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Hybras
Hybras ambience
Hybras (Sidebar)
Located in The Reach
Ports Hybras
Shops The Stationmaster's Fare

Hybras a port located in the outer circle of The Reach.

Log Entries[ | ]

Drifting spores clog your engine's chimney. It splutters, then coughs, expunging them with a belch of steam.
Fungus covers this place like a blanket. It sprouts - pallid white and angry red - on every outcropping and asteroid.
The sky is quiet, here. "An ill-omened place," a crewman mutters.

The Aunt observes the pustular terrain of Hybras. "Nobody gets back in without wiping their shoes."
The Clay Conductor looks at Hybras. He looks at you. "No," he says. "Absolutely not."
The Fatalistic Signalman is grim. "These are the territories that broke the Isambard Line."
The Fatalistic Signalman shivers as if someone walked over his grave.
The Hoarder looks at the abandoned, mushroomed buildings of Hybras and shudders. "Such transience," it murmurs. "A horror."
The Incautious Driver's fingers twitch in protest at Hybras' sleepy atmosphere.
The Rat Brigade is certain the dog will be the death of them. Not through hunting, but by amiable drowning.
The Rat Brigade's whiskers twitch at something emitted by Hybras – fortunately beyond your senses.
Your Aunt scowls at the Blemmigan Voyager. "Look: mushrooms. Isn't this your stop?" The Voyager makes a rude noise in response.
“Last time I came here I left with mushrooms sprouting in my beard,” grumbles the Vagabond.
"Is this... nature? The fairy tales don't mention pustules." The Princess is revolted by Hybras.

Hybras[ | ]

A fledgling colony trying to dig its fingernails deep enough into the spongy, fungal fabric of the Reach to cling on when hard times come. It is a sad truth that many more settlements are founded than flourish.

Shore-leave in a Fungal Meadow
Bronzewood
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 303720


Shore-leave in a Fungal Meadow[ | ]

The crew requests a little R&R. They follow you out into what passes for a meadow, between livid mushrooms and oozing polyps. The silence of the place hangs heavily on you. Some of the crew attempt to break it with a ballad of the Promised Days.

Trigger conditions

Calendar icon DateClock icon An Opportunity in Hybras,


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Join the crew in their song
It is part of your job to keep the morale up.
Pushing back the silence
Your voices cut into the still meadow air, easing the tension. Even in a dark place like this, camaraderie offers warmth. You return to the train feeling considerably better.
Forage for mushrooms
There is little obvious difference between the poisonous ones and the edible ones.
Failed event
Something extra
Forbidden colours wash past your eyes. The crew holds your shoulders as you throw up every meal you ever ate, and then a few more for good measure. At least you didn't fill a crate with those mushrooms. Better to be ill here, than for the whole crew to go down with poisoning mid-journey.
Successful event
An acceptable mushroom
You chew on a likely-looking mushroom. It doesn't taste particularly good, but nor does it do you any harm. The crew begins gathering them up for the return to the engine.
Search for Bronzewood splinters
You are not far from Shasta's Leg, and its promising bronzewood trees.
Failed event
A fruitless search
You explore the Leg, but even the more promising trees are infested with Hybrean rot, and the others are too large to fell without specialised equipment.
Successful event
A successful outing
Most of the Bronzewood splinters are rotten and unusable, and the trees too sturdy to topple without more equipment. Fortunately, searching uncovers a piece that is polished and pristine. The crew carries it back to the engine, leaving the scraps behind.
Hybras
Figuresinthemarsh
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 269644


Hybras[ | ]

Nestled amidst sprawling, sporing gardens of fungus, Hybras is a colony of octogenarians. Rotting buildings slough gently into decay. Maintenance is poor, the population aged. An insect, speckled with fungus, flies past drowsily. "Growth asks no licence," reads a barely legible sign staked into a collapsed pile of fungal eggs.

Trigger conditions

Hybras icon Met the Factor in a Lineage ≤ 0,

Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
A venerable welcoming party has gathered
The Wizened Mayor approaches. His back is bent but his pace is steady.
He has a firm handshake. "Welcome to our little hideaway. Watch your step, that one's about to fruit." True enough, the little white sac at your feet suddenly splits. Snaking tendrils of red fungus explode outwards. The Mayoral Assistant, a severe woman of slightly less advanced years, guides the Mayor to a nearby bench. "You may stay as long as you like."
Explore the settlement
Hybras has only a handful of buildings, clustered amongst folds of fungus. Yet life goes on here.
Life moves at a slow pace on Hybras. Several colonists tend the allotments, while others sit squabbling outside the Brendan. Periodically, a lady emerges with tea and fungal crackers. A carpenter struggles with the fretwork on the new town hall. The carvings are of factories and faceless workers. "I can't remember what they looked like," he says sadly.
Rare event (50%)
A game of bowls has been organised on the flattest bit of marsh. You are invited to participate by the Mayoral Assistant, who proves herself a mean backhand draw. When all is over and everyone has retired for fungal juices at the Brendan, the Wizened Mayor takes you aside. "This is what it's all about. A second youth. First, in some cases." He grins conspiratorially.
Take tea at the Brendan
The only lodging house in Hybras, and the only building with more than one storey. The smell of stewed tea permeates the dilapidated boards.
The owner keeps a clean and ordered house. She bakes her tea cakes to perfection and ices them to resemble the fungus that has colonised the windowsills. "It's been here longer than us." She laughs as she pours another round of tea. The tea is sour; the milk has gone off.
Rare event (50%)
A large woman of advanced years produces a pot of green tea, and doilies from a mouldering tea chest. She blows the spores off the cups. "Back there I used to read the leaves, on our breaks." She peers into your finished cup. "I'm sorry, I don't see a long future for you, my love. Make the most of what you have."
Wander the wilds of Hybras
Swamp and marsh, fungus and frond. Nowhere in the Reach has been so thoroughly colonised. It would be a shame not to see the sights.
Fingers of black and red mushroom rise from the sodden ground. Tendrils of white fungus form vast arches. An earthy smell pervades the air, and follows you through the swamps like a lost dog. In the middle of a grove of writhing sacs, you find a plinth adorned with broken and twisted nameplates, the shape of collars. 'Brabazon Workworld' has been imprinted on each.
Rare event (50%)
You enter the fungal forests of Hybras. Clouds of spores drift through the ropy tendrils of free-standing fungus. Giant ants pierced with spines of mushroom crawl to the tops of trees to better spread their spores. You wander amidst the webs and arches of mushrooms for some hours until you stumble across a shallow graveyard. Each headstone bears a number of seven digits or more. Barely covered in the shallow earth are sets of manacles.
Gather a Port Report
Not much seems to happen in this sleepy place. But perhaps someone will be interested.
'Life moves slowly here. There are arguments over the rules of bowls, and the correct amount of time to steep tea. The Station Master seems to avoid the villagers. There is an unusual unique quality to the starlight which filters through the underside of the caps.'
A Slow Day
There isn't much going on in Hybras today. Its people seem exhausted.
Fair Nance waves as she lights candles outside the Brendan. Infected fireflies dance around the long match. The Wizened Mayor calls to you from the balcony of his house. He's going to bed. He rather overdid it at bowls earlier, you see.
Make a delicate inquiry to the Wizened Mayor
Everyone here is very old indeed. Is there a lower age limit on settling in Hybras?
The Wizened Mayor chuckles. "Oh no! We'd welcome youth, but we don't get many settlers coming out this way. We're happily secluded here." He smiles wistfully as, across the marsh, his Mayoral Assistant trounces an unfortunate at bowls. "Our best years were spent by others." Insula de Brasil(Age)
Search for Mme. Lumière
A film-maker should be difficult to miss in this hushed, secluded place.
    • Camera icon A Retiring Filmmaker = 1 [You've been asked to bring a filmmaker back to New Winchester from Hybras. [Directions are given here]]

Loud curses lead you towards an elderly woman fiddling with an antiquated camera. She sighs and shuts the frame. "That'll do." She offers a trembling hand. "Lumière. Once a renowned explorer and filmmaker, now— As you see." A cough rattles through her. "You from New Winchester? I'll leave with you. I can pay my way. I'm done here, and my lungs won't tolerate much more of this." She smiles wanly. "I've a premiere to plan."
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.


Return Percy Blythe
A knot of sporing fungus can be found a few miles out from the station, near one of the larger swamps, you're told.
The atmosphere thickens the nearer you get to the swamp. Ropes of white mushroom hang in the air like home-coming banners. You order your crewmen to lay Percy Blythe on his ruined back near the largest tree. You wait awhile, but nothing happens, other than the gentle decay of Blythe's sagging flesh in the warmth. Eventually, you are forced to go back to the station for shelter. When you return, Blythe is gone. A handful of medals gleam under the silent boughs of the dead trees.
Find the downed locomotive
The bogs and marshes of Hybras are dense and obscured with rotting fungus, but somewhere in the interior, a locomotive has gone down.
Collect a sample of Hybras pus
It oozes out of the fungal body, just as it would an infected sore on your arm.
The difficulty in collecting samples isn't in having to climb to some remote peak, or fighting off creatures who're all teeth and claws: it's in abiding the smell.
Collect a sample of Hybras pus
It oozes out of the fungal body, just as it would an infected sore on your arm.
The difficulty in collecting samples isn't in having to climb to some remote peak, or fighting off creatures who're all teeth and claws: it's in abiding the smell.
Hunt in the woods with the Cryptozoologist
If a colony of sentient mushrooms was going to establish itself anywhere, this would be the place.
The music of mushrooms
The Cryptozoologist leads the way, following a melodic hum in the air. Soon enough, you find it. In a pus-soaked hollow, a chorus of blemmigans howl in perfect harmony. "I can't see!" whispers the Cryptozoologist. "I need to get closer!"

She sneaks towards them, but stealth is not one of her talents. They scatter. "Wait!" she calls, giving chase. "I just want to record you!"

You leave her to her hunt. She seems happy enough.
Search for your Driver
They crashed somewhere in the sprawling fungal wilds. Finding them will be dangerous work.
The fungal jungle
You comb the sporing mushroom marches of Hybras for hours. Your lantern ignites damp spurts of flame from the bogs; insects harry your crew, already dizzy with spores in violet and gold. You require frequent bouts of rest.

Eventually, you come upon a clearing with a great, polyped hill of fungus. Embedded in its mass is an engine, still belching smoke. Above that, is the Driver, who calls down and waves cheerily.

Later, they are very apologetic about the whole thing. They are particularly sorry about the fungus that ended up all over your favourite sky-suit.
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.

Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.



Hybras Deserted
Locomotive
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 275140


Hybras Deserted[ | ]

The colonists' houses are dark, and there is no sign of a soul about. The smithy is empty. No smoke comes from the Brendan's chimneys. The fretwork on the town hall remains unfinished. A bee laced with curling fronds flies by, its drone the only sound in Hybras. Bright purple mushrooms dot the greenery.

Trigger condition

Hybras icon Insula de Brasil ≥ 2 ≤ 2,
Hybras icon Met the Factor in a Lineage ≥ 1


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Scavenge the abandoned settlement for fuel and supplies
Is anything left you can make use of? You're a long way from New Winchester...
A fortuitous find
The silence unsettles your crew, but in musty lofts and dank attics, in coal-scuttles and log-stores and pantries, you find enough to burn (once the spores have been dusted off) and eat to (with a little luck) secure a return journey.

Game note: Be warned: now it is deserted, you will no longer be able to purchase Fuel or Supplies at Hybras. Plan your journeys carefully.

Search for your Driver
They crashed somewhere in the sprawling fungal wilds. Finding them will be dangerous work.
The fungal jungle
You comb the sporing mushroom marches of Hybras for hours. Your lantern ignites damp spurts of flame from the bogs; insects harry your crew, already dizzy with spores in violet and gold. You require frequent bouts of rest.

Eventually, you come upon a clearing with a great, polyped hill of fungus. Embedded in its mass is an engine, still belching smoke. Above that, is the Driver, who calls down and waves cheerily.

Later, they are very apologetic about the whole thing. They are particularly sorry about the fungus that ended up all over your favourite sky-suit.
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.


Search for Mme. Lumière
A film-maker should be difficult to miss in this hushed, secluded place.
    • Camera icon A Retiring Filmmaker = 1 [You've been asked to bring a filmmaker back to New Winchester from Hybras. [Directions are given here]]

Loud curses lead you towards an elderly woman fiddling with an antiquated camera. She sighs and shuts the frame. "That'll do." She offers a trembling hand. "Lumière. Once a renowned explorer and film-maker, now— As you see." A cough rattles through her. "You from New Winchester? I'll leave with you. I can pay my way. I'm done here, and my lungs won't tolerate much more of this." She smiles wanly. "I've a premiere to plan."
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.


Return Percy Blythe
A knot of sporing fungus can be found a few miles out from the station, near one of the larger swamps, you're told.
The atmosphere thickens the nearer you get to the swamp. Spores cloud the air, as do swarms of fat-bellied flies. Ropes of white mushroom hang in the air like home-coming banners. You order your crewmen to lay Percy Blythe on his ruined back near the largest tree. You wait awhile, but nothing happens, other than the gentle decay of Blythe's sagging flesh in the warmth. Eventually, you are forced to go back to the station for shelter. When you return, Blythe is gone. A handful of medals gleam under the silent boughs of the dead trees.
Where is everyone?
The Pernickety Factor is alarmed. "This is very disagreeable. I was expecting to find people here. Disappearing like this is extremely rude."
You split up and make a quick circuit of the village. You discover tables laid out for dinner, cold tea still in Nance's pot, the notes (in large print) half-written for the Mayor's council meeting laid out on his desk. You find the Pernickety Factor near the station. She holds up a piece of disintegrating mushroom that resembles a crocus. "I found this near the town hall. There's a new field of them out in the forest. This is most irregular; let's keep looking."
Explore the colony
The Hybreans must have left some sign of their passage.
Failed event
Clues?
All is exactly as the Hybreans had left it. Tables set for Sunday dinner, dry fungus left in the hearths for kindling. You are rummaging about Nance's larder when a fat purple sac suddenly explodes into spores, filling the confined space.
    • Figuresinthemarsh icon On the Hunt for Hybras = 20 [Consult an expert in Hybrean Fungus at the Leadbeater & Stainrod Nature Reserve to continue your investigation]

Inhale the spores
No use resisting.
The violet spores erupt all around the larder. Your eyes water; your sinuses are quickly aflame. All you can think about is running away into the woods, where the air is heavy and sweet... The Pernickety Factor finds you curled on the larder floor. "I think," she says carefully, "it's time we consulted an expert. There's a Superior Researcher on Leadbeater & Stainrod Nature Reserve who might be able to tell us more about these wretched mushrooms." A Retiring FIlmmaker (Mushroom)
Cover your mouth
You won't prevent all of them, but you can limit your intake.
You wrap your scarf around your nose and mouth and close your eyes tight as you dare. You fumble for the door. The Pernickety Factor is on the other side. "I think it's time to consult an expert. There's a Superior Researcher on Leadbeater & Stainrod Nature Reserve who might be able to tell us more about these wretched mushrooms." A Retiring FIlmmaker (Mushroom)
Light a match
You'll not be bested by a mushroom. Fumigate the pantry!
The air is soon thick with smoke as you set a match to the floating spores. The sac burns in a hazy flatulence, as you incinerate the toxic musk in the air. The Pernickety Factor finds you in the ruin of the larder. "I think it's time to consult an expert. "There's a Superior Researcher on Leadbeater & Stainrod Nature Reserve who might be able to tell us more about these wretched mushrooms." A Retiring FIlmmaker (Mushroom)
Successful event
Gardening seems to have become particularly popular lately. Wheelbarrows have been cobbled together from cast offs from the carpenter's workshop. Purple fungus like crocuses dot the green. Meanwhile, food rots in the Brendan's larders, and the carpentry on the town hall is infected with creeping mushrooms. All recent work aside from gardening appears to have been abandoned altogether. The Pernickety Factor coughs away spores. "There's a Superior Researcher on Leadbeater & Stainrod Nature Reserve who might be able to tell us more about these wretched mushrooms." A Retiring Filmmaker(Mushroom)
    • Figuresinthemarsh icon On the Hunt for Hybras = 20 [Consult an expert in Hybrean Fungus at the Leadbeater & Stainrod Nature Reserve to continue your investigation]

Search for a very large fungus
You've been told this will help you find the colonists.
Failed event
You and the Pernickety Factor hunt for several hours through the fungal forests, calling to each other in the marshy fog. The Pernickety Factor eventually retires to the Brendan for a restorative, leaving you to press on. You spend hours in dismal bogs and desolate fens. You've just sat down to enjoy a rather sad picnic, when you spy a cloud of violet spores. It does not take long to locate the source: a wobbling tower of dripping purple mushroom.
Successful event
You and the Pernickety Factor hunt for several hours through the fungal forests, calling to each other in the marshy fog. The Pernickety Factor eventually retires to the Brendan for a restorative, leaving you to press on. You are just emerging from a promising bog, when you spy a cloud of violet spores. It does not take long to locate the source: a wobbling tower of dripping purple mushroom.
Search for a very large fungus
You've been told this will help you find the colonists.
Failed event
You and the Pernickety Factor hunt for several hours through the fungal forests, calling to each other in the marshy fog. The Pernickety Factor eventually retires to the Brendan for a restorative, leaving you to press on. You spend hours in dismal bogs and desolate fens. You've just sat down to enjoy a rather sad picnic, when you spy a cloud of violet spores. It does not take long to locate the source: a wobbling tower of dripping purple mushroom.
Successful event
You and the Pernickety Factor hunt for several hours through the fungal forests, calling to each other in the marshy fog. The Pernickety Factor eventually retires to the Brendan for a restorative, leaving you to press on. You are just emerging from a promising bog, when you spy a cloud of violet spores. It does not take long to locate the source: a wobbling tower of dripping purple mushroom.
Approach the fungus-tower
It looms unhappily above you.
Looming fungus
In a certain light, it looks as though several smaller purple-caps have fused together, like a circle of dancers covered in aspic. You strike a match before the membrane of the mushroom cap. The air smells like burning oil. Shreds of tendrils smoulder and writhe, as the veil of the mushroom tower parts, unleashing spores that float lazily towards you. One changes course in the air, to ensure it does not miss you.
Burn the spores away
This does not seem healthy.
You douse a cloth in oil and light a second match as fast as you can. It flickers for one terrible moment, before igniting the damp air in a cloud of flatulent hissing. The spores burn away like dying fireflies. In the light, you can see human shapes under the skin of the mushroom – huddled together and in repose. The colonists have been thoroughly colonised.
Allow the spores to reach you.
They seem to want something of you.
Spores drift in a slow shower onto your skin. You feel a brush, as though a nettle had been rubbed across your cheek. Hundreds of hungry spines eager, questing, seeking. For a moment you see your own journeys across the skies. Then the cloud passes. You feel a little more hale. An old wound no longer twinges. A knot in your back gone. Your sight is a little keener. So keen, in fact, that you can see human shapes under the skin of the mushroom – huddled together and in repose. The colonists have been thoroughly colonised. One of the few current ways known to gain stats.
Let the spores land on the golden fungus
You were told this might help.
You draw out the oily caps of gold mushroom. Spores alight on it. For one brief moment, the gold is speckled with pinpoints of violet. Then the fungus in your hands erupts in a frenzy of tendrils, which extrude towards the fungal tower and take root. Within a few minutes, the tower is entirely golden; the violet fungus having ceded to the aggressor. Beneath the newly golden skin, you can make out human shapes huddled together. The colonists have been thoroughly colonised.
Report your findings to the Pernickety Factor
You have found the colonists.
The Pernickety Factor looks up from her tea when you return to the Brendan. "Didn't let it steep long enough." She sighs. "Back to it?"

Her eyes widen when you explain that there's no need. She sits in silence for a long while when you finish. "At what price youth... I can't help but wonder if we're..." She shakes her head. "London looks after its servants. Should you need assistance in the future, I'll put in a word."

She intends to remain on Hybras for a little longer yet, and will not be departing with you.
Conceal the truth from the Pernickety Factor
You'd rather she didn't know the fate of the colonists.
You find the Pernickety Factor in the Brendan, steeping her tea. You present your conclusion. Your information was bad, perhaps. Or the colonists merely left. How long could they have sustained themselves on Hybras at their age?

The Pernickety Factor sighs and takes your hand. "I'm sorry we couldn't get to the bottom of it. I do hate loose ends. But London always rewards its servants." She hands you a small pouch from her pocket.

She intends to remain on Hybras for a little longer yet, and will not be departing with you.
Collect a sample of Hybras pus
It oozes out of the fungal body, just as it would an infected sore.
The difficulty in collecting samples isn't in having to climb to some remote peak, or fighting off creatures who're all teeth and claws: it's in abiding the smell.
Collect a sample of Hybras pus
It oozes out of the fungal body, just as it would an infected sore.
The difficulty in collecting samples isn't in having to climb to some remote peak, or fighting off creatures who're all teeth and claws: it's in abiding the smell.
Wander Hybras
The colony is even quieter with everyone gone.
You wade through the boggy marshes around Hybras, disturbed only by the occasional drone of a bee. Smoke still pours from the Stationmaster's chimney, but he's not inclined to leave. You spot old footprints heading towards the fungal forest, but nothing more.
Write a Port Report
Everyone is gone, aside from the Station Master. The fungus however remains. Someone will surely be interested in what has occurred here.
The Station Master professes ignorance. His manner has not improved in the absence of everyone else. There are new shades to the fungus: indigo, violet, jet. The trees have taken on a new pallid hue. Spores cloud the air. The silence is almost restful.
Find the downed locomotive
The bogs and marshes of Hybras are dense and obscured with rotting fungus, but somewhere in the interior, a locomotive has gone down.
Hunt for blemmigans with the Cryptozoologist
If a colony of sentient mushrooms was going to establish itself anywhere, this is the place...
The music of mushrooms
The Cryptozoologist leads the way, following a melodic hum in the air. Soon enough, you find it. In a pus-soaked hollow, a chorus of blemmigans howl in perfect harmony. "I can't see!" whispers the Cryptozoologist. "I need to get closer!"

She sneaks towards them, but stealth is not one of her talents. They scatter. "Wait!" she calls, giving chase. "I just want to record you!"

You leave her to her hunt. She seems happy enough.


Hybras Deserted
Locomotive
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 275138


Hybras Deserted[ | ]

The colonists' houses are dark, and there is no sign of a soul about. The smithy is empty. No smoke comes from the Brendan's chimneys. The fretwork on the town hall remains unfinished. A bee laced with curling fronds flies by, its drone the only sound in Hybras.

Trigger conditions

Hybras icon Insula de Brasil ≥ 3 ≤ 3,
Hybras icon Met the Factor in a Lineage ≥ 1


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Search for your Driver
They crashed somewhere in the sprawling fungal wilds. Finding them will be dangerous work.
The fungal jungle
You comb the sporing mushroom marches of Hybras for hours. Your lantern ignites damp spurts of flame from the bogs; insects harry your crew, already dizzy with spores in violet and gold. You require frequent bouts of rest.

Eventually, you come upon a clearing with a great, polyped hill of fungus. Embedded in its mass is an engine, still belching smoke. Above that, is the Driver, who calls down and waves cheerily.

Later, they are very apologetic about the whole thing. They are particularly sorry about the fungus that ended up all over your favourite sky-suit.
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.

Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.


Scavenge the abandoned settlement for fuel and supplies
Is anything left you can make use of? You're a long way from New Winchester...
A fortuitous find
The silence unsettles your crew, but in musty lofts and dank attics, in coal-scuttles and log-stores and pantries, you find enough to burn (abandoned magician's props) and eat to (with a little luck) secure a return journey.

Game note: Be warned: now it is deserted, you will no longer be able to purchase Fuel or Supplies at Hybras. Plan your journeys carefully.

Where is everyone?
The Pernickety Factor is alarmed. "This is very disagreeable. I was expecting to find people here. Disappearing like this is extremely rude."
You split up and make a quick circuit of the village. You discover tables laid out for dinner, cold tea still in Fair Nance's pot, the notes (in large print) half-written for the Mayor's council meeting laid out on his desk. Abandoned bowls bob forlornly in the shallows of the marsh. You find the Pernickety Factor near the station. She holds up a muddy tarot card: Ten of Cats. "How peculiar. Let's keep looking."
Search the Colony
There are, surely, clues as to where the colonists have gone.
Failed event
The marshes are wild, the spores unswept. Laundry sits in piles in the wash-house; several shirts abandoned in the mangle. The town hall has been set up for a show. A broken mirror sits on the stage.

You find an abandoned set of tarot cards before a gold-framed mirror. A playbill for a 'Marzipan and Hallow: the Wondrous Wizards of Glass' has been discarded amidst the slough of pillows.

The Pernickety Factor makes a face. "I hate to suggest it, but Polmear & Plenty's might be able to shed some light here. They have a magician."

As you turn to leave, you catch a glimpse of the reflection in the mirror. The face is not yours.
Successful event
The marshes are wild, the spores unswept. Laundry sits in piles in the wash-house; several shirts abandoned in the mangle. The town hall has been set up for a show. A broken mirror sits on the stage.

You find an abandoned set of tarot cards before a gold-framed mirror. A playbill for a 'Marzipan and Hallow: the Wondrous Wizards of Glass' has been discarded amidst the slough of pillows.

The Pernickety Factor makes a face. "I hate to suggest it, but Polmear & Plenty's might be able to shed some light here. They have a magician."
Take the Prisoner's Honey
This was the Humiliated Magician's advice.
Failed event Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.


Elsewhere than sleep
You locate a comfortable armchair in the Brendan and pour yourself a small measure of the honey into a little teacup (after you've cleaned it of the mushrooms.) The Pernickety Factor has refused to partake. ("I'll keep watch. Besides, I don't know where it's been.") You dream of forests, real forests, of vine and nut trees. Something hisses near your ear. You see in the distance a group of young men and women, dancing with serpents, just on the far side of a further river. You think you see them begin a game of bowls, just before you wake.
Successful event
Elsewhere than sleep
You locate a comfortable armchair in the Brendan and pour yourself a small measure of the honey into a little teacup (after you've cleaned it of the mushrooms.) The Pernickety Factor has refused to partake. ("I'll keep watch. Besides, I don't know where it's been.") You dream of a revel in a forest, a real forest with trees and vines. Young men and women run through the trees, laughing and dancing, while serpents look on from the branches. A large woman serves you tea. A straight-backed, officious lady invites you to play cricket. She is a mean batsman. They do not speak of former times. Their voices ring in your ears as you wake.
Partial success event (5%)
Elsewhere than sleep
You locate a comfortable armchair in the Brendan and pour yourself a small measure of the honey into a little teacup (after you've cleaned it of the mushrooms.) The Pernickety Factor has refused to partake. ("I'll keep watch. Besides, I don't know where it's been.") You dream. A group of young men and women approach you in a forest, a real forest, dripping with dew, where vines trail on the ground and snakes hang from the trees like fruit. They guide you to a party amidst the boughs.
Partake of the revels
There is music and laughter. A vigorous young woman insists you dance. A smiling young man offers you a cocktail.
You are led in jig after reel, sweeping around the green gold glade. Afterwards. someone proposes bowls, though this is swiftly shot down for the more vigorous sport of cricket. A larger woman provides tea laced with amber whiskey. You dance on through the dream, until at last wakefulness comes.
Observe, but keep your distance
Perhaps there is something not quite right here. Perhaps you are merely shy.
The dancers are merry, though their styles are those of several years past. They seem unused to their forms, frequently taking to seats then realising they need no rest. Some dance with snakes in their arms, red bands and black and gold. They smile easily and often. Their smiles linger when you wake.
Attempt conversation
Though no one seems in the mood for talking.
A young man is sitting by the lanterns hung from a blossoming cherry tree. He talks of strange dreams he's been having: of factories and workhouses, of years lost and years gained. Occasionally he pauses, as one or other of the company provides him drinks and ready smiles. His voice is still in your ears as you wake.
Report your findings to the Pernickety Factor
You have found the colonists.
The Pernickety Factor looks up from her tea when you wake. "Didn't let it steep long enough." She sighs. "Was the Magician right?"

Her eyes widen as you begin your explanation. She sits in silence for a long while when you finish. "So the colonists made a bargain with the serpents behind the glass..I can't help but wonder if we're..." She shakes her head. "London looks after its servants. Should you need assistance in the future, I'll put in a word."

She intends to remain on Hybras for a little longer yet, and will not be departing with you.
Conceal the truth from the Pernickety Factor
You'd rather she didn't know the fate of the colonists.
The Pernickety Factor looks up from her tea when you wake. "Didn't let it steep long enough." She sighs. "Was the Magician right?"

You obfuscate. The haze of the honey-dream, the chicanery of magicians, the lies of serpents. It was all a confusion.

The Pernickety Factor sighs. "I'm sorry we couldn't get to the bottom of it. I do hate the untidiness of loose ends. But London always rewards it's servants." She hands you a small pouch from her pocket.

She intends to remain on Hybras for a little longer yet, and will not be departing with you.
Search for Mme. Lumière
A film-maker should be difficult to miss in this hushed, secluded place.
    • Camera icon A Retiring Filmmaker = 1 [You've been asked to bring a filmmaker back to New Winchester from Hybras. [Directions are given here]]

Loud curses lead you towards an elderly woman fiddling with an antiquated camera. She sighs and shuts the frame. "That'll do." She offers a trembling hand. "Lumière. Once a renowned explorer and film-maker, now— As you see." A cough rattles through her. "You from New Winchester? I'll leave with you. I can pay my way. I'm done here, and my lungs won't tolerate much more of this." She smiles wanly. "I've a premiere to plan."
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.


Return Percy Blythe
A knot of sporing fungus can be found a few miles out from the station, near one of the larger swamps, you're told.
The atmosphere thickens the nearer you get to the swamp. Spores cloud the air, as do swarms of fat-bellied flies. Ropes of white mushroom hang in the air like home-coming banners. You order your crewmen to lay Percy Blythe on his ruined back near the largest tree. You wait awhile, but nothing happens, other than the gentle decay of Blythe's sagging flesh in the warmth. Eventually, you are forced to go back to the station for shelter. When you return, Blythe is gone. A handful of medals gleam under the silent boughs of the dead trees.
Collect a sample of Hybras pus
It oozes out of the fungal body, just as it would an infected sore on your arm.
The difficulty in collecting samples isn't in having to climb to some remote peak, or fighting off creatures who're all teeth and claws: it's in abiding the smell.
Collect a sample of Hybras pus
It oozes out of the fungal body, just as it would an infected sore on your arm.
The difficulty in collecting samples isn't in having to climb to some remote peak, or fighting off creatures who're all teeth and claws: it's in abiding the smell.
Wander Hybras
The colony is even quieter with everyone gone.
You wade through the boggy marshes around Hybras, disturbed only by the occasional drone of a dying bee. Smoke still pours from the Stationmaster's chimney, but he's not inclined to leave his cottage. You stumble over a few discarded bowls and a number of old footprints heading towards the fungal forest,
Write a Port Report
Everyone is gone, aside from the Station Master. The fungus however remains. Someone will surely be interested in what has occurred here.
The Station Master professes ignorance. His manner has not improved in the absence of everyone else. There are new shades to the fungus: indigo, crimson, jet. The trees have taken on a new pallid hue. Spores cloud the air. The silence is almost restful.
Hunt for blemmigans with the Cryptozoologist
If a colony of sentient mushrooms was going to establish itself anywhere, this is the place.
The music of mushrooms
The Cryptozoologist leads the way, following a melodic hum in the air. Soon enough, you find it. In a pus-soaked hollow, a chorus of blemmigans howl in perfect harmony. "I can't see!" whispers the Cryptozoologist. "I need to get closer!"

She sneaks towards them, but stealth is not one of her talents. They scatter. "Wait!" she calls, giving chase. "I just want to record you!"

You leave her to her hunt. She seems happy enough.
Find the downed locomotive
The bogs and marshes of Hybras are dense and obscured with rotting fungus, but somewhere in the interior, a locomotive has gone down.




A Downed Locomotive on Hybras
Locomotive
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 278007


A Downed Locomotive on Hybras[ | ]

You lead a small team through the slopsome marshes and the groaning fungal forests, where the drone of insects infected by fruiting spikes of fungus drowns out all other sound. Hidden deep in the bogs, you would have almost passed by the fallen engine. The Tackety engine rises from the marsh like a stick in the water, battered and smoking.

Trigger conditions

Hybras icon Winchester War: A Downed Locomotive on Hybras ≥ 2 ≤ 2,


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Help the crew
A few Tacketies are attempting a rescue of the lower quarters, while others are sending damp mushroomy smoke signals up through the fungal canopy.
You order your crew to pitch in, donning wet suits and gathering cloth about your mouths. The leader of the Tacketies is the second lieutenant ("Captain went down when we were hit off the white arches."), who guides you through the creaking engine.

The ramshackle locomotive is seeping with marsh water, and reeks of damp. Dragging out unconscious crew and salvaging supplies takes hours, but the lieutenant refuses to leave a man behind.

As night draws in, she goes in with you one last time. At the bottom of the engine all but sunk in the marsh, is a heavy box that takes two to carry out. "We can get passage from here. Couldn't lose this."
Note down the location and report it to the Windward Company
The Tacketies aren't going anywhere. The Windward Company will be very interested to hear about this.
The sounds of boggy floundering fade behind you, as you stroll back through the dripping woods. You order your navigator to keep a close eye on the compass, and mark the location and route on your map as you walk. The station master at Hybras is more than willing to carry a message. "About time," he says, with a smile, "was worried I'd have to fish them out myself." The Tacketies will be out of their predicament soon enough. The Windward Company can be efficient when it chooses.


Establish a Blue Kingdom Embassy
Maskedshade
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 306700


Establish a Blue Kingdom Embassy[ | ]

The village sprawls, silent and abandoned and overrun with rapacious fungi. The interior of every house is choked by spores and rot. "Here we are, then." The Mesmeric Orator masterfully avoids showing even a trace of disappointment. "Very good, very good. From the humblest of seeds a mighty oak may grow, after all."

Trigger conditions

Maskedshade icon The Philosophy of Culmination ≥ 2 ≤ 2,


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Occupy an abandoned building
Your crew can help clean it up.
The founding of the Blue Kingdom Embassy
The Orator takes upon himself to deliver a speech. Your crew, suitably inspired, band together and tackle the village head-on, clearing away clutter, sweeping up spores, even hacking away most of the fungi. By the end of the day, Hybras is habitable once again. "This seems the most suitable accommodation for the embassy," declares the Orator, standing outside the modest town hall. "For now, we shall set up our operations here. And one can only hope that in the future we grow."


The Blue Kingdom Embassy
Maskedshade
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 306702


The Blue Kingdom Embassy[ | ]

"The Collective Conclusion(embassy_description) When the Orator has finished his speeches for the day, he meets you in his office. The golden urn sits on the desk – somehow managing to project an air of pomposity – while its carrier silently gets on with some paperwork."

Trigger conditions

Maskedshade icon The Philosophy of Culmination ≥ 3


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
What is the Embassy's goal?
The Orator clears his throat dramatically. He loves the chance to pontificate.
The Orator's gambit
"An embassy helps different cultures understand each other. Am I correct?" The Orator pauses for precisely optimum effect. "As the Reach comes to understand us, they will adopt our inherently superior philosophies. Soon the Reach will swear fealty to the Blue Kingdom, perhaps Albion too, and we will have opened strategically valuable new fronts against the Eleutherian menace. "Thus, it is imperative that we educate the denizens of the Reach in the Philosophy of Culmination, and hasten this process as much as we can. We propose an ending to beginnings. It is more complex than that, of course. I explain more in my daily seminar."
Receive an assignment from the Orator
"There is plenty of work to be done, as usual," he says in his voice of butter and honey.

Advanced query needs investigation


Accept a passenger
"I have a promising adherent eager to help spread the Philosophy to more distant climes," says the Orator. "Can you transport them?"

Advanced query needs investigation


Transport a work of art
A cottage industry of artists has sprung up in Hybras, churning out pro-Philosophy pieces. But they need to be seen by fresh eyes.

Advanced query needs investigation


Tell the Orator that you successfully delivered the artwork
A job well done.
An apparently earnest speech
"I knew I could rely on you!" booms the Orator. He launches into a monologue about how much he values you as a collaborator and friend. He draws allusion to Greek myth; he compares you to the greatest heroes and heroines of history. By the time he finishes talking, it is nightfall. You must admit it is a good speech, though even a team of the finest detectives and psychologists would find it impossible to tell if it was genuine. Almost as an afterthought, he gives you a cask of sparkling gemstones as payment.
Tell the Orator that you successfully dropped off your passenger
You've personally helped spread the influence of the Blue Kingdom through Albion and the Reach.
Rumours and hearsay
"Excellent work, my friend!" declares the Orator.

The golden urn that contains the Orator's voice sits atop his desk, static as ever, but now it speaks in a whisper. You're forced to lean over and press your ear to the metal rim.

"As Hybras expands, I hear more and more secrets and titbits from the people here," he says. "I keep my ear to the ground. And they all come to me for advice. In the spirit of our partnership, I'll quite happily tell you everything I've heard."
Tell the Orator that you completed your assignment
Another agent of the Philosophy is working to popularise Blue Kingdom ideals.
Rumours and hearsay
"Your actions are helping Hybras grow," says the Orator. "The more we expand, the more there will be to do. Ah, the curse of success!

"I know that curse all too well." The Orator slips into storytelling mode. His magnificent voice is particularly well-suited to the rhythm of a well-worn tale. "When I was alive, I was a politician. One of the greatest speech-makers of my day. My success made me a target. Fine words can't stand up to a soldier and sword."

As he speaks, blazing light filters through the fungus that coats the windows. Is it your imagination, or is it tinted blue?


The Orator's Assignment
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 306705

The Orator's Assignment[ | ]

"Random Orator Assignment(assignment_description)"


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Accept the assignment
You'll do your part to help spread the Philosophy of Culmination throughout Albion and the Reach.
The beginning of something
The Orator's voice is sunshine breaking through the clouds. "Wonderful! I have every confidence in you, Addressed As(SpeechFormal)."
Refuse the assignment
Another will be available in a week, if you so choose.
A sigh of disappointment
"Oh, I understand," murmurs the Orator. "Busy, busy busy, of course. But don't lose sight of the value of the work we are accomplishing here. Perhaps later, when it better fits your schedule..."


An Agent of the Philosophy
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 307014


An Agent of the Philosophy[ | ]

"Random Orator Passenger(passenger_description)"


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Agree to take on the special passenger
You can take them where they need to go.
The agent embarks
"Excellent! Go gather your things, now, and board the engine post-haste." Your new passenger – who you suppose could be loosely described as a spy – hurries from the office.

The Orator's intoxicating voice drops in both pitch and volume. Suddenly, he is conspiratorial.

"We are establishing a network across the stars, my friend," he says. "Because you are my friend. And so are all the fantastic people who have come to Hybras, all the artists, all the writers, all the impassioned new adherents of our great Philosophy. I have so many friends. A lesser man wouldn't know what to do with them all."
Refuse to take the passenger
Another will be available in a week, if you so choose.
A sigh of disappointment
"Oh, I understand," murmurs the Orator. "Busy, busy busy, of course. But don't lose sight of the value of the work we are accomplishing here. Perhaps later, when it better fits your schedule..."


A Definitive Work
Category Story Event
Type Story
Data ID 307038


A Definitive Work[ | ]

"Random Orator Artwork(art_description)"


Interactions

Actions Requirements Effects Notes
Agree to help disseminate the artwork
The style of the Blue Kingdom, and specifically the tenets of the Philosophy, have become something of a sensation in the contemporary art world.
Ready for delivery
"Capital!" says the Orator. "When you return to your engine, you shall find the artwork already waiting in your hold. I took the liberty of arranging matters ahead of time."
Refuse to deliver the artwork
Another will be available in a week, if you so choose.
A sigh of disappointment
"Oh, I understand," murmurs the Orator. "Busy, busy busy, of course. But don't lose sight of the value of the work we are accomplishing here. Perhaps later, when it better fits your schedule..."


Shops[ | ]

Trade with the Locals

The only things to buy at Hybras are edible mushrooms and seeds from the blotchy crops grown by the locals.

Shop is unavailable when Hybras is deserted.

Item Buy Sell
Supplies square icon Supplies Sovereigns icon 40 Sovereigns Sovereigns icon 20 Sovereigns
Verdantseeds square icon Sack of Verdant Seeds Sovereigns icon 40 Sovereigns
Locations
Region Hub Ports Discoveries / Spectacles
The Reach Newwinchester icon New Winchester Carillon icon Carillon

Hybras icon Hybras
Naturereserve icon Leadbeater & Stainrod's Nature Reserve
Lustrum icon Lustrum
Magdalenes icon Magdalene's
Circus icon Polmear & Plenty's Inconceivable Circus
Portavon icon Port Avon
Portprosper icon Port Prosper
Titania icon Titania
Traitorswood icon Traitor's Wood
Transitrelay icon Transit Relays

Signalbox icon An Abandoned Signal Box

Default icon Faith's Fall
Well green icon Old Tom's Well
Regentsgrave icon Regent's Grave
Rose icon The Flowerfields
Default icon The Regent's Tears
Wreckgeneric icon The Silent Saint
Reach icon The War of Fossils
Wreckgeneric icon Wreck of the Parzifal

Albion London icon London Avidhorizon icon Avid Horizon (The Stair to the Sea)

Perdurance icon Perdurance
Brabazon icon The Brabazon Workworld
Clockworksun icon The Clockwork Sun
Floatingparliament icon The Floating Parliament
Serenemausoleum icon The Most Serene Mausoleum
Royalsociety icon The Royal Society
Transitrelay icon Transit Relays
Worlebury icon Worlebury-juxta-Mare

Default icon Skyhenge

Lantern icon St Anthony's Lighthouse
Avidhorizon icon The Avid Horizon
Well purple icon Well of the Wolf
Wreckgeneric icon Wreck of the Boatman

Eleutheria Pan icon Pan Achlys icon Achlys

Caduceus icon Caduceus
Eaglesempyrean icon Eagle's Empyrean
Langleyhall icon Langley Hall
Piranesi icon Piranesi
Houseofrodsandchains icon The House of Rods and Chains
Transitrelay icon Transit Relays

Default icon The Xanthous Moon

Well yellow icon The Well of Wonders
Wreckgeneric icon Wreck of the Berrenger

The Blue Kingdom Tolltower icon Sky Barnet Deathsdoorstep icon Death's Door (The Shadow of the Sun)

Forgeofsouls icon The Forge of Souls
Whitewell icon The White Well (Wellmouth)
Transitrelay icon Transit Relay

Deathsdoorstep icon Horologion
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