25. Pilgrim fleet

The small fleet has been crawling through the void for months, undefended and low on resources. Rumours precede it; a caravan of a almost a hundred pilgrims in half a dozen ramshackle vessels. They say they were twice a many in the beginning, but malfunctions and pirate raids have taken their toll. Will you aid them or are they prey to you?

Type: Fleet Function: Pilgrimage Power source: Various Gravity: Various Size: 6 vessel, mostly frigate-sized Affiliation: Religious Population: 83 Sells: Nothing Buys: Water, food, fuel, medicine

These pilgrims are heading to [a holy site to be created later]. They are mostly poor folk, who have purchased the vessels at great personal cost. Most of them are nearly starving, and few of the ships provide tolerable living conditions. Fuel reserves are minimal and they maintain a low cruising speed in order to be able to afford the de-acceleration burn. It is unlikely that any but a few will make it unless aid is provided. If a ship can be captured, there is still some profit to be made by selling or scuttling it, and the crew can always be sold into slavery by unscrupulous raiders.

The St Matthew

The largest vessel; an old, cylindrical freighter.
Crew: 16 poor and simple souls
Leader: Brother James, a simple, bearded man with large, expressive eyes
Need: Food and water
If attacked: During a boarding, the crew will fight fiercely but ineffectively to protect their leader.
If helped: Neither Brother James nor his crew have anything to give in return.

Alvastra

An aging but slender yacht; the heat radiators resembles tall sails.
Crew: 5 young, rather handsome men and women
Leader: Father Sven, a bald and well-fed man.
Need: Father Sven and his "family" will pay quite well for food. They plan to resell it at a premium to their co-pilgrims.
If attacked: They respond with cowardice and pleading. Father Sven has a rather fine gun, but is not a good shot. He will hide in his cabin.
If helped: Pays decently, but tries to haggle.

The Atanarik

Little more than a jumble of cylindrical modules, solar arrays and radiators. Bulky, spherical afterburner tokamak. A very old and asymmetric vessel that is in fact an ancient military corvette, still armed with a functional turret and a single torpedo.
Crew: 20 wild eyed fanatics, several of them very young, almost children
Leader: Finch, a sinewy and fierce looking woman. Adored by her followers.
Need: Claim to need nothing, but look starved and dehydrated.
If attacked: Will fight to the death. The ship can defend itself.
If helped: Can pay a little. Finch will insist. Might become a staunch ally if the PCs display at least some piousness.

Our Lady of Tears

A block-shaped frigate. Quite clearly leaking hydrogen vapour.
Crew: 10 modest looking pilgrims and nuns
Leader: Mother Iseult, the abess of a former nunnery. Seems rather joyful, given the circumstances.
Need: Fuel (lots of it) and repairs.
If attacked: Helpless if shot at, ingenious if boarded. Will use environent of the ship against attackers.
If helped: Offers prayer, nothing else. These will actually offer some protection (advantage) against void entities.

The Marseille

Almost identical to Our Lady of Tears. Doesn't respond to contact attempts. The crew is dying from a highly infectious virus.
Crew: 15 diseased pilgrims, mostly monks. 7 are dead, the rest very ill.
Leader: Brother Kenneth (dead)
Need: Medicine, water and food. Boarding without protective gear entails a fortitude check against infection. The disease kills within 1d6 days if not treated with antiviral medication.
If attacked: Unable to defend themselves.
If helped: The survivors silently offer a strange statuette of red, porous stone resembling a crude, egg-shaped, three-eyed head. It causes diseases to develop and mutate rapidly in any environment where it is kept, but the monks don't know that (or won't tell).

Czarna Madonna

A small, freighter, shaped like a tall, truncated pyramid.
Crew: 12 children, orphans
Leader: Father Stephan; a serious looking and demure priest.
Need: Food and water.
If attacked: Unable to defend themselves.
If helped: Father Stephan can pay if the children are fed.

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