Forced Landing!

Death Valley • No-Folk Land • Blazing Garden

☠ Dangerous

⚔ Defense

☀ Sand Dunes

Adventure Description

Being a globe-wide research organization, the Helical Archive has a decent fleet of Cloud Breaker skyships available to researchers and adventurers. During particularly busy times, however, they outsource to the Verdin Skyfarers Corporation for transportation. The party find themselves on one such flight, actively flying over the inhospitable Death Valley of No-Folk Land on their way to a research contract up north. A comfortable ride turns turbulent when they crash in the desert.

Starting the Adventure

"Winds whip past you on the deck of a Cloud Breaker as No-Folk Land spreads beneath you - an endless expanse of cracked badlands and roaming colossi. Someone, of course, notes how smooth this voyage has been. Without warning, your stomach lurches, the horizon tilts violently, and you realize your ship is nose-diving towards the ground. Something...has gone very wrong."

The descent happens too fast for the party to intervene, so no heroic or defensive actions can be taken. Torn sails and fractured Floatstone fragments cushion the worst of impact. Everyone aboard - party and Zero alike - suffers a Light Injury. Wrought, the ship's reliable first mate, is near death.

Add to the jeopardy of the wait for rescue by requiring regular Grit Checks for heat exhaustion - inducing a roll on the Burn Injury Table. Each Grit Check requires a Ration or has a Snag.

Important Characters

PILOT-"Zero" — Bio-Mechanoid, Female, ??? (Custrel)

Recently re-awoken from a Manathene facility in Stahlfeld, Zero discovered an affinity for piloting and has recently been accepted as a captain for the Verdin Fleet.

"Despite her dented chassis and sparking joints, Zero moves with calm precision through the wreckage."

Wrought Mutton — Dwarf, Male, 85 (Scholar)

A very craggly and cracked Dwarf, Wrought has an unbeatable, calm attitude. He handles the ship maintenance and navigation.

"Wrought lies pinned beneath twisted metal. His mossy beard is starting to wither in the searing heat."

Suggested Story

Set the scene, describe the violent descent and the wreckage left behind, then continue:

Going Down

The party wakes seeing Zero frantically digging in wreckage for a missing Wrought, somewhere buried in heavy rubble.
Wrought is Near Death [Source, pg. 260], dying in 2 Turns without help. He can only be partially healed to a Wounded state, as toxic fumes have damaged his lungs.

Search for Supplies

Zero ask for help locating the emergency Transponder for rescue signals. She also suggests they collect any useful survival gear.
Contacting the Verdin Corporation dispatch, if successful, brings bad news: dangerous wind conditions ground all rescue craft until the next day.

Head for Shelter

Zero says it is unwise to stay at the crash site, due to the weather and the threat of colossal beasts or warlord clans.
The party find some ancient ruins to shelter under, but during the night, a Railgun Shrimp burrows up out of the sand and attacks. The party may become Fatigued from lost sleep.

Sunrise Assault

The next morning, the party travel back to the crash site, but are caught in a sandstorm caused by two raging Ghost Peppers and three Dust Mephits who attack the party.
Once the spirits are defeated, the rescue ship appears. The party must signal to it, before being picked up and saved.

Sources & Adversaries

Storybeats & layout inspired from Crash Landing by One-Shot Wonders.
Story, mechanics, setting, characters, and vibes reworked to fit BREAK!!'s universe.

Scholar/Custrel: Source, pg. 185
Dust Mephit: Steam Mephit by Wretched Jarrah (Homebrew)
Ghost Peppers/Obsidian Hexalith: by Yan Kodiac (Homebrew)
Railgun Shrimp/Solar Orb Sentinel: by Quagg (Homebrew)
Monstrich: BREAK!! Blog
Glide Mantle: BREAK!! Blog

Key Locations

Crash Site

"Around you, twisted metal and splintered wood mark the impact crater. The Spell Engine shrieks in mechanical agony while dust chokes your lungs."

Salvageable supplies include three intact rations and two undamaged Extreme Heat Outfits. The others burned during the engine explosion.

The emergency Transponder Zero is looking for has launched from the ship and is partially buried in the sand.

Akenian Ruins

"The crash site rests next to an ancient, sandblasted road. Up its path lie some ancient ruins of a long-past outpost, sheltered from the sun and winds."

These ruins belong to Akenia, and holds inscribings about the Invincible Bright. Mostly picked clean, however a long-buried and tattered Glide Mantle can be found near the inscribings.

Unfortunate for the party, this is the home lair of a Railgun Shrimp. During their rest, it will attempt to Ambush the party, targeting those in metal as that's its food source.

Desert Surroundings

"Relentless heat presses down like a physical weight. Sand grits between your teeth with every breath."

With no night to fall and beaming light filtering in the ruin's ceiling, sleep is difficult and painful.

During the morning sandstorm, visibility is severely reduced and the party stumble directly into the path of the raging Ghost Peppers and the swirling Dust Mephits.

Secrets & Clues

Thanks to the colossal creatures that feed and roam freely in the region, No-Folk Land is regarded as an inhospitable place. Only the crazed attempt life here.
Only two corporations dare trans-No-Folk routes: Verdin Skyfarers and Nyanko Aeronomics.
Zero's partner, T34 or "Tea", worries about the dangers of flying and has asked her to get a new job. Zero suspects she is literally built for it.
Investigating the wreckage reveals that a Cinder Mephit nesting in the engine caused it to overheat.
The Spell Engine powering the ship has exploded, and is damaged far beyond repair.
Without the Transponder, Zero estimates rescue depends on Verdin noticing their missed arrival - which could take days.
Wrought was standing near the Spell Engine when the skyship crashed, so he inhaled a lot of toxic Mana.
The impact shattered the ship's medical supplies - all potions and salves were ruined.
Vichar Verdin built his fortune on contract transport work as Verdin Skyfarers CEO.

Quest Resolution

✦ Rewards

After the rescue, Vichar Verdin himself will meet the party at their destination, offering them a compensation of 500C and a first-class flight to anywhere in the Outer World.