New: Savage Core Encounters
Aside from the warring factions of the Savage Core, there are the Encounters. The independents who have made their way into the Primordial underworld through their own means, or stumbled upon it.
There are many ways to come upon these neolithic lands, perhaps by chance or design, through cold ice caverns, or the treacherous jungles of the tropics, by doughty explorers armed with an ancient fragment of a map, the hints of a few lines of Classical poetry, or merely their own sense of adventure or greed.
The Core lures the stray in a myriad of ways, by misfortune, fame or greed, these outlanders have found themselves in a world so unlike their own, many do not survive long. Those few who do are changed by the hostile environment, often abandoning the things from their homes which have become useless to them, instead adopting local habits which may help them to survive. In this way, they may present a bizarre sight, modern anthropologists or lost orphans with spear or bone knife, or those who have aligned themselves with some faction or other in order to eventually escape these lands or merely to eat and live.
There are yet others, those who have not only survived but prospered, (of a sort). Despite not aligning with any faction, they have somehow managed to carve out a small territory for themselves through fearsome reputation alone. They ferociously protect what has become theirs through carefully constructed mythology, temporary alliances, the points of their crude weapons, or all three at once.
Za Khor
Za Khor – The Beastlord, originally from Gothenburg, was orphaned many years ago, when his parents were buried in a mountainous snowdrift. Za Khor survived by slipping through an icy fault in the Earth’s crust, taken by the scree and ending up, somehow, in the Core.
The name Za Khor is his own infantile interpretation of his actual name, but this is lost to his memory. He is a legendary survivor, having been able to intuitively communicate with many of the beasts from the Core. Not all, of course, but he has been known to influence the behaviour of even some great reptiles for a short while. His arrival and keening call often heralds defections throughout the tribes of the Core, compelled as they seem, to be aiding Za Khor in some unknown cause.
Annalisse Kirchner
Annalisse Kirchner is a recent arrival to these lands. She is an anthropology major from Heidelburg University.
A prominent member of a research expedition to the Core, she is the sole survivor of the disasterous and ill fated project. She has given up all academic interest in the environment, currently seen waving a revolver at any inhabitant who may help her escape the nightmare she has found herself in.
Harranna of Lost Avisha
Harranna of Lost Avisha is another of those whose origins are a mystery. She may well have been ostracised by the Amazons or be the product of some entirely singular event. She is, however, very real, despite the mythology which has grown up around her.
There are numerous stories attributed to her and some even be true. She is a staunch ally of Za Khor but is often seen alone. She prides herself in besting any leader of any faction through warlike skills and animal cunning. She may relentlessly track and hunt down any who she deems has slighted her, taking swift and Savage retribution for their unwitting crimes. She has a collection of grisly trophies from a thousand challenges, which serve to mark out her territory in her jungle home in the ruined city of Avisha.
Herr Klee
Herr Klee is motivated by pure greed. A prominent member of the Reich, he headed an expedition to the Core to find ancient artifacts of power, mentioned in manuscripts from the corners of dusty libraries.
Once again, he is the only survivor, sacrificing his loyal guard one by one to terrible lizard beasts, Terror Gulls, magma flows, earthquakes and numerous other threats all to save his own skin. He has been lucky so far, but the heat and hallucinatory fumes of giant puffball mushrooms have driven him half mad and he may be seen madly pawing the air, wafting away imaginary threats. He clutches a priceless sunstone from an ancient temple, but he is ignorant as to how to harness it’s power. Instead, he indiscriminately fires his Luger at moving targets in his path. Who knows how much ammunition he has left?
Will you dare take your time to explore the savage reaches of the Core!
