31 054

31054

within the skies

by Luis Enrique Torres
&
Dave Blewer

WITHIN THE SKIES

BY LUIS ENRIQUE TORRES & DAVE BLEWER
EDITING & PROOFREADING: MATTHEW POOK & DAVE BLEWER
COVER, GRAPHIC DESIGN & TYPESETTING: ROBIN ELLIOTT
ART: GONG CREATIVES
CARTOGRAPHY: LUIS ENRIQUES TORRES

WWW.TRIPLEACEGAMES.COM
2010 Triple Ace Games. Sundered Skies, Within the Skies and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Triple Ace Games.
Savage Worlds, Smiling Jack and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved. Used
with permission. 2010. All Rights Reserved.
Permission is granted to print this ebook for personal use only.
This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage
Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes
no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.

WITHIN THE SKIES

LIFEMOTHERS HOME
Where: Plenty
When: When the heroes have reached the rank of
Seasoned.
While they are on Plenty, the heroes are approached
by a local merchant, Haldin Skyborn. He is organizing a
search for his missing brother, Garieth, and wants their
help.
Haldin and Garieth both command one of the heavy
grain barges that transport foodstuffs from Plenty to the
islands of the Skies. Eight weeks ago Garieth returned
from his latest trip talking excitedly about a very special
place he had discovered, a place that could improve
the family fortunes for good. Ignoring Haldins advice
to forget about scatter-brained treasure-hunting schemes
and concentrate on the business, two days later Garieth
and his crew departed Plenty without warning. They have
not been seen since.
While searching Garieths house for a clue to his
whereabouts, Haldin found a small bag containing samples of damp earth, and thinks that these samples will
take him to Garieths mysterious special place. Haldin
has also found out that before leaving, Garieth not only
bought weapons and armor, he also hired the services of
a Provider from the Teardrop. Haldin has no explanation
for this, but has asked a Provider friend of his to join the
search, and is also looking for experienced heroes to
come along in case things get ugly.
Haldin offers the heroes 500 cogs if they will accompany him on the search for his brother. In addition, if the
heroes help find Gariethalive or dead, they will also be
entitled to all Salvage that they find. Haldins grain barge,
the Sky Harvest, will be waiting for them tomorrow at the
docks, ready to depart.

THE RUNOFF FALLS

Once aboard the Sky Harvest, Haldin will introduce
the heroes to the ships complement of 20 sailors and to
his Provider friend, Righael Thornbarn. Haldin then uses
the earth from Garieths bag on his waysphere and the
Sky Harvest heads straight towards the Runoff Falls.
Instead of directly entering the Falls though, the ship
must spend a few days climbing up through the void
parallel to the Falls. If this is the heroes first visit to the
Runoff Falls, describe the incredible spectacle before their
eyes: A huge wall of water falling through the sky, with
no visible beginning or end; a dull, muted roar of water
against water; the wet breeze that covers the Sky Harvest
and everyone aboard her with tiny droplets.
After five days of straight climbing following the directions indicated by the wayphere, the navigator calls for a
course change and the Sky Harvest finally turns sharply
and plunges into the Falls. Haldin orders everyone aboard
inside and instructs the crew to shut all hatches while
sending a single sailor into the Lookout Cage.
A few hours later the dull roar of the Falls becomes
deeper and more rounded. The lookout warns via knock
codes that something solid is coming up from below
the ship, and requests to be let in. Back inside the hull
proper, the sailor explains that there is an island floating
inside the falls. He also says that the crushed hull of a
grain barge, can be seen on the island.
Upon hearing this news, Righael lets out a cry and the
amazed sailors start muttering among them. Have each
hero make a Common Knowledge (2) roll (no penalty
for heroes raised on Plenty, +2 for Providers); on a success, the hero remembers that the Lifemother supposedly
lives on an island inside the Falls (see Sundered Skies,
page 42). Suddenly, the reason why Garieth needed a
Provider is clearer. Is this what his words a very special
place meant?

WITHIN THE SKIES

THE GLIMMER SIMMER
The Sky Harvest is able to dock under a rock outcropping next to the Glimmer Simmer, and once the barge
has come to a rest, Haldin asks the heroes to investigate
Garieths ship, which is about 100 yards away.
Although the heroes are protected from the most of
the falling water by the outcropping, water runs down
and across every surface of the island, making walking
slippery. To move anywhere on the island, the heroes
will need to make Climbing rolls with a 2 penalty to account for the wet conditions (See the Climbing rules from
Savage Worlds for further information). Ropes or other
climbing aids can be used to make the walk safer. Any
hero who falls is in danger of slipping off the island and
into the void. He can make an Agility roll (2) to try to
hold onto something and save himself. If he fails, use the
falling rules from Sundered Skies. On the plus side, the
falling hero runs no immediate risk of drowning since his
fall occurs under the outcropping.
When the heroes reach the Glimmer Simmer, they can
see that her hull has been punctured by hundreds of curious 1-inch-wide thin perforations through which water
streams. When they climb aboard and explore the ship,
they find nothing amiss until they enter the forward cargo
hold and discover it partially flooded, the water draining
slowly out through a large hole in the hull. The hole leads
into a dark cave inside the island.
The cargo hold is not empty though. Several small
harmless-looking crab-like creatures scuttle along the
deck and walls of the hold and over the swollen bodies of
the crew that float in the bottom of the hold. As they look
around the hold, the heroes will hear an insane giggle
from the rear of the hold and out of the gloom will step
the barges only survivor. He is cadaverously thin and
half-naked, and has a mad glint in his eye. With a giggle,
he will tell the heroes that Garieth took his expedition
to the deep and demons! The water-demons took them
inside the hole!
Before the heroes have time to respond to the survivors ravings, the drowned spirits of some of the dead
crew materialize and attack the heroes. They have been
taking care of their crewmate, driving him insane in the
process and when they appear, the sailors mind snaps
and attacks everyone around him while screaming, the
Lifemothers demons will kill us all!
Drowned Spirits (1 per hero, plus 1): See page 20.
Insane Sailor: Use Sky Sailor stats from page 20, adding the Berserk edge.

SAILING INSIDE THE FALLS

Grain barges crossing the Runoff Falls have to deal
with the effects of the incredible downward force of
the falling water. For this reason, barges inside the
Falls cannot climb, they can only fall. Any climbing
must be done parallel to the Falls prior to entering
them.
To help navigate the several hours-long crossing
through the Falls barges are built with a small wooden compartment on the underside of the hull. Protected from the water by the barge itself, this Lookout Cage has prevented many accidents, but it is a
dangerous place, so lookout duty is usually assigned
as a punishment for indiscipline or bad workmanship.
Two doors lead into the Lookout Cage. A top wooden door opens into the ship while a lower door, cut
into the hull itself, usually opens to the Falls below.
Both the upper and lower doors open from the inside of the ship only and only one door can be open
at any one time. This means that if the cage floods
only the lookout is in danger of drowning.
Once inside the Cage a sailor must rope himself in
to prevent him from falling out of the barge and into
the Falls. When roped in the lookout can reach the
upper door, but not the lower. A pulley system is
used to open the lower door.
While inside the cage, the lookout communicates using a code of knocks on the top door. The knocks
cover most common occurrences; for more complicated sightings the lookout usually asks to be let
back into the ship.
All grain barges have a blind spot below and behind
them. This is inevitable given their size. Sometimes
reckless pilots try to take advantage of this spot to try
and sneak into Plenty under cover of a grain barge,
attempting to avoid the long and potentially dangerous journey through Razor Passage. Several grain
barges have been damaged by ships caught in the
swirling maelstrom of the Falls, so now barge captains do all in their power to prevent this practice.

HALLOWED GROUND
If the heroes return to the Sky Harvest and report what
they have seen, panic erupts among the crew. Righael
demands that they leave this sacred place or face the
Lifemothers wrath for entering her home uninvited.
Haldin however, begs the heroes to lead an expedition
into the caves and bring back his brother, dead or alive.
Under no circumstances will Righael, Haldin, or any of
the crew accompany the heroes on this quest.

SUNDERED SKIES
THE TRUTH
Both Garieth and Righael are wrong: This is not the
Lifemothers home (she takes good care of her privacy), but an ancient island that is home to a devolved
race of amphibian beings. Long ago this race forged
a great civilization under a large lake in Heartland.
Most of them perished during the Sundering, but by
chance a small fragment of land ended under the
Runoff Falls, then recently created by the gods to
save the denizens of the Skies, enabling a few hundred amphibians to survive. In the millennia since,
what vestiges of civilization were lost and the amphibians have regressed into a primitive state.
The amphibians still venerate the water gods
though, and unlikely as it might seem, the Lifemother has answered their prayers. As explained in the
Sundered Skies Companion, the gods are slowly
succumbing to creeping madness causing them to
sunder into two opposing beings, and the sundered
Lifemother is a deity of disease, and decay.

THE CAVES
The cave entrance is swathed in green moss and dotted with several 1-foot-wide white mushrooms. Both the
moss and the mushrooms have special properties. Like a
sponge, the moss quickly absorbs all water around it and
if shoved deep into a drowned heros throat it can negate
the 4 penalty to the Healing roll to resuscitate him. The
mushrooms are buoyant, but bulky. Only one mushroom
can be carried under each arm, but together they grant a
+2 bonus to Swimming rolls.
Beyond the entrance cave lies an irregular system of
water-made tunnels and caves many of which are half submerged in water (count as Difficult Ground). In places
can be found the broken remains of old walls and ruins
that show that part of the cave system was once part of an
ancient city.
The constant dull roar of the Runoff Falls is not the only
reminder of the damp nature of the caves. Small holes
in the walls, floor, and ceiling frequently shower water
into the tunnels, and worse, the islands slight wobbling
and rotation causes water from the Falls to accumulate
in depressions and dips across the island until it spills,
often causing sudden waves and flash floods in the caves.
The heroes will be constantly aware of the small rivulets
of water that course down the tunnel walls, and of the
frequent small waves and eddies in the frequent pools of
water. Every so often a large wave forms, one that might
endanger the player characters. Fortunately, the heroes
usually get to hear the wave or flash flood a few rounds
before it arrives.

The GM should draw a card from the action deck every

thirty minutes that the party spends moving through the
caves. If a face card is drawn consult the table below. If a
Joker is drawn, draw another card and compare its suit to
the table, applying a 2 penalty to any Trait rolls. Unless
he already has the skill, each hero is assumed to have a
Swimming skill of d42. Be sure to review the Drowning
rules in Savage Worlds.
Suit
Club

Result
Most of the water drains from the corridor.
Bones and junk can be seen lying on the cave
floor. With a successful Notice roll the heroes
find Junk-level salvage on the floor; with a
raise they find a weapon or object that obviously belonged to Garieth or his expedition
crew. After 1d4 rounds a wave rushes back into
the corridor and restores the water level.
Diamond A large wave rushes from one end of the corridor/room forcing each hero to make a Swimming roll. If anyone fails, he gains a Fatigue
level.
Heart
A huge wave rushes from one end of the corridor/room filling it completely for 1d4+3
rounds. A hero can hold his breath for 5 times
his Vigor in seconds (one round equals six
seconds). For every round spent underwater
without any breath left, a hero must make a
Swimming roll or suffer a level of Fatigue.
Spade
A strong underwater current pulls the heroes
towards a sinkhole in the floor that spills
its water directly into the Runoff Falls. Each
hero much must make a Swimming roll or be
pulled by the current into the sinkhole. If this
happens, use the rules for falling overboard
(Sundered Skies page 53).

THE GUARD ROOM

A few hundred yards into the cave system the heroes
reach a room 8 in diameter and three-quarters-flooded
with water. Submerged under the water is a party of amphibian guards that will attack the heroes as soon as they
enter the room. Once all heroes have entered the room,
the water suddenly explodes as the amphibians emerge
and attack with surprise. Heroes must make a Guts roll
or suffer the effects of Fear. The passageway continues on
the other side of the room.
Amphibians (two per hero): See page 20.

THE CAVE SYSTEM

The cave system is not lit, and within a few yards of the
guard room it soon becomes pitch black. The heroes will
need some sort of artificial light. The cave is a labyrinthine
maze of tunnels, dead ends, chutes, and crawlspaces.

WITHIN THE SKIES

Rather than provide a map such a confusing and multilayered maze, we suggest you use the following system.
Draw a card from the Action Deck for every ten minutes the heroes wander the tunnels, if a face card is drawn
then refer to the entry below.

BLACK JACK (WATER HAZARD)

roes exploration of the tunnels. If it comes up again treat

it as a red ace.
Crab Monster (1 per hero): See page 19.

RED ACE (THE TRIBE CHAMBER)

The heroes have found their way through to the tribe
chamber, see page 6 for more details.

The heroes find themselves facing a sudden flood as

detailed on page 5. Draw another card, the suit of which
dertimes the danger they are inas detailed in the table
found on page 4.
This hazard should only run once during the heroes
exploration of the tunnels. If it comes up again treat it as
a red jack.

JOKER (THE TRIBE CHAMBER)

RED JACK (SALVAGE)

Further into the cave, the heroes hear a dull roar and
feel strong water currents pull at their feet. A powerful
stream feeds into the passageway, turning it into a swirling river that culminates in a 30-deep waterfall. Any hero
who approaches within 20 of the waterfall make a Swimming roll or be swept away by the current and carried
over the waterfall. Any hero who is not swept away can
attempt to grab a colleague who is being swept away, this
requiring an Agility roll at a 2 penalty. See the Falling
into Water rules in Savage Worlds to handle falling damage, and how to avoid it.
A series of handholds are carved into the rock parallel to the waterfall and these can be used to climb up or
down the 30 into pool at the foot of the waterfall. The
carved handholds offset the difficulty caused by the slipperiness of the cliff. Climbing checks may be attempted
at no penalty.

The heroes manage to stumble across some building

salvage. Roll on the table below. No matter what the roll
there is no chance of a relic being found.
D10
Cargo
Value (cogs)
1-5

d10 x10
6-8
1
d10 x100
9-10
2
d10x500

BLACK QUEEN (AMPHIBIANS)

The heroes encounter a group of amphibians equal to
the number of heroes +2.
Amphibians (1 per hero +2): See page 20

RED QUEEN (SALVAGE)

The heroes manage to stumble across some building
salvage. Roll on the table below. No matter what the roll
there is no chance of a relic being found.
D10
Cargo
Value (cogs)
1-5

d10 x10
6-8
1
d10 x100
9-10
2
d10x500

BLACK KING (THE WATERFALL & CRAB PENS)

The heroes have encountered the waterfall and crab
pens. Full details on this encounter can be found on page
5.

RED KING (THE TRIBE CHAMBER)

The heroes have found their way through to the tribe
chamber, see page 6 for more details.

BLACK ACE (CRAB MONSTERS)

The heroes encounter a group of crab monsters roaming the caves. There is one of these creatures for every
hero.
This encounter should only run once during the he-

The heroes have found their way through to the tribe

chamber, see page 6 for more details. Furthermore, they
gain a +2 bonus to any rolls to surprise the amphibians.

THE WATERFALL

THE CRAB PENS

Under the waterfall is a 12 diameter room with a
deep, cold pool. Here the amphibians raise a small herd
of crab monsters which they slaughter for their meat and
turn everything else into arms, armor, and tools. Three of
the creatures are kept in this pool, currently being seen to
by a trio of amphibian crab shepherds. The crab monsters are idling under the water, but surface and attack as
soon as the first hero disturbs the water, either by falling
over the waterfall or climbing down the handholds into
the pool. Two of the amphibian crab shepherds will join
the attack upon the heroes while the third tries to escape
down the exit passageway to raise the alarm.
The depth of the Crab Pen means that the only way
to cross it is by swimming. The only way out of the Pen
is by the handholds parallel to the waterfall or via the
passageway.
Crab Monsters (3): See page 19.
Amphibians (3): See page 20.

SUNDERED SKIES
THE TRIBE CHAMBER
The heroes find themselves on the shores of an underground lake that fills the inside of a large, high-vaulted
cavern. The lake is fed by rivulets of water that run down
the walls and ceiling of the cave.
Approximately 10 away from the shore stands a small
8 diameter island upon which the heroes can see several
prone figures. If the heroes swim out to the islandthe
only way to reach the islandthey discover the figures to
be that of seven human sailors. Five of them are dead, but
two are still alive, though tortured and emaciated. One
will identify himself as Garieth and tell the heroes that
the demon tribe is on an island further into the cavern
where it is performing some kind of ritual.
Before the heroes have a chance to decide what to do,
a strange cry echoes through the cave and the sound dozens of approaching splashes can heard from deeper into
the cavern. The amphibians have spotted the heroes and
are swimming towards the island! Led by their clan chief,
they start in the water 10 from the island.
If the fight goes against the party and the heroes decide to withdraw back across the lake, half the remaining
amphibians plus the chief chase them while the rest stay
back to protect their home Use a variation of the chase
rules, with ten markers representing the cave route back
to the Glimmer Simmer. Use Agility as the movement
trait, giving a +1 bonus to the amphibians for their familiarity with the wet conditions within the cave. On markers
3 (Crab Pen) and 8 (Guard Room) both parties will
need to roll Swimming instead of Agility since those two
rooms are flooded. As natural swimmers, the amphibians
bonus goes up from +1 to +2. Note that dragging Garieth
and his companion is likely to incur a swimming penalty.
If the heroes pass the tenth marker they are out of danger,
as the amphibians will not pursue them in the outside.
Amphibians (5 per hero, minimum 20): See page 20.
Amphibian Clan Chief: See page 20.
Garieth: Use Sky Sailor stats from page 20 with 1
wound and 2 fatigue levels.
Garieths crew (1): Use Sky Sailor stats from page 20
with 2 fatigue levels.

DEPARTURE
Once the heroes are aboard the Sky Harvest, Haldin
orders his crew to get the barge under way. However, as
soon as the ship starts to move, it is shaken from stem
to stern by hundreds of tiny hits! One of the crew will
race onto the deck and report to the captain that water is
seeping into the ship as well.
The cause is easy to discern. Swarms of the small
crab-like creatures have covered the hull of the ship,

its solid wood planks a rich source of nourishment for

them, and they have reacted to the Sky Harvests movement by punching thin perforations, 1-inch-wide, into
the hull with their pincers. It should be obvious to both
the heroes that this is what happened to the Glimmer
Simmer.
If the Sky Harvest is to leave the island, someone will
need to deal with her attackersHaldin will ask the heroes to go to the upper hull and eliminate the vicious
crab swarms that are causing all this trouble. For every
five rounds that pass while the swarms are still on the
barge, the little pests inflict 1 Wound to the ship (as a
whole, not one Wound per swarm). While she remains
on the island and while still sailing through the Falls,
any Wounds caused to the Sky Harvest will allow water
to continue seeping slowly into her hull and across all
decks. Since the barge cannot open her hatches until she
leaves the Falls, there is the possibility that she will fill
with water and everyone aboard will drown. Of course
the GM should not let this happen, but he should ensure
that it is a close run thing!
Crab Swarms (3): See page 19.

AFTERMATH
As the barge leaves the Falls and the hatches are
reopened, one of the heroes should spot a blurry island
inside the cascading water. A frail old cloaked is woman
standing on it, impervious to the water, smiling at the
hero. After a few seconds the island disappears from sight
and the hero is left wondering if what he saw was really
the Lifemothers island after all.
Whatever happens, the amphibians island is doomed.
The constant water erosion that has carved the caves is
weakening its structure and within a few decades the
likelihood is that the island will break apart and fall into
the Void.

THE SYMPHONY
Where: Gateway
When: When the heroes have reached the rank of
Veteran.
Every person is a song, and every song has an end.
So say The Requiem, the heretic cult of bardic assassins
who believe that they possess both the authority and the
duty to decide when every song should end. Seemingly at
random, The Requiem decides who lives and who dies;
no obvious distinction is ever made on the basis of race,
wealth, or birthplace. Once a target has been determined,

WITHIN THE SKIES

The Requiems skilled assassins then take on the mission,
slaying the chosen ones themselves.
But even in a fringe cult like The Requiem, factions
exist.

A NOVEL APPROACH TO ORCHESTRATION

Songpriest Draall Musecraft, one of The Requiems
more unhinged high Songpriests, has recently undergone
an epiphany and begun to preach a new interpretation
of The Requiems beliefs. People are not only songs, they
are also melodies, monophonic sequences of structured
sound that intertwine with each other to form greater
songs. Clans, groups, families, organizations, even entire
societies, interact in a myriad ways that, to a mind smart
enough to grasp it, resemble the relationship between
melody and harmony, between rhythm and dynamics.
Musecraft calls these new constructs symphonies.
Musecraft believes that the Requiems reach should
extend beyond ending the songs of mere individuals, but
should also take it upon itself to influence , and end entire organizations and even bring societies whose song
has gone on too long crashing down.
The theological and practical implications of Musecrafts doctrine are greater than they seem. To begin with,
the effort required to destroy or defend an institution
composed of hundreds or thousands of individuals is
beyond The Requiems limited resources. Also, the cults
custom of personally taking care of ending the songs
would be subverted, since it is not possible to personally destroy a society. Since different peoples songs end at
different times, the purity of The Requiems goals could
be compromised by ending them at the same time. Above
all, any mass assassination would give The Requiem far
more notoriety and risk of persecution than its leaders
desire at the moment. Many of the smarter and more
cannynot to say sanerSongpriests in The Requiem
worry that the path proposed by Musecraft could lead to
another mass pogrom, similar to the one that occurred
twenty-three years ago when The Requiem murdered the
dwarf-kings grandson.
Faced with challenges to his new doctrine, Musecraft
has decided to prove once and for all that symphonies
exist, and can be ended just like individual songs/people
can. He and his followers have left the Requiems base,
a ruined Choirhall somewhere out in the void, and have
come to Gateway. In the months since his arrival, Musecraft has created a hidden, trap-filled complex under
Gateways abandoned warehouse district. He has also devoted his time to orchestrating his first symphony, a work
that will use a group of supposedly noble heroes as a
mean with which to, in his words, unmask and punish
the hypocrisy and lack of base values of all self-righteous

human souls. His demonstration will, if successful,

change The Requiems methods forever.

STRANGE DISAPPEARANCES
When the heroes arrive at Gateway they find the town
in an uproar. Four days ago the town woke up to discover that about a dozen of its most respected citizens
had disappeared from their homes along with their immediate families. The missing individuals were respected
pillars of the communitysuccessful merchants, local
neighborhood leaders, guild masters with a reputation
for honesty, even well meaning religious figures. None of
them though, were powerful or wealthy enough to have
employed or needed the protection of either soldiers or
bodyguards.
The limited signs of a struggle at some of the victims
homes suggest that in each case a carefully planned and
executed kidnapping took place. The local authorities
have no leads on the disappearances and no idea as to
motives if they were indeed kidnappings. So far no ransom has been requested.
By this point in the campaign the heroes achievements have probably gained them some degree of fame
and recognition. Musecraft selects them precisely because
of this. The GM should arrange to have the heroes receive
a sealed letter, rather grandiosely addressed to The
bravest, noblest, and most self-sacrificing heroes in the
Skies. Inside, the heroes find a message written in crude
handwriting. Give Handout 1 to the players.
If the heroes have dealt with The Requiem before, allow any hero to make a Common Knowledge roll. With
a success, the hero recognizes some of the musical references as those belonging to the heretical Songpriests of
The Requiem. However, mass kidnappings and warning
letters are not usual Requiem methods.

THE ABANDONED WAREHOUSE DISTRICT

Gerrards warehouse is an old, buried building located
in Gateways abandoned warehouse district. Several years
ago one of Gateways warehouse districts collapsed as the
ground gave way beneath it. Dozens were killed and hundreds were injured in the catastrophe. The district is now
abandoned. The ground remains unstable, and threatens
to further collapse into the caves below. The district has
a bad reputation today because many believe it to be
haunted and so avoid it.
Any old-timer can give the heroes directions to
Gerrards warehouse. When the heroes arrive, they see
that most of the warehouse has crumbled away or been
dismantled as salvage by Gateways practical-minded citizens. A careful search of the warehouseand a successful
notice rolldiscovers a hidden hatchway into the ruins
below, through a rough tunnel.

SUNDERED SKIES
MUSECRAFTS SYMPHONY
Musecrafts symphony is a complex, symbolic work.
If the GM wants to set the right tone and message for
each scene, it might be useful if he understands the
hidden meanings behind the symphony.
Musecrafts symphony has two different, intertwined,
themes. The first theme deals with what Musecraft
believes to be the unhealthy and hypocritical relationship between the common people and the
heroes they look up to. With this theme Musecraft
strives to show that heroes, far from being noble
and self-sacrificing, can become as evil as anybody
else and that the people they help and in turn look
up to, can turn on them in an instant.
The second theme strives to show that societies are
symphonies. Musecraft assigns a musical role each to
the heroes, to the common people, and to The Requiem; and then lets the resulting relationships prove
that Festivals power applies to entire societies and
not just to individuals. This, by extension, proves that
societies fall within The Requiems area of influence.
In this theme the heroes represent the Melody, always
on the foreground, the most recognizable part of the
work. The kidnapped victims are the Harmony, and
represent the background, a part that both influences
and is influenced by whatever the Melody does. Both
the Harmony and the Melody work within the restrictions placed by the Rhythm, which represents the
structure Festival applies to the Skies.
In the First Movement, Melody follows Harmony, a
victim (the Harmony) is placed at risk and the heroes (the Melody) are compelled to save him. Musecraft wants to show that the heroes are compelled
by tradition to help the helpless, which gives them a
false feeling of righteousness.
In the Second Movement, Harmony follows Melody, it
is the heroes that have the power to decide who lives
and who dies; the victims can only wait and hope that
they are chosen. Just by the act of choosing, the heroes
are in a way, indirectly responsible for letting victims
die. Musecraft wants to show that the slippery slope
towards evil begins here, even in the best of us.
In the Third Movement, Rhythm follows Chaos,
Musecrafts blade-wielding device sets the Rhythm,
and the heroes must move within its rules. Musecraft wants to show that the heroes are just like the
people they are trying to save: victims, dancing to
someone elses beat and powerless to change it.
Finally, in the Fourth Movement, Perfection follows Dissonance, Musecraft brings things to a head. Now the
heroes turn on the people that they are supposed to
protect, proving how false and unhealthy their relationship really is. In Musecrafts view, this shows that Gateway society does not deserve to exist. Simultaneously,
this ending proves that the structure of music governs
the relationship between many individuals, opening the
door for The Requiem to act against entire societies.

If anyone but the heroes enters the warehouse at any

time, Musecraft aborts the symphony and slaughters all of
the prisoners and their families. When the heroes reach
the main hall they find a pile of recently slaughtered bodies, and a message saying: Chaos follows Dissonance.
Your actions have interrupted the Symphony. This also
happens if the heroes or any of the prisoners leave the
warehouse.

THE FIRST MOVEMENT

After a few minutes of travel, the heroes reach another
door. A low, muffled sound is heard from behind the
door. There is a message scrawled in large letters on the
wall above the door:
First, Melody follows Harmony.
When the heroes open the door, they find themselves
in a medium-sized room, 10 to a side, with another single
door in the back. In the middle of the room a paunchy,
middle-aged human, obviously one of the kidnapped victims, sits tied and gagged on an ornately carved wooden
chair. He has been smeared from head to toe in some sort
of sticky substance similar to honey.
The act of opening the front door activates a mechanism that opens four medium-sized hatches on each side
of the room, releasing several bloodfly swarms. These
have been painstakingly collected by Musecraft and his
followers from some of the larger islands around the
Shattered City.
The swarms immediately attack the prisoner, attracted
to the substance smeared on his body. This causes the victim to scream through the gag in pain. Unless the heroes
act, it is only a matter of time until the prisoner dies. The
swarms cannot overlap, so only one swarm at a time can
attack the prisoner, while the other swarms surround and
fill the room trying to get closer to the victim.
If the prisoner is still alive after the fight, he groans
in pain. In between gasps he tells the heroes that he and
his family were tied, gagged, and blindfolded, and were
taken somewhere underground. He begs the heroes to
save his family. If the heroes suggest that the prisoner
leave the building, he refuses saying that his kidnappers
warned him that if he were rescued and tried to leave, his
family would be killed. This should serve to remind the
heroes about the warning in the letter.
There is a crude scrawl on the seat of the chair. The
heroes need to lift or move the prisoner from the chair to
read it. The message says:
They need your righteousness and self-sacrifice to
survive. Dont they?

WITHIN THE SKIES

Bloodfly Swarms (3): See Page 21.
Prisoner: See Page 22

THE SECOND MOVEMENT

The door at the back of the room opens into another
tunnel. This one continues for a few dozen feet before
ending in another single door. The following message is
scrawled in large letters on the wall above the door:
Then, Harmony follows Melody.
As soon as the heroes open the door they find themselves in a long room. This room is 5 wide and 33 long.
The door that the heroes enter through is located on one
of the 5-long walls; there is another door on the opposite wall. Evenly spaced down the length of the room are
eight 3-by-3 pools containing a strange bubbling liquid.
Each pool is centered between the long walls, and there
is a 1 separation between the pools. Several torches in
the walls illuminate the room.
There is also a scrawled message on the ceiling right
above the entry door:
But is self-sacrifice enough?
A round after the heroes enter the room a trapdoor
opens in the ceiling directly over each of the eight pools
letting a single man or woman fall into the liquid below.
It will be obvious to the heroes that the victims are bound
as their arms and legs do not flail as they fall. Musecraft
has planned this carefully so that the number of victims
dropped into the pools is equal to the number of heroes
plus two, up to a maximum of eight.
The strange liquid inside the pools is a potent acid
which inflicts 2d6 damage to anyone immersed in it. This
damage is calculated at the end of each round. If the heroes do not act quickly, the victims will most likely die in
one or two rounds.
Rescuing the victims is made all the more difficult because they are all tied up and so will are not able to hold
onto a pole or rope proffered in their direction. Further
the type of tools that can be used to help rescue victims
is limited because the acid dissolves non-metal objects in
four rounds. This leaves the only obvious way of saving a
victim is to jump into the pool he or she is drowning in.
Randomly decide which of the pools contain a man
and which contain a woman and give this information
to the players. Interesting descriptions of each victim,
such as In the third pool you can see an old thin woman
with long white hair writhing in pain while she tries to
escape,) can make the dilemma of which victim to save
all more difficult for the heroes.
Any surviving prisoners will be screaming from the

pain and the burning caused by their immersion in acid,

and even after having been calmed down, will remain terrified by their ordeal. None of them know anything of
note about how they got here or who their captors are.
They are in no shape to accompany the heroes, and will
lie down on the floor as far away from the pools as possible as soon the heroes leave the room.
If the heroes manage to climb up through one of the
trapdoors they find a long low crawlspace that runs most
of the length of the room below. The trapdoors were
opened simultaneously using a system of ropes that disappear out of the far end of the crawlspace over the end
of the room. When the heroes open the door at the far
end of the room, they find the main rope that was used to
activate the trap doors. Obviously someone was behind
the door waiting for the heroes to arrive and ready to pull
the rope.
Prisoners (1 per hero plus 2, maximum 8): See Page
22

THE THIRD MOVEMENT

Opening the door at the far end of the room reveals
yet another tunnel. After a few minutes walk the heroes
hear a metallic whirring noise. A few hundred feet later
the passage widens to 2 and the heroes find another set
of double doors. The by-now-very-loud factory sounds
seem to come from behind the doors. Another cryptic
message is scrawled on the wall above the doors:
Everything follows Rhythm.
When the heroes open the door they find a 12 long,
2 wide corridor illuminated with torches hanging from
the walls. The floor of the corridor is divided at irregular
intervals by narrow slots that run the width of the corridor, and from these several razor-sharp, rotating blades
appear and disappear. The blades cross the corridor at
different speeds and intervals making it difficult to proceed down its length. The blades are also the cause of the
deafening noise.
To keep the different blade speeds and intervals simple,
they can be classified as Slow blades (d6 Agility, marked
S on the map), Medium blades (d8 Agility, marked M
on the map) and Fast blades (d10 Agility, marked F on
the map). When the GM draws the map on the tabletop,
he should make sure to mark how fast each blade is, but
he should not reveal the associated Agility die to his players.
There are four blindfolded victims in the corridor (assume they have the Blind Hindrance), each one standing
with their hands tied. They are extremely frightened by
the noise. As soon as the heroes make themselves heard,
the victims scream in relief and try to move towards the

SUNDERED SKIES
heroes. Unless the heroes shout for them to stop and
go to their aid, the likelihood is that one or more of the
victims will tagger into the path of one of the rotating
blades.
Any character who wants to move or run must make
a free Agility roll at the start of his turn. Bennies can be
spent on this roll as usual, and characters with the Acrobat edge or the Blind hindrance must add or subtract the
appropriate modifiers. The result indicates how well the

character has grasped the sequence of the blades at this

time. If the character crosses any blade lines (the marked
lines in the diagram), the appropriate blades Agility is
rolled and compared against the characters rolled Agility
score. If the characters score is equal to or higher than
the blades then the character has successfully crossed the
blade. This means a character can cross more than one
blade in the same movement action.
If at any time a blades roll is higher than the characters
rolled Agility score, the hero has misjudged the sequence
and is in danger of being sliced. The character can still
avoid his fate by making an opposed Agility roll with a 2
penaltydo not use the original Agility roll for the blade,
but instead re-roll. With a success the character manages
to react in time and stops inches from the blade. This
effectively ends the characters movement. With a failure
the character is subject to a 2d8 damage roll and stops at
the position immediately after the blade.
The blades grant cover to a target depending on his
speed. This cover modifier applies to both ranged and
melee attacks. The cover is considered Light Cover (1)
if the fastest blade involved is Slow; Medium Cover (2)
if the fastest blade involved is Medium; and Heavy Cover
(4) if the fastest blade involved is Fast.
To make things more complicated, several Requiem
Assassins await at the end of the corridor. Depending on
the heroes actions, the Assassins might prefer to attack
them, or might try to keep the heroes from saving the
victims. They will avoid directly attacking the victims, but
are not above pushing a victim on top of a blade line if
necessary.
A few dozen feet after the blades the corridor ends in
a black wall. The only exit is a small trapdoor in the floor
below which is another corridor that doubles back on the
route that the heroes have come. Following the corridor
leads the heroes to a room under the corridor with the
blades.
heroes find The main corridor continues into the
depths. The trap-door takes the heroes back Several large
pieces of dwarven machinery, comprised of gears, springs
and a pendulumsimilar to that of a mechanical clock
drive the movement of the blades up into and across the
corridor above, and then back down again. This is one
of the devices that Musecrafts dwarven followers built as
part of their leaders symphony. A scrawled message on
the wall of the room reads:
Do you control your Rhythm? Or do We?
Prisoners (4): See Page 22. Add the Blind hindrance.
Neophyte Requiem Assassin (1 per hero): See Page
21

10

WITHIN THE SKIES

THE FOURTH MOVEMENT

INTERROGATING THE ASSASSINS

This last corridor is by far the longest one in the complex. As before, after some time it ends in a double set
of doors, with the following message written above the
doors:
Finally, Perfection follows Dissonance.
The doors open in the middle of the long, straight
wall at the back of a large semi-circular chamber some
10 deep and 10 wide. Ahead of them the heroes can see
a 2-wide balcony that runs around the curve of the far
wall some 5 above the level of the floor. The balcony can
be reached by a large 3-wide stairway under the balcony
on the far side of the room across from the doors. Torches
on the walls illuminate the chamber.
Standing in the middle of the chamber are several
adult prisonersfour per heroeach has a dreamy look
in his eyes and each is armed with armed with a dagger.
Musecraft has given these prisoners a mild drug to lower
their inhibitions for what is to come. Other prisoners
mostly children or young adultsare shackled to the walls
at the rear of the balcony where they are guarded by several Requiem Assassins. Standing on the balcony is Draall
Musecraft himself, flanked by two Requiem Songpriests.
As soon as the heroes enter, the prisoners run towards
them and attack. The prisoners have been told that for
each hero they kill, some of their children will be released
unharmed. Furthermore, if they refuse to fight their
children will be killed. Chances are the prisoners will be
unable to tell the heroes this so the characters might may
find the combat bewildering and very one sided.
While all of the drugged prisoners charge the heroes,
the members of The Requiem start their turns On Hold.
Musecraft wants the heroes to kill as many prisoners as
possible, and therefore his followers do not attack unless the heroes try to reach the balcony. Musecraft has
instructed his Songpriests to use their dispel spells to
counter any spells cast by the heroes that could stop the
the prisoners without killing them.
Whenever a hero falls to a dagger wielded by one
of the prisoners or a prisoner falls at the hands of the
heroes, a Requiem Assassin immediately unshackles a
victim amidst cheers and renewed vigor from the fighting
prisoners. Conversely, when a prisoner stops fightingfor
example, because he has been Intimidated into stoppinga Requiem Assassin performs a Finishing Move on
the nearest shackled prisoner. This will send two of the
fighting prisonersrelatives of the shackled prisoner just
cut downinto a drug-fueled Berserk state, making the
heroes efforts to stop them harder. Also, the first time
that a shackled prisoner is killed all of the prisoners fight-

The GM might want to make sure at least one of the

attackers survives long enough to be interrogated.
The haughty Assassins will be more than willing to
share Musecrafts twisted goal, as well as the symbolic meaning of all the encounters the heroes have
had until now. They also tell the heroes that things
will come to a head in the symphonys final movement, Perfection follows Dissonance. Under no circumstances will the Assassins reveal what awaits the
heroes there. In fact, they not actually know. The
Assassins will however, taunt the heroes with the
unwinnable dilemma they are going to face, using
phrases like Are you willing to let the hostages die
in order to prove us wrong?

ing below gain a +2 to their rolls to resist Tests of Will for

the remainder of the fight.
Eventually Musecraft and his followers will join the
fray. This will probably be because they believe that the
point of the Symphony has been proven or because they
need to save their skins. If possible, they will make a fighting retreat towards the right hand side of the balcony and
their escape route. This is via a hidden door that opens
onto a tunnel leading up to a secret exit on the surface.
If this proves to be impossible, the members of The
Requiem will fight to the death. Musecraft in particular,
does not care if he lives or dies so as long as his purpose
with the Symphony is proven; he knows that this will be
enough to persuade other in The Requiem as to the validity of his theories.
Prisoners (4 per hero): They are armed with poisoned
daggers (Str+d4, make Vigor Roll or suffer one extra
Wound). See Page 22.
Neophyte Requiem Assassin (2 per hero): See Page
21
Requiem Songpriest (2): See Page 21
Draall Musecraft: See Page 21

AFTERMATH
If the heroes somehow managed to save most prisoners without directly killing any of them, their standing and
fame with the Gateway community improves noticeably.
Any surviving prisoners profusely thank the heroes, and
offer their help with anything that the heroes might need
in the future.
On the other hand, if the heroes behaved in a less
than heroic fashion they may have to face an angry and
disillusioned community. The ambiguity involved in explaining to angry relatives or officials why and how they
were forced to behave the way that they did can be a great

11

SUNDERED SKIES
opportunity for good roleplaying. The GM might want to
make sure that one of The Requiem enemies survives the
last fight so that he canprobably under interrogationexplain the plot and the heroes role in it.
If Musecraft is still alive, he will continue on the
path towards mass murder (if his symphony was a success), or looking for a way to repeat his experiment (if
not). He also has a score to settle with the heroes if they
managed to upset his plan.
Even if Musecraft is dead, if his goals with the
Symphony were met, several factions within The Requiem will know. It would not be surprising if the next few
months saw an increase in reports of bizarre mass murders; the heroes might even unknowingly be involved in
some of these, as revenge for attempt to stop Musecraft
and his followers.

DARKHOME
Where: The void
When: When the heroes have a ship and have reached
the rank of Heroic.
The heroes spot a derelict cloudskiff floating aimlessly
in the distance. When they go aboard, the only person
that they find is a lone sky sailor. Weak and dying from
the deep gashes and wounds in his body, the sailor gasps
these words to the heroes before dying:
He attacked our ship Scar Grhuell killed
most of us took a few of us to his hideout Depraved, they tortured us for fun! ...Escaped on one
of his ships Been drifting for weeks A Madness
Hulk There are others trapped Darkhome
Darkhome!
With a Common Knowledge (+2) roll a hero has heard
of Scar Ghruell, a notorious pirate feared for his cruelty
and viciousness. Ghruell is known for attacking without
warning from deep in the void; rumors say that he orchestrates his attacks from a secret base, a hideout where
he keeps his stolen treasures.
Searching the sailors body the heroes find a handful
of earth. If the heroes use the earth with their waysphere,
they will be directed on a three-week voyage to a large
island, previously unknown and far from the shipping
lanes. The islands surface is bleak and barren, and its
only interesting feature is a huge cave entrance on one
side, an entrance so large that a ship might easily be able
to sail into the cavern could Ghruells hideout be inside the island?

12

THE STORY OF SCAR GHRUELL

Rhan Scar Grhuell is that most unusual of humans,
an ex-voider. He and his bickering brother Praol were
both Voider priests, each in charge of a Madness Hulk.
When Rhan found this unknown island he named it
Darkhome for its similarity to a dwarven home; besides,
it was one of the most terrifying names that he could
think of as Voiders do not like darkness.
Summoning up the courage to brave its dangers, Rhan
and Praol explored Darkhome and one of the many things
they found was the Glory, a pirate ship that was abandoned years ago following the death of its crew. The more
that they explored of Darkhome, the more the brothers
were impressed by its secrets. Finally Praol decided that
he should go share their find with other Heralds of the
Light in Aria and bring them them to Darkholme.
However, the constant darkness started affecting Rhan
and the other human voiders: their glow-induced madness began to dissipate, replaced by a cruel, cold, raging
greed. In this new state, Rhan decided that Darkholme
should be his island, not the Heralds. He convinced
Praol, who was also under these effects though to a lesser
extent, to travel back to Aria without him. Then before
Praols departure, Rhan secretly exchanged Praols collected Darkhome earth with earth from another island.
With his brother gone, Rhan continued his exploration
of Darkhome. Little by little his madness dissipated, until
one day he realized that he and his human followers had
lost their voider powers and were sane men (by Voider
standardsonce again.
So Rhan organized his human crew, repaired the Glory,
and staged a surprise attack on his former Madness Hulk.
Most the glowmad still aboard were killed, but a few managed to escape and still roam Darkhome. Following the
attack, Rhan and his crew sailed back to civilization in the
Glory where he hired more sailors, made repairs to the
Glory, and then began what has become a very successful
career in piracy.
Now, several months later, the fearsome pirate Scar
Ghruell commands a small pirate fleet, and his name
instills fear not just in the crews and passengers whose
ships he attacks, but also in his own crews. His voider
past has left Rhan a cruel, vicious man who enjoys giving
pain just for the pleasure of it.
Meanwhile, Praol arrived in Aria and convinced several
voiders to accompany him back to this new wonderful
place and then found his earth sample led him to Gateway instead. Made the laughingstock among his insane
brethren by his brothers treachery, Praol has been obsessively searching for Darkhome for some months now. A
few weeks ago he heard the name Scar Grhuell for the

WITHIN THE SKIES

first time and by determining the region in which
the pirate was operating concluded that this Scar
was his brother Rhan, by now probably a lost cause
to the Heralds of the Light.
Praol has not given up his search for Darkholmes location. He wants to open up its darkness to
the blessings of the glow and to do that, he plans to
unleash several Earthbanes on Darkhome for a while
and destroy it.
It was Praols Madness Hulk that crossed paths
with the dying sailors cloudskiff. And unfortunately
for Rhan and for the heroes, Praol has finally found
Darkhome

AN ALIEN PLACE
The heroes can sail their ship through the cave
entrance with ease as it is easily large enough for a
behemoth to enter. However, as they enter the cave
the heroes vessel will be buffeted by wind currents
strong enough to push into the wall. Have the captain
make a Boating roll with a +2 bonus; on a failure, the
ship hits the cavern wall and suffers 2d6 damage.
The cavern would be in entire darkness were it
not for the slight illumation provided by a few thin
rays of glowlight coming through holes in the ceiling
and walls. The glowrays bounce off large stalactite
and stalagmite-like rock formations in unpredictable
directions casting further light into the cavern. By
this light the heroes will be able to see that the floor
and walls are covered in strange moss-like whitish
vegetation. The floor of the cavern is dotted with the
remains of previous ships that have visited this place
in years past, while the occasional fast shadow, as if from
some small predator, darts between the stalagmites.
The cavern is not a place of silence. Besides the sound
of the wind, quiet growls, followed by a scream, rise
sporadically from the surface, as if of animals fighting.
Every few minutes a low rumble comes from the caverns
depths.
As the entrance to the cave recedes, the heroes are
plunged into semi-darkness (treat as Dim Light). Soon after the heroes enter the cave they notice strange sporadic
rumbles and tremors coming from far within the island,
which cause rains of dust and small rocks. This is actually caused by the Earthbanes brought by Praol, who are
slowly destroying Darkhome, just with their presence.
As the heroes continue their exploration the rumbles
and tremors increase, both in frequency and intensity.
By the final stages of the exploration, the tremors are so
strong that they cause large rocks to fall from the ceiling.
Have the captain make a Boating roll (+2) every once in
a while; with a failure the ship receives 2d6 damage from
the falling rocks

THE DEAD BEHEMOTH

Eventually the heroes see a huge skeleton lying on
the floor, most likely that of a Behemoth lost inside Darkhome ages ago. Small dark winged beings, similar to bats,
scramble over the bones.
Have each hero make a Notice (2) roll. If successful,
the hero notices small moving dark things in the ceiling,
far too many to count.
Darkhome is home to several dark glimmerwing
swarms as well as numerous void bats. The movement
and relative noise of the heroes ship disturbs them, and
when the ship passes directly underneath the creatures
attack. The void bats screams in the darkness and their
grotesque shadowy shapes cause each hero to make a
Fear (1) roll. Note that the void bats can fly harmlessly
through the swarms.
The likelihood is that the attack will force the captain
and his crew to concentrate on things other than keeping
their vessel under control, causing it to drift. Have the
captain make a Boating (+2) roll each round. If one of

13

SUNDERED SKIES
EXPLORING DARKHOME BY FOOT
Stalwart heroes who want to explore Darkhome
by foot instead of using a ship should discover that
it is not practical to do so. The stalagmites form a
maze, making the heroes trip a very slow one and
the constant back-tracking can turn the trip inside
the caveswhich takes a few days by boatinto a voyage that could last weeks. Every few hours the GM
should check for encounters using the following
table:
1d20 Encounter
1-4
No Encounter
5-7
A field of strange white cactus-like plants.
Halve walking speed for a few hours. Roll
Agility to avoid touching needles, otherwise
roll Vigor (2) or suffer a level of Fatigue.
8-10 1d4 swarms of Dark Critters (see page 22).
11-13 2d4 Void Bats (see page 22)
14-16 2d4 Blinded (see page 22)
17-18 1d4 Ragers (see Page 23)
19
Tremor. All heroes roll Agility or suffer 2d6
damage from falling rocks.
20
Sky Sloop with 2d6 pirates (see Page 23)
It should become obvious to the heroes that
Darkhome is not meant to be explored by foot.

these Boating rolls fails the ship will crash against a wall
or the behemoth skeleton, inflicting 2d6 damage to its
hull and sails. The danger of the ship crashing like this
continues until the combat is over.
Void Bats (2 per hero): See page 22.
Dark Glimmerwing Swarms (3): See page 22.

THE MADNESS HULK

As the heroes ship travels deeper into Darkhome, and
after a couple of hours, the rocky cave floor opens up in
the distance and the heroes notice a small water lake. The
wooden remains of a crashed ship lie on the shore, partly
submerged in the lake. Inspection from above shows that
this ship was destroyed relatively recently (not more than
a few months ago). With a Common Knowledge (2) roll
the heroes will realize that the broken rigging and hull
splits correspond to the typical state of a Madness Hulk
(see Sundered Skies, page 156). This Hulk looks to have
been attacked and destroyed by cannon fire. Observant
heroes might remember that the dying sailor mentioned
a Madness Hulk in his ravings (this, of course, is not the
same Madness Hulk; this is Rhans original ship).
If the heroes decide to investigate, they must anchor
the ship to somethingBoating roll to bring the ship close
to a wall, stalactite or stalagmite and tie it thereand then
climb down from the ship to the surface using a rope,

14

ladder or island hopper. The ground around the Madness

Hulk is eerily quiet. Putrid remains of strange predators
and glowmad surround the ship.
The Hulk is currently home to some of Rhans surviving glowmad crew. They have endured the lack of glow,
no leadership, attacks from predators, and occasionally,
attacks from Rhans pirates. The few survivors are desperate for any way to leave this place.
As soon as the heroes enter the remains of the Hulk,
the glowmad attack. If possible, some of the glowmad will
attempt to use the heroes ladder, rope or island hopper
to board and capture the heroes ship.
There are only two places of note within the grounded
Hulk. One is the filthy living quarters, home to the surviving glowmad and littered with the chewed remains of the
predators that they had been surviving on. The other is
the Captains cabin. Equally as filthy as the living quarters
of the crew, if the heroes conduct a careful searh they will
find a small, scorched piece of paper marked with insane
drawings and demonic symbols. Intermingled with all of
these lunatic scribbling the heroes will be barely able to
discern a few phrases in crude, badly-spelled handwriting. With a successful Notice (2) roll a hero can decipher
the phrase Herald of the Light Priest Rhan Grhuell.
Blinded (3 per hero): See page 22
Ragers (3): See Page 23.

AMBUSH AT THE CANYON

If Grhuells pirates are aware of the approaching
intruders (maybe the heroes have made an awful lot of
noise with cannon and spell) they might take advantage
of a cunning trap prepared ages ago by the forgotten inhabitants of Darkhome.
Some hours after the heroes found the grounded Madness Hulk, they spot voidlight in the distance. Ahead the
tunnel narrows sharply, forming a canyon that is open to
the Skies. As their ship moves towards the canyon, the
heroes will also see movement ahead of them. An island
hopper, crewed by three humans, has seen the heroes
ship and is trying to escape down the tunnel. As it races
down the rapidly narrowing tunnel one of the crew opens
fire with a musket.
When they reach the canyon, the heroes will find that
it is barely the width of their ship. They will also notice
that along both sides of the canyon walls runs a narrow
shelf just wide enough for someone to walk on.
Use a modified version of the Chase rules to handle
the heroes pursuit of the island hopper. Set up ten markers, placing the heroes ship on the first marker and the
island hopper on the fourth. Use special markers for the
sixth and seventh positions, marking the length of the
canyon. Entering the canyon (the sixth marker) requires
a successful Boating roll; if the roll is failed the ship takes

WITHIN THE SKIES

15

SUNDERED SKIES
2d6 collision damage as it collides with the wall as it enters the canyon.

THE TRAP
As soon as the heroes ship is completely within the
gorge the pirates spring their trap. Several cannons cunningly hidden in holes carved inside the rocky walls open
fire at the ship. There are twelve cannons in total, six on
each side, equally spaced along the length of the canyon.
This means that because the canyon is much longer than
the heroes ship, only half of the cannons can fire at it.
Switch the action to the tabletop, using the Surprise
rules from Savage Worlds to handle the attack and any
possible hero responses. While in the canyon, any time
that the ship goes Out of Control the captain must make
a Boating roll or the ship crash into the canyon walls,
taking 2d6 collision damage as a result.
The canyon is roughly 6 wide and 40 long, and the
shelves on each side are 1 wide. Evenly spaced on the
gorge wall next to each shelf are six 3-long, 1-wide
holes in the rock, each one containing a cannon and two
pirates.
The enemy cannons and gunners get Medium Cover
against cannon attacks from the heroes ship because of
the rocky wall. Ranged attacks against the gunners also
receive this penalty, as the gunners use the cannons themselves as cover.
Heroes can jump off the ship and onto the shelves;
anyone who falls overboard as part of an attack can also
attempt to grab onto a shelf with a successful Agility roll.
If one or more heroes manage to leap onto a shelf, some
of the pirates on that side will leave their cannons and
engage in melee.
The floor of the canyon lies 10 below the boat, so any
hero who falls from their ship or from one of the shelves
will suffer 5d6 damage. With a successful Agility roll, a
hero will manage to hold onto something during the fall
and so only receive half damage. Climbing the 10 back to
the shelf requires several Climbing rolls as per the Savage
Worlds rules with a +2 bonus for the number of handholds and rocky outcroppings in the gorge wall. If the
ship is wrecked and falls, it receives 4d6 damage for both
the fall and for bumps against the walls as it descends.
A hidden sky sloop is tethered on the wall behind the
far end of the gorge, next to where the shelf ends. If the
heroes search the sky sloop they find the ship captains
log. A cursory reading reveals that the pirates are as mystified by the rumbles and tremors as everyone else. These
started about two weeks ago, and have been increasing in
intensity. Any pirates who are captured and intimidated
into talking will tell the heroes the same thing.

16

Pirates (24): See page 23. Cannon stats are listed in

Sundered Skies, page 38.
Island Hopper: Acc/Top Speed: 1/2; Handling: +0;
Toughness: 8(2); Guns: 0; Crew: 3 pirates (see page 23)
carrying flintlock muskets (Range: 15/30/60; Damage:
2d8; ROF: 1; AP 2; Two actions to reload).
Sky Sloop: Acc/Top Speed: 3/10; Handling: +1;
Toughness: 13(2); Guns: 4; Crew: 1+11 (sloop is empty
at the moment)

THE HIDEOUT
The tunnel finally ends in a very large cavern, several
miles long and thousands of feet wide and tall, and lit
with a bluish tint by giant crystals that protrude out of
the floor. Another tunnel, similar to the one the heroes
ship came out of, can be seen in the very far distance at
the opposite side of the cavern, its opening fringed by
the crystals.
About a mile from the tunnel entrance a plateau rises
a few hundred feet in the middle of the cavern. A number
of ancient stone ruins, perhaps those of an old city, dot
the surface of plateau and it is next to one of the larger
ruins that the pirates have established a small tent town
as their hideout. On the edge of the plateau, near this tent
town, are anchored two doppelganger ships.
The hideout is home to around 70 pirates, along with
Rhan Scar Ghruell himself and a few sailors that he is
holding prisoner. They are barely alive and when rescued
will tell horrifying stories about their torture at the hands
of the pirates. Two lookouts stationed on the doppelganger ships permanently monitor the two tunnels leading into the cavern, and will spot the heroes ship unless
they take specific measures to avoid being seen.
If the heroes are spotted before they reach the plateau,
the lookouts will raise the alarm. Most pirates, along with
Ghruell, will board the doppelganger ships and try to
intercept the heroes ship before they reach the plateau.
The largest tent in the camp is Ghruells home. Inside
the heroes will find several chests that together contain
the equivalent of one Mother Lode salvage.
Pirates (70): See page 23.
Rhan Scar Ghruell: See page 23
Pirate doppelganger ships (2): Acc/Top Speed: 2/10;
Handling: -1; Toughness 18 (4); Guns: 20; Heavy Armor;
Crew: 12+20

BROTHERLY LOVE
Praol has also been trying to reach the hideout; he has
entered the caves by making a large hole in the island
wall, and is now approaching the central cavern from the
opposite tunnel. He commands two fully-crewed Madness Hulks.
Praol will arrive at an appropriately dramatic mo-

WITHIN THE SKIES

mentdepending on the heroes actions at the cavern,
of course. His preferred course of action is to close with
his brothers ship and attempt a boarding action. Once
aboard he will confront Rhan, at which timeif they are
aboardthe heroes can piece together the history of
Darkhome from their conversation.
Neither Rhan or Praol have any tolerance for the heroes
and if they are aware of them, the brothers will try to kill
them as soon as possible. It is also possible a three-way
ship battle might take place. In fact, it might be the only
survival strategy the heroes have.
Madness Hulks (2): Frigates. Acc/Top speed: 2/10:
Handling: +0; Toughness: 15 (2); Guns: 12; Heavy Armor;
Crew: 18 pirates (see page 23), 18 blinded (see Page 22),
2 Ragers (see page 23), Experienced Voider Priest Praol
Ghruell (see Page 23).

AFTERMATH
Assuming that the heroes emerged victorious,
they now have Darkhome to themselves. They can explore
the other tunnel, which leads to Praols improvised hole
into Darkhome. They might also want to explore the ruins and the mysterious blue crystals, trying to wrest their
ancient secrets. The scholars at the Athanaeum would be
very interested in exploring the marvels of Darkhome.

SEED OF THE WILD

Where: Anywhere
When: Anytime after the heroes reach Legendary rank,
and the elves have been released from the thrall of the
Leaflord.

A SIMPLE REQUEST
The heroesand they truly are heroes noware approached by a courier on behalf of the Sons of Spire.
Johann Kepplerthe Knight Commander of the Sons of
Spire stationed on the blighted isle of Remorserequests
an audience with them. However he does not await them
on Remorse. The courier carries a pouch of earth, which
will direct the heroes to his current location. If asked, the
courier does not know where the earth will direct the
heroesthe delivery job came to him via a third party.
When applied to their ships Waysphere, the earth will
take the heroes to an island that is a base travel time of
7 weeks away from Shadowhaven. If the heroes embark
from an island other than Shadowhaven then add half
the base Traveling time between that island and Shadowhaven to 7 to find the new traveling time to their destina-

tion. Their journey can be as eventful or as peaceful as the

GMor the cardsdictate.

THE DESTROYED ISLE

The heroes destination is a chaotic rock field. Those
who succeed at a Knowledge (Void) or Common Knowledge (-2) roll will be able to tell that the rock field was
created only relatively recentlythe island fragments are
not worn and denuded from centuries of collision and
wind scouring, nor have they settled into the moderately
peacefulif erraticorbits of the average rock field. Island fragments within this rock field are constantly smashing into one another and the sound of the collisions is
almost deafening.
Anyone who succeeds at a Notice roll spies a frigate
some distance from the rock field tacking against the
wind in order to maintain a safe distance away. Once the
heroes are close enough, they can identitfy the ship from
the name on her hullThe Scion of Spire. It is a probably
safe to assume that Johann Keppler awaits their presence
aboard.
The crew of The Scion allow the heroes ship to approach unmolested and for them to go aboard without
any ceremony. If heroes ship is left unmanned, then The
Scions crew will take it under tow, though as they are
escorted to the captains cabin, there will be some grumbling among the crew about how this is making their
holding position that much harder. Keppler is waiting for
the heroes in the captains cabin and after brief introductions or greetings quickly starts to explain why he has
called them here. Read or paraphrase the text below:

Thank you for coming so quickly. What we face is

here is a new threat to life in the Skies. Allow me
to explain.
As you probably know, the Sons of Spire are constantly on the lookout for rogue islands that may
be a danger to inhabited isles. What you probably
dont know is that our studies have also discovered a heretofore-unknown form of magic, which
we call Voidomancy.
Voidomancy draws upon the very force that keeps
the islands orbiting one another. To date this force
remains undetected, but we believe that it exerts
strong fields of attraction and repulsion upon
the islands keeping them in constant motion.
Voidomancy has advantages over sorcery in that
a practitioner can draw power from the void itself
and his spells can be maintained far longer than
can a sorcerers. However, doing so risks not only

17

SUNDERED SKIES
Glowmadness, but also becoming susceptible to
the same forces that affect the islands. More than
one Voidomancer has been thrown from the deck
of his ship by the backlash of a botched spell.
But anyway, all of that is just a preamble to explain that we have the resources and the capability
to detect supernatural forces working within the
void. Such a force was detected near the minor isle
of Skywood. We dispatched a team of scholars and
adventurers to investigatethe rock field outside
is what they found. Skywood and the hundreds
who lived there had been destroyed.
What we are seeing here was not just a landfall
such as hit Bridgeways 300 hundred years ago,
Skywood exploded. Something within it caused the
island to sunder, if you will. Our observations and
calculations lead us to believe that at the center
of the rock field is a larger island, and that upon
this this island will be found the source of this
catastrophe.
Johann finishes his lecture and looks expectantly at the
heroes. There is very little material aid that the Sons of
Spire can offer the heroesas far as they are concerned,
the legendary saviors of the elves should be more than
prepared for any eventuality.

THROUGH THE ROCK FIELD

Traveling through the chaotic rock field is handled as a
collision hazard (see Sundered Skies page 152); the rock
field is thick. The first time the ship is struck refer to the
details below; any further collisions cause 5d6 damage. It
takes 6 rounds of maneuvering until the heroes reach the
center of the rock field.
The first collision does not actually damage the ship,
but instead the rock striking the ship breaks up and deposits a number of enraged earth elementals upon the
ships deck. These elementals will then attempt to destroy
the ship.
There are two elementals for every hero present. However, someoneprobably the captainmust steer the
ship through the dangerous rock field while the combat
rages around him. , If no one is controlling the ship, or the
captain is distracted by elementals attacks, the ship will
be automatically struck by a rock each round. Remember
the captain can control the ship and take other actions in
the same round, but she will suffer Multi-Action Penalties.
The first critical hit suffered by a collision is automatically
a crew hit and strikes one of the earth elementals. Once
the ship has been safely navigated through the rock field
the captain can properly join the battle.

18

Earth Elementals (2 per hero): See page 24.

FORESTS OF FURY
Once the rock field has been successfully traveled, the
heroes find themselves in relatively clear skies. Before
them is a large tree covered isle that shows signs of having recently suffered a great deal of damage. The shores
of the isle are splintered and jagged instead of the usual
wind eroded rounded shores that you would expect. Inshore the surface of the island is rent by huge ruptures
and its many trees have been uprooted by the cataclysm.
There is no sign of any surviving islanders.
Going ashore is relatively simple. A hero who succeeds
at a Boating roll might realize that the capture field of the
island is much larger than it should be for its size. Initially
the island is peaceful, and nothing threatens the heroes,
although the ground seems to vibrate with a barely
perceptible power. However once the heroes approach
one of the fissures that allow access to the interior of the
island, all that changes.
The island starts to shake as if suffering a landfall and
fast moving tendrils suddenly emerge from the fissure,
darting towards the trees surrounding the heroes. These
tendrils are just below the surface of the earth and they
can be severed by a quick thinking hero who stated he
was approaching the fissure with a cutting weapon drawn
and makes a successful Agility (-4) roll. Each tendril,
which reaches a tree, animates it as a wood elemental.
Each tendril severed reduces the number of greater wood
elementals by one.
The elementals attempt to surround the heroes and
prevent them from entering the fissure. The wood elementals engage the heroes directly, while the greater
elementals hang back and use their reach attack, only
using their sweep ability once their lesser cousins are no
longer threatened. The elementals are not able to pursue
the heroes beyond ten inches into the fissure.
Greater Wood Elemental (1 per hero +2): See page
24.
Wood Elementals (2 per hero): See page 24.

THE SEED OF THE WILD

The fissure leads steeply down into the depths of the
island. The heroes must succeed at an Agility or Strength
roll or suffer a level of Fatigue while climbing down. Heroes who have had the presence of mind to rope themselves together gain a +2 bonus to the roll.
Eventually the steep descent ends at a wide cavern,
dotted with naturally formed pillars of rock, without
any other obvious exits. As the heroes start exploring
the cavern the island starts to shake again. This time the
quake is much more severe, and the heroes will have to
succeed at an Agility (-2) roll to remain on their feet. Ten-

WITHIN THE SKIES

drilsthis time ploughing through the rocky floor of the
cavernemerge from the far wall and head for the pillars.
Any character that is still on his feet and has a bashing
weapon ready can attempt an Agility (-4) roll to destroy
the tendrils as described above.
Those tendrils that reach a pillar animate it as a greater
earth elemental. These creatures do all in their power to
destroy the heroes. When the first elemental is destroyed
a great grating noise is heard throughout the cavern as if
something unseen is starting to move. When the second
elemental falls a huge stone eye opens in the far wall and
watches the heroes with increasing focus as they battle
the elementals. Anyone who attacks the eye needs a heavy
weapon to inflict any damage.
The creature watching them is a living islanda
gargantuan earth elemental created accidentally by the
recently freed Wild. Created deep within an island, the
birth of a living island is never easy, as in tearing itself free
of its mother island, it destroys the island utterly in the
process. The death of the last earth elemental coincides
with the birth of the living islethe heroes have little
choice but to run for it as the cavern and the steep tunnel
collapse behind them.
Greater Earth Elementals (1 per hero +2): See
page 24.

ESCAPE!
Run the escape as a chase using the rules given in
Savage Worlds. The collapsing tunnel has an agility of d8,
and the heroes start at medium range3 inchesfrom
the collapse. However the steepness of the ascent means
that they suffer a 1 penalty to their agility rolls. Those
heroes who increase the gap to 10 range increments
escape. Those heroes who are overtaken by the collapse
suffer 2d6 damage per round that the collapse is ahead
of them.
Heroes who emerge from the tunnel have just enough
time to get to their shipand get a safe distance from the
island if necessarybefore the living island smashes its
way free of the island.

THE LIVING ISLAND

The living island is ravenous and will consume everything within sightnamely the rock field and the heroes
ship. If they cannot stop it here, the living island will grow
to an even bigger size as it consumes everything it comes
across. It is only a matter of time before it becomes a
threat to an inhabited isle.
Living Isle (1): See page 24.

AFTERMATH
Hopefully, the heroes have dealt with the fledgling living island before it can escape and become a threat to

the rest of the Skies. If it has escaped then someonethe

heroeswill have to organize a search party and hunt it
down before it comes across an inhabited island.
With the Wilds release from slavery, events like those
in this scenario will become more frequent. The god is
blindly reaching out and exploring the world it finds
itself in, and is unknowingly creating dangerous elementals. A delegation of powerful heroes must somehow get
the gods attention and explain the danger. But first the
source of the threat must be discovered. This, however, is
a tale which must be told another time.

BESTIARY
LIFEMOTHERS HOME
CRAB MONSTER
Crab Monsters are offspring of the small crab-like
creatures that cover the island, fed and groomed by the
amphibians into a giant form. The amphibians raise them
as cattle for their meat and use their shells as armor and
claws as weapons.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d8, Strength
d10, Vigor d8
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Guts d6, Intimidation
d8, Notice d6, Stealth d8, Swimming d8
Pace: 8; Parry: 6; Toughness: 9
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Low-Light vision: Crab Monsters ignore penalties for
Dim and Dark Lighting.
* Armor +2: Armored shell
* Grapple: A crab monster can grapple a foe with one
or both of its pincersdepending on if one or two
of its frenzied attacks hits. If it uses both, each must
make a successful opposed Strength roll. Escaping
from a double grapple gives the prey a 4 penalty to
his Strength roll to escape.
* Improved Frenzy: Crab monsters can make 2
Fighting attacks with no multi-action penalty.
* Pincers: Str+d4
* Size +1: Crab Monsters measure 6 in length.

CRAB SWARM
Small crab-like creatures cover the pocketed surface
of the island. When they see a large-enough enemy they

19

SUNDERED SKIES
instinctively congregate into swarms before attacking.
Crab swarms fill a Medium Burst Template.
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d12, Strength
d8, Vigor d8
Skills: Notice d6, Stealth d10
Pace: 10; Parry: 4; Toughness: 7
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Bite: The swarm automatically hits, inflicting 2d6
damage to everyone within the Template.
* Split: When the swarm is first wounded, it splits into
two Small Burst Template swarms. The Toughness of
each swarm is lowered by 2 (i.e. to 5). When one of
these smaller swarms takes a wound, it is dispersed
and becomes ineffective.
* Swarm: Parry +2. Because a swarm is composed of
dozens of little crabs, cutting, piercing, and energy
weapons do no real damage. Area-effect weapons
work normally.

AMPHIBIAN
Amphibians look like a cross between a toad and a lizard. In Heartland they had a flourishing civilization, but
the Sundering dealt a cruel blow to this race and now
they are little more than primitive animals.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d8, Strength d8,
Vigor d8
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Guts d8, Notice d8,
Stealth d6, Swimming d8, Throwing d8
Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 7
Salvage: Junk per 5 amphibians.
Gear: Spear (Str+d6; Parry +1; Reach 1; 2 hands); thrown
rocks (Range: 3/6/12, Damage: Str+d4).
Special Abilities:
* Armor +1: Scaly Skin
* Natural Swimmer: Amphibians are powerful
swimmers and have +2 on all Swimming rolls and
increasing swimming Pace to equal their Swimming
die.
* Low-Light vision: Amphibians ignore penalties for
Dim and Dark Lighting.

AMPHIBIAN CLAN CHIEF

The amphibian chief has been blessed by the Lifemother for his faith in the water gods.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d10, Strength d6,
Vigor d8
Skills: Climbing d6, Faith d10, Fighting d8, Guts d8, Notice d8, Stealth d6, Swimming d8, Throwing d8
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 7
Edges: Arcane Background (Miracles), New Spells, Power

20

Points
Salvage: Goods
Gear: Crab claw club (Str+d4)
Special Abilities:
* Armor +1: Scaly Skin
* Spells (25 Power Points): elemental choke, entangle,
healing, summon water elemental
* Natural Swimmer: Amphibians are powerful
swimmers and have +2 on all Swimming rolls and
increasing swimming Pace to equal their Swimming
die.
* Low-Light vision: Amphibians ignore penalties for
Dim and Dark Lighting.

DROWNED SPIRITS
Drowned spirits are wraiths of those who drown
something almost unheard of in the Skies. The ghost uses
the water that killed it to form a body of sorts. Drowned
spirits are vengeful creatures who attempt to drown their
foes.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6,
Vigor d10
Skills: Fighting d6, Intimidation d12+2
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 7
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Drowning: If a drowned spirit gets a raise on its
Fighting roll, it envelops the head of its victim in its
watery form. The victim starts to drown (see Savage
Worlds). The only way to save the victim is to destroy
the spirittheir forms are too nebulous to be
grappled.
* Elemental: No additional damage from called shots;
Fearless; Immune to disease and poison.
* Fear -1: Drowned spirits cause Guts checks at 1 when
they let themselves be seen.
* Invulnerability: Drowned spirits are immune to all
non-magical attacks except fire. A torch or lantern
causes them 1d6 damage but is instantly put out if it
hits.
* Water Spout: Drowned spirits can project a torrent
of rushing water equal to a Cone Template. This
automatically puts out any normal fires, or 1d6 ship
fires. Creatures within the Cone must make a Strength
roll at a 2 penalty or be Shaken.

SKY SAILORS
Attributes: Agility d6, Fighting d4, Smarts d4, Spirit d6,
Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Boating d6, Climbing d6, Fighting d4, Guts d6,
Notice d4, Stealth d4, Throwing d6
Charisma: +0; Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5
Edges & Hindrances:

WITHIN THE SKIES

Gear: Bone knife (Str+d4, degradable)
Salvage: Junk for every 5 sky sailors

THE SYMPHONY
DRAALL MUSECRAFT
Musecraft is an experienced Requiem assassin and
Songpriest leader. He has extremist ideas (even for The
Requiem) and is not afraid of death so long as he can
prove that his theories are correct.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d12, Strength d6,
Vigor d6
Skills: Boating d8, Climbing d6, Faith d12, Fighting d10,
Guts d6, Intimidation d8, Notice d8, Persuasion d10,
Shooting d8, Stealth d10, Taunt d10
Charisma: +0
Pace: 6; Parry: 9; Toughness: 6 (1)
Hindrances: Vow
Edges: Acrobat, Arcane Background (Miracles), Marksman, New Spells, Power Points, Songpriest, Strong Willed,
Thief
Gear: Leather (+1), rapier (Str+d4, +1 Parry), flute blowpipe (4/8/16, 2d4) Musecraft coats his twelve darts with
an elven venom which will cause the next target to hit by
the dart and be Shaken to make a Vigor at a 2 penalty or
suffer an extra Wound.
Salvage: Junk
Spells: (25 Power Points) bolt, entangle, fear, stun, summon muse, dispel

NEOPHYTE REQUIEM ASSASSIN

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6,
Vigor d6
Skills: Boating d8, Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Guts d6,
Notice d8, Stealth d8
Charisma: +0
Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 6 (1)
Hindrances: Vow
Edges: Block, Combat Reflexes
Gear: leather (+1), Short sword (Str+d6)
Salvage: Junk per 3 assassins.

REQUIEM SONGPRIEST
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d12, Strength d6,
Vigor d6
Skills: Boating d6, Climbing d6, Faith d10, Fighting d6,
Guts d6, Notice d8, Shooting d8, Stealth d6
Charisma: +0
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5
Hindrances: Vow
Edges: Arcane Background (Miracles), Power Points,
Songpriest, Strong Willed

Gear: leather (+1), Short sword (Str+d6)

Salvage: Junk
Spells: (25 Power Points) bolt, dispel, fear, summon muse

MUSE
Muses are spirit servants of the Lord of Festival. Each
Songpriest is bonded with a muse, who acts as a conduit
between the priest and the Songvaults. Some Songpriests
can manifest their muse on the material plane to fight or
perform other tasks. Manifested muses appear as beautiful women.
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d12+3, Spirit d12,
Strength d4, Vigor d8
Skills: Fighting d8, Knowledge (legends and lore) d12,
Persuasion d12+1, Shooting d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Immunity (Sonic): A muse is immune to all attacks
with a sonic trapping.
* Sirens Song: A muse can paralyze foes with a song.
Center a Large Burst Template on the muse. All those
within the template must make a Spirit roll opposed
by the muses Persuasion roll. Anyone who fails is
paralyzed for as long as the muse sings. The muse
is unable to move while using this ability, and if the
listener is distracted in any way from the muses
songsuch as being attacked or slappedthe effect
ends. This attack cannot affect non-sentient creatures,
such as certain undead.
* Sonic Blade: A muse can create a sonic blade which
does d4+d8 damage. This blade cannot leave the
muses grasp.
* Sonic Shards: A muse can throw perfectly sharp
notes at its foes. These notes have a range of 12/24/48
and do 2d6 damage.

BLOODFLY SWARM
Bloodfly swarms cover a Medium Burst Template.
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d12, Strength
d8, Vigor d10
Skills: Notice d8
Pace: 10; Parry: 4; Toughness: 7
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Bite: Swarms inflict hundreds of tiny bites every round
to their victims, hitting automatically and causing 2d4
damage to everyone within the template.
* Split: When a swarm takes a Wound, it splits into two
swarms, each the size of a Small Burst Template. The
Toughness of these smaller swarms is lowered by 2
(to 5 each).
* Swarm: Parry +2; the swarm is composed of hundreds

21

SUNDERED SKIES
or thousands of creatures, so cutting and piercing
weapons do no real damage. Area effect weapons
work normally, and a character can stomp to inflict his
Strength in damage each round.

PRISONERS
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6,
Vigor d6
Skills: Boating d6, Climbing d6, Fighting d4, Guts d4,
Knowledge (Trade) d6, Notice d6, Stealth d6, Throwing
d6
Charisma: +0
Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5
Edges and Hindrances:
Gear:
Salvage:

DARKHOME
DARK CRITTERS
These swarms of small deadly vermin usually live off
plants, but every once in a while find something tastier to
eat. They fill a Medium Burst Template.
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d12, Strength
d8, Vigor d10
Skills: Notice d6
Pace: 10; Parry: 4; Toughness: 8
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Armor +1: Carapace
* Bite: Dark critter swarms inflict dozens of tiny bites
every round to their victims, hitting automatically and
causing 2d4 damage to everyone within the template.
* Poison: Anyone Shaken or wounded by a dark critter
swarm must make a Vigor roll or suffer a level of
Fatigue. This can lead to Death.
* Swarm: Parry +2; cutting and piercing weapons do
no real damage. Area-effect weapons work normally,
and a character can stomp to inflict his damage in
Strength each round.

VOID BATS
These skylers are nearly as large as a full-grown human.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d6, Strength
d8, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Guts d6, Intimidation d8, Notice d8,
Stealth d10
Pace: 2; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5
Salvage: None

22

Special Abilities:
* Bite: Str+d4
* Flight: Void bats fly at a Pace of 12.
* Voidsense: Void bats are eyeless; however they can
sense things in the void. The effective range of this
ability is miles, but it becomes very focused up to
a distance of 10 around them. It is impossible to
surprise a void bat.

DARK GLIMMERWING
A dark glimmerwing is a predatory skyler swarm
evolved to live in the relative darkness of Darkhome.
Their dark wings and silent flying make them practically
invisible until they are almost upon their prey. Dark glimmerwing swarms cover an area equal to a Large Burst
Template.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d8, Strength
d8, Vigor d10
Skills: Notice d6, Stealth d12+2
Pace: 0; Parry: 4; Toughness: 7
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Bite: The flock inflicts hundreds of tiny cuts every
round, hitting automatically and causing 2d6 damage
to everyone in the template. Damage is applied to the
least armored location.
* Fly: The skylers have a Flying Pace of 12.
* Swarm: Parry +2; because the flock is composed of
hundreds of creatures, cutting and piercing weapons
do no real damage. Area effect weapons work
normally.

BLINDED
Glowmad humans are the most common of their kind.
Their scaly skin is earth-colored and their features bestial. Their eyes have melted, and their sockets shine with
voidlight.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d4, Strength d8,
Vigor d6
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Guts d8, Notice d10,
Stealth d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 9 (2)
Salvage: Junk
Gear: Improvised Weapons (Str+d4, 1 to Attack roll)
Special Abilities:
* Armor +2: Blinded have scaly skin.
* Berserk: These glowmad are in a constant state of
berserk fury. They gain +2 to Damage, Fighting rolls,
and Toughness. They suffer a -2 penalty to Parry. If
they roll a 1 on their Fighting die they hit a random
adjacent target. This can be a fellow blinded, but not
the original target.

WITHIN THE SKIES

*
*
*
*

Blindsight: Blinded can detect all foes within 10. All

those beyond are totally concealed.
Fear: Blinded are the most infamous of all glowmad.
Leap Attack: Blinded may leap 1d6+2 into combat,
gaining +2 on their Fighting and Damage rolls.
Weakness: Blinded are susceptible to sound and
scent based attacks, suffering +2 damage and -2 on
rolls to resist them.

RAGER
Most glowmad goblins, and all glowmad glowborn,
become ragers, tall, bestial humanoids covered in a bristly brown fur with vicious claws. Ragers are constantly in
a berserk state.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d10,
Vigor d8
Skills: Climb d6, Fighting d8, Guts d8, Notice d4, Stealth
d8
Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 8
Salvage: Junk
Special Abilities:
* Berserk: These glowmad are in a constant state of
berserk fury. They gain +2 to Damage, Fighting and
Strength rolls and suffer a -2 penalty to Parry. If they
roll a 1 on their Fighting die they hit a random adjacent
targetnot the original target.
* Claws: Str+d4
* Hardy: Two Shaken results will not put a Rager
down.
* Size +2: Ragers are over 8 tall.

PIRATE
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6,
Vigor d6
Skills: Boating d6, Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Shooting d8, Stealth d6, Throwing d8
Charisma: 3
Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 6 (1)
Hindrances: Greedy, Mean
Edges: Block, Combat Reflexes
Gear: Leather (+1), knife (Str+d4), bone cutlass (Str+d6,
degradable), pistol (5/10/20, 2d6+1)
Salvage: Junk for every 3 pirates

RHAN SCAR GHRUELL

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d10,
Vigor d8
Skills: Boating d10, Climbing d8, Fighting d10, Guts d8,
Intimidation d10, Notice d8, Shooting d8, Stealth d8,
Taunt d8, Throwing d8
Charisma: 5

Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 8 (2)

Hindrances: Bloodthirsty, Greedy, ex-Voider (Rhan once
worshipped the Lightbringer, and madness does not forgive those who abandon Himin fact He makes a special
effort to reclaim them. Ex-voiders turn glowmad when
they become Enraged. Furthermore the dalliance with the
god of madness has permanently scarred Rhans psyche.
Something about Rhan unnerves all those he meets, giving him a -2 penalty to his Charisma).
Edges: Ace, Command, Hard to Kill, Reputation (bad)
Gear: Chain hauberk (+2), knife (Str+d4), cutlass
(Str+d6), pistol (5/10/20, 2d6+1)
Salvage: Goods

VOIDER PRIEST PRAOL GHRUELL

Fighting in the relative darkness of Darkhome gives
Praol a level of Fatigue.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d12, Strength d6,
Vigor d6
Skills: Boating d8, Faith d12, Fighting d6, Guts d10, Intimidation d6, Notice d8, Shooting d8, Stealth d6
Charisma: 5
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 9 (2)
Hindrances: Clueless, Delusional, Habit (talks to the
glow), Outsider, Ugly
Edges: Arcane Background (Miracles), Command, Fervor,
Glow Form, Glow Glimpse, Reputation (bad)
Gear: Dagger (Str+d4)
Salvage: Junk
Special Abilites:
* Glowmad Immunity: Lightbringer never takes one
of his own.
* Insane: If the voider draws a deuce from the action
deck, he wastes the round muttering to himself. +2
Toughness; +2 to recover from being Shaken; ignores
Wound penalties.
* Gift of Madness: Victims of voider bolt, blast, and
burst spells suffer levels of glowmadness rather than
wounds. The damage is soaked with Spirit rolls rather
than Vigor.
* Taking the Glow: Spells cast in the open by the
voider cost no Power Points. Maintaining spells costs
the normal amount, however.
* Spells (All have 25 Power Points): bolt, blast,
invisibility, fear, fly, stun.

SEED OF THE WILD

EARTH ELEMENTAL
Earth Elementals manifest as five-foot tall, vaguely
man-shaped collections of earth and stone. Though amazingly strong, they are also quite slow and ponderous.

23

SUNDERED SKIES
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength
d12+3, Vigor d10
Skills: Fighting d8
Pace: 4; Parry: 6; Toughness: 11 (4)
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Armor +4: Rocky hide
* Bash: Str+d6
* Burrow (10): Earth Elementals can meld into and
out of the ground.
* Elemental: No additional damage from called shots;
fearless; immune to disease and poison.

GREATER EARTH ELEMENTAL

These earth elementals are much larger and more dangerous than their smaller kin.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength
d12+3, Vigor d10
Skills: Fighting d8
Pace: 4; Parry: 6; Toughness: 15 (4)
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
* Armor +4: Rocky hide
* Bash: Str+d6
* Burrow (10): Earth Elementals can meld into and
out of the ground.
* Elemental: No additional damage from called shots;
fearless; immune to disease and poison.
* Large: Characters targeting a greater earth elemental
get a +2 bonus to their attack roll.
* Size +4: These massively broad creatures are almost
20-feet tall.

LIVING ISLAND
A Living island is an enormous rogue earth elemental,
which drifts through the void consuming islands it comes
across.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength
d12+3, Vigor d10
Skills: Fighting d8
Pace: 0; Parry: 6; Toughness: 30 (4)
Salvage: Junk
Special Abilities:
* Armor +4: Rocky hide
* Bash: The elemental can form rocky tentacles with
which they have a Reach of 12 and do Str+d10
damage.
* Elemental: No additional damage from called shots;
Fearless; Immune to disease and poison.
* Flight: Living islands purposely drift through the void
at a pace of 12 a turn. They cannot run.

24

Gargantuan: Heavy armor, attacks by man-sized

attackers are at +4. Attacks from a living island are
heavy weapons.

Size +19: Living islands are the size of small islands.

GREATERWOOD ELEMENTALS
The Wilds influence has awakened these dangerous
elementals.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength
d12+2, Vigor d12
Skills: Fighting d8, Stealth d8
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 16 (2)
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
*

Armor +2: Hard bark

Elemental: No additional damage from called shots;

Fearless; Immune to disease and poison.

Improved Sweep: Can attack all foes within reach.

Large: Characters attacking a greater wood elemental

get a +2 bonus on their attack roll.

Lashing Branches: Str+d6; reach 3.

Size +6: Greater wood elementals are large, powerful

walking trees.

Stealth +2: When the Elemental is not moving or

attacking it appears to be a normal tree.

Weakness: Fire based attacks do +2 extra damage to

greater wood elementals and will set them alight on a
roll of 5-6 on a d6.

WOOD ELEMENTAL
The Wilds influence has awakened these dangerous
elementals.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d10,
Vigor d10
Skills: Fighting d8, Stealth d8
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 11 (1)
Salvage: None
Special Abilities:
*

Armor +1: Hard bark

Elemental: No additional damage from called shots;

Fearless; Immune to disease and poison.

*
*

Improved Sweep: Can attack all adjacent foes.

Lashing Branches: Str+d6

Size +3: Wood elementals are walking trees.

Stealth +2: When the Elemental is not moving or

attacking it appears to be a normal tree.

Weakness: Fire based attacks do +2 extra damage to

wood elementals and will set them alight on a roll of
5-6 on a d6.

WITHIN THE SKIES

HANDOUT FOR THE SYMPHONY

25

$ 8 .50
. 50

31 054
31054

Four Perilous Ruins...

...Dozens Of Ways To Die!
In the Sundered Skies salvage is literally more valuable than gold, a
wooden chest is much more prized than the bullion which fills it.
Scavengers are adventurers who risk life, limb, and sanity to find the
best salvage, and the best salvage is found in the deadliest of ruins.
Within The Skies contains four fully detailed ruins to be played at any
point in the Sundered Skies plot point campaign.
Inside you will find:
* The fabled home to a Goddess found within the monstrous
Runoff Falls.
* An horrific lesson taught by the insane bardic assassins of the
Requiem.
* A hollow island so huge it can only be explored by skyship.
* A legendary threat to every isle created by the heroes success.

Sundered Skies from Triple Ace Games, is a dark fantasy

setting for the award-winning Savage Worlds RPG.

www.tripleacegames.com
2010 Triple Ace Games. Sundered Skies, The Ice Tower and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Triple Ace Games. Savage Worlds, Smiling Jack
and all related marks and logos are trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved. Used with permission. 2010. All Rights Reserved.