Yatoolei-2 is a fringe world settled by people looking for a simpler life. Unfortunately, a military spaceship crashed to its surface a few years ago, and vital data from it needs to be recovered. Is your party bad enough to complete this mission without revealing their true identities?
Yatoolei is a G-class star near the fringe of the galaxy. Four planets orbit it, but only one is habitable: Yatoolei-2. Yatoolei-2 is an earth-like planet, but more importantly, it is a “Reserved Primitivist Planet.” Yatoolei-2 is one of the few planets set aside for beings who wish to leave high-tech society behind. These people, and their descendants, are considered to be “Non-Citizens Under Protection” by broader galactic society. They are supposed to be left alone except in the most exceptional of circumstances.
Of course, “the most exceptional of circumstances” has come to pass. During a period of galactic instability a decade ago, a military ship called the Mercator crashed on the main continent of Yatoolei-2, killing its crew. Since then, the ship has been found by the descendants of primitivists, who have learned the basics of electricity from it.
Unfortunately, this ship also contains a hyperspace flight recorder which needs to be recovered. Recover the data without revealing that you’re off-worlders, ideally.
Exactly how important that is and how easy it is is going to vary widely by setting: In Star Trek Adventures, in the TOS era or later it is apparently trivial to figure out the local clothing and replicate it aboard the ship, but there may be dire consequences if their true identities are discovered.
In a setting like Firefly or White Star, your hard-done-by protagonists may have to make do with a cloak and a confident attitude, but no one on high is going to tear them a new you know what if the locals catch on to what they really are. Of course, the locals might have their own opinions of offworlders…
Depending on what setting you’re using, some details may differ. For example, the laser rifles the guards of Brighttown use would, in a Star Trek setting, be a Type 3 Phaser instead.
There are a number of key steps to completing this mission successfully: A landing site must be selected, weighing stealth and convenience. Following this, they have to make their way to Brighttown, encountering locals on the way. After that, they must enter Brighttown, recover the data, and decide what to do about the reactor.
Caves: The nearby mountain range has a large cave opening that could plausibly conceal a shuttle. It’ll take some delicate flying, but the locals are unlikely to wander into this area by accident. Hiking out to get to Brighttown will take about half a day. Also, one of the Yahoolien Cave Beasts lives here, and will not take kindly to the intrusion.
Forest: It’ll take some time to conceal a shuttle or other small ship with branches and foliage, but the walk out will be much less treacherous and the ship would be relatively easy to access again. Unfortunately, it’s much more likely for a local to stumble upon it here.
Brighttown: Brighttown is the most reckless option, but it’s technically an option. A party that has deemed the data recovery and/or deactivation of the reactor to be a higher priority than maintaining the primitivists’ isolation could simply land at the front gate and demand entry to the crashed ship. This will, inevitably, result in them getting shot at by lasers and arrows, and result in substantial casualties on at least one side.
Around the wreck of the Mercator, trees have been cleared and used to build about two dozen simple houses. Black electrical cables run between each building, strung from roof to roof. This place is Brighttown, the only settlement on Yatoolei-2 with artificial lighting.
The people of Brighttown are largely hunters and gatherers, in terms of diet. The meat and berries are, however, supplemented by trading with other tribes for grain and other products. In return, the people of Brighttown offer trinkets like pieces of glass or plates of metal.
More recently, the people of Brighttown have begun working on an electrically-powered grain mill, though figuring out the mechanics has so far eluded them.
In front of the Mercator, a small stage has been erected, and Tomasz Adretti regularly gives speeches there praising the Gods of Beyond for the Mercator’s wreckage, calling it either a “Divine Cathedral” or a “Heavenly Organ,” depending on the day.
A cult of white-clad mystics maintains the reactor. The initial crash of the Mercator destroyed most of its system, but the reactor and its housing were designed to withstand anything short of a direct hit from a nuclear weapon. In addition to this, hard copies of the reactor operation and maintenance manuals were kept in the housing, in case a complete shutdown happened and a “black start” was required.
The wreck site was first explored by Tomasz Andretti, who was fascinated by the interior lighting. He brought his clan to the Mercator’s wreck, and they begun living there. Within a year or so, they figured out how to move the interior lights from the Mercator to the thatch houses that had been built nearby.
The Andretti Family now handles most of the maintenance, studying and copying the manuals, and performing the procedures as strictly as they can. They do not understand the inner workings of the reactor and believe it to be the heart (or other organ) of some kind of god.
Unfortunately for the Spark Worshippers, the reactor housing did not survive the crash completely intact. Radioactive coolant has been slowly leaking into the ground, and it will eventually run out, causing the reactor to fail. This is not catastrophic on its own, but attempts to restart it without enough coolant could cause a disastrous meltdown. Also, the coolant is toxic to humans and will build up in the groundwater over time.
The data recorders on the Mercator are located just behind the reactor compartment, and the coolant leak should be detectable to anyone who has worked on a spacecraft before, based on the sound of the droplets hitting the deck plating.
Tomasz Andretti, electropriest. Tomasz is a lanky man in his late twenties, with tan skin and blue eyes. He was the first to explore the crashed ship, and figured out the basics of how its lights worked. He wears a white captain’s beret with the Mercator’s emblem on it, which he found in the wreckage.
Lukasz Laurenzi, guard. Lukasz is a short man with light skin and black hair. He guards the main gate to Brighttown, and carries a laser rifle bearing clear military insignia. He’s a very cheerful man, and has a very limited understanding of how to effectively use the laser rifle. For one thing, the dial at the back that sets target distance is currently set to the highest setting, 1500 metres, which he believes makes the shots more powerful.
Kajetanya Menta, acolyte. Kajetanya is a short woman with mousy brown hair. She spends her days laboriously copying the paper manuals found in the Mercator’s wreckage, ensuring that copies will survive any catastrophe. On nice days, she does her work while sitting on the stage in front of the Mercator, using a board to write on.
Three of the youth of Brighttown routinely leave the safety of town to hunt chickens, and generally explore on their own.
Jarek Ricciardo, hunter. Jarek is a light brown-skinned teenager with a blond mohawk. He carries a spear tipped with a piece of the Meractor’s hull. He wears a cloak made of bushboar leather. He is the leader of the hunting party, and knows the area best. He is cautious, and does not trust easily.
Teulia Tsunoda, hunter. Teuila is a dark-skinned teenage girl with short, black hair. She carries a handaxe and wears a tunic made of reddish cloth. She is more open and trusting than Jarek.
Serek Sainz, hunter. Serek is a tan-skinned teenage boy who is noticeably taller than his companions. He has an unkempt mop of blonde hair. He speaks slowly, and pulls a cart full of the group’s bounty.
Southwest of Brighttown, where the trees meet the plains, there is a small cluster of wooden buildings with X-shaped crossbars on the roofs. On the eastern side of town, workers clean wool in a stream. Near the center, there is a wooden statue of a four-armed woman with wool-like hair.
Large hordes of “sheep” roam the area around the village, under the care of their shepherds.
Alfar, elder. Alfar is a tan-skinned man with a heavily wrinkled face. Alfar operates a smokery on the north side of town, making various kinds of jerky. He has a persistent, horrible cough caused by a malignant growth in his left lung. Off-world, it would be trivial to fix, but here, where it cannot be treated, this growth will kill him in under a year.
Hareman, shepherd. Hareman is a dark-skinned man with black hair. He wears a cord necklace with a laser cannon’s targeting lens hanging from it. He spends most of his days minding the sheep in far-off pastures, and has a hard time interacting with people. He carries a bow and quiver on his back.
The Shepherds have domesticated a species that they refer to as sheep, but which bears little resemblance to a Terran sheep, despite fulfilling a similar role. The sheep are six-legged creatures with compound eyes and round bodies covered in something that resembles wool.
The most common prey animal on Yatoolei-2 is the “chicken,” a featherless biped with bat-like wings. They communicate with horrible clicking noises, and have razor-sharp talons.
The Spikeback is an adorable little reptile with mottled green skin and a line of fleshy spikes sticking out of its back. It can be found anywhere along the ocean shores of Yatoolei-2, hopping around with a dopey expression and no concerns in its little brain. It can do this because each of those spikes contains a substantial dose of venom, which sprays out whenever something touches the spike’s tip. The spikeback is capable of injecting venom into a target up to three days after dying.
The Cave Beast of Yatoolei-2 is a bear-like mammal with four legs, two arms and four eyes. It walks on all six of its limbs, but it can use its front limbs as arms. It does this primarily to grab prey before biting it.
The Yatoolien Bushboar is four-foot-tall with quadruped tusks and a trunk. The bushboar is a herbivore, and uses its tusks to scrape leaves and fruit off of branches. And to stab axe-beaks. The Bushboar will only attack other creatures if it feels threatened, but if it does attack, it will not stop until the threat is neutralized.
One of the largest animals in this region is the Axe-Beak, an ostrich-like creature with a tall, sharp beak. It uses the sharp part of its beak to break branches and limbs off of trees to make its nests, and also to kill its prey.
Hi folks! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article. If high-tech artifacts interfering with a primitive worlds interests you, I highly recommend reading Iain M. Banks’ Matter, or watching roughly 1 out of every 20 Star Trek episodes.
Since I used a nuclear reactor as a source of danger in this adventure, I’d like to stress that nuclear power is safe, reliable and clean, especially compared to fossil fuel power generation. It sure makes a compelling plot point, though.
Until next time,
Garmbreak1
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Garmbreak1
Former esports wannabe, current TTRPG streamer and TTRPG creator interviewer. I like science fiction and I have a soft spot for licensed tabletop RPGs. You can find all the campaigns I’m in and interviews I’ve done over on YouTube.
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