Veins of Dust and Flame
🎭 MQ1 – "New Town, Old Eyes"
PCs arrive in Skoii Skax, their presence unannounced but not unnoticed. A local fixer's recommendation lands them at the merc guild—but the response is cold.
Events:
Mercenary offices reject the PCs—“not vetted,” “too hot,” or “not worth the paperwork”
Instead, they're offered basic labor roles in the mines
A foreman named Runn Halvyr gives them the offer:
“It’s hard. It’s ugly. But it pays. Better than starving.”
Choices:
Accept the miner contract, or try to hustle illegal work elsewhere
Spend time scouting the town, locating vendors, and reading the political temperature
🎭 MQ2 – "Down in the Veins"
PCs begin work in Helium-3 shaft 14C, shoulder-to-shoulder with miners hardened by fumes, dust, and daily danger.
Key Scenes:
Learn about the instability of the mine shafts—walls twitch, lights flicker
Meet local miners: some grateful, some resentful
Rumors of creatures “twitching” in deeper levels where they’re not supposed to be
Optional Event:
A collapsed tunnel traps workers. PCs can:
Risk going in to save them
Refuse, and keep digging—earning coin, but losing local trust
Discover subtle signs of sabotage—blamed on “seismic activity”
PCs hear news in the bar from leak source that 5th generation of cybernetic neuron chips have been developed, but not available anywhere.
🎭 MQ3 – "Bitter Steel and Bitterer Ale"
PCs spend an evening in The Drillbit Tavern, a local haunt for both miners and mercs. Tension simmers.
Key Moments:
A merc drunkenly boasts about gunning down goblin scouts for fun
A miner breaks down—his brother didn’t return from the shaft today
The bartender, an ex-soldier named Torin, quietly warns the PCs:
“When shipments don’t move, blood does.”
Lore Gained:
Orc and goblin raids are increasing
Helium-3 is piling up in warehouses—but shipping has stopped
Reinforcements are delayed—the bridge collapsed
🎭 MQ4 – "The Vaults That Wait to Burn"
PCs witness massive sealed crates of Helium-3 stacked under tarps, waiting for transport. Tension runs high—too much wealth, too few guards.
Key Developments:
PCs are offered better-paying work: escort duty, night watch, or warehouse guard shifts
The Merc Captain, Kesh Marrak, gives them an offer:
“You want to earn real pay? Strap up. Things are coming. And they’re not knocking.”
Choices:
Accept the dangerous job and move up the chain
Stay on miner duty and keep a lower profile
Begin investigating the shipping delay—someone may be sabotaging the logistics intentionally
🎭 MQ5 – "Tinder in the Dust"
A skirmish breaks out during a guard shift: goblin raiders attack a forward shaft. The fight is brief—but it's clear this was only a probe.
Events:
PCs may fight or choose to hold the line somewhere else
Wounded miners describe attackers that knew the layout of the shaft
Hook:
A dying goblin clutches a map of Skoii Skax supply routes, with one depot circled in red ink
🎭 MQ6 – "The Fire Before the Storm"
The town's leadership quietly begins to panic. Mercs are on edge. Civilians start fleeing. Tensions between miners and guards spark fistfights. PCs are caught in the middle.
Choices:
Help organize defenses in exchange for coin—or protection
Investigate the depot marked by the goblin
Discover a company official planning to abandon the town and flee with the Helium-3 profits
Climactic Reveal:
A company freighter is being prepared in secret—only select “essential personnel” are being taken. Everyone else? Left behind.
🎭 MQ7 – "Dust and Flame"
PCs are asked to lead—or support—a final defensive line in preparation for the inevitable raid.
Choices:
Stand with the miners
Defend the corporations for better pay
Strike out and ambush the incoming raiders preemptively
Use this chaos as a chance to disappear again
Foreshadowing:
A strange insignia is spotted on one orc’s armor—“Obsidian Legion”
A dark new name begins to circulate… “The Death Matron is watching.”