D12 Anomalous Orbs...

I'm back out the other side of one of my bi-annual delves into the rabbit-hole of UFOlogy, and my takeaways are two in number:

1. Is it me or is this group getting increasingly right wing? We need to revive Posadism at once... some classic Trotskyite entryism could work wonders...
2. The "jellyfish" video is probably the most sinister children's party balloon I've seen in my life

Before we go on you should know this: I am a believer. In spite my irreverence here let it be known that my worldview is broad enough to entertain the concept of multi-dimensional entities disguised as jellyfish hovering over military bases for reasons unfathomable. Sure, I'm a pragmatic materialist: but beyond the day-to-day existence is a mystery, and my heart knows that there are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy...

Album cover to Metallic Spheres by The Orb and David Gilmour, AI generated 

D12 ANOMALOUS ORBS

Encountered (mostly) at night, at a distance of 100 yards or fewer... a glowing, luminous sphere of indeterminate size is spotted. Closer investigation reveals it to be...

1. Sapient fireball: a miniature sun descended to earth, this spell-spirit was invoked by parties unknown and has somehow decoupled from its caster. It hovers as though equivocating, vibrating gently but not committing to a particular direction.
   
   Roll a reaction once within ten feet: the intensity of heat will act as a warning to curious travellers, and an aggressive disposition manifests as mini solar flares in the party's general direction. Get any closer and it'll explode, inflicting 4d6 damage upon all within 30' (save vs. sun/shock/surprise/breath attack for half damage)
   
     

   

   Backscatter creating orb-shaped photographic artefacts

   
   
2. The actual moon, shrunk: a bright white brilliant rocky globe, complete with lake of liquid mercury. It is only 5' in diameter, floating at a height of 3'. It possesses a localised gravitational effect, enabling its miniature inhabitants to walk its surface freely- though in fear for the strane entities gathering around it.
   
   

   

   The moon, Mercury and Venus

   
   There can be no doubt it is the real moon: but how did it get here? And what is that new object sat in the sky?
   
   
3. Dawn spirit: flitting between the trees, this brilliant orb the size of a football (association rules) casts a faint white-violet hue all around it. As the party approach, it manifests its material body. Roll 1d8 for form and 1d8 for notable feature:
   
   FORM
   1 1' tall humanoid
   2 7' tall slender humanoid
   3 Carved wooden animal
   4 Child-sized fledgling bird
   5 Corpulent rodent 
   6 Creeping moss carpet
   7 Fish, hovering in the air
   8 Mushroom person
   
   FEATURE
   1 Animal head
   2 Antlers or horns
   3 Bird or bat wings
   4 Butterfly/dragonfly wings
   5 Eyeless 
   6 Fox tail
   7 Pointed ears
   8 Roll two more features OR two Ynnian-inspired fey mutation
   
   

   

   Orb filmed floating above forest in Guadalajara, Mexico, 2017
   
   

4. Metal sphere/craft: The orb is in fact a 40' diameter highly polished reflective sphere levitating 4d6 feet from the ground. It emits a low frequency hum that induces feelings of dread in humans and their animal friends: wild creatures are unaffected. The air smells of ozone.
   
   Make a reaction roll once within 30': an unfavourable reaction results in the humming intensifying. The intensity will step up a notch again if the party draw closer, but they will not feel any effects unless they reach out and touch the cool, hard material of the craft. This results in a sudden shockwave sending violators 3d6 feet backwards through the air, taking half that distance in damage. Roll a mutation https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2020/05/ill-give-you-three-choices.html: it will materialise the following morning.
   
   The sphere is impervious to damage of any kind. Any missile attacks against it have a similar effect to approaching it as described above.
   
   Those who receive a favourable reaction will be able to approach without ill effect. If they reach out and touch the craft, the sphere pops open like like a longan fruit and 1d4 inhabitants reveal themselves to the curious pariah. Roll 1d8:
   
   1. The occupants are insectoid or reptilian spirits of the dusk. The lead member appears to grow until they fill the pariahs' field of vision entirely. Staring into the third eye of this entity, they are shown a vision of the labyrinths of Hod.  They awaken 12 hours later in the same spot, unharmed, but with knowledge of how to return to the Dusk Realm using cactus buttons or similar. One pariah will be bound to a dusk spell-spirit.
   
   2. The occupants are fiery solar spirits, led by a electrified bird-woman known as the Sapphire Princess. Boarding the sphere, the pariahs are taken on a white-knuckle journey to the solar realms, through the ever-more glorious circles of the great heavens, before being granted brief audience before the Solar Father himself. His fire burns away all wounds, curses and mutations... but also all body hair. On the return trip to the Here & Now they are shown a birds eye view of all the lands (including likely locations of desert rue), and knowledge of all genius loci within that  Phantom Watchers https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-beyond-cthulhu-dark.html
   
   3. The sphere is a metallic probe: upon opening, the occupants are revealed to be mechanical arms and surgical instruments. The pariahs awaken 1d6 hours later with no memory of what occurred prior to the sphere opening, though they will notice a half-inch long, rectangular shaped lump in their elbow-pit. 
   
   Consultation with a wisewoman or spirit-talker will enable the pariahs to regain their memory of what occurred during the lost time. This will be a nightmarish recollection of a medical examination: the pariahs have been tagged by extra terrestrial research scientists in an effort to understand human life.
   
   Following the remembering, the pariahs will gain the ability to ghost walk, caveated as per the encounter with phantom watchers, below.
   
   4. The occupants are electrum-robed sorcerer-witches in service of the Yellow Moon of Beyond. There are no more than 3 present, additional occupants are there familiar companion animals. Their sphere is a magical craft permitting travel between all realms and domains, and for some reason they want to show the pariahs what it can do- perhaps they like the look of them, perhaps they admire their bravery... or maybe they have more sinister plans for the PCs...
   
   5. Seven-foot tall, faceless shadow-figures known as the Phantom Watchers have crossed the veil into the Here & Now. They imprison each of the pariahs in the realm of nightmares for [intelligence-2d6 rounds], with each round inflicting a point of damage against their wisdom score. Players describe a new nightmare endured by their character  each round.
   
   Characters reaching 0 wisdom become NPC Nameless Ones. Pariahs may escape this fate by sacrificing points from their intelligence, but those who are able to withstand the duration of their punishment (without their wisdom hitting 0) achieve some spiritual awakening: all wisdom damage is immediately healed, and they are permanently immune to the attacks of the Phantom Watchers.
   
   All pariahs who survive this fate gain the ability to ghost walk (as Pariah Volume 1): however, doing so results in a visit from the Phantom Watchers that very night...
   
   6. The occupants manifest as moon spirits (bats, owls, wolves, moths etc.) and the sphere dissolves into the ground, leaving a deposit of star metal for the pariahs to achieve. The moon spirits remain for 1d6 rounds before vanishing into the night.
   
   7. The metal sphere is the protective shell around a rebel group of the Hive Swarm: despite their horrific, alien appearance they are desperate to befriend the PCs and warm them of an impending alien invasion: impending means within the next 1. 1d100 hours 2. 1d100 days 3. 1d100 years 4. They're time travellers and the invasion already happened 1d100 millennia in the deep past, but they can direct the Pariahs to the landing site where many relics might yet be found.
   
   8. The sphere peels open and transforms into a magnificent silver serpent dragon. This ancient spirit has returned to the Here & Now to gather champions to its just & noble cause: the eradication of all agriculture. It refuses to doing any of the work itself and expects an army of loyal humans to rally to its cause and finally, ultimately reject modernity.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Spirit of the Dead: this feeble ghost barely has the energy to manifest as anything more than a faintly glowing white sphere emanating a profound sense of loss. Use of sorcerers' sage enables querents to communicate with the entity and uncover the pathetic story of its short life & death. It will trail after the PCs mournfully unless they can shepherd it back to the Lord of the Dead, who will repay their service with a boon of some kind. Alternatively, unscrupulous pariahs might use a sorcerous ritual to bind the spirit to them (or a suitable vessel), granting them the power to invoke death magic spontaneously.
   
   

   

   Camera artefact resulting from flash photography

   
   
6. Flying jellyfish entity: some Spirits of the Beyond are able to descend to the lower dimensions of the Here & Now, navigating the prime plane as... well, what exactly? These 4' diameter orbs appear to be a deep black or incandescent white sphere, licked by violet flames. They move with curiosity and intelligence, unfurling up to 7 tentacular appendages to investigate the environment as it explores.
   
   The orb can also cause eyes and mouths to appear, as required
   
   Is this the spirit itself, manifest in our plane? Or a biomechanical drone/probe, controlled either remotely or by an artificial intelligence? Does the spirit project itself into this skin-suit from another plane or a nearby location? Is there any meaningful difference between these things, between culture and nature? What is consciousness? Is their value in distinguishing the "lived" and "imagined" experience?
   
   These are the questions you should be asking while playing tabletop roleplaying games.
   
   

   

   Infra red video footage of a) jellyfish-shaped UAP or b) party balloon (see below) or c) smudge on lens

   
   
7. Party balloon: how this metallic party balloon ended up in a fantasy neolithic is beyond anyone's understanding, including mine. It is filled with helium, tied to the ground by a piece of string. There is a 25% chance of this party balloon transforming into one of the other orbs on this list once untied.
   
   

   

   Christopher Mellon engaged in a Pentagon PsyOp

   
   
8. Luminous bat: this bat (stat as giant bat) is so white it is glowing in the dark. Not really a useful survival strategy, but a rare mutation. Befriend it and gain a cool pet.
   
   

   

   Actual albino bats, according to Snopes
   

   
   
   

   

   I jest, of course: this is what a REAL albino bat looks like, the previous image were just toys.

   
   
9. Electric globe lamp: A 10" diameter sphere emitting a white-orange-yellow glow, surrounded by insects who are hypnotised by its other-worldly beauty. Close inspection reveals that the sphere is fashion from glass, and the light is emitted from a glowing metal filament inside. It emits a low heat, and hangs from a 12' metal column, painted with a black gloss.
   
   What is this and why is it here? It could be a remnant of a vanished civilisation- or maybe one that is still extant. Perhaps it is an aberration caused by a time slip, or a rupture between this version of the Here & Now and another parallel realm. Maybe it is an elaborate prank erected by dawn spirits or other machine elves. In any case, the lamp is more-or-less identical to one you might in the world of the reader: it is fed by an underground, high voltage cable, capable of inflicting lethal damage on overly curious investigators. The source of that power will depend entirely on the answer to the questions above.
   
   

   

   Apollo 16 Floodlight photobombing this shot of the lunar surface

   
   
10. Ball lightning: an elemental of the Sun & Heavens bolts to earth with a CRASH and yet remains. Contact with this broiling ball of white heat is instant incineration, yet somehow the surrounding environment remains unharmed.
    
    It is dangerous and confused, like a cornered animal, but if shepherded back to its natural habitat (the Realm of the Sun & Heavens), it repays in kind with its service: its true name, when whispered, conjures it from the heavens back to the Here & Now.
    
    

    

    Ball lightning/lens flare?

    
    
11. Queen of Dawn: The orb expands until it is the size of the sun, or the moon: those two heavenly bodies that are identical in size from the perspective of the viewer in the Here & Now. Now they appear to be on and the same: the White Sun, the Yellow Moon, the Solar Master, the Goddess Moon.
    
    They merge into... the Evening Star?
    
    That bright dot descends back down to earth: it is a disc upon which perches a beautiful woman. It is she, the Queen of Dawn! Or The Goddess of Mercy, Quan Am... or maybe the Virgin Mother.
    
    All witnessing must make a save versus death
    
    * Those that fail will die within D12 weeks. They are aware of the exact time and place, and look forward to it with a joyful certainty. They embrace the coming of oblivion. Their joy is enough to heal all wounds, hurts and curses from which they presently suffer. Up until the date of their death they succeed on all future saving and defence rolls, and need not eat or drink except for pleasure.
    
    * Of those adults that pass, roll 1d20. All those whose intelligence is higher than that number see the apparition as the Morning Star only, a trick-of-the-light. they witness their comrades briefly frozen in ecstasy, before regaining composure with beatific grins. Adults whose intelligence is lower than the number (and all those childrenb who passed the previous save vs. death) are embraced by the Goddess. All their suffering is abated, lost limbs regrow and missing teeth return. They become more youthful in their countenance, and may share 1d4 additional points between their charisma and constitution. 
    
    Those embraced are instructed to build a shrine at this site and, if they do so, they may curse an enemy (or spare a long suffering friend) with instant death. The shrine will become a site of pilgrimage and healing.
    
    

    

    Witness to Marian vision at Garabandal

    
    
12. Marsh gas: what's that wisp on yon horizon? 
    
    

    

    Marsh gas over Bengali wetland, apparently

    
    So it turns out that the spectral glow you spied in between the trees was probably just a "natural" phenomenon: maybe a firefly or glowworm, or phosphorescent fungus. Possibly a chemical reaction between oxygen in the air and phosphine from the swamp, aka. marsh gas. The swamp your GM has been warning your payer about as you got closer, but you ignored because your player kept pushing you forward, curious to know what that curious light could be... they'd heard tales of metallic spheres and ball lightning and now... 
    
    ...now you're up to your ankles and sinking. The bog belches, perhaps anticipating another meal. You catch sight of the willow-the-wisp, it winks at you before disappearing.

Photograph of laboratory created plasma orb: "long-lived" at approximately 300 ms!

North Carolina luminous UAP sighting over body of water