Mission - Ranch Hand - Act 1 and Mission Briefing
A D23 Entry for Red Rocks' Shadow - zwoshea.itch.io/rrsash or https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/422566/Red-Rocks-Shadow
Ephemera
Dearest George,
It is hard to imagine we have been parted for only a season. Perhaps this is a manifestation of the heart’s logging. Perhaps it is the grueling nature of my labor. Despite the difficult conditions here, I have never seen a cruor pasture this rich. Protrusions we exhausted a month past has already regrown, not to the same level of ripeness but still to a remarkable degree. We have yet to find the source from which this bounty flows. To be frank, a part of me hopes that the surveyors never do. It is not just the protrusions. The very sand here is soaked with the stuff making it easy to suction up and refine. The workday is grueling, but it’s exciting.
However, there is something wrong with this stretch of land. At night, I feel something is watching us from the darkness. I am not the only one either. Our dreams are often filled with lurking figures, hard to discern in form but menacing nevertheless. I supposed at first this was mere anxiety working in such a rich pasture. This is the type of place other armies would seek to claim for its rich resources. This has not been the case. No one has come.
People are now missing. I do not mean to frighten you. The officers protecting us say that they were shipped off somewhere else. I can tell they are lying and just as terrified as we workers. No one that has ‘shipped off’ spoke of receiving orders to do so. I do not mean to frighten you, but I frighten myself. This is why I implore you to make an office visit here. I know your status will facilitate answers, or at the very least, you can take me away from this damned place.
I am scared, George. I need you.
Lisbeth.
Bloody fingerprints cover the outside of the letter with a roughly drawn map in pencil. The plains illustrated relate to a region controlled by the Boldric Union.
Location
Rich Cruor Pasture, Occupied by the Boldric Union Division Supply (BUDS or Buddies)
Mission
Find the Open Vein in the area and activate it. Clear out hostile entities.
Intelligencer Tidbits
Who. The Buddies overseeing the harvest of this Cruor Patch are under the command of Major Harold Pryne. Major Pryne was transferred to BUDS after an extent in a Butcher’s Block Asylum for a bout of ‘criminal insanity.’ 1 Vial.
What. (requires Where) Unofficial reports revealed that prior to the crash, the zeppelin crew and passengers reported seeing ‘shadow people’ aboard the vessel. It was said these people menaced the passengers but cause no harm. These reports were dismissed at the time of the crash and buried afterward as conspiracy theories. 1 Vial.
Where. This particular pasture sprouted up in the same field where a large-scale zeppelin disaster that claimed the lives of 218 civilians. While the cause of the crash and subsequence explosion was never discovered, theories of pre-War sabotage ran rampant at the time. The ground was scorched and thought stricken fallow at the time. 1 Vial.
Additional Facts. Gaining control of such a rich pasture will enhance a Deserter’s preternatural abilities. 1 Vial
Clot
Travel Cost. 1 Vial.
ACT 1
BUDS Basecamp
The Vein bursts open, dumping the Deserters out into an operations center built inside of an abandoned barn. It’s clear that the operations center is just as abandoned. A thin layer of dust covers the various instruments, radios, maps, and cabinets. Storage crates and barrels line the walls. From several, the smell of rotting food emanates. Searching for clues provides the following:
The last ‘dated’ log refers to the early spring. It details the number of Cruor harvesters now numbering 5 from 30 last count.
A detailed letter explaining the reasons for mutiny due to the lacking of Major Pryne’s leadership, his disregard for missing personnel, and escalating criminal mischief. This last part details petty theft of personal items, late-night stalking, and blasphemous threats.
136 reports from personnel of feeling watched and/or ‘shadow people’.
Outside the base camp are several cargo trucks caked in grim and dust. There are also crates of cruor chunks as well as barrels of cruor dust waiting to be loaded. These too have been covered with environmental leaves. In the distance, towering boulders of Cruor litter the landscape like a connection of giant scabs. The landscape in the shadow of these red rocks might remind one of an infected rash. Clouds of bloodfleas frolic amidst the miasma. The BUDS base and yard are separated from one another by a rusted chain-link fence. Not that bloodfleas care about the obstruction, there simply isn’t anything in the yard for them to feed off of. However, low discordant growls let the Deserters know they are not alone.
The BUDS yard has a Near, Close, and Far Segment. The Near segment leans back into the barn operations center. The Far Segment ends where the chain link fence beings. The growls, perhaps unsurprisingly, originate from a pack of wild dogs. These dogs, however, have been mutated by Cruor into Blood Hounds. These curs are dangerous to a well-trained soldier, or even a Deserter. A good starting place is 2 Blood Hounds for every 1 Deserter. After the first sequence, Command can insert a Bloodflea Cloud or two to ratchet up the tension if desired.
Blood Hound (Fodder)
Starved curs covered in seeping sores amid shaggy ruddy hair. Their fangs are sharp
Health- 1
Armor 1 Profane
Attacks -
Bite 1 Physical Harm, 1 Profane Harm (Persistent). Near
Maneuvers - Growl, Maul, Whine
Bloodflea Cloud is reprinted here for convenience.
Bloodflea Cloud (Vermin, Fodder)
A cloud of fingernail-sized fleas with glowing red abdomens. They don’t burrow into their victims, but rather drain them dry and move on to the next unlucky sod.
Health- 2
Attacks -
Swarm Swarm 1 Cruor Harm plus 1 additional Cruor Harm for every 2 Bloodflea Cloud in Near range. Near
Maneuvers - Hide, Infest, Jump
Throughout the fight, the Deserters may feel watched or sense figures out of the corner of their eyes. These do not materialize into threats or anything at all. As the fight draws to a close, humanoid shapes dart away from the closes Cruor Protrusions, deeper into the pasture.
Hidden Objective
Taking time to search through the truck beds reveals a shriveled corpse of a worker shoved into an open barrel. The corpse is clutching a rough map of the Cruor pasture with an X marks the spot as well as a necklace with a key carved from crystalized Cruor. The corpse clearly has a head wound, likely a self-inflicted wound. More in Act 2.
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