Stein Fjellberg's Audio-log #Zero1

Stein Fjellberg

I left my trusted truck in the hands of one of the nomad krawls, and met up with Alfred and Tor-Erik Erikssons. They needed someone that could get them inside of the quarantine zone of the Hanging Gardens – at last a worthy challenge. After some skullduggery in Elysium City they finally made a deal with the corporation called Ephemera. The result was that a tech operative joined our expedition, and of course she had no training in martian survival. There seems to be few around with my expertise, so I am certain there are credits to be made by doing this kind of stuff.

I procured the necessary vehicles for the operation from the Nomad Nation – the medicines provided by The Erikssons was more than enough to barter with. After that I did a bit of recon together with the Ephemera operative, and we found a route that was navigable by night. The intrusion went without a hitch – I guess the tags we got from Ultralohft helped a lot.

Alfred Eriksson and the operative got us inside the dome, and from there it was just a question of running fast enough. I am have no idea how, but the local AI seemed to have some kind of control of the inhabitants by the injection of some kind of virtual drug. They were mostly harmless as long as we kept our distance. In the end The Erikssons found what they were looking for, and we actually got away with the data slates - and we did not need to kill too many of the flesh drones?  Hopefully they can use what we found...

Picture source: http://cghub.com/images/view/124367/

Stein Fjellberg (geologist, prospector and ranger):

Image: Stein Fjellberg is a little bit under average height, but his frame is powerful in a wiry kind of way. His face is battered by the unforgiving Martian weather, but most of it is hidden behind a well-groomed beard. He usually wears rough clothing made of hypertech wool suited for cold weather, and a survival suit made by the nomads. Around his neck there is always a breather mask. He smells of metallic earth and old tobacco. It’s hard to judge his age, but probably around his mid-thirties.

Roleplaying Notes:  He is a man used to be alone for long periods of time, so he can be a little bit rough around the edges when he is with strangers. He also more or less constantly mumbles to himself, something that his surroundings often find irritating. He always try to be polite, even if he doesn’t know how – something that makes him seem more humble than he actually is.

Background & Faction (Drifter & Brinker): He was born in an outpost in the Martian wilderness, the same one that he today calls his home – though he spends most of his time driving around in the Martian outbacks looking for valuable minerals and metals. His family has never taken any interest in the intrigues that plagues the domed cities of Mars. Instead they have sought the quiet peace of the cold desert, and the freedom that comes with it.

The only considerable amount of time he has spent in a city was when he studied at the university. These days he only infrequently visits when he has to do business with one of the hypercorps.  His parents died a couple of years ago, but he his married to a biologist and they have two children together. They are all a part of a bigger collective – managing the outpost by communal effort.

Aptitudes: COG 10, COO 20, INT 15, REF 15, SAV 10, SOM 25 (5), WILL 15

Stats: MOX 1/1 , TT 5, LUC 30, IR 60, WT 8, DUR 40, DR 60, INIT 60, SPD 1, DB3

Morph: Martian Alpiner.

Active skills: Climbing 95 (10), Clubs 75 (staff), Demolitions 50, Fray 50, Free fall 50, Freerunning 60, Hardware (Ground vehicle) 60 (repair), Infiltration 50, Interfacing 55, Kinetic Weapons 60, Navigation 65, Networking (Nomads) 50, Networking (Hypercorps) 40, Networking (Academics) 30, Perception 50, Pilot (Gound vehicle) 75, Protocol 50 (Nomads), Research 45, Scrounging 50, Swimming 55, Unarmed Combat 55. 

Knowledge skills: Academics (geology) 60, Academics (geography) 40, Art (carving stone) 50, Interests (mountaineering) 60, Interest (Martian nomads) 40, Interest (runes) 30, Interests (caveneering) 50, Languages (Norse) 70, Languages (english) 50, Languages (french) 40, Languages (arabic) 40, Profession (survival) 70, Profession (prospecting) 70.

Reputations: @-rep 10, c-rep 10, e-rep 15, r-rep 15.

Traits: None.

Weapons: Old kinetic hunting rifle, elektrostaff and old bowie knife.

Amour: Survival suit made by Martian nomads.

Cybernetic: None.

Gear: Basic but sturdy equipment for climbing cliffs and exploring caves, a big tracked vehicle and other stuff you need to find and excavate minerals and metals.

Road trip - session report

After five weeks the family decided it was time to act, and they were persuaded by Stein Fjellberg to travel the martian desert - looking for replicants and nomads. After a week in the geologist's truck they found an old safe-shelter, where a group of replicants had taken refugee. Herding them was easier said than done, especially due to an unknown phenomena making a very high pitch sound. A mysterious hole was found in the back of the complex, leading into an unexplored cave.

Here follows the players own recollections of the previous session; tuesday 28th of february at ISOTOP art studio:

Idunn's rant:

It was a glorious day for adventure as we set out from the NY. Hail was pounding hard on Stein Fjellberg's trusted vehicle, and T-E, Munin and I were comfortably slouching in the trailer, while the Big Man and Little Brother were piloting beside the Geologist. We settled in for a long ride of tall tales and high spirits just as the Glorious God of Sun sent her blazing rays down to play abstract cinema on the inside of the trailer. ‎

"We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine and a whole multicolored collection of uppers, downers, laughers, screamers . . . Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls."
H.S. Thompson

Can you hear Willie Nelson singing "On the road again"? We were off to the Desert. Hold the Storm.

Alfred Eriksson:

Finally the family leaves their bubble of everyday life to explore the vast surface of the planet. The spectacular scenery of the desolate Mars makes a great impression on Alfred, as he rides shotgun with the guide. The first miles out were filled with nanotrees that increases Mars' general temperature...spectacular indeed. When the neon fibers fades the rock we live on reveals itself as a place no man should thread. Fjellbekk didn’t seem to worry too much about that, and the rambling in the back made a comforting soundtrack to the long drive. Alfred spent most of the days, while not driving, looking in to binoculars and discussing various aspects of the landscape with the new family friend.

How things got from checking out Munin II, to gathering runaway replicants is a mystery, but nevertheless the complex checks out to be a potential replicant pez dispenser. The hole in the back of the complex is potentially made by martian lifeforms, but the studies of the hole so far has given no clues what so ever as to what and when it was made. Alfred is determined to bring in more equipment and make a new outpost for the family affairs here. Gathering intel on Munin II and make a listening post for traffic coming in and out of Kalmar. If it is out of reach for Allfader it could be a perfect arrangement for the Eriksson agency.

Research logg entry Tor-Erik:

Moral qualms on replicant hearding dismissed. Speciments less human than primates. Scientific finds considrable: of 6 captured pods all infected with nano-virus of same structure as me. Evidence indicate connection to psi powers.

Suspicion of unknown psi mastermind supported by strong hive-like behaviour of pods and mind numbing attack upon entry in facility.

Personal injury. Fringer guide Fjellskrent has massive trauma.

Alfreds spherical camerafriend used to explore natural grotto behind hole in compound structure. Processing data and assessing situation before further action.

Personal note: Psi-attack released deep rooted scenarios of fear in own subconsious, perhaps better left alone. Images of tentacled things-that-must-not be stirs my sanity. Need to rescheduel talk with dr. Niemann upon return.

Munin-1: Journal entry 4:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Desert excursion. First stop, secure and re-domesticate replicant assets from abandoned domes in the desert. Replicants in Shelter #31 show surprising emergent group behaviour ...and high frequency of "p-mutation" - a mutation shared with Dr. Tor-Erik Eriksson. Found artificially created hole in wall, leading into cave. Indicates replicants are directed by self preservation and surprising intelligence. Will investigate further.

FULL ENTRY:
Headed out from the city in buggy with trailer. Passed through the solar harvesting fields where replicants where busy planting nano- engineered solar harvesting rods. Landscape rougher about one day out. We decided to try to start out with re-domesticating some replicants, sending them back to a Erikkson controlled facility, before we sought out the nomadic tribes. According to Stein Fjellberg, the nomads hunt replicants -- it seemed prudent to not show up at one of their camps with replicants in tow.
First destination was an abandoned facility, Shelter #31. Similar to research structure/bunker complex that the family controls out in the desert. However #31 is in a sorry state of disrepair. No automated killer drone on guard. Entry proved easy. At the facility, around two dozen feral replicants were holed up. Initially re-domestication went without incident -- but after Dr. Eriksson had tranquilized half a dozen specimen, an ill-advised warning shot sent the group into panic. The doctor took a hit from an improvised crossbow and went down.
Around this time most of the group were affected by what they described as a "loud, keening noise on the edge of hearing". The "noise" triggered nausea and headaches, and grew seemingly stronger the further into the facility the affected attempted to go. Stein Fjellberg was entirely overcome by the signal and passed out. There was no audio signal. The situation is now temporarily under control, after all the replicants that were not tranquilized escaped through a strange hole in the back wall of the complex, leading into a cave formation.
The hole looked similar to that made by a termite or other burrowing insect, only about 1 meter in diameter. We have started mapping the cave with concussion grenades and sonar mapping devices. The doctor got enough blood samples to identify several cases of the so-called "p-strain" mutation -- thought to be responsible for the doctors psi-like abilities. Based on this evidence along with the apparent intelligence directing the replicants, I theorize that the mutated individuals in this replicant "colony" mesh together in a way that results in a hive-like mind with greater intelligence than any one individual.

We agreed to pay Stein Fjellberg with copies and access to the latest geological survey maps. Fjellberg makes most of his income working as prospector, searching for heavy metals and rare minerals brought to Mars by asteroids early in the planets history.

APPENDIX:
While doing research on the legal ramifications of re-domesticating replicants, I came across a reference to the introduction of the Kinship principle in New Kalmar law. The first introduction of kinship law stems back to the re purposing of old viking principles regarding trell ownership as guiding principles for the ownership of replicants. This first introduction of old Norse law opened the door to what is now taken as fundamental jurisprudence in New Kalmar.
As to current law for replicants, any "found" replicant that is registered to a New Kalmar owner, either a person or a corporation, should be returned to said owner. Custom dictates that a finders fee is paid to the entity that returns the replicant. The size of the fee is usually either 10% of the prize for purchasing a new replicant of similar make and breeding, or 20% of expected resell value, if there is problems identifying the price of a new specimen.
For replicants not domestically owned, any found replicants is considered property of the finder. Similar rules holds for all jurisdictions on New Kalmar, often leading blade runners to smuggle replicants across borders before resale, claiming that they were found in a jurisdiction other than where they were registered. The smuggling of replicants is a serious offence in all jurisdictions, sometimes carrying similar penalties as treason, due to the shortage of replicants on Mars, and their great need in public building projects. Another method that is less often used, is to forge buy/sell-orders for the replicants. When these cross several jurisdictions, it can be hard to prove that a replicant is not found in a different area, or is in fact stolen property.

Session report - WEBs

The five next weeks were uneventful, and the family had finally some  time to breath and do some much needed boring bureaucratic work. Though there were a couple of matters that needed their attention, during those five weeks. First, Leif Eriksson had some news on his research on geneseeds - it would not be enough with a sample of blood. They needed to take the sample from the original seed. It raised the question again how to obtain it. Second, A-Web seemed to have put their evil eye on The Erikssons, and no one knew why - a sit-down with the anarchists seemed to be the best idea. Lastly, a geologist called Stein Fjellberg had some information about Munin-2, and what else to find in the martian wilderness.


Here follows the players own recollections of the previous session; tuesday 28th of february at ISOTOP art studio:

Tor Erik Eriksson – notes for a case-history: After Moon-brother executed the captive russian agent Tor Erik almost burnt the remains to dust. Luckily he was advised to do a post-mortem focusing on the unique brain mesh of the russians. Recruiting Munin-1 to assist both with research and scientific input, the better part of five weeks was put into a confidential report designed to convince the Eriksson representative in N.E.R.A (the now executive power of Nkal-Mars), that a small river of funds should be diverted into the ongoing development of artificial memory implants (also known as cortical stack technology). This tech is a necessary step towards corporal migration (body change), which in turn Tor Erik sees as his true scientific calling.

Parallell to this glorius triumph of mankind the degenerates of A-WEB desides to interviene in the construction of the Eriksson tower in Elyseum. Based on the notion that our revenge on ByteBoi was uncalled for, and that the collateral therefore was coldhearted, this bunch of genetic-waste put sand in the logistics. Naturally a sit-down was arranged, but despite considerable effort the dreck wouldnt hear reason or just cause. What ignorance! Brilliant sister Idunn saves the day by leaning on photo-artist friend Spider-lily who enjoys standing among the filth.

Usual whine from unresolved boy-genius Leif. He is taken out and get layed - but needs firm hand to become legend.

More whine from Mr. Heim on issues of no importance.

New intel on NEMESIS MUNIN-2: apparently lives as desert messia among the unwanted nomad tribes. A worthy opponent indeed, shortsighted family kin wants to engage immediately. Reluctant.
More interresting intel: Hanging Gardens in quaranteene after AI-melt down. Local humans behaving irradic as if under direct influence by survival mode AI gone dream lord. Pure cyber-zombie gehenna -----> really need to collect some data on this, even the Commonwealth is pissing their pants.

Alfred Erikson:
Alfred is finally sorting things out. The new agency he is building has started to take shape. During the five weeks that goes by, he oversees the construction of a secret bunker in woods of the family farm. It is a 30 square meters of underground storage. With his companion that shall remain nameless he hopes to establish a solid web of agents. My brothers and sisters underestimation of the A-web has finally shattered. Alfred seems to be the only one of the siblings that recognizes the shady part of the operation they run. A-web is of great importance to his ability to conduct good deals in trans-national smuggling schemes. The 40 000 investment established a good arsenal of unregistered guns and untraceable surveillance gear. The last two weeks of the time that passes, Alfred travels a bit as a smuggler in the American pipeline sorting out types of goods and looking for a good agent to recruit.

As for the past events there is not much to be told really. The Erikson diplomacy should maybe be a little less hostile. Moonbrother thinks that it is a bad idea that the hanging garden problem isn’t sorted out before the other, as he sees this problem as a growing one. This nomad trip is also of great importance, but in his opinion that can wait.


Munin-I: Journal entry 3, post emancipation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A-Web has revealed itself to be a potential obstacle to company expansion. Plan in place to take control. Russian and Commonwealth technology appear to provide two separate pieces of puzzle needed to develop cortical stack technology. Massive fund request sent to NERA. Munin-II appear to have arrived along with French-African nomad tribes.

FULL ENTRY:
Eventful month.
Assisted doctor Eriksson with dissecting Russian asset. Prepared report along with request for funding of cortical stack research to NERA. Funding request for 1.4 Billion credits for first part of project. Should look into recruiting from Russian sector. Research turned up evidence of original approach both to genetic molding of biological subjects and interfacing with conciousness. Seems less error prone than relying on full autonomy.

Note: Look into hiring research assistant -- the doctor needs one to do his work properly.
Core members of A-Web feel rendition and assassination of Byteboy to be unjustified. Also resent deaths due to unavoidable collateral damage that resulted from apprehending same. A-Web revealed itself to have ties to unions and organized racketeering -- resentment has resulted in unacceptable delays building Eriksson Tower. Suggested extermination. Extermination tricky due to A-Web spanning several jurisdictions. Probably still best option.

Revised approach to A-Web: Infiltration and bribes. Buy off family of deceased A-Web agents. Dialog should open up possibility to convert well respected members into assets, and with work allow splintering of group. In combination with surgically deployed renditions should enable company to take over all significant aspects of A-Web. Encourage Alfred to go ahead with Æ-Web project. If handled correctly should form a haven for hardcore A-Web defectors, resulting in the company controlling almost all counter system forces on Mars.

Begun mapping all A-Web online activity. Will take considerable time. Should make selecting targets for rendition easier and more accurate. What time was available after assisting doctor Tor Erik with report was spent on researching A-Web and setting up various online aliases and accounts, and start infiltrating various A-Web fora.

A meeting was set up with doctor Stein Fjellberg after introduction via family. Doctor Fjellberg is a geologist working outside of the domes, and has some experience with the French-African nomadic tribes. Fjellberg revealed that Munin-II apparently arrived on Mars along with the French-African tribes, and is revered as some kind of Loke-like god among them. Should investigate implications further. Tribes might prove important allies in case of war. They have considerable experience surviving outside of the domes.

The company Ephemera was developing some kind of experimental dream technology at the Hanging Gardens. Interest from agent Earl Grey suggest Commonwealth involvement in funding of research. The Hanging Gardens complex has been quarantined after mass hysteria and madness supposedly broke out. Reports indicate the ruling minor AI has gone mad as a result of the research into virtual drugs. The stated purpose of the research was to impose the mental states associated with drugs via neuroelectrical implants. The AI was used for simulating drug effects. Some concern that I might be susceptible to whatever virus or agent has caused problem in complex. Tor Erik Eriksson exited about implications of this research as related to potential for cortical stack implants.

Idunn's rant:
After we had our sit-down with the ugly fucking midget punk who represented the Anarchyweb, it became all too clear that these eejits are stubborn and stupid little bastards. Not only did one of them kill our parents, now they are also harassing all our business associates. To top it off they have the nerve to demand that we make a public apology? The very same night we used our media contacts to get a message across to the public. Is this what A-web do? Official policy: kill scientists and harass the people? No worries, though, it will all blow over in a few months. A few close friends of the deceased will surely hold a grudge for longer. Who cares. They might even be useful. Alfred will surely be doing business with them, and at the same time, with no communication with Earth, talk of independence and these anarchist terrorists on the prowl, the general public will be looking for a sense of stability and safety. And we will give it to them. LEIKARINGEN is a non-profit organization and a cultural centre for children. At Leikaringen we will teach music, dance, drama and, naturally, self-defence. Idunn will be one of the teachers. We are hiring others as we speak. Also, Idunn acquired the best hand-cannons money can buy. Now, if the russians or these terrorists want to give us any more shit... bring it, I'll fucking shoot it.

Hanging gardens - session reports

After completing the clan-meeting and killing Byteboy in a most gruesome way our heroes felt somewhat at a loss for what to do next. Some luxurious relaxation was requested and the Erikssons got news of the hottest thing in Spa(s) this season - The Hanging Gardens. A luxury multiplex with it's own atmospheric bubble located some miles outside the Indian sector - their main selling point; custom ordered virtual dreams. A number of good reasons to book a three day stay was briefly considered and off they went.


What interested the party the most was the dream technology and a very thorough investigation of its properties was conducted. Conspiring with Munin-1 via the tactical network the family planned to record a series of carefully planned dreams for use in later research towards immortality. Albert dreamt of rites of passage, Einhjard of heroic death, Idunn made the long hard journey to the south pole and Tor Erik was born (again).

The dreams proved impressive, but the data where lacking some crucial elements of the experience - so the siblings reevaluated their plan to steal the technology. They filed for a meeting with the human leader of the complex, a plump man known only as Guru. Not a very patient scientist Tor Erik made a flat out proposal for a joint venture with the garden, and they agreed to meet again for further discussions.

Aside from the dreaming the party also focused on dining at the exquisite Red-India Garden restaurant and made a number of new acquaintances. Among them the restaurant chef and a briton gentleman called Lord Grey. The chef was most impressed by Idunn's homegrown strawberries and daiquiris was served en masse. The Lord was much more aloof, but a good sport.

Here follows the players own recollections of the next sitting; wednesday 25th of January at ISOTOP art studio:


Tor Erik dream about his parents death again. He still struggles with understanding his psi power. As he decides to gather intelligence from outside the Hanging Gardens he is trapped in the family ship Wolfhöken for the remainder of the session and learns the hard way that infosec is an underrated skill. Towards the end he gets to hone his interrogating skills on a captured russian agent. A foot is amputated in the process; the agent spills it all.

Einhjard was enjoying relaxed views in dreamland. Women and spa help Einhjards massive body and mind to top notch again. Dreamt about many falls, free-falls. There where also a heavy, wrong and unnecessary running session. Again Einhjard had good contact with the ship. Flying it with steady hands. Good pilot.

Albert almost died, survived and got shockingly disgusted by the doctors way of interrogating our new asset. It bothers him that the russian lady got into the hands of that fat fuck of a lord. I laid my life in the hands of the group in an heroic manner that may give me back the moxie i spent. The way he and sister Idunn spearheaded the operation was hugely enjoyable. Note to self: buy surveillance equipment.

Idunn was eager, as always, to make new acquaintances. And Lord Gray was just as reserved as you would want a proper Lord to be. When the alarm went off, she approached the security staff to offer her help and expertise. Her flowing whirlwind of a sword-dance did not, however, go down well with the guards, and she was asked to, kindly, remove herself from the building. So she quietly followed the crowd out of the room and made for the action. She surprised and subdued a stun gun guard, and soon after found herself in a larger room full of dead bodies (among them Guru). Here the russian agent moved on her with a blade, but she was on him before he could react, and put both of her swords to good use on the man's torso, then disarmed him. By now Einhjard had returned from his runaround, and carried the russian out to the ship Wulfhöken.

We leave the family as they decide where to go with their prisoner. Stay tuned.

Blood - session report

Cast: Einhjard Eriksson, Thor-Erik Eriksson, Idunn Eriksson and Munin-1.

The Erikssons still felt a bit disoriented after their parents death, and felt the need to get more information about the happenings on Mars. They therefore decided to visit Elysium, a metropolis controlled by several mega-corporations, private entrepreneurs and The AI called ALT. They were especially interested in any information regarding Ultralohft, since the corporation seemed to be involved in many of the mysteries surrounding their parents' murder. Before they traveled to Elysium they sent out a call to all Erikssons on Mars – an invitation for an Ætteting ( a clan meeting).

There were no problems during the journey to Elysium, and they landed safely on the roof of the penthouse they just had inherited from their parents. The first order of business was finding the right photographer and model for a photo-shoot with Einhjard. It had been decided a while ago, that he as an ex-athlete and several times Martian Champion of free-falling, should be the new public face of the Erikssons. After a night with research (or partying as most people would call it) they decided that the photographer and model would be Victor Luna and Tigerlilly.

During the day they had discussed how to approach Ultralohft, but ended up arranging an informal meeting with the corporation's henchman on Mars – John Steward Hammer a former agent-for-hire. He could confirm that Ultralohft had sponsored their parent's research, and the old Munin project. He could also tell that there was a major difference between Munin-1 and Munin-2. The Erikssons' android was designed to be an analytical unit, while Munin-2 was designed to be an infiltration and assassination unit. He could not tell them the whereabouts of Munin-2, but he suggested a strategy where Byteboy would be bait. He and The Eriksson also agreed to keep in touch regularly – a chance to exchange favors and information if needed.

Thor-Erik had experienced headaches and nightmares after his arrival to Elysium, and especially in the penthouse they had inherited from their parents. He soon discovered that it was a special painting that made him nauseated and uncomfortable. It depicted a martian desert landscape, but there seemed to be some kind of hidden message. With help from Munin-1 he managed to decrypt the painting's secret – coordinates to a place in the Martian wilderness.

Intrigued by the secrecy The Erikssons decided to travel to the location at once, and by flight it did not take them long to get there. It seemed to be some kind of safe-shelter made by the first colonists arriving on Mars. The entrance was locked, but Munin-1 managed to open it with an old emergency code and the blood of Einhjard. The security-system seemed to recognize the DNA of the Erikssons, and so they found the Eriksson mausoleum - containing various artifacts from the family's proud history on Mars. The most valuable artifact was the Eriksson's gene-seed, a string of coded DNA injected to every Eriksson on the planet. From the security-log It seemed that their parents had been the guardians of the mausoleum and the gene-seed. Surprisingly they had tried to code the gene-seed into Munin-1, something that seemed highly unreasonable to the android.

After this discovery they decided it was time to act against Byteboy, so they contacted homicide detective Tom Heim of the NKAL- MPD to get his location. It seemed that their bait had taken shelter inside an old distribution-center, together with his crew of free-runners. They quickly formed a plan where they would scare Byteboy to make a run for it, hoping he would use a taxi as the get-away vehicle. The taxi piloted by a robot, would be hacked and programmed to take the villain to a preset location. The plan was good, but Byteboy had a few surprises up his sleeve as well. When the crew finally made a run for it, they discovered that everyone of them had dressed identically. It was impossible for the Erikssons to establish who was Byteboy, so the decided to intercept the runners. After Idunn had wounded a couple of the crew, Einhjard managed by sheer luck to tackle the real Byteboy. He was quickly guided into Wulfhöken and they flew away. Unable to restraint their hatred they started to interrogate him with any means necessary. He confessed to have delivered the package containing the bomb to their parent's lab. He could also tell them that Munin-2 looked like Munin-1, but he had only met him face to face one time.

They brought Byteboy to the Ætteting (clan meeting) an the circle of elders, demanding that he would be executed in front of the whole clan – something the elders agreed on. They also declared blodhevn (vendetta) on Munin-2, promising great rewards to anyone that could help them get their revenge. Lastly the elders decided it was time to make a more unified clan – something they would achieve by building The Eriksson Tower in Elysium. A elder called Kai Wei-Eriksson could also tell that there were rumors inside N.E.R.A, telling that the real reason for failing communications with earth was that one of the lost colony ships had returned to earth.

Tomorrow today

I have brought my skills to the RPG-table to help build context in our latest setting. The result: two posters boasting the player-character's family business. Welcome to the sci-fi neo-Norse colony home of Erikssons.


I have been playing RPGs since I was 14 and done both fantasy, horror, sci-fi, modern and just about any genre you can imagine. For the past 6 months we have been playing Mars-based sci-fi in a proto eclipse-phase setting. Finally I feel visually at home. Many influences have been discussed internally in the group, and although this undoubtedly should be a separate post on the blog, I will quote a few movies to give the proper context for the illustrations: Rome & Juliet (Baz Luhrmann), Total Recall, The minority report and Moon.

The plot for our game revolves around the dysfunctional elite Eriksson family, who at the beginning of the story lost their (mad)scientist parents in a suspicious lab explosion. Thus the motive for the game is revenge, and the theme is that of intrigue. As gamers we try to tell a Mission impossible/Ocean’s 11 in space kind of story, but most often end up in a more complex, less action, borderline slapstick landscape – perhaps like Firefly, but without the Chinese and mostly on ground.

The Erikssons live in New Kalmar which is the neo-Norse colony on Mars. The Kalmar(t)ians are ruled by a consensus communicated via an AI known as the All-father. Needless to say the colony is heavily influenced by old Norse morals and structure, in a somewhat uneasy mix with social democratic elements. The Eriksson family is part of the greater Eriksson linage (ætt) which claim to fame is that their original leader (and genetical father) was the ship doctor/geneticist on the first Kalmar colony ship Wasa.

I digress - the illustrations in this post are both inspired by the Eriksson family business. The first is a recruitment poster for the Wasa colony ship - and sports a variant of the Eriksson family motto; (embrace) tomorrow today. In-game the poster is the best known icon for the colony expedition and an original hangs prominently in the Allting (Parliament) at New Kalmar.


Out-of-game I made the poster as an exercise in building complex raster images in Photoshop. The process involves converting images to bitmaps and then cutting and pasting blacks and withes together with different blending modes. The cloud picture is a personal snapshot, but the diver and the astronaut are from flickr-commons. Originally I was planning on doing a full scale (90x40 cm) silk print in magenta of the main motif without the text, but the course I'm attending don't accept size over a4 so that won't happen. But I have done some very nice printouts.

The second poster (which was made first), marks the present direction and mood of the Erikssons. Imagine tomorrow today points towards the next frontier of cybernetics meets genetics - > our ultimate goal is transferring the human consciousness from one body to the next, in practicality eternal life.



In contrast to the embrace poster with its retro propaganda feel the imagine poster follows a multilayered collage style with heavy use of sci-fi cheese. The main elements are galactic spectacles gathered from the Smithsonians rich commons collection on flickr. The poster was revised a number of times, and even included the diver from embrace, but presented here is the final piece.

This post is also published on my personal blog at leketoys feel free to sneak a peak for more artwork.

Requiem - session report

Cast: Einhjard Eriksson, Thor-Eric Eriksson, Idunn Eriksson, Alfred Eriksson and Munin-1.

Their parents funeral had brought them all together again for the first time in a very long time. Geirr and Ingrid Eriksson had been killed in an explosion when they were working in the laboratory situated in sub-level 3. Officially it was called an accident, but the family knew better – someone had killed their parents.

However there were some legal issues to take care of, before they could launch their own investigation. As expected, the four siblings inherited everything that their parents left behind. This included an office building over six floors (three over ground and three under), a fruit farm just outside the city, a penthouse in Elysium City, and a vessel with limited opportunity for space flight. The biggest surprise was that Munin-1 inherited his own freedom, and that he was adopted into the family. He had been the Erikssons' property since the five original colony ships landed on Mars.

They also discovered that the explosion destroyed a great amount of data about the project their parents were working on, before they were killed. It seemed that none of the staff knew much about it, except that it had to do with cybernetics and genetics. A consequence of the explosion and the missing data, was that the family-owned company had problems with the economy, and could in a worst-case scenario have to terminate ten of their employees.It was therefore decided that a priority was to recover as much of the destroyed data as possible. They soon found out, after some dedicated work by Munin-1, that the project was to build Munin-4 and that it was sponsored by a corporation called Ultralohft Industries. Unfortunately they did not recover enough data to continue their parents research on Androids.

Before they could continue with their work, they had to attend an emergency meeting with the Allthing. The Allfather and N.E.R.A (New Kalmar Emergency Responce Agency) were concerned that failling communications with Earth could hinder further prosperity on Mars. For a while it seemed that Nkal-Mars would declare it's independence, but consensus declared in the end that N.E.R.A would temporarily have extended executive powers. The goal was to gradually become less and less dependent from the mother-nation back on Earth. During the Allthing The Erikssons had a meeting with Johan Callisendorff, Gustav Krag and Werner Warholm. They offered a deal – if the Erikssons voted for a professionalized Tyrian Legion, they be guaranteed several contracts with the army. They did not need much time to say yes, and a couple of days later they had the first contract in hand – maintain and upgrade The Tyrian Legion's cybernetics.

They finally also started to investigate their parents death, and Alfred soon discovered that the explosion was caused by a package delivered to the office building the same day. Originally the package should contain an advanced machine for analyzing blood, but someone had intercepted the package and replaced it with a bomb designed as the ordered machine. It was established that someone had also tampered with Munin-1's memory, and the Allfather was soon made a suspect. It also made Munin-1 a rather paranoid android.

During the investigation they were approached by Homicide Detective Tom Heim from NKAL-MPD, and it was soon obvious that he was more than happy to share information – for a price of course, and it did not take long before the family owned him several favours. He could tell them that the police had a suspect based on the modus operandi – an assassin called Tim Nuno. Idunn and Munin-1 discovered quickly that Tim Nuno can be an anagram for Munin-2 (2=to in norwegian), and Tom Heim more or less confirmed this. Munin-1 suddenly remembered that Munin-2 and 3 were on board the two colony ships that never reached Mars – adding to the mysteries and conspirations.

Through surveillance cameras and Alfred's contacts, they identified the man who delievered the bomb to the laboratory as someone calling themselves Byteboi – information they shared with their new friend Homicide Detective Tom Heim. He could soon tell them that they should talk to one of their employees – a secretary named Helga Bjornsdotir. Apparently she had been dating a man called Roger Kjellermann aka Byteboi for a while. Alfred and Thor-Erik confronted her with the fact, and she soon elapsed into tears. She did not know that Byteboi was involved in the bombing, but he was a violent boyfriend – and last night he had come to her apartment, bloody and wounded. He had forced her to give him all the credits she had. Helga could not tell them much more, but she could give them his e-mail. It did not take long for Munin-1 to hack into it, and he soon found several cryptic e-mails in the spam-filter – but he was not able to decipher them.

Meanwhile Idunn was invited to The Killing Game, and after much debate with her middle-man she accepted the invitation. Her first match was against someone called Soylent Green – a psychopath assassin known for his use of combat drugs. The stage was a punk concert with two underground bands called Aqua Nazi and Hammer&Tongs. Everyone except Munin-1 decided to attend, just in case if anything got out of hand. Everyone had a hard time blending in, except Einhjard. In the end it was he who followed Soylent Green and ambushed him when he was taking a piss, but he left the actual killing to Idunn. Meanwhile Munin-1 managed to trace a broadcast from the concert to a hotel in Elysium – hopefully leading them to the mysterious shareholders.

The Killing Game

...Load encryption...

......Line secured......

<Eagle Eye> I have still some questions about the invitation, what is the actual rules of the game?

<Morpho> There are no set rules to the game, instead each match has certain premises. If there are a rule it would be to never reveal the game to the public.

<Eagle Eye> Fair enough, Who decides what the premises are?

<Morpho> The shareholders do, they are always looking for opportunities to make the game more «fun».

<Eagle Eye> Who are the shareholders?

<Morpho> I have no idea, all I know is that they have a shitload of money and that they love gambling.

<Eagle Eye> So I just go in blind with no idea of what to expect?

<Morpho> not totally blind, usually a match is between two professionals on a certain location with any weapon you prefer, though there are certain limitations. Like, no heavy weapons if the match is set inside a DC. Discretion is alpha and omega for the shareholders.

<Eagle Eye> So just light firearms and blades are allowed?

<Morpho> Not exactly, if the game is set outside in the martian wilderness almost everything is allowed. Heavy weapons, grenades...whatever you need to kill someone.

<Eagle Eye> Can I take with me a partner?

<Morpho> Not unless the match say so, anyone in mind? How many kills do your partner have?

<Eagle Eye> None, he have not been doing this kind of work before.

<Morpho> You have been invited because of your work and reputation, it is unlikely that the shareholders will approve of a rookie. Any other questions?

<Eagle Eye> I presume The shareholders are watching the match and that there is some sort of compensation for me?

<Morpho> They would not have fun if they could not watch. Your compensation will vary from match to match.

<Eagle Eye> Can I decline matches when I first have joined the game, and are they always to first blood?

<Morpho> I really don't know what would happen if you declined - as fas as I know it has not happened yet. You have won the game if the opponent surrenders or if you kill him.

<Eagle Eye> Can I bet on myself? Even better can I become a Shareholder?

<Morpho> You can't - there are a strict seperation between contestants and shareholders. To become a shareholder you have to be very rich and have the right connections. I have neither - but I can put out some inquiries for you. Have to go now, but we will talk later.

----Line terminated----

Who's what on Mars

There will be a lot of replicants, robots, androids, genetical enhanced humans and other fun stuff in our game. I felt there were a need to do a write-up on the subject, just so my players could better distinguish the different kinds of things moving around on Mars.

Replicants: They look like humans but they are not a product of human breeding, instead they are lab-grown bodies with a brain. If you have the technology they are easy and cheap to manufacture and maintain.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vat_grown_meat). They are genetical engineered to perform tasks in enviroments that ordinary humans can't handle. They are also programmed to live for only twenty years maximum. There are no facilities on Mars made for production of replicants, they have been imported from Earth and The Lunar Colonies.

Robots: Machines and nothing more - programmed to perform certain tasks and that's it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robots). There are many kinds of robots, from the simple vacuum cleaner to the advanced terraforming machines roaming Mars. The cost to manufacture and maintain them also varies , but it can be difficult to get spareparts on Mars.

AI: Highly advanced computer programs able to reason and learn from their actions, so they can better plan how to achieve maximum success (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence). They are highly perceptive and can communicate with humans. They have usually no kind of body, so their movement are limited to the network they are connected with. There are five of them on Mars.

Android: There are very few androids around, mostly because they are extremely expensive and difficult to make, even if you have the technology. An Android is best described as an AI with a humanlike robotic body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28robot%29). There are only one present on Mars (a PC) as far as anyone knows.

Cyborgs: Most humans on Mars are in fact some kind of Cyborg. It is common to have an implant or two to enhance certain abilities that are import for their survival on Mars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg). Some even have gone so far that most of their body have been replaced by machine parts.

Genetical enchanced humans: The first families to colonize the red planet were all genetical engineered, making them more adapted for life on Mars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetical_engineering). Descendants from the first colonist have inherited many of the same traits, making them stand apart from normal humans. They are often treated as superior humans (at least in their own minds), and they are usually members of the upper social strata of Mars.

The List

I have already mentioned that The Group met over a couple of beers to discuss what kind of setting we want to play. One of them came up with the idea that we should name films, TV-shows or comic books that could be used as references for what we want to create together.

I have sorted the List into categories, just so it will be easier to define what the Group wants to play. I have not managed to put all of them into a category, so feel free to come with suggestions.

Factions and Intrigue:
Rome
Dune
A Game of Thrones

Dysfunctional future:
Bladerunner
Children of Men
Land of The Blind

Transmetro
Event Horizon
Gattaca
Moon

Look + Feel
Romeo + Juliet (The Baz Lurhmann movie)
Total Recall
Mad Max

I must admit that they have not made it easy for me (or themselves), but we managed to get the most basic stuff down on paper. The player characters will be descendants of one of the first Scandinavian families/houses to colonize Mars, and there will be Replicants. The last part seemed to be very important to them (I really can't argue against that, I find them cool too). I have some ideas how this can evolve into a proper setting, but that will have to come in a later post.

One thing I have decided is to use the rules from the game Eclipse Phase, hopefully it will work without too many adaptions. Highly recommend all of you to take a look at the game, it is one of the more interesting settings I have ever come across.