Thursday, September 3, 2015

246. Accretion

The planet-wide dust storms of pre-terraforming Mars are becoming a thing of the past, but large and violent dust storms still occur. The winds that blow out of the Titan Quarantine Zone are particularly dangerous. Accretions are one of the most common associated dangers, along with static winds.

An accretion storm is not visually different from any other, but its red-brown dust is mixed with identical particles that stick to themselves and to some objects, slowly forming long, flat angular shapes jutting out at right angles. These are the accretions. They tend to form most often on materials with good electrical conductivity (including flesh), regardless of whether an electric current is actually present.

Accretions are dangerous only when disturbed. Despite their apparent sharpness they have no edge, but when touched disintegrate easily. Although harmless when still wind-blown, the particles of the disturbed accretions are small enough to work through skin and fabrics, and cause intense pain when inside the body.

Mechanics

Characters are affected if they touch an accretion or are nearby when many accretions are disturbed at once. Afflicted egos suffer -10 to all tests plus 1 SV per hour.

Medichines do not provide immunity, but will treat them after one hour. Synths and armored morphs are immune.

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