- Sukakpak
Spring, well north of the arctic circle. 1975. A small surveying camp sits just south of the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk and Bettles river confluence, among dense forests of spindly spruce trees. Above it, the ramplike prow of Sukakpak mountain dominates. It is a striking, curious and isolated peak south of the Brooks range.
Endless spruce forest in three directions, with the massive wall of the Brooks range abruptly stopping its progress to the north, like a sea wall against the brownish-green. Forest as far as the eye can see, from thousands of feet in the air. It’s dark, featureless, somehow implacable.
Sukakpak mountain is in Pipeline Section Five, a piece of the massive trans-Alaskan pipeline project managed by a conglomerate known as Arctic Constructors. This stretch of wilderness will eventually become Mile Marker 204 on the soon-to-be-built North Slope Haul Road. It will hug the eastern slope of Sukakpak mountain and cross the Bettles river, avoiding a difficult crossing of the wide, treacherous Koyukon. A survey team is re-flagging the original pipeline route that was flagged in ’71. There is great urgency, as construction of the North Slope Haul Road has already begun and will reach Atigun pass in less than a month. The route must be clearly marked.
And now a man has died.
Sukakpak is a one-shot adventure, written by Jason Morningstar, published in The Unspeakable Oath #21 (2012). It relies heavily on the bleak, isolated atmosphere of Mt. Sukakpak. The territory is being surveyed and marked out for the construction of the trans-Alaskan pipeline, but the project is halted by the death of one of the workers...
The Investigators
Since there has been a workplace fatality, officials are being flown in to collect the body and investigate. These are the player characters.
Required roles
- A pilot (who might also be the state trooper),
- An Alaska state trooper, sent to investigate and recover the body of a dead worker,
- A representative of Arctic Constructors, to investigate and make sure the survey is completed on time
- A doctor hastily enlisted as a medical examiner,
- A clueless and unprepared federal safety inspector,
- A new, aggressive survey leader, sent as a replacement for the current leader
I would like to run this adventure for three players. What do you guys think?