Trokstop One
If player makes a roll, he notices Soor Jun talking with Hallna. Mandhata will ask you questions about battles. If anyone befriends him, keep a note. Later, Dan quarrels with Mudee. Mudee makes preparations to leave. Will start walking back to the city of your start next morning. If you interview him, you will notice that he is missing part of his right hand. Hollna asked Dan to fire him; said he was dishonest, she had known him previously. Dan has a short temper. When Mudee talked back upon being questioned, Dan fired him. Mudee is insulted. Even if players offer him a job, he will not stay. The actors quarrel about who got the most applause. Sign left in road. The sign is a crude arrow made to look like a drip of lubricating fluid. Players may miss it easily.
Trokstop Two
Kirsten will begin to talk to one of the player characters. If converse for more than fifteen minutes, he may notice that she knows more about 'Mech repair than is usual for a civilian. Referee may try to make it seem as though Kirsten is a watcher of the vids from Solaris, sort of a 'Mech groupie. A vague impression should be left that this family is not your average travelling salesmen. Noor Khan tells Mandhata about the upcoming meteor shower, which will be starting in two more nights, for a period of five nights. Mandhata pretends great excitement. The actors gossip about the production they are going to do next.
Someone overhears Ormea teasing Mandhata, using the word "bisul". If the young men are asked, they will lie convincingly, saying that it is the name of a local vegetable which makes Mandhata flatulent. Sign is left in the road. It is more likely to be seen this time. The players should roll to see if t hey remember the other sign.
Trokstop Three
The "miners" join the party. Peera and Bhowanee will talk after everyone has gone to bed. Honest Dan will attempt to hire Dilip away from Meer Khan. Anders will show open hostility, first to Dilip, then generally, certainly including the player characters. The "miners" begin to talk of the meteor shower to come. It sounds like an excellent excuse for a party. The actors play cards all night and talk loudly.
Kirsten and Dilip may be seen talking together - regular boy-girl stuff, but it may look suspicious. One of the player characters may catch Anders looking over your transport from the outside, as he plans a break-in. Noor Khan suggests that we all try some of the local brew while we wait till the meteor shower starts, about 10 pm local time tomorrow. No sign in road.
Trokstop Four:
The night set for the killing. The owners of this trokstop are a man and wife, Neemal and Doera, with two daughters, Falma (aged 10) and Reema (15). They are courteous enough to the player characters, but they do not talk on a personal level. It is possible that they are in league with the Phransigars, but nobody will ever know for certain. Roll 2 D6. On a die roll of 12, one of the prohibited class of victims (see Phransigars, the Strangler Cult, pg 16) will already be staying at the Trukstop. If this happens, he /she will ask to join the caravan, and Soor Jun will become rude and noisy, trying to refuse him / her. On a die roll of 1-10, the attempt will proceed as planned. On a die roll of 11, if someone has made friends with him, Mandhata will attempt to warn his friend among the player characters. He won't tell them what is to occur; he will attempt to persuade the friend to go to see a local hot spot, or to leave the party for some other reason. If anyone interrupts or overhears them, he will be scared off, and become ashamed of what he has done, betraying his tribe to a stranger. He will subsequently deny that such a conversation ever took place.
Trokstop Five
If the killing attempt did not take place last night, and was not disclosed or detected, it will take place tonight. The owner here is Mo Jhan, a tall thin mournful fellow who seems only to care about money. His food is not delicious, but it won't kill you. He will stay in his quarters during the attack. If a player character brings the attack to his attention, he will shelter the individual and claim to the Phransigar that the character ran down the road to escape, but he will not fight in your favor.
The Killing Attempt
There are picnic tables with heated shelters on a hill behind the trokstop. The party begins there with much of the local barley beer, which is surprisingly good and very potent. It makes you sleepy. A little before 10, the whole party will all either be in their beds or in the clearing, waiting for the meteor shower. The only com set will be in use by one of the host's daughters. She will not give it up to anyone. No matter what is said to her, she'll reply, "Just a minute!" in tones of intense irritation.
The Phransigars have disabled each vehicle, including the players unless they are keeping a watch and make a roll. Hollna will do the job on the players' vehicle. The Phransigars own vehicles are untouched, and in excellent running order. Each Phransigar has a modern weapon as well as his traditional ones. (All are looted from the dead.) He will use this only in order to escape.
The Phransigars intend first to attack and wipe out the outdoor party which is awake, then to advance through the Trokstop wiping out everyone except the host and his family. The Trokstop dormitory will be guarded by a number of Phransigars equal to the number of characters in the dorm; they are pretending to be asleep in bunks by the door. The other Phransigars will be in the party watching meteors. Allow one of the player characters to notice the first meteor fall. It will be followed by 1 D6 more of them within the first five minutes. The Phransigars will be sitting all throughout the party. Each one will have chosen a victim.
Bogheera nods to Noor Khan. Noor Khan looks up casually, stiffens. He points dramatically, and exclaims, "That's not a meteor! It looks like a ship, but it's so big! What is it? "Almost everybody will lookup. (Ask the players what they choose to do.) Whether or not they look, the attack will be made. Peera will not attack anyone the first round. He will help any Phransigar who needs aid except Mandhata, who is supposed to do this on his own.
Resolution
1) If the Phransigars take the whole party by surprise: You don't want to wipe out the whole unit of players. Here is where the question of game balance comes in. If all of the players choose to look up, let someone notice out of the corner of his eye as another player is attacked. If the party is warned, let them take their chances.
2) If the Phransigars make the attempt and do not succeed:They will retreat, giving whistle signals as they go. The members keeping watch in the dormitory will start their killing at 10:15, unless some one comes in to tell them to wait or they hear whistle signals. They will retreat to the front, and pile into a vehicle. (Even the car will hold seven at a pinch.)
3) If some or all of the Phransigars fail and are cornered: They will try suicide attacks to get the party to kill them. Hollna will kill Mandhata herself to keep him from prison. If they fail and are put in jail, it will take very sophisticated interrogation techniques to get any information from them. They are very well conditioned and will suicide under almost impossible circumstances. This sort of interrogation will not be done unless the players stay in town and oversee it.
If the Holgarsons are all killed, or all but Kirsten, the players will find who they were, and that they were planning to rob the players. (Ralf's notebook). If you continue traveling with them, at Trokstop 8, they will give you a chance to sell to them at 40% of what they will sell the parts for. You are only getting this offer because Kirsten pleaded. It will be at 50% if you've fought together. At Trokstop 9, they will try a hijack if no deal has been made. They know exactly what you have. If Anders was undetected at Trokstop 3, they know where the players have the desired parts. If they get a 20 minute head start, they will hide themselves in territory they know; they will not be found.
If the players do choose to stay and prosecute the Phransigars, eventually their protector in the police department will not be able to help them; the ground around the picnic tables will be dug up and several dozen bodies will be found. Stress to the players that even now the surviving Phransigars will seem to be so likeable and pleasant that they will find it hard to believe what their own eyes saw.
Dr Hobart Watson is a professor of historical linguistics who currently teaches in a university which has been generously endowed by Archon Katrina Steiner. He asks that we not identify him beyond this because he fears reprisals from the group whose secrets he reveals here. The editors of BattleTechnology feel that this is an extremely reasonable request.
In the Name of the Dark Mother A Scenario for MechWarrior
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