The Nine Treasures of Crystal Cluster Version 1 By Richard Schenk BACKGROUND AND SETTING... As an inexperienced and unskilled misfit who has heard more than your share of legends and tales, you have decided to act upon a personal quest. You have heard reports (often exaggerated) that talk about places in our starsystem that contain pockets of the precious D-Crystal. The D- Crystal is very rare and is the 'State of the Art' power source for spacecraft. Your straight-forward goal is to make money by finding nature's hidden caches and selling them for profit. XXX As you strive aggressively toward your goal, you manage to obtain a space vessel. You find that it isn't very hard to make some money finding and selling crystals. However, to make really BIG money, and to walk in the footsteps of the pioneering legends and folkheroes of the Star Cluster genre, you discover that it will take far more in experience and skills than you had previously anticipated. XXX One day on a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, you find the legendary veteran adventurer Tumultuous Richard. He was your idol during your childhood. His name was in some of the exciting legends you heard in the past. This adventurer coined the term 'Crystal Cluster' which lists the stars within Earth's reach known to have D-Crystals. Tumultuous Richard is old and appreciates how much you idolize him. He decides to pass on his story to you... XXX THE TRUE LEGEND ...Many years ago, Tumultuous Richard formed a 'Fellowship of Adven- turers'. He organized the most capable people of his day to pledge an oath to 'The Fellowship' and establish the quest: to find the legendary Nine Treasures that are dispersed within Crystal Cluster. The findings would be offi- cially logged in the 'View of Treasures List' to be monitored by the Fellowship. XXX ...No adventurer ever completed the quest and the Treasures have again been dispersed throughout Crystal Cluster... As time passed, most of the Fellow- ship were killed in pursuit of this quest... XXX Since most, or all of the original adventurers were dead or dying, you decide to take on this quest. Before leaving, Tumultuous Richard gives you his blessing. He mentions also that you will find some of the Treasures on enemy alien ships which you must fight. Others will be found when searching for D-Crystals. Some Treasures will only be found when your skill levels are high enough. XXX Tumultuous Richard felt that Earth was not ready for these Treasures. If you find the Nine Treasures, they are yours to keep. It is up to you to decide if Earth is ready for such awsome secrets of power... XXX Epilogue: This one-person role- playing adventure should be taken as a youth's fairy-tale for adults. Tumultuous Richard is a wizard-fighter--hopefully aligned with the forces of good. He knows much more about the secrets behind the Nine Treasures of Crystal Cluster. He has been appointed am- bassador between the "Higher Beings' United Federation" and the fledgling- yet advancing civilization on Earth. XXX Earth is being tested. Your actions as adventurer and your reactions to the Treasures may have something to do with the final test results. Tumultuous Richard's ambassadorship with Higher Beings allows him to weave many miniadventures. This has become part of a larger story that involves the possible transition upward toward Humankind's ultimate potential. XXX TIPS... You gain experience each time you find D-Crystals, fight a ship, or discover a Treasure. You must trade experience points for skills. Eventually you will need to buy the most expensive spaceship weapon. Keep your ship in good running order and do not go too far in debt. Alpha Centauri is considered a 'milk run' and is used to make money and aquire experience points without the need to fight aliens.