Back Cover: It is the dawn of the sixth millennium and the skies are darkening, for the suns themselves are fading. Humans reached the stars long ago, building a Republic of high technology and universal emancipation...and then squandered it, fought over it, and finally lost it. A New Dark Age has descended upon humanity, for the greatest of civilizations has fallen and now even the stars are dying. Feudal lords rule the Known Worlds, vying for power with fanatic priests and scheming guilds. Fading Suns is a science fiction game of heavy combat, vicious politics, weird occultism, alien secrets and artifacts, and unknown and un-mapped worlds. The Shards series is a collection of adventures and encounters, intended as an inexpensive resource for Fading Suns gamemasters. This volume contains the adventure Dead End, designed for a group of 3 to 5 player characters. In this adventure the characters travel to Kish to attend a religious ceremony, but are soon drawn into an obscure plot of murder and intrigue. As the characters follow the track of an unknown assailant who tried to assassinate Baron Sun Cho Li Halan’s young wife, they are about to discover a disturbing secret far greater than just the identity of a mere criminal...