives as the Great Spirit, which territories call to all manner of folk from I took to mean some concept of divine around the world. I could distinguish power or guidance. The wildest tales French, Italian, and even Prussian- I have yet gathered present this Great flavoured German in the babbling rush Spirit as the source of the mysterious of speech that greeted me upon walking power that has guided me across half out of the cool granite of the enormous the world. Between the Great Spirit and station and into the dusty world of that the worship of ancestors long dead, the city on the edge of nowhere. native tribes would appear to attribute I have spent almost two weeks trying to most of their strange abilities to beings pick up leads that might take me deeper above or beyond them, rather than from into the mysteries of the indigenous some font of power within themselves. peoples of this land, but it transpired that While I know these tales are nonsense, the jumble of cultures and languages and that some rational, scientific hid beneath its churning waters a explanation must be behind what I more insidious division. It seemed that witnessed in deepest Africa and the tales although a man of the Prussian Imperium these frontier hooligans whisper into 133 v1.09 their cups, I cannot help but reflect back Nation. This native has given me the first upon the legends of our own ancestors. insights into their beliefs, though these Is not fable and folklore replete with revelations have cost me greatly in both similar stories? Powerful beings flinging local currency and other valuables about the power of the sky about on a whim? my person that this self-styled ‘Apache Fantastical creatures twisted beyond Kid’ has taken a liking to. recognition? Might this phenomenon I am investigating somehow connect The way he tells it, there is a fundamental with our own most ancient tales? disagreement over the origins of the world and how it relates to their And, rational thought aside, would it not venerated deity - the Great Spirit. A be grand if one day a Prussian Imperium shaman known as Irontooth believes might march forward, heads proud and that the Great Spirit is truly infinite and high, with the power of the ancients at caused this world’s perfection as part of our fingertips? I imagine Luftlancers some infinitely complex plan of which soaring not on the pounding roar of humanity is but a small part. rockets but the silent pinions of angels’ wings. I imagine electro-pikes powered My guide’s father, a chieftain known by the very minds of our brave armsmen. as Raven Spirit believes differently There is literally no power in the world and apparently he is of such standing that could stop us. amongst the natives that his view by extension is held by the chiefs of the But I have learned all I can learn Hundred Tribes. His father believes that on the dusty streets of this frontier the Great Spirit was uniquely formed metropolis. I must continue now to at the birth of the planet and that the venture west, into the savage lands of destiny of the two are inextricably tied. the contested territories. I must find these Warrior Nation sorcerers in their Whatever the nuance on this matter, all own environment and see for myself Warrior Nation believe that the Earth the power that they command. I hear has a guardian spirit, a consciousness that the Marshal of the Indian Territory that can be communicated with and is a man of some basic integrity. I am provides humanity with the ability to cautious of approaching local law unlock a potential energy within them. enforcement as I understand them to be This Great Spirit is believed to have all corrupt and drunken. Perhaps he will shepherded the planet’s development, be sober enough to help me husbanding the rise of life, and watch over the development of all of mankind. DAY 231 The Warrior Nation story of creation says that the Great Spirit filled the seas, The surprisingly intelligent and charming and then watched as the vital energy Marshall Bart Reeves has introduced me spilled out onto the land and into the air. to a native in his employ who claims to Occasionally a great tragedy might befall be the son of a great chief in the Warrior the grand work, setting back the growth; 134 v1.09 the Great Spirit (or Keeper as my guide The way my new friend views it, once occasionally calls him) is not an infallible humanity had taken its rightful place deity. The Great Spirit made a mistake as the inheritors of the Earth, the Great when, under his careful guidance, a race Spirit began to connect the disparate of small bipedal mammals, the unlikeliest human tribes to the criss-crossing ley of heirs, achieved the first glimmerings lines that encircled the globe. At points of awareness and forethought. These where these lines converged, the Great creatures are known as the Carcosa by Spirit placed the most powerful cultures. the Warrior Nation and no sooner had It was apparent that, even though most their spirits, once dim and flickering, humans could not sense the flowing flared into life than the Great Spirit rivers of energy that surrounded them, realised his mistake. Though he struck its presence nonetheless imbued them down most of them, some of the Carcosa with a sense of strength and purpose are alleged to still roam the frontier even that made them far more formidable to this day and seem to be both feared than others of their kind. and reviled in equal measure by the Warrior Nation. Like moving pieces of a puzzle, the Great Spirit shifted the cultures around, maximising the potential of the DAY 232 strongest so that centres of defence would exist all around the planet, ready I cannot fathom how the Warrior Nation to be called upon to protect it should in the American Frontier even know of the need ever arise. This is a sound the details of the tribes of Africa, Australia strategy that again belies the primitive and elsewhere around the world, let appearance of the Warrior Nation. This alone claim an affinity. Yet this evening I interview is invaluable! have been presented with artefacts and pictograms crafted a century or more ago that clearly resemble the Nguni DAY 234 tribal artefacts I have brought with me from the Luminary archives in Graz. It was only natural, I suppose, for my guide’s bitterness and jealousy at the advances of Western culture would DAY 233 bubble to the surface. It is a credit to his breeding that it has taken as long as it After this evenings interview, my has for the resentment to begin to show. currency is now all gone, I have The narrative now turns to talk of the contacted the consulate for more funds misguided folly of Europe. The temerity though I suspect these will be some time of the man! in coming to me. It has been a fascinating day and my guide has become quite My guide observes that, occasionally, a animated in regaling me with the stories culture founded upon a spiritual nexus of his people. would wander from the intentions of the Great Spirit. Sometimes, the lines of

135 v1.09 force moved away, abandoning them to DAY 235 a slow decline, and so they struck out in confused anger, disrupting the careful We depart this evening for the Warrior defences of that part of the net. Nation’s tribal lands. My guide seemed as exhausted with the storytelling as I am. I As time inexorably marched on this instead beseeched him to take me to visit happened more and more often. his father. Though at first, he was more A civilisation might arise upon the than a little reluctant, after we shared the intersecting lines of energy and grow too last bottle of my schnapps, he has agreed! powerful too quickly. As the tides of the planet’s soul shifted, rather than follow DAY 268 or decline gracefully, more and more cultures developed a false narrative, I have witnessed miracles. I have seen justifying their continued ascendancy sights the likes of which none since the with a newly-developed belief structure ancients might claim. And yet, my faith that denied the nurturing, vaguely in science, rather than being broken, has parental presence of the Great Spirit. never been stronger. These cultures studied the world around them, discovering the laws that even I have been privileged to have met with the Great Spirit must obey, and put Chief Raven Spirit and shared a meal their faith in these things rather than with him. He is undoubtedly one of the the primeval concepts of gods that their greatest leaders of humanity on the face ancient ancestors had found sufficient. of the world. Worthy to sit almost as an equal with the Kaiser himself. By the time These cultures still worshiped gods, but of the American Civil War, Raven Spirit fractured them into many smaller, more was already ancient, although his vitality manageable entities. They were given had never waned. He was sustained human traits and human motivations, by the Great Spirit, and in battle was the better to understand them and surrounded by the majestic energies of manipulate their place in the greater the spirit world. human story. There is no doubt in my mind that the As this rise of science and creed gained incredible abilities wielded by these momentum among some of the greatest primitive tribesmen are real. I have seen cultures, the Great Spirit lost touch with wonders that would make the most them. Its ability to guide them faded as dedicated sceptic fall to their knees they grew immune to the influence of over the past months. There is also no the spirit lines, and they began to forge doubt in my mind, sadly, that this is not their own destinies. a power that will ever be replicated by the Imperium.

It has long been theorized that every living thing incorporates within it a field

136 v1.09 of force, electrical, magnetic, possibly discovered and they have ruled that I a combination of powers we do not have committed a grave transgression. entirely understand. Simple laboratory I will be brought before the chieftains experiments can sense this field, and tomorrow morning and their judgement even children may witness it in action will be enacted upon me. through shuffling their feet across a wool carpet and then reaching out to DAY 278 touch another child. Fearing death, I have fled north to Raven Spirit has explained that there Montana. I now write this as I huddle in has always been those among the tribal this tiny, ramshackle cabin in the woods, nations who were capable of channelling my breath puffing in white clouds, the power of the spirit world. The spirit of the small fire doing little to dispel the each human, as dim as reflected fireflies oppressive cold outside. upon a dark lake in most instances when compared to the Great Spirit, occasionally I reflect on the past month in the flared to brilliance in some, granting company of Raven Spirit and his people. them great gifts ranging from enhanced His claims at being over a century in battle-prowess to the ability to peer into age seemed so credible then, but now the misty reaches of the future. I begin to wonder. It is true that I have seen warrior braves conjure electrical With Raven Spirit’s guidance, more and power from nowhere, infuse their more of the Nation’s people became weapons with this energy, and lash at attuned to the world of the spirits, their foes with the might of the ancient navigating the winding paths to their gods. I have even seen their flesh twist spirit guides and the powers they and writhe into new, grotesque shapes, provided. Some were able to call forth the likes of which would blanch the face weapons of pure energy from the spirit of the most stalwart romantic poet. An world, while others were able to imbue enormous elk, its body swollen with their very bodies with the power of their power, destroyed an armoured vehicle, spirit guides, altering their forms to not ten paces from where I stood. I was better confront the array of foes rising helpless to move, standing there locked up on all sides. Oh, truly I have stared in place, my mouth agape, as its feral, into the eyes of legend, and I believe! demonic blue eyes searched for another target. My mind goes back to the Faust DAY 273 that was felled by such a creature in Africa. We never stood a chance! A patrol of Union soldiers was killed yesterday. This has agitated some of But, as what little warmth I have left in the tribe and my belongings have me leaches slowly away, I am faced with been searched. Photographs I have the hardest question of all… what is it taken and samples of the Nguni tribal that I believe? artefacts I have brought with me were

137 v1.09

There are no gods. There is no mystical immense power of the human mind, salvation for my people. Were these capable of such amazing feats as has savages ever to gain control of a region been recorded throughout history, is of this Earth, there is little that could channelled in these primitive peoples. It stop them. They have tapped into some is combined with the living field inherent power, some force within the human in every plant, animal, and human on mind that we have locked ourselves the planet, to create wonders the likes away from for a thousand years. of which, truly, have not been seen by civilized man in over a thousand years. My conclusion, now that I am safe from them, now that I am no longer breathing The more impressive the works the stink of their twisted creatures’ demonstrated by these tribal warriors, breath, no longer the victim of the the more of them seem to gather abject fear they instil in all civilized men, around, chanting and singing to the sky, is this: Science, as I have always wanted focusing their intent upon the workings to believe, reigns supreme. of their elders. In the end, the force of their resolve, the power of their will Much like a child conjuring a shock from be brought to bear upon the object of the carpet, although vastly more powerful, their fixation, focused by their leaders these savages have somehow learned and their wise ones, is enough to bring to pull energy from their surroundings, marvels back into the world, if only for a channelling it into more offensive pursuits. brief period of time. Many of their warriors cannot even do this much, calling up little more than azure I have observed that none of these gleams in the darkness as they shot their changes last for long. The energy arrows at the foe. But enough can channel required to maintain them even for the this electrical aura to lend their attacks length of a single engagement seems to a power and savagery that makes them, devastate their most powerful warriors. in the right circumstances, the equal of Animals subjected to their mutating modern weaponry. attention often die when their tasks are accomplished, collapsing into There are some further few among their exhausted slumber from which many number, the greatest and most powerful never awaken. leaders and wise men, who can do more. These are the paragons that are capable I believe this is due to a combination of twisting their flesh into horrible, potent of the inherent weakness of the flesh forms for battle. But even here, I believe I and the faltering of the savages’ have broken the secret of their power. concentration once the task at hand is passed. The intensity of the moment, the It is something I think we lost long ago. crushing single-mindedness of battle An ability that has been weakened felt by all soldiers throughout history, over time and advancement, enervated allows them to transcend, for a brief through centuries of rational thought. time, the limitations of body and mind. They believe. It is as simple as that. The 138 v1.09

When did we, the civilized men and their search and allow me to find my women of the world, lose this ability? I way back east, to the towns and villages couldn’t say, but I have a theory. that border the frontier, and thence, to Kansas City and home to Graz. As we learn more about the world around us, as we are more and more capable of Is that snap a branch popping in the bending it to our will in mundane ways, cold? Is it a savage warrior’s incautious not dependent upon the initial terror footstep, heralding my last, violent that compelled our ancestors to build moments on this Earth? walls, and fires, and weapons, we drift further and further from that part of I carried an electro-pistol with me ourselves capable of channelling these all the way from my chambers in the forces that yet linger. Our rational minds, chapterhouse in Graz. Even now, as I focusing on the everyday wonders we write by the guttering light of my dying take for granted, are no longer capable fire, it is beside me, its charge light blue of touching these more primitive, and clear. If they attack me here, they and yet far more powerful forces that will know the power of the Imperium. glorified our species’ younger days. The first brave through that crooked door will face my own lightning, as will Through our greatest achievements, we the warrior behind him, and the one have lost our most powerful inheritance. behind him as well. My charge will fail eventually, and I will die here, so far from Is it possible a culture can advance and home, but they will remember me when yet still maintain this ability to channel I am gone. these primordial powers of the mind? I don’t know. I think if that were possible, Or perhaps it is nothing more than a we would have known about that branch, snapping in the cold. culture by now. In fact, I suspect if that were possible, we would even now feel DAY 280 the boot heel of that culture upon our collective necks. But still, one wonders… I have managed to staunch the blood from my wounds, but I fear my leg has DAY 279 become infected. Every now and then outside, I hear a Perhaps a good night’s sleep will set startling snap. Out there, in the cold, me right. The wolves howling no longer still darkness, something stirs. I have scares me. I have my belief. I have been hiding from the savages for weeks science. I am content… Though it is so now, hoping that they would abandon very, very cold.

139 INDEX v1.09

INDEX A D ACTION CARDS...... 19 DANGEROUS TERRAIN...... 35 ACTIONS...... 20 DASH ACTION...... 21 ACTIVATING A UNIT...... 17 DEADEYED...... 46 ACTIVATION...... 19 DECAPITATE...... 43 ACTIVATION PHASE...... 17 DEPLOYMENT...... 49 ADVENTURE...... 2 DESTROYING TERRAIN...... 34 ADVENTURE SCENARIO & DEPLOYMENT..... 48 DETERMINE INITIATIVE...... 15 AGILE...... 46 DICE...... 2 AIM...... 6 DISCARD ADVENTURE CARDS...... 18 ALLIED POSSES...... 10 DISORDER QUALITY...... 43 AMMO CLIP...... 43 DISORDERED CONDITION...... 33 ANATOMY OF A UNIT CARD...... 5 DISPLACE...... 43 AREA TERRAIN...... 36 DISRUPT...... 44 ARTEFACT UNITS...... 12 DRAG...... 44 ATTRIBUTE CHECKS: TARGET OF TEN...... 7 DRAW ADVENTURE CARDS...... 15 ATTRIBUTES...... 6 DRAW ACTION DECKS...... 17 ATTUNED...... 43 DURABLE...... 46

B E BACKSTAB (REACTION)...... 30 ELITE...... 46 BASE CONTACT...... 2 ENGAGED...... 2 BASE SIZE...... 2 ENGULF...... 38, 44 BASIC MELEE WEAPON...... 28, 42 ENTERING BUILDINGS OR TRANSPORTS...... 22 BEACON...... 43 BLAST...... 43 F BOSS UNITS...... 8 FACE UNITS...... 11 BRUTAL...... 43 FALLING...... 23 BUILDING A FORCE...... 8 FATAL...... 44 BUILDINGS...... 36 FIGHT...... 6 FLIGHT...... 21 C FOCUS SPENDING FORTUNE...... 14 CHARGE...... 26 FOCUSED SHOOT ACTIONS...... 29 CHECK VICTORY CONDITIONS...... 18 FOCUSED STRIKE ACTIONS...... 27 CLIMB...... 23 FOCUSED ACTIONS...... 20 CLOSE WORK...... 43 FORCES, POSSES AND UNITS...... 2 COMBAT ACTIONS...... 25 FORTUNE...... 13 COMMON ADVENTURES...... 50 FREE ACTIONS...... 20 COMMON ADVENTURE TYPE...... 48 FRIENDLY FIRE...... 2 COMPLEX...... 43 CONDITIONS...... 32 G CRITICAL FAILURE!...... 7 GAME BEGINS...... 49 CRITICAL SUCCESS!...... 7 GAME OVERVIEW...... 1 GAME SIZE...... 48

140 v1.09 INDEX

GET IN (MOVE ACTION)...... 22 METTLE...... 46 GET OUT (MOVE ACTION)...... 23 MIND...... 6 GIVE ’EM HELL (REACTION)...... 30 MOVE ACTIONS...... 21 GLOSSARY OF TERMS...... 2 MOVE UNENGAGED MODELS...... 17 GO ON LOOKOUT ACTION...... 26 MOVING OVER TERRAIN...... 23 GRIT...... 6 MOVING TARGET...... 46 GRIT CHECK MODIFIERS...... 25 MULTIPLE WEAPONS (SHOOT ACTION)...... 29 GRIT CHECKS AND WOUNDED...... 25 MULTIPLE WEAPONS (STRIKE ACTION)...... 28 GUTS SYMBOLS...... 16 N H NEGATIVE CONDITIONS...... 33 HANDS UNITS...... 11 HAZARD CONDITION...... 33 O HAZARDOUS WEAPON QUALITY...... 44 OBSCURED...... 26, 29, 35 HEAVY...... 44 OBSTACLE...... 36 HIGHER GROUND COMMON ADVENTURE.. 50 ON LOOKOUT CONDITION...... 33 HIGHER GROUND TERRAIN...... 35 OPEN GROUND...... 34 HUNKER DOWN ACTION...... 14, 21 OPPOSING PLAYER ACTIVATES A UNIT...... 17 HUNKERED CONDITION...... 26, 27, 33 OUTLAW POSSES...... 9 OVERCHARGED...... 44 I IMPASSABLE TERRAIN...... 34, 36 P IN COVER (FREE MOVE ACTION)...... 21 PARRY...... 44 INDIRECT...... 44 PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE...... 3 INITIAL TARGET...... 3 PIERCING...... 25 INITIATIVE PHASE...... 15 PLACING AND REPLACING MODELS...... 3 INTERRUPT!...... 16 PLACING UNITS IN RESERVE...... 24 PLAY AREA, THE...... 4, 34 J POINTS...... 4 JUMP...... 23 POINTS LIMIT...... 15 PORTAL MOVE (MOVE ACTION)...... 40 L PORTALS...... 40 LARGE BUILDINGS...... 39 PORTAL WEAPON...... 44 LARGESSE...... 46 POSITIVE CONDITIONS...... 33 LETHAL...... 44 POSSE, THE...... 8 LIMIT...... 6 PRODIGIOUS...... 46 LINE OF SIGHT...... 3, 35 PUSH IT!...... 14 LINKED...... 44 LONG RANGE...... 29 Q LUCKY SON OF A GUN!...... 14 QUICK...... 6 QUICK AND THE DEAD, THE...... 47 M MANIPULATE PORTAL ACTION...... 40 R MEASURING...... 3 RAM...... 22 MELEE WEAPONS...... 42 RANGED WEAPONS...... 42 MERCENARIES...... 10 RAPID...... 46

141 INDEX v1.09

RATE OF ATTACK...... 25 TANGLE...... 45 RE-ROLLING DICE...... 4 TARGET ENGAGED IN COMBAT...... 29 REACTIONS...... 20, 30 TARGET PRIORITY...... 47 REANIMATED...... 46 TASKED...... 46 REFINED...... 44 TEAMWORK...... 47 RESERVES...... 24, 48 TERRAIN...... 35 RESOLUTION PHASE...... 18 TEMPLATE WEAPONS...... 3, 38, 42, 45 RESTORE!...... 16 THROWN...... 45 REVOLVER FAN...... 44 TORRENT...... 45 ROOFTOPS...... 39 TOUGH...... 46 ROUNDING UP...... 4 TRAILFINDER...... 47 TRAIT...... 6 S TREASURE HUNT COMMON ADVENTURE.... 52 SCATTER...... 4 TRIGGERED ACTIVATION!...... 16 SELECT YOUR FORCE...... 48 TURN SEQUENCE...... 15 SEND A MESSAGE COMMON ADVENTURE. 51 TYPES OF ACTION...... 20 SET UP TABLE...... 48 TYPES OF AREA TERRAIN...... 36 SHOOT (COMBAT ACTION)...... 28 SHOOT ACTION MODIFIERS...... 29 U SHOOTING INTO BUILDING...... 37 UNARMED...... 47 SHOOTING OUT FROM BUILDINGS...... 38 UNEVEN GROUND...... 34, 36 SHRED...... 45 UNIQUE...... 47 SHROUDED...... 46 UNIT COHERENCY...... 11 SKIRMISHERS...... 46 UNIT COMMON & SPECIAL RULES...... 22, 46 SMOKESCREEN...... 44 UNITS...... 11 SPECIAL WEAPON QUALITY...... 44 UNSTOPPABLE...... 47 SPECIAL ACTIONS...... 20 SPENDING FORTUNE...... 14 V STAKE A CLAIM COMMON ADVENTURE...... 51 VEHICLES...... 29 STRATEGIC UNITS...... 12 VETERAN INSTINCTS...... 14 STRIKE (COMBAT ACTION)...... 27 STRIKE ACTION MODIFIERS...... 27 W STRIKE ACTIONS AND BUILDINGS...... 38 WALK ACTION...... 21 STUN...... 44 WALK IT OFF!...... 14 STUNNED...... 33 WEAPON QUALITIES...... 42 SUICIDE...... 44 WEAPON TYPES...... 42 SUPPLY RUN COMMON ADVENTURE...... 50 WITHIN...... 4 SUPPORT UNITS...... 11 WOUNDED, DESTROYED & REMOVED FROM SURE FOOT...... 46 PLAY...... 4

T Y TAINTED...... 31 YELLER CHECK...... 33 TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM!...... 14

142 Part of the

BLOG: BLOG.WARCRADLE.COM FORUM: COMMUNITY.WARCRADLE.COM