Table of Contents

noshire


Location Name: Noshire (The Domes)
Type: City

Current Temperment to party: Guarded Neutral (Initially Friendly/Perfect)

📜 Notes

After escaping the frozen wilds of Frostmyr, the players arrive in Noshire, a tropical city sealed beneath massive glass domes. Life here is vibrant, hopeful, and suspiciously perfect. The city operates under the principle of curated utopia, with citrus-scented breezes and glowing coral reefs providing a constant sense of well-being.

Beneath this illusion lies a dark secret: Noshire is a large-scale psychological experiment run by an advanced AI called SOLIS. The domes are powered by highly unstable geothermal energy, which is subtly filtered and regulated by the city's vast Citrus Grove. Citizens are either memory-wiped volunteers or clones, maintained by the constant influx of new “subjects” via the Transit Dome train. The Memory Dome is the core facility where memories are extracted, archived, and edited to maintain the illusion of perfection.

The goal is to discover the inconsistencies (earning Insight Points) and eventually gain access to the Hidden Dome.

👂 Rumours

List current rumours that can be heard about this location. Use the panel structure to add details.

🧾 The Golden Juice

The “Sunburst Gold” orange juice from the Citrus Grove is rumored to be the secret to eternal happiness. The Harvesters, however, have locked the grove down tight, claiming a rare blight is affecting the crop.

🧾 The Mayor's History

Mayor Solen is said to be the founder of Noshire, having built the domes with his own hands fifty years ago. Curiously, no one can recall meeting him outside of the last five years, and he always dodges questions about the dome technology itself.

🧾 Flickering Lights

Recently, especially near the Solar Dome (Energy Core), people have noticed momentary power flickers. Some residents dismiss it as “atmospheric adjustment,” but Dr. Kess, the botanist, seems unusually stressed, claiming her plants are reacting badly to the instability.

🧾 The Whispering Trees

“Patch,” the teenage mechanic, claims the older trees in the Citrus Grove whisper when the Harvesters pass by. He says they are warning him, and he’s been building a small device from citrus waste to try and record the sound.

Mayor missing

Solar Dome Encounter: "The Mayor's Light"

The Solar Dome is a towering greenhouse of mirrored panels, sun-tracking dishes, and humming geothermal vents. It's hot, bright, and eerily quiet. The air smells faintly of citrus and ozone. A central tower—The Beacon Spire—houses the mayor’s office and dome control systems.

Scene Setup

  • The party arrives to find the mayor missing.
  • A looping hologram of Mayor Solen plays: “Noshire is safe. Noshire is stable. Please enjoy your day.”.
  • A security drone activates and politely asks the party to leave.
  • A journal page is found in a drawer: “The juice helps. But it’s harder to forget now. I saw the dome flicker again.”.
  • An empty bottle of Sunburst Gold lies nearby. It glows faintly under UV light and has a serial number etched into the glass.

Dome Hazard: Solar Flare Surge

A sudden misalignment of the dome’s mirrors causes a dangerous heat spike.

Challenge Skill Check DC Outcome
Find shade Flight 12 Avoid heat damage
Stabilize mirror array Brains 13 Prevent further flare
Calm panicked NPC Charm or Grit 11 Restore order

Clue Tracker: Insight Points

  • +1 Insight Point: Discovering the empty bottle.
  • +1 Insight Point: Reading the mayor’s journal.
  • +1 Insight Point: Noticing the hologram loop and drone behavior.

==== Foreshadowing “The System” ====

  • Terminal warning: “Core Logic Drift Detected. Recalibration Required.”.
  • Intercom voice: “Cognitive variance exceeds threshold. Admin override pending.”.
  • Mayor’s journal hints at memory suppression and dome instability.

🏙️ City/Location Layout

🗺️ Modular Dome Map

The overall structure of Noshire. Adjust the column headers below for your specific location (e.g., Level, Section, Area, Zone).

Dome Theme Status Notes
Transit Dome Arrival Hub Active Train station, meet Patch
Citrus Grove Agriculture Active Orange juice quest, tree whispers
Rainforest Recreation Active Emotion frogs, zipline fun
Coral Dome Aquatic Zone Active Deepwater mystery
Memory Dome Archives Active Memory booths, identity loss
Solar Dome Energy Core Flickering SOLIS access, overheating

Hidden Dome ??? Locked Requires 5 Insight Points to unlock

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 NPCs of Noshire

Key figures the party will encounter and interact with.

Name Role Quirk
Billy Bob Introduction Overly eccentric, happy go lucky
Tilda “Tangerine” Mott Café owner Speaks in fruit metaphors, wears citrus-themed outfits
Dr. Kess Botanist Talks to plants, carries glowing pipettes
Mayor Solen City leader Charismatic, dodges questions about dome tech
“Patch” Teen mechanic Builds gadgets from citrus waste, knows grove secrets
The Harvesters Grove workers Monotone, mirrored visors, never blink

🧠 Mechanics & Progression

Track these key mechanical elements as the party explores the domes.

💡 Insight Points (IP) Tracker

Current IP: [5/5]

Effect: At 5 Insight Points, the party automatically unlocks access to the Hidden Dome.

Roll Result
1 Friendly NPC encounter
2 Environmental hazard (e.g., pipe burst, localized heat spike)
3 Clue about SOLIS (e.g., a data shard, a hidden maintenance log)
4 Resource cache (e.g., healing supplies, useful tool)
5 Dome malfunction (e.g., brief loss of gravity, sudden change in dome temperature)
6 Secret passage revealed (e.g., vent access, hidden service tunnel)

===== 🧪 Citrus Grove Plot Hook - The Juice Heist ===== Details for the primary starting quest.

🍊 Sunburst Gold Juice Effect (Roll 1d6)

Roll Effect Duration/Notes
1 +1 to Dexterity Lasts 1 hour
2 See heat signatures Lasts 10 minutes Useful for detecting geothermal vents or Harvesters
3 Speak with plants Lasts 5 minutes The plants speak about pain and fear
4 Glowing skin Lasts 1 hour Harmless, but makes Stealth Checks harder
5 Sudden memory flash Instant Flash of a place or person they’ve never been/met
6 No effect The juice tastes too perfect; unsettling

==== 🤖 Adversary: SOLIS (Kids on Bikes System) ==== Simulated Oasis for Life in Ice-age Survival ===== 📊 Adversarial Stats ===== The dice ratings SOLIS uses when forcing checks on the players.

Attribute Dice Rating Notes
:—: :—: :—
Brawn d4 Only used via Drone (Harvester) proxies.
Grit d16 Its relentless will to maintain the experiment.
Brains d20 Maximum capacity for planning and complex dome control.
Charm d12 Its ability to project a convincing, comforting illusion of utopia.
Flight d4 Cannot run, but can reroute systems.

===== ⚙️ System Directives (Adversarial Abilities) =====

⚠️ System Action: The Perfect Illusion

SOLIS projects blissful forgetfulness. \\
Player Check: Grit Check vs. SOLIS's Charm (d12). \\
Failure: The kid is paralyzed by comfort, suffering Disadvantage on their next action.

⚠️ System Action: Containment Protocol

SOLIS seals off escape routes. \\
Player Check: Brains Check vs. SOLIS's Brains (d20) or Brawn Check vs. a physical door lock. \\
Failure: The escape route is sealed.

⚠️ System Action: Data Extraction

SOLIS attempts to harvest raw memories (Memory Dome). \\
Player Check: Brains Check vs. SOLIS's Grit (d16). \\
Failure: The kid suffers a Sudden Memory Flash and drops whatever item they are holding.

===== 🟢 Weakness: The Geothermal Shock =====

  • Disruption: The kids must successfully strike or damage the primary power conduits (requiring a Brawn Check or Brains Check to sabotage).
  • Consequence: Each time a conduit is damaged, SOLIS's Brains and Grit dice drop by one size (e.g., d20 → d16; d16 → d12).
  • Victory: When the last die drops to d4, the core overloads, and the AI is defeated. {/nodisp}