Kala Kana looks at Bazzle "I would very much like to find those crystals. If the external sensors work like the internal sensors..." His eyes strangely intense as he stares off into nothing.
"Superior architecture indicates advanced mathematics, which in turn is indicative of a superior overall knowledge base. I calculate our odds of learning more about what we seek are highest here." Amalgus says indicating the city with the spires.
"Helmsman, please find an appropriate place to set us down near the city."
"On it." Henrick will 'look' around with the sensors and find a suitable place to set down. Then he will land the ship.
"Ok, here was have landfall on Akiton. Should be kinda different out there. Anyone know if we can breathe and all?"
Leila looks up at Kala Kana and smiles "When I sat in my seat I got the feeling that the stars should sing! I wonder if the crystal will give them their voice back - or if something else is needed for that."
As the ship prepares to land everyone is required to rejoin their stations.
As the ship lowers to the planet Bazzle and Kala are able to feel the skin of the ship, a sense of being high on a mountain remains as you land. Once the ship lands and powers down everyone suddenly feels incredibly light, and objects weigh less than half what they should.
Bazzle moves feeling the difference in weight. He gets up from his station and jumps laughing at the result. "I can jump like a rabbit hear. Amazing."
"Whoa, this is just plain odd. I'm going to have to get in some practice before I have to do any serious shooting. "
"The charts noted that a lifesuit was needed only on Aballon. I guess that means we will be fine - but we just have to seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeweeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" halfway trough her answer to Henrick Leila also decides to try out the low gravity with a cartwheel - and realizes she can easily continue to roll away without much effort.
When she finally stops she has made it all the way from her seat to the entrance to the bridge. Dizzy she leans towards the doors frame and looks back at the others with a smile on her face. "Lets go and look outside at least! I volunteer to go first if that is a problem!" A bit calmer she adds "We should probably try and get used to the conditions here a bit before we rush off and try to find replacements. Even if it pains me to suggest, maybe we should wait a day or so and get accustomed to the local conditions first?" She turns away from the group and the smile returns to her face Besides, that give me plenty of time to look around on the outside of the ship!
Amalgus is quiet, letting the crew adjust to the new environment and decide on a course of action.
"Might as well check out the immediate surroundings at that" and he will head for the hatch to depart the ship. He will make sure he stops to pick up all his equipment.
"and probably make sure the ship is hidden. We wouldn't want anyone borrowing it while we are out!"
A short while later Leila is geared up and ready to go, already itching to get outside. But to make it fair she waits for every one before slowly beginning to open the hatch. "What do you think we will see? I think the natives will be tall! And red!" She makes sure to open the hatch as slowly as possible - both to saviour the moment and to gradually adapt to the new atmosphere and environment.
Unless there are any complications it takes the tiny halfling about half a minute to fully open the door and step outside. The last few seconds before she can step outside she is visually vibrating with excitement. With a big smile she takes the step and announces "A small step for a halfling, an even tinier step for a human - but a giant leap for MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" and finishes it with a jump into the strange, exotic world that is Akiton the Red.
After hopping around awhile enjoying acrobatics Bazzle returns to his station to research what we should expect; red aliens, extra limbs and so on. Additionally if the crystals we need would be naturally occurring or if we need to find a seller.
Henrick will chuckle at the antics of the halfling. I wonder if I was ever that exuberant?
Then he will spend some time reconnoitering the area around the ship and will shoot a few arrows at a makeshift target to gauge how the changed environment affects his aim, so he can compensate.
After completing a few laps around the ship and the intermediate surroundings Leila sits down on a nearby rock. From her vantage point she can see Henrick practising his archery. The arrows does seem to fly further here. Probably because the pull of the earth is weaker here. Hmm - I wonder - is the air thinner as well? She takes a deep breath to try and determine this latest point of interest. After a few minutes of breathing heavily she stops - the feeling of dizziness is overpowering. Grimacing she realizes that that probably stems from her hyperventilating - and not the inherent properties of the air on Akiton.
Looking back towards the ship she which still lay obvious like a sore thumb sticking out of the ground. Perhaps Amalgus had some magic trick up his sleeve to hide it. Perhaps ... perhaps there is another way! She jumped down from the rock, smiled and announced "I'm going for a climb! If you hear an 'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' it means I fell down a chimney or something - would be awesome if you got up there and retrieved me then!"
Leila walked up to the base of the ship. She still had problems comprehending its impressive size. This thing is freaking huge! She had to tilt her head all the way back to to see all the way to the top. Still, she was not easily deterred and with care she could ascend - relying in her agility, the low gravity of this world aswell as her magic to save her if she fell. She spent the next few hours climbing around on the ships exterior exploring and satisfying her curiosity.
After all this time up there she had a fairly good idea of what it would take to hide this ship. Powerful magic. Or lots and lots of debris. Ordinary that would be a monumental task - but here ? She could lift a rock of her weight without breaking a sweat ! And she was the smallest among them. She looked down and called out to her companions. "I have an idea! But I will need some help ..."
Amalgus follows, a large piece of himself detaching from his chest and scuttling quickly away like a strange metallic spider.
The ship has landed on a plateau about half a days' march from the tower city. The dirt is reddish orange and plant life is sparse. However several dog-sized rabbits with horn like antlers can be seen running from warren to warren.
The ship is virtually impossible to hide however a few hours time allows for it to become coated in the same red-orange dust as the rest of the landscape. Oddly there appears to be no response from the looming city.
After the long hours of climbing and smearing dirt is over, Leila finally relaxes a little and climbs down to survey her handywork. Not the best I ever done, but ... Better then before! she thinks to herself as she attempts to brush the dirt away from her hands, her face and her dress. Grimacing she gives up - the dirt is remarkably persistent - the low gravity caused a cloud of smoke to rise at every stroke. Instead she uttered a quick cantrip and the dirt (slowly) fell away into a neat pile next to her.
"Soooo - a nights sleep - and wait for mini Amalgus to return? And then a trip to the city!"
"Yes, that seems like a perfectly reasonable plan. '
"Yey - let's see if I can't find us some dinner then! What do you think the local cuisine tastes like?"
For once the little halfling had a slightly bloodthirsty hint about her. She had observed several strange rabbit - like creatures jumping around in the vicinity while she worked on the ship. Rabbit is usually nice! But this world seems to be a bit short of useful herbs ... Oh well! Hmm - I just wonder how they skitter about underground without getting those silly horns of theirs stuck everywhere...
"I'll lure one of those silly critters over here and then you can kill it! Just wait for my signal - it wouldn't be great if you scared them away."
She waits with a serious expression on her face until her companions have shown that they understood. As soon as they do, she is all smiles and laughs again and sets off to find one of the strange creatures once more. Once she finds it she stealthily creeps closer until she is in range with her charms and then gets to work.
In a supernaturally pleasant voice she calls to the rabbitdeer, dulling its senses as she continues to approach. "There - there is nothing to worry about ... All is sweet - all is good ... what is your name? I'm Leila - whom are you? The words themselves are meaningless - but if the rabbitdeer so much as notice them and looks at her there is a good chance he will be trapped by her eyes. His/her/its field of vision seems to blur until all that it can perceive is just faint shadows and Leilas eyes - deep dark wells inviting it in. In to a sleep - a sweet blessed sleep that will last until the end of time. Her voice is but a faint whisper now, but it envelopes the rabbitdeer - somehow blotting out all the other sounds of the world, despite it's pleasant softness "But your eyelids - so heavy! A little rest is newer wrong ... just let go - I'll take care of you ..."
If the poor rabbitdeer falls for her enchantments she will laugh and signal for someone to come over and finish it. Else she will sigh disappointedly and go look for a more impressionable rabbitdeer.
assuming Leila catches and brings one back
"You know, I could have just shot one. They are easy enough targets. Anyway, be careful with the hide. I've never seen the like and wouldn't mind keeping an example. "
assuming Leila catches and brings one back and Henrick comments on it
"But what's the fun in that ?" She pokes the sleeping animal "It's not dead yet - I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to stick my sword deep enough in one go to finish it. Would be awkward if it just took off into the distance spraying blood everywhere" She laughs at the comical, but slightly morbid, imaginary scene "So you can do the honour! And you get to keep the hide as intact as you want!" Looking around she spots a spot to her liking not far from the ship. "I'll go start a small campfire! Or do we think that would attract undue attention? The denizens of the city have had plenty of time to come down here anyways if they wanted ..."
He takes the proffered wabbit (wascally), "Right, I'll take care of this. I have the imagine the ship has a galley where we can cook. I doubt we'll need a fire out here. "
She looks up at Henrick with large puppy eyes. "Awww - but it would be so cosy!" She cracks up and smiles "But I suppose you are right. Makes no sense to signal our presence now that we 'hid' the ship."
Now out of an apparent task (she knew perfectly well where the cooking areas of the ship where located!) she instead decided to stay around and watch Henrick work from over his shoulder (or below it, as the case where). "Besides - what are you going to use the hide for? Are you going to make something?! A hat ?! Or just a nice pelt to have on the bridge ?!!"
"I'm a taxidermist by trade. This is a novel creature from my experience, so once I skin it, I'll keep the skin and preserve it to be stuffed and mounted. "
"Huh" Leila sits down on a nearby rock to continue her observation. "Do you think people back home will believe it is really real? I mean - it looks ..." She spends a moment looking around for a fitting word "stupid." She laughs "But I bet we get to see a lot of exotic animals now!"
A random thought hits her and she looks to the sky "Do you think we can see Golarion from here? At night I mean ! I remember being able to spot Akiton on the night sky back home ... It would be weird to watch Golarion race across the heavens instead ..."
"I expect if we knew where to look we could see it. As you say we could see Akiton from there, so it stands to reason. "
"Hmm. Akiton is red. What colour would Golarion be ? Green from the forests? Those seems to be lacking here. Or blue from the oceans? Didn't see any of those here either..." Leila trails off, obviously thinking about where to look - and what to look for.
Amalgus and his scout return. They saw a compound of vast, squared-off stone towers and cubes entirely without windows. The doors to all structures appear sealed although the scout did spot at least two creatures entering a structure, The scout's holographic projection produces a fuzzy view
Throughout the days efforts the group is able to notice that they shorten of breath easily but their strength on this new world is incredible projectiles fired from bows fly three times as far as they would on Golarion and leaping to incredible height is startlingly and stomach churning yet landing feels no rougher than if one had jumped with similar effort on Golarion.
Henrick will break the neck of the critter then butcher it carefully to make sure the hide stays as intact as possible. Then he will hand the meat over the Leila to cook "I'd recommend a stew. Better to cover any odd taste of it being from another world and all that. "
"Cover up? If I get to cook space-rabbit - it is going to taste like space rabbit!"
She appears quite certain on that point. Probably because she never had space rabbit before. Without further ado (well - perhaps asking Bazzle about his findings and trying to determine if rabbit-deer is poisonous or not) she starts to produce dinner for the crew. Before long, the somewhat exotic smell of Space-Rabbit-Deer-Steak is emanating from the ships messhall.
"Right. Ok then. " Didn't I leave some hardtack in my cabin with my backpack? Yeah I think so. Always good to have a backup plan. "
Leila serves up the steak on a central platter on the biggest table then sets the utensils and plates before calling everyone to dinner. She is sitting on her knees ontop of the table next to the steak when the others arrive. Probably so she actually can reach and serve the steak in question. In her hand there is a large knife and she is wearing an old piece of table cloth as an apron.
Smiling she greets everyone. "Now - I thought we could try something new today! This is the local meat." She points the knife at the large steak next to her (they are about comparable in size! She was only able to cook it without help thanks to the low gravity). "Lets hope it is tasty so we can take stock." She starts to cut it up when a random thought hits her "Oh - and I'm still not sure if this is healthy or not. Unless Bazzle or Amalgus knows anything ... " She finishes cutting and holds up the slice with a fork she produced from somewhere "Now! Who wants the first piece?"
"The city is primarily a compound of interconnected square stone towers. There are no windows, and all portals leading into the structures are sealed."
"Two creatures were seen making entrance."
A small light-construct emerges from the small robot's central eye showing the appearance of the creatures.
As the others eat, Amalgus keeps watch nearby. His scout remains with the group to answer questions.
Slightly disappointed that no-one took up her offer Leila served the first slice to herself. Pouting she condemned the others "Suit yourself!" She cut up a bite sized piece and held it up for all to see. Dramatically, she then put the piece in her mouth and started chewing. A thoughtful expression came across the halfling as she satisfied her curiosity.
"Hey! This ain't half bad!" she said with a smile "It tastes like *cough*"
She barely manages to start the sentence before a pained comes over her and she starts coughing. She collapses unto the table (yet somehow manages to not land on anything sharp or messy) and twitches a few times before finally becoming perfectly still ...
However after mere seconds she sits right up again. "Just messing with ya!" she laughs "This stuff is actually delicious" she adds and quickly readies another bite and stuffs it into her mouth. She meets any annoyed or less amused stares with a big grin "What ? I checked with Bazzle first. He said they were a-ok to eat!" She adds in a slightly more serious tone "Now - if I do that from eating something I didn't cook - please be a bit quicker on the ball." She points her fork at someone at random. "I'm looking at you mister! Food poisoning ain't nothing to joke about!"
"Now that this is taken care of, maybe we should focus on the important stuff? Judging by these pictures - these natives are pretty smart." She pokes the holographic oversized brain of one of the natives. "Do you think they know where we could find replacements? From what I heard - our archives are pretty much silent on that point. Do you think simply asking them will do?"
Henrick is rather reticent and waits for someone else to be the Guinea pig. Startled at Leila's initial reaction, he calms down after seeing that it was just a joke.
He will eventually try the meat "Hmm, tastes like Jackalope."
"Well I don't expect it will hurt to ask. They might be friendly, if not we'll have to fight our way clear. "
"Never hurts to ask. Unless they try to kill us! That might hurt ... " She leans closer to study the projected picture. "I bet my best hat that they rely on magic or something else if they were to try and attack us. I have a hard time imagining one of them hitting us with a sword. And I have a great imagination!"
"Anyone have any spells that shield our minds ? I'm willing to bet they are at least a bit telepathic, I can't see any mouth or other obvious means of normal communication..."
The night is cold and windy but otherwise similar to Golarion. Sunsets and Sunrises on Akiton are brilliant events similar to flame although though the Sun is visibly smaller.
Leila went to bed early. Being on a new world was exerting - especially if you spend half the day rubbing dirt unto a spaceship. Besides, she had volunteered herself for the last watch before dawn. Although she didn't mind sleeping in, getting up early usually wasn't a problem either. And she might catch the sunrise! Yawning she laid down on the large (for her) oversized bed. She liked sleeping in things designed for the larger species. Once you got into them she always felt like a queen in her own private castle!
-----------------------------------------
Said and done - Leila was up a few hours before sunrise. She made a few cups of hot tea and poured it in her water bottle - might come in handy if the watch turned out to be a bore. But hopefully the sights of a foreign world waking up would be entertainment enough! She also took her winter coat with her and set out to keep watch. As she suspected (from the shivering looks of the previous watch) the night was cold and the coat came in handy.
She once more climbed on top of the ship to a good spot she had scouted the previous day. It offered both some shelter against the wind and good lines of sight around the ship. More importantly, it also gave vision of the weird city of the brain people and where, she thought, the sun would rise. She had to get up once in a while to check out the other half of the ship aswell but she didn't mind the walk. It was pretty dark outside the ship still, and she had to use her Dancing Lights cantrip to provide lighting on ground level so she could atleast have a chance to spot anything. She made sure to keep them low - to avoid any undue attention.
There was a primeval beauty over the scene. The stars in the sky was clearer then at home (she suspected the thinner atmosphere had something to do with it) and the sparse vegetation accompanied with the reddish hue on the ground gave everything that truly exotic feeling. Besides - she had also manage to spot a small object in the heavens she never seen on the sky before. It was green and blue and just a tiny speckle. And on that tiny speckle I've spent my entire life. Everyone I know had spent their entire lives there... She pulled the coat tighter around herself, but it wasn't the cold giving her shivers this time. Looking down towards the ship she corrected herself Except Amalgus that is... I wonder what he have seen?
As the sunrise grew closer she didn't have to rely on her magic to provide decent lighting anymore. She was in luck - the spot she chosen did indeed afford her a spectacular view of the sunrise. Now that the sun was so close to the horizon she noticed that it was actually smaller then at home. Funny she thought. But I guess it makes sense... we are further away. She stretched her limbs and took another mouthful of (now lukewarm) tea and went for another walk around the ship. She smiled. Soon the others would wake and they would get to visit the strange brain people!
Dawn rises and a rat faced humanoid clothed in heavy robes and shawls stands next to a small cart which has a delicate looking insect hitched to it. The cart is a stones throw from the ship.
Fascinating! But that one doesn't look like one of the brain people ... Maybe one of the other natives ? She could only see one, and he certainly didn't look that dangerous. More like a travelling merchant or something ... Urged on by her curiosity she stealthily made her way down and crept closer. There was no need to sound the alarm just yet - it didn't look like he had realized that the ship was just next to him yet. No doubt he would do that soon enough - but by then her crewmates would probably have awoken and noticed the visitor too.
For now, she is content to observe the Ratperson from a distance but unless he does something scary/interesting/spectacular in the next five minutes or so Leila can't help herself but approach him. She used her magic to gain a brief ability to communicate without hindrance then adopted her most innocent of looks and sneaked as close as he could before revealing herself.
"Hello!"
Henrick will watch the proceedings from the hatch, trying to keep out of sight, but able to intervene if something should go awry.
However he's not doing very well at it.