Terra Incognita Tangaroa

Tangaroa (Lux Benigna IV) is a chilly planet with a marginal atmosphere (see "Spore Season") and a smallish population of mountain-valley-dwelling settlers--most commonly in the city-state of Mountainside. Every windy season, things get very strange. 
== Spore Season ==
During the "spore season", local flora release their spores en masse, causing fatigue, flashbacks, phantom voices, and even toxic damage. While generally a mere nuisance, some people of Tangaroa (and plenty of tourists) breathe these spores deliberately in an attempt to awaken psionic powers--with mixed results. While few of Tangaroa have measurable psionic abilities, a decent portion of the population has the unfounded belief that they have psionic powers. 
== Culture ==
Tangaroa was originally founded by The Holiness Church of New Damascus, with most citizens being honest, devout mystics with a dedication to the Church. Most Tangaroans refuse to gamble. The details of this church are mainly left to the GM's and players' imagination--think "rustic mountain town that got weirder and more colorful over the years".
== Industry ==
Due to Tangaroa's relatively small population and limited trade with other planets, Tangaroans maintain many "low tech" solutions for transportation.conjecture based on Economy and Transportation segments Pack mules line mountain paths and dogsleds pull supplies across town, and there's plenty of leatherworkers and animal handlers to keep everything working.
Fishing is a little more complex, as most lifeforms on Tangaroa are fairly unsavory without careful preparation. Any seafood--from the smallest jellyfish to the mighty leviathan serps are mechanically broken down. Because of this, the seafood industry is strangely high-tech, and has connections to off-world corps, whose iron grip on the fishing depots is highly contentious.
As there's little arable land, canned seafood is invaluable.conjecture
== Leviathan Serps ==
Tangaroa's largestlargest known living creatures are the leviathan serps (singular "serp")--massive, eyeless, eel-like creatures with cartilaginousmade of cartilage, like a shark's skeleton skeletons and sharp teeth. Every bar and meeting-place has its own local legend of some chance encounter with a leviathan. Even by the most conservative estimates, a mature leviathan serp can easily reach 60 feet (20 yards), and can easily bash breaches in the hull of a boat. 
== The Locals ==
* Aaron Cruz, Mountainside Churchwarden -- Liaison to the starport, cleric, law officer, and general quest manager
* Ben Ross, Mechanic -- a boyish looking man who looks vaguely like a celebrity, knows all the machines in town, and is surprisingly good with a needler rifle.
== Trivia ==
* Tangaroa gets its name from Tangaroa, a sea god in Maori mythology
*Due to the pop culture that Tangaroans have precognitive abilities, they are sometimes preemptively banned from casinos. Ironically--due to religious reasons--few Tangaroans gamble in the first place.
== Adventures ==
=== Rock of Ages ===
A geologist doing a survey of Tangaroa has discovered a fossil-rich site hundreds of miles from Mountainside, and the discovery for whatever reason, has gained the close attention of a local cult that sees the fossils as heretical creations of a malign entity. While the Mountainside scientists hire the PCs to assist in their navigation and research to the dig site via ATV, the cultists are hot on their heels, and intend to destroy the fossils when they arrive--or hopefully, arrive first.
Adding to complications, the scientist's ATV's autopilot has been hacked, and may be intentionally slowing or misdirecting the vehicle. Either way, the controls are sticky or unresponsive at times, which could be deadly if one of Tangaroa's geologically-active mountains starts an avalanche.
Finally, it's a mystery how the cultists learned of the geological site's location. A leak from a coworker, or psionics? Perhaps the claim of clairvoyance is just a misdirect to hide a cultist among the scientist team. Worse, perhaps the cultists may be right, and the fossils in the mountain's crags aren't quite so dead... 
=== Dangerous Game ===
Winter sports are popular on Tangaroa (possibly because they can be practiced throughout the year). The PCs are hired to transport a team of athletes to the sector's Winter Games. When they arrive, however, they learn that last Games' champion, Michael Garcia, has disappeared... and his wife, Eve Garcia, has been found dead in their home, shot with a 3mm needler. Garcia's rifle is also missing.
Churchwarden Aaron Cruz (see Locals heading, above) forbids any travelers from leaving the planet until Mr. Garcia is found. While Ben Ross is eager to take Michael Garcia's place, he can't join the games while under suspicion--he is one of the suspects, after all.
Now the manhunt is on--did Michael kill his wife, perhaps under the influence of this year's unseasonal sporing season, or is there something bigger going on? Perhaps an assassin framed him for the murder and he ran for the hills in a panic... or perhaps the strange voices told Michael a horrific secret about Eve, falsely or not... 
Fanon: See Homebrew: Dangerous Game 
=== Call Me Jonah ===
Marine biologists have long been interested in Tangaroa's "ancient Earth" oceans, but have only recently gotten the funding. Recently, a robot studying the planet's marine life has gone missing--its last transmitted images suggest it was was swallowed up by some leviathan. The science team, supported by the their grant-backers, are paying a high reward to anyone with the spare aquatic equipment to retrieve the expensive robot: It's still transmitting, albeit barely. If the 'bot can't be found, the whole operation will go under, and there will be a new and undiscovered ocean leviathan still left undocumented.
==Notes==
==References==
*Pyramid 3/9: Space Opera, p.31-35
Category:Pyramid Vol 3 Articles
Category:Stephen Dedman
Category:Other Planets