GM-BD’s ΘF DISTΔNT STΔRS & DEΔD SUNS - Δ STΔRFINDER ΔDVENTURE PΔTH (Inactive)

Game Master Black Dow

Koro taps her chin as the various environs of the station slide by the taxi's window. Turning to the others, "I think we should re-group at the 'spire, wait for the others, whatever intel was in that office is probably gone, either wiped by our friendly assassin or now in the possession of AB-SEC as evidence."

She sighs, this wasn't getting any easier, "If Stellar is bringing out their experts in wet-work, they're close to making a move on the rock, I think. We just might have to get there first..."

@King Curney's

Curney smiles to himself and watches the chemist takes a pipette and drops a tiny amount onto his own palm - which you see is a sheer plastic panel rather than flesh and blood.

The odd scientist stands as a HUD displays the content and make up of the narcotic.

He turns his head toward the King with a slight nod and a monotone acknowledgment;

"OURS. BATCH 2078-DSK"

Curney flashes another glinted grin;

"Mmm. Interesting... So you bring me produkt vich I haf sold on stazion and vant to sell it back to me... At 200% mark up.. Yes? Very brazen if so!"

Like a crowd watching a holo-ball game, all attention shifts back to you both...

As you mull over the situation your comms both ping with an incoming message from Chiskisk:

Meanwhile Back On AB-STAT

As your taxi glides along you mull over the situation when your collective comms ping with an incoming message from Chiskisk:

Paeon merely shrugs at Curney's suggestion,

{I did not purchase this from you Curney, I merely brought a bargaining chip. We set terms, you agreed and unless I misread the situation I came out on...}

Distracted by the ping Paeon glances at his comm.

{It seems we have been summoned. My apologize, I guess my informant was wrong in suggesting that Curney's was the premier buy and sell establishment. Knowing now that this is THE batch 2078-DSK that I originally suspected we should be able to.. ahh nevermind.

Paeon casts psychokinetic hand to retrieve the Dreamshiver

Grabbing the vial out of mid air Paeon stands.

{A shame you didn't live up to your reputation, I will have to correct my informant on their information as not to misinform future patrons.}

Paeon motions to Kris and stands up to leave the room.

Holding my breath to see how this is reacted to.lol

Same... hoping that he holds his reputation and word of mouth above credits and wants to save face in front of the crowd

Of course if he just kills you and spaces your bodies, problem solved for him. I hope he wants something from you.

if he just kills you and spaces your bodies

Cheerful thought Noah, we'll see if the GM is looking for a different mix of PC's ;)

Kris listens as Paeon and King Curney trade veiled, or perhaps not so veiled threats. Both have their points but we are two in amongst his many

remaining vigilant Kris waiting to see the King's return to Paeon's latest volley.

Dealing With The Devil

The Chemist allows the vial to ethereally float back towards its courier.

At Paeon's words Curney merely chuckles;

"Ho-ho! This lashunta haf stonez as big as asteroids!"

The crime-king leans back letting the chuckle ebb in his throat as a hard look settles across the dwarven crime boss' face;

"Tell you vhat boy. I gif you your 200%... Now for your diskourtesy I should let Liu take your head to add to my kollection... I am King here Paeon Tel' Domah. You vould do well to remember zhat and my title vhen we meet again..."

He mulls his next words, as a hushed anticipation of violence settles across the patrons and King's court.

Curney then flashes a hard smile, teeth glinting;

"So - these are my terms. Zomeday, and that day may never kome, I vill kall upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept my terms and gift of kredits and life... or die here and become a trophy of folly..."

The crowd's eyes affix on Paeon...

Ed sends a message back in Shirren: "VVRERRrrrrrrrrrrrrrekl'kl'kl'KESHHrrrrglllarkkk!"

We're on our way!

"Can you make sure the message is from Chiskisk?"

Paeon listens to Curney and nods his head in assent,

{Your terms are acceptable, If you would be so kind as to escort us to our shuttle we have further business to attend to.}

Paeon scans the crowd briefly before turning to leave the room.

To Kris he opens communication,

{Well, we got a bit of throwing around money now Kris. Might be time to do a little bit of investing.. we can discuss this later.}

Kris nods, keeping to her mainly silent partnership on the king's ship. activating her com unit she reaches out to the pilot.

"Transport for two, eta 2 minutes" She states estimating the time based on their entrance time through the club

King Curney flashes a glinted smile and settles back into his chair;

Ov kourse. Transfer the 5K in kredits to my new friend here... Safe travels to you and Kris-7, Paeon Tel'domah. Spend it visely... Travel a little yes? Find a quiet korner of the Pakt Vurlds... far avay from Korporations..."

As you both make your exit, flanked by a cadre of Cashbah Hostesses, the comms crackles to life with the voice of Duvra L'Kell;

"Roger that. We're primed and ready..."

Bugs in the Comms

Ed's acknowledgement is met with a comms affirmative in Shirren;

"Tkikkki-Gopppupp'll'kkkkk vefff, nozzzz-kaaaaalll' weeeeeeeepej!"

"If that's really Chis, let's get hustling. Sooner we're under cover, the better."

Once they have returned to the shuttle..

"Nice work Paeon, wasn't sure about that play but it sure paid off in dividends. Did you have something in mind to invest further in?"'

at the sure to come question from their pilot. "Take us to a spot near the lore spike, we need to catch up with our friends."

"If that's really Chis..."

It sure sounds like her, Ed shrugs.

Paeon shakes his head to Kris's comment and lets out a sigh of relief,

{The verbal rally was interesting. I have now found myself indebted to Curney and we are now 5000 credits richer. I haven't been able to find any positive outcome to this yet.}

Paeon turns his gaze to Kris,

{Curney knew who we were by face, he also knew we were involved with Big Corp' which in turn makes me wonder if he could be tied up in all of this.}

The stellar mote lets off a cool light in the passenger shuttle,

{As for investment... I think we should invest in information. Put some of your contacts on employ and dig into the underbelly. We should find out who took over leadership of the King's and pay them a visit, lets not take our finger off that pulse.}

The usual soft expression that Paeon expresses hardens for a moment,

{We could be new players in this game Kris. It's dangerous, but I suspect you are no stranger to the dark sides of these planets. As for the credits... for now we say we got nothing, Curney recognized his own batch and relieved of us his possessions. Thoughts?}

Noah looks uncomfortable. You are indebted to a crime lord? That sounds bad Paeon. I fear you will come to regret that trip. We have not been idle ourselves and have been, well, "encouraged" to drop the matter of corporate involvement with the death of our benefactor. Our one good lead was cleanly eliminated in front of us and we were given a clear cease and desist order with the treat of more violence should we choose not too. This enemy knows us, seems to know our movements and motivations and stands ready to impede further investigation of the corporate link to all this, but nothing more. I vote we call this a dead end for now. There will be time in the future to take vengeance if that is what we desire.

Are we back together yet?

Not yet I was reading the discussion betwixt Kris and Paeon as "post escaping the crime King's lair unscathed" type banter :) However its just as easy to handwave a few levels of posts to have the shuttle drop you off outside the Lorespike where you all catch up (prior to reconvening with Chiskisk) - especially with Noah's epic outpouring!

lol.

Don't have to wait on mine and kris's convo.. we can pm if we need to. Can just hand wave to get the crew back together.

I obviously thought we were already back together.:)

Never apart! Always together! Awww... Star crossed adventurers and comrades in arms :)

Together again

We have not been idle ourselves and have been, well, "encouraged" to drop the matter of corporate involvement with the death of our benefactor.

Kris listens as Noah and hopefully Ed tell about the sniper.

"Did she give a name or anything else personal?" Kris ask about the sniper, trying to remember any others of her ilk she'd met before.
kn:Culture(Outlaw theme): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

I'm here... actually paying attention to who's where... :P

Nothing personal about her, but she knew all about US!
Ed's antennae tremble a bit.

Taking Kris's advice Paeon will tell the crew about what happened, Noah's outrage can stand :)

{Seems everyone knows about us that we run into these days.. best head to the Lorespike and see what Chiskisk has for us?}

By the way, i get a laugh out of every shirren convo

Retsiji listens to the story, ponders a moment, then addresses Paeon. "You owe him a favor? Get out of here. Can't trust you at my back with that out there. There's the door."

Interesting turn of events Retsiji... For clarification Paeon doesn't know the nature of the favour, nor even if it will be called upon...

Paeon allows the Vesk's words to resonate for a moment,

{You've no reason to trust me, nor I reason to trust you. I am here beecause Duravor called, seems that's why we are all here. I plan to find the end of this thread Retsiji.}

Paeon hangs his head momentarily,

{The worlds are as hard as the ore that Duravor sought to mine. I made a decision to benefit myself and our cause. If you'd see me go I will wander the worlds once again. But only after we know what happened to Kreel. Should I win your trust during our endeavors I hope you'll reconsider.}

His usual confident posture remains, but the mote that accompanies him let's off a dark almost saddened light. Paeons thoughts drift off, his focus lost to some long forgotten memory.

for the record if the players opted to have Paeon not continue I would have absolutely no hard feelings. I am having a blast with all the dialogue and interpersonal dialogue and character stuff. Would be completely happy to roll a new char if the roleplay called for it!

Come on, Retsi. We've got to stay together to get justice for Duravor. If Paeon wants to go work for a drug king, I think that that's his choice so long as it doesn't interfere with our mission.

Interesting turn of events Retsiji... For clarification Paeon doesn't know the nature of the favour, nor even if it will be called upon...

That's Retsiji's issue--the lack of specificity. We could be in a hot situation when Paeon gets the call to stand down, or worse, and Retsiji has no guarantee which way Paeon would jump if that happened.

Reinforcing that conclusion, incidentally, is the way Paeon handled the drug sale. He (entirely in character, I add) brushed off any concerns about whether the admitted potential benefit of more credits was worth the potential downside, and arrogated to himself the right to say who would and would not come along. Then, as the more cautious of us expected, things went south. As a result, Retsiji has no confidence in Paeon's judgment.

That said, Retsiji is a mercenary and has likely served with a lot of questionable characters. The difference, though, is that in those cases there was a contract to fall back on, something that would give Retsiji a little bit of confidence in everyone else's behavior.

Fully endorse Retsiji's stance - but bear in mind that transparency of collective background is something none of you have at present. Given the events at the Fusion Queen there is a hair-trigger element within the group - but from my standpoint that just makes for an interesting collective :)

Duravor seemed to see something in you all, but having our Vesk not trust Paeon could make for an interesting dynamic... As an aside Paeon is one of the characters who will undergo an element of rebuild when you level up (soon) - something that has been offered to you all. As it stands - unless there is a clear move to have Paeon (the character) walk, I'd rather see him remain and develop.

Lol at Ed's attempt at talking sense of situation :)

"Ed, how can you tell it won't? How do you know he won't drop everything and run off solo next time he gets an idea? I can't trust him. Give me a guarantee I can trust, besides that Duravor picked him. I'll settle for a standard merc contract spelling out no independent action for the duration of hostilities, simple majority for critical decisions, and warning of previous commitments, and I'll sign it too."

It is an interesting quandary. Noah admits. The truth is that we have little to bind us together. There are the rules and regs of the Starfinder Society. That I think is enough for me. And Retiji, I will point out that Paeon brought the credits back to split with us. It seems to me that is not the action of someone planning to stab you in the back later. I am not thrilled either that a crime boss can call in a marker on Paeon in the future. But when it is called Paeon always has the choice of declining. There is no mind control involved. Any of us could go bad at any time. This changes nothing for me.

bluff: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (3) + 0 = 3

"That's an excuse for AE to turn the law loose on us--put us away legal. Get rid of it." Kris says from the corner in a horrible imitation of the big vesk.

"Seems to me you didn't specify how to get rid of it, and Paeon did so at a profit to us, although likely at a cost to him and perhaps me, as I accompanied him on this task." Kris states evenly, not upset by the soldier's comment "Time will tell if this was a good decision or not. Yet he has stood firm when we needed help in a fight, will you dismiss him, or me, on the chance of a request in the future at a time no one knows."

"Anyone can put a thumbprint on a contract, it's their personal honor that will keep them to fulfill it.....or break it" she finishes quietly.

GM, did Kris's culture roll give her any ideas about who the sniper might be?

Paeon looks back and forth between the crew discussing his fate and in a simple matter of fact message, speaks to Retsiji.

{Retsiji, our ancestors fought and bled to defend the worlds from the Swarm. Should their words not sway you then perhaps the old code of war could. We could test our might against one another, and reforge the respect Vesk and Lashunta had for one another in ages past.}

GM, did Kris's culture roll give her any ideas about who the sniper might be?

pfft. based on my detailed description ;P

WHAT? Contracts? We don't need stupid contracts. Look Retsi, we're not eternally pledged. It's not like I'm hosting you and Paeon's larva or something. It's not like I'm crazy about Paeon either especially when he keeps bringing up that Swarm stuff. It's racist.

Desna says that we should all be free to follow our own path. Right now we're all traveling the same direction- toward Duravor's murderers and we're kind of on a deadline. yikes, deadline...

@Kris - nothing springs to mind as there was no calling card or such. Perhaps digging into the black_ops web might net more clues...

@All: Am loving this interplay. Who knew you'd have such hidden depths in a bunch of interstellar murder-hobos lol. (I jest)

Kris will leave the boys to be boys and begins typing on her data pad, searching to see what she can find out. Both about the Kings and open contracts on her own crew.

kn:Culture(outlaw): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (13) + 12 = 25
Computers: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Profession(IT professional): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

using a combination of contacts, computer hacks and data mining to search both the light and dark sides of the web.

Your animated debate draws little attention on the Society campus, as many agents and representatives often conduct business, presentations and negotiations at similar bays.

Momentarily glancing around Paeon connects with the others,

{Ed's right, and as an old Shirren once told my father Szzzzzz-zzzzzrrrr't Gzzzi'iit Sk'zzzz Gzzz-eee'eet "the past is the past". We can settle this later Retsiji. Lets head to the Lorespike.}

I think we have stirred the corporate hornet's nest enough for a while and need to let things cool off a little on that front. If only there were some way to get off station for a while.

Opportunely a short e-note pings up on your comms HUDs, detailing that he has left the invitations with reception for your collective attention - as they have Society business to attend to.

Grrrr. A bunch more edited info for my last post was lost in the site's ongoing issues... Abridged version below:

Love the background GM, the site dropping out is bad but last night was just me, came in sat down and woke up 3 hours later to go to bed. <sigh>

"We were to seek out one of the ship captains if I remember correctly in the armada, that would get us off sta.... Hmm invitation at the reception <squirrel! > .... Err sorry that would get us off the station."

Kris replies to Noah's lament before turning to Ed, [b]" was the sniper male or female, and did they sound like you or perhaps Retsiji? There are several associates on station with the credentials to pull that off, perhaps I can Eli. I ate a few of them from the short list." [/ooc]

After a bit Kris will retrieve the missives or at least hers

Reading the missive Kris's eyebrow raises to her hairline before returning to normal. [b]" It seems we're invited to a meeting"[/I]

GM, how much for Kris's fence friend to keep tabs on the Kings. Working off my phone so limited background to pull from

I think female Kris, thought I am not sure. Noah says as he looks at the missive. Wow. Intrigue. This guy has no ties to the Corpse Fleet that we know of, right?