Conference Headquarters

[Hattish Thing]

Issued over seventy years ago, City of Inside Inter-Branch Directive 1111 reads as follows: “Research department heads, electrum agents: Maulbron Building, Gray Zone, 8–24. Conference Z." Inter-Branch Directive 1111 remains the only publicly leaked reference to Conference Z. This directive was compromised only when a power outage due to a now-forgotten cataclysm caused data systems across the city to malfunction. Since then, few verifiable details have been uncovered regarding Conference Z and its agents, operations, or purpose. However, Intersection field reports have linked the group to several obscure locations throughout the Nexus, many of which have since been vacated and are now little more than abandoned underground bunkers.

Only Cauvin Kramolagh, the current executor of Conference Z, has full knowledge of Inter-Branch Directive 1111. In this decades-old directive, Marciano Laur've, a wealthy and megalomaniacal businessman obsessed with asserting dominance over his many enemies, ordered the founding of an organization of brilliant minds to discuss radical new avenues for business and expansion. Laur've judged the conference such a success that he secretly dedicated a significant percentage of his yearly funds to backing the think tank, a practice that has continued long past his death.

From its inception, Conference Z has been clandestine, intended to free participants from the shackles of convention and taboo. Over the decades, its mystery has only deepened as a march of obsessive executors have burrowed the suborganization into the depths of obscurity. Currently, the only non-members aware of the existence of Conference Z are anonymous sponsors, whose identities are known only by Executor Kramolagh. These sponsors frequently share in the success of Conference Z's more lucrative experiments, and as such keep the work of Executor Kramolagh and his far-flung electrum researchers a closely guarded secret.

Deep inside stronghold laboratories hidden within a secret series of research facilities scattered throughout the Nexus, Conference Z studies bizarre topics such as advanced technologies, occult virology, biological hypnosis, extraterrestrial anatomy, elder sciences, enhanced cryptozoology, immortality, interplanar economics, mass teleportation, psychic enrichment, pyschotronics, revivified prophecy, temporal sciences, energy sciences, and artificial divinity, among others. Yet while a number of unmentionable programs have been officially suspended over the years; curiously, these suspended programs receive only slightly less funding than active projects.

Perhaps the most sinister aspect of the shadow organization is the cabal of nearly identical, black-clad agents who report directly to Executor Kramolagh, silently carrying out his orders, monitoring underperforming ventures, and hunting those who learn too much about Conference Z.

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In far-off section of Outside, a seemingly inhospitable strip of land abuts the Myrantis Mountains, providing only middling arable land too harsh for general cultivation. However, the same mineral signatures made famous by the nearby Brimstone Springs also leave the rocky soil uniquely suited to grow a range of rare medicinal plants. The plantation known as Wirholt’s Rictus—its grisly name a reverent tribute to the current owner’s great-grandfather—is one of several such specialized farms that produce a steady supply of harrowleaf, saw-edge heather, pathos berries, night nettle tea, unique strains of somnus root, as well as other, stranger things. While these all have legitimate medicinal uses, the mysterious researchers beneath the plantation value the unusual crop for far more questionable reasons.

Due to its incredible distance from the nearest civilization, Wirholt’s Rictus is a particularly isolated plantation, unaccustomed to handling visitors despite its great size. During the slowest times of the year, the plantation has a staff of approximately forty souls, swelling to five times that during the peaks of harvest and planting. The owner, a cruel and unforgiving taskmaster called Temarra, oversees the operation year-round, personally flogging those who do not meet their quotas, taking orders directly from the masters of the research facility below. The result of her cruelty is a loyal workforce that keeps its gossip to a whisper, asks few questions, and rarely challenges a new face, as it probably belongs to a replacement for an incapable employee.

The most notable structure found within the borders of Wirholdt's Rictus would be the expansive plantation manor which Temarra makes her home, sitting atop one of the higher hills, giving it a commanding view of the rolling rows
of cultivated bushes, shrubs, and grasses. Basic descriptions of each building are below.

Spoiler: Points of Interest:

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Manor: This single-story manor is just elegant enough to entertain visiting buyers and just modest enough to let the owner leverage her humble means to demand higher prices. A ten-foot-tall wall, gate, and perimeter of shrubs provide considerable privacy from the rest of the plantation—especially effective in allowing Conference Z operatives to conduct business without being observed.

Greenhouses: The elevation and latitude beget a somewhat chilly climate, so frost and reduced sunlight are often a problem during the winter months. A trio of greenhouses made of wood and glass shelters the most sensitive plants and fosters the seedlings for other species until they can be transplanted outside.

Warehouse: This is the principle storage site for the plantation’s tools, its food supply, baled leaves, and refined products. The northern wing also serves as an impromptu barn for the few horses and livestock.

Processing Facilities: These two buildings contain millstones, cauldrons, pestles, delicate glassware, and more. The plantation employs five skilled pharmacists versed in testing soil conditions, pulverizing leaves, distilling tinctures, rolling cigars, and a wealth of other tasks to create the finished products, which are then exported elsewhere or taken by the researchers below.

Residences: Three barracks house the field hands and skilled laborers. A kitchen house stands to the southwest. A dozen other houses are scattered throughout the plantation, but the most important workers reside here.

Smokehouses: Several of the leafy plants must be dried carefully before shipping or processing, all of which happens in these buildings.

Threshing Yard: This oval of stucco and aggregate is where the laborers bring dried berries and grains for threshing, removing unwanted husks, skins, and kernels.

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Beneath Wirholt’s Rictus, accessible only by three highly secure passages scattered throughout the plantation, extends one of Conference Z's two remaining satellite facilities: Slumbersun, more a tangled network of halls, studies, and artificial ecosystems than a compact laboratory. A majority of the compact walls, ceilings, and floors of Slumbersun are composed of treated starmetal alloys that resist rust and other degradation and the ceilings are almost universally ten feet high. Rows of technomagical orbs embedded along the upper edges of the walls bathe the rooms and hallways in green-tinted light.

Most of the doors within Slumbersun are composed of reinforced metals, allowing access to deeper areas of the facility by sliding into recesses in the walls after specialized keys have been scanned. Several important points in the facility are equipped with specially treated blast doors made to withstand extraordinary punishment, both to keep outsiders from accessing the more questionable experiments within, and as a fail-safe to ensure that escaped experiments cannot evacuate the facility. Basic descriptions of notable locations are below.

Spoiler: Points of Interest:

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Headquarter Entry: Accessible only be several pairs of reinforced blast doors, this greeting chamber is decorated with experiments too impractical for Conference Z's use, yet interesting enough to impress newly recruited researchers and sponsors. Objects include giant gears and tangles of strange circuitry pulled from enormous alien machines, mosaics made from colorful debris, and weird sculptures constructed from glittering starmetal. The walls and floor of the room are plated in metal, while harsh lighting glares from panels in the ceiling above.

Recordkeeping: Several long metallic objects covered with flashing lights and strange glowing panels fight for floor space in this room with large, boxy, cabinet-like metal objects. Here and there on the walls, panels flash images of buildings, rooms, and scenery from throughout the Nexus. This highly secure chamber contains over a dozen fifteen-foot tall silos of strange machinery and glowing circuitboard panels, connected by thick cables and hundreds of wires to a massive supercomputer which dominates the southernmost wall.

Employee Barracks: This large, utilitarian section of Slumbersun is split into dozens of relatively pleasant gray rooms which serve as places of residence for both Conference Z researchers assigned to Slumbersun and security personnel, many of which rarely see the light of day. Each room features rather comfortable bedding and hospitable furnishings, luxurious personal quarters, a powerful desktop computer, and an impressive library.

Meeting Room: This large egg-shaped chamber has smooth, seamless walls of silvery metal. Light gleams from numerous freely suspended orbs that slowly circle the top of the high, curved ceiling. In the center of the room stands a strange triangular-shaped metal table surrounded by a dozen chairs. Along the edges of the chamber trail several additional rows of chairs, all facing the center table. This room is used by Conference Z to hold meetings—the chairs around the table are for venture-heads and top scholars, while those against the walls are for aides and security personnel.

Receiving Laboratory: This area serves as a receiving room for new subjects and materials, providing a team of researchers a chance to vet any arrivals to ensure they’re fit and won’t infect the other experiments. This is also the farthest Temarra has ever traveled into the facility; despite her authority above ground, her only way to speak with lab authorities is to travel here and beg an audience. This room contains several unknown creatures from other realities kept preserved in fluid as well as several logbooks that describe sundry bizarre fauna, pieces of creatures, chemicals, and other supplies brought into the facility. Fluid-filled canisters attached to the walls contain a range of small creatures floating in stasis. Ominous operating tables line the southernmost wall, and several computers can be seen.

Production and Robotics: This industrial laboratory serves both as a chamber dedicated to technological experimentation as well as a fully functional starmetal foundry and contains a wealth of metallic workbenches for the crafting, repair, and dismantling of technological objects, overseen by several automated claws. Several partially dismantled mechanical creatures—some that resemble humanoids, others more like insects, hang suspended from the ceiling by powerful cables. Dozens of powerful computers line the walls here, and assistants scurry about within the area at nearly every hour of the day.

Alien Observation Dome: This expansive glass chamber is dedicated to sustaining several specimens adapted to life in warm, otherwordly jungles under a thick, heat-trapping atmosphere whose composition is slightly different than that of
the Nexus. The unfamiliar balance of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gasses makes this room appear misty and gives it a disturbingly tangy smell. Breathing this air for an extended period of time is deleterious, however, most researchers assigned to this laboratory are equipped with powerful protective gear. Blue-hued light emanates from the domed ceiling at the center of this two-story, artificial environment. Broad metal grates make a perimeter about the room about ten feet above the lush habitat below. Paths cross between strange shrubs and low trees, and vines cling to the walls and dangle in clumps across parts of the ceiling. At the center of the room stands a small metal pavilion, a small elevator that the researchers use to introduce live prey into the room and feed the strange beasts. Behind the thick glass in the southern corners of the room lie small laboratories filled with bookshelves, dissection tables, and workbenches. The ceiling rises twenty feet above the catwalk and thirty feet above the alien habitat.

Manifestation Chambers: This is the first of the laboratories built for the Arkanen Project, an initiative to extract the dreams from alien minds and manifest imperfect homunculi of their nightmares to better understand the dreamers’ beliefs and fears. The procedure requires powerful chemical sedatives and hallucinogens derived from the plantation crops above and is extremely harmful to the subject, causing patients to hemorrhage from the ears, thrash uncontrollably, and awaken with psychological scars. The chamber itself is composed of dozens of conduits and tubes, which run up and down the walls of this lab, connecting dozens of beds to a dozens of large glass vats to the west. Within the vats undulate formless blobs of organic matter that briefly grow arms, pseudopods, and faces before those features melt back into the roiling masses.

The Arkanen Laboratory: This lab represents the next generation of magical and alchemical technology for the Arkanen Project, distinguished by two major developments. First, the experiments conducted here make use of but one massive vat the size of an entire building, built into circular, elevated platform with a curving set of stairs, rather than a dozen smaller vats. Second, instead of tapping into a sleeping creature’s dreams, a creature can attach a series of technomagical sensors to its head and—with sufficient force of will—consciously shape the nightmare creature’s form. In order to maximize space in the room, most of the lab equipment is kept suspended in the air. Easily three labs’ worth of tables, shelves, and other heavy equipment hovers thirty feet off the floor, suspended by chains. By manipulating controls accessibly via computer along the north partition, a creature can raise, lower, or rotate any number of these fixtures. In this way, the room can be reconfigured from a small library to a lab to an operating room. Like a cathedral forged in the name of science, this laboratory has an arched ceiling that soars to a height of fifty feet. The room constricts near the middle where a low, stepped platform formally partitions the two halves. To the north, a narrow metal walkway hugs the walls about five feet above the open workspace. To both the east and west, the walkway terminates in twenty-foot ladders that lead to higher observation decks.

Far off the coast of Seaside, mere miles away from an extraordinarily powerful hurricane, a resigned pile of blunt black rocks endures the thrashing sea. Its shore is irregular and inhospitable, which might matter if anything of interest stood upon the barren heap. Not even worthy of being called an island, Wingless Rock rises hardly more than twenty feet out of the water—far less at high tide—and measures all of one-hundred feet across at its widest point. Aside from algae and the inhabitants of sickly tide pools, nothing naturally lives upon the eroded, volcanic heap.

The remnants of a gray, salt-blasted fishing shack occupied by a mad sea-hermit lean amid the boulders on the southern coast, but no other features mar the ugly pile. That’s not to say Wingless Rock is uninhabited, though. Its barren appearance and deserted, worthless reputation are all part of a subtly cultivated veneer, for hidden upon the island, a secret hatch can be discovered. The hatch, nearly impossible to open without a specific focus crystal and a passcode, reveals a massive shaft leading down almost three-hundred feet into the earth.

A short metallic access ladder leads to an elevator, which in turn hurtles down. As with Slumbersun, a majority of the compact walls, ceilings, and floors of Wingless Rock are composed of treated starmetal alloys that resist rust and other degradation and the ceilings are almost universally ten feet high. Rows of technomagical orbs embedded along the upper edges of the walls bathe the rooms and hallways in a harsh white light. Most of the doors within Wingless Rock are composed of reinforced metals, allowing access to deeper areas of the facility by sliding into recesses in the walls after specialized keys have been scanned.

Several important points in the facility are equipped with specially treated blast doors made to withstand extraordinary punishment, both to keep outsiders from accessing the more questionable experiments within, and as a fail-safe to ensure that escaped experiments cannot evacuate the facility. Basic descriptions of notable locations are below.

Spoiler: Points of Interest:

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Elevator Entry: Accessible only be several pairs of reinforced blast doors, this greeting chamber is composed of hundreds of pristine white tiles, the walls here lined with shimmering steel doors. Like a gallery display, a glass column stands near the center of the room, rising from floor to ceiling. Within, a nine-foot-tall mass of agitated multicolored material writhes through a bubbling fluid. One of the only parts of the facility not dedicated to research, this hall serves as a place for the researchers to step away from their work for a moment and to receive visitors—were the installation ever to have them. The specimen in the glass here is a curiosity that’s become something of an art display, an entity of scintillating color plucked from a comet, floating in the brine.

Facility Records: This chamber is the size of an entire warehouse, full of metallic boxes and labels. Thick glass columns filled with brackish liquid and masses of stringy flesh occupy numerous niches along this hall. At the end of the storage facility, books and sheaves of loose paper cram an enormous wall of shelves. This grim storage facility holds the remains of numerous experiments deemed failures, but valued too highly to dispose of. The majority of these are Executor Kramolagh's early experiments with unknowable creatures as he sought a process to distill their divine essence into a concentrated form. Rather than rely on a computer, the most clandestine research performed by Conference Z is recorded here, guarded by the best security possible.

Employee Barracks: This large, utilitarian section of Wingless Rock is split into dozens of relatively pleasant gray rooms which serve as places of residence for both Conference Z researchers assigned to Wingless Rock and security personnel, many of which rarely see the light of day. Each room features rather comfortable bedding and hospitable furnishings, luxurious personal quarters, a powerful desktop computer, and an impressive library.

Meeting Room: Banks of glowing quartz beams line the ceiling, illuminating this broad hall with a cold, clean glow. Like it's twin facility, this chamber is built with smooth, seamless walls of silvery metal. In the center of the room stands a strange triangular-shaped metal table surrounded by a dozen chairs. Along the edges of the chamber trail several additional rows of chairs, all facing the center table. This room is used by Conference Z to hold meetings—the chairs around the table are for venture-heads and top scholars, while those against the walls are for aides and security personnel.

Receiving Laboratory: This area serves as a receiving room for new subjects and materials, providing a team of researchers a chance to vet any arrivals to ensure they’re fit and won’t infect the other experiments. This room contains several unknown creatures from other realities kept preserved in fluid as well as several logbooks that describe sundry bizarre fauna, pieces of creatures, chemicals, and other supplies brought into the facility. Fluid-filled canisters attached to the walls contain a range of small creatures floating in stasis. Ominous operating tables line the southernmost wall, and several computers can be seen.

Nuclear Laboratories/Reactor Chamber: This branch of Wingless Rock is dedicated entirely to nuclear science, with one half serving as reactor storage, the other as a proper laboratory. The air in reactor storage chamber shimmers with heat, while five rumbling walls of glowing metal and tangles of steaming pipes fill the chamber with a thunderous rumbling sound. Five enormous nuclear generators rumble away in this chamber, acting as the primary source of power for the entire compound.

Surgical Theatre: Long glowing bars set into the ceiling fill this chamber with harsh light. A metal table sits in the room’s center, surrounded by cruel-looking machines with articulated arms tipped with saw blades, needles, cutting edges, and other surgical implements. Shelves lining the walls contain hundreds of unusual tools. This room serves as a work laboratory wherein some of Conference Z's most depraved and disturbing experiments take place, many of which involve the dissection of otherwordly entities.

Processing Laboratory: Metal pylons form a perimeter around several deep vats filled with eerie glowing masses, which bathe the room in an otherwordly light. A steel bridge crosses to a smaller workstation, and a series of tubes and conduits run from the vats to the ceiling to pass through various walls on their way to unseen destinations. Although the advanced stages of divine-distillation occur in Kramolagh's god lab, it is here that researchers perform the initial phases of divine deconstruction and recombination.

The God Lab: An acrid tang fills the air in this tall, painfully bright chamber. A series of metal rebar platforms connected by steel staircases descend in a counterclockwise spiral from corner to corner, leading into a mind-bogglingly large, bunkerlike laboratory filled with multiple workstations. The room’s steel workstations appear sterile and are impeccably arranged. The room's primary feature is a tiered platform crafted of glittering starmetal which supports a large glass silo that is partially sunken into the floor. Computers line the walls, alongside unnerving technological instruments. A heavy, riveted, industrial-grade door leads to a panic room, a necessity when it comes to the heretical experiments which take place here.

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This Division came into existence when the previous Executor of Conference Z, a woman whose identity has since been scrubbed clean of records, discovered that an alien spacecraft had crashed atop the Myrantis Mountains. With the use of powerful teleportation magics, the wreckage was transported deep beneath Wingless Rock, where Conference Z engineers began the arduous process of dismantling the vessel. Researchers belonging to the Advanced Technologies Division concern themselves primarily with the construction of powerful machines and supercomputers, hypothetical doomsday devices, and increasingly spectacular cybernetics. In addition, the Advanced Technologies Division ensures that the Nexus Surveillance System runs 24/7. Director Position: UNFILLED

Many years ago, a ravenous horde of undead marched across Riverside, resulting in many casualties before the invasion was all but fought back by the city defenders. Several specimens, the largest and strongest of the creatures, were abducted by Conference Z and taken far beneath Slumbersun for experimentation. The researchers there discovered that, although the creatures themselves were created using powerful magics, each of the creature's still carried within them a virus capable of spreading a powerful infection. Years of research have produced an even stronger alchenomagical virus, as well as an antidote, kept stored in large canisters beneath Slumbersun. Yet research continues, and a vast majority of Division resources are currently being spent towards the ominous "Sepulcher Project". Director Position: FILLED, Director Aluren Orvhelle.

Members of this obscure division perform questionable research and experiments in the name of understanding the effects of psychic and psionic magic upon the brain, the effects of prolonged enchantment upon the physical body, and the long-term effects of other mind-related afflictions. Of late, resources have been directed towards a mysterious directive known as the "Arkanen Project", a collaborative enterprise which researches obscure surgical procedures designed to enhance higher functions, as well as maximize the effects of dreams upon the real world. Director Position: UNFILLED

Researchers dedicated to the twin divisions of Conference Z known as "Extraterrestrial Anatomy" and "Elder Sciences" study mysterious creatures and seemingly unknowable entities which dwell within the darkness between the stars. While these branches of occult superscience were once considered fruitless and controversial even by other members of Conference Z, a recent breakthrough involving the capture and live vivisection of what is believed to be an elder creature before a panel of advanced Conference Z academics has ensured that funding continues to flow. Director Position: UNFILLED

While a vast majority of researchers dedicated to Conference Z rarely leave the fortified laboratory-bunkers they're assigned to upon acceptance into the organization, researchers belonging to this particular division tend to spend just as much time above ground as below. These individuals investigate the unexplained appearances of extraordinarily rare and possibly unique creatures reported all over the Nexus, many of which possess qualities which cannot be found in any other creature. Conference Z seeks to utilize the rare components possessed by these creatures, the acquisition of which could very easily lead towards miraculous scientific breakthroughs. Director Position: UNFILLED

This division has a rich history within Conference Z, for the results of their initial experiments allowed for Conference Z's original founder to greatly extend his lifespan. The Immortality division remains one of the more esoteric sub-organizations of Conference Z, for researchers assigned to this highly complicated branch tend to rely more on magic than any other division. These individuals aim to one day create an alchemical serum or machine fully capable of granting immortality without any of the unpleasant side-effects which tend to come with an extended lifespan. Members of this division work closely with the researchers assigned to the Artificial Divinity division. Director Position: UNFILLED

This particularly unusual division was one of the very first created by Conference Z in order to please its technical founder, Marciano Laur've. Members of this division focus entirely upon manipulating the currencies of extraplanar societies and civilizations, reaping the benefits of their subtle extra-dimensional manipulations through the use of puppet entities investing in these esoteric economies. While this division remains the smallest one, its operations carried through by less than a handful of researchers, it remains a lucrative division of Conference Z. Director Position: UNFILLED

Over thirty years ago, a wealthy sponsor of Conference Z was subjected to a paranormal experience which promptly caused him to dedicate enough currency to fund an entire division focused around his peculiar experience. According to this sponsor, whose records have since been deleted, he was reportedly getting ready for bed when he heard a strange voice calling out, which sounded as if it were speaking in a strange and otherwordly language. Upon looking around for the source of the mysterious voice, which he said had sounded “hollow,” this anonymous sponsor tracked it to the window of his manorhouse, but when he looked out there was no one out there in the night, and it would have been odd if there had been, as his window was a full seventeen feet off of the ground. This would be the last thing he clearly remembered before he mysteriously vanished, only to be discovered over three hundred miles away, unconscious in the middle of a road. Individuals assigned to this division dedicate themselves to investigating particularly eerie and unusual cases of spontaneous human teleportation. Director Position: UNFILLED

Members of this division are generally experienced parapsychologists who specialize in the study of paranormal and psychic phenomena which include telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation, apparitional experiences, and other paranormal claims. While most would consider parapsychology a pseudoscience, this division has produced alarming results which suggest something more. Director Position: UNFILLED

Researchers assigned to this division, often known as etheric scientists, dedicate themselves to the creation of psychotronic weapons, which utilize electronic machines to send beams of energy or frequencies directly into a target's brain and body through the air. Research has suggested that the same technology being utilized as a weapon by Conference Z could thereotically be used to brainwash entire populations by making subtle suggestions to them via electronic beams or frequencies. Director Position: UNFILLED

This particular division was founded by request of the now-deceased Marciano Lauv're in order to create a top-tier electronic security system capable of predicting violations and assaults before they even occured. Although Lauv're was murdered long before division research produced desires results, a recent breakthrough has allowed for the hypothetical creation of a machine fully capable of predicting the future, although researchers are still struggling with the practicalities and energy-requirements of such a device. Director Position: UNFILLED

Researchers belonging to this division dedicate themselves to experiments revolving around the manipulation of time itself through scientific means. According to their research, time is an illusion; entirely relative — for it can vary for different observers depending on speed through space. Those within this division tend to invetigate reports of temporal warps and other time-related phenomena in order to achieve a better understanding of the nature of time itself, and how to properly manipulate it. Director Position: UNFILLED

Scientists assigned to this division primarily conduct experiments which tap into the energy of life or death: positive energy or negative energy. While this division has ultimately produced little throughout the years, a recent experiment successfully resulted in the creation of an unusually potent canister of liquid negative energy, which many researchers of this division theorize will allow for further discoveries which could potentially result in the creation of a powerful energy-based weapon. Director Position: UNFILLED

Little is known of this highly clandestine division, headed by none other than Executor Kramolagh himself. This division receives an extraordinary amount of funding, all of which goes towards the mysterious "Apocrypha Project". Director Position: FILLED: Executor Cauvin Kramolagh.

From his observatory, Professor Calacazari studies the nature of the Nexus itself, along with its inherent link to alternate realities. Researchers dedicated to Project Ingress tend to belong to the Mass Teleportation and Temporal Sciences divisions, and involve themselves with the construction of technomagical gates meant to transport individuals across space and time. Currently, only one of these gates remains fully active, however, progress has been slowed due to the attempts of otherworldly creatures to pierce the barely-functional gate.

A particularly unethical scientist known as Professor Galuzo has been placed in charge of this sinister project, and through the use of careful diplomacy, steep bribes, and a dash of blackmail, he ensures that he and his agents (generally members of the Occult Virology division) are among the only living creatures allowed near a haunted valley dominated by a clan of barbaric undead, where they study the union of disease and necromancy, as well as perfect the creation of plague-bearing undead by alchemical and technological means.

Recently, a farmstead miles away from the isolated plantation above the Slumbersun Research Facility was visited by a creature from another world. It came from between the stars in a comet to feast on the mind of those below, harvesting their brains and reducing the small family of farmers working the land to a comatose state. The creature then used the still-living bodies of the unfortunate farmers as makeshift hives for its unspeakable young. In pursuit of the comet, Conference Z arrived at the scene, where they managed to extract a number of alien eggs which now exist as specimens beneath Slumbersun. This project centers around observing the growth of these horrific entities, and is generally overseen by members of the Extraterrestrial Anatomy and Elder Sciences divisions.

This eerie project, almost entirely carried out beneath Slumbersun, focuses upon the manifestation of dreams. According to its head researcher, Professor Tantis Mais, this project could potentially revolutionize how individuals interact with the world, for their frightening research suggests that by undergoing a particularly complicated surgical process, an utterly mundane individual's thoughts and dreams, under the correct conditions, could become reality as if by magic. This project is a joint operation overseen by the Biological Hypnosis, Psychic Enrichment, and Pyschotronics divisions.

According to Executor Kramolagh's research into deific obscurity, some deities form as pearls, wrapping a fragment of divine power in a pleasant sheath. Researchers dedicated to this extremely complicated project assist Kramolagh with his life's work, attempting to extract enough of that divine ‘grit’ from divine sources in order to combine it under exacting conditions in order to one day create what Kramolagh refers to as a stable "god-fount", which, if successful, would be proof of Kramolagh's heretical hypothesis, which states that divinities are nothing so sacrosanct that proper lab conditions cannot replicate the effects. Executor Kramolagh makes use of the entirety of Conference Z in order to carry out this project, meaning that any division could potentially be involved in his research.

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Although the organization itself has existed for decades, rarely seeking new members, a recent cataclysm which resulted in the destruction of a third research facility has all but forced Conference Z to seek out new recruits to bolster their ranks. While it is currently extremely difficult to contact Conference Z directly, Executor Kramolagh has spent the last few months researching potential recruits and contacting those who he deems worthy, and in due time, this once clandestine organization may very well become a less closely guarded secret.

After being contacted by Executor Kramolagh, individuals are interviewed and given a tour of one of the two active facilities. Provided they are accepted, once an individual agrees to join Conference Z, they will be assigned to a particular research facility as determined by their areas of interest. Top scholars and venture-heads funded by Conference Z are to make regular reports to Executor Kramolagh, keeping him apprised of their efforts and discoveries. Each venture keeps its own staff and security; most assistants and guards are unaware that a deceased madman funds their work and never hear the name Conference Z.

"A cruel and cold-hearted surgeon, Artephius remains one of the few individuals whose flesh has successfully bonded with alien organic material."

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NOTE: Currently, Slumbersun and Wingless Rock are inaccessible.

[Hattish Thing]

Armored Vehicle - Nigel:

The figure in the gray coat continues to stare forward intently, fingertips placed against one another in a sign of confidence. His expression remains neutral, the light bathing his deep cheeks in shadow, reflecting off of his large, onyx spectacles. Nigel's mutterings are ignored entirely, nor is his unusual wave acknowledged.

After what feels like an eternity, he speaks.

"I vhould g-get comfortable, if I vhere you."

[billtodamax]

Unless you got like... he counts on his fingers 5 different liquors in the back here, then that's probably not happening. And a shaker. Despite what he says he leans back, pulling from his cigarette again, trying to figure out how to roll down the window for a second before giving up.

How long are we waiting here anyway. He asks after a moment.

[Hattish Thing]

Armored Vehicle - Nigel:

The gray-coated man allows himself a wry grin here, exposing a few unusually sharp teeth. He licks his lips for half a second before leaning back into his chair, continuing to tap his fingers against one another. After several seconds, he presses a button built into his side of the vehicle, revealing a miniature bar built into the back.

"Make of zhat vhat y-you vhill."

"Until vhe arrive."

[billtodamax]

Now there's some hospitality. He sets his cigarette down, and begins pulling bottles out from the bar. You drink champ?

Regardless of the answer, he sets out 2 glasses, grabs the shaker, and starts free-pouring alcohol into it. It's long islands or nothing. Or, hell I guess you can mix your own. he shrugs mid pour, a complicated maneouvre that doesn't slow him down any.

[Hattish Thing]

Armored Vehicle - Nigel:

The man blinks from beneath the large onyx lenses of his curious circular spectacles, glancing down towards the second glass. "Not on zhe j-job, but yes. I do."

"You seem nervous, Mr. Rutherford."

[billtodamax]

Oh no way? I seem nervous huh? He fills the glasses, sliding a long island towards the guy. Yeah, well, the spooky letter sitting in my room, shady meeting on the corner of a street, armoured personnel carriers taking me away to god knows where, I'm probably just stressed over nothing. He pulls from his recovered cigarette, his other arm lining up his long island to go afterwards.

C'mon, drink, I won't tell your boss.

[Hattish Thing]

Armored Vehicle - Nigel:

The man chuckles darkly here, the sound reverberating through the painfully bright innards of the armored vehicle. He glances deep into Nigel's eyes from behind the onyx lenses of his starmetal spectacles, his eerie gaze piercing through the glass. "Oh, you pretty zhing, you. Relax, i-if you vhill. You're in no danger, here."

"You see, Mr. Rutherford... I am zhe boss, and you are a very f-fortunate man."

[billtodamax]

Nigel chokes on his drink a little, coughing a few times. Oh, cool, great. He coughs a couple more times, looking very cool. Great first impression Nigel!

I feel real fortunate. He finally manages to clear his throat. If you're shooting for creepy you're doing a great job, by the way. "Pretty thing", real great.

[Hattish Thing]

Armored Vehicle - Nigel:

Kramolagh frowns at this point, retrieving a thick folder from within his coat. He presses another button within the vehicle, which causes a tray to unfold before Nigel. Slowly, he sets the folder down upon the tray before calmly nudging it to Nigel, his expression quite serious.

Within the folder, several documents can be found, each of which contains information on Conference Z.

"I am Executor Kramolagh. I must say, y-your vhork is impressive."

[billtodamax]

Nigel sets down his drink and squashes out his cigarette before picking up the folder. He starts flipping through it fairly quickly, skimming the information. This is uh... this is quite the organisation you've got here. Uh, thanks I guess, Mr. Kramalak. Hell I'm saying that wrong. Is that like Polish or something? Kramalag. Nigel shakes his head. Whatever, not important. What do you want with my work.

[Hattish Thing]

Armored Vehicle - Nigel:

Kramolagh continues to stare forward, his tone quite eerie. "Vhe b-believe your intellect vhould be of considerable use to our Occult Virology division. Currently, division r-resources are being directed towards vhat ve call "Project Sepulcher"."

"Due to zhe untimely death of zhe p-previous Director of Occult Virology, vhe are now in need of top researchers."

"Such as you."

[billtodamax]

Sepulcher... that was uh... He flips back through the file to the right page. Oh Jesus. None of these guys were your previous director right?

He keeps reading. Jeez you weren't kidding about occult huh. Undead. Not what I normally work with. The virus itself though... yeah I can probably do something with it. Have to look closer obviously. He sets the folder back down and sips his drink. What's the facilities like? The pay? The hours?

[Hattish Thing]

Armored Vehicle - Nigel:

Kramolagh remains silent as Nigel thumbs through the pages, leaving his line of questioning up in the air. After several seconds, he finally responds. "Mm, zat's enough f-for now. Get comfortable, we've a l-long drive ahead of us, Mr. Rutherford."

"I'd get some shuteye, if I v-vhere you."

[billtodamax]

Yeah yeah, I get it, mysterious research organisations never talk friggin' benefits. Nigel relaxes back in his seat, sipping his long island.

Looks like he's content to at least wait and see.

[Hattish Thing]

Wirholdt's Rictus:

After nearly an hour and a half of complete silence, the armored vehicle comes to a stop, many miles away from the city of Inside. Several men in dark suits evacuate the vehicle, sliding Executor Kramolagh's door open. The gray-coated man exits, breathing in the fresh air and standing tall as he gazes out into a dark sky scattered with stars.

One of the dark figures gestures for Nigel to get out.

--

The area outside appears to be little more than a seemingly inhospitable strip of land surrounded by rocky mountains which encircle an expansive plantation constructed in the shadow of the mountains. The plantation itself is a sprawling warren of structures, utterly isolated due to its incredible distance from the nearest civilization. In the distance, an elegant manorhouse sits atop one of the higher hills, looming ominously over the rolling rows of cultivated bushes, shrubs, and grasses below, its spikey architecture causing its silhouette to appear somewhat unnerving.

Kramolagh speaks, finally.

"Ah, take in zhe air vhile you c-can."

[billtodamax]

Nigel clambers out of the car, adjusting his jacket and his satchel after the long drive.

Air's air, whatever. I'm supposed to do my work on a farm? He instinctively pulls out his phone to check for a signal, realises that he still hasn't remembered to get himself a sim card, and tucks it back away, scowling.

Jeez this place is creepy. A creepy farm. Not exactly sanitary. He grumbles, mostly to himself as he strolls around a little, checking the place out.

[Hattish Thing]

Wirholdt's Rictus:

Kramolagh sighs contentedly as he takes in one final breath, appreciating the glow of moonlight upon his pale flesh. He begins to stride up the path leading to the looming manorhouse in the distance, his stiff boots grinding into the gravel. Crickets chirp noisily, mixing with the noise.

The atmosphere is positively unnerving.

"Vhalk with me," he all but whispered.

[billtodamax]

Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Nigel says, jogging over to Kramolagh and following him up the path.

The manor then? It's uh... certainly something. He stretches out his arms as he walks.

[Hattish Thing]

Wirholdt's Rictus:

"Somezhing like zhat," mutters the man in the gray-coat, staring forward from beneath his starmetal spectacles. The long walk up towards the manorhouse offers a pleasant view of the surrounding plantation, including a trio of glittering glass greenhouses, several state-of-the-art processing facilities, and a number of residences. As the gathering strides towards the manor upon the hill, Nigel may notice something rather unsettling; the fact that numerous plantation workers appear to be standing out in the fields, staring towards the procession.

Finally, the manorhouse is reached. This single-story manor is crafted of thick wood and opulent marble, a rigid and unflinching bastion of civilization, far away from the cities of the Nexus. A ten-foot-tall wall, electric fence, highly secure gate, and perimeter of shrubs provide considerable privacy from the rest of the plantation.

--

Kramolagh reaches for a remote in his pocket, allowing a sensor to scan him before the gates begin to open as if by magic. A muscular woman clad in a dark suit ahead, nodding towards Kramolagh ominously before opening the manorhouse door. The inside of the structure appears far more comfortable than the outside, for a cold wind has started to blow.

"After you."

[billtodamax]

Yo. Nigel waves to the woman, before heading into the manor proper. He stuffs his hands into his pockets and glances around, trying to see if there's anything cool and sciencey inside.

This place is locked the hell down huh. Don't get any boy scouts selling cookies at this house. Nigel is pretty accustomed to having his ramblings ignored at this point so he's not really restraining himself.

[Hattish Thing]

Wirholdt's Rictus - The Manorhouse:

The large and imperial common room of this elegant, gothic manorhouse is exquisite, packed with all manner of strange knick-knacks and foreign articles stored within glass cases or mounted upon walls. Dark purple tapestries depicting eerie symbols lined with golden threads hang from the walls, while a thick carpet of a matching shade and consistency drapes across the fine wooden floor. Crowded bookshelves filled with a variety of bizarre titles line the walls of the chamber, which smells of dark wine and exotic herbs. Incense burns atop a large mahogany table, lined with glittering gilded accents of faded gold.

Portraits of severe looking individuals clad in noble's garb hang from the walls, each slightly crooked, while dozens of glass cases filled with a number of occult objects can be seen set against the wall. A tall fireplace depicting what appears to be the mouth of a gargoyle belching flames rests against the farthest wall, flanked by odd pillars carved with tentacle motifs, surrounding by expensive and luxurious couches and chairs. Many strange objects and curiosities flank the fireplace and stairs towards the south of the common room lead to a second floor. Dark curtains are pulled over each of the large windows within this room, yet flickering lamps outside bath the room in weak illumination, before shrouding the chamber in shadow once more.

Kramolagh navigates towards one of the bookshelves, glancing towards several titles.

"Zhis vhill b-be a moment."

[billtodamax]

Really committed to an aesthetic here. Nigel crashes down in one of the couches, surveying the room. This stuff has to be all like... custom made right? Like you got a stone mason in and told him to design the creepiest fireplace you could.

He reaches over to a nearby bookshelf and pulls a volume at random from it, flipping through it mindlessly.

[Hattish Thing]

Wirholdt's Rictus - The Manorhouse:

Nigel's comments are left ignored, for Kramolagh appears to be concentrating deeply. Wordlessly, he taps certain sections of a number of volumes, allowing his finger to rest against hidden scanners concealed within the books. In the meantime, Nigel reaches for a tome just out of the other man's view, opening the ominous book to a random page.

The book itself is titled, "The Mah-Thenge Codices", and appears to be an imperfect translation of a much stranger language.

--

Finally, Kramolagh steps away from the bookshelf, gently resting his arms behind his back as the entire wall begins to split apart, sliding to the side to reveal what appears to be a chamber dominated by a massive iron hatch. The gray-coated man taps at his phone, and a few seconds later, the hatch unlocks and opens with a soft, pneumatic hiss.

With an almost sinister expression upon his face, Kramolagh speaks.

"Proceed."

[billtodamax]

Nigel springs up off the couch, leaving the book behind on the cushion next to him.

Am I going to have to remember all of that? He frowns, realizing that he had not been paying enough attention to the door codes. Hey you aren't just waiting to get me to like... a brain harvesting room or something before you kill me right? That's a thick hatch, he's not certain he'd be able to burn through it. Nevertheless he walks inside.

[Hattish Thing]

Wirholdt's Rictus - The Manorhouse:

Within the enormous hatch, a metal ladder leads down fifteen feet onto a landing, the walls of the wide chasm harshly illuminated by rows of painfully bright lights. Upon closer inspection, the landing itself appears to be the roof of an elevator-like mechanism, one which appears to possess an intimidating glass floor.

The chasm appears to lead down over three-hundred feet, lit up by blinking white lights.

--

Kramolagh gestures towards the elevator.

"After y-you, Mr. Rutherford."

[billtodamax]

Is this how my yearly reviews are gonna go? I ask questions you ignore them? Nigel asks as he slides down the ladder, before heading into the elevator. He's very careful to stand on the edges of the glass floor, where hopefully it is better supported.

One vengeful ghost and this elevator is entirely useless. He grumbles to himself.

[Hattish Thing]

Wirholdt's Rictus - The Manorhouse:

Kramolagh enters soon after, quickly busying himself with a glowing panel built into one of the walls. Several of the grim figures in dark suits follow afterwards, pressing uncomfortably close towards Nigel in a way that will most likely remind him that he was in no position to struggle, not yet.

A few seconds later, the elevator begins to drop at an alarming rate.

--

After a sudden drop, the elevator stops, revealing a long, metal hall ahead. Wordlessly, Kramolagh and his security entourage step forward, leading Nigel through a tangled network of highly secure passages. Cameras watch blankly from the cieling, and laser turrets built into the wall glitter in the artificial lighting. A majority of the compact walls, ceilings, and floors of the facility appear to be composed of some strange, otherwordly metal that seems resistant to rust and other degradation. Rows of technomagical orbs embedded along the upper edges of the walls bathe the rooms and hallways in green-tinted light.

Most of the doors Kramolagh escorts Nigel through are composed of reinforced metals, allowing access to deeper areas of the facility by sliding into recesses in the walls after specialized keys and passcodes have been scanned or typed into glowing panels. Finally, Kramolagh leads Nigel to an expansive chamber equipped with specially treated blast doors made to withstand extraordinary punishment, both to keep outsiders from accessing the more questionable experiments within, and as a fail-safe to ensure that escaped experiments cannot evacuate the facility.

Several scanners bathe Nigel in unusual radiation before a green light built into the ceiling activates, and the doors ahead open.

--

Past the reinforced blast doors, an expansive greeting chamber is revealed, decorated with experiments too impractical for Conference Z's use, yet interesting enough to impress newly recruited researchers and sponsors. Objects include giant gears and tangles of strange circuitry pulled from enormous alien machines, mosaics made from colorful debris, and weird sculptures constructed from glittering starmetal. The walls and floor of the room are plated in thick metal, while harsh lighting glares from panels in the ceiling above.

An attractive looking woman in uniform stands behind a long desk crafted of white granite, tapping at several holographic screens.

Kramolagh speaks.

"Vhelcome, Mr. Rutherford, to Slumbersun."

[billtodamax]

Nigel keeps a careful eye out on the security systems and cameras as they progress through the facility. The scanners will pick up some sort of syringe gun in his satchel, as well as few things that look sorta like hand-crafted grenades and a spray bottle filled with something - a bit hard to tell what. They'll also see a wide array of surgical tools in his metallic left arm. Other than that he has medicine in various forms secreted all throughout his person - on his belt, in his satchel, in his pockets, everywhere.

Now this is a place. Pleasure to meet you, I'm Nigel. He moves forward to shake hands with the woman he presumes is the secretary.

This place OK? He won't tell me about the pay. He signals back over his shoulder with his head towards Kramolagh. Despite his irreverence he seems genuinely pleased with the facility.

[Hattish Thing]

Slumbersun Research Facility - Greeting Area:

The unusually pale woman behind the counter smiles brightly, her perfect teeth glittering in the harsh light broadcast overhead. She shakes Nigel's hand carefully, with the air of one who's carried through these steps countless times. The handshake lingers for precisely the right amount of time before she steps away, nodding her head curtly.

She speaks, her voice cheery and kind despite the somewhat pained expression upon her face, visible only in the far-corners of her eyes.

"The pleasure is mine, I am Myranda. Your scheduled tour of the facility is to begin shortly, and will be initiated as soon as you have signed a few papers, which you will find here. Do not look so glum, sir! These documents are there to protect you."

"I am required to warn you that these documents are legally binding, and that your signature is mandatory should you wish to proceed."

"Thank you."

--

Her wide smile fades away as if by command.

In the meantime, Kramolagh glances towards Nigel, an inquisitive expression upon his face.