Race for Promethium: A Warhammer 40K Crusade Campaign

• LOCATION: Night Ravens Gaming Group at the Philadelphia Free Library Main Branch [Heim Center for Cultural and Civic Engagement]
• ADDRESS: 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA  19103
• CAMPAIGN START: Tuesday 4/4/2025, 
• GAME DATE/TIME: Every Tuesday at 6:30pm (arrive around 6pm)
• COORDINATOR: Lovell T Harmon, Sr. (lovell.harmon@gmail.com)

=========================THE NARRATIVE===========

The Fall of Outpost Zeta-9

Outpost Zeta-9 was once a beacon of industry and Imperial might, its shield generator complex humming with power as the refinery processed endless streams of raw ore into precious materials for the war effort. The hab units teemed with laborers, servitors, and soldiers, all working in brutal efficiency to maintain the Imperium’s grip on this desolate world. The landing pad saw a constant flow of supply drops and reinforcements, ensuring the outpost remained a vital strategic hub.

For years, the operation thrived—until the excavation of the Ancient Ruins.

What began as routine archeo-surveying quickly spiraled into something far more ominous. Strange energy fluctuations rippled through the shield generator. Workers at the refinery reported hearing whispers echoing through the machinery, voices speaking in dead languages. Soldiers stationed near the ruins vanished without a trace, their vox-feeds cutting out mid-transmission.

Then, overnight, the outpost fell silent.

When reinforcements arrived, they found the hab units abandoned, machinery left running but unattended. Ships still sat docked on the landing pad, yet there were no signs of conflict, no bodies—only the wind howling through empty streets. The only clue was the ruins, now glowing with an eerie, pulsating light, their cryptic symbols shifting as if in silent mockery of those who had dared to uncover their secrets.

No one knows what happened to the people of Outpost Zeta-9, but the system has since been marked as a quarantine zone. The ruins remain, untouched and waiting—perhaps for the next fools to disturb them.

 

Return to Outpost Zeta-9

Fifty years have passed since Outpost Zeta-9 fell silent. The name itself had become a cautionary tale, a whispered legend among void-born traders and Imperial scholars. Entire warfronts had been supplied by its once-thriving refinery, its shield generator had stood as an unbreakable bastion against the void, and its landing pad had received an unending stream of vessels—until the ruins were uncovered. Then, without warning, everything stopped.

For half a century, no one dared return. The Administratum declared the moon a quarantine zone, its records sealed under cryptic classifications. Some whispered of warp disturbances, others of an ancient intelligence lurking beneath the ruins. Those who attempted to investigate never returned. And so Zeta-9 remained abandoned, a graveyard of steel and dust, where the wind carried secrets no one wished to hear.

Until now.

War raged across the Nachmund Gauntlet, and the demand for raw materials had reached a breaking point. The war effort cried out for fuel. The Astra Militarum needed weapons, armor, and rations. The desperate clawing hunger of the Imperium’s war machine could no longer be ignored. And so, against all warnings, a decree was signed: Zeta-9 would be reactivated.

A new expedition was assembled—hard men and women from the Penal Legions, tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and forces drawn from within the Nachmund Gauntlet. They arrived under the watchful eye of Inquisitorial observers, their mission clear: restart the refinery, secure the hab-units, bring the shield generator back online, and, above all, stay away from the ruins.

 

Zeta-9 Key Strategic Sites

Here are brief descriptions for each site on the map:

1. Shield Generator Complex – A towering, gothic fortress housing a massive energy shield generator. The structure hums with power, emitting a faint glow that protects the surrounding facilities from orbital strikes and enemy incursions.
2. Refinery – A heavily industrialized manufactorum with smokestacks belching thick fumes into the sky. Massive conveyor belts and processing units extract and refine valuable resources from nearby ore deposits, fueling the war effort.
3. Landing Pad – A distant, heavily fortified platform designed for incoming warships and supply drops. Armored gunships and cargo haulers dock here, unloading reinforcements and war materials under the watchful eyes of defense turrets.
4. Hab Unit – A cluster of gothic hive spires and ruined dwellings where workers, soldiers, and serfs struggle to survive. The atmosphere is grim, with banners of the Imperium hanging from the buildings and trenches dug for last-stand defenses.
5. Ancient Ruins – A crumbling xenos temple, partially buried in the landscape. Strange symbols glow faintly on the monolithic structures, hinting at a forgotten and forbidden history. The area is shrouded in mystery, drawing inquisitors and archaeotech seekers alike.