Watchers & Night - An Adventure Encounter For Mutant Future or Any Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

 The desert town of Joshua is post apocalyptic trading paradise on the edge of the former site of the ultra secret military base under Joshua Tree National Park. The town has  one of the last working space ports on Earth. Each early  morning at sunrise  a trio of dark humanoid shapes watches over the town. 

One would think that a working space port would be the target for every single local warlord & outlaw  band of mutant murderers around. Instead a trio of mutated post apocalyptic seemingly spirits maintain the peace here.  In the desert surrounding Joshua dwells a colony of smoke able to seemingly devour mutant armies that have come to conquer the place.

Then there are hundreds of ghosts that haunt the desert & the surrounding environs. They protect the space port at night devouring anyone caught trying to do harm to the locals. These beings only seem to feed on those who would do harm to the space port, the town, & any of the inhabitants. These beings share a bond with the local mutant desert trees who are a variation of the guardian trees.
The entire complex is lovingly maintained by a tribe of two hundred Desert Scavengers who are mentally dominated & ecologically linked to both the alien smoke & the desert guardian trees. They maintain every last facet of the location into pre Apocalyptic condition & are able to work on many pre Ancients technologies for a minimum of 100 gold pieces. 
This installation is linked to a former military complex that looks out on the rich California ocean near Big Sur. The rich California ocean loot zones are watched over by merfolk who maintain close ties with the Mutant Underground. 

The desert town of Joshua maintains the space port almost like their waiting for someone or something. There have always been UFO sightings in the hills & deserts around wastes of California going back to the time of the Ancients. But space ports have always traded with & been a valuable trade zone with the desert peoples. But a new tribe of Nocturn raiders threatens to undermine the space port with a powerful telepath who has a flock of night stalkers under her control. She has been testing the beasts on some of the surrounding tribes of mutants & humans in the area. Now after the murder of a powerful chief's son. The PC's are called in to stop the raiders before they anger the smoke thing & blasts across the desert in anger upsetting local trade. It is rumored that the Nocturn raiders were a part of a  top secret government program called operation Nightwatcher. The program was designed to strength the telepathic bond in telepaths & precogs in order to allow the abilities of 'remote viewing' to grow into an almost telepathic neural network. 'The Twelve Plagues'incident ended this but it is rumored twenty years ago the work continued. The Nocturn telepath is the result of decades of selective genetic engineering & telekinetic genetic manipulation. She is rumored to be twisted & completely immoral going by the name of 'Pale Taker' indicating that she may have the dreaded death field generation mutation. The Nocturn raiders are known as the Night Men & use their mutations to create the effects of super science of the Ancients without relics & artifacts. They are starting to murder local communities & raiders usually number 1d20 1st & 2nd level fighter armed with Dark Ages style weapons. 

1d10 Random Encounters At the Joshua Space Port 

1. Family of desert traders on their way off world to do trading on Mars. They have 1d6 minor relics for local trade however. They are looking for bodyguards & are willing to pay 20 gold pieces plus passage. 
2. 1d10 kobold traders with lots of smalls & minor items for trade. They are funny & actually have among their number 2 second level bards. 
3. 4 Mutant Cactus men mercenaries looking for local employment & to accompany adventurers. 
4. Traveling trade people led by a desert witch who is willing to tell the fortunes of adventurers & peoples for 1 gold pieces. 
5. Space port cyborg whose on his way back Earthside for some R&R after doing deep space recovery on some of the 'gods' 
6. An Amazon warrior & adventurer far from home whose last party was killed by a rad dragon deep in the desert wastes.She's looking for 1d6 adventurers to help her take down the beast & is willing to pay 200 gold pieces a head. 
7. Professional pyromancers & summoners helping to terraform parts of the valley.They are looking for professional adventurers to help guard them out in the wastes. 
8. A lone astromancer far from home looking for help on doing some work on mutant fauna & flora. He's willing to employ local mutants & adventurers for 400 gold to go into the deep & dangerous rad zones. 
9. Telepath recruiting for the local Hex men chapter willing to give food & lodging to any who will join up. They are being targeted by an evil mutant assassin's guild. 
10. A mutant religious nutcase looking to recruit adventurer for a quest into the dangerous California oceans for the 'Star of California'. Once she latches onto a party she'll be a real pain in the ass.