Vermissian Black Ops 1 Con5ih
Vermissian Black Ops 1 Con5ih
BLACK OPS
G R AN T H OWI TT & C HRISTOPHER TAYLO R
IL LUSTR AT ED BY FEL IX MIALL
•
Vermissian Black Ops
www.rowanrookanddecard.com
2
INTRODUCTION 1 THE VERMISSIAN, BY LINE 10
Candle Line 12
Fathom Line 15
ALTERNATIVE RULES 2 Spiral Line 17
ADVANCEMENT 2 Loft Line 19
DOMAINS 2 pulse Line 22
HAUNTS AND HEALING 2
FALLOUT AND RESISTANCES 3
COMBINING THIS GAME WITH SPIRE 4 GROUPS AND FACTIONS 23
THE PALADINS 23
THE MINISTRY OF OUR HIDDEN MISTRESS 24
GAMEPLAY 5 THE SPIRAL COUNCIL 26
SESSION STRUCTURE 5 THE VERMISSIAN COLLECTIVE 27
Operations 5 GUTTERKIN 28
ENTERING THE CITY ABOVE 7
THRONE DIVISION EQUIPMENT 8
3
Introduction
1
Alternative Rules
In this section, we’ll focus on some tweaks to the HAVEN locations are rare in the Vermissian,
core Heart rules that allow you to run mission-led given the nature of the place (and that it’s so close
games that deal with stealth, combat and para‐ to an actual habitable city) but some people
military cults in a cursed transit network. choose - or are forced - to live here.
OCCULT locations feature magic circles
(abandoned or active), the theoretical libraries of
ADVANCEMENT the Vermissian Sages (i.e. the libraries them‐
Characters on Vermissian Black Ops missions selves are theoretical, and all the texts in them
don’t advance by hitting beats from their Calling cover theoretical topics) and no end of shadowy
like regular Heart characters. They should still cults devoted to unearthing hidden knowledge.
have one (there’s a reason they went into the RELIGION locations include shrines to the
undercity) but they will gain advancements by Midden Mistresses of the Vermissian, houses of
completing missions instead. worship for banned religions and one particu‐
Each minor objective the characters achieve larly elaborate solar temple which collected the
earns them, appropriately, a minor advance; sun’s energy to be funnelled into trains.
major objectives grant major advances. You can TECHNOLOGY locations cover machinery -
learn more about mission structure on p. 8. such as lifts, winches, drawbridges, signal-boxes
There’s no means of earning zenith abilities and turntables - as well as the more practical
within this system, mainly because it doesn’t fit efforts of the Vermissian Collective.
with the overall tone of the game. Also, since WARREN locations are plentiful in the Vermis‐
characters all advance at the same time, this sian; it’s made of tunnels, after all. Some have col‐
would result in every single delver going super‐ lapsed or shrunk over time, and countless
nova at once - which might detract from the maintenance vents and passageways make it hard to
essential gravitas of the experience. predict where or when an ambush might be sprung.
WILD locations are a useful contrast to the
iron and galvanics of the rest of the Vermissian -
DOMAINS having the occasional tree or deer in there can
In the standard Heart game, the Vermissian is really spice things up.
(mostly) covered by the TECHNOLOGY domain.
However, given that roughly half the events in a
Black Ops game take place in the Vermissian, HAUNTS AND HEALING
access to the TECHNOLOGY domain might The Ministry provides safehouses, materials,
provide an unfair advantage. doctors and spiritual guidance to operators
So, in Black Ops games, the Vermissian comes between missions. This means that you don’t
under every possible domain to offer variety and need to worry about using haunts to remove
limit how often you’re rolling that extra dice. stress and fallout from your character.
CURSED locations are places where the ener‐ Instead, at the end of every mission when you
gies of the Heart are especially strong. These are return to your safehouse, you can:
more common in the lower areas of the Vermis‐
sian, but even the Loft line isn’t completely free of • Clear all stress marked against your
the Heart’s presence. resistances;
DESOLATE locations are barren, empty and • Remove any Minor fallout;
unforgiving. Huge lift shafts are one example, as • Reduce all Major fallout to Minor.
are the exposed areas of track on the upper Spire.
2
FALLOUT AND RESISTANCES
Alternative Rules
3
COMBINING THIS GAME
Alternative Rules
EXTRACTION. [MAJOR, SUPPLIES] New
information surfaces: one of the people in the
mission area is a Ministry plant, and requires WITH SPIRE
extraction. Failure to do this will incur the wrath It’s possible, and indeed fun, to combine simul‐
of the Ministry, and you will not be able to resup‐ taneous games of Spire and Vermissian Black Ops
ply or rest after this mission is complete. into a single campaign from multiple perspect‐
ives. Players can make a character for both rules-
BURNED. [CRITICAL, MIND/FORTUNE] You’ve sets: their Spire characters are a cell of ministers
made too many mistakes and have been sold in the city, and their Vermissian Black Ops charac‐
out by the Ministry: whoever’s in charge of ters are a specialised team of operatives ready to
your operations decided that you’re worth strike at targets that the cell designates.
more as a sacrifice than an agent. You’re given This doesn’t mean that the cell has a hit squad
misleading information and sent into a trap. at their beck and call - Ministry protocol is still in
Hopefully you’ll be captured and interrogated, effect, and they only dispatch black ops teams on
therefore spreading misinformation; if not, crucial missions. However, this will allow the cell
you’ll just be dead and no longer a problem. to focus on revolution and subterfuge without
You might manage to fight your way out and doing too much wetwork themselves.
escape, but it’s probably not a good idea to go
hunting for revenge. (Not that it’ll stop you
from trying, obviously.)
4
Gameplay
5
Gameplay
For example: The game begins as the operatives death-cultists in the area to act as a cover for their
leave Throne station and set off for their assassination advance.
target: a Mortician in New Heaven who has performed The player in control of the group’s Witch suggests
life-extending undying surgery on several of the Min‐ that it was her, and makes a Compel+Religion check to
istry’s greatest opponents. see how it went. She rolls a 6 - a partial success. The GM
The GM asks the characters which of them led the narrates that while she did indeed rile up the Charnelites,
minor objective where they riled up the Charnelite she pissed off a few of them too, and they know her face.
OPERATION Examples
Here are some examples of Throne Division operations to inspire you.
Archdeacon Many-the-Seedlings is using his political A list of active Ministry agents in Spire has turned up in
sway to pass a law requiring blood purity testing for all the hands of the Crimson Vigil, who are now using it to
those who own property in Amaranth. This would out extort favours from our operatives. Your names are on
dozens of Ministry operatives in disguise as prominent that list, too. Infiltrate the Vigil’s headquarters in
high elves. Kill him. Godstreet station and take that list back.
The war efforts in Nujab rely on weekly skywhale The Infinite Library of the University of Divine Magic
shipments carrying guns and ammunition from the exists slightly outside the bounds of reality. The
Sky Docks. Destroy the warmongers’ stock as it leaves librarians have uncovered a new book on the shelves
the port. that contains hitherto unknown secrets of demonology.
You’ve got about an hour to get in, get the book and get
The Ministry cell known informally as The Four has out before the Special Tactics Unit of the Allied Defence
gone rogue and is selling secrets to the Paladins. Track Force send in their best and brightest murder-wizards to
down and eliminate them in their Pilgrim’s Row collect it.
hideout.
Archbishop Wynn is almost a decade into the
The Warrior-Poet Sorrow-Seldom-Sings is a traitor to construction of a megacathedral in Ivory Row - but it is
the aelfir nation and the city of Spire. He has spoken out actually a vast mechanical device to rupture the Heart
against the war in Nujab in several public forums, and Itself so that the aelfir gods can physically manifest in
led retreats that saved the lives of hundreds of drow the city, and he’s just turned it on. Initial experiments
under his command. He’s now under arrest in the Hive, have met with mixed success, but the Vermissian is
Spire’s biggest prison, while the Council works out what dying from the strain on the system. Shut down the
to do with him. Break in and get him out alive. machine, even if the gods try to stop you.
The Ministry has uncovered a secret Paladin training The lawless undercity of Red Row is on the verge of a
and indoctrination temple within the depths of the Loft full-scale riot, and the Council has sent in the Allied
line. Acquire explosives and destroy the training Defence Force to keep the peace. Eliminate the
facility, preferably with the Paladins still inside it. commander of the troops in Red Row, but make it look as
though local revolutionary hero Vilham Roque
performed the assassination.
6
Gameplay
7
Gameplay
To save space, the designers opted not to
THRONE DIVISION include controls inside the device, and instead
rely on a trapped arcane intelligence like those
EQUIPMENT
Costs are listed for use in standard games of
found in Automatons of Burden (Heart, p. 176)
which is taught that the environment around it is
Heart; any weapon of D8 or higher cost may be unpleasant and that it should attempt to reach its
acquired in lieu of a Minor Advance after a mission objective in as short a time as possible. Most
during resupply as the Ministry issues the equip‐ arcane intelligences are wrangled out of ordinary
ment as a reward/acquired on the black market. animal brains; the Ministry, in their hubris, have
scavenged psyches from stranger places.
Lashing multiple coffin-crawlers together into
ARACHNID TINCTURE Cost: D6 a train arrangement is a viable way of providing a
Mend Blood D10, Limited 1. team with rapid insertion – often, only the lead
Throne Division Operatives often don’t have time crawler is given the intelligence to navigate the
to attend to their wounds given the time-sensit‐ Vermissian, and the subsidiary ones are idiots
ive nature of their missions, and to ease their even by arcane intelligence standards.
torment, the Ministry have developed the Arach‐
nid Tincture. Lovingly referred to as a “Pocket
Spider,” partially due to the rumours that it’s EXPLOSIVE HAMMER Cost: D6
made by Midwives, this oversized, pressurised Kill D10, Piercing, Loud, Dangerous, One-Shot.
syrette is applied directly to the carotid artery The head of this hammer explodes on contact. It
and floods the subject’s system with a cocktail of is never issued to Throne Division Operatives,
pain suppressants, spider blood, sacred mercury and instead fashioned by team members eager to
and not a small amount of dagger (Spire, p. 104) in gain an edge over the heavily-armoured and well-
an effort to get them back on their feet and in equipped aelfir paladins of the Autumn Temple;
fighting shape. official Ministry doctrine has banned use of the
explosive hammer on operations, and confiscates
any discovered in safehouses.
8
Gameplay
9
The Vermissian, By Line
The Vermissian is broken up into five distinct lines:
• the ramshackle Candle Line that runs the length of the city
from top to bottom;
• the submerged Fathom line which served the lower city;
• the twisting and unpredictable Spiral line in the middle city;
• the aelfir-only Loft line on top of Spire; and
• the nightmarish Pulse line that connects the network to the
Heart Itself.
10
APPROXIMATE MAP OF THE VERMISSIAN NETWORK
UPPER TINTAGEL GODSYARD
GARGOYLE
THRONE STEERPIKE VERTEX
FROSTRIME
EQUINOX CHAMBERS
TURBINE
LINES
LOFT LINE
BRIDGE
CANDLE LINE
UPPER SAPPHIRE
FATHOM LINE
COGTOOTH HIVE VULGATE CANDLEGATE
SPIRAL LINE
PULSE LINE WORMWOOD ZOO FOUNDRY OLDWITCH AGATE PARADE
ARCHES
JACKTAR
(IT’S COMPLICATED) WATERSEDGE
CRESCENT OF ? DROWN’D DREADNAUGHT
ALSO WORMWOOD MORNING
DOZMARY
ENDLINE RATCATCH SAPPHIRE
PENNDRO ENFER
FLINCH POLARIS
MACHINE SHUDDER
THISTLE
GRIST LOWER SAPPHIRE
MILLSTONE NULL FALLOW SOLSTICE
GULLY GRIP
SUMP WELL
HANG GRIN
SAKIMAL
GAP
WELCOME TO...
Atmosphere (D10)
1. Slimy green mould and lichen 6. Pigshit, chewed-up bone shards
covering every surface and the sound of squealing hogs
2. The echoing cackle and scattered 7. Huge, rusted, inactive machinery
light of angler toads 8. Wooden platforms lashed onto
3. Ankle-deep water swirling in corroded iron supports
strange patterns 9. Adverts for affordable mid-Spire
4. Malak smugglers with dimmed housing
lanterns, visible in the distance 10. Reeks like a sewer, because it is one
5. Crumbling stone and jagged metal
makes traversal dangerous
GODSYARD MARKET TURBINE
STEERPIKE FAIRFAX
NEW HEAVEN PILGRIM’S WALK
The topmost level of Spire is a maze of A ramshackle fire hazard that houses more
Towers of Silence: exposed platforms where churches per square foot than any other district
carrion birds pick at the flesh and bones of in Spire. The area is renowned for con-artist
the dead, as is tradition in the city. Missions priests selling get-holy-quick schemes and suspi‐
to steal corpses and interrogate them ciously affordable relics to easy marks from the
posthumously are more common than the lower city. The Ministry maintains multiple safe‐
Morticians who run the place would like. houses here, as the sheer weight of worship acts
There’s plenty of bad blood between them as a sort of smokescreen, and black ops teams are
and the Ministry as a result. sometimes sent in to eliminate rogue agents.
QUESTING KNIGHTS
The more powerful and respected a Knight of the North Docks becomes, the more quests they are expected
to embark upon. Quests usually consist of simple acts of service to their lord, such as extortion, leg-break‐
ing or pulling particularly dangerous bartending shifts. However, occasionally they will descend into the
Vermissian in search of glory by slaying dangerous beasts and claiming valuable relics - or by communing
with the spirit of their patron, St Benaferas, in his legendary chthonic pub. Dangerously drunk and egging
one another on to greater heights of achievement, gangs of knights in quarter-plate roam the damp tunnels
of the network around the North Docks. They can pose a threat to delvers, who may be mistaken for a fell
beast or dark knight worthy of defeating in single (or not-so-single) combat.
Atmosphere (D10)
1. Ectoplasm clinging to the ceiling,
unusually cold
2. Gutterkin prayer circle around a
stolen altar
3. Graveyard manifested in the tunnel;
dirt crumbling beneath your feet
4. Ghostly echoes of trains and platform
announcements
5. Water drips upward and spells out
curses on the roof
6. Thousands of tiny holes in spiralling
patterns that whistle in the wind
7. Evidence of cult warfare - magical
THE FATHOM LINE residue, the reek of spireblack
smoke, blood
8. Your voice echoes before you speak,
not after
9. Abandoned shrine to a rival goddess
Our Lady of the Underground 10. Lost wanderer, scared out of their mind
Buried within the depths of the Fathom Line, this
ramshackle cathedral has been hammered together
from spare train parts, carriage siding, stolen church
walls and industrial chains. Within, a sect of renegade
Vermissian Sages worship the train network as a
Cannibals
goddess. Some even drink the greasy runoff from the
The Ministry are, officially, allied with
walls and claim it sends them into a divine trance,
the cannibals of Grist - but not every
revealing the hidden pathways that surround them.
ghoul got the message, and there are
They regard black ops teams as trespassing on sacred
rogue elements within every organisa‐
land, and while they don’t have the capacity to tackle
tion. In the rickety tunnels that criss-
them head-on, they will spit curses and oaths of
cross the area’s rooftops, operatives
damnation from the shadows until they leave. They will
should be wary not to attract the atten‐
gladly gang up on a single operative - perhaps a
tion of flesh-eaters looking to prove
wounded one - and drag them into their church to be
themselves in the eyes of their peers by
sacrificed on the rusted engine-block altar.
taking down a serious opponent.
Shadowy Cults The Gutter Gallery
There are fewer places less observed within the city of Spire In this disused water storage facil‐
than the Fathom line, and the Ministry takes advantage of this. ity, the mad gutterkin spirit
The line is riddled with hideouts, stashes of supplies and medium Bullthroat has spent the
access routes to illegal temples of Our Hidden Mistress. last decade covering the walls in
Unfortunately, almost every other secret church or rebel spiralling murals, depicting the
organisation in Spire has had the same idea. It’s quite lives (and eventual deaths) of the
common to find that a location you thought was secure has not many ghosts they have spoken with.
only been cleaned out, but completely taken over by a rival cult. The art style is rustic to say the least,
The groups active within the Fathom line include, but are and the poetry is so filthy it would
not limited to: the Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress, the Ver‐ make a hardened delver blush - but
missian Collective, the Crimson Vigil, the New Anarchs, the it forms a useful record of everyone
Void Glorious, the Liberate! Newspaper, the Aelfir Church of who died with unfinished business
the First Gods, the Hungry Deep, an unnamed collection of in the surrounding area.
carrion-priests that worship maggots and bacteria, the
Unseelie Court and the Council for Drow Emancipation.
Skull Orchards
Ghosts Someone’s been collecting skulls - a
Something about the structural make-up of the lot of skulls. Thousands of them are
Fathom line - and the thousands of luckless workers stacked atop each other in unstable
who died during its construction - makes the place a cairns, attended to by ghoulish
veritable magnet for the unquiet dead. The Ministry priests who clamber across the ceil‐
recommends that any operatives making use of it ing like spiders. If you knock down
should pick up resources that will allow them to fight one pile, the odds are good that
or evade the attentions of phantoms: lacrimal salt, hundreds more will collapse in a
portable warding circles, ghostbane pollen and so on. domino effect that will bury you in
For more details on fighting ghosts, see Heart, p. 187. the dead and alert everything
nearby to your presence.
The Hive
Spire’s foremost prison, and home to dissidents,
terrorists, traitors and enemies of the state that are too
valuable to kill straight away. In the central section, the
cells are rigged to drop hundreds of feet into the
ground should the prisoners prove too dangerous to
control. The Ministry has only managed to rescue a
handful of operatives from within its walls.
Atmosphere (D10)
1. Creaky, unstable and ancient
2. Rushing wind so loud you can barely
hear yourself think
3. Rusted and dilapidated art deco
features
4. Frozen due to magical overspill
5. Carpeted viewing platforms and
informational brass plaques abound
6. Flocks of escaped messenger-
hummingbirds, most of them dead
7. Stained-glass windows look out on a
false sky
8. Exposed, windswept, hanging off the
THE LOFT LINE side of the city
9. Sweltering hot due to a poorly-
maintained heat vent
10. Bashed-through, suggesting a secret
smuggling route
Autumnal Vaults
There are certain practices which even aelfir balk at; The Bridge
the artless hounding and murder of drow for One of the rare exposed areas of the Ver‐
religious purposes is one of them. The masked missian, this rickety stretch of line
devotees of the Harvest Church do their ceremonial extends alongside the nailed-on district
reaping in private, drugging luckless dark elves of Perch on the side of the city. The curi‐
with narcotics before throwing them into the ous whistling caused by the wind rushing
Vermissian and hunting them down with wicked, through the tunnels drives skywhales
curved blades. The so-called Autumnal Vaults are a into a blind frenzy, so anyone approach‐
loose collection of sanctified murder-corridors, ing on one from this side of the city must
altars to Brother Autumn and the gory remains of plug the beast’s massive ears or risk
dozens, if not hundreds, of sacrifices. smashing into the side of Spire.
TINTAGEL
GALLOW JUNCTION SUNDIAL CHAMBERS VERTEX
SUMP GRIN
SAKIMAL GAP
The Heart
The Pulse line spirals down underneath the city and into the Heart. Thanks to the thin reality
in the City Beneath, it has spread out into patterns that were not intended by the original
architects. As such, almost any location referenced in Heart can conceivably be reached from
the Pulse line, but getting there will be far from straightforward. The Ministry has
expressed interest in these locations:
• Redcap Grove, an overgrown den of black-market druids (Heart, p. 140)
• The Temple of the Moon Beneath, a prominent heretic church (Heart, p. 141)
• The Tower, a successful experiment in acoustic mind control (Heart, p. 144)
• Ghorryn, a den of conspiracy theorists who might be onto something (Heart, p. 147)
• Hallow, home of the Witch cult (Heart, p. 149)
• Trypogenesis Chamber, portal to the megaconsciousness of the Hive (Heart, p. 156)
• Papilious Both, a warren of secret-hoarding moths (Heart, p. 166)
•Any of the Eight Heavens, the afterlives of the various peoples of the Spire (Heart, p. 168)
THE PULSE LINE
DEFAULT STRESS: D6
Descending into the depths of the undercity, the Pulse line was connected to
the Heart Itself. This caused the Vermissian Incident and pitched the entire
network into a state of unreal nightmare. Each year, the insidious
otherworldly radiation creeps further up the tunnels and vents, infecting the
City Above with the sticky crimson of the City Beneath.
Atmosphere (D10)
1. Fleshy walls that quiver in time with a distant heartbeat
2. Tunnels constricting and expanding with a sickening groan
3. Bone-flowers, so thin as to be translucent, growing from the ceiling
4. Non-standard gravity
5. Heartsblood enclave, distrustful of outsiders
6. Animals with rusted replacement limbs scraping along the ground
7. Ravenous gutterkin hiding behind every corner
8. Resonant crystals jutting through the iron walls
9. Witch cult territory marked by gory runes and wards
10. Thick circular windows showing an alien sky outside
the Ministry:
• BROKE. They pay well and they mean business; and maybe you got
kicked out of the military and no-one else would employ you. You
could do a few black ops jobs for the Ministry and retire, assuming
they don’t send someone else after you to tie up loose ends.
• PROUD. You’re convinced that you’re the best and you like to live your
life on the edge. The only stuff dangerous and exciting enough for you
is working for an illegal cult destabilising the government.
• COMPROMISED. They’ve got something on you - something big.
Rather than have it come out and destroy your life (and the lives of those
close to you) you’re working for them.
• ZEALOUS. You are prepared to give your life in service of
the Ministry’s goals. You loathe the aelfir and all they
stand for; you are a holy warrior on a righteous
crusade to destroy those who have enslaved
your people and destroyed your culture.
25
Groups and Factions
• Captain Wander-the-Lost, a Warrior-Poet
THE SPIRAL COUNCIL addicted to blue: a human-made drug that floods
“We’ve received word from the front that the Dust ter‐ users with a cathartic wave of chemical grief.
ritory has once again fallen into gnollish hands. I’m
proposing we instigate a demonic incursion to mitig‐ Each has their own aims (and allegiances) but, as a
ate the losses; total projected allied casualties would whole, they work to uphold the status quo and rein‐
number in the low thousands. All those in favour?” force the aelfir’s hold over Spire. Killing them is diffi‐
The Spiral Council, hereafter just “the Coun‐ cult and perhaps pointless, as there is no end of equally
cil,” are the rulers of Spire. Sitting atop a despicable replacements waiting in the wings. The
massive bureaucratic pyramid of adminis‐ Ministry must locate and compromise a suitable
trants, civil servants and lackeys, these seven alternative candidate, fund their rise through the
individuals are some of the most powerful ranks of the government and then place them in an
people in the city. It is they who fuel the war in ideal position to take a seat on the council.
the south and throw innocent enlisted drow The Council is protected by the Black Guard of
into the meatgrinder that is the Nujabian foot‐ Amaranth: elite warriors specially selected from the
hills; it is they who oversee the list of banned ranks of the Allied Defence Force who are paid exor‐
religions and practices, erasing the history of bitantly for their services. There are also countless
the dark elves; and it is they who will pay for wards, counter-scrying magic, retaliatory hexes and
their sins at the hands of zealous ministers. a well-established intelligence network. Taking on
At present, the council members are as fol‐ the Council is no small undertaking.
lows; they are aelfir unless stated otherwise.
BLACK GUARD OF AMARANTH
• Archdeacon Many-the-Seedlings, NAMES: Ybyssmette, Varellian, Destera (they only
unspeakably beautiful cleric of the Solar use surnames)
Church, with secret dreams of fierce ethnic DESCRIPTORS: Standing perfectly motionless for
cleansing through the Harvest cult of Brother days at a time to guard a particular chamber;
Autumn. Shielding an aelfir with their body; Laying down
• Councilman Drynn, a human spymaster, suppressing fire to cover the approach of hal‐
who carries a shard of aetherically-resonant berdiers
crystal in his brain; it broadens his MOTIVATION: To protect the Council - and to a
perceptions and is driving him mad. lesser extent, every other aelfir inhabitant of
• Lord Errin Jubilant-the-Devoted, a staunch Amaranth
traditionalist, who has nonetheless been DIFFICULTY: Risky
infiltrated by an interdimensional blood- RESISTANCE: 10
song parasite called The Vyskant and is PROTECTION: 3
quietly ushering in their arrival. RESOURCES: ID papers (D10, Haven, Niche)
• Madame Fey-Aranyen, a token dark elf EQUIPMENT: Ebony-stocked repeating shotguns
member of the council who cannot support (Kill D8, Spread, Unreliable); Wide-bladed hal‐
her fellow drow past empty gestures and berds (Kill D8, Tiring)
meaningless platitudes. DOMAINS: Haven
• Lady Grendelmyn Stars-Softly-Shine, who is
surprisingly straight-laced for an aelfir; BLACK GUARD AEGIS
except that she is allied with the cult of the The best of the best. These soldiers are brain-
Spire Ascendant, who wish to awaken the washed with aelfir music that speeds their reaction
City Above as a god. times, dulls pain and discomfort and ensures a
• Lord Veq Light-Through-Splintered-Glass, an zealous loyalty. They use Black Guard stats, but
old-school businessman with deep their difficulty is Dangerous.
connections to the criminal elements in
Spire’s undercity. 26
Groups and Factions
27
Groups and Factions
GADOLIV in the local language, but most only understand
NAMES: Aubinet, D’Encre, Podepapiyae about 500 words and struggle to follow complex
DESCRIPTORS: Wrapping their scarred skin in instructions or hold advanced concepts in their
strips of paper inscribed with warding texts; heads. This means they struggle to find work (or
Feeding fruit to a messenger-bat hanging even understand the notion) and generally rely on
from their wrist; Absent-mindedly eating scavenging, theft, pack-hunting and light robbery
spare books to survive. Individually, a gutterkin is no threat to
MOTIVATION: To protect the information stored a seasoned delver; but en masse, they can over‐
in the Vermissian Vault and those who collect it whelm an injured or weakened target in seconds.
DIFFICULTY: Standard, but see below
RESISTANCE: 8 GUTTERKIN MOB
PROTECTION: 1 This stat block represents a gang of about a dozen gut‐
RESOURCES: Books of inscrutable writing they terkin working as a team. A standard scavenging party
believe is in code (D6, Occult) will be made up of three or so teams.
EQUIPMENT: Punch daggers (Kill D6, Piercing,
Unreliable) NAMES: Skint, Biglot, Ord, Grub, Haslock, Fegg
DOMAINS: Occult, Technology DESCRIPTORS: A goblin with terrible facial hair;
SPECIAL: When Gadoliv attack, they do so by a psoriasis-addled kobold; a sort of dogboy
shifting the Vermissian around them with MOTIVATION: To kill you without dying them‐
spells and machine-keys that allow them to selves, then eat you and steal your things
ambush from hiding. The first action made by DIFFICULTY: Standard
each player character against them in a situ‐ RESISTANCE: 8 (most of them will run away
ation is Risky. once their mates start dying)
PROTECTION: 0
RESOURCES: Filthy gewgaws, worthless trinkets,
FALLOUT: REARRANGED. [Minor, Fortune] The the knife they’re all sharing (D4, Haven)
Gadoliv retreat, but the delvers realise that the EQUIPMENT: Claws, rusted knives, fish-hooks,
Vermissian has changed during the encounter. chair legs (Kill D6, Degrading)
Add D8 resistance to the current delve as they DOMAINS: Warren
attempt to navigate the strange, hostile environ‐ SPECIAL: Weapons with the Spread tag increase
ment. [Immediate] their stress dice by 1 step when used against a
gutterkin mob.
GUTTERKIN
“What don’t you understand, big man? Give us your FALLOUT: SURPRISE! [Minor, Fortune] The
food and your map and we won’t cut you. Do something gutterkin have set a trap: a big rock positioned
upcity, we come at you thousands!” above head-height, a pit full of shit-caked spikes,
“Gutterkin” is a derogatory Spire term for gob‐ a length of metal under tension with broken glass
lins, kobolds, trash fairies, toadgirls and crow‐ and used needles tied to it and so on. The next
boys - any diminutive humanoid who doesn’t time a player character marks stress as a result of
quite fit into society. The gutterkin form an attacking the gutterkin, the gutterkin retaliate
under-underclass in the city: they’re not at all with a (Kill D8, Brutal, Piercing) weapon.
seen in the mid-Spire and above, are rare in the
lower city, and only really show their faces in the
undercity districts of Red Row and Derelictus.
However, gutterkin flourish in the Vermissian.
Some gutterkin are able to hold a conversation
28
From the depths of the cursed mass transit
network known as the Vermissian, the Ministry
of Our Hidden Mistress wages a shadow war
against their cruel high elf overlords.
You are part of the Throne Division: cells of black ops
paramilitary assets drawn from the people of the Heart. You
undertake vital missions in support of the Ministry’s cause,
using the miles of twisting tunnels to move secretly through
the city.