Vastarian: Houston 2024 Day 3

With immense mental fortitude, Saint Voskhodh - the Voice of the Outer Dark, clawed their way back from the brink of doom, escaping the damning clutches of the Empyrean, intent on activating the lighthouse at Ravachol.

It is hard to fathom, but it has been over a year since we, with the help of Bill Ford, hosted our first Inq28 narrative event: Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious! While we covered the first two days of the event (see here and here), life intervened, and we did not share what happened on the final day. We wanted to rectify this and start sharing how the event concluded! On the final day, all the participants played multiple simultaneous games, culminating in the final confrontation at the hyperradiant lighthouse in Ravachol, Vastarian. We plan to post numerous updates documenting the chaos of these games, aiming to give readers a glimpse into the multiple narratives unfolding. Hopefully, this time it will not take an entire year to finish!

The Hyper-radial Fresnel lighthouse of Ravachol lies dormant, awaiting adaptation into an astropathic beacon through toil and blood. Jonny (Witchhammerstudio) created this remarkable board, which was the centerpiece of the Vastarian event’s conclusion!

As a recap, the setting of our narrative event centers on the cathedral world of Vastarian, home to hundreds of disparate Imperial religious sects, each venerating the God-Emperor of Mankind in its own way. The opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum, a great tear in the fabric of the Milky Way Galaxy, has resulted in a psychic awakening across the populace of Vastarian. Each religious sect on the planet now believes that they alone were blessed with a psychic emissary touched by the Emperor himself. The tenuous peace on Vastarian has now devolved to bloodshed and persecution. During this psychic turmoil, the purifying radiance of the Emperor’s psychic might, the Astronomican, plummeted as if it were a tallow candle guttering in a tumultuous wind. In desperation, many of the Spyrehead conclaves on the planet pooled their resources, delved deeply into crumbling treatises on the nature of astropathic beacons, and put into motion a fantastical gambit: fortifying the principal lighthouse in Ravachol as a psychic conduit to amplify the waning Astronomican.

Bill (the_ruin.501) and Steve (sovthofheaven) work to set up the boards to enact the final battles in the Vastarian event.

Martin McCoy and Dave Taylor (davetaylorminiatures) review pages from what would become 28 Collected!

We had T-shirts designed for the event, and to our delight, all participants signed one for us!

Isaac (weirdingsway) brought along some of his Flames of Orion mechs, which I had the opportunity to photograph!

Colt (intothegreynorth) and Bill (the_ruin.501) consider where they might deploy to determine the fate of Ravachol.

Eli Parsons (redwetskeleton) does some final painting, preparing for an unfortunate revelation when and if the lighthouse gets activated. Painting extraordinaire Chris (cryptacrylic) watches intently as the work proceeds.

The Knights of Reclamation (master_splinters_pizza_kits) stumble through the labyrinthine tunnels underneath the streets of Ravachol, their saint following a psychic spore in the air leading towards the lighthouse.

Deacon Balphus Chaal finally locates a way to the surface: a cargo elevator leading to the base of the Fresnel lighthouse of Ravachol, a source of growing psychic energy.

The Brutha’hood uv da Emp’rorz Gold’n Toe Nail (underworldalliance) bellow an oath to da Emp’ror, and with deafening chatter and a cloud of oily smoke, race past the Knights of Reclamation on their motorbikes and secure the elevator for themselves, ready to emerge above ground, and shift the fate of Vastarian.

The lighthouse has been lit, casting a baleful fuchsia light across Ravachol, portending doom.

After a long final day of rolling dice and determining the fate of Vastarian, many of the participants returned to our Airbnb to relax and chat, reflecting on the last few days.

We also took the opportunity to interview several participants for our podcast, Dragged into Turbolasers!

We apologize for the delay in putting this post together, and hope you look forward to our conclusion of the Vastarian event coverage in 2026!

- Eric Wier