Ash Wastes: The Ghost Sands

The Ghost Sands

Black Monoliths tower over lifeless dunes of ash and sand. Bones, bleached in a sun that never quite pierces the clouds, crunch under foot. Only the brave and the desperate venture into the Ghost Sands region of the Ash Wastes. But for the cunning, and maybe even the insane, there is much to gain. For in those dunes of ash lay buried ancient technology of unknown origin. Some believe the emperor himself once built a palace there. Others claim that the ruins and monoliths are not of the past, but of the future. Whatever the case, now the monoliths are used as mere landmarks by the explorers and traders who brave the wastes. The Ghost Sands are haunted by malevolent Techno Wraiths, creatures of bone and psychic energy animated by archaeotech. They are often found lurking near the monoliths, echoes of a past long forgotten.

The Mysterious Benefactor

A strange wanderer has recently taken up residence in the Ghost Sands. By his diminutive stature, he is likely a Votann, but no one has ever seen his face to confirm. With his voice a ghostly rattle, he offers credits to the local gangs for various odd jobs. He is hunting for something, something only hinted at by the black monoliths that dominate the skylines, and he is willing to pay credits to any brave enough to record the strange inscriptions on the monoliths.

Population

While most of the Ghost Sands region of the Ash Wastes is populated only by nightmarish insects, raiders, techno wraiths, and heretical cults, there is one bastion of civilization: Shrine Town. Shrine Town is the main supply depot of the area, providing such wonders as water that only burns the throat a little, fuel that’s only moderately corrosive, and bullets that usually don’t explode. 

With the arrival of the Mysterious Benefactor and his seemingly bottomless supply of credits, life has never looked better in Shrine Town. Following the credits like bloodhounds are bounty hunters eager to hunt monsters and gangs. The influx of bounty hunters has spurred the local drinking holes and markets with an influx of credits, so much so that the markets now rival the markets of the underhive.

Shrine Town

While the truth behind Shrine Town’s founding has been lost to the ash, the legend goes that when an old Hive City fell to foul xenos, the survivors fled into the ash wastes. The desperate hivers wandered the ash wastes for months, their throats parched and their skin burned. They had all but given up hope until they saw the emperor seated before them. As one, they fell to their knees and wept. At their display of adoration, the statues' halo glowed and a miracle blessed the refugees. An ancient water pump at the shrine’s base returned to life and pumped clean water for all to drink. Indebted to the shrine, the refugees founded Shrine Town.

For centuries the settlement persisted as a minor hub of trade built around protecting the shrine and its water pump. The Shrine Guardians are the settlement’s only resident law, though Palanite Enforcers and other Hive officials have been known from time to time to make their influence over the settlement known. With the arrival of the Mysterious Benefactor and the resulting economic boom, Shrine Town has expanded far too fast for the Shrine Guardians to maintain order. The markets and outskirts of the settlement have become chaotic dens of gambling, prostitution, drinking, and fighting pits–all past times that appeal to the bounty hunters and gangers who have flocked to the settlement in search of the Benefactor’s credits. Murder, bribery, and theft are daily occurrences.

The current leader of the Shrine Guardians, and thus the leader of Shrine Town, is Ragnar Crane, a mountain of a man rarely seen without his heavy carapace armor. An ex-ganger, and some say, outlaw, he has dedicated the twilight years of his life to maintaining the peace, perhaps in atonement for the evils of his youth. While willing to cooperate with Palanite Enforcers, every citizen knows a simple truth: Ragnar Crane is the law in Shrine Town. A law that, though strong near the shrine, has failed to maintain order in the outskirts. Some openly wonder if it’s time for true law, hive law, to come to Shrine Town.