TEXT: AN INTRODUCTORY 
  ROGUE TRADER ADVENTURE
  
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  Dark Frontier
  Dark Frontier
  Lead Developer
  Ross Watson
  Dark Frontier Written by
  Owen Barnes with additional writing by Sam Stewart
  Editing
  Leigh Anne Reger
  Graphic Design
  Kevin Childress
  Cover Art
   Imaginary Friends Studio
  Interior Art
  Matt Bradbury, Colin MacNeil, Karl Richardson
  Art Direction
  Zoe Robinson
  Production Manager
  Gabe Laulunen
  Managing RPG Developer
  Michael Hurley
  Publisher
  Christian T. Petersen
   
  Games Workshop
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  Owen Rees
  Thanks to all staff of the GW Design Studio—your work is  
  an inspiration.
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  Erik Mogensen
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  Credits
  
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  Dark Frontier
  Dark Frontier
  Dark 
  Frontier
  “You think man is the only race to dabble in the darkness of the 
  warp? No my friend, there are creatures far older and evil than us 
  out there among the cold stars—aliens whose worship of the warp 
  makes humanity seem as naughty children screaming at the sky.”
  –Interrogator Milos Helacania, Lost to the Warp 673M40
  T
  his adventure follows the events detailed in Forsaken 
  Bounty. After facing off against malign influence of 
  the Psycharus Worm, the Explorers find themselves 
  in possession of both the Emperor’s Bounty and the fell Halo 
  Device that led to its demise. Unfortunately for them, their 
  actions have had more far reaching consequences than they 
  could imagine, and in defeating the thralls of the Worm, 
  they have stirred up dark forces and ancient alien powers. In 
  this adventure, the Explorers will learn of the true power of 
  the Worm and catch a terrifying glimpse into the legacy of 
  its creators. Their vessel and crew will be subverted by the 
  power of a terrible xenos race known as the Yu’vath—an evil 
  thought by most to have been long since extinguished from 
  the galaxy—and they will be drawn into an ancient trap from 
  which they must find a way to escape or become lost forever.
  OVERVIEw
  This scenario picks up where Forsaken Bounty left off with 
  the Explorers in possession of both the Emperor’s Bounty and the 
  Halo Device known as the Psycharus Worm. After stripping 
  the ship and deciding what to do with the Worm—keep it, 
  discard it or destroy it—they make a transition into the warp 
  leaving the battlefield behind. At this point things begin to go 
  wrong for them; it seems that whatever powers they quelled 
  aboard the Bounty have infected their own vessel and taken 
  possession of their ship’s systems. Out of control, their vessel is 
  cast into the deep storms of the Maw and swept far off course. 
  When the Explorers finally still the horrors that rage across 
  their ship and return to real space, they find that the Worm 
  has taken them somewhere far inside the Ragged Worlds to 
  a remote system where an ancient alien space station hangs 
  in the void in place of a star. This solar fortress was created 
  long ago by the dark and alien Yu’vath and seems to have 
  complete mastery over the system and a gravity shadow strong 
  Running the AdventuRe
  You do not need a copy of rogue trader to play this 
  adventure. It can be run using the characters and rules 
  presented in the Forsaken Bounty booklet (available 
  for download from the Fantasy Flight website). However 
  if you do possess a copy of the rogue trader rulebook, 
  guidelines have been presented to allow the GM to 
  expand on certain encounters and challenges—adding 
  such things as space battles and alternative enemies.
  
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  enough to hold orbiting planetary bodies, snare ships crossing 
  the Koronus Passage, and worst of all, create some kind of 
  powerful warp-lock preventing their escape. In addition to the 
  brooding presence of the Yu’vath Fortress, the Explorers will 
  also discover that they are not alone; others have been drawn 
  here and are equally eager to escape. Using their cunning and 
  skill, the Explorers must unite these marooned travellers and 
  lead an assault against the Yu’vath Fortress to break the warp-
  lock and escape back into the void.
  PART ONE:  
  A DEADlY TRANsITION
  The adventure begins when the Explorers are preparing to 
  make a transition into the warp, at which time the Worm will 
  become active once more. When exactly this happens is up 
  to the GM. If the adventure follows directly after Forsaken 
  Bounty, then this can be at the point that the Explorers are 
  preparing to leave the Battleground after stripping much of 
  the Bounty. Alternately, any amount of time could go by with 
  the Explorers pursuing other opportunities and adventures, 
  unaware that the Worm slumbers within their ship until 
  at some point, when making a transition into the warp (a 
  common occurrence for Rogue Traders), it stirs to life. If this 
  adventure is used directly after Forsaken Bounty and is 
  being played using the rogue trader Core Rulebook, the 
  GM should allow the PCs to spend experience gained from 
  that adventure and to acquire new items (it can be imagined 
  that they are salvaged from the Bounty) before pressing on.
  As the Explorers’ ship begins its transition, read or 
  paraphrase the following:
   
   As it has done countless times before, your ship once again 
  prepares to pierce the fabric of the immaterium and plunge into 
  the warp. Like a sickness rising from the pit of your stomach you 
  feel the warp engines roar to life a dozen decks below your feet 
  and the charge in the ship’s stale air as the Geller Field’s empyreal 
  web envelops the vessel. The ship’s structure shudders and groans 
  as the transition begins and then…
   Something is wrong. All of a sudden the bridge is plunged 
  into shadow and the ship seems to buck under the weight of some 
  unseen force—the very deck underfoot rippling and bending. All 
  around you servitors cease their mindless tasks and throw their 
  heads back screaming out of ruined mouths. You are struck by the 
  unshakable feeling that something terrible has just happened. 
  Although the ship’s Gellar Field is active at this point, 
  the ship is wholly within the warp and the proximity allows 
  the Worm to regain its power despite the Field’s interference 
  (incidentally, this is what also happened aboard the Emperor’s 
  Bounty). The Worm has infected their vessel with a Yu’vath 
  Dark-Energy Construct known as a Warp Maggot which has 
  begun to attack the ship’s machine spirit. This means that the 
  Explorers will lose control of their ship’s helm and systems 
  and servitors all across the ship will go berserk as they are 
  tortured by the presence of the Maggot writhing around 
  inside their sensory links and power feeds.
  The Explorers may attempt to use their Gellar Field to 
  disrupt the Worm’s control. Unfortunately, while they are 
  in the warp, the Gellar Field will have no affect on the  
  Worm’s powers. 
  descent into dARkness
  At this point, the Explorers will probably be screaming to find 
  out what is going on and why their ship is failing all around 
  them. Finding out that their ship has been attacked by a Warp 
  Maggot (since few people will even know what a Warp Maggot 
  is) is not going to happen straight away—if at all. Instead, the 
  GM should have them treat the symptoms of the problem and 
  show off their leadership skills by putting out some ‘spot fires’ 
  caused by rampaging servitors and the Maggot’s assault on the 
  machine spirit. These can include:
  Warp Engine Overload: 
  •	
  The Explorers must direct 
  power relays away from the warp engine as its energy 
  field fluctuates. This task can be performed over the vox, 
  requires a Hard (–20) Fellowship Test (although for 
  the Rogue Trader or Void-Master, the Test is Challenging 
  (+0) instead), while personally aiding the Enginseers 
  requires a Challenging (+0) Tech-use Test.
  Hull Breech:
  •	
   A section of the ship is open to the warp 
  and must be sealed swiftly. This can be done over the 
  vox, but requires Difficult (–10) Intimidate or Charm 
  Test to convince the crew to sacrifice those trapped in 
  the compartments. It can be done linking with the core 
  cogitator, requiring a Challenging (+0) Tech-use Test. 
  Finally, Explorers near the decompressing section can 
  personally seal the pressure doors using an Ordinary 
  (+10) Strength Test.
  WheRe is the WoRm?
  At the conclusion of Forsaken Bounty the Explorers 
  will be in possession of the Psycharus Worm, though 
  it will seemingly be inert. The Worm is linked to the 
  warp, and able to phase in and out of real space, so 
  attempts to destroy it, discard it, or lock it away will 
  fail as it creeps about (though never when the PCs are 
  observing it) and attempts to stay on their ship. If the 
  Explorers do choose to discard or destroy it, then it 
  will simply vanish (the GM can lead them to believe 
  they have been successful) and hide within their vessel 
  until the time is right. The GM can take advantage to 
  this to heighten the PCs’ anxiety by having it strangely 
  move across a table when they look away, or having a 
  crewman discover it in a vent decks away from where 
  they left it. For more details on the Psycharus Worm 
  and Halo Artefacts, see page 17 in Forsaken Bounty.
  
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  Catastrophic Life-Support Failure:
  •	
   The atmosphere 
  within the ship is failing (see page 18 of Forsaken 
  Bounty for running out of air). This can be fixed in the 
  same way as a Hull Breech above, however the increased 
  difficulty modifies all Tests by –10.
  Failing any of these Tests should not be fatal for the Player 
  Characters, but the GM can go to lengths to describe the rising 
  body count to the rest of the crew and the brutal damage their 
  ship is suffering. The Explorers may also jump to the conclusion 
  (rightly so) that the Worm is behind the chaos, and try to find 
  it. A thorough search will locate it attached to servitor where 
  it released the Maggot into the machine spirit. By this stage, 
  the Maggot will have completed its subversion of the machine 
  spirit and disappear (perhaps to return later) and control of 
  their ship will return. At this time (several hours in game time) 
  their ship will abruptly drop back into real space—heralding 
  the beginning of more pressing problems… 
  PART TwO:  
  UPON A DARk NOwhERE
  While they were fighting the Maggot and the effects of its 
  rampage, the Worm has guided their vessel into the waiting 
  web of a Yu’vath trap—a region of warp space altered to snare 
  the unwary and draw them toward an ancient alien fortress. 
  As soon as they return to real space and take their bearings—
  scanning the near void to find out where they are—read or 
  paraphrase the following:
   Probing the darkness with your ship’s sensors, you slowly 
  assemble a picture of the near void around your vessel. At first 
  you think you must be in deep space—such is the emptiness that 
  presses down upon your hull. However after a few moments you 
  begin to detect the presence of what must be a remote solar system 
  containing little more than fragments of cold dead rock and a 
  ring of gutted space hulks. At the centre of the system—beyond 
  the rocks and ring of debris—a tiny black star burns and flickers 
  against the darker void beyond.
  At this point, the Worm will also vanish from wherever it 
  linked into the ship’s machine spirit, and will not be seen again 
  on the ship. The Worm used the Sovereign Venture to find its way 
  back to this ancient alien fortress—which had been its goal 
  even when it took over the Emperor’s Bounty. Now that it has 
  arrived, it cares little for what happens to the Explorers.
  WARp-locked
  The dark star is in fact a Yu’vath Fortress—an alien artefact 
  of unimaginable power forged long ago by a twisted and 
  corrupt xenos race. Equal in size to a medium-sized world, 
  it hangs in the void like a black sun, arcing with power and 
  blotting out the stars behind it. Across its surface, hundreds 
  of small islands form a matrix of power relays and energy 
  webs—their true purpose unknown. What is apparent is that 
  the Fortress emits a tremendous gravity field across the near 
  
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  void—drawing asteroids, hulks and even rogue moons into its 
  orbit. Its presence is also felt within the warp, where it creates 
  a deep shadow across the immaterium preventing ships from 
  escape. Furthermore, the station is protected by Yu’vath Void 
  Wasps—small crystalline and dark metal needle-like frigates 
  with substantial firepower. These dark vessels constantly patrol 
  within the upper orbit of the station.
  All of these facts will quickly become apparent to the PCs, 
  either from scans of the systems core, readings from the warp 
  engines, or reports from their astropath concerning the shadow 
  in the warp emanating from the star. This should leave them 
  with the knowledge that they have somehow been brought 
  here by the Worm and trapped for some unknown purpose. 
  From the edge of the system, they will also be able to track a 
  number of celestial bodies orbiting the star—most notably a 
  small moon and broad ring of debris. Closer inspection will 
  reveal that there is some kind of settlement on the moon and 
  the presence of a vast space hulk hidden in the debris ring. 
  They will also begin to pick up vox traffic.
  Another detail they will quickly realise is that their vessel 
  is locked into orbit around the star. Neither their plasma 
  drives nor their warp engines will operate. It appears they are 
  completely trapped. Luckily, the mysterious force that pins the 
  Sovereign Venture in place has no affect on their smaller gun-
  cutter, which they can use to get around the system. 
  A hostile shoRe
  The Explorers are not the first people to have been drawn 
  into this cursed system by the ancient Yu’vath. Both xenos and 
  human vessels have been plucked from the Maw, either by the 
  malign power of Halo Devices like the Worm or by straying 
  too close to the Yu’vath’s web within the warp. The fate of 
  most of these crews and their ships has been a slow death 
  trapped in the orbit of the fortress—unable to flee through 
  the warp or through realspace. A few, however, have survived, 
  and while no living xenos remain, two distinct human factions 
  have taken up dominion over this evil place. The largest is a 
  motley band of void-farers, ex-Imperials, and mutants led by 
  an old naval midshipman named Martek the Just. Martek and 
  his survivors have an established base on the system’s only 
  true planetary body: the nameless moon. The other settlement, 
  known as the Brotherhood, is much smaller and led by a cleric 
  named Palar. Marooned pilgrims, they have taken up residence 
  in a space hulk within the debris ring and see their time 
  here as a test by the Emperor himself. Both groups will be 
  understandably interested in the Explorers’ arrival and more 
  importantly the presence of their powerful vessel.
  mARtek’s suRvivoRs
  Martek commands a settlement of several thousand men and 
  women in a vast shanty town on the nameless moon. Created 
  from the wrecks of ships, the settlement stretches across 
  kilometres of the moon’s airless surface. The inhabitants have 
  constructed makeshift habitats out of the crew quarters and 
  life sustainers of scavenged vessels. Like all the inhabitants of 
  the system, they survive by scavenging and farming the few 
  fungus and food rodents that can live in such a claustrophobic 
  environment, and searching the debris field for ice-asteroids 
  they can convert to water and air. The settlement also boasts a 
  sizable mutant population—drawn from the bilges of countless 
  vessels—which play a vital role in its maintenance. Even with 
  the limited resources available to him, Martek has observed 
  the surface of the Yu’vath Fortress for years and watched how 
  its energy matrix binds the detritus of the system together. 
  His attempts to land on the fortress and break the matrix, 
  however, have all ended in failure as he lacks the power to 
  get past its defences.
  Things to know about the survivors: 
  Martek believes that everyone in the settlement is 
  •	
  equal—beneath him of course.
  The Survivor’s settlement is dying—within a generation 
  •	
  or two, its population will all be gone.
  The mutant population are restless and will soon 
  •	
  outnumber the non-mutants.
  Martek speculates that to end the influence of the Fortress, 
  •	
  its power matrix (relayed through its crystal towers) must 
  be destroyed. He has even determined a particular crystal 
  tower that seems larger and more energetic than the rest, 
  and thinks that if that particular tower is destroyed, the 
  force that keeps ships from leaving will be disrupted. He 
  even has a weapon capable of pulling it off, the warhead 
  the Yu’vAth
  More than two thousands years ago, during the time 
  of the Lord-Militant Angevin, the Expanse was home 
  to an ancient and alien evil known as the Yu’vath. 
  Twisted servants of the warp, they built an empire on 
  a foundation of dark sorcery, soul slavery and daemon 
  worship. For years the Crusade fought a bloody war 
  against them, slowly pushing them back in the face of 
  massed slave armies and vile warp-technology. Finally 
  Saint Drusus himself struck the final blow and ended 
  their domination over the Calyx Expanse. What was 
  left of their worlds and artefacts were destroyed and 
  their locations purged from Imperial records and over 
  time their existence was slowly forgotten. Whispers 
  persist however that they were never truly defeated and 
  there are Yu’vath worlds still hidden deep within the 
  darkness of the Expanse.
  GMs can allow any Explorer with the Scholastic 
  Lore (Occult) or (Legend) Skill to make a Difficult (–10) 
  Test to know something of the tales of the Yu’vath. 
  Alternatively some of the NPCs they encounter in this 
  adventure may be able to pass on dark rumours.
  
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  from a vortex torpedo scavenged from the wreckage of 
  a ship. However, he has no way of breaking through the 
  Void Wasp blockade that surrounds the planet to plant 
  the torpedo.
  the BRotheRhood
  The Brotherhood is the remnants of a pilgrim ship that was 
  plucked from the Maw by the power of the Yu’vath Fortress. 
  Led by Palar, it has become more a monastery than a true 
  settlement and survives mostly by scavenging from the debris 
  ring. Far smaller than the Survivor’s settlement (numbering 
  only a hundred or so souls), it has nevertheless endured and 
  resisted Martek’s attempts at assimilation for two key reasons. 
  The first is that many of the Survivors respect Palar and his 
  followers and their faith in the Emperor, believing that his 
  presence somewhat alleviates their own hopelessness and the 
  damned nature of their predicament. The second is that the 
  Brotherhood is home to Lynara Cobolt, a pious free captain 
  and commander of the Penance of Iocanthos—an armed 
  transport ship. For his part, Palar has also restricted ties with 
  Martek because of the mutant population of his settlement—
  which he sees as an affront to the Emperor. The Brotherhood 
  will welcome the Explorers, as long as they come in the name 
  of the Emperor.
  Things to know about the Brotherhood:
  They are religious fanatics that follow only the word of 
  •	
  the God-Emperor.
  Lynara is more interested in status and wealth than piety 
  •	
  and might be open to a deal that involved her and her 
  ship joining the Explorers’ dynasty.
  Lynara’s armed transport is trapped in an orbit much 
  •	
  closer to the Fortress than the Explorer’s vessel. In fact, 
  her guns are in range of the Void Wasps. However, she 
  is unwilling to fire on them for no good reason, since it 
  seems like a bad idea to provoke them.
  They will only follow Martek or the Explorers if all the 
  •	
  mutants are purged and Martek submits to a ritual of 
  purification and supplication to the God-Emperor. 
  gm guidAnce:  
  Running the FActions
  This section of the adventure has been left open for 
  the GM and players to proceed as they choose—either 
  with or without the help of the factions. At its most 
  basic, the PCs can arrive, make contact with either 
  faction and learn what they know about the Fortress 
  and its influence, and learn the fact that they cannot 
  break its defences with their vessel alone. From here, 
  they can then stage an assault with either or both 
  factions’ aid and destroy one of the fortress relay 
  towers, thus breaking its power matrix and allowing 
  them to escape. 
  mAking deAls
  Both of the factions have something necessary to 
  escape the system. Martek has the plan and the bomb, 
  and Lynara has the shipboard weaponry to blow a hole 
  in the Yu’vath defences. The Explorers have several 
  possible options:
  The Explorers can unite the factions through words 
  •	
  and diplomacy. This will require the Explorers to 
  speak to each faction in turn, making Challenging 
  (+0) Charm or Intimidate Tests to convince (or 
  coerce) each side to following the Explorers’ orders. 
  Martek’s faction will be especially susceptible to 
  threats of violence in the form of Intimidate Tests, 
  whilst the Brotherhood may be easily persuaded 
  by a member of the Imperial missionary making 
  an Ordinary (+10) Scholastic Lore (Imperial 
  Creed) Test (or a Charm test at the same difficulty) 
  to convince them that their faith allows them 
  to work with unclean mutants, as long as those 
  mutants are used to further the accomplishments 
  of the faithful. 
  They can ally with one faction, then overcome 
  •	
  and take what they need from the other. This 
  will require the Explorers to fight or trick the 
  opposing faction. Trask, for example, can make a 
  Challenging (+0) Deceive Test to trick a faction 
  leader into letting him enter their stronghold with 
  a compliment of armed individuals from his crew 
  or an opposing faction, at which point they can 
  attempt to take it over. Or, if the GM has access 
  to the rogue trader Core Rulebook, he can use 
  some of the NPCs and Adversaries and set up a 
  fight that the Explorers must overcome. 
  The GM is encouraged, however, to draw out this 
  section of the adventure and force the Explorers to deal 
  with both factions in order to get information about 
  the fortress and also the resources—ships, men, and a 
  bomb—to take it out. 
  
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  PART ThREE:  
  AN AlIEN wAR
  Once the Explorers have the support of either Martek or Palar 
  (or both), they will have the men and ships they need to stage 
  an assault on the fortress. As mentioned above, Martek has a 
  plan to destroy the fortress which involves getting a bomb 
  inside one of the fortress’s energy towers and setting it off—
  though the PCs can formulate their own plan along these 
  lines once they learn this is the key to breaking the warp-lock. 
  However, a field akin to void-shielding protects the islands 
  from orbital attack, so whatever their alternate plan is, it will 
  have to involve shuttling down to the surface and destroying 
  the tower from the inside. To do this, the Explorers will need 
  to blast a hole in the patrols of defending Void Wasps while 
  they shuttle over to the structure and plant the bomb. This is 
  where Lynara and her ship will come in handy, though the 
  players may feel that they are skilled enough pilots to evade 
  the Void Wasps without her help.
  The Explorers have two options to get through the Void 
  Wasp patrols.
  Lynara’s vessel can begin a long-range bombardment 
  •	
  of the planet with her macrobatteries, firing as much 
  ordinance as possible. Meanwhile, the Explorers in their 
  shuttle or gun-cutter use their voxes to direct whoever is 
  firing the ship’s weapons. One of the Explorers should 
  make a Challenging (+0) Ballistic Skill Test. If he 
  succeeds, the gun-cutter’s pilot must make an Easy (+30) 
  Pilot (Space Craft) Test to fly the gun-cutter through 
  the blockade. If the Ballistic Skill Test fails, the Pilot Test 
  is Routine (+20) instead. 
  If the players want to proceed without the covering 
  •	
  fire, the pilot must make two Challenging (+0) Pilot 
  (Space Craft) Tests instead. 
  If any Pilot Tests are failed, everyone inside the gun-cutter 
  will take 1d5 Wounds (ignoring Armour and Toughness), 
  as the gun-cutter is hit and buffeted by fire from the Void 
  Wasps. If there are any NPCs with the Explorers, a few of 
  them should die horribly as stray energy bursts puncture one 
  of the passenger compartments. However, the gun-cutter 
  will still make it to the tower whether the Tests succeed 
  or fail. 
  Once the Explorers get close enough, they can ferry the 
  bomb across. As their gun-cutter approaches the fortress, read 
  or paraphrase the following:
  gm guidAnce: spAce BAttle
  The assault on the station as presented here has been 
  designed so that the GM does not need to keep track 
  of the space battle. Instead, it is assumed that it will be 
  raging in the background as the Explorers make their 
  landing and proceed to an energy tower—essentially 
  allowing them to make their landing without being 
  blown out of the sky. In this case, the GM should 
  emphasise the titanic struggle raging above the PCs 
  heads as the Yu’vath Void Wasps clash with the human 
  fleet, filling the sky with fire and death.
  However, if you are running this adventure with 
  a copy of rogue trader, you will have access to 
  detailed rules for space battles and ship profiles. If this 
  is the case, the GM should feel free to flesh out this 
  part of the adventure, having the Explorers fight their 
  way past several Void Wasps before they can get close 
  enough to launch their gun-cutter.
  This battle can most easily be done with information 
  found in the rogue trader gM’s toolkit, which has 
  information on Void Wasps and intersystem ships. The 
  GM can also build Lynara’s ship using a Vagabond 
  Merchant Trader as the base hull (although the GM 
  should remember that her ship is locked in place and 
  cannot move). If you do this, keep in mind that the 
  Explorer’s goal is not to destroy all the Void Wasps, 
  but simply get close enough to the planet to launch a 
  gun-cutter. 
  
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   Your gun-cutter is buffeted and shaken as it flies across the 
  void between your ship and the black star. All around, the darkness 
  is alive with the vivid slash of beams and flashes of exploding 
  ordinance. Soon however, even these fade into the background as 
  you get your first good look at the alien installation. Thousands 
  of kilometres across, it appears as a great ball of liquid darkness 
  seething and rippling against the stars. On its surface, massive 
  honeycomb islands glitter and spark, spewing forth streams of 
  insect-like interceptors to attack your allies in space. However, 
  one island stands out, larger than the others and crowned by 
  a crystal tower connected to the others by flickering streams of 
  energy. As you draw closer, your gun-cutter passes through some 
  kind of pressure curtain and is immediately assailed by wind and 
  black tar-like rain thrown up from the dark surface below. More 
  alarmingly, the gun-cutter’s instrument panels begin to flicker 
  erratically.
  As the Explorers approach the island, their gun-cutter will 
  be assaulted by energy ribbons and electromagnetic static 
  causing its systems to flicker on and off. The GM should have 
  them make one final Challenging (+0) Piloting Test to 
  put down safely on the island—if they fail, then their gun-
  cutter will land hard and all Explorers must make a Ordinary 
  (+10) Toughness Test or suffer 1 point of damage (ignoring 
  Armour or Toughness) as they smack against the gun-cutter’s 
  internal components. Such a landing will also disturb the 
  bomb, and the GM can have a few tense moments as it is 
  thrown about and makes ominous noises. Whether or not 
  they make a smooth landing, the Explorers will not be able 
  to get further than the shore of the island due to the power 
  field surrounding the structure, and will be forced to process 
  on foot toward the tower to plant the bomb.
  The GM should determine the size of the vortex torpedo 
  warhead. It can either be as large as a bed and far heavier, 
  requiring it to be carried by several men (thus forcing the 
  PCs to go slowly and protect its bearers). Or it can be small 
  enough to be carried by a single Explorer (though this means 
  it can be more easily lost should the bearer be lost or lose his 
  backpack). 
  the mind mAze
  To reach the crystal tower at the centre of the island, the 
  Explorers will need to navigate through a maze of closed and 
  open tunnels of veined black diamond. The route is long and 
  winding, and the walls alternate between blank corridors that 
  all look exactly the same and claustrophobic tunnels covered 
  in disquieting pictographs depicting unnatural rites and 
  rituals. The real peril here, however, is not getting lost but in 
  losing their minds. 
  If you are using rogue trader, have each Explorer make 
  a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test or suffer 1d10 Insanity 
  Points as their minds are assaulted by the Yu’vath pictographs 
  that cover the tunnel walls, Otherwise, the GM should simply 
  impose a –10 penalty to the Ballistic Skill and Weapon Skill 
  Tests of any Explorer who fails the Willpower Test during the 
  next combat (the Crystal Garden). 
   At the GM’s discretion, if the Explorers are accompanied 
  by Martek or Palar and their followers, they can have some of 
  them go mad and either run off, turn on the group, or even 
  try and set off the bomb. Beyond the maze they will find the 
  crystal garden.
  
  10
  Dark Frontier
  Dark Frontier
  the cRYstAl gARden
  The tower is ringed by an open area filled with a forest of 
  what appear to be crystalline trees—their deadly sharp edges 
  glinting in the light given off by the tower. Many of the 
  trees have shed their branches so that the ground crunches 
  underfoot with broken crystal. Fighting in here is dangerous, 
  and any explosions, such as grenades or bolters, have a 50% 
  chance to cause a rain of razor sharp crystal leaves. If this 
  occurs, have everyone in the combat make an Ordinary 
  (+10) Agility Test or suffer 1d10 points of damage (this is 
  reduced by Armour and Toughness as normal). In addition 
  to the dangers of the trees, several Shardspiders (used by 
  the Yu’vath to maintain their structures) prowl the forest—
  their crunching footsteps audible to any who care to listen 
  (an Ordinary (+10) Awareness Test to detect before they 
  attack). Shardspider attacks should be in groups equal in 
  number to the Explorers and their allies.
  shARdspideRs
  Another construct of the Yu’vath, these deadly little creatures 
  are fashioned from bruised purple crystal and are about the 
  size of a large dog. With twelve legs and a tiny central body 
  they scuttle about with alarming speed. They also have a set 
  of needle-like mandibles which they can alternatively use to 
  mend broken crystal or plunge into an Explorer’s soft flesh… 
  shardspider Profile
  ws
  Bs
  s
  T
  Ag
  Int Per wP Fel
  39
  —
  44
  41
  51
  16
  37
  20
  ––
  Movement: 5/10/15/30  
   
  Wounds: 10
  Skills: Stealth (Ag) 
  Talents: None
  Traits: Natural Armour (All 2)
  Weapons: Monofilament mandibles (1d10+4; Pen 4)
  Armour: All 2
  Gear: None
  the keening toWeR
  The needle-like crystal tower that spears the centre of the 
  island has a single, large and obvious entrance ringed by 
  strange Yu’vath markings. There is not untoward danger here; 
  however, unless the Explorers devise some way of more easily 
  getting to the top, they are in for a long torturous climb. Have 
  each Explorer make an Ordinary (+10) Toughness Test 
  or suffer a –10 penalty to their Toughness for the following 
  battle.
  the chAmBeR oF Bones
  At the top of the Keening Tower the Explorers will find the 
  Chamber of Bones—the power nucleus of the island and the 
  lair of the Bone Warden. This is a large vaulted chamber, 
  twisted and veined with purple light like the rest of the 
  island, but here, the light seems to coalesce into a single 
  blazing point above the Explorer’s head. Across the floor and 
  walls more of the disturbing pictographs can be seen amid 
  the desiccated remains of humans and xenos corpses. In the 
  centre of the chamber a dim luminous sphere, surrounded by 
  floating shards of crystal, hovers below the nexus of light. 
  This is the Bone Warden (see below) and it will stir as the 
  Explorers enter its lair.
  In the rear of the chamber, hovering on a pedestal of dark 
  crystal, the Explorers will notice something very familiar. The 
  Psycharus Worm is suspended in a column of blue-purple 
  light. Obviously this is where it vanished to after leaving the 
  Explorers’ ship. 
  Yu’vAth Bone WARden
  An ancient Dark-Energy Construct, the Bone Warden is a fell 
  union of warp technology and dark sorcery. They were crafted 
  by the Yu’vath primarily to act as watchmen and guardians for 
  their void crypts and solar fortresses; and even now, long after 
  their masters have been forgotten, they remain to fulfil their 
  duty. The Bone Warden has no physical form and instead resides 
  in a collective of dead matter—most often corpses or other 
  once living remains. These corpses are held together by ribbons 
  and arcs of crackling black energy, the air around them charged 
  with constant flashes of midnight electricity and the smell of 
  burning flesh. Acting as a single mass, the corpses form a cloud 
  of grasping, clawing hands and mouths that whirls through the 
  
  11
  Dark Frontier
  Dark Frontier
  air. The only way to defeat a warden is to destroy its physical 
  state and thus disperse its dark energy field. However, even as 
  its adversaries blast away its fleshy shell, it uses its warp-shard 
  crown—a collection of dark crystalline fragments that orbit its 
  energised core—to claim more physical matter, regenerating its 
  rotting form. For this reason, Bone Wardens are often found 
  in rooms well stocked with the dead—a ready made supply of 
  material left by their Yu’vath masters.
  Fortunately for the Explorers, the Bone Warden they will 
  encounter in the crystal tower has faded in power with time 
  and the weakening of the fortress itself—as such it does not 
  have archeo-warp weapons or its full complement of psychic 
  powers. 
  Charged with defending the nexus and the crystal tower, 
  the Bone Warden will attack immediately and fight until either 
  it or the Explorers have been destroyed.
  Diminished Bone warden Profile
  ws
  Bs
  s
  T
  Ag
  Int Per wP Fel
  (10)
  58
  33
  54
  41
  31
  40
  32
  40
  ––
  Movement: 3/6/9/18 
   
   
  Wounds: 40
  Skills: None 
  Talents: None
  Traits: Warp-Shard Crown (see below), Cloud of Corpses 
  (see below) Unnatural Strength x2 (see below)
  Weapons: Claws and Fists (2d10+10), Warp Blast (Counts 
  as an Archaeotech Hellpistol—see page 5 of Forsaken 
  Bounty)
  Armour: None
  Gear: None
  Warp-Shard Crown: At any time, a Bone Warden can spend 
  a Full Action to regenerate one wound for every corpse within 
  20 metres as its shards burrow into their dead flesh and they 
  are dragged into to the creature’s mass. Once a corpse is used 
  in this way, it becomes part of the Bone Warden and cannot 
  be used again. The Warp-Shard Crown also has a secondary 
  power to disrupt energy attacks and fields in its presence as 
  the crystals sap their power. For this reason, power weapons 
  (like power swords) only do half damage against it.
  Cloud of Corpses: Because the Bone Warden is not really a 
  physical thing but rather a collection of dead animated flesh, 
  it can also spread itself across a large area by sending out 
  bodies spinning and writhing through the air. Typically a 
  Warden will be comprised of around a dozen or so bodies at 
  one time spread over an area of up to 15 metre radius from 
  its crown. This means that anyone in, or next to, this area can 
  be attacked by the Warden. Furthermore, as a Full Action, the 
  Warden can make a single melee attack against every target 
  in this area. A flamer or similar area-effeect weapon inflicts 
  double damage upon the Diminished Bone Warden.
  Unnatural Strength (x2): The Bone Warden is a construct 
  fuelled by the warp, giving it strength beyond what is 
  physically possible. When dealing damage with melee attacks, 
  the Bone Warden doubles its Strength Bonus (letting it do 10 
  additional damage instead of 5). 
  When the Explorers do leave the island with the bomb in 
  place, the GM can read or paraphrase the following:
  gm guidAnce:  
  BAttling the Bone WARden
  The Warden is a powerful adversary and should be 
  difficult to defeat for the Explorers. It will strike at 
  them with its flailing corpses and blast them with 
  warp energy from its crown. How difficult the GM 
  chooses to make this fight depends on how much he 
  thinks his players can take—considering they may be 
  wounded already from their journey to the tower. The 
  difficulty of this fight is tied directly to the amount of 
  corpses in the chamber and thus the amount of times 
  the Warden can regenerate. Ten or less will make for 
  a fairly evenly matched fight, while more than 20 will 
  be quite a challenge. The players may also figure out 
  that the Warden draws its power from the corpses once 
  they see it regenerate and choose to destroy bodies 
  before it can use them. This is a legitimate tactic as 
  long as they have a weapon powerful enough to shred 
  a corpse—a bolter on semi-auto (or a flamer burst)
  should do it. Finally, another way to make this fight a 
  little easier on the PCs is to have their allies take some 
  of the flak—either Martek or Palar and their men can 
  soak up some of the damage. Of course this will create 
  more corpses…
  If the players (or GM) are curious as to where the 
  corpses have come from, an examination of the bodies 
  will reveal they are both human and xenos, and appear 
  to be in varying states of decomposition. It should 
  be apparent to anyone who makes a Routine (+20) 
  Common Lore (Imperium) Test that the Explorers 
  are not the first to try and destroy this tower, and if 
  they fail, their bodies will join these heaps of corpses. 
  Once the Bone Warden has been destroyed, the 
  Explorers can set their bomb and make their escape. If 
  the Explorers are particularly bloodied by their trials 
  so far, you might want to go easy on them and simply 
  let them retrace their steps and then take their gun-
  cutter back to their ship. However, if you feel they have 
  a little more left in them, you can have one of their 
  ‘allies’ turn on them, either due to madness or for a 
  chance to steal their vessel. Perhaps Palar or Martek 
  might flee, leaving some men to block their path while 
  attempting to reach their gun-cutter first and leave 
  them stranded. Thus the Explorers must fight their 
  way out—perhaps past more Shardspiders—while in 
  the background the bomb counts slowly down…
  
  12
  Dark Frontier
  Dark Frontier
  As your gun-cutter lifts off in a plume of exhaust, you feel a 
  shudder pass through the cabin. Turning your gaze to the image 
  of the dwindling alien tower, your vision is suddenly filled with a 
  flash of dazzling white light. For a heartbeat there is silence and 
  then suddenly the shock wave hits the gun-cutter and it is tossed 
  wildly in the air. As the light fades, you can see the crackling 
  blue sphere of the vortex detonation hanging above the island 
  hungrily drawing in energy ribbons from across the dark fortress. 
  In the distance, you can see other relay towers flaring bright 
  and burning out as the vortex robs them of their energy. And 
  then you are beyond the pressure curtain and into the void once 
  more—just in time to witness the monolithic alien structure start 
  to implode.
  CONClUsION AND 
  REwARDs
  With the crystal tower destroyed, the Yu’vath Fortress’ 
  guardian Void Wasps will explode, and its warp-lock will fail, 
  allowing the Explorers to escape the system. The rest of the 
  surviving humans will be eager to hitch a ride back to the 
  Imperium and willing to pay for the privilege. This is the 
  point where the Explorers can pillage the system and perhaps 
  pick up some more lasting allies. Certainly if Lynara is still 
  about, she will be willing make some kind of arrangements 
  with them. Finally, if they are very bold indeed (and have 
  not had enough trouble from xeno tech), they can attempt to 
  plunder the ruins of the fortress. What exactly they find is up 
  to the GM—however it should almost certainly be trouble, 
  perhaps even more Bone Wardens...
  Finally there only remains the question of the Pyscharus 
  Worm and what to do with it. With the destruction of the 
  fortress’s energy field, it is now truly inert and will no longer 
  phase or cause more mischief. This means the Explorers 
  are free to keep it, destroy it, or try and sell it as they see 
  fit—of course even inert it might cause problems for them 
  as rumours leak out of their involvement with it to shadowy 
  organisations and interested parties.
  pRoFit FActoR ReWARds
  Scavenging the system and ferrying the survivors 
  •	
  back to the Imperium: +3
  Recovering any Yu’vath artefacts to sell or pass on 
  •	
  to the Inquisition: +1
  expeRience ReWARds
  Breaking the warp-lock and escaping the system:
  •	
   
  500 XP
  Uniting the factions and getting everything they 
  •	
  need to assault the fortress without killing either 
  leader or their followers: 100 XP
  If you have a copy of rogue trader, then you can also 
  use this opportunity to set up an Endeavour (as detailed in 
  Chapter X: The Game Master of the rogue trader 
  rulebook) such as a permanent colony on the nameless moon 
  or a xenoexcavation of the fortress which could lead to greater 
  and lasting profit for the Explorers.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Warhammer/40k/UNSORTED (help requested)/Roleplaying Games/Rogue Trader/Scenarios/Demo/Dark Frontier.pdf