AWE: Auroras & Worm Eradication

Snow sport enthusiasts are being found dead with shark like bites at the Aurora ski resort in Skifry, Canada. Refraction Sports are planning to hold a televised event next year at the Aurora. They want these deaths to stop.

What is going on?

Keep the information in this section unknown to the players unless you want to drop them straight into the action.

An abandoned radio tower outpost in the mountains has been taken over by the Cult of Skyuss. They are an extreme branch of Gaians. They are breeding snow worms and experimenting on their use.

The DEACON OF SKYUSS (Anne Lida) has been testing out the Aurora generator which attracts and enrages the snow worms. This has lead to the deaths of skiers, and snowboarders. They plan to grow snow worms and unleash a plague of them on the world.

To successfully stop these attacks the team will need to figure out what is going on and Kill/Capture Anne Lida.

Reward

Aurora diamond sword (1D6+1 DAMAGE, VALUABLE)

VALUABLE weapon tag: Utterly unique in history or make. Can be used as a bargaining chip in almost any situation. (F:UE)

Consequences

If the cult is not stopped they will grow and appear in other areas across the globe. This will start with cold climes but spread to everywhere else.

Snow worms have frequented these mountain ranges for centuries. Without the cults’ influence the snow worms will not be able to escape these mountain tops as the underground hot springs restrict their range (see more below). Their population will stay low due to their territorial natures, and they will mostly hunt larger game (bears, moose etc).

Intel gathering

The team will need to figure out what is going on. They can do a lot of intel gathering at the Aurora and Skyfry. I also encourage you to improv based on the suggestions of your players.

The Aurora

The Aurora is a ski resort run by the Daman family. The main building is a post-modern brutalism building of concrete and colour. The Damans have been told to accommodate the team and help with intel gathering.

Some possible clues include:

  • Security guards: Know the locations and dates of skier and snowboarder deaths. Each was skiing/snowboarding in the dark before being found dead. Some bodies were not found at all.
  • Suns of Nyxmera: A group stargazes every night on top of the resort building. They have noticed localised Auroras. Many match nights when people went missing/found dead.

The team can freely rent and use snow mobiles (3 HP, 2 ARMOR) and other skiing/snowboarding gear provided by The Aurora during the mission.

Skifry

Skifry is a secluded mountain town with a logo of a purple dragon bathed by the aurora. The town was founded in these mountains due to the underground hot springs acting as a natural way to heat the town and produce electricity. Unfortunately, the underground hot springs are also the reason the cryophilic snow worms can so easily survive the cold climate here.

The Aurora, on the outskirts of the town, makes use of the hot water and town citizens.

Some possible clues include:

  • Library in the city hall: News articles about a radio tower abandoned in the 30s due to unexplained animal attacks.
  • Recruiters for cult: Will try to recruit the players to the cult. They are careful and coy as they are currently normal humans.
  • Hospital & morgue: Recent body of a victim.
  • Indigenous centre: The resident storyteller has the following story if asked about tales of worms.
    • The native Waawate & Icelandic Jokla were a warlock pair of great power. They vanquished the mighty ice worm. Waawate summoned the Northern lights to attract the beast. Then Jokla encased it in ice.
  • Strange shopper: A strange very wrapped up individual (MUTATED CULTIST OF SKYUSS) going into the food store to buy a lot of meat, potatoes, and canned food.

Outpost

Once the team is ready they can make their way to the Cult’s outpost.

All enemy stats and items are in the following page: Cult of Skyuss.

The Cult of Skyuss’ outpost is an abandoned radio tower within a forest. The forest is a mile above the ski slopes, on top of a ridge. An old road leads to it but otherwise snow mobiles can be used to reach the outpost.

The outpost is a nondescript square concrete building. It consists of 2 floors with an inner outdoor square dominated by a radio tower. The outpost is surrounded by a barbed wire topped fence with one gate. Its insides and outsides are littered with detritus and garbage. The cult intentionally lets it look dilapidated so it appears abandoned.

Whilst approaching the outpost the team may be spotted by the patrolling MUTATED CULTIST OF SKYUSS through outside facing windows on the first floor.

Inside the outpost murmurings can be heard from all directions. It is kept stiflingly hot with large radiators lining the walls. A strong musky smell permeates the entire air, somewhat covering the smell of mould and rot from all the garbage. The concrete walls are heavily cracked with sloppy patch jobs.

A large SUV (8 HP, 1 ARMOR) is covered by the garbage outside but within the fence.

If the team are in active combat, make a Choke roll for Anne Lida (DEACON OF SKYUSS) every time a MUTATED CULTISTS OF SKYUSS dies.

Ground floor

The ground floor contains 6 rooms (R) with one hallway (H) circling the inner walls. The rooms only connect to the hallway (except one which has a staircase). A pair of MUTATED CULTIST OF SKYUSS patrol the hall and rooms.

When entering a room (R) use a D6 to determine which room it is from the below list. Ensure there is only one of each of the 6 rooms.

  1. Room with stairs: Leads to the next floor’s hallway.
  2. Incubation room: 3 INCUBATOR CULTISTS OF SKYUSS.
  3. Incubation room: 2 INCUBATOR CULTISTS OF SKYUSS.
  4. Recreation room: Contains a table with some cards.
  5. Cult of Skyuss prayer room: Has a library with books about the worm eating the planet and Gaian philosophy books.
  6. Boiler room: If the boiler is disabled the cultists will desperately try to fix it. The resulting cold will slow them down and harm them if cold enough.

The hallway (H) has one door to the outside front, and one door to the inner outside square with the radio tower. There are three windows looking into the square from the hallway.

Upper floor

The upper floor contains 6 rooms (R) with a hallway (H) circling the outer walls. The rooms only connect to the hallway (except one which connects to the radio tower). 4 MUTATED CULTISTS OF SKYUSS patrol the halls and rooms, keeping an eye out on the outside via large windows. Another 4 MUTATED CULTISTS OF SKYUSS are awake but on break in various rooms (R).

When entering a room use a D6 to determine which room it is from the below list. Ensure there is only one of each of the 6 rooms.

  1. Tower access: This room has a door that leads to a walkway with a ladder up to the radio tower room.
  2. Sleeping quarters: 4 sleeping MUTATED CULTISTS OF SKYUSS.
  3. Recreation room: tables for cards, sofas, tv, and a library. Contains a book on paranormal creatures.
  4. Kitchen: First aid spray present (heal 1D6, consumable)
  5. Makeshift armory: M1 Thompson submachine gun (1D6 damage) & 1 combat helmet (1 ARMOR, accessory) present.
  6. Research room: A place where the deacon experiments on worms. Notes on snow worms and altered cultists are present. Worm specimens including eggs. 2 Ultrasonic harmonic frequency grenades are also present.

Radio tower room

This is a warm room where the Deacon of Skyuss orchestrates plans and controls their Aurora generator. It contains the radio tower controls and a ceiling hatch leading to the top of the tower.

Anne Lida is dedicated to her cause and will never let the team stop her. However, she is trickier and smarter than the other cultists. If cornered she will most likely activate the Aurora generator to summon the snow worms as an act to distract/kill the team. She will attempt to escape via the hidden large SUV outside, grabbing some minions and snow worm eggs from her research room before she does so.

The DEACON OF SKYUSS (Anne Lida) Aurora generator is mounted on the top of the tower. Accessible by a metal ladder.

Worm attacks

If Anne Lida (Deacon) has activated the aurora generator, every time a JUVENILE SNOW WORM appears roll a D6 to determine which room in the lower floor they emerge into. There are a total of 4 Juvenile Snow Worms that will appear. The JUVENILE SNOW WORMS will attack anything in its room (worms and humans), whilst destroying the room. After 5 minutes it may move into another room, roll a D6 to determine which room. The generator can be turned off or broken to cause the worms to dig away.

If all 4 JUVENILE SNOW WORMS have appeared the single living ADULT SNOW WORM will appear attacking worms then humans. It will attack everything but Anne Lida. The cult have been finding its eggs for their breeding program.

End

The mission is successful if the team either kill or capture and exfiltrate with Anne Lida. If Anne Lida escapes in the SUV give the team a chance to chase her down. They will have to be quick as Anne Lida knows the mountain range well and has an escape plan set up.

Both these scenarios will technically complete the mission but one may lead to future complications.