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Blighthaven

1.

Scouting Report J-472

Lore

[A terror-fraught report describing the desperate last moments of a Dominion scouting party.]

– Forward Recon Camp: Cankertube Swamp: Lt. Adioni Tremio –

I don’t know how much longer I have. I hear Kaltaxa and Avatron out in the swamp calling for me. I think they’ll be coming soon and I won’t be able to stop them.

There were three of us when we arrived. Three of us. We made it through Wilderrun’s jungle, icy Whitevale, Deradune’s burning sands. All of it. With barely a scratch.
We were the best of the best. Legion Expeditionary Recon.

Damn this planet. Damn the Strain. Damn it all.

Kaltaxa went first, right after we made camp here. The Warbringer wanted eyes on the ground past Grimvault, so in we went. We’d never seen anything like this… I guess ‘swamp?’ Kal wanted to see what was inside the big blob. Crazy Draken just dove right in. Swam around like it was a day at the beach. Then she clutched her head, started thrashing about like she stuck a claw in a plasma
conduit. I was about to jump in after, but Avatron held me back.

A couple of days later Kal came back, but she… it wasn’t Kal. I’ve seen lots of things on this nightmare planet – squirg possession, augmented freaks, Strain corruption – but nothing compared to this. There was something behind her eyes, something alien and… evil. Avatron and me, we probably could have subdued her, but then the hookfeet came out. And the Corruptors swooped down. And together they swarmed the Mechari.
Avatron fought like a devil as they dragged him off.

I ran. I hid. Maybe that makes me a coward, but what else could I have done? I tried to hike out, but those damn tubes have blocked the way. I’m caught like a slank in a trap.

Now they’ve both come back. They’re here…

[The report abruptly ends.]

Guide

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Blighthaven

1.

The Flavorology of Taste, 3rd. Ed.

Lore

[The latest edition of Rav’s relatively famous guide to gastronomy introduces new gastronomically sound dishes cooked with Nexus ingredients.]

“Display to me what you consume, and I shall demonstrate that which you have become.”

If you are reading this volume, you are interested in the finer arts of cooking and gastronomy. You have an adventurous palate, and refined nose, and an appreciation for the unusual and the surprising as well as tradition and classic dishes.
I know this because I am interested in these things, and now I will share but a few of them with you.

Yes, if you are reading this, you are ready to join me on an odyssey of flavor on a collision course with deliciousness with a detour through the finest ingredients Nexus has to offer.

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CONTENTS

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SECTION 1: Meats and Poultry

– Ravenok Ravioli with Mother-of-Mollusc Foam
Why foam? Why not?

-Barbecued Boulderback Backboulders with Smoked Cubig Bacon
Perfect with Squirg Chowder! Don’t eat Squirg Chowder.

SECTION 2: Seafood and Invertebrates

– Squirg Chowder
Never, ever eat this.

– Flash-Fried Fraz Fries
Fresh and flavorful! From space.

-Walatusk Chunks in Splorg Gravy
Perfect with Squirg Chowder! Which you should never eat. Not ever.

SECTION 3: Fruits and Vegetables

–
Lollilopp Surprise
How many licks does it take? You’ll be too “Lopped Out” to tell.

Whimleaf Salad with Roasted Stemdragon Hearts
Eat the stemdragon before it eats you. Spicy!

Rootbrute Surprise with Squirg Chowder Garnish.
– What’s the surprise? Rootbrutes are hybrid plant-animal organisms – it’s the perfect meat for the vegetarian at your feast! Just don’t feed them the Squirg Chowder. I don’t know why I keep listing it.
Why would anyone eat Squirg Chowder?

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Blighthaven

1.

Where Corruption Grows

Lore

[A Mordesh-written guide to dealing with relatives or beloved family pets who have become infected with Strain corruption. It is not a lengthy volume.]

While our race has already suffered most cruely at fate’s cold hand, another burden is becoming increasingly common amongst Mordesh living on the planet Nexus – Strain-corrupted loved ones. Be they friends, lovers, family or beloved pets we can no more turn our backs to those subsumed into the Strain’s sickly substance than we can our Ravenous brethren.
So, here are a few guidelines to help both Caretaker and Corrupted:

DON’T TOUCH THE CORRUPTED
The Strain is a hyper-aggressive infectious vector. Not only does it spread through skin-to-skin contact, it has been known to take a running jump from one victim to another. You will be tempted to try to soothe your loved one with a kind touch, but don’t. Not even with bio-haz level 5 gauntlets. Not even with a ten-meter vind prod.

DON’T BRING THE CORRUPTED HOME
It is natural to want to bring loved
ones who suffer in disease’s dreary domain back to a place of warmth and comfort. Do not do this. Worse than having to care and worry for one Corrupted loved one is having to flee a neighborhood infested with purple-black perversions, or become one yourself. There are few, if any, safe ways to contain the Strain.

DON’T EVEN GET NEAR THE CORRUPTED
This is the logical extension of the previous two guidelines, and it cannot be stressed enough. Seriously. If you can’t bear to be apart from your
diseased darling, it might be possible to wave at them from a reasonable distance, behind a flame-enforced quarantine cordon, inside a hermetically sealed and armored viewing room. Don’t forget to sign all applicable liability waviers.

CONSIDER EUTHANASIA – PREFERABLY WITH A FLAMETHROWER
We Mordesh have a very conflicted and complex relationship with the concept of euthanasia, as we are, in the most technical sense, already dead. Yet even our fallen Ravenous keep some semblance of their
former selves, if significantly hungrier and more homicidal. The truth is those infected by the Strain are no longer themselves. We don’t know exactly what they have become, but it is part of an unstoppable, vastly intelligent, malignant force. It is no cliche to suggest that here the kindest act is to end their suffering. And if you can’t take that last step, a duly authorized official will do it for you.

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Blighthaven

1.

One More Good Hunt

Lore

[This first-person narrative of an adventurer’s hunt for Ruga the Ageless lies in a crustly pool of dried Draken blood.]

The land was stark and good, filled with grass and terrible prey. It was the kind of land a Draken could love.

I crept through the swamp, and thought of the days long past, when I would fish in the cold streams near the clan holding. Slashing down into the clear water, my claws would hook the darting, silver fish. Those were good days, and the fish made fine meals.

But now
I am grown into life’s later days. I seek what all Draken seek, a ferocious animal that I will kill to prove my worth. I have done much in my long life, and have scars to show for it. I want just one more good hunt, one more strong foe, one last fine kill.

At the Pell village, I exchanged dried meat cut from a huge Girrok I hunted in Deradune. They fed me with cakes of flat bread that tasted of the earth’s minerals and salt, and gave me clear, thin wine to drink. Not the strong liquor I prefer,
but fine and good in the day’s hot sun. They told me of a mighty beast in the hills nearby, the hard-shelled Ruga who kills all who come near.

My blood thrilled at the name. Ruga. I almost felt shame at the thought of killing such a fine animal. But even as I loved the beast I had never met, I vowed to kill him just the same. Or he would kill me. It would be good either way.

I climbed up the hill where my prey made his rest. My claws dug into the flinty Blighthaven soil.
I could feel the wind blowing through my horns. I stalked my foe, and saw even dug in to sleep he was a great trophy. I felt fear, and am not ashamed to admit it. My heart pounded, muscles coiled, and realized that only at this one moment was I truly alive. Friend Ruga, this old Draken will never forget you.

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Blighthaven

1.

The Way of Harmony

Lore

[The Keepers of Harmony seem to be a bit more civilized than other Pell tribes. This treatise on their beliefs helps to explain why.]

To be one is to be all. That is the Way of Harmony.

Life is the motivating force, yet without Earth’s nurturing bed and Water’s soothing flow, Life is restless and brazen.

Logic is the bedrock of reason, yet without Fire’s boundless passion and Air’s lifting embrace, Logic is cold and oppressive.

Air is the sparking breath, yet without Logic’s comforting order
and Fire’s warm light, Air is crazed and dark.

Earth is the nurturer, yet without Life’s soft bounty and Water’s flowing sustenance, Earth is barren and desiccated.

Fire banishes the dark, yet without Logic’s protective restraint and Air’s fueling breath, Fire runs amok or dies out.

Water is the cooling sustainer, yet without Life’s purposeful motion and Earth’s channeling support, Water is dead and directionless.

These are not the only connections, for the net of the world is vast.
And just as a net is not made of one strand, neither is the world. A net with weak knots and unbalanced tension falls apart.

To be one is to be all. We follow the Way of Harmony.