One night, for no apparent reason, a vast and ancient forest appeared across the land as if it had existed there for hundreds of years. Destructively superimposed on all that existed before it, the forest devastated the works of man. Nothing escaped the blanketing of the trees, not even the tarmac of the roads or the buildings of the city centres. Life as we know it ceased: structures collapsed; roads, rail lines and runways were choked; and anything that may have helped with a swift recovery was lost. For a short while a state of emergency was broadcast over all available media, but soon these reassuring words fell silent. As devastating as the Event was, much worse was to follow.
It became apparent that this forest, soon to be named the Sea of Leaves, was not like any ordinary, mundane wood. Ancient, foreboding and somehow alive, it was a wild place, full of cunning, dangerous animals, and permeated by the Call, a siren-song, a lure that sucked the weak-minded, the desperate and the lonely into its depths. Within weeks over eighty per cent of people succumbed to the Call and entered the depths of the wood, never returning. Those that remained clung together however and wherever they could, slowly forming close-knit communities in locations that could be protected from the dangers of the wood.
"We have just arrived in the Hargreaves 55 system. Mother has identified multiple... there's no other word for it. Superstructures. How did over fifty survey runs miss these. Some are as large as moons. The captain has ordered that the colonists be kept in stasis while we investigate. We request Colonial Marines support as soon as possible. We will initiate first contact protocols immediately."
It sounds impossible. A colonist ship on a routine trip to another world has found evidence of intelligent life other than humans. Sure there have been stories all across the Outer Rim colonies, but nobody believed them. Hundreds of surveyed worlds and we had all become convinced that humanity was alone in the universe.
Now you're on the USCSS Tempest, travelling on a direct route to an uncharted system. Nobody has heard from the colonists since they began to investigate the superstructures they'd found. Based on the data sent back, there is no disputing that the structures are artificial.
But nobody has heard anything more. Are they dead? Are these aliens hostile? Your team is heading to sleep for the final jump to Hargreaves 55. Who knows what awaits you when you arrive... better be prepared for anything, Marine.
"Wake for the Lost" is an action horror game that draws upon the results of the preceding "Children in the Graveyard" session. Your experience will be impacted by the decisions the previous players made. Your marines will be dealing with the fallout of that session, making for a unique adventure. Did anyone survive from the colonist ship? What did they find? Which object did they explore? Have they started an interstellar war?
Or will you be facing something so alien, you can't describe it?
The United Americas sent your colony ship out years ago to colonise the newly discovered exoplanet Hargreaves 55 b. Earth like, with all signs of having a breathable atmosphere open for low cost terraforming, ownership of the world was hotly contests across the national blocks of Earth.
Now you awake from your sleep to news that while you have arrived in the Hargreaves 55 system, what millions of dollars worth of astronomical equipment missed was a number of superstructures across the system. No sign of life. Some are as large as small moons.
Now your mission has changed. Work out if this is a first contact situation. Find out what these structures are for. Are they inhabited. Is Hargreaves 55 b inhabited? While the colonists remain sleeping, you, the crew, must deal with the one situation nobody prepared you for.
You've just woken up, you don't know where you are, furthermore where is your sister, or best friend, or cousin is. Should you stay where you are? it looks like there was a big accident nearby. Eventually you come upon some strangers, maybe together you can find your missing loved ones. Things would be easier too if you could find anyone else, or a place to eat. Can you go on with your loved ones gone? Do you have the strength within you?
The workers at a small community public library on what appeared to be an ordinary week day. Only, as they pause for another cup of tea they realise that it’s even quieter than usual. Mr Brockton hasn’t been in to read the paper, and he does that every day at 10.30 am, that young mother hasn’t brought her loud child in to play with the toys in the kid’s area…. and the news reports on the radio are a trifle concerning….