SUNRISE HUNT

Champions (4^th Ed) Game - Scenario

by: Mr. David R. Dorrycott

'Derrekson reached down, picking up the bloody sword. Ahead of him, through the dew covered grass, was the obvious trail of his quarry. Moving forward he raced along the path.'

INTRODUCTION

This scenario assumes that you allow the use of magic in your campaign. It is rather unworkable under any other conditions as the entire piece is based in magic, both dark and light. The characters are set for a 225 point game, however they can be raised or lowered as you require. This scenario is intended as an introduction of a major evil character. Please note that Keela does not consider herself a criminal, that she firmly believes that those with the most power have more rights than those with less. It was the way she was brought up, the way of her society.

'Abruptly a police officer stood before him, calling for his surrender. Dodging down an alley he ran as hard as he could. Behind him the police officer shook his head. One moment he was facing an obvious madman with a sword, the next he was gone. Looking down the vacant alley he decided it was just the result of to long on duty, replaced his weapon and headed for the station.'

You will quickly note that Sgt. Derrekson, without the sword, is almost a normal person. He was originally designed as a throwaway character, allowing the sword to be brought into the game. You see the sword is the only weapon that can totally destroy Keela, all other attacks simply injure her forcing her to withdraw. Keela however is another matter. She is quite capable of taking out several 225 point superheros by herself.

'Keela staggered against the cold dark brick wall, pain lanced through her side. Glancing down she saw blood welling up over her fingers. The flesh was transformed into something crystalline, unable to heal. Her magic wouldn't work on the wound. Down the alley a door opened. A young girl taking out trash. Keela staggered forward, a strange hunger knawing deep within her belly.'

Sgt. Derrekson's only desire is to locate and neutralize Keela. Keela only wants to rule the planet. It is up to your players to stop her or, in the least, force her to gate to another world.

THE PAST

'Deep within the forest an old magi stood above his last creation, a simple ward sword. Created for his youngest great-grandson it would outlive this world. Smiling, he passed it to his assistant and wandered off to bed, to never rise again.'

Keela once ruled a large island nation. However she was slowly forced out when several nations warred against her evil rule. Forced at last to escape she created a gate between realities using the life force of a defeated warrior of her world. Pure luck allowed Sgt. Derrekson to penetrate her defenses, however had he not stumbled upon an ancient ward sword he would have been defeated by Keela's guards.

This ward sword defended him from Keela's full magic and allowed him to easily defeat her guards. When he followed her through her gate the life force of the gate joined with the ward sword creating the one and only weapon outside of Keela's universe that will kill her. No other weapon can do more than force her to move to another, random reality.

EVENTS UNFOLD

'Samulson looked at the girls body. Seventeen, maybe eighteen. Her neck had been torn open like paper, blood splashed across her shirt. Strangely, not as much blood as he would have expected. Still in all his years on the force he had never seen a murder like this. Slowly he pulled the sheet back over the body and left the morgue.'

Keela has arrived in your world, injured but able to heal herself. Once she has time to set up a power base (followers) she will begin her attempt to control, then rule your world. Once she has this power base she will be able to relocate your world even after being forced to jump randomly. It is quite probable that she will use an existing legend as her base, giving your heros a chance to disrupt her goals by proving to her current followers that she is a hoax.

'Derrekson could not understand how he escaped the officer, still he was away and free. But he had lost the trail. Maybe it was time to get help.'

As for Sgt. Derrekson, he will be easy to locate. Clad in a ragged rotting jungle uniform of unknown design, carrying an ancient style single shot rifle of heavy caliber which has never been used on your world he will stick out like a sore thumb. The ward sword has implanted your major language in his brain soon after he arrived thus he will be able to converse with your players.

The Ward Sword will lead him to your strongest (or closest) Magic User soon after arriving in your world, protecting him from mundane interference during his travel. It will also implant the native language of your magic user within his brain as well upon meeting them.

'Reene-chan looked at the haggard man sitting in her living room. He had knocked on her back door just after sundown, carrying an old style sword and an evil looking gun. She had never seen him, yet he spoke to her in her native tongue and called her by name. Reaching for her telephone she tried to remember Dark Rangers home number.'

Derrekson's main goal is to locate and kill someone he calls "the Dark Witch". Anyone with magic detection powers will quickly realize that his sword is magical. PSI powers will only detect an intelligence. As the sword is intelligent it will not work for anyone but Derrekson as long as he is alive. Should he die the sword will pick the next person to touch it as its next carrier, as long as that person is a 'good guy'.

KEELA

'She felt better. She never knew salty blood could taste so good. Wearing the dead girls form she wandered the city well away from the killing place. Soaking up peoples thoughts she began to plan her future. Then she found the old occult book store. Smiling in anticipation she stepped through the door.'

Keela is of course a Dark Witch. She will use her powers in the most destructive way she can once she has a viable power base. She will not mind control her followers, instead she will use her powers to heal those deformed, bring wealth to those without. In short, she will play on their weakness to make them believe in her. Those she cannot undermine she will arrange to have accidents, be fired, persecuted, even have the local authorities locate illegal drugs and/or weapons in their possession. She does have one major weakness other than the sword, she must drain one (1) life point (one body) each day from one of her followers or lose a life point herself. In her home dimension she is 'healed' by the planet itself. Now away from the reality of her birth she cannot receive this healing. This loss (one body) can only be healed by draining ten times to loss from another. Thus, should she be one body down she will have to drain ten body from someone else to recover. Normal injuries are healed by her magic powers.

'Keela was happy. Converting the stores owners into her first followers was easy, simple parlor tricks ment to amuse children. Now she had a base of operations within the city itself. Things were looking up.'

Keela may appear as the girlfriend of a politician, a 'hot' singer or even a simple schoolgirl. She may try to infiltrate your PC's by subverting a DNPC or sending one of her followers to become a boy/girlfriend of a PC. She will not attack the PC's directly, this is what forced her hand the first time. Instead she will attempt to discredit them as above, placing illegal substances on their persons or property. If nothing else she has learned from her mistakes.

SGT. DERREKSON

'Derrekson repeated his story to the massive black man standing before him. Somehow he knew both peoples languages, yet it did not bother him right now. Finished with his story he watched the tall man and small woman walk down the hall to a closed room. 'Whatever happens now is up to them' he thought.'

Derrekson is a member of the IMPERIAL ROYAL KNIGHTS, a special attack group belonging to the IMPERIAL BRITISH EMPIRE. He is well trained, tough, and single minded. His papers seem to prove his claims, yet the insignia has not been seen in your England in over 900 years. The unit is unknown although the current monarch is the same.

He carries a single shot rifle of caliber .625, firing a heavy lead slug with some sort of stone core. His sword appears to be a standard English design Bastard Sword (also known as a hand and a half sword). If you have a magic user or PSI character with your group they will easily note that it is magical and has an intelligence. As long as it is bound to Derrekson it cannot be spoken to. However this does not preclude the spirit within the blade from 'speaking' to various PC's during their sleep, depending on gaming needs.

THE SWORD

'Fyre Dancer searched out the confines of her new prison. At least she was free of Keela's slavery, even if she was bound forever within an ancient immortal sword. Reaching out with her mind she contacted Derrekson again, calming his fear and healing his injures. Whatever happened now he was her only link to what was, and could never be again.'

Sgt. Derrekson's sword is the source of most of his protection and special powers. Many of these 'powers' will surprise him as well as the PC's. Due to the difficulty of creating a ward sword under Champions (tm) rules without spending an inordinate amount of points you will note that the sword has a power pool of its own. Thus the sword appears to the normal, casual observer to be an antique Bastard sword. Upon closer examination it will be noted that there is no oxide (rust), dirt, stains, or other signs of wear. The blade never needs sharpening yet will rarely cut living flesh. The person bonded to the blade receives several advantages. The blade will shield somewhat against mental attacks, provide some life support and healing. As well a small resistant force wall will appear against ranged attacks. It is also capable of creating ‘holographic images’ to shield its carrier from detection by normals.

Within the sword is bound the spirit/soul of Fyre Dancer. Fyre Dancer was a member of the last group of witches to stand against Keela. She was also the last to fall. Keela, envious of Fyre Dancer’s beauty, selected for her the most horrible punishment she could think of . For this kind young girl who had failed in her bid to save her world, things became horridly worse than simple enslavement or death.

When Keela jumped through the World Gate with the Ward Sword lodged within her side, Fyre Dancers Spirit/soul was bound within the sword forever. Her only hopes to be released are to either have the sword destroyed or for someone to travel back to her world and recover her bones. By touching her bones with the sword she will in effect be reborn. Her body rebuilt with the elements of both worlds. Should this occur the Ward Sword becomes a simple Ward Sword, having only those powers listed under WARD SWORD.

'She found she could exit the sword for short periods of time, move about. But she could not affect anything around her. She was a ghost. Using her old powers she found she could hear and speak to others, but sunlight now hurt her. This frightened her, for she had always loved the sun.'

Originally the sword was only empowered with the ability to defend against magic. Fyre Dancers spirit can appear through dreams as a woman about twenty six years old. She will have black hair, green eyes, stand some five feet six inches high and be very slightly above average in comeliness. This spirit can be spoken to if the speaker is asleep, the swords bearer, or a magic/PSI powered character. The spirit will ignore all others and never gives her name to any but her bearer. This person is not bound to keep her name secert.

IN CONCLUSION

'Keela finished reading the days papers. 'So, this world has few of power, just these strange beings of minor power. This world has no real defenders, it will fall easily. Then I will return home with an army greater than any it has ever known and rule both worlds forever' Laughing, she laid down on the soft bed, calling her new followers to bring her food.'

The standard question that occurs among the mundane is "What is the difference between a Black & White Witch?" Well this is a simple question to answer. It is the method to which one uses ones power that determines wither one is Black or White. Wither that power by Magic, Science, Age, Rank, or what ever. One who uses ones powers for their own gain and to the detriment of others is a 'Black Witch', walking the Dark Path. One who uses their power to aid others and improve/heal their lives is a 'White Witch', one who walks the white Path. Both can appear as equal. In many cases Black can be kinder than White. It was simpler back when the good guys wore the White hats & the bad guys wore the Black hats.

Keela will be doing everything in her power to undermine the PC's reputations and those of 'upstanding citizens'. Her favorite targets will be those who profess high moral standings. She will even ignore the PC's for a period of time simply to bring down some citizen who is a thorn in her side. Remember, her long range goal is complete control of your world and with her near immortal life span this is quite possible.

In a combat situation she will send her followers against the PC's. A favorite choice is to mind control any children near her and send them against the most powerful PC. Watching her endurance costs she will always try to run before becoming exhausted. If captured she will become meek, almost childlike. She well knows that eventually she will escape. If not today, then tomorrow.

Sgt. Derrekson is driven by one goal, the death of Keela. He will stop at almost nothing to reach this goal. He is the only character that Keela cannot affect directly. In fact while he holds the ward sword she cannot even see him mentally, he is effectively invisible to her other than by direct sight.

The sword, ahh here is the rub. It is quite capable of dealing with Keela as long as she is unaware of it. It is less powerful than Keela but the spirit within knows every one of her weakness. If one of your PC's is able to 'contact' the sword things will progress rapidly. The spirit within the sword does not like to kill. Thus every time the edge strikes living flesh she will cause the edge to dull, striking with the killing attack but only delivering the stun effect (no this is not a NND attack). The spirit 'sees' through the wielders eyes so if the person holding the sword is blinded so is the sword.

‘Fyre Dancer knew that the final battle may well destroy her, her only real edge was her ability to transform Keela's flesh to a crystal her powers could not heal. But she had to allow herself to bite into Keela's flesh for the greatest effect. Cutting someone, the thought sickened her, but she had to remember Keela's evil and not let her own beliefs stand in her way.'

Through the Ward Sword the spirit of Fyre Dancer lives on. She will use her magic to give Derrekson every possible advantage she can. However even she has to sleep. Remember that if Derrekson uses the sword Fyre Dancer will be totally involved in his defense and keeping the blade from killing. The blade itself is unbreakable, except perhaps within the heart of a star. This means Fyre Dancer can only affect it by temporarily dulling the edge. She can however make it invisible, conceal it, or almost anything she (& you) can think of.

If you want to use Fyre Dancer as an active part of your campaign, remember that she cannot actually touch anything. She appears as a spirit/ghost form. She can use her powers against reality but she is forever bound away from it (her bones were used by Keela to form her World Gate, and without them she can never be 'real' again). And she is lonely. Very very lonely.