Mediation: Piercing the Doors of Reality

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BRIEF
LOCATION: Tarki-Humukh, Colchesia; Colchesian Plains.

DISPATCH: Colchesian Response Team; Captain Lance Garrick of the LARS Liaison.

CLIENT: Helmut Gdansker; Minister of Interior for the Colchesian Parliament

AGENTS CONSIDERED: EHoD (Every Hand on Deck)

SUMMARY: This is a matter requiring the utmost attention from LARS Command. Last week a back channel request was made to the LARS Liaison stationed in Tarki-Humukh by none other than the Minister of the Interior, Helmut Gdansker. Pulling up in an unmarked Rover, he asked me to get in the vehicle to meet in an undisclosed location. After two hours of driving in the Colchesian Plains, he guided me to an arroyo 3 km off the main highway. There he displayed to me a mass grave of flayed, half melted humans. He claims that the Sagiris of the desert have been enslaving entire villages for the purpose of some strange ritual out in the wastes, leaving the remains in ditches and holes. He is asking us to give him the same help that Lars IV offered them in rooting out the rebels and putting a stop to whatever ritual they are trying to complete.

On the way back we passed by a razed village, upon further inspection we noticed the site was occupied by what appeared to be the investigating gendarmerie and a military outfit bearing the rainbow strips of DAVE. When I asked Helmut why DAVE was active in the region he stated simply that they were under contract for a different purpose. When asked to elaborate he would not, simply waving his hand to end the conversation. I am almost certain that they are being contracted out by a different government sector, and are likely involved in paramilitary activities.

The political situation in Colchesia has been chaotic since the Civil War began in the 1970s. The poltical apparatus is occupied entirely by Costic and Orosilian settlers, who have banned the native inhabitants of Colchesia from participating in elections. This small minority exerts control primarily in the heavily urbanized northern coast, but de-facto the country is controlled by a number of warring rebel factions. Predominantly, the leaders of these rebel factions belong to Sagiri nomads, remnants of tribes who once ruled over most of Southern Vargelia. These groups are extremely hostile to outsiders as a whole, but they are especially hostile to the Ninhavan settlers of the coasts. Be aware that any team sent down here will be entering an active war zone, and their safety can not be guaranteed within Tarki-Humukh, let alone the Colchesian Plains outside.

POTENTIAL THREATS: DAVE, Sagiri Nomads, Unknown Ritual