1879: Deep Mysteries 2: The Gruv
These aren’t spoilers, not exactly, as we’ve made no secret of this, and it’s pretty obvious if you read what’s actually there, but if you don’t want the mystery dispelled and deepened at the same time, you might want to skip this blog post.
Terrestrial astronomical observations on the Gruv have been focused on determining the length of the Gruv’s year for timekeeping purposes, and charting its stars for navigational purposes. Sooner rather than later, someone is going to figure out that the Gruv orbits its apparent “moon” and not the other way round. That brings up a whole new raft of questions, and likely causes discomfort to those who like to think that everything orbits round them.
The Grosvenor World is not a planet. It’s a moon. Its gas-giant primary was moved into a closer orbit after its star flared and then collapsed into a white dwarf. Someone a very long time ago terraformed the Gruv, seeding it with life and creating an Earth-like biosphere. Was it the Anunnaki? If so, why did they go to that much effort? And why did they later abandon it? Or did they?
Evidence strongly suggests that the Gruv was some form of biological laboratory. Lady Jennings has stated as much in the 1879 GM’s Guide Bestiary chapter. There are creatures, such as the mordslanger, that shouldn’t have evolved on their own. Some, like the shardraqx, exhibit a number of limbs or peculiar symmetry that isn’t seen in any other species. Quite a lot of the Gruv has the one-off feel of Weird Science experiments. Caches of Anunnaki technology have already been found. What other sorts of caches might there be, waiting to be found? What might the ancient experimenters have cooked up, and then decided to put into storage for later? Was the Grosvenor Peninsula actually a biological warfare testing ground, as has been proposed by Lady Jennings? If so, could some of those caches be dormant biological weapons?
As with all Deep Mysteries, future sourcebooks and campaign books will explore some of these ideas. Not all of them will be developed in official products. Questions will remain unanswered, for the Gamemaster and players to explore.