The Traveller

The Traveller is an Urban Legend, a one-shot adventure for The Lost Bay, specifically designed for the Reborn ruleset. This document is a draft preview of one of the six Urban Legends included in the book. Each book's UL is tied to one of The Lost Bay districts; The Traveller is for the Desert one. Buying The Lost Bay PDF on itch.io or pre-ordering the physical books, gives you access to the Reborn preview manuscript.

The adventure is structured in five Beats: five key situations that form the core progression of the fiction. Each Beat propels the characters deeper into the Bay's mysterious Urban Legends. Consider them five encounters awaiting the characters. Some Beats are days apart, while others are connected without discontinuity. The adventure suggests a flowchart to move from one Beat to the other. But you are free to break that structure apart and expand on it. Beats are a starting and optimized skeleton for this adventure; feel free to bend and adapt it. You could even play between the beats and extend the adventure beyond a single session. You can clarify how the event unfolds in between the Beats, ask the players to do it, or leave the unplayed moments open and mysterious.

If needed, change the major NPCs in each Beat to best fit your table's adventure.

In this Urban Legend, as in most The Lost Bay adventures, the players will confront mysteries, terrifying foes, and manipulative factions. They’ll try to decipher their world, survive, and hopefully emerge unscathed. However, the goal and the expectation of The Lost Bay are not to "beat" the game or the adventure. Rather, it’s about having fun unveiling the weird world, navigating trials, and being surprised by your solutions.

TLB is a character-driven game. As a player, you’re encouraged to build relationships with other characters, NPCs, or otherwise. The players will be confronted with making difficult decisions that might have an impact on the NPCs they meet. As a The Lost Bay GM, you act as a guide. Your job is to create fun and safe conditions for players to let go and delve into the bottom of the Urban Legend. A TLB adventure is a trip.

Be sure to read the principles for players and GMs in the Reborn manuscript. 

Use the questions at the beginning or end of the beats to adapt the UL to the characters, their callings, and what’s already happened in the adventure. 

Please excuse any typos or awkward phrasing; the text hasn’t been fully edited, and much of it might change before layout and printing.

Adventure soundtrack: https://youtu.be/3Eqnd_nT44A?si=EhbWVQZ3kiWccFc

Theme: night, stars, lights, glimmers. Use those themes in the descriptions of the environment, characters etc

CW: night, aliens, conspiracies, tentacles, police, sickness, body infestation, body penetration, grief, loss of a close one, including spouse or children

Brooke was originally written by Chris Airiau for the Swine adventure and has been adapted for The Traveller.

This draft is subject to change in the coming weeks. I'm particularly interested in refining some of the NPCs and Channel 7's involvement. However, the adventure is currently playable in its present state. In fact, I've already run it three times, and it's been fascinating to see how it develops in diverse ways. Although it's not fully finished or edited, I wanted to give you a sense of what Reborn adventures might look like.

If you have questions do not hesitate to reach out on The Lost Bay server.

Conditions

What happens to the characters when their Weird increases.

Roll 1d6

1. A small burn scar draws a weird diagram on your skin
2. Thin protruding iridescent tentacles burst through your flesh
3. You feel mesmerized by bright lights and compelled to stare at them
4. Darkness troubles you in a profound way
5. You fixate on coincidences, perceiving them as irrefutable proof that you are being spied on.
6. You have doubts about who you are, what you are

Dreams

How the character’s sleep is affected by the Traveller

Roll 1d6

1. Four Wings Observatory – A black-and-white, silent film. Scientists study a star map, arguing without sound.
2. Mass Grave – Dug into the streets of Sleep Country. You’re in it.
3. Channel 7 Talk Show – A dog-sitter, a monk, and a soccer player discuss your mental health.
4. Ocean of Light – You drift on a fragile raft. When you scream, no one hears.
5. Waking Nightmare – You wake in bed, stomach twisting in pain. Something grows under your skin, ready to burst.
6. Desert Crossroads – Winds howl through the empty landscape.

Legend

What the players know.

It began on a Wednesday, a typical warm summer evening in the Bay. But that night, the sky was abruptly cleaved by a comet. Everything came to a halt, dogs silenced, music faded, even the summer breeze stilled and shuddering leaves froze mid air. There was only the comet. You were there. You saw it. It felt sacred, like a birth.

When the light disappeared, the night shrouded the sky again, and the usual summer cacophony filled the air. 

That was a few days ago, and ever since, your restless nights are plagued by vivid dreams of a sphere of light, a bright figure, and its offering to you: a cold, metallic orb.

Quickly, you realized you weren't alone in these visions. Gossip and whispers about the falling star and the dream figure began to spread, and like everyone else, you started calling it the Traveller

A bone-deep feeling tells you the Traveller will appear today, at an old desert crossroads. You arrived there, guided by instinct and the shared dreams of strangers met along the way at gas stations.

Truth

What’s really happening

The Faceless God has injected into the night and reality one of its offspring, the Traveller. The traveller has a hunger for learning what humans feel, and what they fear. It likes to infest their dreams and lure them to itself, with the promise of a better life, devoid from pain and loneliness. When it can get close to lost souls it contaminates them, injecting a Seed into their soft belly. The Seed consumes their thoughts and emotions, grows, and ultimately rips their body apart.

The Collectors, an esoteric group of nerds with guns, believe the Traveller is a god, and are desperately trying to get hold of a Seed. Channel 7 exploits the event to boost its audience ratings by spreading false information, as usual.

BEAT 1 First Encounter

Inciting incident

Desert, Crossroads, Night

Planting the scene

It's 2 am, the night is cold, and you've been waiting all day at the expected landing point of the Traveller. A couple of dozen cars and trucks form a circle. At the center, flowers, fruits, wishes written on little folded pieces of paper, and other objects form a pile of welcome gifts.

Silver ribbons adorn a multi-colored welcome sign that says: "We always believed." They flap in the wind like small, ecstatic hands.

Iris (Wants: to meet the light that whispers in her dreams), an elderly woman, is talking to her scared little dog. The wind brings intermittently the mellow sound of a chant in an unknown language see Victoria (Wants: friendship, and a place to call home)

Parked close by is a small camper van, a relic of the 70s. White and beige, it's tidy and clean, yet shows the wear of age, much like its owners. They're a pair of young retirees, Claire (Wants: to get healed) and Alfred (Wants: to forget, just for a while, the hardships he’s going through), around sixty, warming a teapot on a camping gas stove. They’re eager to share their rose tea.

The Encounter

The wind picks up, swirling clouds of dust. Paper and gifts are swept away, and the little dog barks frantically. A bright, intense light appears in the sky above. Some people begin chanting, while others become ecstatic: "They're coming back!" A trucker runs to their vehicle and locks themselves inside. As the sphere descends closer, trucks and cars extinguish their lights.

The sphere halts, hovering twenty meters above the landing site: the Traveller, a brilliant orb of light. Its size is impossible to discern, unlike anything you've ever witnessed. The light is so intense it nearly blinds you, and electric appliances emit a disturbing, buzzing drone.

The Iris’s dog runs towards the light yapping. A blue beam emanates from the sphere, gently probing the crowd, it locks on anyone who gets closer to it.

Who does the Traveller rapture?

Roll 1d6 or pick

1. Iris
   
2. Little dog
   
3. Victoria
   
4. Claire
   
5. Alfred
   
6. One of the PCs

The Traveller is looking for at least one person to rapture, if possible two. Abductees can be either players or NPCs, or both. 

• Most NPCs will be ecstatic at first before screaming in agony and disappearing in the light.
• If a PC is raptured, the Traveller will drop them close to the site after implanting the seed.

The Traveller emits a blinding flash of light and vanishes at incredible speed. Darkness and cold descend. Chaos ensues. People are missing. Others are ecstatic. 

Soon after, another light appears in the sky—distant at first, but approaching fast, accompanied by thunder-like sounds. It’s a Channel 7 chopper, carrying Brooke, a rising TV host. Want: To become Channel 7’s next star, no matter the cost.

The crowd disperse. Some run, others start their vehicles. Panic, panic, panic. Alfred screams Claire's name. She’s gone. Victoria is in panic and looking for help!

<Before moving on, take a moment to recap which NPCs the player characters have come into contact with so far. >

BEAT 2 The Astro Archeologist

Thrown in a new world

Sleep Country, Night, Little Rock Library.

<This Beat can lead to Beat 3 or Beat 4, depending on the outcome.>

Two days later.

Planting the scene

The days after the encounter with the Traveller felt so empty, as if the whole Bay had crawled back in bed and locked the bedroom door. Through news and back channels, you hear of more encounters, yet Channel 7 dismisses them as mass hysteria, a “brain sickness”. Talk show witnesses, in tears, claim their memories are fabrications

Tonight’s bleak atmosphere hardly surprises you.

Sleep Country, a dull residential area. It's 8 pm. The streets are dead silent. Not even a stray cat. An unsettling quiet hangs over the neighborhood. Most houses have their shutters closed, as if holding their breath.

A feeling of general distrust slowly consumed Sleep Country. Those who dream of the Traveller, the Called, have learned to be discreet, exchanging flyers and pamphlets at bus stops and organizing secret support groups. You're heading to one tonight, at the Little Rock Library. The meeting is organized by Luc, the chief librarian and secret member of the Collectors.

<Question to the players: you’ll meet with other survivors of the first encounter. Who are they? And how did you get in touch with them?>

The library has two main areas: the Reading room (books, shelves, chairs, fire extinguisher), and the Archeology museum (boxes filled with archives, general purpose tools, broken computers, painted rocks): a large storage space and museum hybrid, containing ancient, painted rocks. Two small offices, and restrooms, complete the layout. Luc’s office is a desk located in the Archaeology Museum. It’s covered in piles of photos, maps, and research documents, including newspaper clippings from scammy UFO-related magazines.

Additionally, the desk drawers contain:

• Audio recordings of various witnesses
• A human anatomy book
• The diary of a 12-year-old girl detailing her illness

The painted rocks appear ancient, revealing recurrent motifs upon closer inspection: mass graves, a crowd praying to a sun, flying spider-like beings, and a long, elongated figure.

You’re in the reading room. Uncomfortable, folding plastic chairs line the space, facing a large TV screen. Luc is struggling connecting the deck A/V cables to the screen. Most chairs remain empty, and those arriving are late, their faces marked with worry. Angela (Wants: to pretend she doesn’t understand and get home early) helps them to the chairs. You recognize a couple of folks from the landing site in the desert. Gael (Wants to be welcomed by his friends again), a teenager, wide-eyed and scared, bears a constellation of burn marks across his face and neck. Gael is much younger than the party, but one of you knows him from school or a club. You once tutored him for an art research project—he aced the presentation and has admired you ever since. He waves at you.

At the welcome table, Sofia (Wants: to please Luc, and keep her job) offers hot coffee in plastic cups and cheap cookies. One library wall is plastered with red “have you seen him/her?” flyers. On the opposite side, a large, dog-eared poster and framed photos display ancient rock drawings: a giant spider in the sky, floating figures, a mass grave. The drawings are time-worn and hard to read. One large framed photo stands out: a massive rock in the desert, with Luc and a young teenage girl posing at its base. They look so happy.

Luc (Wants: to grow a seed and become and revive his daughter), an unusually tall and thin, thirty-year-old man with a hairless face, starts the VHS player. A poorly produced documentary flickers to life, featuring brief interviews with the Called, interspersed with shaky footage of Luc, a self-taught archaeo-astronomer, guiding the camera through the library museum to examine ancient, painted rocks.

Standing awkwardly beside the TV, Luc provides live commentary for unfinished sequences. After the documentary, he opens the floor for audience experiences.

Gael and another person in the audience share their experiences.

Gael: "The beam touched me, it burned my face. My friends won’t talk to me anymore. My parents don’t even know I’m here tonight. I feel so ashamed... I hate feeling like this."

Other audience member

Roll 1d6

1. Hi, I’m Brooke, reporter at Channel 7, I’d like to know who is coordinating all those meetings. 
2. I saw them from a distance, I was hiding. Now I can’t sleep anymore, they haunt my dreams.
3. This can’t be true, it’s bullshit, you’re all sick in the head.
4. Their world is magnificent and made of platinum. I made drawings of it, look!
5. They talk to me, in songs. I’ve already heard that song before, but I can’t remember where.
6. I feel so lonely, I’m happy to be here tonight.

<Luc invites you to talk, what do you share?>

Luc is on edge—so close to his goal. He needs a Seed. His obsessive study of the painted rocks has convinced him that hosting a Seed will grant him power over life and death. And he intends to use it to bring his daughter, Evangeline, back from the dead.

He's completely delusional.

Someone in the audience must be carrying a Seed. He just has to find them—someone who cries too much, has drawn too close to the Traveller, or has been lifted by the beam.

Once Luc identifies a candidate, he patiently lures them into the museum storage room, likely under false pretenses. He might invite them to examine the rocks, maps, or documents, or even suggest a medical exam—which, of course, doesn’t exist.

Once the potential Seed carrier is locked in the room, Angela helps Luc sedate them and carry them to her van. Luc plans to transport the carrier to Four Wings Observatory to perform the Seed extraction. Angela pretends not to know the details. Besides, she has a night shift at a nightclub soon. No matter what happens, she won’t turn against Luc

<Keep in mind that Luc and Angela are not thugs, and whatever they attempt will likely be messy and noisy.>

Moving on

• If the players leave the library (whether they confronted Luc or not), proceed to BEAT 3.
• If the players end up in Luc’s custody or run away chased by him, proceed to BEAT 4.

BEAT 3 The Seed

Climax

Sleep Country, Night, back road

One week later.

Planting the scene

After the library meeting, you've holed up at home for a few days, your nights tormented by restless dreams: roll on the Dream table.

Your numbness is interrupted by the phone ringing—Alfred is on the line. He’s heard about a location deep in the desert, near the abandoned railway line. It’s there that abductees resurface. Several have been seen wandering half-naked and semi-conscious in the area, including people who had been missing for decades. He needs to go there. It might be the only chance to find Claire (or some other NPC who’s been abducted). He doesn’t have the courage to do it alone and begs you to join him. Tonight’s plan is to head to the rumored resurfacing point near the old railway line and, hopefully, retrieve your missing friends.

<Feel free to modify the NPCs to best suit the session you're running.>

<Question to the players: who are you hoping to find? What would be the impact of not finding them? Who else is in the car with you?>

It’s the dead of night. You’re inside Alfred's camper van, parked in a small Gas Station (vending machines, walkie talkies, flare gun), the last beacon of electric light before the dusty darkness of the desert. The engine is idling, yet the driver's seat is empty. 

You just woke up from an agitated dream.

This location is in a remote and less accessible area of the desert. You’ll need to leave the main roads and cruise dirt and rocks to reach it. It’s secluded, surrounded only by the night and silence. 

But right now, Alfred is filling up the truck, his face etched with a mixture of hope and anxiety. He’s lost considerable weight and looks under terrible pressure. The Jon, the gas station clerk is a total jerk; if Alfred is left alone with him, the two will argue about the current events and won't stop until one slaps the other.

On the Airwaves

1. A desperate caller is looking for their missing partner, who was taken by the light.
2. Cryptic binary message.
3. New Age music: initially soothing, but repetitive and annoying after a while.
4. Channel 7, Talk show: a psychologist explains mass hysteria and collective hallucinations, and how to protect oneself.
5. Traffic information: avoid roads tonight; several accidents have been reported (fake).
6. News flash: 20th anniversary of the Four Wings observatory incident (no details given).

Without navigational tools, maps, or relevant knowledge, you'll reach a random location.

Where do you end up?

Roll 1d6

1. Back to the gas station: lights off, deserted. The clerk is dead, a lump of bloody flesh.
2. Stranded in the desert. Clothes are scattered everywhere, belonging to all sorts of people.
3. The original landing site. A burned-out truck. Trash. A sign made of aluminum foil reads: "Please come back!"
4. Channel 7 mobile production truck. No gas left. No one here.
5. A few-days-dead corpse, its belly ripped open and crawling with bugs. Desert sand partially covers its face.
6. An abandoned railway line. Straight and seemingly endless.

Once the vehicle reaches its destination (any destination), a pale humanoid figure reflecting the lights appears out of the night. It's Claire: she looks well, except her skin appears bleached, she has a few bruises, and wears nothing but a T-shirt. She possibly seems slightly younger.

Alfred sobs like a child as he holds her in his arms and covers her cheeks and forehead with gentle kisses, before taking her to the camper van.

<Feel free to change the NPC that is recovered by the party. Whoever you chose, it should be someone they care about Potentially that could even be someone from the PCs’ past, that has long disappeared.>

The couple catches up, probably sitting at the back of the van. Alfred has so many questions and his moods shifts slowly from relieved to having found Claire to worried about the answers she gives and her physical condition. Claire’s belly shows a slight bump. Touching it reveals a badly sutured wound, emanating a stingy, unearthly coldness. The wound is slightly bleeding, and thin, iridescent tentacles wriggle their way out. 

“It put the light inside me. I can feel it. It’s telling me you are in pain, it can help you, you just need to open yourself to it”

If Claire ingests liquids or food, or after about fifteen minutes the scar slowly widens, revealing a luminous lump of iridescent filaments: a Seed. Claire’s face lights up with an euphoric grin.

If you don’t find a way to contain the Seed, its tentacles grow impossibly long, far too large for the opening in Claire’s belly. It forces its way out, hungry for a new host. Claire’s body splits in half as an amalgam of light and writhing tendrils expands outward, reaching for whoever is near.

If it finds no new host, the Seed remains anchored to the corpse, puppeteering Claire’s lifeless body with awkward, slow and jerking motions.

<If the vehicle is in motion when this happens, assess whether it might crash.>

Proceed to Beat 5.

BEAT 4 The Collectors

Desert, Dawn, Four Wings observatory

Four hours later

Planting the Scene

Dawn breaks slowly over the eastern horizon, the light creeping through the shattered remnants of the observatory. Every part of your body aches, and that’s what wakes you up. You sit on the cold, hard ground, surrounded by dust and shards of broken glass, the weight of electric cables biting into your skin as they restrain you. With you are Cesar (also tied up) and his teenage son, Gael. Both are sunburned, dehydrated, and terrified. Cesar carries a seed.

<Question: In the haze of this unpleasant morning, a memory from the first encounter night resurfaces—something you overlooked at the time but now feels significant. What is it? You may ask the GM one question about it.>

Alex, Cesar’s partner, is just outside the observatory door, their voice trembling with fear. They’re pleading with two Collectors: “Cesar and Gael’s sunburns have nothing to do with the Traveller. They don’t carry a seed. Please, let us go!”

At least two other people are present. Among the chorus of voices, you recognize Luc’s.

Four Wings Observatory

The observatory is a century-old relic, its dome half-crumbled. A giant telescope lies in the center of the room, broken and abandoned. The building feels like the hollow shell of a long-dead creature, its walls teetering on the edge of collapse. Swarms of small, iridescent birds have made it their home.

• Old star maps and computer printouts indicate an anomaly in space. A bright light approaching Earth has been tracked starting from here.
• Binoculars.
• 1” magnetic tape audio track with the voice of the Traveller. The recordings are filled with audio noise and clearly ancient, but they speak your name (Weird save).
• A corpse covered by a curtain. It’s Iris (or someone else from the first night). Her belly is ripped open. Right next to her, traces of blood lead to a crack in the outside wall. (She’s been locked in and left unattended in the observatory. Her Seed birthed and disappeared. The Collectors are aware of this fact.

 

Outside the Observatory

Two Collectors, Joan, Amel, are debating with Luc what to do with the potential Seed Carriers. 

• Joan – A LISP researcher with gray hair and a flannel shirt. She feels bad about resorting to physical violence but won’t pass up the opportunity to get her hands on something this valuable. She’s kind of in charge, unless someone kills her first. WANTS to get everybody drunk and leave.
  
• Amel – An overweight elementary school teacher and gun enthusiast. Unsure what to do with the prisoners. Owns a gun and a small video camera for archival purposes. WANTS to be respected, just for once.
  
• Luc – Seething with frustration, he blames you for interfering with his plans. He tries to convince Cesar that he understands him. “I’ve lost my little daughter Erica; I understand you fear for your kid. But I need to see her again, to bring her back. This is the only way. Let me extract the Seed. Once I’ve met Erica, I’ll bring back everyone else. I’ll be like a kind god.” He wields a hunting knife, though he has no real idea how to use it.

An old, bulky sedan is parked outside (with Luc’s van if he’s present).

Joan, Amel, and Luc briefly listen to Alex’s plea. Then, Amel takes them inside the observatory with the other prisoners. The three continue arguing while Joan keeps pouring whiskey, drowning herself in it while the others hesitate.

Inside the Observatory, César considers sacrificing himself to save his family. The situation is at a standstill—until someone has a bold idea: forcing the Seed Carriers to drink. Because maybe, just maybe, the whiskey will awaken the Seed.

It does.

BEAT 5: The Final Encounter

Desert, day, somewhere, or deeper in the desert

<Both Beat 3 and Beat 4 lead to Beat 5. Jump to the final Beat whenever Beats 3 or 4 reach an idle situation—nothing happens, the characters have confronted the Seed, they’ve escaped, and they’re being chased by the Collectors.> 

All threads converge here. This is the final Beat—the ultimate confrontation with the Traveller. It most likely happens immediately after the previous Beat

Planting the scene.

The Traveller appears high in the sky, devouring all light in its path, both natural and artificial. Electric appliances and vehicles shut down as the air thickens with an ominous hum, and the wind begins to rise. The ground beneath the characters vibrates with an unsettling energy as the Traveller descends toward them.

It comes to us one last time.

<Question: You have a sense that someone will die tonight. Who is it?>

Seed Carriers feel an irresistible pull toward the light. Their Seeds are drawn to reunite with their master.

As the storm of sand and light rages, a small Channel 7 van arrives. Its engine dies—silenced by the Traveller. Brooke steps out, gripping a small VHS camera. She wants to get a close-up of the Traveller.

If Alex is present they’ll step up to face the Traveller.

The Traveller will attempt to rapture the PC with the highest Weird. It speaks into the head of the raptured person with an apparently meaningless yet understandable song that sounds like white noise. It’s about to leave. It needs to do one last thing to please its master. It’s willing to spare the raptured, but it needs something valuable in exchange. What is it?

• The raptured will carry a Seed, which will birth years from now when the Traveller returns.
• The raptured offers valuable information about humanity’s vulnerability.
• Something else.

<This is it. The characters face the Miracle. It should be clear that they are utterly outmatched. Only another immortal could possibly stand against it.>

The rapture may be avoided if the characters act quickly—hiding, creating a clever distraction, or finding shelter. They might even attempt to strike a bargain, offering the Traveller valuable insights into human existence.

<This sequence is the resolution. Play with senses: the wind, the buzzing sound, the light—everything shifts the environment. While the PCs should remain in the spotlight, don’t forget the major NPCs: What happens to them? How do they react?>

The Traveller vanishes as abruptly as it appeared, leaving behind a suffocating silence. For the believers, a profound loneliness settles in—a hollow ache where certainty once lived. The emptiness lingers, as if the desert itself has swallowed the world's meaning.

 

Closing the Session

Recap what happened to the major NPCs:

• How were they affected by their encounters with the Traveller?
• Which NPCs survived unscathed?
• Are they still in touch with the player characters?
  
  

Expose briefly how factions react:

• Channel 7 shifts focus to a new epidemic spreading among teenagers, with kissing potentially being outlawed.
• The Collectors retreat into anonymity.
• Little Rock Library is closed and emptied of its contents.
• In the Four Wings Observatory, one of the old computers begins printing an infinite sequence of numbers.
  
  

Ask the players about their characters:

• Are they still carrying a Seed?
• Did they strike a deal with the Traveller?
• How have their lives been impacted by the encounter?
• What will they do in the coming days?

NPCs

For a better experience with this Urban Legend, take the time to build strong relationships between the characters. Help the PCs interact with the supporting cast in a deep and meaningful way.

Have the encountered NPCs come back later in the adventure. Adapt the Beats, and transitions between Beats to fit what happened to the NPCs.

The Traveller

Miracle

A herald to the Faceless God. A sentient probe. As luminescent as it is cold, its only purpose is understanding humans, and unveiling their vulnerabilities. It takes the shape of an iridescent cluster of filaments, wrapped by a sphere of intense light. It can infect living beings with Seeds, which share a common consciousness with it. The Traveller is merciless in the execution of its duty.

WANTS: To infect humans with Seeds and learn their vulnerabilities.

Moves

Rapture elevate with light beam

Epiphany appear as a tall faceless human and mesmerize

Inject a seed in the victim’s belly

Fly at high speed

Omen: Dusty winds and deep, drone-like sounds. The skies darken, leaving the Traveller as the sole light source. White, fibrous filaments sprout where it appears.

Seed:
A detached part of the Traveller’s body and consciousness—a lump of iridescent tentacles and light. It has limited movement capability but can animate a freshly dead mammal.

The infection will spread, causing a new symptom with each new Beat or whenever the character’s Weird increases:

• Illnesses and physical conditions, like wounds and injuries, are healed.
• Insomnia at night, terrifying hallucinations during the day.
• Small iridescent tentacles grow like hair.
• Growth in the belly, giving it the shape of pregnancy.
• Hatches through the flesh and takes control of the carrier after they die.

Iris

She’s wearing a pink fleece and holding her small dog in her arms, whispering something into its ear. The dog shivers, whether from cold or fear.

“Don’t be afraid, mama’s here, baby,” she murmurs to the dog. Then, looking up, she asks anyone nearby, “Don’t be afraid. Why are you afraid?”

Wants: To meet the light that whispers in her dreams.
Gear: Dog food, car keys.
Quirk: Dressed like a teenager.

Moves:

• Walk into danger.
• Hold her dog tightly.

Victoria

Her mellow voice, chanting in the distance, reaches your ears intermittently. The words are unintelligible, sounding like a foreign or perhaps ancient language. Victoria is a young woman with a shaved head and a slim, athletic build. If asked about the song, she’ll explain that the Traveller speaks to her, and these are its words.

“Do you like this song? The Traveller whispered it to me in my dreams. I have no idea what the words mean, but they feel like prayers about truth and death.”

Wants: Friendship, a place to call home.
Gear: Flashlight, matches, incense.
Quirk: Shaved and fully tattooed skull.

Moves:

• Dance beneath the moonlight.
• Ask to crash at your place tonight.
  
  

Alfred

He wears a grey ponytail and bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous actor, though you can't quite place who.

“Look at the sky, the sand! There's nowhere quite like this. Even if they don't come tonight, I'm happy to have spent the night here and met such nice folks.”

Wants: To forget, just for a while, the hardships he’s going through.
Gear: Multi-tool knife, Claire’s photo pendant.

Moves:

• Sigh and gaze at the horizon.
• Interrupt any discussion of Claire's illness.

Claire

She is slightly overweight and carries a gentle weariness that's almost touching. Yet, she wears a constant, seemingly genuine smile. Approaching you, she offers herbal tea in plastic mugs and a teapot.

“Would you fancy some rose tea? It's made with organic plants and love.”

Wants: To get healed.
Gear: Herbs, farewell letter for Alfred.
Moves:

• Take risks to overcome her illness.
• Keep hope against all odds.

Angela

50 years old, nightclub bouncer, Luc’s lover. A kind face, with eyes that hold so many stories.

“If you’ve been touched, you might experience dizziness or other symptoms. Let me do a quick exam. You might need an injection of antibiotics.”

Wants: To pretend she doesn’t understand and get home early.
Quirk: Faints at the sight of blood.
Gear: Pepper spray, perfume, Wanderer effigy.

Moves:

• Please Luc nervously
• Choke while shushing with a mellow voice.

Sofia

30 years old, library intern, under Luc’s influence.

“You look tired. Most people would break going through what you’ve just experienced. Let me pour you a coffee. Would you prefer something stronger?”

Wants: To please Luc and keep her job.
Quirk: Skin so pale it looks unreal, deep facial sunburns.
Gear: Under-the-counter sleeping pills, library keys, suntan lotion.

Moves:

• Wrap things up hastily to return home.
• Accept unpleasant compromises to retain her job.

Jon

Station clerk, curly hair, beautiful face, too young to legally work.

"Don't drive tonight. Rogue patrols are out, blocking the roads. Channel 7's got them riled up. But you know, maybe Channel 7's right. Do yourself a favor, take the dirt roads."

Wants: Cash.
Moves: Call Channel 7 and sell out people.

Reporter Brooke

“Oh, I am going to win so many awards.”

Impeccably hairsprayed blond coiff, sparkling teeth, and hypnotizing cerulean eyes. Brooke gloms onto the PCs for safety, but always ready to roll tape and narrate.

Gear: Microphone & cable, Personal cassette dictaphone, Compact-VHS Handcam, notebook, TV-grade foundation and lipstick, hairspray, cigarettes, lighter.

Moves

• Lies. About the Traveller.
• Hairspray. And temporarily blind you.
• Sacrifice you to a Seed for Ratings. 

The Collectors

An elusive, self-organized network, bound by obsession rather than formal ties. Retired space archaeology teachers. Unemployed desert enthusiasts. Synth drug designers. The Collectors are average people, convinced the desert holds the answers to all unresolved mysteries. They search for clues and signs in the desert—its rocks, people, and plants—gathering their findings in a secluded underground depot. They take what they need, when they need it, from whoever has it. They do not share information and fiercely guard their knowledge, discouraging prying eyes and unwanted attention.

Luc

A father destroyed by the death of his daughter. Obsessively studying archaeo-astronomy texts and ancient rocks, Luc has convinced himself the Traveller is an ancient god of light. He believes obtaining a Seed and implanting it into himself would allow him to bring back his daughter Erica from the dead. He’s prepared to do anything to obtain a Seed, even harming others, and implant it in his own body. He remains utterly blind to the true nature of the Traveller and its goals.

“They've come before, and they'll come again. They are not our friends, but magnificent Gods of Light. We are like ants to them; we should tremble and worship them for that.”

Wants: To grow a Seed, become one with it, and revive his daughter.
Gear: Several pictures of Erica, car keys, hunting knife.

Moves:

• Lie with a smiling face.
• Distract you with fabricated astro-archaeology stories.
  
  

Joan

A LISP researcher with gray hair and a flannel shirt. She feels bad about resorting to physical violence but won’t pass up the opportunity to get her hands on something this valuable. She’s kind of in charge, unless someone kills her first.

WANTS to get everybody drunk and leave.

Amel

An overweight elementary school teacher and gun enthusiast. Unsure what to do with the prisoners. Owns a gun and a small video camera for archival purposes.

WANTS to be respected, just for once.