Locations

Location Name

Great Ruins

Location Description

The area around the Exile Fortress is a vast, sprawling ruins, home to ghosts, Cold-Ones, and other unknown terrors.

The Fortress' location was chosen for its proximity to the Ghostfields, a place told to the first founders of the Exile cause by an Angel Entity. But upon the edge of this site were also the Great Ruins, which proved to be an endless cause for difficulties.

It is unknown as to whether the Ruins were born out of a concentration of ghosts in the area, or visa-versa, but the area was filled with entities, and became a place of fear for many Exiles.

Night-time patrols were particularly dangerous, and many new recruits were told chilling stories of terrors that lurked in the shadows.

I walked with no purpose, as if in a dream, and the corridors were strangely empty and silent. Somehow I found myself up at the airlock to the observation deck, the highest point upon the Fortress.

I lowered the protective shutters, and gazed out through the windows at that alien landscape. Although it was the dark of night, the plains still seemed to glow, and I could make out shapes within the Great Ruins, stretching off into the darkness. I made out dim lights flitting about the plains like ghostly fireflies, and once more I was overcome by the eerie beauty of that land.

But then I made out the dark hill in the distance, and perhaps it was some trick of the light, but I thought I could discern an endless trail of smoke drifting up from the ruins of the schoolhouse and into those dark skies.

The Diary of Otto Kandinsky

The First Ghost Incursion

Many of these horror-stories were in fact to turn out true, as shortly after the completion of the second phase of construction on the Fortress, ghosts began to converge upon the base. First in scattered bands of entities, the incursion quickly got out of control, until the Fortress was under siege.

It took many long months of bitter fighting, incurring terrible losses, to break the siege, but after that the Ruins became a safer place to travel, though most patrols would still only operate in the daytime. Those that were tasked with longer operations would spend an uneasy and sleepless night at one of the strong-points within the ruins, waiting anxiously for the day to come.

The Playground

The name given to the partially-cleared area around the perimeter of the Fortress. It got its name because it was often used as a training ground for new recruits practising their environment suit skills.

Warehouse District

The Warehouse District was one of the more dangerous areas of the Great Ruins, though routinely patrolled and kept clear of ghosts. However, given its proximity to the Ghostfields there were still dangers, and even the Demon Entities (name 'Cold Ones' by the Exiles) were sometimes known to encroach, usually when they detected a strong presence of ghosts, upon whom they are known to feed.

The Warehouse District.

Housing Quarter

One of the most dangerous sectors in the Great Ruins. A concentration of bleak tower blocks, the Housing Quarter is off-limits to Exile patrols for their own safety.

Schoolhouse

Upon the edge of the Playground sector, an old ruined schoolhouse sits atop a low hill. It was here that Otto Kandinsky encountered Maia.

The Ruined Schoolhouse.

Watchtower and the Water-tower

These high-points have been secured by the Exiles and are used as lookouts and strong-points. There is a permanent troop presence there, and patrols use the position to spend the night in relative safety when out on longer operations.

The Watchtower is an old ruined stone structure, and is the less-safe of the two strong-points. There are constant rumours of some nameless entity that stalks the surrounding area at night, and there are reports that several patrols have been lost, the entire squad just vanishing, never to be heard from again.