Treacherous Awakenings™ Is the Third Book in a Trilogy, Based on the Rifts® Role-Playing Game Series
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Journey to an Earth that has been nearly destroyed and re- shaped into an alien world where magic is real, demons walk the face of the planet, dimensional Rifts lead to countless other worlds, and humankind struggles to survive. A world where magic and technology collide. A place where the human and the inhuman clash in war and games of cunning. Rifts Earth – at the threshold of an infinite Megaverse® yet locked in chaos. Follow the story of but a handful of such war- riors in their own struggles to do more than survive. Book Three: Treacherous Awakenings is the final part of Adam Chilson’s Rifts® trilogy. Treachery revealed, questions answered, war and revenge bring this story to an end. TheSample Rifts® novels are based on the popular Riftsfile® role-play- ing game and sourcebooks. Treacherous Awakenings™ is the third book in a trilogy, based on the Rifts® Role-Playing Game series. 1 Warning! Violence and the Supernatural The fictional Worlds of Rifts® are violent, deadly and filled with supernatural monsters. Other dimensional beings often referred to as “demons,” torment, stalk, and prey on humans. Other alien life forms, monsters, gods and demigods, as well as magic, insanity, and war are all elements in this book. Some parents may find the violence, magic and supernatural elements of the novels and games inappropriate for young read- ers/players. We suggest parental discretion. Please note that none of us at Palladium Books® condone or encourage the occult, the practice of magic, the use of drugs, or violence. Please Note: Strong Language and Violence may be inappropriate for readers under the age of 17. Other Palladium Products Download the Palladium Books catalog of role-playing game books, T-shirts, and other items by visiting our website: www.palladiumbooks.com Sample file 2 Rifts® Treacherous Awakenings™ The Third in a Trilogy Adam Chilson Copy Editing: Rex Barkdoll Proofreading: Alex Marciniszyn Rifts® Trilogy: Book One: Sonic Boom™ Book Two: Deception’s Web™ Book Three: Treacherous Awakenings™ Based on the worlds, characters, text, game rules, concepts and Mega- verse®Sample of the Rifts® Role-Playing Game series created by Kevinfile Siembieda. Palladium Books® Inc. www.palladiumbooks.com 3 Published by: Palladium Books® Inc. 39074 Webb Ct Westland, MI 48185 The cover is by John Zeleznik, and depicts a pair of Coalition soldiers. PDF Edition – June 2020 Copyright © 1999 by Palladium Books Inc. & Kevin Siembieda. All rights reserved, worldwide, under the Universal Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced in part or whole, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage retrieval system, without permission from the publisher, ex- cept for brief quotes for use in reviews and where permitted by law. All incidents, situations, institutions, governments, and people are fictional and any similarity, without satiric intent, of characters or persons living or dead, is strictly coinci- dental. Palladium Books®, Rifts®, The Rifter®, Chaos Earth®, Coalition Wars®, After the Bomb®, Dead Reign®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Powers Unlimited®, RECON®, and Splicers® are registered trade- marks owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. Triax & The NGR, New West, Psyscape, Federation of Magic, Coalition States, Chi-Town, Erin Tarn, Emperor Prosek, Skelebots, SAMAS, Dog Boys, Dog Pack, Techno-Wizard, Ley Line Walker, Shifter, Cyber-Knight, Psi-Stalk- er, Mind Melter, Burster, Zapper, Juicer, Crazy, Cyber-Doc, Body Doc, ‘Borg, ‘Bot, D-Bee, Spider Skull Walker, Sky Cycle, UAR-1, Northern Gun, New West, and other names, titles, character names and character likenesses are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. IfSample you purchased this book without a cover, it is stolen property. file It was report- ed “unsold and destroyed” and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.” Printed in the United States of America. ISBN 1-57457-032-3 Palladium Cat. No. 303 4 For Palladium Books Keep Role-Playing! Special thanks to: My wife, Dawn, for showing me all the editing mistakes I made in the past three books. And to all of you whose good advice I probably didn’t listen to. Sample file 5 Prelude That old black magic It was a bright June day. Summer hadn’t quite hit yet, but the chill of winter had long passed. The ruins of Owensboro, along the Ohio River, were overgrown. Every few years, someone would attempt to establish a new set- tlement there, but the magical area had become home to a number of less- er magical creatures, including some annoying ones like Faeries. In recent years, Federation of Magic mages had started using it as a skirmish ground enough that anyone who had been interested in the area moved on. After nearly 300 years of torturous weather, alien incursions from the nearby Rifts, and other happenstances, the plain that the city of Owensboro had been built on was once again mostly grassland. The city ruins now made a rather grid-shaped series of mounds, dotted with trees and boroughs. Most buildings had crumbled or fallen over and had eventually become grass-cov- ered gumdrops that dotted their way north to the river. Occasionally, some structure stood in objection to the ravages of time, but for the most part, the area seemed rather untouched. Just south of the river, two ley lines crossed in an X. The ley line nexus seemed to open and close regularly, often connecting to benign planets and dimensions, but sometimes reaching dark worlds where beings intent on in- vasion waited. Today was just another early summer day though, and the quiet riverside area seemed to be relaxed and carefree. Below the crossing ley lines, the air rippled. Then a tearing sound broke into the late morning sky. Just behind it, a thin line seemed to tear the fabric of reality in two. As the thin line grew, what looked like jolts of electricity reached out and clawed in every direction, seemingly grabbing the invisible material of our world like a thousand small hands and pushing it aside to reveal a doorway that had been opened to another location. Through the new portal in space and time, anyone who was on the grassy plain could see into a dark city. From the darkness stepped creatures of many kinds and shapes. Humans, Elves, dragons, demons, and more. Had they not been so serious and menacing, the effect could have seemed like clowns get- ting out of a car too small for so many to fit in. After 10 minutes, the procession had finished their pilgrimage to the other sideSample of the Rift. A minute later, a large TW Battle Skimmer file sailed quietly through the Rift and came to a rest near the group of beings. In the rear cen- ter of the large craft, an elevated platform rose from the middle. Its purpose seemed to be for a place of honor or command. An odd-looking creature in rune-embroidered robes stood atop the platform and seemed to steer the craft to a silent mooring near the crowded host. Once the ship had come through the Rift was allowed to close. Reality seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as the portal collapsed and the laws of 6.