Criterios de justificación del estudio

The Black Obelisk sits in the center of Madison, right on the junction point (nexus) of its largest Blue Zones/ley lines. This area is an isthmus: a narrow strip of land between lakes Mendota and Monona. As luck would have it, this geographic location is ideal for the defense of the Black Obelisk. Zombies leaving and entering the Obelisk are crammed onto a land bridge roughly 2,700 feet (823 m) wide at its most narrow, and almost three miles (4.8 km) in length. When zombie activity is at its highest,

the dead choke the streets of Madison all around the Black Obe-lisk. However, as they move out to sweep the countryside, the dead disperse and the streets are mostly empty.

Over the lakes. Zombies, even Scrap Zombies, do not like water and have a difficult time crossing it. If the lakes are not frozen, humans could find a wooden boat or a raft, of which there should be plenty at local docks and marinas (the zombies have no interest in salvaging wood or boats in general unless they are metal or M.D.C. material), and use it to cross one of the lakes.

That said, the lakes should still be frozen for months to come as the effects of nuclear winter keep the continent in the deep freeze.

That means people (and zombies) can cross the frozen surface on foot. The problem with that is people on the ice (whether on foot or in a boat) are out in the open and easily spotted by Scrap Zombies and the Gargoyles.

Flying in. Low-altitude aircraft and flyers in power armor or wearing jet packs are besieged by the Gargoyles and are knocked out of the sky. They have the same problem as trying to cross the open expanse of the lakes: they are seen as they approach, giving the enemy time to attack first and prepare for invasion.

However, they should be able to remain largely unnoticed if they hug the ground and fly close to the buildings. This enables them to get close enough to observe the comings and goings around the Black Obelisk and avoid contact with zombies by flying up into buildings with smashed out windows (most) and onto roof-tops to hide or escape attacks, or to fly back to base to report what they’ve seen. (Remember, radio signals are scrambled and jammed by the Transmission wherever the monsters dominate the area. Thus, NEMA has resorted to couriers to deliver orders and receive reports.)

Power armor and jet-pack mobile troops can successfully rush the openings at the base of the Obelisk and zoom inside largely unopposed. However, the zombies outside and everyone inside are immediately alerted to the presence of intruders and respond with deadly force. Flying in for all to see makes stealthful explo-ration inside out of the question. All available Chaos Zombies (2D6x100 of them) and Scrap Zombies (2D4x10 of the latter, with a new one rolling off the assembly line every five minutes) immediately engage any living beings they encounter. Worse, the Black Obelisk summons all other available Scrap Zombies in a 20 mile (32 km) radius to come to protect it; 1D6+1 arrive ev-ery minute/four melee rounds. Unless the living know the exact location of a strategic target such as the Transmission or Marcel LeMerchand, and how to get there, they are likely to be over-whelmed before they can do anything but kill a few dozen zom-bies. Most are forced to make a hasty retreat against such fierce and sizable resistance, or perish at their cold, dead hands. Flying back outside and fleeing into the ruins remains possible because the master of the Black Obelisk, Marcel LeMerchand, is so con-fident and cocky that he is not likely to seal the openings to trap intruders inside.

Charging the gates in armored vehicles or robots has even less chance of success. The vehicles are seen and heard coming miles away, causing Chaos and Scrap Zombies to gather and wait for the coming onslaught. Roaring vehicles may also become targets for the Gargoyles and other monsters. If there aren’t too many zombies blocking the roads, armored vehicles may be able to plow right through them. A thick mass of zombies, however, are going slow down travel and the blood, gore and hunks of flesh caused by running over them could clog engines and immobi-lize the combat vehicles. Moreover, the Black Obelisk becomes aware of the incoming assault and has nothing more to do than close its doors and have the Transmission summon thousand of zombies to attack the invaders. Within minutes, the armored ve-hicles are overwhelmed as zombies begin to chop and rip them to pieces, providing more material for making new Scrap Zombies.

The roof and upper levels are not an alternate way in, either. The roof of the structure is completely unguarded and unwatched, except for the 2D6+12 giant Gargoyles that have made it their roost. Gargoyles are enjoying foiling the humans’

attempts to fight the zombies. As a result, the monsters fight to the death to prevent characters from entering from the roof. Should battle ensue, an additional 1D4x10 Gargoyles join the fray within 2D6 melee rounds!

Even if the characters could get inside from the roof, it is a dead end. Any breach above 1,200 feet (366 m) off the ground results in a surreal dimensional experience.

Stepping into the Black Obelisk from the roof or from high up puts each character in a pitch black, limbo-like environment for 1D4 melee rounds. Everyone entering the darkness feels like they are floating, as if carried aloft like a feather or leaf on a cold breeze. Blackness, cold, and flares of crackling, blue magic ener-gy ripple around all those who enter from above. All feel the pres-ence of something ancient and terrifying, and want nothing more than to leave. (There is no saving throw. Everyone feels this.) Moreover, they get a vision that is a rapid snapshot of Marcel’s origin story and know that the Black Obelisk is a doomsday ma-chine meant to eradicate all human and human-like life from the Megaverse! A moment later, there is a 01-50% chance the intrud-ers find themselves teleported back outside at the location they had entered, or 51-100%, they are teleported to someplace inside the tower and directly in front of Marcel LeMerchand, himself;

probably on the floor that is his living quarters and research facil-ity. Note: For every minute spent inside the darkness of the black limbo, each character(s) ages one year!

Object Read of the Black Obelisk: Anyone who tries to per-form an Object Read on the Obelisk, or on a particular piece of factory machinery inside the Black Obelisk, falls into a trance for 1D4 minutes, and has a nearly identical experience as above, right down to aging one year for every minute in that trance. Ob-ject Reading Chaos or Scrap Zombies reveals how they were cre-ated, that they come from a skyscraper-sized Black Obelisk, and

are programmed to kill or collect salvage as the case may be with specific zombies.