Welcome to the Grid
🎭 MQ1 – “Merc Welcome Orientation”
After being flagged as newcomers, the party is forcibly enrolled in an official orientation process—an absurd, bureaucratic, and occasionally life-threatening series of mini-tests meant to “prepare” new mercs for life in Al Quasaran.
Subquests:
“Signed in Blood, Ink Optional” – PCs must register with the local merc network and undergo biometric tagging. They may choose between a digital ID, a branded glyph, or a mildly cursed soup bowl that knows their secrets.
“Questionable Contract Scenarios” – Orientation includes multiple-choice quiz questions. Wrong answers are met with sarcastic holograms, or minor magical zaps.
“Welcome Video from Hell” – Watch a mandatory propaganda reel hosted by a masked figure with an eternal smile. It covers important rules like “Don’t duel the soup vendor” and “Familiars have rights (and sometimes fangs).”
Comedic Hooks:
NPCs ask bizarre questions: “What if I marry my summon and then duel it for custody?”
PCs can meet fellow newcomers, like a druid who thinks vending machines are gods, or a goblin lawyer with four fake licenses.
🎭 MQ2 – “A Tour of Poor Life Decisions”
The PCs explore District Venomspire and nearby hotspots, guided by Vollken and Exalos’ questionable memory and worse taste.
Subquests:
“Menu Roulette” – Party eats at a bar where the food fights back (literally). Players must make CON saves or be mildly possessed by spicy spirits.
“Performance Review” – PCs witness (or interrupt) a public duel between a bard and their ex-agent. Optional: PC is pulled in as the third wheel/musical backup.
“That’s a Familiar?” – A pet adoption market spirals into chaos when one of the animals bonds with a PC… and refuses to leave.
Lore Hooks:
Introduce Venomspire as a hub of gossip, side jobs, and Kumokuni's first observation of PC.
Rumors of Hellions, Krey Industry, and Kumokuni shadow agents buzz in whispers and drunken rants.
🎭 MQ3 – “Paperwork and Purgatory”
Time to make it official. The party visits Vultaire Armatura HQ to register as a formal contract group. But nothing here is simple.
Subquests:
“The Grid Never Sleeps” – Players encounter a chaotic atrium full of merc factions, bounties, and digital/analog contract postings—including weird jobs like “escort a sentient chicken” or “duel a rogue exorcist who thinks he’s a ghost.”
“Optional Insurance Plan” – PCs are offered completely useless benefits. Some quotes include:
“Emotional damage deductible: not covered.”
“Dental: only if you find your own teeth.”“Goblin Line” – Lose your ID chip? Too bad. You now wait in line with the goblins. Roll for psychological endurance.
Emotional RP Hook:
PC should share about their stories. Other PCs may reveal similar backstories. This is the “we’re building something together” chapter.
🎭 MQ4 – “The Streets Have Teeth”
After a false sense of calm, a sudden public duel erupts in the streets outside the party’s bunkhouse. The city watches—and judges.
Subquests:
“Public Divorce” – A merc breaks up with their partner via combat. PC intervention is optional, but spectators love drama.
“Catch the Summon” – A summoned beast escapes into the market mid-argument. PCs may wrangle it before it eats someone—or gets elected as mayor by goblin onlookers.
Lore Hooks:
Kumokuni observers take note of Fenix’s powers.
A bounty hunter from Eclipse Aeterna gives the PCs a nod—and a warning.
🎭 MQ5 – “Buy-In, Sell-Out”
(aka: Welcome to the Wild Mall)
After orientation, the party is invited to a Contractor’s Showcase in the Atrium of Acquisition—a marketplace/arena where factions, vendors, and sponsors try to recruit new blood. It’s loud, chaotic, and deeply corporate.
Subquests:
“Gear Trials” – Players can test low-tier tech from various groups. Results include: runaway limbs, talking guns, overly attached jetpacks, or a cloak that definitely flirts back.
“Sponsor Pitch” – A rep from the Krey Industry offers “sponsorship.” Their pitch is full of charm, veiled threats, and glowing case studies. PCs may accept, delay, or investigate.
“Small Print, Big Teeth” – An aggressive contract merchant tries to “accidentally” bind a PC to a five-year soul-extraction clause. Legal combat ensues.
Lore Hooks:
Krey cyberware is cheap and aggressive. Kumokuni chips are refined and illegal. A whisper mentions: “Kumokuni doesn’t sell. They embed.”
Some factions try to sway the party toward registered merc compliance, while others hint at going off-grid.
🎭 MQ6 – “Steelbound History”
(aka: The Museum of Violent Accounting)
The party visits the Hall of Doctrine—a VR-powered lore gallery showing the rise of Vultaire Armatura. It’s part museum, part propaganda, part threat.
Subquests:
“Memory Fragments” – The exhibits are interactive. PCs relive key moments as actors in past mercenary history (e.g., a guild duel, a tribunal execution, or the day ceasefire protocol was signed over a bloodstained teacup).
“The Audited Dead” – A hidden wing reveals rogue Dämmerlichts and guilds who were erased. PCs may hear whispers from these echoes, or find a familiar name on the list…
“The Court of No Appeal” – PCs watch a reenactment of an Arbitration Court case. If they step in to argue for mercy… they might be sucked into the trial as witnesses.
Lore Hooks:
Vultaire doesn’t control war. It invoices it. The party learns how the “license to kill” is literally regulated like a driver’s permit.
They discover that all merc reputations are scored, and that breaking even one clause can get them bounty-flagged… instantly.
PCs may glimpse a redacted file: “RETRIEVERS – FAILED INITIATIVES – CASE 017: Draas, Exalos”. Uh oh.
🎭 MQ7 – “Live Steel, Living Code”
(aka: Upgrade Me Daddy)
The party is taken to a high-tier Vultaire facility where Dämmerlicht-class options are reviewed. They’re given the option to test advanced tech… but not all of it is legal.
Subquests:
“Grey-Market Showroom” – A contact offers access to Kumokuni prototype chips. PCs may learn these were never meant for outsiders. Installation includes a psionic echo of a dead host. Hello?
“Chip Roulette” – One PC volunteers for a low-tier implant and temporarily gains buffs… and hallucinations of unknown glyphs. Or the taste of copper. Or insight into PC’s barrier signature.
“Retired But Not Quiet” – A former Dämmerlicht survivor in hiding warns the PCs: “The chip remembers more than you do. And it burns if you lie to it.”
Lore Hooks:
Kumokuni chips use bio-synch resonance and tie into psionic identity markers—basically, soulprints.
Vultaire pretends to outlaw Kumokuni tech but covertly buys it via black contracts.
Rumor: a Kumokuni-trained Shinku Variant recently assassinated a Vultaire overseer—and no one saw them enter or leave.