What Is Nexus's Portable Headquarters?
From the outside, a portable headquarters (this
is a rare, but not
unique item) looks like a standard leather backpack, measuring around
20 inches by 10 inches by 2 foot 4 inches. Regardless of what is
inside the backpack, it will always weigh around 20 pounds.
The backpacks most interesting aspect is its
internal volume, which
is a bit bigger than its external dimensions would indicate. Due to
some rather advanced trans-dimensional spellcraft, the interior in
fact measures around 20 feet by 40 feet by 56 feet.
This is of course rather handy.
Persons can gain access to the interior of the
backpack by climbing
through a leather flap on the back. The flap, which is hinged across
the top, and can be tied closed from the inside, measures 20 inches
by 20 inches.
The backpack also has two further capabilities.
Firstly, it can, from the inside, be set to
weight around 200 pounds,
with nearly all that weight appearing to come from the very bottom of
the pack. The practical upshot of this is that when set on the ground
it will not topple over.
Secondly, and again from the inside, it can be
set to "sink" into
whatever surface it is standing upon. When "sunk" it effectively
disappears from the universe and is totally secure and isolated
until, from the inside, it is commanded to "rise" back up,
reappearing at the point where it last was.
(Basically, at night, you set the backpack to
"settle", then you all
climb in, then you set it to "sink", and then you can all settle down
for a good nights sleep).
Who Made Them?
The backpacks (a small number only) were made
many millennia ago by a
long-forgotten Emperor for his diplomats. His diplomats were the
cream of his court, and he wished them to travel in safety and
comfort. But he also wished them to travel discretely, without
obvious fuss.
The portable headquarters was the solution. All
the outside world
would see was a small group of travellers, one wearing a leather
backpack, walking or riding along the track. But inside the backpack
was the diplomat and his retinue, comfortable in their luxurious
surroundings, and able to plan their diplomatic mission.
What Facilities Do They Have?
The backpack is sized so that it can be worn
either walking, or on
horseback. Here is a diagram showing its exterior size relative to an
average sized person. (Note:- if you click on any of the diagrams it
will display a super-duper giant sized version, for your pleasure and
convenience).

From the interior, the outside world is totally
excluded, and vice
versa. The backpack could be upside down, or bouncing down a
hillside, and those inside would never know. Regardless of how much
weight is located inside, from the outside the backpack will only
weigh 20 pounds.
The backpack also contains six magical servants.
These "beings" exist
only within the backpack and cannot leave. They have the necessary
skills to perform their specific tasks and some degree of
intelligence, but this is limited in its scope (imagine a computer
program which is very good at what it does, but not at anything
else).
The magical servants do not need to sleep and
have no quarters. When
not required they will disappear, but can be summoned by shouting for
them. (They have no names, and are referred to by role. For example,
if you want the barman you'd shout: "Barman!" and he'll reappear).
Note that although the servants tend to have specific rooms they are
allocated to, they can be ordered to go to any location within the
backpack, although if you are asking the healer to help you hump
items to the basement he might get a bit sulky.
The backpack has an infinite supply of air. The
inhabitants can stay
in there for as long as their food and supplies last (there is a
magical water supply to the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the bar).
The backpack also has full interior lighting.
This is magically
produced from half globes set into the ceilings. They can be turned
off (for when you want to sleep) by pulling down levers set into the
walls in each room.
How Is The Interior Laid Out?
The space inside the backpack is divided up into
seven levels. A
staircase connects all the levels. In addition, there is a "fireman's
pole" leading down from the top floor to the ground floor. This is
provided to enable the occupants to get outside quickly if required.

The "exterior" walls within are made of a diamond
hard impenetrable
substance coloured a light cream. (This also means that if the
leather outside is slashed, underneath is an impenetrable substance).
Basically, there is no possibility of "digging" extra rooms. The
interior walls and floors are conventionally constructed of wood and
plaster.
Basement
This level is a single clear space, broken only
by the staircase, and
measuring around 40 feet by 20 feet. If the backpack, when acquired,
has previously been used by another group of adventurers, this area
is likely to be absolutely full of crap. Think of a typical attic or
garage.
(Most adventuring groups with a backpack will
adopt a "swarm of
locusts" approach to dungeoneering. Basically every single item
measuring less that 20 inches by 20 inches, which isn't actually
nailed down, will be shoved through the flap to be stored in the
basement. The basement will be thus full of thousands of items, most
of them total junk).
At the rear of the basement is a open cargo lift
(elevator in
yankish). This is controlled by a lever on the wall to the right-hand
side. When the lever is in a down position, the lift, which is a
wooden platform 8 feet square, will sit flush with the floor. When
the level is in an up position, the lift will magically float up to
the hole in the ceiling above. There is no visible mechanism.
Ground Floor
This level is where people enter from the outside
world, via a 20
inch by 20 inch hole, which is covered by a leather flap which can be
tied back from the inside.
To the left-hand side of the opening (left-hand
if you are facing the
opening) is a large sheet of a glass-like substance mounted on the
wall and measuring around 3 feet by 2 feet. This panel displays a 360
degree view (obviously somewhat distorted) of the surroundings of the
backpack. When the backpack is "sunk" into the ground, the display
shows the surroundings where the backpack will reappear (i.e. what is
waiting for you).
Next to the display is a lever. When the lever is
in the up position,
the backpack appears to weigh 20 pounds. If the lever is pulled down
to the middle position, the backpack will appear to weigh 200 pounds
(with a very low centre of gravity). If the lever is pulled down to
the lower position, the backpack will "sink" into the ground.
There are two rooms on this level:
The infirmary contains a bed, assorted healing
implements and
substances, and a magical servant with skills as a healer.
The armoury contains racks for storing weapons
and armour, tools for
maintaining and repairing these weapons and a magical servant with
skills as a weaponsmith.
2nd Floor
This contains two bedrooms. Each bedroom contains
an en-suite
bathroom. The toilet is basically a vertical drop to oblivion.
Anything dropped down it just disappears from the universe (more
advanced trans-dimensional spellcraft). The bath and basin both have
running water, magically provided.
When originally constructed, each bedroom
contained identical
furnishings, consisting of a good quality bed, a wardrobe, a large
chest, a bedside table and floor rugs. However, subsequent
inhabitants might have customised each room.
A magical servant with skills as a valet is
available to serve the
inhabitants of the backpack, and to tidy the bedrooms on this floor
and on the 3rd and 4th floors.
3rd Floor
This floor contains two bedrooms, identical to
those on the 2nd
floor.
4th Floor
This floor contains two bedrooms, identical to
those on the 2nd
floor.
5th Floor
This floor contains two rooms:
The kitchen contains both food storage and
preparation areas,
including a large wood fired stove. (There is a quantity of wood
stored here, but this will need to be replenished in the conventional
manner, i.e. a furious row followed by someone sulking off into the
forest with an axe).
The food is also real food, which has to be
acquired in the
conventional fashion.
The kitchen contains a magical servant will
skills in cooking. There
is a table here where inhabitants can eat food, but generally the
cook will carry food up to the bar area and serve it there.
The pleasure room contains a large comfortable
bed surrounded by silk
screens and a female magical servant skilled in the arts of
pleasuring men (and women if any female PCs are that way inclined).
6th Floor
The entire sixth floor is given over to a bar
area. It is unique
among the levels (with the exception of the "display screen" on the
ground floor) for having windows giving a view of the outside world.
These windows are one-way. That is, they look totally normal from the
inside, but are invisible from the outside (they just look like more
leather).
The Bar contains several tables and accompanying
comfy chairs (unless
the last owning party contained a barbarian, in which case he
probably got drunk and smashed the Bar up, as is their want).
At the rear area of the Bar is the actual bar
itself. Behind that is
a store room which contains drinks and bar snacks.
The room also contains a magical servant, skilled
in both the ways of
drink preparation and the management of drunken psychopaths. He is
also a good listener (better than the healer, who will patch up your
wounds, but has bugger all sympathy if you're undergoing a nervous
breakdown).
D20 Statistics
For those of you playing some form of D20 game,
we've included some
statistics about the portable headquarters (including stats for all of the magical
servants).
D20
Statistics
NOTE:- Those statistics are for GMs only, so if
you're a player don't
read them (just tell your GM that you want one of these items for
your group).
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