Into the Void

Game Master Peet

Could I use the Medicine roll to disguise the cadaver?

As long as it was already similar to Ceren, sure. The body of a 27-year old male Vesk, probably not.

Rising Dawn wrote:

Could I use the Medicine roll to disguise the cadaver?

As long as it was already similar to Ceren, sure. The body of a 27-year old male Vesk, probably not.

Tough, but fair.

"After you do all the icky stuff disguising a body I'll make sure to clean things up so its spic and span afterwards!"

Wint proudly proclaims, firmly convinced that cleaning up afterwards is both an important part of the plan and one where everybody will be very happy that he is helping out.

Iolas speaks up, "So, ah, let me get this straight. We're creating a new identity for Ceren, which we've already done. We now need to fake her death, which we're probably going to stage in a remote location. There may be video evidence that she she was recently alive, so we're going to alter video footage to make that less obvious. Anything more that we're planning on doing that I can help with?"

..."Anything more that we're planning on doing that I can help with?"

"Seconded. If we need any special gear or spells t' make this plan happen, I can go make a shoppin' run, as well." The dwarf jingles a small bag with half a dozen credsticks inside. It makes an underwhelming sound.

"So if we are going to go to the trouble of getting a body to stand in for Ceren, then we don't need to create the story that she was nabbed for organ harvesting. The point of that story was to eliminate the need to deal with the questions of her remains. If only having her disappear does not create the necessary evidence that she is dead, there may be other ways to give them evidence of her death."

Stell thinks a moment. She looks up and smiles tentatively. "What about this? We plant evidence that she died but before the body could be picked up, some organ harvesters picked her body up. We then lay low and meet back up with Ceren. She gives us the data and we pick up a cybernetic computer unit like she has in her head. We make a copy of the data and then send a message to Blue Tower that in harvesting her brain, we found data and determined it belongs to them. They can buy the data back. Then we meet them, pretending to be reps of the harvesters. We describe the woman we got it from and they can confirm her identity and that should convince them she is dead."

"We might be able to accomplish all this over the 'net, so we don't have to risk a face-to-face. The only hitch is that Ceren would have to give us the data before the con about her death is complete."

"The only hitch is that Ceren would have to give us the data before the con about her death is complete."

"I think that's very clever, Stell! Now, I'd like t' give Ceren an assurance that we ain't gonna run off w' the data an' leave her high an' dry. Perhaps she can put a remote-locked encryption on it - we hand the data over t' Bluerise, an' once they pay us, we 'ave Ceren decrypt it over th' net.

"Obviously, this would be part o' the deal w' Bluerise from th' start. The beauty o' this plan is, even if the deal goes belly-up, as long as they think we are who we say we are, we win."

"...We're creating a new identity for Ceren, which we've already done. ..."

It's worth mentioning that coming up with a fake hovercar licence and passport is not the same thing as creating a new "identity." It is arguably the bare minimum of work in that regard.

So here's the plan as I understand it:

STEP 1: "...We plant evidence that she died but before the body could be picked up, some organ harvesters picked her body up."

This definitely needs elaboration here. If the body is going to be missing, then the "evidence" will need to fool professional investigators, at least for a while.

STEP 2: "We then lay low and meet back up with Ceren. She gives us the data and we pick up a cybernetic computer unit like she has in her head."

Ceren is expecting to meet you after the job is done. If you show up at Jatembe park having not finished yet then she is not likely to be happy. You do have an emergency contact number.

STEP 3: "We make a copy of the data and then send a message to Blue Tower that in harvesting her brain, we found data and determined it belongs to them. They can buy the data back."

Is the purpose here to shake down the corporation in question for a bigger reward? You will need to contact Historia-7 to find out which corporation was hacked. You don't know, but there are many companies with HQs in Bluerise Tower.

STEP 4: "Then we meet them, pretending to be reps of the harvesters. We describe the woman we got it from and they can confirm her identity and that should convince them she is dead."

Meeting the enemy directly and putting yourselves on their radar sounds pretty dangerous. Also: the corporation likely still has the data - when you download a file it doesn't disappear from the host. They will want to capture Ceren and find out who she works for, who she sold the data to, etc., but the file is likely only of interest to them as "proof."

So far I also don't see too many skill checks here, except for a bunch of bluff checks, which admittedly Stell is good at.

So this experience has taught me that I'm terrible at basic deception. Luckily, Thuldas is also terrible at deception, so at least I don't have to play out of my comfort zone. Still, I'd prefer this poor woman not die due to our incompetence.

It's worth mentioning that coming up with a fake hovercar licence and passport is not the same thing as creating a new "identity." It is arguably the bare minimum of work in that regard.

What else would Ceren need as part of a new identity? She's retired and she's already found herself an "off-the-grid" place where she can lay low. I assumed that was a permanent place of residence, but if it's not, Thuldas probably has the best off-world connections. We could buy tickets for the both of them to resettle in Maro on Akiton - Thuldas could send a letter with them so they could get temporary lodging with his parents and Jubair could get a job in the shop, if he were reasonably competent and wanted such a thing.

As for faking her death...

"I'm concerned that our plan is a bit too complicated - I don't know if we're terribly suited for brushin' up against the likes o' Bluerise corporate security..." Thuldas ponders for a moment.

"Let's try an' keep it simple - Ceren is an ol' woman, an' she passes away from natural causes. She's taken to a cheap mortuary in th' Spike, an' quickly cremated, or mulched, or whatever it is ya do t' the dead on this floatin' tin can. When th' corporate goons come for 'er body, it's mostly gone, but they "find" 'er implant, which has a corrupted version of the data she stole - just enough to positively identify it.

"We might need to pay off someone at the mortuary, but the rest is doable with Ceren's help, I think..."

...and she's already found herself an "off-the-grid" place where she can lay low. I assumed that was a permanent place of residence...

It is effectively a safe house, a place that she can't be traced to for a few hours. You don't know the details, but she is not planning on living there. You suspect that it is a motel where you can pay cash and don't have to show ID to rent a room.

It seems you guys are fumbling around in the dark here. I'm guessing you guys aren't into spy stories, so let's give Thuldas a chance to come up with some hints...

Thuldas culture: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Okay then!

Thuldas recalls some useful ideas from the Dash Danner: Secret Agent Extraordinaire movies.

Identity Hints
An "identity" has to hold up under scrutiny in a number of ways.

#1: Who are you? You need a consistent story and possibly a new "look" for who Ceren now is. In spy stories this is called "creating a legend." Where were you born, where did you go to school, etc. Bluff, Culture, and Disguise could all be used here.

#2: Where do you work? Ceren could be retired but having a job somewhere (even if it is part-time or volunteer) means that you have an employer who when contacted vouches for the fact that you work there. A profession check would allow you to pull strings to set this up, though if you arranged for Ceren to have a job as a prostitute or a sewage worker she would probably pass.

#3: Do you have any references? Having a network of contacts who will say things like "Sure, I know Mabel, we go to the spa together" means that background checks have a better chance of passing. Diplomacy would probably be the skill here, unless you can come up with a reason to use something else.

#4: Where do you live? Ceren's Identification will have a place of residence listed. Obviously you don't want to use this apartment. Obtaining an actual address where she could live would be a plus, though the real trick would be getting the landlord to say that Mabel has lived there for several months and didn't just move in today. Computers or Culture could be used to find a place and then Diplomacy, Intimidate, or possibly outright bribery would work to falsify her records. If you don't actually obtain one the I would assume that the address you use is either fictional or a real place where Ceren doesn't live, and if checked this would be discovered.

Assuming Thuldas tells us what he's deduced...

"I will see what I can do to establish some contacts for Ceren. I know several people among the lower levels of the station."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Or not. :P

I assumed we could work out the details of the alternate identity more easily than the task of faking Ceren's death. There are many options for a false identity but relatively few ways to establish that someone has died.

Assuming the bureaucracy around death records has not changed dramatically in this alternate future, deaths certificates have to be completed in one of 2 or 3 ways: 1) if someone dies while under medical care, a doctor would file the report, describing the cause of death, assuming the decedent's identity was known; 2) if someone's body is found already dead, the task would presumably fall to a coroner or medical examiner, again assuming the identity could be established by genetics, medical records, fingerprints, or via someone identifying the body. Perhaps, however, in the rough and tumble parts of the station, there are other ways, such as mortuaries who could serve official notice of someone being brought to them for cremation/burial without verification by more official channels.

So if this is correct, we have several avenues to create a death certificate for Ceren that would satisfy any investigator looking for her that she really died. 1) We could hack into the appropriate computer record and plant a false one (could be tricky, since it not only requires a difficult hack it could have loose ends if the investigators talk to the officials whose names are associated with the record). 2) We could do as Thuldas suggests and see if we can locate a cut-rate mortuary run by bribable people and convince one of them to file the paperwork with the authorities. They would be a potential weak link, since if investigators put pressure on the owner, he/she/they might give the con away. 3) Get hold of a similar looking cadaver, disguise it to look like Ceren or make it difficult to identify while leaving it with identification linking it to Ceren. There are a lot of ways this could fail, depending on the process used to confirm the identity such as DNA or medical records.

All of these have significant challenges. If I'm missing something, could we get a roll to get a hint?

If not, I think option #2 above might be the best route. It could be accomplished with some kind of knowledge check to locate the appropriate mortuary and a diplomacy/intimidate check, supplemented with a bribe to accomplish.

"Oh, I know lots of people. I'll get them to say that they know Ceren"

diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21.

Assuming the bureaucracy around death records has not changed dramatically in this alternate future,...

Your assumptions are basically correct, so I don't think you need any hints here. But yes, Ceren does need to be legally dead, which means a death certificate.

The one hint I will give you is that the the success/failure conditions here are based on the number of things you did successfully. You can only get Ceren declared dead once, so the rest of the things will involve the identity.

"Oh, I know lots of people. I'll get them to say that they know Ceren"

While the little skittermander cleans the apartment and then makes it messy again, he gets on his comm and begins calling around. Though Dawn's contacts are uncomfortable with the idea of lying about knowing someone, Wint is able to find a number of contacts who are willing to help out.

Success! This plus the ID makes two successes.

"Upon further consideration, perhaps the best way to establish that Ceren's death would be to find a crooked mortician."

This is something I would think might be either a Culture check or a Computer check or both. Stell's not as good at computers as some in our group, but she and Thuldas are the only two with both culture and computers.

"Jubair, does Ceren have a computer that's better than this little comm unit? We need to do some searches and maybe some hacking. May as well take advantage of the equipment Ceren has, unless it's all in her head."

If Jubiar has a computer that gives a bonus on computer checks, Stell will use that. If not, she'll use her comm unit.

Stell pulls out her comm unit and begins to do a search on the web for mortuaries by location. Then she'll try to narrow the list down a those that seem to serve the lowest level of clientele in an area relatively near Ceren's apartment but also near an area where poor people live and might take their deceased comrades or relatives.

"Thuldas, you're better at computers than I am. I may know a bit more about what we're looking for. How about we team up for this?"

I'm thinking if Thuldas can make the main computers check, Stell will aid. Stell can do the main culture check with Thuldas providing aid.

Culture: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Computers, aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Assuming we find a likely conspirator, we can work out the rolls needed to get the mortician to cooperate and post the necessary paperwork to esblablish Ceren is legally dead after dying of natural causes and being cremated by Jubair. But we've got lots of good diplomacy options.

So we've created an alternative ID and we have some people who will say they know the "legend" created. Does that take care of #1 ("Who are you?" above)? In case not, Stell can try to use disguse to find some things that can be changed about Ceren's look. If it will help, she can chip in to get a serum of appearance change that Ceren can take to improve the match.

Disguise, default: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

So Serum of Appearance Change might be in order. Even with an aid, that's not going to be much help. Assuming we can locate the serum, Stell will cover the cost from her credits.

"I might know some people in the entertainment biz who could find Ceren a part-time job using her computer skills. Let me call around."

Profession (Musician): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Her theme allows a reduction in the DC for knowledge checks relating to the profession, so apply that if possible.

Since the search for a real place of residence would involve the same two checks as used for finding the mortician, I'd suggest we use the same team of Stell/Thuldas to locate something that we could locate and then attempt the diplomacy checks with the owner/landlord/super.

Culture to find living quarters: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Computers, aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

"Thuldas, you're better at computers than I am. I may know a bit more about what we're looking for. How about we team up for this?"

I'm thinking if Thuldas can make the main computers check, Stell will aid. Stell can do the main culture check with Thuldas providing aid.

"You're native to th' station, Stell. If you can tell me what factors t' look for, I'll cross-reference news reports, obituaries, an' other relevant bits o' th' Infosphere to generate a list o' possible... 'partner' morticians."

Computers check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Since the search for a real place of residence would involve the same two checks as used for finding the mortician, I'd suggest we use the same team of Stell/Thuldas to locate something that we could locate and then attempt the diplomacy checks with the owner/landlord/super.

Computers check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

"Now here's a tucked-away place on Level 31. Month-t'-month, accepts 'flexible payment plans'. Only drawback is, it looks a bit dingy. If only we knew o' someone with some good cleanin' skills..."

If Jubiar has a computer that gives a bonus on computer checks, Stell will use that. If not, she'll use her comm unit.

I had to look this one up, but I couldn't find anything that suggests that using one particular computer system would give you a bonus on computer checks. The only thing that I was able to find that does is a Mk. 2 or 3 datajack.

Stell pulls out her comm unit and begins to do a search on the web for mortuaries by location.

...

Culture: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Computers, aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Though the bureaucracy of Absalom station is something of a tangled nightmare, there are a number of local coroners that handle processing of the deceased in the station, and many are run by Eoxians. She is able to pin down several that have shady reputations.

So we've created an alternative ID and we have some people who will say they know the "legend" created. Does that take care of #1 ("Who are you?" above)?

Nope, the ID is effectively #5, which I didn't put on the list since it was complete. So that means you have done #3 and #5 at this point. #1 could involve crafting a new "look" for Ceren but it could also involve creating a convincing false story of her life, so when someone asks here "where did you go to college?" she doesn't have to invent a lie on the fly. Bluff is one of the skills that could be used for that.

"I might know some people in the entertainment biz who could find Ceren a part-time job using her computer skills. Let me call around."

Profession (Musician): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Success!

Stell is able to find Ceren a job working on infosphere promotions for local music acts on behalf of a local agency. They pay won't be great, but it's something she could definitely do.

Since the search for a real place of residence would involve the same two checks as used for finding the mortician, I'd suggest we use the same team of Stell/Thuldas to locate something that we could locate and then attempt the diplomacy checks with the owner/landlord/super.

Culture to find living quarters: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Computers, aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

For the record, only one of these checks is necessary.

Stell also recalls a number of apartment complexes where a number of musicians tend to stay. These places typically accept cash since performers often end up being paid in cash for their gigs. All that remains it to go speak to them.

Once the apartment location and the part time job is arranged, Stell begins working on some kind of background story, looking up some information as needed to make sure none of the story was particularly easy to fact-check. "Parents died in the the Great Swarm Attack of 291, Art history major from Daimyo Express Degrees on line, which went out of business in 302, traveled aboard the Pact World Cruise Liner Dracomancer from 303-316, returned and worked for one of Wint's contacts until moving to her new place to get away from some street gangs in Pipetown. That should be enough to keep a conversation going on her background."

Bluff, Skill expertise: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 7 + (1) = 17

"Let's clear out and talk to that mortician," Stell says, saving her notes on Ceren's new backstory and send it to her in an encrypted e-mail.

"Let's clear out and talk to that mortician."

Thuldas nods and stretches his arms after a long bout of manipulating his computer. "Aye, but per'aps we should be, ah, discreet about this. We are, t' put it mildly, a group o' folks easy t' remember. Maybe Stell an' Dawn should run point on this one an' the rest o' us keep our distance."

My thought is that a human and/or an android are hardly memorable in Absalom Station, but a nuar and a skittermander and a dwarf with an Akitonian accent may be more remarked upon if anyone comes around asking.

"Per'aps the three o' us clods could go find a decoy datajack? I know they're fairly expensive if y' buy 'em new, but we don't want t' buy a new one, do we? I know that business in used cybernetics ain't exactly legal, but I heard that you can buy just about anythin' in Absalom. What d' you think, Iolas?"

If we plant a damaged datajack at the mortuary with heavily corrupted data that's just identifiable enough, that may be enough "evidence" to convince any investigators that this really is Ceren's final resting place even if there's no longer an identifiable body. Locating one will be a challenge (unless we want to pay 650 credits for a shiny new one), and may require Iolas's local knowledge of the Spike or a certain skittermander with sticky fingers to stealthily source one from a mortuary or recycling center.

Actually spoofing a "corrupted yet identifiable" copy of the stolen data would probably require another, more difficult forgery check, which would be mitigated if Ceren were willing to send us enough identifying metadata to make a convincing corrupted copy.

”Well, augments aren’t my forté, but I think there should be oughta be enough junk in Botscrap to get us where we need ten times over. I might know a guy that does scrap there, but it’s been a long time since I talked to him. I’m confident that if I had some parts and schematics I could make a passible copy.”

Bluff, Skill expertise: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 7 + (1) = 17

Success! You have succeeded at four different tasks.

Stell feels pretty confident that she has put together a convincing file for Ceren to use as her new identity.

My thought is that a human and/or an android are hardly memorable in Absalom Station, but a nuar and a skittermander and a dwarf with an Akitonian accent may be more remarked upon if anyone comes around asking.

Skittermanders are very unusual, but Nuars are actually native to Absalom Station (they seem to have fled there during the gap and don't exist in any large numbers elsewhere). There are dwarves on Absalom station and it's up to you to decide how much you stand out.

If we plant a damaged datajack...

It's also worth noting that the corporation is unlikely to know whether 'the hacker' has a datajack or just used a computer of some kind. So unless you suspect that they already know who she is, the datajack may not be necessary.

"Well yes, I'm unusual. But there are LOTS of unusual people here, especially down at the docks. Still, you're probably right and I'll make myself inconspicuous"

He quickly vanishes into a storefront and returns wearing a fedora and a trenchcoat, both looking like they were designed for a different race, albeit a small one. Given that he has 6 arms and the coat only fits two the coat isn't fastened and flashes of his fur are seen every time Wint moves.

"There, now I blend in. I saw a VID the other day and somebody dressed like this could make it anywhere!"

... and returns wearing a fedora and a trenchcoat...

Somewhere in the distance a lonely saxophone plays...

I'm going to move ahead to the Mortuary unless there are any objections...

I'm fine with moving ahead.

Ditto, let's get a move on.

I really wish I'd thought of that saxophone :-). I'd totally be blasting it at full volume if I had :-) :-)

Moving on works for me

No objections here.

It sounds like we cannot accomplish anything more in the apartment.

"Well," Stell says as the group checks one last time for anything telltale items in the apartment, "I'll be happy to do the talking. I'm pretty normal looking, I guess, although I have a serum of appearance change if we want to leave fewer records that connect to us and hence the Starfinders. If the mortician is a fan of synthviolin music, he or she or they might recognize me, I suppose."

Disguise: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

After trying a few different ways to hide her red hair, Stell gives up on the disguise attempt. "I'd need to go shopping or get a disguise kit at this point, so let's skip the disguise and boogie."

Not far from the Downlow district and just below the Eye is the district of Conduit, known to its locals as "Pipetown." Within Pipetown is the central processing sector for Absalom Station's water, power, and sewage systems, and most of those who live in the district work within those facilities or in support of those who do.

The mortuary the party has identified lies just within this district. The group pulls up outside. The sign reads:

Peaceful Repose Morgue
A proud member of the Abadarcorp Ltd. family
Serving the Conduit District for over 80 standard years!

As you open the doors a small chime sounds. The front office is clean, but drab. Cheerful-looking potted plants are revealed to be plastic and are covered with a thin film of dust. Nobody seems to be here, but after looking around for a moment, you hear a voice come from what looks to be a small intercom on the desk.

"I'm in the back! You can come back here or wait in the lobby."

Pushing your way through a pair of double doors and a sterility force screen, you enter the rear area, which turns out to be 'workroom.' Four examination tables are present, but only one is occupied, by the corpse of a middle-aged man who appears to have a crushed pelvis. A thin human man in a lab coat is working on him and looks up as you enter. He is balding and his skin looks rather greyish.

"Dropping off or picking up?" he asks. "No? What can I do for you then?"

Culture: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

"Hmmm," Stell thinks, "I guess mortician is a natural choice for someone with a vampire in his bloodline."

"Good day, sir," Stell begins. "We are dropping off, sort of. We need your services, but not to process a deceased person, exactly. See, we have a friend whose mother has died, but unfortunately, the circumstances of the death did not allow him the comfort of being able to obtain the body for laying to rest, nor can he move on with his grieving process and arranging the processing of her will until she is declared dead. Now we were hoping we could persuade you to accept a payment commensurate with a cremation of a woman. We'd like you to do the paperwork that would usually be done to report her deceased and cremated, so that our friend can get on with his life. What would that be worth to you? We'll offer you extra for your trouble and to keep this between us."

Bluff, skill expertise: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (7) + 7 + (5) = 19

We've got 1300 credits total so far, minus whatever anyone may have spent. Let me know if I missed anything. I expect we will take the cost out of our group fund, which would be 1/5 of 1300 = 200.

We've got 1300 credits total so far, minus whatever anyone may have spent. Let me know if I missed anything. I expect we will take the cost out of our group fund, which would be 1/5 of 1300 = 200.

As self-appointed party treasurer, I can confirm that we've put 1,300 credits in our pockets since the beginning of our little adventure, and I'm fairly certain no one's tapped into that. By my math (which favors the group fund when rounding), our slush fund contains 230 credits.

Culture check: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Thuldas stands near the back of the group. Not because he's uncomfortable in this place with this person (which he is) but because it gives him a better sightline (or earline, if there are no windows through the double-doors) to the lobby.

Careful... A friend of mine just had to arrange for the cremation of her mother-in-law and it came to $7000.

The ashen-skinned man smiles. He puts down his tools and pulls out a white handkerchief with which he dabs at the corners of his mouth for a moment.

"I see. I suppose that can be arranged. Do you need actual ashes? We very rarely perform cremations here. There's far too much of a demand for cadavers, and most people around here have organ donor agreements."

Culture: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

"When someone's body is taken for organ harvesting, do you keep a record of that transaction? Seems like people might not want it known who ended up with their kidneys. What kind of expenses does such an arrangement incur for you? What kind of reward to people generally get for donating their bodies in this way."

Iolas stands next to Thuldas near the back and mutters, "Yeesh, so somber. Almost like someone died in here. Oh wait." He chuckles quietly at his own joke for a moment, before realizing the situation and biting his tongue.

culture: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

"I really don't understand people. Why would you burn perfectly good bodies? Doesn't everybody just eat their dead? I better not say anything, though. Judging from their reaction that one time, they get upset when mentioning eating the dead"

"When someone's body is taken for organ harvesting, do you keep a record of that transaction? Seems like people might not want it known who ended up with their kidneys. What kind of expenses does such an arrangement incur for you? What kind of reward to people generally get for donating their bodies in this way."

"Oh, sure," the pale man says. "It's all quite legit. But we don't have a record of who the... recipient would be. A service collects the body, and gives us a receipt. They use everything they can, so there's no need for the bereaved ones to worry about disposing of any remains. We still sometimes arrange for a monument of some kind, though we don't actually make those here."

"As to expenses, there's hardly any for us at all. If we're not required to do an autopsy, once we've verified the identity of the deceased the service just picks them up. Just some paperwork on our part. We would only embalm someone if they weren't donating their body, because the embalming process ruins the body for any medical purposes. If someone wants to have an open casket ceremony then that would cost significantly more, though how much would depend on the condition of the body. We can also arrange solar burials - that one is very popular for people who don't want to donate their remains."

He shrugs.

"As to rewards, someone your age with decades of life ahead of you would typically get a 100 credit honorarium for signing such a card. You need to have a fixed address somewhere though; if you were an asteroid miner or something they might never find you to collect your body. They don't get a body for every agreement, but they do like to keep the average up. If you were in good physical condition but also very close to death, the reward would be much higher."

"If you think someone wanted to have their body donated, but forgot to make such an agreement, if you are family or the executor of their estate you have the right to make such an agreement on their behalf."

He smiles again.

"Somehow, though I don't think you are really here to discuss donating your organs."

"Yeesh, so somber. Almost like someone died in here. Oh wait."

"T' be fair," the dwarf mutters back, "It someone died in here, then their 'loved' ones musta been quite impatient!" Thuldas stifles a chuckle.

Culture check: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

Tossing that last rank into Culture has been paying dividends.

"But we don't have a record of who the... recipient would be..."

Thuldas whispers to Iolas, "This bonesaw is tellin' little white lies all over th' place. He knows exactly who's gettin' 'em, an' it ain't li'l Suzy-Q with some pigtails. No, it's them Bone Sages that're buyin' up bits of people - they've been doin' it on Akiton for years; I imagine it's the same situation down 'ere. Who knows what they're doin' with 'em. Still, if he's so smooth with a lie like that, he's probably the man for our job, as long as th' pay is good enough."

"Well, our friend's mother never received the honorarium, did she?" Stell glances at Jubair for confirmation, giving the faintest of a left-right shake of her head to indicate it would be better if he answers 'no.'

Bluff: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 7 + (3) = 30 to pass a secret message to Jubair that he answer 'no.'

Assuming he confirms Stell's assertion:

"What say Jubair here signs the paperwork to allow the donation of the body for the benefit of others in need of organs, and you can keep the honorarium? We'll give you 25 credits for your trouble. Here is the deceased's personal information for your forms." Stell brings up the information Ceren gave us on the datastick and shows the mortician.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

"What say Jubair here signs the paperwork to allow the donation of the body for the benefit of others in need of organs, and you can keep the honorarium? We'll give you 25 credits for your trouble. Here is the deceased's personal information for your forms."

The coroner smiles again.

"There would hardly be an honorarium for a deceased relative if there's no body, now would there? The service that collects the donated cadavers is a little sticky on that point. I'd rather not get on their bad side. It's one thing to offer money to a young woman like yourself for the use of her body after she dies. But for someone who is already deceased, knowing the service won't get to cash in?"

He shakes his head, and wipes the corners of his mouth again with his handkerchief.

"You want me to write up a death certificate for someone without seeing the body, I can do that... for its own 'honorarium.'" He chuckles. "But if you're worried about the lack of a body, I could submit records that a Solar Burial was performed. Especially if the deceased was a follower of Sarenrae - they go for those. Unless someone wants to comb the inner system looking for the body before it falls into the sun, you're in the clear, and even if they do they'll never know if they just couldn't find it."

He shrugs.

"Give me 100 credits, and about 15 minutes, and it's done."

Dawn is still uncomfortable about this whole deception, especially when the mortician mentions faking a solar burial.

"I feel that 100 credits is an acceptable price," she says quietly to the others. She's ready to be done with this sordid affair.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Thuldas quickly pulls out a credstick with 100 credits and hands it to Stell. He is very much ready to leave this place.

Stell doesn't haggle further, thankful for a way to complete this slightly unseemly task. After glancing at the others to see if there are any objections, she sets a credstick on the counter and says, "That would be much appreciated. Thank you for understanding."

I assume we can all share the cost, so this would only cost each PC 20 credits.

Afterwards, Stell says to Dawn, "I suspect you are not pleased with the solar burial ruse, but consider this: you can keep in touch with Ceren and suggest she choose that for when she does pass on. So ultimately, this will not be so deceptive, just a little premature."

To everyone she says, "So are there any other tasks to complete before we wrap this up?"

The coroner checks the credstick and pockets it with a smile.

"Just give me a few moments, and I'll have that ready for you. You can wait here, or in the lobby. There's coffee out there."

He sits at a terminal at the far end of the room, and begins entering data into the computer, frequently consulting the files you have given him on Ceren.

After about fifteen minutes he returns with a data wafer.

"The death certificate has been filed with the station authorities, and there's a copy on this wafer."

"It's been a pleasure. If there's nothing else, I will bid you a good day."

If there's anything else you want to say to the coroner we can retcon it but it sounds like you're done, so we can move ahead.

FYI the "Solar Burial" is not strictly a Sarenrae thing, it is just more popular with Sarenrites than with others.

The way the adventure works is that you need to accumulate a net number of successes and you have done that. So if there's nothing else we can move on to the meeting at Jatembe park.