Vaporius

“What a man believes is more important than what he does. False belief undoes the virtue of any endeavor, and consumes the greatest of achievements.”
–from the speeches of Saint Drusus
All that is known of Vaporius and its strange people is gathered
from rumors that circulate in Port Wander, Footfall, and
wherever explorers and renegades gather. The tales point to a primitive and backward feudal society
with naught but sand, dehydration, and death. Those that
dig deeper hear other, more interesting rumors that say
the waters of Vaporius are precious for a reason, and a rare
treasure worth crossing the Expanse to plunder.
Vaporius is said to be a world of red deserts, gleaming turquoise seas and great cities
of copper towers, enameled domes, and sprawling buildings
covered in brightly colored tiles of glass, metal, and ceramic.
The human population of Vaporius is tall, with proud, almost
feline features, and eyes of brilliant cyan. They move about
their cities in robes of shimmering fabric that subtly changes
hue as they move. The rule of Vaporius is reputed to lie in the
hands of Priest-Kings who control the distribution of water
that is held as a divine force of life. It is said that decades ago a
clutch of missionaries voyaged to Vaporius to break the rule of
the Priest Kings. Nothing more was heard of them apart from
whispers of torture, slaughter, and blood.
Despite its arid and desolate landscape, Vaporius is not without its treasures, and
travelers to this remote world speak of ancient technological
wonders buried far out amongst the sands and the rare and
special properties of the precious waters themselves, blessed
by the Priest-Kings. There is even tell of a special mission by
the Ministorum to turn the world to the path of the Emperor,
hidden somewhere under the very noses of the Kings.
==Rise of the Priest-Kings==
"Water is the lifeblood of any world, it flows through the veins of the earth feeding the righteous and drowning the wicked. So it has always been, so it will always be."
–Kalmera Vors, Keeper of the Winds of Atar
The origins of Vaporius are not known to the Imperium,
though it is likely that in a time of expansion millenniums
past it was settled by colonists pushing forth the boundaries of
mankind’s dominion. Over the centuries, however, isolation,
the harsh environment of their world and the nature of man
himself has seen their society degenerate into a feudal world
of harsh laws and strict obedience to so-called divine rulers.
This rigid caste system is based on the distribution and use
of the world’s precious water supplies. On Vaporius a man’s
worth is measured in water, and water is distributed only
by the will of the Priest-Kings.
The Keepers, ancient adepts of wisdom and law,
tell tales of the coming of man to Vaporius and
the rise of the Priest-Kings. It is said that in
the time before time, man landed in the
desert and tried to turn this world green. Even today, they
say travelers can see evidence of this folly from the petrified
desert forests to the vast trenches where rivers were meant to
have flowed. The failure of these first men was not because
their technology was flawed or even that they lacked the will
to change the red deserts, but that they failed to understand
why Vaporius was a desert and where the water had gone. For
centuries, the first men toiled and failed, were born and died,
their bones parched by the great suns of dawn, noon, and
dusk. Over time, their machines broke down, and they were
forced to live as nomads wandering from the sun-washed
mountains to the poisonous cyan seas.
It was during this age of death that the first Priest-Kings
rose to power. Born of the first men, the Priest-Kings looked
different to their parents; taller, with distinctive features some
would describe as feline and liquid blue eyes. They also had
a gift, the gift to find water beneath the desert and call it
forth. How this was possible, or why, are not things that
are remembered or asked by the inhabitants of Vaporius. It
quickly became enough that these sons of the first men could
create life where there was none and those that could not
flocked to their sides. It also became rapidly apparent that
the springs did not maintain themselves, and each required a
Priest-King to keep it flowing. Great cities of glass, tile, and
copper (one of the few metals on Vaporius) grew up around
the places where a Priest-King would call forth water and
make his home. These cities were both places to live and
monuments to the glory of the Priest-King and his spring.
Today, centuries after the rise of the Priest-Kings, their
power and lineage are maintained through careful breeding
and the attention of ancient royal families. Conflict between
the Priest-Kings is rare, given the distance between the cities
and the lack of resources to fight over. Recent events have
strengthened the alliances between the cities, namely the
coming of missionaries to Vaporius from beyond the sky,
preaching the notion of a divine being more powerful even
than the Priest-Kings. This is something that could shake the
foundations of their world and concerns the Priest-Kings.
==Parched Earth==
Vaporius is one vast desert, broken up by continent-spanning
mountain ranges, gigantic parched basins filled with dust and
sand, and a handful of dead seas, too salty to support any
life. Survival only seems possible near the springs and within
the thrall of the Priest-Kings. However, there is more life out
in the desert than explorers might expect. Key regions of
Vaporius include:
The Cities of Glass
Numbering in the hundreds, the
glass cities of the Priest-Kings litter the desert like discarded
jewels. Always hundreds of kilometers apart (lest the influence
of one King clash with another), they are linked by well-worn
tracks and caravan trails across the dust plains. Grand in
spectacle and epic in design, the cities are mostly self sufficient,
organized around the great divine wells at their centers. Farms
are fed by a latticework of aqueducts and canals, while deep
pits and cool caves hide the glass foundries and copper forges
from the sun. Over time, different cities have begun to create
their own goods, promoting trade between the Kings, such as
the weave-cloaks of Vyr or the wind-gems of Atar, but for the
most part they remain isolated. One of the cities on Vaporius is called Meh’phi and its Priest-King is Heris, known for telling great (and long) tales of his hunting exploits in the deep deserts, particularly of the sand tigers. Another city is Tyniss, and south of it are deserts of azure color.
The Sky Mountains
Like broad scars across the land,
the mountains of Vaporius crisscross the plains and divide the
world into vast dust bowls. The mountains are also strangely
devoid of settlement, and in all the history of Vaporius, no
King has ever created a city in their shadow. Keepers say that
this is because the mountains hold no water beneath their
rocky roots, and the ground is hard and unforgiving to the
hand of man. Others, however, whisper that this is not the
case at all, and in fact it is because the mountains are filled
with monsters made of rock that crush the strongest men
to paste.
The Dead Seas
Brilliant turquoise and cyan seas dot the
surface of Vaporius like tiny puddles of rain. From a distance
they appear inviting and cool, a welcome respite from the
endless leagues of desert. However, they are dead places, their
waters toxic to life and their touch caustic to flesh. Travelers
deliberately avoid these places, where a sudden wind can
bring about a burning and blinding acid rain.
The Ocean of Dust
Beyond the Sky Mountains, the
glass cities, and the sandy plains stretches the Ocean of Dust,
a seemingly endless valley hemmed in on all sides by towering
cliffs. As the Keepers tell it, the Ocean of Dust was once a
true ocean, much like the dead seas, and the first men even
fashioned boats to sail across it. What they found and why the
sea vanished remains a mystery, as travelers do not venture into
the ocean, for there is nothing there but death and thirst.
The Temple of the First Men
Legends speaks of the
ships the first men used to sail to Vaporius and of the first great
temple they built to honor their gods. Even the Priest-Kings
send out expeditions from time to time, chasing rumors of this
place, tempted by stories of ancient technology and off-world
wealth. For travelers to Vaporius the temple could prove quite
a prize, if even half the stories of its wonders are true.
==The Thralls of Vaporius==
Most of the inhabitants of Vaporius are loyal servants of the
Priest-Kings, tied to them by bonds of service and survival.
At first glance, they are much like the humans of any Imperial
world, though closer inspection reveals their distinctly
feline features and deep-set cyan eyes, adapted for the harsh
brightness of their world. Vaporians are also typically hairless,
their bronzed skin smooth and unblemished. Of course, they
seldom show their skin outside, favoring robes of many-hued
glass beads over shimmering cloth, which glitter and
tinkle as they move.
At the top of Vaporian culture stand the Priest-Kings and
their royal families. Seldom seen outside their grand palaces,
and almost never outside the boundaries of their cities, the
inhabitants of Vaporius view them as no less than gods,
divine beings with power over water and thus the ability
to grant life or death. The truth, however, is more sinister,
and if one were to sneak into the glimmering halls of the
King they would come back with visions of debauchery
and sadism, where the noble-blooded, possessing ultimate
power over their cities, give in to the worst of humanity’s
vices. Some Imperial visitors, travelling incognito to the glass
cities, have brought back even more disturbing stories and
theories about the nature of the Priest-Kings. One such tale
is from the Navigator Elyee Vil, who went there aboard the
far trader Spirit of Humility. A keen psychic sensitive, Vil came
to believe the Priest-Kings were psykers, with some kind of
power over the waters of Vaporius, which were themselves
somehow sentient. Worse still he found their psychic taint
in every living soul within the glass cities, leading him to
believe this was how they somehow held the whole world in
under their spell.
Below the Kings are the Thrall Castes. These can be
roughly broken up into five groups: Cutters, Shapers,
Scavengers, Breeders, and Water Children. Cutters are the
soldiers of Vaporius, robust men and women chosen for their
size and aggression. For the most part they act as an internal
police force, though they can be gathered together to protect
the city borders. Shapers are craftsmen and women, working
mostly in copper and glass but also cloth, reed, limestone,
and bone. They have a respected position in the cities, where
their skills are valued by the Priest-Kings. Scavengers are
the recyclers of the cities, ensuring that nothing is ever put
to waste. Like the rats of ancient Terra, they scurry below
the streets collecting and cataloguing the detritus of the
people. Scavengers are also the first to be called upon when
an expedition beyond the city walls is required. Breeders are
the farmers of the cities, growing crops and tending to the
small lizards and birds brought to Vaporius by the First Men.
Finally there are the Water Children, sacrifices reared by the
city and offered up to the Priest-King so that he may keep the
spring eternally flowing. How they perform this task or why
the King needs them is unknown, but to be a Water Child
is to live a life of privilege and comfort---at least until they
reach maturity and are called to their King.
Though the Kings and the thralls of their cities never admit
it, there are those that live outside the dominion of the Priest-
Kings. They are known as the Sandmen, and can primarily be
found in the Sky Mountains, if they want to be found at all.
How they survive is not known, though rumors talk of vast
limestone caves in the mountains, and deep wells free of
the taint of the Priest-Kings. If the Sandmen have a goal
it is also unknown, though they are sometimes seen
at night watching the cities from afar.
==Don’t Drink the Water...==
The waters of Vaporius have a power over all who drink them, and the more you drink the greater its hold
becomes.
The First Drink: A feeling of euphoria sweeps through the drinker and his mind is calmed. Fear and shock effects are
ignored for 1d5 hours and Talents such as Frenzy or those that require a heightened emotional state cannot be used.
The Second Drink: Fear and doubt are completely replaced by contentment and a feeling of safety even in the face
of obvious danger. As above, Talents such as Frenzy or those that require a heightened emotional state cannot be used.
Finally the drinker gains the Fearless Talent for 2d10 hours as well as immunity to Insanity Point gain.
The Third Drink: Nothing matters but this feeling. In addition to all the effects of the second drink, which now
persist for 1d5 days, the drinker must make a Hard (–20) Willpower Test to resist continuing to drink the water
of Vaporius.
Those who continue to drink the water for more than a week finally succumb to their full effects and fall into the
thrall of the Priest-Kings, becoming tranquil and suggestive to any commands given by one of the royal line. In addition
they will work tirelessly and without complaint, completely content in their lot and happy to help those around them,
even should it mean working their fingers to bloody stumps and toiling until their hearts finally fail. Sadly this is the
state of most that dwell on Vaporius, under the ‘protection’ of the Priest-Kings.
==Ansai, Priest-King of the Glass City of Lah’ndan==
Ansai is the Priest-King of the city
of Lah’ndan and therefore its absolute ruler. In appearance,
the Priest-King Ansai is quite striking,
his face lean and his deep blue eyes
wide-set and penetrating. His head is
bald, and covered with intricately
painted, swirling patterns of red and
purple. Ansai holds court from a throne
of luxurious cushions, on which he and
his attendants sprawl languidly while
courtiers and sycophants cluster all
around to pander to his every need. His
demeanor is at all times polite and
languid, and he does not raise his voice
or allow himself to become agitated.
This languorous persona is a façade
however. Ansai has a keen intellect,
and harbors, as do all Priest-Kings,
a powerful psychic talent, albeit one
which the Explorers may not recognize as
such. He is also the absolute ruler of
his city, and possesses supreme self-confidence.
All his responses are colored
accordingly---he expects deference,
is unimpressed by threats, and is
disinterested in bargaining.
Recently, he has learned that the Imperial Missionarius have created a mission out in the desert, from which they seek to convert people to the worship of the God-Emperor of Mankind. He desires them to be stopped, but does not yet know how this can be done, but he is more than willing to bargain some of his precious water to those who would rid him of these pests.
==Sand Tigers==
“Just what we needed. Something else to kill us in this Emperor-forsaken desert.”
–Howin Smythe, Huntmaster
Sand Tigers are native to the world of Vaporius on the far
edges of the Heathen Stars, a parched, bronzed world dotted
by brilliant (and poisonous) turquoise and cyan seas. The
world is mostly desert, vast stretches of sand and dust broken
by jagged mountain chains. The Sand Tiger makes its home
amongst those inhospitable stretches of wasteland dunes.
Roughly half again the size of a man, the Sand Tiger is
a ferocious and solitary predator. Its semi-silicate physical
composition allows it to survive the nearly waterless
environment it lives in, going for months or even years
without any liquid besides that which it can take from its
prey. The Sand Tiger is an ambush predator, burying itself
in dunes two to three meters below the ground. Once it has
dug its burrow, it agitates the sand around it with its powerful
digging claws, loosening it. Then it waits, using a multitude
of bristling hairs along its back to sense minute vibrations
in the desert sands. If an individual is unfortunate enough
to walk over the place where the creature is buried, it sinks
into the loose and shifting sands, the Sand Tiger hastening
its descent with further frantic digging. Soon the prey finds
itself in a conical pit with the Sand Tiger’s hungry maw at
the bottom. The creature descends on its prey and shreds it
with its claws and circular, tooth-ringed orifice, draining it
of bodily fluids before eating the choicest bits of meat and
leaving the rest to rot beneath the sands.
The Sand Tiger prefers to wait for its prey to fall into its
trap before attacking. It ferociously fights anything that ends
up in the pit it has dug, only fleeing if severely wounded.
If the prey escapes the pit trap, a hungry or enraged Sand
Tiger pursues them away from its nest. In this case, it prefers
to burrow underground to attack from beneath the sands,
but runs on open ground if need be. Prey is often scarce in
the desert, so a Sand Tiger may pursue a target for dozens
of kilometers before giving up. If, on the other hand, the
Sand Tiger’s prey attacks it from a particularly advantageous
position (for example, from the lip of its own pit with ranged
weaponry), the creature flees quickly, burrowing into the
sand to escape attack. The Sand Tiger is an ambush predator
primarily, and prefers to avoid a straight-up fight.
Flesh and Crystal
Despite the ferocious and elusive nature of the creature, the
real draw for game hunters and adventurers is rooted in the
Sand Tiger’s semi-silicate nature. The creature’s skeleton is
made entirely of translucent, rose-tinted crystal, comprised of a
molecular structure that no member of the Adeptus Mechanicus
has been able to replicate. The haunting beauty and utter rarity
of a Sand Tiger’s skeleton makes it an exquisite and highly-valued
trophy. A single tooth or claw is incredibly valuable---a
complete skeleton could buy a Fury Interceptor.
The risk one takes to kill these beasts while leaving the
skeleton intact only increases their value. Even if the skeleton
is unharmed in the effort, removing it from the flesh is also an
effort as the two bond on a near molecular level, possibly part
of how the crystalline bones are formed. Attempts to grow
the creatures in captivity have failed so far, even those done
on Vaporius to ensure nothing is remiss in the special sands or
atmosphere. The beasts grow normally, but never form their
signature silicate endoskeleton, only soggy bones that easily
break into segments of pulpy flesh.
Tales From Vaporius
One of the more popular stories told by voidfarers well in their
cups is the tale of Magos Du’Bane. The Thulian Explorator is
said to have travelled to Vaporius, where he became enthralled
by the biological makeup of the wildlife there. The semi-silicate
nature of certain native creatures such as the Dwellers
in the Heights interested him, but the crystalline skeleton of
the Sand Tiger truly fascinated the Magos. He spent weeks in
the cities of various Priest-Kings, boring them to no end with
his experiments and postulations.
Finally, desperate to be rid of the tiresome Tech-Priest, one
of the Priest-Kings sponsored an expedition into the deep
desert, so Du’Bane might find specimens. The tales all agree
that Du’Bane found Sand Tigers, and became convinced that
he could use a sonic amplifier to resonate with their crystal
bones, drawing them from great distances to the machine.
The last anyone heard about him, he was travelling into the
deepest dune seas, seeking a suitable site to test his device.
His arranged transport finally departed without him, but
curiously was later paid the balance of the agreed on fee
along with a substantial bonus.
Of course, most assume this is simply a story, designed to prize
a few free drinks from the gullible in the Calixis Sector eager
for tales of the fearsome and dangerous Expanse. Some hold it
contains a measure of truth, however, and several expeditions
have nearly been organized to seek out Du’Bane’s last resting
place. A Sand Tiger lure would seem to be a guaranteed way to
make immense profit---if one ignored the danger of hundreds
of ravenous predators converging on his location.
==Unquenched==
“Beware the deserts of Vaporius, there is more than endless sand and cruel sun out there to kill a man. Things stalk those wastes, dark, cursed things cast out from the cities and shunned by even the Priest-Kings.”
–Yrr Nirt, Scion of the Builders Temple
Only the Priest-Kings know for sure what creates the
Unquenched, or why they must be cast out rather than simply
killed (if in fact they can be killed), but they seem to have
existed for as long as the Priest-Kings have held power and
for as long as the Waters of Vaporius have flowed. There are
no formal reports concerning these beings, or at least none
that have been shared with outsiders. From what those that
have visited Vaporius have pieced together from rumor and
legend, it seems that the Unquenched are humans possessed of
psychic talent, but not of the bloodline of the Priest-Kings.
On the civilized worlds of the Imperium, such individuals
would be killed or given over to the Black Ships as per the
Will of the Emperor, but the Koronus Expanse is without
such appropriate measures to protect mankind from itself.
Vaporius lacks even the specialized control and trained adepts
to detect those with the psyker’s touch, which some worlds
of the Expanse use to keep their own populations safe from
the taint of the warp.
So, like most of the people of Vaporius, they drink from
the waters and submit to the control of their rulers, though it
is at this point the change begins, a violent taint which mixes
in their soul as the psychic dominance which flows from the
waters to the Priest-Kings is turned back upon them and
their own gifts are mangled and twisted into the abomination
known as the Unquenched.
At this point, the Priest-Kings are quick to take them,
snatching them from their beds at even the hint of corruption.
What transpires then is known only to those privy to the
innermost secrets of the glass cities, but after a time the tainted
citizen is cast out into the desert, taken far from the city and
abandoned. Whether it is the water or the ritual that starts
the process, the outcast is doomed to become an Unquenched
and roam the wastes until their very soul fades upon the wind.
However, they never stray too close to the glass cities, perhaps
another result of whatever the Priest-Kings inflict upon them,
preferring to remain lurking among the rocks and dust of the
great wastes of their desert world.
Unending Thirst
The Unquenched are at their heart psychic creatures, warped by
the foulness of the waters and transformed into something both
more and less than human tied to their dead flesh until it turns
to dust around them. Once the contagion takes them and the
waters warp their innate psychic talents, they are for all intents
and purposes dead, animating their bodies through sheer will
rather than any semblance of true life. Their psychic power
then becomes focused on the consumption of fluid and, with an
unholy compulsion, they are attracted to any kind of moisture,
be it the blood of a man or a canister of promethium. Even as
the transformation into Unquenched consumes them they retain
their intelligence and, in some cases, even their personalities if
they are strong of will. Without the means to talk (their vocal
cords and throat among the first things to fall prey to their
psychic thirst), only those with telepathic abilities or similar
means to communicate without words can reach them.
Cutting through the blinding desire of the Unquenched to
feed on liquids is difficult at best. This is especially so if the
Unquenched has been outcast for more than a year, as their
humanity erodes just like their flesh and eventually they forget
they were even men and women of the glass cities. Rumors do
persist of Unquenched that aid travelers on Vaporius if they are
well sated, their knowledge of the wastes being almost without
parallel. Others claim that the Unquenched are always aware of
each other, linked in some way by the taint which has taken their
souls, and the “younger” of their kind can warn travelers away
from the older and more monstrous Unquenched, or the places
inhabited by the spirits of those which can no longer wander.
Desert Treasures
Unquenched are also said to inhabit the deep places and caves
beneath the desert, where they burrow down into the sands
in search of underground rivers and streams. Some say that
this is also where they horde their vast accumulated treasures,
the possessions of those they drain dry, safely stored away
from desert raiders eager to quench their own thirsts.
Such deposits would certainly sate even the most rapacious
of Rogue Traders should they exist and be uncovered, leading
several expeditions into the vast depths of sand and dust,
all returning parched and empty, or not at all. The lack of
success has lead some Explorers to suppose the Unquenched
themselves are propagating these tales in a cunning effort to
drive prey to themselves, which is perhaps more likely than
surely fanciful stories of fabulous treasures in the desert.
==The Dwellers in the Heights==
The creatures that live amongst the peaks of the Sky-Mountains represent a highly unusual type of life form. They are
rarely encountered, and the humans of Vaporius fear them greatly and give the mountains a wide berth lest they invite
attack. The creatures appear to be made of animate rock, suggesting perhaps that their bodies are silicate, rather than
carbon-based in nature. A Challenging (+0) Scholastic Lore (Beasts) Test or Arduous (–40) Intelligence Test
will reveal that such a life form is highly unlikely to have evolved in the environment of Vaporius, suggesting either that
the world has undergone a dramatic change, or that the creatures were introduced, or even created artificially, in some
distant and long forgotten time.
The Dwellers in the Heights are terrifying to look upon, for they appear to defy all of the laws of nature. They exhibit
a wide range of physical types, ranging in size from one to ten meters, with three being the norm in most cases. The
creatures’ bodies appear to be made of the same stuff of the mountains in which they dwell, allowing them to lie in
ambush for intruders into their realm, bursting into sudden motion to attack without warning. In form, the creatures’
bodies are ever shifting, and they appear capable of instantly ‘growing’ whatever appendages are needed at any given
moment. Thus, if facing several enemies they will sprout a dozen or more rocky tentacles, or form their bodies into
massive, slab-like pile-drivers if faced by a single, larger foe.
It is not known what the creatures rely upon for sustenance, and they certainly do not attack other life forms in order
to prey upon them. Rather, they appear to be intent upon keeping intruders out of the Sky-Mountains, almost as if they
are obeying some deep-seated imperative seeded in their primitive, animalistic, and entirely alien minds.
A Chance for Profit
For Explorers, there are seldom situations with no opportunity for profit, and the Dwellers in the Heights are no
different. A successful Forbidden Lore (Xenos), or Common Lore (Adeptus Mechanicus) Test will reveal that the Adeptus
Mechanicus Biologis would pay well for a specimen of such a strange creature. Alternatively, the Explorers might find
some profit in selling these creatures to the Carnivoras and fighting pits of the Expanse or the nearby Calixis Sector.
Criminal organizations such as the Beast House would pay dearly for such a creature.
==Unique Equipment==
Vaporian Mirror Armor
Highly polished, lamellar plates form the peculiar skin of this
armor, worn by the sardars of the desert world of Vaporius
in the farthest Heathen Stars. The mirror-like surfaces of the
armor glitter like the facets of a diamond in the blazing sun
of the Vaporius. Crafted by master artisans, this armor is as
puissant as it is beautiful, and is particularly valued for its
effectiveness against las-weaponry.
Notoriously intolerant of newcomers and the Imperial
Creed, the Vaporians rarely trade with outsiders. However,
rumors tell of a Rogue Trader who managed to trade several
millions tonnes of water for a cargo of the shimmering fabrics
woven on Vaporius and suits of their fabled mirror armor.
The reflective surfaces of the armor can even deflect the high
intensity lasers used in lasguns.
Thanks to its mirror sheen and heat resistance, Vaporian
mirror armor provides an additional 5 AP against Energy
Damage. Due to the conspicuousness of the armor, however,
the wearer suffers a –30 penalty on all Concealment and
Silent Move Tests.
Arms, Body, Legs, AP 5, WT 15kg, Very Rare
Vaporian Glass Hawk
Hailing from the parched world of Vaporius, these copper and
glass creations are used by the Priest-Kings to keep a close eye on
their populace as well as any other goings-on in their domain.
Category:Feudal Worlds
Category:Koronus Expanse
Category:Planets
Category:Heathen Stars