Posada’s Bastion

The Furthest You Can Get From Home

Orbital Observation Site— High above the world of Ald-Amura, a small research station floats lazily through the star-crowded void.

The People

A single humanoid floats in a black void, dressed in a rustic and strange spacesuit. The suit has a white hood and cloak, with openings for grey horns that appear to be a part of the suit's helmet. The rest of the suit is grey or beige and thickly padded. The coak hides blue rib-like sections, and has tubes running into it from the helmet. The helmet itself has a purple and orange glass screen shaped like a strange eye. The character is wearing red gloves and boots, and has a single arm covered in blue tattoos. The cloak's inner material is covered in strange spirals colored red and blue throughout in a shimmer effect.

The station is crewed by a small confederation of around 100 scientists, their families, and support workers. Most of the citizens of Posada’s Bastion have been there since it was launched, and several children have been born aboard the spacious and luxurious orbital platform.

A unique culture rapidly developed abroad the station, typified by a sort of abstracted and distanced love of the world, an unshakable belief in the unity of all people, and a subtle form of sun worship that most aboard the station are mildly embarrassed to admit to.

The vast majority of work on the station surrounds the study of Sashula, the Monster in orbit around Ald-Amura. This includes decoding their language, communicating with the Monster, and studying its motions through the stars. A small but notable confederation of scientists have recently begun studying Ald-Amura’s sun, developing special lenses aboard the station to directly observe the celestial body.

Local Monster

The station was initially built to observe an incredibly strange Monster in its natural habitat. Sahsula had been sighted throughout Ald-Amuran history, mistaken at times for a sign from the Gods, a shooting star, a failed experiment from some far away community, and so on.

Only after the Observer’s Confederation caught a glimpse of the Monster in their telescopes was the truth revealed.Sashula is one of the larger Monsters on record, easily 200 meters wide. The bulk of its body is one enormous eye, which alternates between scanning Ald-Amura and Ald-Amura’s sun roughly once every three weeks. Surrounding the eye are several stalks or appendages, each of which is tipped with a sort of bioluminescent bulb, through which the Monster is able to communicate to the station and, presumably, the sun.

Notable Sublocations

  • The Dome—Following the central trunk of the station to the end will lead a visitor to the most breathtaking sight one can imagine. The Dome is a moderate park, speckled with tall trees and flowers transported carefully from the surface, topped with a domed ceiling of specially treated crystal glass, allowing one to soak in the splendor of the cosmos surrounded by the nature of home. Every evening, almost every citizen of Posada’s Bastion gathers in The Dome to talk, exchange news and jokes, play and listen to music, tend to their small community garden plots, and otherwise socialize.
  • Posada’s Eye—The largest telescope ever constructed, Posada’s Eye is an achievement on par with the station itself. Located at the opposite end of the trunk from The Dome, the telescope is able to observe Ald-Amura, Sashula, and the sun for much of the station’s orbit around Ald-Amura, with a brief window of obstruction that lasts around an hour. The scientists crewing the telescope have wisely designated that as “Lunch Time.”
  • The Rotunda—An ironic nickname for the modest town hall that juts out of the station’s midsection. The Rotunda is where the various elected council members of the community gather each Friday to discuss business and pass minor bylaws. The council rotates every three months, and every member of the station is expected to serve on the council at least once every five years. This includes young people and children, who serve in an advisory capacity until they reach fifteen years old.
  • Folly Plaza—A highstreet of sorts located along the station’s trunk. Vendors provide a wide array of regional food favorites, and entertainment venues offer plays, music, sports, and other activities to fill the time. A number of art projects compete to beautify the Plaza every year, capitalizing on the lack of gravity to create incredible vistas all along the station’s most trafficked section.

What Happens When You Arrive

  1. The Dome is sealed, and nobody knows why. Three people are missing.
  2. An extra person has appeared on the station. They insist they’ve always been there but appear on no manifests.
  3. Sashula’s eye has closed.
  4. It is new year, and Folly Plaza is a complete mess as ten art projects compete to decorate the area.
  5. Another station has appeared incredibly close to Posada’s Bastion. It is marked with strange characters.
  6. The sun is expanding, rather quickly. Sashula is moving toward it.