Ok, it looks like the roleplaying is over, so...
After 10 days travel, you slow down and scan the immediate area of space you're in. There's no planets nearby, but several dots in the sky are slightly larger than the pinpoints of stars, and have color. The White Sun (the Core's star) stands out as the brightest thing around, but its still just a dot.
You find a spaceship, drifting in the void. Bryce matches its speed and direction so it appears motionless to you. It is not putting out any energy signals. Radio hails receive no answer. You'll have to inspect it in person.
There are standard airlocks on every ship, so you can just connect directly to the ship.
Bryce reminds you that standard protocol for docking is to be in your airlock with both doors shut before docking, then open your door to the other ship, open its outside door (standard control panel on the wall handles that), then open its inside door, to prevent disease or air contaminants from getting into your ship. He insists that you wear spacesuits, in case of the former, or if there's no air on the ship.
You would all know that firearms work perfectly well in a vacuum.
Jayla insists on being in the boarding party.
Who's going in? What preparations are you making beforehand?
|
Emma gathers all here worldly goods about her, as she thinks both tools and electronics will be needed here.
"Are we trying to get the ship up and running to bring her in for salvage, or are we just trying to strip the corpse clean?
Also, what are we doing with survivors? I believe a prevailing morality would mean that any living survivors would have rights over that ship and all property, and therefore nullify any profits.
However prevailing pragmatism would mean that their elimination would maximize any profits.
I need to know under which we are operating.
I'd hate to make an un-fixable mistake."
"The odds there are survivors after all this time is low, but if we do find any, we do all we can to help them. As for the ship, you'll just have to see if it's fixable! I have faith in you."
Daisy will see how many volunteer to head over. If only two or three do, she'll join. Otherwise she'll stay here..
Harold comes over to the airlock.
Look, I am sorry that I haven't been the best company the last few days. been trying to work something out.
Its mostly done, but I am still here.
With that, he starts getting into a suit. He then adjusts his gunbelt and straps the whole thing on over the suit.
We need anything else to come along ?
Jayla says "The ship is property of its pilot, who we hired to haul everything we've found so far at the dig site. If he's alive, you'll have to deal with him about fixing the ship. If he's not, you can see how much damage there is and decide whether you can fix it. The passengers work for me, they will not claim ownership of the ship, and I will pay you for their passage to our destination. The property is mine."
I need a call-out from everyone as to whether you're going over or not. Bryce, of course, remains on board to monitor nearby space for other ships.
Daisy will sigh with resignation.
" I don't spend enough time in a suit, may as well get some practice in it!"
She contorts herself into one and grabs her rifle, just in case.
Once ready she smiles and bows to Harold, "Lead the way, gallant sir!"
Before suiting up, Arabella sits in her berth and gets out some very old coins, a set of three. She sets out a book with a worn cover, tosses the coins in the air to scramble their orientations and looks at the head/tails result, making a note on a scrap of paper, and then tossing them again.
Toss 1
--
Toss 2
—
Toss 3
-x-
Toss 4
—
Toss 5
—
Toss 6
—
Primary Hexagram:
5 Waiting (Nourishment)
--
—
-x-
—
—
—
Waiting. If you are sincere, you have light and success. Perseverance brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.
The superior one eats and drinks and is joyous and of good cheer.
Moving Line: Waiting in blood. Get out of the pit!
Secondary Hexagram
43 Breakthrough (Resoluteness)
--
—
—
—
—
—
Break-through. One must resolutely make the matter known at the court of the king. It must be announced truthfully. Danger. It is necessary to notify one's own city. It does not further to serot to arms. It furthers one to undertake something.
The superior one dispenses riches downward and refrains from resting on his virtues.
The oracle warns of danger within and that the situation may be better dealt with by caution and avoiding a fight. She also decides she should have a good meal before boarding the other ship.
To the group she says, "I did an oracle reading for this adventure. It suggests there is danger and we may do best to avoid rushing in before we know what the true danger is."
Arabella wants to board, curious to see the ancient spaceship relics and be of help if she can be. She's capable of combat, but not reliable or especially effective. But she has other skills that may help. She puts on a space suit and attaches her pistols and sword, putting the duster over the suit for armor.
She will stay to the back of the line that enters any new spaces, since she's not much of a fighter.
Where has everyone gone? Please make a post, saying that you are or are not going to the other ship!
You all suit up, Bryce maneuvers your ship's airlock over to the other ship's airlock, and you hear a "thunk" of connection.
Following protocol, you get into the other ship. The lights are out. Your suits have head-lights, by turning your head left and right you can see the entire room you're in.
Right now, you're in the airlock prep room. Your suits' sensors indicate that there's air, but not if it's safe to breathe.
Since there's not going to be any combat, I'm not going to make this a dungeon-crawl, hope everyone's ok with that.
Searching the ship, you find 9 bodies, all with holes in them. Jayla takes you to the cargo hold, and curses. "They've taken everything!"
Emma checks out the engine room. The normal and inter-system drives have been completely wrecked, requiring components you do not have on-board, or could even make.
Everyone make a Common Knowledge roll at -4, or at -2 if you have the Healing skill.
This is horrible! Nothing we can do for them or the ship now but let's see if the killers left any clues."
We may not see any survivors right now. Lets take the time to check the ship completely. Also, we should bring them back to the surface so they can be buried proper.
With that, Harold heads off to the engine room looking for survivors.
Modifier: -2 (has healing skill)
Result: 5 - 2 = 3 failure
Arabella chants a short Chinese funeral pronouncement for each dead person found.
She asks Jayla, "Did you know any of them well?"
To the group, she says, "Let's document everything an' check the drives for data, see if there is any log information about events that led up to this. We should also take a close look through each area looking for some evidence of who did this."
Rolling for Able :
Rolling for Jayla :
Everyone, please see Discussion...
Ok, so Harold rolled highest...
Harold pauses on the way to the engine room
I wonder, Doc, can you check to see if any of them have blood coming out the eyes and ears
I've heard tell of people with hands o blue that cin kill with a thought.
The ones who have been kilt have usually had blood come from eyes and ears
"I have to agree with Emma on this one. Should we... retrieve the bodies to return them home or... is that even feasible?"
Jayla says with some indigence "I paid you to come out here to see what had happened to the crew. If I'd known I'd need a written contract to spell out exactly what you would and would not do for me, I'd've done so. That being said...unless you have a large refrigeration unit, these bodies would be pretty ripe by the time we got back to civilization. I'll just notify their families that they died in a pirate attack."
The ship's computer has also been blasted, so no data is available.
"Well, sounds like you need to do some cortex searches, cross-referencing any notifications of ancient starship relics for sale and anything you can find on these blue-hands folk. You'll then want ta hire a team of investigators, not a shipping crew. Any value in making a claim for the spaceship, since we found it?"
Bryce, upon hearing the report of the damages done, says "It would cost about half as much as the ship is worth to repair it. We're talking millions of platinum. Since we can't tow it, most derelict ships are left where they are."
Jayla says with a flash in her eyes "Oh, I know about the blue-hands. They're going to pay for taking my finds..."
"So, where can we drop you off? Or do you want to hire us to deliver you to somewhere you can pick up the trail on these folks? By the way, is the blue-hands just a kind of decoration they all assume, like mystics who get tattoos on their foreheads? Are they an organization, a religion, or what, exactly?"
"I want to be dropped off on the nearest Alliance planet in the Core. If I told you anything about the blue-hands, I'd have to kill you. All."
Daisy looks at the woman with slightly widening eyes.
"Well I sure as Grox excrement don't wanna know about it now!"
And then heads back to the working ship...
Bryce decides you're close enough to the outermost Core planet that the regular space drive will suffice, taking
a week to get there.
If anyone wants to post conversations during that time, feel free.
Once you get there, Jayla pays you, so 2800 * 0.8(for overhead) = 2240/6 = 373p each, divide by 2 if you have the Minor Debt Hindrance.
Since this is an Alliance planet, no one approaches a run-down freight hauler for an on-planet job. Those of you who are wanted by the Alliance should probably not even leave the ship. You might even want to just stay in your cabins. Hiding under your bunks. In the dark.
Arabella, do your job-finding thing!
Daisy will likely go shopping again.
"Well, how long y'all figure we'll be here?"
If it's more than a day or two Daisy will also check for a little side work.
Arabella respects Jayla's secret, but only gets more curious about the Blue-Hands group. She will do a Cortex search for rumors about them when she can.
Using planets named in the Serenity Sourcebook
1 Ariel
2 Bernadette
3 Londinum
4 Osiris
5 Sihnon
6 Make one up
The planet is Sihnon. Some notes from the sourcebook:
The world of Sihnon is known for its beauty. Words alone won’t do the great city itself justice. At night, it is said to be an ocean of light. Sihnon is the heart of the Buddhist religion, a fact made obvious by the many monasteries and temples located here. Those seeking to learn more about Buddhism travel here to study.
Sihnon is also the central hub for the guild system. The Companion’s Guild is based here, with multiple houses in the large cities, and a massive temple dedicated to the schooling of young girls and boys.
All other guilds have headquarters on Sihnon or maintain a large presence here. Guild business takes place behind closed doors. Disputes are handled by registered arbitration houses. The city of Chang’Pei is given over completely to trade administration, making it the largest civil bureaucracy in the ‘Verse.
The capital of Sihnon is Lu’Weng. Local legend maintains that Lu’Weng was once a fire-breathing dragon that fell from the sky and was bound to the planet with silken ribbons. The numbers of hot springs here seem to bear this theory out, and every home traditionally has a silken awning or a curtain across the door to keep the dragon bound. Lu’Weng (the city) is one of the largest producers of silk in the system. Raw silk is farmed all over the planet and then sent to Lu’Weng, where it is refined and bolted or made into beautiful clothing that never falls out of favor with the rich throughout the system.
Landing on Sihnon is restricted, though there is so much traffic coming and going on this busy world that the government issues passes to those who come here on a frequent basis. Such passes aren’t hard to get, nor are they hard to forge.
I'm going to assume that Jayla has the connections to arrange a one-time pass to land in Lu’Weng. GM: what would it cost/take to arrange for one of those allegedly easy to get/forge passes?
Networking
Charismatic Reroll
+2 from Shepherd edge
Result: 6 + 2 = 8, success + Raise
We have found an employer directly, without needing a shipping agent middleman.
1=Core, 2=Border, 3=Rim
Back to the Rim.
+1 / raise on Networking
Result: 3+1 = 4 Freight
* 10 = 80 Tons
Payment: 8 p per ton per week
Haggling: Persuasion roll
Charismatic Reroll
+2 from Shepherd edge
Haggling result: 8 + 3 + 2 = 13, success + 2 raises.
Jayla wants to be taken to Sihnon's capitol, Lu'weng, where she plans to find investigators to help her locate her cargo. The planet is the center for guilds, so it is the place to go for finding people who can do just about anything. Fortunately for the crew, it is also a good place to find unusual shipping jobs. Jayla arranges for the ship to get a landing pass and she thanks the crew, delivers payment, and departs.
"So, I'm gonna scout around for a job. I recommend you visit one of the hot spring spas if you want to spend some of your pay on a great 24 hours. The companion guild HQ is here, if you want to do business with them." Arabella gives a glance at Daisy. "If you fancy silk anything, this is also the place to get it. Or if meditation is your thing, there are lots of lovely Buddhist temples. Also some Taoist monasteries. I'll be touching base with my group."
Arabella goes out and begins visiting guilds, restaurants, and businesses. She wears a nice silk dress, elegant sandals, a fancy parasol, and some tasteful jewelry. Since spas are good places to pick up information, she goes to one near the landing area, lounges in the hot springs, and gets a tip about a situation in need of a shipper. She locates a company that does some mining on Sihnon. Mining is not a major enterprise on this planet, but there are some rare-earth metals that can be extracted from a mountain range. The mining company knows of a planet on the rim where colonists are using these minerals to make specialty industrial processing machines. The rare-earth elements are used in semi-conductors and other electronics as well as for certain tools that need some special surface.
She haggles with the company representative for a good price and then returns to report the results.
Harold gladly takes his pay, and then heads back to his room.
I really need to grab ammo for some of my other guns, along with some other items
He just hangs around the ship while others go to find us a job.
Daisy smiles at Arabella, "Oh yes. the most wonderful silks and I have a little spending money!
Instead of looking for a job she'll do some shopping and catch up with peers at the Guild.
Arabella - you're lucky you're on an Alliance world, because access to the Cortex is only available on those. You find the equivalent of a coffee shop or library that has Cortex terminals, and for a platinum you can use it for an hour. Any search for anything like "blue hands" comes back with no results, and after several different variations the terminal suddenly cuts off. You get a bad feeling about that...
Arabella - what do you do after the terminal abruptly logs you out?
Arabella puts on her jacket and leaves, keeping her head down and avoiding any obvious cameras.
Ok. Your choice about what you did first.
Worried that she might endanger the others, she calls the captain and explains the details about the ore shipment job, where to pick up the ore and the other details. Then she finds a Taoist temple to lay low, hoping, if any secret service types come looking for her, she can find some safety in her religious connections. She'll wait there a while, watching for signs that she was followed.
Result: 6 + 4 = 10
Result: 6 + 4 = 10
The Alliance, for all its wealth and civil peace, is pretty much a police state. If caught doing something you're not supposed to do, penalties can be pretty harsh. And even worse if you're not a registered Alliance member.
What exactly are you rolling Knowledge/Planets for (what kinds of things do you want to know about this particular planet)?
Most Core Alliance planets are the same - a strong military/police force that is relatively honorable (not open to bribes, but there are exceptions), suspects are treated harshly by the police, but there are public defenders (altho if you go that route you will almost always be convicted).
After about a half an hour, you don't see any signs of police, so you go back to the ship.
Anyone have anything they want to say/do before you take off?
Arabella returns and relates her experience with the computer terminal getting shut down. She recommends a hasty move to get the ore and depart before authorities connect her to the ship. She allows she might be paranoid, but allows that paranoia is less a psychological illness and more a survival trait on core worlds.
Bryce says "Well, as the saying goes, it's time to get the heck out of Dodge...come to think of it, anyone know what 'Dodge' is?"
= Success
= Raise, -1 day to travel time
days
Assuming no one wants to post conversation during the trip, you arrive at the planet, offload your freight, and receive 768*0.8/5 = 123p each (unless you have the Minor Debt Hindrance).
More tomorrow...
To Arabella: "Oh my, that does sound rather ominous. We do not want to have these kind of people interested in us for sure!"
"It suggests that these blue hands rubes are part of the Alliance secret forces. No other reason I can think of for limiting access."