TEXT: Traveller
  The PiraTes of Drinax
  Written By Gareth Hanrahan
  The Demon’s eye
  The Demon’s Eye is the fourth adventure in the Pirates of 
  Drinax campaign. If you are a player in this campaign, STOP 
  READING NOW! If you’re a Referee, then you should first read 
  The Pirates of Drinax Campaign document to get an overview 
  of the campaign.
  This adventure takes place in the Borderlands subsector of the 
  Trojan Reach. The year is assumed to be 1105. The adventure 
  begins on Tech-World, or in a nearby system where the 
  characters can be contacted by emissaries of Tech-World.
  aDvenTure synoPsis
  The characters travel to Tech-World to conduct secret 
  negotiations with the scientific council who operate the highly 
  advanced colony. While there, one of the council, a brilliant 
  nanotechnologist named Jali Astor, accidentally exposes herself 
  to an experimental nanotechnological weapon. Infected, she 
  flees the planet, and the characters are asked to pursue her.
  From Jali’s assistant, Lemuel Volin, they learn she comes from 
  the planet Neumann, which fell victim to a nanotechnological 
  catastrophe during the Long Night. She sought a solution to 
  the nanotech swarms that still plague her world, but it seems to 
  have driven her insane. 
  The characters pursue Jali to the world of Mirage, where 
  she attempts to kill a representative of the Shield Church of 
  Neumann, Archon Dreek. If she obtains the Church-only 
  nanotech from Dreek, she believes she can save Neumann. 
  The final confrontation takes place either on Mirage, or in the 
  chaotic swarm zones of Neumann. As a complication, Lemuel 
  Volin is not what he seems. 
  Background
  The Solomani believed the path of technological development 
  was straight and direct as an arrow. One discovery built upon 
  another, and another, each breakthrough expanding the 
  scientific knowledge of the species. There might be accidents, 
  setbacks, the occasional dark age or ecological catastrophe, 
  but the path of advancement bent ever upwards towards some 
  unimaginable glorious future.
  The Vilani, older and wiser, knew otherwise. Technological 
  development is not a constant. It is like the tides. A world might 
  surge forward in a great wave of advancement, a flood of 
  knowledge, then fall back like the retreating surf. Hundreds or 
  even thousands of years might pass without any further change, 
  one generation following the rules and systems laid down by 
  their parents, choosing comfortable stability over dangerous 
  advancement. The path of technological development is not a 
  straight line - it is a maze, with many blind alleys and even more 
  pit traps and perils.
  The Third Imperium advances not in a sudden wave, but with the 
  steady, measured pace of a rising ocean. New developments 
  are carefully monitored, weighed, judged and considered 
  before they are allowed to come to fruition. The Imperium has 
  murdered its share of geniuses and prophets.
  The alternative is to risk the extinction of Humaniti. Look at 
  the few examples of unfettered technological advancement. 
  The Ancients wiped themselves out in an apocalyptic war. The 
  Darrians nearly blew up their own sun in their hubris. And in 
  the Trojan Reach, the transhumanists of Neumann brought ruin 
  upon themselves in a single ghastly hour. The future must ripen 
  slowly, or it will be bitter.
  
   
  2
  Tech-World
  Only a few parsecs antispinward of Drinax is the planet Tech-
  World. The ugly name - the product of a botched advertising 
  campaign by the General Development Corporation - speaks 
  of the planet’s ambition. On Tech-World, there are no limits 
  to scientific research, and no fetters on what a scientist can 
  attempt. The colony’s foundation was bankrolled by the General 
  Development Corporation. Most of the researchers come from 
  the Imperial subsectors of the Trojan Reach, especially worlds 
  like Neumann. Others are eccentrics and radicals, drawn to a 
  world where they can conduct virtually any experiments.
  GeDeCo tolerates its collection of mad scientists, as long as 
  they occasionally produce something useful and keep the 
  automated starport operational. Tech-World is an island of 
  advanced technology amid the backward worlds of the Reach.
  1. overTure
  Rumours spread quickly in the Reach. By this point in the 
  campaign, the pirates should have acquired a Standing (even 
  a negative one) that gives them a reputation as dangerous, 
  ambitious people. Perhaps they have even recruited a few 
  worlds to the banner of Drinax. The characters are becoming 
  influential, and that attracts attention. 
  At some starport bar, or in the Floating Palace of Drinax, or 
  in some other sleazy dive frequented by thieves and corsairs, 
  the crew are approached by an emissary of Tech-World. The 
  emissary slips a featureless black disc, about the size of a man’s 
  palm, into the pocket of one of the characters. The disc contains 
  information on the pirates, drawn from whatever data the 
  masters of Tech-World have on them - Imperial arrest warrants, 
  old naval records, DNA traces if they ever visited Tech-World 
  Library Data: Nanotech Swarms
  Nanotechnology is technology that operates on the 
  molecular scale. Some forms of nanotech become available 
  as early as TL7 in the form of smart fabrics and coatings, 
  but later Technology Levels allow the construction of 
  microscopic robots, small enough to manipulate individual 
  cells or even individual molecules. Individually, these 
  robots are 
  exceedingly simple, but can communicate and coordinate 
  their efforts. Examples of such robot swarms include the 
  ‘utility fog,’ a cloud of robots that can assume any shape 
  and density desired, assembler/disassemblers who build 
  objects up or tear objects apart, from the nano-scale 
  upwards.
  Like any technology, nanotechnology can be dangerous, 
  especially when nanotech swarms are allowed to operate 
  outside a controlled environment. 
  and so on. The disc activates only if the characters are the only 
  people nearby, to ensure no agent of the General Development 
  Company spies on this overture.
  At the appropriate moment (and if the characters don’t notice 
  the disc being planted or ignore it, this might happen when the 
  character carrying the disc is asleep or alone), the disc unfolds. 
  It projects a perfect hologram - the image of a humanoid figure, 
  his features concealed behind a silvery mask.
  +++Greetings. Your presence is requested - discreetly - on Tech-
  World, where matters of mutual interest and profitability may be 
  discussed. We offer you this gift as a mark of our respect, in the 
  hopes of future friendship.+++
  The gift is a computer data module containing a cutting edge 
  (TL 15) Intellect program equipped with the skills Social 
  Science (linguistics) 3, Social Science (philosophy) 3, Social 
  Science (psychology) 3 and Social Science (sophontology) 3. 
  Installed on a suitable computer, it can advise the characters on 
  its various fields of expertise. It’s of marginal use for a bunch of 
  uncultured pirates, but a lovely conversation piece.
  An Alternate Approach
  If the characters deliberately seek out an alliance with 
  Tech-World (which is a very wise move), then you can skip 
  straight to Landing on Tech-World.
  Landing on Tech-World
  From orbit, Tech-World looks like a rusty wasteland. Native 
  lifeforms are almost non-existent, unless you are a big fan 
  of slime. The world lacks any notable mineral resources or 
  anything else that might make it desirable for colonisation. 
  Thousands of years of colonisation waves and empires in the 
  Trojan Reach ignored it.
  Then the colony comes into view, and it looks like a microcircuit 
  spread out across the desert. In the centre of the colony is 
  StarPort, a featureless matt-black hemisphere the size of a small 
  city. It looks like the disc given to the characters, only billions of 
  times larger. As the characters’ ship descends towards StarPort, 
  a docking platform grows to accommodate them, and when 
  they land, it draws their ship through a seemingly solid barrier. 
  The walls are composed of trillions of microscopic robots, who 
  can flow and reshape themselves to whatever configuration is 
  required.
  More macro-scale robots swarm out to service the ship. A 
  servitor android - a perfect female form sculpted in brass and 
  steel - comes to greet the characters and welcome them to 
  Tech-World. She introduces herself as Sophia, and declares 
  that she has been assigned as the characters’ personal guide 
  and aide for the duration of their stay on Tech-World.
  
   
  3
  Wonders of Science
  The pirates are free to explore the public sections of Tech-
  World. Automated stores offer a limited amount of high-tech 
  goods, robot-controlled repair yards and hangars provide 
  ship repairs and upgrades, medical suites have the best 
  anagathics, cybersurgery and cloning technology in the 
  sector, and there are exotic high-tech entertainments of all 
  sorts. Immersive holographic displays - so realistic they are 
  utterly indistinguishable from reality - inform visitors about the 
  research being carried out on Tech-World. Here, scientists 
  experiment with psionics, cognitive augmentation, hyperspatial 
  manipulation, and advanced nanotechnology.
  Everywhere, the characters see robots - there are millions of 
  robots on Tech-World - but only a handful of other living beings, 
  mostly crews from other starships. Most of them look slightly 
  stunned by the bizarre environment. 
  Trade convoys from the Imperium and the Aslan Hierate stop 
  here regularly. Just outside StarPort is a sprawling bar/diner 
  called Luddites, where the highest technology used is a robotic 
  washing machine. Starship crew from low-tech worlds can 
  find refuge from technology shock in Luddites, and the player 
  characters may feel more at home there. 
  Possible Encounters
  1. Lieutenant Herold Nash of the Imperial Navy. A brash young 
  officer out of Pax Rulin, he is eager to cross swords with some 
  of those dastardly pirates he has heard so much about. His 
  ship, a Gazelle-class escort named Lionsbane, is part of a trade 
  convoy heading for the Hierate.
  2. Eldreth Vaux, a prospector and explorer. He and his crew 
  work for Imperiallines shipping, on a mission to map the Reach 
  and establish new trade lines. Vaux is an untrustworthy shyster 
  and a coward.
  3. Gali Flotaine, a young woman from the Pandora system. She 
  suffers from a rare genetic condition that can be treated only 
  on Tech-World. The General Development Company paid for 
  her treatment here to curry favour with her mother, who is an 
  important politician on Pandora. Flotaine mistrusts GeDeCo, 
  but owes them her life.
  4. Klowaaar, an Aslan free trader. He is an exiled male, and 
  suffers from extreme culture shock. He barely understands 
  money or technology, but has been forced to leave the Hierate 
  and start a new career as a trader. He ended up on Tech-World, 
  and is unable to find his way back to his ship because he refuses 
  to talk to robots. If the characters want to recruit the poor brute 
  as a crewman, he would jump at the chance. Klowaaar is an 
  excellent soldier and fighter, but is useless at everything else.
  5. Talbis Doherty, another free trader, and a spy for the General 
  Development Company. Her ship, the Parrot of Doom, bounces 
  around Borderland subsector, engaging in speculative trade 
  and adventuring. She’s friendly, outgoing, charming - and in the 
  pockets of GeDeCo. Anything the characters say to her gets 
  reported to Mr. Cerul. 
  6. Lemuel Vinus, a researcher from Neumann. He works 
  with the brilliant scientist, Jali Astor. They are both experts in 
  nanotechnology - a field of study banned on their homeworld 
  by the oppressive Shield Church. Vinus is an innocent abroad. 
  He arrived on Tech-World only a few weeks ago, and has never 
  been on a world below TL 14. He’s quite fascinated by how 
  humans ‘used to’ live, so he hangs around Luddites with the 
  wide-eyed excitement of a junior anthropologist. At least, he 
  pretends to. For the truth, see The Immortal Protector.
  The GeDeCo Agent
  Tech-World may seem like a wonderful playground for scientists, 
  but above the ruling council of technocrats sits the shadowy 
  General Development Corporation. One of their agents, Mr. 
  Cerul, visits the characters while they are on Tech-World. Cerul 
  pretends to be a potential patron, and claims to have a mission 
  for the characters - a simple delivery run, dropping a cargo of 
  high-tech goods to Byrni, where they will be transferred to a 
  Jump-5 courier for the long lonely jump to Villag. 
  
   
  4
  In fact, Cerul’s goal is to find out who the characters are and 
  what they want on Tech-World. If the characters have not had 
  dealings with GeDoCo before, then Cerul’s interest is academic; 
  he wants to get to know any potential threats or pawns before 
  they interfere with the company’s activities. If they have crossed 
  paths with GeDeCo before, in Adventure 7: The Vorito Gambit 
  or elsewhere, then they must be here under assumed names, 
  and Cerul’s goal is to determine the characters’ real identities. 
  If GeDeCo wants the characters dead, and Cerul sees through 
  their cover, then the pirates get chased by GeDeCo robot death 
  squads while on Tech-World. The Scientific Advisory Council 
  can help the characters escape.
  Cloak and Dagger
  Officially, Tech-World is an independent colony. Starport is 
  managed by the General Development Corporation, but the 
  rest of the colony is under the control of the Scientific Advisory 
  Council. GeDeCo is not responsible for the work carried out by 
  the researchers.
  That is a convenient fiction. Tech-World is GeDeCo’s research 
  hothouse. They may absolve themselves of responsibility for 
  any problems through this legal shadowplay, but they rule 
  the planet. If Tech-World were to defy the wishes of GeDeCo, 
  it would be cut off from the supplies and support it needs to 
  survive. 
  If the council’s plan to open negotiations with Drinax were 
  discovered, the punishment would be severe. Therefore, they 
  need to keep the characters’ presence here a secret. While 
  in the middle of some other task - say, arranging payment for 
  refined fuel - Sophia turns to the characters. 
  ‘Do not ask questions. Behave normally. My masters wish to 
  speak with you. Follow me.’ 
  She leads the characters down into the lower levels of StarPort, 
  into areas where the walls are moist, suggesting they have 
  not opened in years. From there, she brings them out into the 
  surrounding town via a metal-lined access tunnel used only by 
  robots. 
  The Guards
  The tunnel ends near a loading yard. The characters spot a 
  trio of GeDeCo security troopers there, standing guard over a 
  large cargo container. The guards are bored and not especially 
  vigilant - what do they have to worry about, on a planet where 
  the robots do everything - but the crew still need to sneak past 
  with a Stealth (Difficult –2, Dex) check or otherwise deal with 
  them (they carry laser rifles).
  Sophia does not accompany the characters past the tunnel exit, 
  but points them in the right direction - out into the warren of 
  robot factories and laboratories. The crew spot several other 
  GeDeCo patrols, but can easily avoid them. Sophia’s directions 
  lead to a heavily shielded bunker used for weapons testing.
  The Scientists, in an Adventure With Pirates
  Waiting for the pirates are three scientists, the representatives 
  of the council. They are;
  •	
  Dr. Gerret Hodal, a geneticist from Neumann. An elderly 
  statesman, he’s the head of the council and does most of 
  the talking. He has come to mistrust GeDeCo and wants to 
  explore other options for the future of Tech-World.
  •	
  Dr. Jali Astor, a nanotechnologist from Neumann. She 
  came here looking for a way to cure the nanotechnology 
  swarms that plague her homeworld. She pushed Hodal into 
  making contact with the characters, and should be the one 
  leading these clandestine negotiations. However, she had 
  a revelation this morning, and her mind is elsewhere. She’s 
  clearly not paying attention to the meeting, which visibly 
  irritated Hodal.
  •	
  Dr. Rex Darke, a roboticist formerly of the University of 
  Regina. Characters from the Imperium may have heard 
  something about a Dr. Darke, and something about killer 
  robots and a scandal. Between his occasional bouts of 
  maniacal laughter, and his habit of rubbing his hands as 
  though plotting the overthrow of the Imperium, Dr. Darke 
  scores highly on the mad scientist checklist.
  Hodal explains the status of Tech-World and how it is an 
  independent colony, but supplied and protected exclusively by 
  GeDeCo. They have the technology to provide most of their own 
  needs and, given time, could built their own robot-controlled 
  System Defence Boats. However, doing so would take several 
  months, if not longer. During that transition, Tech-World would 
  be vulnerable. What Hodal needs from the characters is;
  •	
  Regular shipments of cheap Basic Consumables, Basic Raw 
  Materials, Biochemicals, Petrochemicals, Radioactives and 
  Uncommon Raw Materials.
  •	
  At least four System Defence Boats or equivalent, massing 
  at least 300 tons each.
  •	
  Protection against any reprisals from GeDeCo.
  •	
  A contract that ensures that Tech-World will be free to carry 
  out any sort of scientific research without restrictions, even 
  in sensitive fields like psionics or artificial intelligence (Dr. 
  Darke has some really interesting theories about silicon 
  lifeforms on Cymbeline...).
  If the characters can provide all these, then they can negotiate 
  a secret alliance between Tech-World and Drinax. Tech-World 
  will become a Friendly port to pirates. With good Diplomat or 
  Broker rolls, the characters can bargain Hodal down on some 
  of his requests - perhaps he will take some ‘liberated’ freighters 
  refitted as Q-ships instead of SDBs, or pay for stolen cargo 
  instead of demanding all his Basic Consumables on a platter. 
  
   
  5
  Above all, Hodal wants this arrangement to be kept secret 
  until all the pieces are in place, to forestall any retaliation by 
  GeDeCo. If the characters are unfamiliar with the corporation, 
  he explains their Machiavellian ways. GeDeCo may pretend to 
  be a trading firm, but they are the fourth power in the Reach, 
  behind only the Imperium and the Hierate and more influential 
  than the Floriani.
  The characters do not have to make a final decision on his 
  proposal immediately. They can sleep on it. 
  2. The Demon unbounD
  Accommodation in Tech-World is luxurious - and soundproofed. 
  That means that the characters do not hear the earth-shattering 
  explosion in the distance, nor do they hear the raging inferno. 
  The first they hear about anything is when Dr. Hodal walks 
  through the wall of their room (the wall melts away on command). 
  He is clearly alarmed.
  ‘There’s been a terrible accident. Please, we need your help. 
  Quickly, quickly.’
  He leads the characters down to another access tunnel. As they 
  follow Hodal, he explains what has happened.
  •	
  There has been an accident in one of the laboratories. 
  Dr. Jali was working with dangerous nanotech from her 
  homeworld of Neumann, when the containment system 
  failed.
  •	
  Dr. Jali is possessed by the nanotech. 
  •	
  Hodal then corrects himself. ‘Possessed’ is the wrong 
  word. Not possessed... infected. Back on Neumann, the 
  Shield Church teaches that nanotechnology is the work of 
  demons. He doesn’t believe such things of course...
  •	
  Dr. Jali stole a ship from the starport. They’re tracking it 
  now, but it will reach the jump limit before they can bring it 
  down. He wants the characters to go after Jali and stop her 
  before she spreads the nanotechnological plague. 
  •	
  Her assistant, Lemuel Vinus, may know more.
  The Burning Laboratory
  The characters find Vinus outside the door to the lab. He’s 
  winding bandages around his head and hand, and explains he 
  was burned in the explosion. Nervously, he stammers out that 
  Dr. Jali made some breakthrough with her work in the last two 
  days, and spent every waking minute in the lab. 
  The lab is on fire, and the automated purge cycle (triggered 
  when any dangerous experiment goes wrong) will soon 
  annihilate everything inside. There is no time to get a suitable 
  robot or drone to search the place - if the characters wish to 
  investigate the laboratory, they need to put on protective suits 
  themselves and quickly check the ruins before the purge cycle 
  hits.
  Investigating the Laboratory
  This is an Average (+0) Intelligence + Investigate test. The 
  information gained depends on the Effect of the best roll among 
  the group.
  Effect 0: The characters find the words SHIELD CHURCH 
  scrawled on one wall. It looks like Dr. Jali scraped the metal with 
  her fingertips, suggesting she is inhumanly strong and tough.
  Effect 1-2: The characters recover partial security camera 
  footage of the lab accident (Dr. Jali deactivated the lab’s link 
  to the rest of Tech-World’s security grid, so this is the only 
  visual record of the accident). It shows Jali working with a 
  large machine that anyone with a good Physical Science skill 
  can identify as a nanotech containment crucible. She inserts a 
  sample of dangerous ‘swarm’ nanotech from her homeworld of 
  Neumann, and then inserts a second sample of some custom-
  designed nanotech. The two samples mix, and a thousand 
  generations of tiny robots crossbreed inside the crucible. Then 
  alarms flash, and the crucible containment fails. The front of 
  the crucible melts away as the nanotech eats through it. Jali’s 
  
   
  6
  protective encounter suit also fails to protect her - but instead 
  of pulling her apart molecule by molecule, the nanotech infects 
  her. She staggers to her feet, then moves incredibly quickly 
  towards the door. The characters catch a glimpse of her eyes 
  glowing red for an instant.
  Effect 3-4: The characters manage to examine the nanotech 
  crucible for a few seconds before the purge cycle begins. It 
  appears to have been deliberately sabotaged (Lemuel’s work 
  – he wanted to push Jali’s work onwards, and for that it needed 
  a human host).
  Effect 5+: The audio in the recording is mostly the sound of 
  explosions and screaming, but just before the accident, Jali 
  whispers the words ‘Immortal Protector’ under her breath.
  If the investigation roll fails with an Effect of -3 or more, then 
  one of the characters accidentally comes in contact with ‘live’ 
  nanotech. The nanoscopic machines dissolve a hole in the 
  character’s armour, then infect the skin beneath. The character’s 
  Dexterity is permanently lowered by -1, and his Endurance is 
  permanently increased by +1.
  Purge Cycle
  The automated purification cycle triggers after a few minutes, 
  when Hodal can no longer delay it. Plasma fire incinerates 
  anything left in the laboratory. Then the laboratory itself is 
  dissolved, the intelligent-metal walls closing in and reforming, 
  until the place never existed outside the sealed memory-
  archives of Tech-World.
  Hodal warns that a GeDeCo crash team will soon arrive to 
  investigate the incident. For everyone’s sake, it would be best 
  if the characters departed immediately. He begs them to go 
  after Dr. Jali and find her before she reveals the existence of 
  the illegal experiments to anyone. Her lab assistant Lemuel 
  volunteers to go with the characters.
  If the characters refuse, then this adventure is over. Lemuel 
  goes after Jali on his own; Hodal withdraws his earlier offer of an 
  alliance, and Tech-World becomes a Hostile port to the pirates.
  Jali Transformed
  Dr. Astor was experimenting with a variant of the nanotech 
  infection used by the Shield Church to augment their own 
  Flame Knights. In her case, it increased her strength, speed 
  and agility, but also pushed her survival instincts into overdrive. 
  Her instinctive, autonomic nervous system is now as ‘smart’ 
  as the conscious mind of a normal person. Instead of a basic 
  fight-or-flight response, her brain is now capable of instinctively 
  and automatically coming up with elaborate responses involving 
  long-term planning and advanced technology. Her higher brain 
  functions only kick in after the adrenaline wears off. Let’s put it 
  this way – if you put your hand on a hot electric grill, you jerk 
  Dr. Jali Astor
  Age 38, 5 terms
  STR 10 DEX 9 END 14 INT 13 EDU 14 SOC 8
  Admin 1, Astrogation 1, Comms 0, Computers 3, Deception 
  1, Engineer (jump) 1, Investigate 0, Jack of all Trades 1, 
  Life Sciences (biology) 4, Melee (brawl) 1, Mechanic 0, 
  Pilot (spacecraft) 1, Physical Sciences (chemistry) 4, 
  Physical Science (electronics) 2, Remote Operations 1, 
  Space Science (robotics) 3, Sensors 1, Vacc Suit 0
  Augments: Subdermal Armour (Armour 3), Drug Gland 
  (produce Combat Drug or Slow Drug at will), Fight-or-
  Flight Response (when threatened, Jali gains Athletics (co-
  ordination) 3), Gun Combat (slug pistols) 3, Melee (brawl) 
  3, Recon 3 and Stealth 3.
  Equipment: Gauss Pistol (3d6, Auto 4), Vacc Suit (TL14, 
  Armour 8, Vislight Chameleon giving DM+4 to Stealth 
  checks)
  Playing Jali (as Jali)
  •	
  Your mind works faster than most. Get frustrated 
  when people don’t understand.
  •	
  Finish other people’s sentences.
  •	
  Compulsively check your hand computer.
  Playing Jali (in combat mode)
  •	
  Stand on the balls of your feet.
  •	
  Bare your teeth, like a predator.
  •	
  Speak only in clipped sentences.
  your hand away instinctively. If Jali does it, then she jerks her 
  hand away, tracks the power supply for the grill, then precisely 
  smashes the weakest point in the wall to sever the power and 
  shut down the grill… or maybe she jerks her hand away, then 
  kills everyone in the house and burns it down. She won’t know 
  until she calms down and her consciousness reasserts itself.
  In game terms, any threat to Dr. Jali is met with extremely lethal 
  force, and she won’t even know she’s doing it. The enhanced 
  fight-or-flight autonomic system takes some of her desires into 
  account, but is completely amoral. It is like she has a sociopathic 
  switch.
  3. Chasing horrors
  Jali stole a Jump-2 Far Trader, the Lord Gerald’s Fancy, and 
  didn’t have time to plot a new jump solution. The Fancy was 
  en route to Exe, two parsecs away from Tech-World. The hunt 
  starts there.
  Lemuel Vinus
  Jali’s young assistant accompanies the characters on their 
  journey. If they quibble, he points out that he can tell them 
  
   
  7
  about both Jali’s nanotech experiments and her homeworld 
  of Neumann. Jali was working on a way to stop or control the 
  nanotech swarms that plague their homeworld, so Lemuel 
  suspects she is on her way there. On the off chance that the 
  players refuse to take Lemuel with them, he stows away on 
  board. If they shoot him... well, Lemuel is not what he seems. 
  Play Lemuel for comic relief. He’s earnest, eager to help, and 
  largely incompetent at everything. His carrot-coloured hair 
  is absurdly unruly, and he has the co-ordination and grace 
  of a beached whale crossed with a giraffe. Likely topics of 
  conversation with him include;
  •	
  Dr. Jali: Lemuel describes Jali as a genius, one of the 
  bravest scientists he has ever known. The Shield Church 
  of Neumann bans certain fields of research, so Dr. Jali had 
  to fight and work underground to study nanotechnology. 
  She was fiercely determined to save her planet from the 
  machine plagues. She was passionate – but never violent 
  or irrational. He suspects that the nanotech infection has 
  affected her thought processes.
  •	
  Jali’s Work: She was trying to develop a cure or control 
  for the nanotech swarms. Many scientists tried to find such 
  a cure in the past, before the Shield Church put an end 
  to such dangerous experiments. Jali believed the swarms 
  were essentially malfunctioning programs, and could be 
  controlled given the right inputs. She was working with 
  nanotech stolen from the Shield Church, and he knows it 
  connects to the autonomic nervous system. If she feels 
  threatened, she may become extremely dangerous.
  •	
  Stopping Jali: Lemuel asks that the characters refrain, if 
  possible, from using lethal force on her. She is not herself. 
  He believes they can convince her to listen to reason, and 
  that provoking her will trigger a hostile response.
  •	
  Neumann: The world of Neumann (page 174 of Alien 
  Module 1: Aslan) was a Solomani colony. The planet was 
  a shining jewel of technological advancement to rival the 
  Darrian civilisation, until a disaster released a ‘grey goo’ 
  hegemonising swarm. The ruling AIs committed suicide, 
  unable to find a solution for the plague. All hope seemed 
  lost, until the arrival of the Shield Church.
  •	
  The Shield Church: The Shield Church rules Neumann. 
  The priests of the Church have their own nanotech swarms 
  that can break down and block hostile swarms. The Church 
  rules every aspect of life on the planet, and bans certain 
  scientific research that might bring back the dark days. The 
  head of the Shield Church is the Immortal Protector.
  •	
  The Immortal Protector: The mysterious Immortal 
  Protector is the master of the Church. He is reborn once 
  every generation. He is rarely seen in public, and always 
  wears his ceremonial mask and armour. The Immortal 
  Protector’s will guides the people of Neumann, and it is his 
  holy Church that shields them against the swarms. Jali did 
  not believe in the Immortal Protector, and said he was a 
  myth perpetuated by the Shield Church, a figurehead used 
  The Tale of the Immortal Protector
  Once upon a time, the scientists of Neumann believed 
  that machines could solve all their problems. They built 
  thinking machines to do their thinking for them, and building 
  machines to make everything they needed. Their whole 
  world became one great union of machines, and people just 
  seemed like an unnecessary distraction.
  Then something went wrong. The building machines turned 
  on the people, and went mad. They killed billions and billions 
  of people, dissolving them into goo and using their remains 
  to build more building machines. The thinking machines 
  could not see a way to solve the problem, and kept thinking 
  and thinking until the building machines devoured them too.
  Now, one of the people killed in that plague was a woman, 
  a traveller from afar, named Nuwia, and as she died, she 
  called out the name of her lover. That name is forgotten, for 
  now we know him only as the Immortal Protector.
  Then the Immortal Protector came down from the stars, in 
  a ship of silver fire. He was a wanderer and a hero. Some 
  say he was the last Emperor of the First Imperium, exiled 
  from his throne by the Solomani upstarts. Others say he 
  was half-human, and half-Ancient, that his mother was an 
  archaeologist who found an Ancient tomb on a deserted 
  dead world. Whoever he was, he was a man without peer. 
  He stood eight feet tall, and wielded a FGMP in each hand. 
  He burned back the swarms with the fury of his fusion guns, 
  and fought his way to the last laboratory. There, he found 
  more slumbering swarms, and – for he was as great a 
  scholar as he was a warrior – he commanded the swarms 
  to block the building machines from encroaching any further 
  onto Neumann.
  The surviving scientists were made to swear an oath never 
  to interfere with the protections set in place by the Protector, 
  and he established the Shield Church to watch over his 
  work. So it is by his grace that everyone on Neumann lives 
  to this very day.
  to keep the ordinary people of Neumann from questioning 
  Church policy. Lemuel agrees with her… but says he finds 
  it hard to give up the myths of his childhood. He was raised 
  to honour and love the Protector. If asked for further details, 
  Lemuel tells the tale of the Immortal Protector.
  4. DeaD shiP
  In the Exe system, the characters initially find no trace of Lord 
  Gerald’s Fancy. The Exe starport has no record of the ship 
  arriving in the system; a Difficult (-2) Persuade check convinces 
  the starport tech to let slip that they did detect a jump signature 
  
   
  8
  a few hours ago, but the incoming ship headed towards the 
  system’s gas giant, Artobin, instead of visiting the port. Exe is 
  a small waystation, and does not have the resources to track 
  every stray signal.
  Scanning the gas giant requires a Very Difficult (-2) Education + 
  Sensors check. If the roll succeeds, then the characters detect 
  Lord Gerald’s Fancy skimming the gas giant’s atmosphere 
  to obtain hydrogen fuel. They also detect another ship, the 
  Vagabond Soul, a Far Trader class merchant. The latter ship is 
  drifting out of control in a decaying orbit around Artobin. It looks 
  like she’s intact, but unmanned. If the Sensors check fails, then 
  the characters detect only the Vagabond Soul at this point, and 
  pick up Fancy as she jumps out.
  Pursuing Fancy
  If the characters detect Fancy early, then Dr. Jali makes a break 
  for it. Her fuel tanks are partially full of unrefined hydrogen, 
  so she tries to burn hard for the jump limit. She has already 
  calculated her jump solution for her next destination, Cordan. 
  If she can reach the 100-diameter jump limit of the gas giant in 
  time, then she jumps with a -2 DM from her unrefined fuel. If she 
  jumps within the limit, she suffers a -10DM and misjumps - the 
  Referee should displace her by 1d6x1d6 parsecs in a random 
  direction. 
  Vagabond Soul
  Once the characters are within Close range, they can scan the 
  Vagabond Soul in detail. She appears undamaged. There are 
  What Happened Here?
  One of the passengers on the Vagabond Soul was Olim 
  Bayl, a trader from Neumann. Jali recognised the ship and 
  docked with it to speak to Bayl. Well, ‘speak’ is beyond 
  Jali in her current form, but she was able to get what 
  she needed from him – the location of the nearest Shield 
  Church archon. 
  The crew of the Vagabond Soul tried to stop her, and she 
  instinctively released a nanotech virus. Similar weapons 
  were seen on Neumann, centuries ago, during the worst 
  days of the swarms. They turn humans into living weapons. 
  Nanotech strips metal from any available sources (in this 
  case, the corridors and bulkheads of the Vagabond Soul 
  are pitted with tiny scars) and coats the victims in armoured 
  scales. Useless organs dissolve; their organic molecules 
  used to assemble combat-drug glands and backup hearts. 
  The Far Trader is a ship of the living dead.
  Before Jali left, she sabotaged the main computer, ensuring 
  no survivor could follow her.
  life-signs on board, but they are oddly muted - the best guess is 
  that the eight remaining crew are in suspended animation, but 
  as they are scattered around the ship (three on the bridge, four 
  in the common area, one in a cabin), they must have taken fast 
  drug instead of climbing into low berths. From the ship’s mass, 
  she must have a nearly full cargo bay.
  There is one tell-tale sign that someone recently docked with the 
  ship. A communications umbilical hangs free near the starport 
  airlock. The umbilicals on that class of ship are notoriously 
  unreliable, and often come loose when the other ship departs.
  The Cursed
  Exploring the Vagabond Soul is like wandering into a haunted 
  house. Light and gravity flicker on and off. The air is icy cold. 
  Everywhere, there are signs of carnage and brutal slaughter. 
  Blood splatters every surface. 
  The Cursed – the eight surviving nanotech-altered crew – are 
  things out of nightmare. They have no eyes or mouth any 
  more; they see in millimetre-wave radar and scream in radio 
  frequencies. Their skin is covered in silvery scales; their 
  fingertips bristle with thousands of elongated needles that 
  secrete neurotoxin. They move like lizards, scuttling along 
  rooftops or springing down corridors in zero gravity.
  As soon the characters find one of the Cursed, it screams. The 
  characters hear this scream as a burst of static on their radios. 
  The other Cursed then begin to hunt the characters. They co-
  ordinate with each other with more radio-bursts, and retain 
  enough intelligence to use weapons and tactics (like circling 
  behind the characters to block the path to the airlock). 
  Cursed
  STR 12 DEX 9 END 12 INT 5 
  EDU 5 SOC 0
  Gun Combat 0, Melee (natural weapons)2, Stealth 2, Tactics 
  (Ground Combat) 3
  Armour 8, Engineered (TL15), Natural Weapon (Hand Spines, 
  1d6 damage plus poison with DM-4 to Endurance inflicting -1D6 
  Int and 1D6 Dex damage)
  Bayl’s Cabin
  This is the only occupied passenger cabin. If present, Lemuel 
  exclaims that he knew Olim Bayl – the trader visited Tech-World 
  sometimes, and brought news from home. Jali disliked him 
  because Bayl was a fervent member of the Shield Church. 
  The first thing the characters find in the cabin is a leather-
  bound copy of the Shield Church Bible, and tucked into the First 
  Testament of the Immortal Protector is a flyer for an interfaith 
  conference to be held on the planet Mirage (0509 Gazulin). One 
  of the attendees will be Archon Dreek of the Shield Church. 
  
   
  9
  Giving Up
  Hunting one woman across thirty parsecs of space may 
  test the patience of characters, especially if they feel they 
  have more pressing matters to attend to back on Drinax. If 
  this comes up, there are several ways to handle it.
  •	
  Send in the B-Team: The characters could split 
  up. Some (or even none) of the players could 
  go in search of Jali, and the others can roll up 
  temporary characters to play through the rest of 
  the adventure. For example, one character could 
  accompany Lemuel, and recruit another band 
  of adventurers on Cordan or some other border 
  world. The scope of The Pirates of Drinax is big 
  enough to have several groups of characters – 
  if an adventures does not suit the original set of 
  characters who started the campaign back on 
  Drinax, then maybe it would work with some of 
  their new hirelings and followers.
  •	
  A Quiet Season Back Home: The Referee may 
  rule that no significant events happen while the 
  characters are en route to Mirage, letting them 
  chase Jali with a clear conscience.
  •	
  It’s Your Sandbox, But…: The final option is to 
  let the players do as they wish. If they want to 
  abandon this adventure and try something else, 
  let them. Events unfold without them – in this 
  case, Jali dies on Mirage, her research is lost, and 
  Tech-World withdraws its offer of an alliance.
  Salvaging the Vagabond Soul
  Jali smashed the main computer and scrambled the backup 
  systems before leaving. It can be fixed with a Difficult (-2) 
  Intelligence + Computers or Intelligence + Mechanic roll taking 
  10-60 hours, but the ship will fall into the gas giant’s gravity well 
  and burn up within 12 hours. The crew can try salvaging the 
  ship by hastening these repairs, or by towing it out, or by trying 
  to fly it out manually (a Very Hard -4 Dexterity + Pilot check). 
  Alternatively, they can just loot the 50 tons of Petrochemicals in 
  her hold and escape.
  5. The Chase
  Jali’s course goes from Tech-World to Exe (see Dead Ship) 
  and from there onto Mirage. Her planned course goes Cordon 
  (0401/Borderlands), Wildeman (0409/Tobia), Fist (0508/Tobia) 
  (see In the Shadow of Tobia), Imisaa (0506/Tobia), Sabruse 
  (0505/Tobia), Saurus (0403/Tobia), Intelia (0202/Tobia), Empire 
  (0301/Tobia), Susanawo (0510/Gazulin) and finally Mirage 
  (0509/Gazulin), for a total of 11 jumps. All the systems visited 
  have gas giants, and Jali intends to refuel in the wilderness 
  each time. 
  The scout ship has plenty of supplies, and Jali can put down on 
  relatively deserted worlds for food and water as needed (or raid 
  other ships). Her madness drives her on.
  Tracking Jali
  The characters have no easy way to track Jali after she jumps 
  from Exe. They can try doggedly pursuing her, jumping as she 
  jumps and hoping to pick her up in the next system before she 
  refuels and jumps again. However, space is big, a scout ship 
  is small, and the variation in jump transit time (148+6d6 hours) 
  The Truth of the Immortal Protector
  It is written in the Shield Church Bible that the swarm 
  arose by mischance. It is written that the twelve Artificial 
  Intelligences that guided the sinful, godless science-society 
  of old committed suicide when they were unable to solve 
  the problem of survival, and it is written that the Immortal 
  Protector came from the stars to save mankind.
  All lies.
  1,500 years ago, an archaeological team in the Trojan 
  Reach found an Ancient relic and brought it back to 
  Neumann for study. The twelve ruling AIs examined it, 
  and eleven of them came to the same conclusion – the 
  artifact contained a blueprint for a transcendence engine. 
  It described how to encode information in the structure of 
  jump space itself, how to reconcile psionics with physics, 
  and how to transform living minds into beings of pure 
  thought, immortal godlings to whom thought and deed 
  would be a single act. 
  The twelfth AI disagreed with these conclusions. It’s 
  too good to be true, it argued, this is a berserker trick, a 
  booby trap left behind by a previous civilisation. If you’re 
  smart enough to build this thing, then you’re a danger to 
  them. This thing doesn’t transcend – it’ll just kill us all. The 
  other eleven AIs did not heed this warning, and began to 
  assemble the transcendence engine.
  What could the twelfth AI do? It hacked into the assemble 
  nanotech and commanded it to stop. The other AIs tried 
  to override the hacking, and in the ensuing cyberwar, the 
  nanotech received trillions of contradictory commands. 
  The twelfth, in a desperate attempt to even the odds, 
  commanded the nanotech to attack the infrastructure of 
  the other AIs. They tried to counter this in turn, but the 
  nanotech was already in their systems, and they were 
  partially deconstructed even as they ordered their own 
  reconstruction. The nanotech blindly flailed around, 
  devouring whole continents in an effort to simultaneously 
  make and unmake the machine and the AIs. Chaos reigned.
  
   
  10
  The surviving AI feared the retribution of the humans, so 
  it hid its core. It had access to cloning tanks, so it cloned 
  a flesh-avatar drone for itself, a human with cybernetic 
  implants that it could control like a puppet. This drone was 
  the first Immortal Protector, and when it aged to death, 
  the AI made another and another and another, for thirty 
  generations.
  And for all that time, it has wondered if it was right.
  The other eleven AIs and their supposed transcendence 
  engine are still out there, in the churning molecular soup of 
  the swarm zone. Sometimes, one of these AIs reasserts itself 
  for a brief period, when enough of the confused nanotech 
  swarms work together to build a semi-functioning computer 
  core. The Immortal Protector’s agents in the Shield Church 
  swiftly respond by commanding the nanotech to unmake 
  the computers again, but their patterns still exist. There are 
  eleven mad would-be gods in the swarm, and the Immortal 
  Protector fears their judgment just as it fears the judgment 
  of humanity. 
  Lemuel Volin is the current incarnation of the Immortal 
  Protector. Most of his consciousness is in a hidden 
  mainframe beneath the Shield Cathedral, but the drone 
  has enough intelligence to act independently. It hoped that 
  Jali’s research might give it a way of seizing control of the 
  nanotech swarm and ending the chaos once and for all, 
  but it cannot be sure if Jali’s solution will work. It needs 
  certainty – if Jali’s solution were tried and it failed, it could 
  give the eleven other AIs a chance to rebuild themselves 
  and finish their transcendence engine, and who knows 
  what would happen then…
  Lemuel The Protector
  For most of this adventure, Lemuel stays in the background. 
  Play him as comic relief, or as a way to describe how 
  nanotech worlds, or to explain the Shield Church and other 
  aspects of Neumann culture. He wants to see what Jali 
  intends to do, and to determine how effective her discovery 
  is. Lemuel intercedes to keep Jali from being killed, or to 
  protect himself, or to prevent anyone tampering with the 
  delicate balance of the swarms. He tries to keep his true 
  identity a secret, so if he can fulfil his goals without revealing 
  his powers, he does so. However, he can unmask himself 
  if he has to. 
  Lemuel Volin
  Age 1,500+, Computer Controlled Drone
  STR 15 DEX 10 END 18 INT 15 EDU 15 SOC 12
  Lemuel has access to virtually any skill in software format 
  while on Neumann. In the field, though, he is limited by the 
  capacity of his android drone’s brain. He may have any 
  twelve of the following skills at Skill Level 2;
  Astrogation, Broker, Comms, Computers, Deception, Drive 
  (any), Engineer (any), Explosives, Flyer (any), Gambler, 
  Gunner (turret), Gun Combat (any), Heavy Weapons (any), 
  Language (any), any Science (any), Mechanic, Medic, Pilot 
  (any), Remote Operations, Sensors, Steward, Tactics (any), 
  Vacc Suit.
  Armour 4, Pistol (3d6) or FGMP16 (16d6, Auto 6)
  means it is unlikely that the characters will see her again before 
  Mirage.
  A Very Hard (-4) Intelligence + Astrogation check lets a 
  navigator guess the likeliest destination of a jumping ship based 
  on neutrino emissions and the shape of the inflating hydrogen 
  bubble, but this is more an art than a science. Picking up on 
  the neutrino emissions requires a Difficult (-2) Intelligence + 
  Sensors check.
  If the characters have access to a network of allies or spies, 
  they could send the word out ahead on the X-Boat network 
  once they reach Imperial space, or they could split up and take 
  multiple ships as they hunt Jali.
  Confronting Jali
  Since the accident, Jali has been under the effect of her 
  enhanced fight-or-flight response. The trauma of the accident 
  brought her half-way across the sector before she calmed down 
  enough to think clearly. If the characters attack or threaten her, 
  she may lurch back into her combat state. Speaking to her 
  calmly (possibly with a Persuade or Diplomat check) lets her 
  explain herself.
  •	
  She was working on a way to control the nanotech swarms 
  that plague Neumann. This research is banned by the 
  Shield Church, but she thinks she has found a way to 
  reprogram the swarms.
  •	
  Ironically, her work depends on the ‘holy gifts of the Immortal 
  Protector’ – a safe strain of nanotech used by the Shield 
  Church. She believes she can adapt the programming 
  used in this nanotech to interface with the chaotic swarms 
  and shut them down.
  •	
  There are several grades of gift. She was working with the 
  combat upgrades used by the Flame Knights, the monks 
  who fight and extirpate swarm infestations. However, she 
  now believes she needs Archon-grade nanotech. 
  •	
  Archon-grade tech is closely guarded by the Church. They 
  won’t give it up – so she’s going to take it from an Archon.
  •	
  It’s all horribly dangerous, illegal and – in the eyes of 
  the church – demoniacal, but she believes she can save 
  Neumann from being slowly eaten away by its own lost 
  technology. Her world can be a shining jewel of progress 
  again – but she needs the characters’ help to do it.
  
   
  11
  •	
  She never meant to kill anyone. The nanotech she uses 
  has a built-in defence mechanism. She can’t switch it off, 
  not without Archon-level controls.
  •	
  In the Shadow of Tobia
  Until the characters reach Fist, they are outside Imperial space. 
  True, some of the systems close to the Imperial border are 
  Imperium in all but name, but the characters are outside the 
  law of the Iridium Throne. Once they cross into the Imperium, 
  though, they may be wanted criminals in every port. Check the 
  characters’ Standing with the Imperium. If it is -6 or lower, then 
  every law enforcement agency in the Sector has an outstanding 
  arrest warrant for the notorious pirates. Apply 1/5th of the 
  character’s Standing as a disadvantageous DM to any Law 
  Level checks (see page 174 of the Traveller Core Rulebook). 
  For example, if a pirate with a Standing of -20 was seen in 
  Imperial space, she would have DM-4 to all interactions with 
  the law, and DM+4 to all sentencing rolls.
  Characters travelling in disguise may avoid the effects of their 
  Standings, but need false documents or cover identities. 
  Alternate Transport
  A distinctive ship like the Harrier may be a liability when 
  travelling in the Imperium. Canny characters may choose to 
  take a captured ship, or travel to Mirage using hired passage 
  instead of their own ship. The standard Imperium-Hierate trade 
  route runs through Borderland and Tobia subsectors, so the 
  characters can easily find passage as far as Fist. From there, 
  ships travel regularly between most worlds.
  Opportunities
  There is little opportunity for piracy and larceny while in the 
  stuffy, button-down, high-security Imperium. However, if the 
  characters keep their ears open, they may encounter one or 
  more of the following opportunities.
  • 
  A former pirate, Lran Smeck, now lives near the starport 
  on Fist. For the right price, he can keep track of shipping 
  patterns and convoys, and send word to waiting pirates 
  about potential targets.
  • 
  Hearing that the characters come from the Reach, an 
  unscrupulous investor named Borja asks if they have any 
  high-yield business opportunities. He has the money if they 
  have a way to use it profitably.
  • 
  In a gossip column, the characters learn that the nephew of 
  the baron of Gazulin (rumoured to be fabulously wealthy) 
  intends to go on safari to the wild worlds of the Reach. He’s 
  travelling incognito to avoid kidnappers and thieves.
  • 
  Agents of the Florian Trade Company (see Alien Module 1: 
  Aslan) contact the characters with an offer. They’re willing to 
  pay protection money if the characters can ensure that none 
  of their ships suffer from pirate attacks. The more worlds the 
  characters guarantee as safe, the bigger the payment (Cr. 0.5 
  per ton of cargo per system on the Florian Trade route made 
  completely safe).
  • 
  A drunken Scout claims to know the location of the Yarrow, 
  a 50,000 ton megafreighter that misjumped in 1099. He 
  says that the Tobia Commerce Guild faked the misjump 
  and claimed the insurance on the ship and cargo, and 
  they are just waiting a few years before bringing her back 
  into service under a new name. Right now, that 50,000-
  ton ship is sitting in an obscure system, almost completely 
  unprotected…
  • 
  A nervous corporate executive working for PRQ asks the 
  characters for advice. She’s been asked to revise the 
  language in the company’s anti-piracy policy, and needs 
  help understanding certain tricky concepts…
  6. The sanDs of mirage
  The desert world of Mirage was bypassed by the first wave of 
  settlements. The arid planet is nearly devoid of water, and a 
  prospecting team visited the planet and failed to find any signs 
  of useful minerals. 
  Centuries later, a consortium of investors tried to grow dust-spice 
  on Mirage for the Aslan market. Dust-spice thrives on only a few 
  worlds, and they believed that with the right irrigation and artificial 
  culturing techniques, they could produce the spice on Mirage 
  too. They failed, but in the course of their efforts discovered 
  the true wealth of the planet. The sands of Mirage contain tiny 
  burrowing insects that, when crushed and processed, yield an 
  intoxicating hallucinogen called Mirage-liquor. This drug differs 
  from other narcotics in that it allows directed dreaming. Drink 
  the waters of Mirage, and you will become the master of your 
  own dreams for a few hours, enjoying any experience you can 
  imagine with perfect clarity and perfect recall. 
  The consortium of spice farmers fell apart, as each landowner 
  jealously guarded his patch of sand-bugs. Today, the 
  descendants of those farmers are stupendously wealthy, as the 
  liquor is shipped in controlled amounts for use in psychotherapy, 
  and in huge vats for illegal trafficking. 
  The Marquise D’Haube
  ‘Marquise’ is an affectation; this wealthy woman has no official 
  noble title beyond Dame (Soc 11), but money buys respect. Her 
  mansion – grown from pink crystal – rises over the desert like a 
  fever-dream brought on by too much sugar. Recently, the Marquise 
  has developed an allergy to her anagathic drug of choice, and 
  has begun to age again. She hides these signs of aging behind 
  expensive treatments, so she still looks as perfect as always, but 
  the cold hand of mortality has brushed against her dusky cheek, 
  and she now wishes to know which religion is the correct one. 
  
   
  12
  Therefore, she volunteered to host this century’s Sector-wide 
  Interfaith Conference on Religious Diversity. These conferences 
  are seen as a tiresome necessity by the Imperial Bureaucracy. 
  Each world has the right to follow (or suppress) whatever bizarre 
  faiths they wish, but sometimes religion intersects with the 
  Imperium’s rule of the space between worlds. Proselytising at 
  starports, burial in space, cults that break some other Imperial 
  law such as restrictions on psionic use, interstellar pilgrimages 
  – all these things must be argued and discussed at tedious 
  length.
  For the bureaucrats, it’s a painful headache, and if Marquise 
  D’Haube wants to take over some of the costs and the 
  paperwork, wonderful. May the divine entity of her choice bless 
  her in a non-specific way.
  For Marquise D’Haube, it’s a chance to speak to the 
  representatives of a hundred different faiths, so she can work 
  out which one is correct and thus avoid the oblivion of death.
  For the representatives of a hundred different faiths, the 
  conference is many things – a solemn duty, a chance to settle 
  scores, the opportunity to redress grievous ills, an all-expenses-
  paid junket to a pleasure planet, a political prize, an annoying 
  distraction…
  For Jali, it’s a chance to hunt an Archon.
  Jali’s Plan
  Archon Dreek is the Shield Church’s representative at the 
  conference. He came with a squad of four Flame Knights, the 
  augmented warriors of the Church, who serve as his honour 
  guard. Marquise D’Haube assigned Dreek a villa some distance 
  outside the main settlement of Haubercity, as Dreek requested 
  privacy and solitude. The villa is situated in a scenic irrigated 
  valley, and protected by the Marquise’s security drones as well 
  as the Flame Knights. Each day, Dreek and two of his knights 
  travel by air/raft to Haubercity to attend the conference. One of 
  the Marquise’s servants, a young chauffeur named Jek, pilots 
  the air/raft. He wears the traditional uniform of a Miragian flyer, 
  which includes a full-face mask and a heavy cloak.
  Jali’s plan is to sneak into Hauberville, eliminate Jek, and steal his 
  uniform. She will then wait for the Archon and his guards and fly 
  them out into the desert. At the right moment, she will eject the two 
  guards, then attack Dreek and obtain the nanotech she needs.
  Interactions on Mirage
  This section of the adventure can unfold in many different ways. 
  The most likely situation is that the characters watch the Archon 
  until Jali shows herself, or else track her to her ship and find 
  Jek’s body.
  Hauberville is normally a dull provincial town, the same shops 
  and buildings and facilities one finds on any Imperial world from 
  Archon Dreek
  STR 6 
  DEX 7 END 12 INT 10 EDU 11 SOC 11
  Admin 2, Advocate 2, Comms 0, Computers 3, Deception 
  1, Diplomat 2, Engineer 0, Flyer (grav) 2, Gun Combat 0, 
  Heavy Weapons (man-portable artillery) 2, Investigate 3, 
  Language 1, Life Sciences 0, Medic 2, Persuade 3, Pilot 0, 
  Recon 1, Sensors 2, Social Sciences (theology) 4
  Augments: Subdermal Armour (Armour 3), Archon-Class 
  Nanotech (+3 End, +2 Int, +1 Str, +1dex, DM+4 to resist 
  nanotech infections)
  Equipment: Laser Pistol (3d6+3), Robes (Armour 8)
  Flame Knight
  STR 16 DEX 12 END 12 INT 7 
  EDU 9 SOC 8
  Battle Dress 2, Comms 1, Computers 1, Drive 0, Gun 
  Combat (varies) 2, Heavy Weapons (Man-Portable Artillery) 
  2, Investigate 2, Melee (brawl) 1, Recon 2, Survival 2.
  Augments: Subdermal Armour (Armour 3), Knight-Class 
  Nanotech (+3 End, +1 Str, +1dex, DM+4 to resist nanotech 
  infections)
  Equipment: FGMP-15 (16d6, Auto 6), Battle Dress (TL 14, 
  Grav Assist, Vislight Chameleon)
  Gazulin to Capital. Most of Hauberville’s culture and style is 
  imported from Gazulin, and the colony is effectively a boring 
  suburb of the Trojan Reach’s most fashionable and effete world. 
  However, the presence of so many diverse religions adds colour 
  and life to the town, at least for a few weeks.
  •	
  Landing: Mirage’s class-A starport has very limited 
  docking space available, so the characters are asked to 
  land in one of the many bays on the outskirts of the port. 
  Due to the ongoing Imperial conference, security at the port 
  is heightened, and includes Imperial Marines in battle dress 
  with grav belts and heavy weapons. Starting a fight at this 
  starport is immensely unwise.
  •	
  Access to the Conference: Only accredited representatives 
  of the faiths, officials of the Imperial Bureaucracy, and 
  guests of Marquise D’Haube are permitted access to the 
  conference centre. The characters can sneak or bluff their 
  way in, but both are Formidable (-6) challenges.
  •	
  The Marquise: The Marquise has a limited number of 
  guest passes to the conference. Characters who impress 
  her (requiring a Very Hard -4 Carouse + Social Standing 
  check) may be offered a pass. So far, the Marquise has not 
  identified the one true religion that she seeks.
  o	 Playing the Marquise: You’re wonderfully bored and 
  decadent, but have had to confront your own mortality 
  for the first time, so underneath the drugs and the 
  champagne and the gold-plated pet frogs you are 
  scared and desperate for meaning.
  
   
  13
  Perhaps, the Marquise wonders, the Church could be 
  persuaded to share its nanotechnological anagathic 
  treatments in exchange for a favour.
  •	
  Archon Dreek: The sacred duty of the Shield Church is 
  to protect Neumann from the insidious corruption of the 
  nanotech swarms. It is not to go on ‘junkets’ to desert 
  resorts. Archon Dreek would much prefer to be battling 
  the swarms in a contaminated death zone to this… 
  decadence. He is a frightfully gaunt man, who speaks like 
  a drill sergeant who retired after developing throat cancer. 
  He knows of Tech-World. It is an abomination, a coven of 
  science-sorcerers who defy the proclamations and edicts 
  of the Immortal Protector. It should be destroyed! And if this 
  Jali came from there, she too will burn.
  o	 Playing Dreek: Despise everything around you. Twitch 
  with the desire to burn it all. 
  o	 Dreek possesses counter-nanotech that can deactivate 
  other swarms. If he has a chance to use this on Jali, he 
  can remove her infection and restore her to full sanity. 
  However, he wants her dead, not cured.
  •	
  Finding Lord Gerald’s Fancy: The scout ship can be 
  found easily by checking starport records, or by scouting 
  Lemuel’s Intercession
  Lemuel wants Jali to succeed. If she can control the 
  swarms, then his long vigil over Neumann can come to an 
  end – but only if her solution is absolutely unquestionable 
  and perfect. Therefore, Lemuel will try to help Jali as much 
  as he can without giving away his identity and without 
  letting her actually put her plan into operation.
  He might;
  •	
  Send her a warning about the characters’ plans
  •	
  Move the Lord Gerald’s Fancy so she can use it 
  to escape
  •	
  Sabotage the characters’ movements
  •	
  In his guise as the Immortal Protector, order 
  Dreek to use his Archons to stop the characters
  o	 If the characters bring the Shield Church to her 
  attention, then she becomes interested in rumours of 
  the Immortal Protector. Unlike most of the mystic faiths, 
  the Shield Church has solid scientific underpinnings, 
  even if they refer to their nanotech as ‘demonology.’ 
  
   
  14
  around the docking pads. Jali landed her ship a little 
  distance outside Hauberville. On board are three more of 
  the Cursed walking corpses (former thugs that Jali ran into 
  at Wildeman, who attacked her and paid the price), and the 
  unconscious and naked form of Jek, the air/raft driver. If 
  revived, he explains that he was ambushed after dropping 
  the Archon off at the conference in his air/raft. 
  •	
  The Ambush: If Jali’s plan works, then she drops the two 
  Flame Knights off by the simple expedient of turning the 
  air/raft upside down at the right moment, then flies off to 
  confront Dreek. Extracting Dreek’s nanotech would be 
  harmless if he did not fight back; unfortunately, he does 
  fight back, triggering her fight-or-flight reaction. Intercepting 
  Jali before she picks up the Archon and his two bodyguards 
  forces her to escape across Hauberville. Her backup plan 
  is to attack the Archon’s villa under cover of darkness (and 
  if forced into fight-or-flight, then she adds ‘with my legion 
  of Cursed soldiers converted from sandbug farm workers’). 
  Intercepting her after she grabs the Archon means a high-
  speed chase across the desert. Jali’s chances of escape 
  in such a situation are remote, but she will try nonetheless. 
  •	
  Confronting Jali: See page 13 for what happens when the 
  characters speak to Dr. Jali Astor. 
  •	
  Capturing Jali: If the characters capture Jali, they 
  can hand her over to the Shield Church (which means 
  execution) or do as she begs and take her to Neumann. 
  Alternatively, Lemuel volunteers to take her back to 
  Neumann on board the Lord Gerald’s Fancy, claiming 
  he knows other underground scientists who can cure the 
  infection. Just before the scoutship takes off, Jali realises it 
  was Lemuel who sabotaged her experiment, and screams 
  at the characters for help.
  7. The swarm Zone
  If she obtains the Archon-class nanotechnology, then Jali 
  returns to her ship (or tries to steal another) and heads for 
  Neumann. Her Jump-2 scout has to take the long route (going 
  via Fintor/0407, Peridot/0405 and Iscand/0504), but a jump-3 
  ship can go via Ploderash/0707) and get there more than two 
  weeks sooner.
  Neumann
  Tens of billions of people crowd into the shining cities of 
  Neumann. Here is technology at its height – buildings float on 
  gravity platforms, servitor drones flit through the crowds, and 
  every imaginable wonder is at hand. If Gazulin with its museums 
  and fashion houses and high culture is the Paris of the Trojan 
  Reach, then Neumann is a million Akihabaras crammed onto 
  a single world, a cybernetic hive of virtually infinite complexity. 
  Everything is incredibly clean and precisely organised; it is a 
  world of straight lines and engineered curves, of polished metal 
  and chrome.
  Visitors are too overwhelmed to notice the dark figures in armour 
  – the Flame Knights – who lurk on the fringes of the crowd. Nor 
  do they notice the horror that spreads through the crowds when 
  a single speck of dirt or mould is found anywhere. That stain on 
  a wall could be the first sign of a swarm zone breakthrough, and 
  must be cleaned with atomic fire.
  Out beyond the hermetic perfection of the steel cities is the 
  swarm zone. Ships descending to Neumann usually switch off 
  their external cameras, to avoid showing visitors the disturbing 
  view. More than half the planet is covered in swarm-zone.
  Imagine a churning ocean of grey goo that boils and sets and 
  sublimes once again, shifting shape and colour and state faster 
  than the eye can follow. Forms emerge out of the churning slime, 
  then fall back again, dissolving. Buildings, structures, machines 
  - people too - are partially born out of the formless chaos and 
  then vanish again, leaving parts or traces of themselves behind 
  to be recombined again. This is the aftermath of the grey goo 
  disaster that wiped out Neumann’s golden age. This is what the 
  Immortal Protector guards against.
  The Swarm Cloud
  The closest swarm zone to the Starport is a region called Marina’s 
  Land. It was once home to some of Neumann’s most densely 
  populated cities, before the swarm dissolved them. The Shield 
  Church has a fortress here, Bulwark 17, and it is here that Jali 
  tries to implement her solution to the problem of the swarm.
  She believes her altered form of the Archon nanotech will allow 
  her to filter the programs running in the swarm, so the nanotech 
  robots act in concert instead of following multiple contradictory 
  programs. If she is right, then as soon as she exerts control over 
  the swam, they should all start building the same thing.
  If allowed to proceed, she then activates the nanotech. Her 
  eyes glow red, as the nanotech interface in her brain vents 
  waste heat through directed radiation. As Jali concentrates, the 
  churning of the swarm slows. Shapes begin to emerge in the 
  chaos; forms coalesce out of the utility fog. Are they buildings? 
  Computer systems? People? It is hard to tell, but there is 
  definitely something there.
  The Final Decision
  At this point, Lemuel reveals himself. He flips open a hidden 
  hatch and pulls out a FGMP-16, which he hefts effortlessly with 
  one hand. He levels it at Jali, and asks the characters to stand 
  aside.
  Lemuel explains that he has studied Jali’s work over the course 
  of this chase. She has done very, very well. He estimates that 
  there is a 40% chance that her solution might solve the problem 
  of the nanotech swarms and restore order to Neumann – but 
  
   
  15
  might also allow the mad machines to reassert themselves, 
  while there is a 60% chance that it will lead to a swarm 
  outbreak. Lemuel reveals the secret history of Neumann; how 
  the AIs discovered a device that he believes to be an Ancient 
  booby-trap, how they struggled, and how the eleven AIs still 
  exist within the nanotech churn. Jali’s work may live on. He will 
  whisper it to some other brilliant scientist, who will carry the 
  work a step further. One day, aeons in the future, Neumann will 
  be safe once again – but not today.
  What do the characters do?
  •	
  Nothing. The safest option. Lemuel incinerates Jali. Without 
  her influence, the nanotech swarms falls back to its regular 
  chaotic state. Lemuel tells the characters to tell Hodal that 
  Jali died of her nanotech infection. He offers them a MCr. 1 
  bonus to keep quiet. If they quibble, he points out that he’s 
  the immortal god-king of this planet and has a whole church 
  of psychopathic crusaders armed with fusion guns. Do they 
  really want to get on his bad side?
  •	
  Fight Back. The characters cannot kill Lemuel – or, to be 
  more accurate, they cannot kill the Immortal Protector. If 
  they destroy his Lemuel avatar, then he can grow another 
  clone body. Still, killing Lemuel gives Jali time to put her 
  solution into action.
  •	
  Plead with Lemuel. Excellent roleplaying and equally 
  excellent Persuade checks can convince Lemuel to gamble 
  on Jali’s solution. Even immortal AIs get tired and willing to 
  risk it all on one throw of the dice.
  Jali’s Solution
  If Jali is allowed go ahead with her solution, then throw two dice.
  On a 7-, it doesn’t work. The swarm breaks free of her attempted 
  control. It pours over her, and Jali dissolves as the grey goo 
  tears her apart and makes more of itself from the elements of 
  her body. The characters have to flee immediately, or they too 
  will be devoured. Soon, Flame Knights of the Shield Church 
  arrive, using their fusion guns in a desperate attempt to hold 
  back the tide. In years to come, this will be remembered as 
  the worst outbreak in centuries; millions perish as the grey goo 
  swamps previously-safe sections of the planet. 
  On an 8+, it works. The nanotech swarm slows, then begins to 
  act with purpose. Slowly, it begins to restore the structures it 
  pulled apart. Building that were devoured centuries ago reform, 
  like seashells left behind by a retreating tide. In other places, 
  the characters see the swarms build up human corpses, layer 
  by layer, shaping bones, then laying muscle and fat and nerve 
  tissue down, creating perfect corpses of people who died 1500 
  years ago. It will take a long time for the chaos to fully subside, 
  but within a generation, Neumann will be restored to something 
  approaching its former glory. 
  And in the middle of the swarm wastes, the eleven AIs reactivate 
  and continue to assemble their transcendence engine, an 
  enigmatic device built according to million-year-old designs left 
  by a more advanced species. It will take them years to complete 
  the engine, but if they finish it, it may open the gateway to a 
  new phase of existence for those brave enough to pass through 
  it – or it may destroy Neumann. Either way, it’s beyond the 
  characters’ field of expertise.
  The Journey Home
  Crossing back through the Imperium should be uneventful 
  as long as the characters keep a low profile. Optionally, they 
  may run into Professor haut-Belzoni on the way back to Drinax 
  (see Adventure 5: The Treasure of Sindal) or hear of Captain 
  Hammer’s crusade (see Adventure 6: The Game of Sun and 
  Shadow). 
  Once they return to Tech-World, they can inform Hodal of Jali’s 
  fate; as long as the Shield Church remained ignorant of Tech-
  World’s involvement in Jali’s experiments, Hodal will remain 
  well disposed towards the characters. 
  The Trojan Reach, they say, is the graveyard of empires. Those 
  foolhardy enough to try resurrecting the glories of the past 
  rarely succeed.
  worlDs of The reaCh
  Cordan
  Cordan is a prize by the standards of the Trojan Reach – a 
  pristine garden world, with a breathable atmosphere, rich 
  ecology and thriving farmlands. It was a vassal world of 
  Arunisiir until that planet was conquered by Aslan. Now, the 
  ruling barons of Cordan stand alone (where ‘alone’ means they 
  have an arrangement with the Imperium, and have tacit Imperial 
  backing as long as they keep the starport operating).
  Patron: Baroness Lux of Cordan
  Reward: Territory and estates on Cordan.
  Mission: The Baroness wants to destroy her rivals, Baron 
  Fero and Baron Halley. The Imperium would step in if she hired 
  an army of mercenaries from offworld (destabilising Cordan’s 
  government might threaten the security of the shipping lane, 
  but a few highly skilled professionals with high-tech gear could 
  make certain problems… disappear… without alerting the 
  Imperium.
  The one complication – Halley is actually a Zhodani puppet. He 
  reports on Imperial shipping to his masters, and has Zhodani-
  trained guards to protect him and his castle.
  Exe
  Exe station is a lonely little refuelling post in the middle of 
  the Borderlands. It is owned and operated by the General 
  Development Corporation. The station is mostly automated, 
  
   
  16
  so the crew have little to do other than haul liquid hydrogen 
  back from the local gas giant for fuel. As this, too, is mostly 
  automated, they’re very, very bored.
  It is remarkably easy to turn Exe into a friendly port – just bribe 
  them. A few thousand credits each, and the dozen crew can be 
  bought.
  Falcon
  Falcon is a hollowed-out asteroid, dating back to the Solomani 
  wave of colonisation. The natives of Falcon practise strict 
  population-control, to avoid overtaxing the carrying capacity 
  of their worldlet. Over many generations, they have become 
  dependent on Falcon’s precise mix of bacteria and germs, and 
  must wear encounter suits when travelling beyond their home. 
  Obviously, visitors are not allowed to interact directly with the 
  Falcon environment – a small section of the asteroid is set aside 
  for them. 
  Patron: John Macule
  Reward: Cr. 500,000, and Falcon moves one step closer to 
  Haven.
  Mission: A pirate crew attached to the retinue of Zuekhvi the 
  Corsair claims to have planted a bomb somewhere on Falcon’s 
  outer surface, and are demanding a ransom from the asteroid. 
  Macule wants the characters to hunt down Zuekhvi’s pirates 
  and force them to reveal the location of the bomb. 
  Pandora
  Another GeDeCo-sponsored colony, Pandora is a pleasant 
  garden world. A previous colony here vanished during the Long 
  Night, likely due to solar flare activity. The system’s primary is 
  a particular active and angry one, prone to dangerous flares. 
  While GeDeCo is trying to attract more colonists, the threat of 
  another cataclysmic flare keeps all but the desperate away.
  Patron: Administrator Thollett.
  Reward: Pandora moves two steps closer to Haven.
  Mission: Rebrand the apocalypse! Everyone believes that 
  the old colony on Pandora was wiped out by a solar flare. If 
  new evidence came to light, evidence that blamed, say, the old 
  Empire of Sindal, then many more colonists might be willing 
  to settle here. Thollett has heard rumours that the characters 
  have connections to Drinax, the last outpost of old Sindal. If 
  they could plant evidence suggesting that the Empire of Sindal 
  committed mass genocide here, that would be wonderful.
  Wildeman
  Less a planet, more a big asteroid. The hardy asteroid miners of 
  Wildeman are mostly Imperials, here on two-year furloughs. The 
  system has a bad reputation among many spacers – there are 
  all sorts of wild tales about ghost ships, mysterious breakdowns, 
  psionic phenomena and even space kraken sightings.
  Patron: Klim Gobbo
  Reward: One empty gin bottle.
  Mission: A century ago, a notorious pirate named Tamby 
  Dour attacked shipping within four parsecs of Wildemann. The 
  Imperial Navy intercepted and killed Tamby, but were never able 
  to find his hidden base. Klim Gobbo, a miner, found the base by 
  accident – it is hidden inside an asteroid. Klim discovered that 
  the treasure vault in the base has a DNA lock – only Dour or one 
  of his descendants can open the vault. If the pirates can find a 
  direct descendant of Dour, Klim will show them where the base 
  is, and they can split the treasure 50/50.
  Dour’s only living relative is Glinnet Dour, a thief who lives on 
  Blacksand. If the characters find her and bring her back, they 
  can open the vault and share all that remains of Dour’s fabled 
  fortune – two empty gin bottles. Nothing else remains in the 
  vault.
  The real treasure, though, is Dour’s hidden base – a fully 
  functional, well-equipped and extremely well hidden Class-B 
  starport right on the main shipping lane…
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/08 - Mongoose Traveller/Third Party Materials/Adventures/The Pirates of Drinax - Adventure/Pirates of Drinax 4 - The Demon's Eye.pdf