You all received a message requesting you to come to the Lorespire Complex urgently. Once there, you are sent to the Venture-Captain Arvin's office.
The tall and confident lashunta man gestures to several functional chairs, inviting you to sit. Thank you for arriving so quickly. As I mentioned in my comm message, we have an urgent opportunity to recover some critical information.
Several months ago, a crew of Starfinders took a ship called the Unbounded Wayfarer into the Vast to explore a series of uncharted planets. They never returned. Earlier today, a vesk pawnbroker in the Downlow neighborhood contacted us, offering to sell us several Starfinder insignias. These insignias belonged to the lost crew of the Unbounded Wayfarer,and that immediately caught the Society’s attention. The pawnbroker—named Julzakama—doesn’t realize the true value of the insignias. We negotiated a purchase price in exchange for the insignias and information about the seller. We hope this seller can lead us to the Unbounded Wayfarer and its crew.
We’ve remotely transferred the requested credits to Julzakama. Now, we need you to collect the insignias and all the information you can from the vesk regarding whoever sold him the insignias, and then track down that seller. Learn where to find the Unbounded Wayfarer and its crew. I’m worried that the seller might not be on the station for long, so act quickly. If you have any questions, please make them fast.
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A 5'6, 150" human male walks in, stands to the side of the door, and scans the room.
"Name is Alzandre Dufau. Xenoarchaeologist by trade. Pleased to meet everyone, some once again."
"Venture-Captain Avrin, will this Julzakama be expecting us, and do we know details as to his identity and personalit?"
Yes, he knows starfinders will be coming to get the insignias soon. He runs a pawnshop called Julzakama’s Loans and is an unusually arrogant vesk. I don’t know him, but I get the impression that I wouldn’t like him much if I did. Venture-Captain Avrin sends you directions to get to the Vesk's shop.
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A halfling breezes into the meeting room a fashionable five minutes early, a red scarf almost carelessly wrapped around her neck and some delightfully retro hoop earrings glinting from her ears. She gives the cane in her hands, before setting it on the ground a leaning on it with a bemused look on her face. After a second, though she gives a shake of her head, the sudden movement jarring compared to her actions of not moments ago.
With a much more serious and open face she looks about the room at everyone else who's arrived. "I'm Vyviane! Vyviane Isafira! Sorry about the airs, I sometimes forget to drop the 'proper Absalom socialite' persona. I have to admit, it is fun to play!" Looking towards Alzandre she gives him an appraising look, before piping up. "A Xenoarcheologist? You look like you know what you're talking about... Hmm, if you ever want some corporate backing, I'm sure the interests I represent might be interested. Here's my card just in case!" She hands over a card with her name in readable, but stylized cursive, contacts details listed as well. Looking up at the man she then asks, "So what was the most recent dig you've been on, Alzandre?"
As the venture-captain gestures to a chair, Vyviane gladly melts into one of them. "Oooh, these are comfy! ... So we need to visit the down low? Hmmm, I might have to give up playing the socialite if we're going someplace that dangerous... But an unsuaully arrogant vesk? Oh-ho, please tell me I can take him down a peg or two!"
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A human in a rumpled flight jacket enters the room, drinking what smells to be coffee. He nods to those gathered and proceeds to take a seat in one of the cushioned chairs. "Quentin Hawthorn, but you can call me Dex." He listens to the briefing before asking, "What else can you tell us about the crew? Do we have access to a manifest or personnel files? I'm guessin' you're also gonna give us a way to confirm the authenticity of the insignias."
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A Barathus in a vaguely military outfit floats into the room just before the briefing begins. It floats straight to Avrin, and bobs slightly. "Buscador at your service, Venture-Capitan." Turning to the rest of the agents assembled, "Greetings, Starfinders."
Buscador politely declines to take a chair, preferring to remain aloft. After the briefing it asks "Do we expect Julzakama to be less than cooperative with information? With your permission, I have some well proven techniques which may make him more forth coming."
The personal files and manifests are still on their ship. It was an exploration mission in uncharted space so there is not too much to tell.
The crew received the insignias long ago for exemplary service to the Society. Although this isn’t common knowledge outside the Starfinder Society, these insignias are no mere trinkets; they can be used to encrypt or decrypt information that the Starfinders wanted to keep hidden. You should be able to verify the insignia by looking for the data port area.
We payed Julzakama for the inginias but not the information. I am sure he won't be the most forthcoming, I am sure he will be able to be paid off or won over. You might even be able to scare him but I would advise against anything physical. We have a reputation and we can't just go beating people to get what we want.
You recall (or learn from gathering information) that Julzakama is a domineering brute and that only the truly desperate deal with him. Further, he responds better to bluster than to honeyed words.
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Ak burst through the door nothing stealthy about his entrance. Sorry i am late couldn't be help Ak is about 3 feet tall moving like a squirrel on caffeine. Ak is covered in a robe just his rat face can be seen. He runs up to Buscador Ohhh look at you, I am AK Then darts over to Dufau I am AK Ak then runs over to Dex but stops in his tracks when he sees Vyviane. Gives her a once over How you doing? Ak's eye brown rise up a bit A small comes across his Face I, I am Ak my lady He gives her a wink. and runs over to Dex Hi i am Ak Ak looks over at Dufau and back to Dax oh god twins He looks to the chair next to Vyviane but Dufau is sitting there. With out hesitation he climbs up Dufau leg onto his lap. Then makes himself comfortable sitting on the arm of the chair so he is next to Vyviane. AK gives her a wink then lookes over to Venture-Captain Arvin I am AK, What did i miss ?
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AK obnoxiously Laughs at Dufau's joke HAHAHA, Melt a hole in his mind. AK waves his tiny hands in front of his face gesturing like his face is melting off. Dufau you kill me, HAHAHA, Melt, HAHAHA AK almost falls off the arm of the chair laughing so hard. He grabs Dufau shoulder to balance himself out again. you shall be called joker. Ak reaches out and gently pats Dufau on the cheek. Then looks over to Vyviane gives her another wink Sorry, Sorry where were we? AK tries to settle down, But couldn't resist making the melting face gesture one more time Melting haha
The directions to the shop say it should take less than an hour of walking to get there.
Although some areas of Downlow are clean and trendy, this narrow alley of concrete and metal buildings drips with oil and sparking wires. A wide, red neon electric sign reads “Julzakama’s Loans” on a building sandwiched between a Kuthite sensation house and a derelict building covered with graffiti. The shop’s solid metal door contains a single, small window too grimy to peer through.
The interior of Julzakama’s Loans is crammed with shelves containing all manner of near-valueless items, from small appliances to VR game consoles and jars of colored powders. The shop has the acrid smell of a reptile house that has not been cleaned in months. A massive vesk in a muscle shirt stands at the rear of the shop, behind a low desk and a series of heavy metal bars anchored into the ceiling.
The Vesk is carelessly disassembling an old computer when you arrive, but he looks up from his work when you enter his shop. Ohh some new customers, what catches your eye today? I am sure I can find something that meets your fancy!
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I believe you have some Starfinder insignias reserved for us.
Kitty, delighted with the chaotic, cluttered store, immediately begins to walk on shelves, narrowly avoiding knocking the items off.
Kitty, no! Bad kitty! Kitty is harmless, I assure you, Mr. Julzakama...Kitty, get...back...one moment, please...
Friye uses the distraction of a Bad Kitty to get a quick glance around the store.
Haha the best the illustrious Starfinders could send is a mere man-ling? He smiles and slides a box through the metal bars. Your friends paid well for these, so thank you for doing business! I will be sure to sell your friends dead gear back to you anytime it comes though my door! He laughs loudly.
The vesk scratches the scaly skin between his bony beardspikes
with a clawed had and says, Seems I’m now fully paid
for those trinkets there. I remember Arvin said something about
wanting information, too, and I can do that. But information
costs extra.
Friye does not see anything worthwhile in the store and it seems like he just got lucky with getting the insignias.
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Ak darts around the store looking for anything that sparks his interest. any components or things he could take apart and use parts for other things well shopping AK also pays attention to the places security any cameras doors leading to the back ways to get around the desk. .Once AK's recon mission is done Ak stands behind Friye Staring at kitty. AK is fixated on the drone. watching every move it makes. The entire mission went out the window once he fixated on the drone. A over whelming need to know how it works? who built it ? Did Friye build it? what AI dose it use? Dose it need Friye or could it live on its own? So many questions. Ak couldn't contain himself any more Friye did you build kitty? AK interrupts Friye. What AI dose it use?
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Oh, yes, thanks for asking!
Friye seems genuinely pleased to have someone ask her about Kitty.
Kitty is my "pet project". See what I did there? It's built on a pretty standard DroneCor T-4261 chassis, but I removed the treads and replaced them with Zitesh model 11 climbing legs, but I had to modify them to extend the ankle for better jump performance. You see this here? Wait, Kitty, come back...well, if you could see it you'd be impressed. I overclocked an X Corp Xenon mark 19 processor (the 3.17.4a release, not the buggy one they're selling now) and mated it to a completely incompatible Buffbertz L-911 sensor array. The ears function as both ambient audio focusing arrays and as heat sinks for the CPU! Add in a customized neural net array of my own design, and voila!...a kitty! Now if I could just get it to use the litterbox...
Friye loses all connection to the mission or her surroundings in her fervor to brag about Kitty.
But you! Is that an exocortex I see? It must be so interesting to extend your brain like that. Can you show me sometime?
There seems to be minimal security cameras here with plenty of blind spots but the entrance is covered as well as where he is behind the bars. For entrances to get behind the bars and counter, there appears to only be one door that looks pretty sturdy. There appears to be a door behind him as well but it is hard to say if it leads to a back office or to a back door.
The Vesk looks around the room, shocked at how aggressive his new clients are being. All right, all right; the seller was named Exegara, and she wasn’t from around here. Wore a flight suit, like she had come off a long trip. Once she had her money, she asked about where to purchase clean skeletons. I don’t carry goods like that, so I sent her to the Vat Garden. She was definitely an Eoxian. She looked like a man-ling, but didn’t breathe or blink or anything. She also wanted so advice on finding some hired help.
Alzandre recalls that the Vat Garden is a ysoki-operated garden in Downlow. You are also aware that the ysoki surreptitiously accept corpses to help grow their plants. This is not technically illegal, but the ysoki cultivate good relations with local law enforcement for protection.
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AK pulls his hood up tight around his face. I am just AK nothing to see here AK scurries around to stand on the far side of Vyviane. Well there others are talking to the Vesk AK tugs on Vyviane red scarf. I dont like this Friye. She is vary nosy. We should watch out for her.. Now with him feeling uncomfortable with the conversation with Friye AK started to pay more attention to what was going on. Buscador just melt his brain he wont tell us anything. as the Vesk give the info on the Eoxian.
Hey mouse-ling, I don't have any more info to share. No need to get violent in here!
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AK follows everyone out of the shop looks back at the vesk and points two fingers at his own eyes then points them back at the vesk in the ill be watching gesture. then slams the door behind him as he leaves. Then AK runs up to walk beside Dufau So joker we are headed to vat garden? We are going to let that smelly vesk profit on the deaths of our fellow starfinders? AK looks down at the ground shacking his head in disappointment.
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Vyviane gives a small start of surprise as Buscador enters the room. A barathu? We're going travelling with a barathu youngling? She stays in the comfy chair watching the two new comers, not commenting much more than her name answering any direct questions.
With the advent of Ak, Vyviane is at first surprised and slightly off put by the ysoki but she soon realizes the man is no threat and rather sweet. Hiding a small laugh, she gives the small man sitting on the arm of the chair a wink back, teasingly.
When the other woman with the cute-sounding drone comes and the group starts to move, Vyviane tries to stay in the plush chair for as long as possible, but finally gives a sigh, pops up and stretches cracking a few joints here and there. AS the group leaves the building, Vyviane readjusts her clothes and scarf to take on a slightly more disheveled appearance and tossles her hair some.
The end result is an only slightly different looking halfling. "There's not much to work with here, okay? I left the kit at home today and didn't think to pack a change. Hopefully I don't look too much like a socialite though..."
As the group starts moving about, Vyviane surreptitiously asks questions here and there about the junk owner.
Emboldened as the information her companions were saying lines up with what she gathers, Vyviane is more than glad to take a back seat to the conversation with the pawn shop man. Her companions could handle it and she could jump in at any time if needed.
Vyviane listens to the first three sentences of Friye's gush about Kitty before mentally checking out and instead starts checking out a disguise kit the 'lizardling' owns. Wow, not bad, it has all the basics, pigmentation changers, hair dyes and extensions in a good thirty colors and a great selection of facial hairs. But definitely not worth 50 credits... Her musings get cut short as Ak decides to use her shorter frame as cover from Friye.
Sputtering slightly, she looks back at the ysok and then at the other woman. "Uhhh, what exactly did she ask you? ....In as simple language as you can accomplish, please!"
Vyviane gives a smile as she sees that Ak has recovered from whatever spooked him earlier. He reminds me of my 10 year old cousin... catching what he is saying though she silently amends, ...with a bloodlust.
"Alright people shall we get going? The Vat Gardens shouldn't be too far!"
Alzandre is aware that the Vat Garden is only about 10 minutes from here and should not be a hard trip.
The station passageways open into an enormous sunken pool filled with a riotous growth of plants. A narrow walkway leading to other parts of Downlow encircles the overgrown vat, and a spire of some kind of machinery stands in its center. For such a busy section of Downlow, the area is surprisingly quiet. Two ladders and a steep staircase pierce the foliage and lead down into the vat.
The floor of the Vat Garden is 15 feet lower than the walkway surrounding it, and the foliage is so thick that creatures in the vat have total concealment (50% miss chance) from creatures up on the walkway. Within the vat, the orderly rows of plants provide concealment (20% miss chance) to opponents more than 10 feet away; enemies closer than this do not benefit from concealment.
The two ladders and steep staircase leading down into the vat are easy to navigate, but the PCs can also climb down the plants themselves with a successful DC 15 Athletics check.
Inside the vat, you see humans with guns drawn keeping a look out but it is hard to get a good look at them. There is a 4th humanoid in there digging in the dirt and has a small pile of bones. They are wearing a clock that covers their body and the plants make it hard to get a good look at it.
[ooc]Map will be updated in a moment with the combat map. It will be the first slide of the slide show.
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Ya, Ya good job in there team i mean Buscador way to be all tentacly AK ways his arms around mimicking Buscador tentacles. Joker was awesome as the big bad human. He pulled that off pretty well. And Vyviane The way she light up the room. She didnt even have to do anything else her mere percents had that poor vesk weak in the knees. AK nearly falls over trying to bow to Vyviane well continuing to walk. Dex he was looking all, all actor like, And Friye was there to. AK pretty much talked for the entire walk to the Vat Garden. But once he sees the men with guns AK changes he stops talking. he slides a hand into his hood and when he pulls his hand away there is something covering his left eye.He locks onto a target. AK pulls a his Laser rifle, azimuth from under his cloak. the gun is almost as big as he is.
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Seeing everyone is sliding into place to rain destruction down upon their enemies, but not actually shooting just yet, Vyviane gives a nod. She strides forward, fully assured in her companion's abilities, and flicks her wrist. As her badly hidden handgun appears in her hand, she slides down the ladder and places her free hand on the gun of the man in blue. Clearing her throat she call out to the figure digging in the dirt.
"Hello there! Are you sure you should be digging around in the dirt like that? Well, nevermind, my companions and I would like to talk with you, if we can." As the man in front of her starts to react, she gives him a tsk-tsk gesture and continues. "Sorry, big boy, but I wouldn't do that if I were you! My friends have you surrounded, out numbered and out gunned. We really just want to talk, and if you surrender now, we'll guarantee your safety. But if you shoot, well then... 'splatter' might be a good nickname."
All of the guards and the clocked woman are supised by the sudden burst of enemies. So much so that most of are able to attack them before they respond.