The universe has a way of throwing nasty surprises at those foolish enough to brave her unfathomable darkness. When a gravity well knocks the Gloomdrake out of hyperspace near a long lost derelict hulk it seems like a great payday. Salvage of a pre-war vessel, like the Seraphim can make a man rich beyond his wildest dreams, but where has this titanic ship been for the last few hundred years? Why has it turned up near Avalon? What horrors await inside, and are the PCs really the first to discover the abandoned science vessel, or has something else already made its home there?

To make matters worse, all contact with Avalon has been cut off. It could be just a communications error, or maybe the Seraphim's new denizens found their way down to the prison world already? When alien horrors mingle with the galaxy's most depraved psychopaths every spacer's nightmare comes true. Welcome to Cold Black, and a thousand fates worse than death.

Editors: Ed Healy, Troy E. Taylor

Michael Kortes has a compelling and well developed background, though his life began with a non-standard adventure hook. He frequently hangs out in unusual (though ecologically plausible) settings with other varied, yet believable, NPCs. A staunch supporter of the paragraph, he is a believer in the beginning, the middle and, alas, the end.