-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxx@simplelists.com [mailto:xxxxxx@simplelists.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Zeitlin
Sent: Monday, December 28, 2015 12:41 AM
To: xxxxxx@simplelists.com
Subject: [TML] Adventure Solicitation: Jabru

Below is a scene to start an adventure with. You are cordially invited to write the adventure. The one I like best goes into a future issue of Freelance Traveller.

***************
The manager, such as he is, of the local starport (nominally class C, but more like a class D in reality) calls you, the captain of a free trader landed here, to what passes as his office, near the entrance to the extrality zone. When you get there, he gestures at a person sitting bound and blindfolded in a chair, somewhat the worse for wear, with an odd-looking hat-and-mask covering his head and face, and explains...

"I found him like this at the gate, with just a note in a local dialect that I can barely puzzle out if I'm lucky. The note seems to say that he can't stay on the planet any more - but he's clearly a native, so I may have misunderstood something. The note refers to him as "Jabru", but it's not clear whether that's his name, or some sort of descriptor. When I called the mayor of the nearest town to see if he could tell me anything more, he took one look at my 'guest' and literally spat the word "Jabru", said if he were seen anywhere off the port, he'd be killed, and walked away. He won't take my calls now; his assistant says he won't talk to me until "Jabru" - or maybe "the Jabru" - is gone."
*****************

Without some serious investigative digging the PCs will not know the world's history.  They may have only rumors to guide them in this scenario.  The word Jabru refers to any person deemed to be a witch or sorcerer.  Long ago a Zhodani heavy cruiser suffered a crippling mis-Jump and arrived in this back-water system.  Due to catastrophic system loses the remaining crew decide to scuttle the ship into the local star take their chances on the conveniently located habitable planet.

These survivors established an isolated community deep in the unsettled lands of this world.  In time they spread from deserts to mountains to tundra; always away from local settlements but near enough to trade with a difficult journey in between.  They fell back to the local tech. level (tl 5 at the time) and established themselves as a monastic order who valued self-sufficiency and privacy.  The locals were always suspicious of outsiders and of these 'monks' who always seemed to know a better way of making or doing things.  Knowing that something IS possible provides a big advantage when one is trying to figure out how to do something.

When the locals encroached upon the 'monks' lands the monks left everything behind and moved deeper into the wilderness. Eventually, there were no move open plains to cross.  No more uninhabited forests or mountain valleys.  The local civilization had grown and had now become accustomed to the 'monks' simply fleeing and leaving behind a ready-built community with aqua ducts and bath houses and running water.  When there were no more places to flee to the 'monks' defended themselves for the first time in recorded history.  Things did not go well.  The 'monks' had stealth and tactics on their side as well as the strength of conviction that comes from defending your homes against invasion.  The 'monks' also had superior modern firearms and some modern unpowered armor.  And a host of logistical items to allow them to stage a guerilla war for the next several generations.  No engagement with Zho forces are complete without the elite psionic using commandos.  This really spurred the rumors of shadow-walking assassins getting past any sentry and into any fort.

But no matter how advanced the force the Zho survivors could field they were facing a war of attrition and knew their days were numbered.  The 'monks' disbanded and fled as war refugees and blended in with the local population as best as they could.   The locals still tell tales of the mysterious warrior-priests who could fight so well or could cure the grievous wounds for friends or foes alike.  After contact with the Imperium, local historians began to see similarities in 4th Frontier war reports and their own historical accounts of the strange 'monks'.  Armed with this theory, the military rulers to conduct a 'witch-hunt' to root out every last stinking mind-raping Zho on their planet.

Now strangers are given random DNA tests to ID potential Zho as well as the good old fashioned teeth counting method.  When a Jabru (monk) was found they were shipped offworld and forgotten.

	1.	The Jabru is short, fair skinned, dirty, thirsty and exhausted.  He will answer all questions but insist that he is no "Dirty Joe-Zho scum traitor. Nor does he have too many teeth to be base line Humaniti.    His name is Jaceen Marduurn and he fell victim to this fear mongering by a business rival who wished to see him stripped of his citizenship and deported so that he could take possession of his business and lands.
	2.	The Jabru is tall, thin, and dark skinned. If checked, he does have too many teeth.  His name is T'chatic and he wishes to be repatriated to the Zhodani Consulate at the soonest opportunity.  He is civil and diplomatic and just a bit arrogant.
	3.	As #2 above, but T'chatic will use his commando skills to commandeer the PCs ship in Jump.
	4.	As #2 above, but T'chatic wishes to stay on what he considers hid Home World.  A Home World with an independent government and established Zho colonies.
	5.	As #2 above, but T'chatic is not actually Zho.  He is under the impression that Zho space is friendlier than Imperial controlled space and is willing to do just about anything to get to Zho space.
	6.	As #1 above, but he is of mixed heritage and mildly psionic. The accidental manifestation of his powers lead to a local panic; the Old Enemy had re-surfaced and must be removed.  Luckily the PCs were in port to take away this 'dangerous war criminal'.  T'chatic never hurt anyone, nor does he harbor any ill-will towards his fellow citizens.  He just wishes to return to the simple life of an algae farmer.