You are floating among blue clouds. The Archon Bureau of Records sigil appears.
Bureau Announcer: This is a thought construct from your Bureau of Records. To receive a balanced, accurate dream of the following report please clear your mind. Thought transmission will commence in 10 seconds.
Bureau Anchor Valdyn Trad emerges from the clouds. His silver robes, finely chiselled, ochre face and double-irised green eyes radiate convey concern, wisdom and trustworthiness.
Valdyn Trad: Galactic harmony suffered a grave challenge today when the pirate Bartholomew Deth’s so-called “Black Fleet” jumped into Tuldekath and severely damaged its orbital defences. Military sources indicate that his fleet consists of 63 heavily modified Second War dreadnoughts, 38 of which were sent for the assault.
You are in the observation deck of an Archonate transport. You slip and catch yourself as the vessel lurches wildly to avoid a golden bolt from a huge basalt vessel. Fade out to clouds and through to the office of General Than. You stand before her.
General Than: They took us by surprise. One moment, it’s Sovereignty Day. The next, disaster – but we rallied to prevent an even worse crisis. We lost so much in that instant that if we hadn’t responded, Tuldekath would be ashes and stone, nothing more.
The General and her office fade into the bridge of an emergency response ship, soul detection spires extended. Valdyn Trad beside you, right behind the captain.
Valdyn Trad: The pirates’ primary target was the cruise ship Serendipity, where Speaker Alice Chant was attending a charity gala. With orbital defences neutralized, Black Fleet marauders looted the ship at their leisure and scuttled it. The Bureau has confirmed that Deth personally assassinated Speaker Chant before binding her to a think disk.
According to reports, defence fleet fragments appeared to be falling stars from Vindicun City’s ground level. Emergency personnel say the number of ghosts in orbit make it unlikely that the Black Fleet took hostages.
Deth spared one solider to deliver a message via think disk. Forensic examination confirms that the disk is powered by Speaker Chant’s soul.
Bureau Announcer: The following transmission been altered for content.
Bartholomew Deth wipes his blade with the hem of his cloak. A chill wind roars: air coursing through the shattered crystal of the Serendipity’s recreational deck.
Bartholomew Deth: Hail, sheep of Roaa, cowards. You’re fit for domination by a superior force: a predator to thin your ranks and teach you to adapt or abide in misery. I will grant you that which you so richly deserve. Know this: No star can hide you. No army can protect you. No matter what you do or where you go, I shall sup upon your suffering.
The image dissolves into blue clouds and the Bureau sigil.
Bureau Announcer: End transmission. Alteration of this thought construct is a major infraction of Archonate Law. Please report any discrepancies to the nearest Galactic Security office.
* * *
I admit it: I’ve been tardy posting progress updates on Chris Challice’s Knights of the Hidden Sun. I actually finished developing Chapter One at the end of October. Chapter One is the history and current affairs section. Chris did some fantastic work here that underlines one of the challenges of developing setting-focused material: taking a cool idea where it demands to go.
In KotHS, people on civilized worlds use strand stones to fully immerse themselves in runecrafted media. This network of dreams allows people to fully experience events on other worlds (subject to editing, of course). Consequently, literacy is uncommon except among the highly educated. You don’t need it to dream, and most other interactions only require spoken words and images.
Chris included several examples of these thought transmissions, so my job was to reconcile them with established facts, (literacy is uncommon) highlight their role as forms of popular media and make it feel like these dreams flow right into your mind. That’s why I expanded the text into a script style, with imagery to immerse the reader in each transmission.
Chris also wrote most of the chapter from an in-universe perspective. I love this technique because GMs can take material right from the book to use as-is. I developed this chapter to cleave to that perspective whenever possible. Chapter Two will have a similar focus as we move into descriptions of daily life, important people and the other information players need to feel like they live in Roaa.
Would you like any game with your collection-of-vignettes?
Heh:-) The actual game is pretty big – in the 300 page range right now. Later chapters are more systems-oriented.