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of the basement. there is no larger room in the complex, and the basement is 300' from the surface.
Most in the know suspect that at the time of the Trinity experiment, the U.S. military was researching new metallic alloys
and that the magical radiation following the nuclear test transmuted these new alloys, in an incomprehensible way, into
an energy conduit. The durability of the new metal is unknown. For obvious reasons, no one has ever attempted to break
the Straw. Since it apparently can survive the conditions at the center of the planet, it must be quite tough.
There is a rumor that a secret organization exists to protect this artifact. Whether it is a cult defending it from any
unworthy mage, or a paranoid government agency (or both!) is unknown.
Suggested Setting: GURPS Technomancer.
Component Spells: Draw Power, Shatterproof variant, Shape Metal.
Asking Price: Since no mage can use it twice, the complex may be for sale (millions of dollars, minimum), or access to
the Straw could be rented out at tens of thousands of dollars per hour. However, it's very likely the owner would want to
maintain total control.
Pre Bhuoc
In 1937, an archaeological-ethnographical expedition ended in disaster in Southeast Asia. It included the
German-American anthropologist Joshua Meyer, who wrote letters to his relatives in Germany. Those letters were
opened and studied twice, by the French colonial police (suspecting him to be a German spy) and by the German Gestapo
(because he was a Jew). Because the colonial police was bribable, and the Gestapo forwarded information to the
Midwinter Aton clique (p. CAB00), several Cabal lodges came to know that Meyer (a Cabalist himself) had found
something.
Meyer had written, "I am about to make a side trip to an island in the swamps where the natives say there is an old
temple, 'Pre Bhuoc.' I believe I'll find powerful energies there." The place was between Battambang and Poipet, along an
3. Buildings and Places of Power 3. Buildings and Places of Power
abandoned secondary road to Burma (the French found it too difficult to maintain in the swamps). Meyer then
disappeared in a flooding.
The island remained very difficult to access, not only because of the environment, but also because it was more or less
always a war zone. Jacques Dupont, after his expedition failed to even get as far as Battambang in 1951, privately
hypothesized that this wasn't just chance.
Indeed, research points out that the place has a history of battles and massacres. The first recorded event is the storming
of a nameless city by the expanding Khmer empire in the 10th century; the survivors were slaughtered. Two centuries
later, another battle was fought nearby. The road was another Khmer achievement, and thousands of slaves died in the
swamps to build it. There is an obscure reference in an 18th-century source to a "city of death." During WW2, the
Japanese marched a column of French POWs along the road, but at Pre Bhuoc, the frustrated commander decided to kill
them. Further, the Khmer Rouge had one of their killing fields in the swamps.
Today, the area is still inaccessible. The road has subsided, and several diseases are endemic. The villages surrounding
the swamp are particularly miserable, and the surprising number of natives missing legs signals another danger:
anti-personnel mines. Die-hard guerrilla groups hide in the jungle along the border with Burma, and they'd be happy to
kidnap foreigners. So, no foreign expeditions are allowed by what passes for local government, and the army would
arrest any intruder.
Physically, the island is a few hundred yards across, and barely rises above the swamp. The air is fetid and noxious, and
the ground sucks and clings at an explorer's boots. Apart from the temple itself, the ruins here are rarely anything more
than foundations made from thick gray stone. A few isolated blocks rear out of the ground like oversized tombstones.
Of the temple itself, only the central hall is even partly intact; the two outer wings are encrusted with creepers that appear
to be dragging it down into the mud. The temple is built of gray stones even thicker than those found elsewhere on the
island, and the architecture is stark to the point of brutishness. The interior of the temple is the only spot on the island not
visible from the sky, and no one has yet reported accurately on what lies inside.
If a Cabalist could reach the small island, he'd probably discover that the mana is death-aspected here, giving +3 to
Necromantic spells and any spell doing direct harm to living beings, and -3 to Healing spells. Necromantic spells have
an additional +3 (for a total +6) on the spot of the old temple, due to the strong correspondence. Extensive digging would
uncover the remains of stone buildings, and possibly some very peculiar items, but this would require an expedition to
stay and sleep on the island... which is unwise.
It is very likely that some spirit or undead being haunts the island. During the night, sleep will be disturbed by
nightmares, and accidents become very likely -- probably the spirit can influence both dreams and probabilities (see
GURPS Spirits). Dreams often feature a corpse in armor. This could be a spirit, or possibly the Aethyr Menqal, Lord of
Ruin (p. CAB00). If the expedition came here for a specific ritual, they had better to perform it quickly.
Finally, Dr. Fang (p. CAB00) is likely to learn from his spies of any foreigners in this region. He's apparently not
interested in exploiting Pre Bhuoc himself, but he probably considers Southeast Asia as his own preserve, trespassers
unwelcome.
Suggested Setting: GURPS Cabal. Useful with GURPS Spirits.
3. Buildings and Places of Power 3. Buildings and Places of Power
Component Spells: None, but magical items could be unearthed here.
Asking Price: Some $20,000,000 if a multinational corporation can come up with a reasonable front project, plus about
$2,000,000 in kickbacks to have officials approve it and open up the area. National authorities would expect local
manpower to be employed, as part of the deal. Whether willing local workmen can be found is another matter.
3. Buildings and Places of Power 3. Buildings and Places of Power
3. Buildings and Places of Power 3. Buildings and Places of Power
4. Clothing and Armor
"If clothes make the man, what does that say about a masquerade?"
She was dressed as Marie Antoinette, in a full-length gown, a pearl-encrusted mask, and a dotted line around her throat.
He was a Renaissance noble, with frilled clothes, oversized hat, a full-face mask, and -- incongruously -- round, dark
sunglasses. They danced, surrounded by gaudily-dressed couples doing the same.
"I've never really cared for that expression," he replied.
"Humor me, silly."
"Well, it says that we are made anew when we put ourselves in costume. No one here is what they appear."
"Quite the opposite, isn't it? Everyone here
is what they appear to be -- they're just not who they were yesterday, or will be tomorrow," she said.
"...That's a good way of putting it. Clothes have their own alchemy. A stylish coat can make you feel like a million
bucks. Wear an unflattering bathing suit, and your self-confidence withers."
"How about you?"
"Especially me. Everything I am, from the warm glow of good wine within me, to the courage it took to ask you to
dance, is due to these clothes. Hey!" he exclaimed, as a poor dancer in an ape costume slammed into him. He turned his [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]