Dharos

The Defiance

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Outcast envoys speak of a grounded ship that appears randomly throughout the Wastes, still manned by a loyal crew eager to return to the seas that are no more. They call it the Defiance.

by Under Librarian Tai Shui
(aka Tyler Omichinski)

I wish I could tell you where the Defiance was. But, like so much else in the Wastes, it isn’t exactly predictable. All I can say is you’ll recognize it.

From a distance, it looks like a hunk of metal left behind in the desert. Draw closer and you’ll recognize a ship – the largest of its kind that any one can remember. Someone left it behind when the waters boiled away. When the Wastes are as calm as they get, the exterior crawls with the crew who continue their maintenance, no matter what else happens to them.

I advise caution when dealing with the crew of The Defiance; they aren’t the most reasonable bunch you’ll find. They are, to a soul, convinced the ocean is going to return to them. To hear them tell the tale, the return will happen any day now. Disagreeing with them on this, or otherwise challenging their beliefs is asking for trouble. Some tell tales of victims being kidnapped and brought around to their way of thinking.

While it’s fun to laugh at this example of insanity in the wastes, mind that they have proved themselves capable of surviving the worst the Wastes can throw at them. Time and time again the Wastes has tried to chew them up, but each time the would-be sailors hole up in their ship and ride out storm and beast alike.

They are led by Captain Dembe Graz, a veritable mountain of a man who resembles nothing so much as his ship. Clad in heavy, rusted iron, he appears to operate without sleep or mercy. In all ways, he acts as a captain aboard a ship, referring to those off the vessel as being “overboard” and the highest honor he can give an outsider is being a “Captain”.

The Defiance itself is 150’ long and 30’ across at its widest point. It tapers, slowly, towards a point at either end. The appearance has varied, as it is, from time to time, relocated across the wastes. After each such movement, the crew leaps into action to scour the nearby area for any resources they may need to repair their ship. There are several cannons on the ship that make up the strongest part of their armoury, though the crew has small arms they use to defend themselves. The days are filled with maintenance, hunting for food, and training for what they are to do should the ocean return to them.

The mode of locomotion for their ship is unknown to outsiders. When questioned about how they reached their current location, the crew always states that they sailed there. It appears that it is part of their larger inability to grapple with reality, claiming that they have travelled across a body of water. There might not even be a singular mode of transport; perhaps it is occasionally attacked by leviathans or predators that are, ultimately, unable to get into the ship.

Captain Dembe Graz

Supporting Character

A mountain of a man standing over 8′ tall, Captain Graz (or simply the Captain, as he prefers) wears an iron suit of mysterious origins to protect him from the ravages of the Wastes using various life support systems (respirator, pacemaker, etc.). Anyone who studies the Defiance up close will discern many of the components came from the Defiance itself.

Homeland: The Wastes (formerly Dharos)
Qi Power: None known
Unique Features: The Captain’s face is hidden underneath long dreadlocks and a knotted beard. He very much appears like a steampunk version of a pirate and adorns his iron suit with various knickknacks collected during his time at sea and abandoned in the Wastes.

Unwavering Belief d6/3/2
Oh Captain, My Captain d6/3/2

Resource Slots: Iron suit (+1 steps or +1 damage); The Defiance (+1 steps; the use of this resource can include detailed knowledge gained from countless years spent on board this ship)
Vitality: 12
Sleepless: In part to the madness brought on with commanding the Defiance and as a result of the life support systems built into his suit, the Captain does not require sleep.

This post was written by Tyler Omichinski, a writer and game designer from the wilds of Canada. He’s been a contributor for two ENnie nominated RPGs and has received an honourable mention for the Writers of the Future contest. He lives with his wife and a gargantuan black dog.

The Veil

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Hidden within the toxic fumes along the outskirts of Rust lies a complex black market where anything is up for sale.

by Ali May Sang (the Librarian)

The Veil offers a variety of warmechs for the particular consumer. Sketch by Kieron O’Gorman.

Rust is notoriously protective of its creations. The same can be said for its citizens but they are treated as cattle more than a resource. In the winding tunnels of that underground city, the engineers are the heroes who rise up from the slums to make a name for themselves. Those who cannot build, steal.

There is a toxic curtain concealing Rust from the rest of the world. Somewhere within all that pea-green fog are the remains of once was once the city of Dharos, a now uninhabitable shadow of its glory days. The edges of that curtain remain toxic to your lungs but it is not thick enough to scald your skin on contact or induce psychotic nightmares. They call this place the Veil. It is highly recommended to bring some form of oxygen tank or alternate form of breathing with you or else your time in the Veil will be brief and permanent.

Scrappers, a loose collective of organized black marketeers and gunrunners, sell anything and everything they can get out of Rust to the highest bidder. With drooling warlords eager to keep a leg up on their enemies and defend their belongings, business is good. Warmechs are the prized trophy for every powerful figure in the One Land and there has been a surplus of sales in the past couple of years, particularly to Monsoon if you believe the rumours. Each scrapper is in business for themselves and they will do anything to get an edge against their competition, yet they consider themselves part of a family who turn to a corrupted example of Deckland Burr’s teachings. While the Salvation’s inventor saw technology as something to help connect the One Land, scrappers see it as a chance to even the playing field by taking out the big players. Let the people have equal stake in this world, they say. Be this false bravado or a worthy cause, scrappers look after each other. An attack on one is an attack on them all.

Surviving the Veil

Whenever a scene takes place in the Veil, all characters will have to take precautions to avoid the following danger. It should be noted this is by no means a representation of how bad it is beyond the Veil; travelling deeper into the fog towards Rust is a far worse danger.

Toxic Fog: A thin fog of sickly green rolls over this valley at all times until it finally dissipates and becomes the Wastes. At the end of every round the characters spend in the Veil, they lose 1 Vitality. This can be avoided by assigning a resource slot to an alternative breathing apparatus (such as an oxygen mask) or by using a qi power. The fog also inflicts a light concealment step penalty on anyone who does not wear protective eyewear or use an appropriate qi power.