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 Ruinous Folly, designed for a group of 3 to 6 player characters. In this adventure, the characters explore the secrets of an ancient think machine, following a treasure map into the turbulent atmosphere of the gas giant Gargantua. However, they are not the only ones, and the treasure they find has plans of its own...