Prox Peak by Rob Torno
Written by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett
Difficulty: Medium
Magic: None
Keywords: miners, cold, wolves, tendrils
Terrain: mountains, extreme cold
Treasure: None
Sharp winds tug at your heavy gear as you stand in the remains of Marlowe’s camp. Much of the camp is buried in dirty snow covered in a glistening sheen of ice. The make-shift crew quarters have been knocked down and lie strewn about the site. Rock-falls have buried much of the mining equipment, sharp spires and steel girders poking out of the debris like broken bones. The only sound is the occasional chirp of your radio equipment and the howling winds that fly down from the craggy slope of Prox Peak.
For hours, you poke about the site disconsolately. As you turn to leave, you happen across a small silver necklace buried beneath the dirt and snow. On the simple chain is clover charm, for luck. Shaking your head, you turn back toward your base camp. You feel the hairs on the back of your neck shiver and you slowly turn back toward the abandoned work site. Walking toward you is a group of humans, dressed in mining gear, slowly crossing the distance between you and the mine shaft. The dull light of Nyraeve’s winter sun reflects off of their skin. You call out to them, letting them know that you are here to rescue them. They offer no response but their relentless and measured steps. As they move closer, you see that their bodies are encased in thin skein of ice. Closer still, and you see that their eyes are wide in a silent scream behind the crystal skin…
Background
Nyraeve lies in far reaches of known space. Due to its ample supply of unobtainium and other mineral deposits, it is considered to be a potential source of great wealth…if anyone can figure out how to tap it. Numerous expeditions have been sent to the icy rock but few have returned, and none with any success to speak of. Most of the failures can be attributed to the remoteness of the planet, the extreme climate, and the desolate and treacherous nature of its landscape. What few survivors that have returned claim that the world is cursed, that they could feel eyes, ancient and cold, watching them from the ice.
Deep within the mountains and ice of Nyraeve, an ancient and malevolent intelligence has lain in torpor for centuries. Only its crystalline “tendrils”, small semi-intelligent parts of itself, may venture out into the light. The stirrings and warmth of the humans that began their exploration of its prison have awakened the creature. It has sent out its “tendrils” to investigate the visitors and, if possible, inhabit and control them, turning them into tools with which it can finally make good its escape and feed on the heat of the cosmos once more.
Proxima Mining Corporation (PMC) had sent Marlowe’s crew to begin a mining camp near an equatorial mountain range on icy Nyraeve. Marlowe and his team set down in a narrow valley near a mountain that the crew took to calling “Prox Peak”. In short order, communications were established and mining operations began in earnest. If the site began to yield, PMC would send a larger crew to begin a full-scale settlement operation. About a month into the operation, all contact between the site and PMC was severed.
It began with blood. Two of Marlowe’s team, Jaspen and Thayer, were taken out by a pack of Slirm during the initial survey of the site. Later, Marlowe came to see this as an omen of what was to come. A feeling of unease crept over the team as they began their operations, ever wary of whatever unseen enemy would strike from the unknown landscape.
Then came the dreams. Marlowe’s nights were spent in utter darkness, his dreams nightmares of emotion that left him fatigued the next day. As he and his crew cleared out space and set up equipment, he would catch glimpses of movement in the icy patches and wind-whipped ice formations around the site. He told no one of this…a mining crew foreman had to be as tough and impervious as the rock he mined. Despite his stoicism, the crew began to get concerned when Marlowe took to spending hours gazing into the ice, thinking about “nothing”.
As the crew delved deeper into the mountain, they penetrated the side of a natural tunnel deep within the rock. Two crew members were injured as frosty air shot out from the punctured tunnel, coating their faces in crystalline ice. The medic grew frantic as the ice showed no signs of thawing and began to spread over the men’s bodies like a fine glass shell. The crew refused to move forward into the mine shaft as its sides also began to glisten with an icy shell that spread from the break into the interior tunnel. Marlowe said nothing. That night, the two frozen crew members rose and found Marlowe. Nodding in silent understanding, he led the two to the camp where they forced the rest of the crew into the shaft. Inside the mine, icy tendrils sought their prey and enveloped the rest of the crew. Marlowe led his crew deeper into the ancient tunnel, abandoning the dig site for what lay in the heart of the icy mountains.
Objective
The characters have been sent to Prox Peak by Proxima Mining Corporation (PMC) to investigate the disappearance of Marlowe’s crew and to report their findings to the Board of Directors. The Company is concerned about the welfare of the crew, as well as the viability of a potentially lucrative operation.
While investigating the initial dig site, the characters will encounter:
- Slirm: These six-legged creatures are each the size of a large wolf and resemble hyenas with elongated crocodilian jaws. They group in small “families” and are voracious, vicious, and clever predators, prone to attacking humans. They normally employ pack tactics until one of them gets a grip with its jaws; then, it simply doesn’t let go, exerting immense, bone-breaking force while its family continues their harrying until the prey is brought down (from The Planet Nyraeve).
- “Altered” crew members: These are members of Marlowe’s crew who have been inhabited and encased by the tendrils. Marlow, aware of the characters due to his communication with the “host entity”, views the characters as a threat; this could be because in his current state he has grown paranoid and only trusts his crew or could be due to a deeply buried part of his humanity that needs to turn the characters away from the danger that he has embraced.
Tactics
- Slirm: These creatures are clever predators that can hide easily in the monotonous terrain of Nyraeve. They possess basic animal intelligence and defend their territory with ferocity. Unless faced with the most obvious and overwhelming of odds, the creatures will fight to the death.
- “Altered” crew members: The “tendrils” of the host entity have encased each of their victims in a thin ice-like membrane and have entered their victims’ bodies via the ears. The crew members are aware of their surroundings, and their entrapment in their own bodies, over which they have no control. Behind the scrim of ice on their face, their eyes are frozen wide with shock and terror at their new state.
- This coating will give the victim the benefit of increased physical armor without the penalties of weight.
- Should the characters use a heat-based attack on an altered crew member, the heat will make the tendrils more active and allow it to create a pseudopod-like appendage to attack the character. This appendage could act as a whip or a narrow blade or could be a means with which to possess the character if touched/penetrated.
- Should the characters use a cold-based attack on the altered crew member, the tendrils will become less active, slowing the crew member down considerably and allowing the crew member a chance to fight off the parasite (if they can survive the attack themselves).
- If faced with overwhelming odds, the crew members could be recalled by the host entity or by Marlowe and will retreat into the mine shaft.
Environmental Effects
The camp at Prox Peak is located in one of the few habitable zones on Nyraeve along a narrow equatorial band. Habitable is, of course, a subjective assessment. The camp is situated in a narrow valley at the foot of a tall mountain in the midst of a massive range. The valley protects the camp from the worst of the sharp winds that shoot down from the craggy peaks, but not all of them. Temperatures range anywhere from 20-below to freezing. The atmosphere is close enough to Earth-normal for it not to be a factor and the camp itself is not at a high elevation. Prolonged exposure without environmental gear could produce hypothermia and frostbite.
Development
When the characters set down at Prox Peak, they will find the remains of an abandoned mining camp. Equipment lies covered in snow/ice drifts. Supplies lie strewn about the rocky ground. Characters that search may find stool left from a mammal of some sort as well as bits of fur or claw. Two graves will also be found, untended and nearly hidden by snow, ice, and rock fall. Should the bodies be exhumed for examination, they will show signs of having been torn apart by an animal.
The Slirm will initiate a surprise attack using their advanced hiding skills. The creatures will fight fiercely and to the death unless met with overwhelming resistance. The characters, especially if they have found the gravesites and examined the bodies, may believe that the crew fell victim to these fierce animals that spring from the rocks and ice unseen.
As the characters make their way to the mine shaft, they will notice a group of people emerging from the area, slowly making their way toward the camp. All attempts to communicate will be ignored. Once they are in sight, the characters will slowly realize that these are crew members, encased in ice, their screams frozen in the wild-eyed stares that penetrate their crystal prison…
If faced with overwhelming odds, an “altered” crew member may flee (or be recalled) to the mine shaft. A tendril that is “killed” is actually driven out and may kill its crew member as it tears itself loose to return to the host entity.
Awards, Findings, & Treasure
Should the characters manage subdue a tendril that does not kill its crew member host, that crew member may be insane but could give insight into what happened to Marlowe and the crew.
A tendril that is subdued will move too fast to be captured as it returns to the host entity. However, it could be tracked to the mine shaft and beyond.
If a crew member falls, an analysis could reveal traces of the tendril that could be analyzed. It would be found that the tendril is some sort of “organic nano-entity”, capable of absorbing large amounts of heat energy, replicating itself exponentially, and sending organic signals of some unknown nature at long range. Traces could very well be found encasing the victim’s brain stem, indicating some sort of control performed by the creature.
Regardless, the crew will probably want to explore the mine shaft for more answers, which would likely lead to the next encounter.
Prox Peak by Nevermet Press is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.nevermetpress.com/contact.
