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As you follow the guards you take a look around your surroundings.
The halls and rooms of the Sauna are entirely organic, comprised mostly of fleshy blue walls replete with pulsating green veins.
Tunnels take odd angles, sometimes sloping up or down, which is a nuisance to humanoid creatures but not an impediment to the floating barathus. Whenyou arrive at the Warden’s office, several hard, plastic chairs await arranged in a semicircle around
a matching table.
Opposite the table floats the Warden, an almost comical creature that looks like a dozen of the barathu guards mashed together into a floating mass of iridescent flesh and tentacles.
You indentify the wareden as being a combined barathu—a group of barathus who merged to form a superior being.
The Warden telepathically offers several trays of a gray mush and glasses of an opaque, milky substance as “refreshments.” While these refreshments look welcoming, especially the drink to help cool off, the ever-present stench makes the idea of eating difficult.
"As was said not all of us are unarmed." He snatches at the small floating light around him and manifests a blade, showing his power again before simply letting go of it and the ball continues to float around him. "That is if the worse comes."
--
Moving along with the group he is fascinated at the creature in front of them and more so as they see the inside of the prison. "This is all quite amazing." He reaches to touch one of the walls, to test the sponginess of the flesh.
Finally getting to the Warden he does note that he looks like a dozen of the Barathu guards mashed together. A high life form maybe. He thinks to himself unable to recall much information on the Barathu at all.
Raonalt takes the drink and down it but also accepts the offer of food to show his thanks for the hospitality noting to himself the lack of taste.
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"Warden, it's a pleasure to meet you and your staff. Thank you for the hospitality."
Keskoday looks at the mush and other refreshments and, though not perhaps eager to try them, has the shirren's typical delight when it comes to options.
"May I ask what these are? I've never encountered anything quite like them. This seems special and...unique. Please forgive us if we don't eat too much."
The shirren tastes the mush and sips the milk-like liquid.
Iseph studies the warden a moment, then follows suit with his companions, tasting the bland mush and milky drink. He takes his reaction a step further, however, exclaiming, "Why, this is delicious! Who would have expected a prison to be such a pleasant place, with such exquisite food!"
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After several minutes exchanging introductions and pleasantries, the Warden excitedly communicates via telepathy;
"One of my constituent barathus had a career as an investigator, and they is always excited to meet with likeminded personalities. May I ask what your proudest moments as an investigator have been?"
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Obozaya grins at Navasi's story.
"Mine's better: It's when you catch up to them and they resist. The sound of their screams as you hit them in the head make you realize how much better than them you are!"
She slams a meaty fist into her open palm in demonstration, the smacking sound resounding through the office.
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Keskoday watches Obozaya, his mandibles twitching slightly in an expression of bemusement. He sits there for a moment, then looks back to their host. He remains silent, allowing his companions to regale with their own stories rather than try to conjure up a convincing deception. His were stories of death and ministry, and theological mysteries were likely not what the barathus host had in mind.
He places his food and drink down, still unsure of what to make of them. "I was only doing my duty, but I was stationed at a Sensorium access node. I was merely to guard it but when a figure approached the station that I knew couldn't have been there. I check around the ship calling in my contacts only to work out that the person in front of me was an imposter, in disguise as a higher up." He then places his sits up in a mock pose.
"Calling them out we fought to a stand still I could only hold out for more security forces to show up. I saved a lot of lives that day and protected a lot of secrets, it is the reason I'm here now. I was given leave of Idari to rove out into the stars and investigate." He says states the facts but leaving back the finer details.
"Not sure if it's a proudest moment, but it's a tale to excite any investigator," Iseph offers after some thought. "I don't know where I come from, and I'm still trying to find out. I awoke in a renewal crèche in a storage facility on Aballon, the building empty save for a note and a pen left on the floor. Clearly hastily scrawled, the note read only: Run. Hide. Retaliate."
"One of the first surprises in trying to sort out this mystery was realizing that the note was in my own handwriting. Still trying to sort that one out."
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The warden squeels with flamboyant telepathic delight at your stories After hearing your stories, the Warden telepathically sighs, stating, “Visits with prisoners are forbidden.”
They then suggest that they can still be convinced to arrange a meeting, gesturing with one of their many tentacles, holding an empty credstick, and telepathically observing that “Donations to our maintenance fund are greatly welcomed.”
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Quig ponders sharing the tale of the Nigburd Docks, but without Scout to perform his part of the story, it just doesn't seem as exciting. So he keeps silent until the donation is requested.
"Well, bounty hunting just doesn't pay what it used to, but I am happy to donate a little. Or perhaps I can trade you some technical expertise if you have are having maintenance issues? Surely there must be some metal structure underlying this organic material." He inspects the walls more thoroughly, trying to ascertain its nature and state of repair.
Having seen corruption in many forms over the years, Iseph decides this falls right about the middle of the range of degrees of venality. Clearly asking for money, but at least making the effort of calling it something else. Of course, the true test will be how much he feels we should pay...
He awaits the answer to Navasi's question, ready to gauge just how corrupt the agglomerated barathus are.
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"..you seem very knowledgeable about maintenance...are you interested in a job here?..we have a very decent support staff so at the moment there isn't anything for you to fix..but we appreciate the intend"
" ..it's very expensive to keep everything up and running on a day to day basis the supplies needed can get expensive..but 2,500 credits would go a long way..."
"...but we like you...it would feel wrong to us to ask you for money seeing how you on a budget...you are out eternal friends"
The Warden calls for the previous flotilla of barathu guards to escort you to a common area where you can meet with Livewire.
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Whereas the stench within the Warden’s office was bad, the stink in the common area is almost unbearable. Several half-naked, sweat-drenched workers of various species crowd around here. The barathu guards combine to form one larger, menacing amalgam creature, ensuring you will remain safe from confrontation.
After several minutes traversing through this sweat-slicked region, the barathu guard amalgam stops at a table where a ysoki sits. The ratfolk constantly licks her paws uncomfortably while grooming her drenched and matted pelt. With the guard’s arrival, she looks up and acknowledges an unspoken communication between herself and the barathu collective. In an instant, the barathu collective splits into its separate entities and floats off in independent paths throughout the complex, leaving you
alone with the sweat-soaked ysoki who looks up with cautious interest amid a timid introduction, “Hiya, the name’s Livewire. What can we do for each other?”
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Friendly, though perhaps frightened? And desperate to stay clean and cool.
Keskoday observes the ysoki for a moment, looking for signs of injury or illness.
Telepathically, he says so Livewire and the party can 'hear', "Hello, Livewire. I am Keskoday and these are my colleagues. We're here to ask you about your recent expedition to Salvation's End but, first, how are you? Are you hurt?"
"Heard you had sort of a hard time of it there," Iseph adds bluntly, "we can make it worth your while to tell us what happened."
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Keskoday observes the ysoki for a moment, looking for signs of injury or illness, but other then obvious signs of over heating which is easily explained by the temperature in the place Liverwire seems healthy.
As Keskoday introduces you Livewire seems to take a liking to you all though she seems a bit taken about when Quig offers to help groom her.
"No I'm not hurt, but thanks for asking..but with the temperatures over here it's only a matter of time before my fur get's clumped up and I'll be sticking to stuff and yanking on my skin underneath.."
Livewire is quick to offer she was reluctant to take the job. Her dislike of the mission’s leader, who she names as Borgor, reveals a picture of a cruel and selfish captain who ruled with a heavy hand.
She states the only reason she took the mission was as a favor to the second mate, Bago, whom she saw as a kindred spirit. Livewire freely offers that with the mission’s loot, she was going to help Bago free himself from Borgor’s influence, and that she and Bago were planning to start a more honest living.
Livewire also describes the other crew members: Snips (CE female human operative) and Xalak-don (NE male vesk soldier).
She calls Snips a “cutthroat” and Xalak-don “all brawn, little brains.” She then ends by calling both shipmates dangerous.
Livewire explains that this pair was planning a mutiny after a successful mission; however, she and Bago planned to use this confusion to slip away and disappear forever. After the two crew members went down to the surface with Bago and Borgor, she never saw her crewmates again. Finally, she mentions the presence of audio logs within her ship, the Archer, which provide more details on these crew members and can confirm her story.
"I have more information, which would be useful to you..but that's going to cost you...and the most valuable commodity you can have here are personal hygiene products. Do you have any of those?..and we are talking bulk here. Also I had a tool harness filled with my tools that I was unable to take from the Archer before it crashed. If you promise to return it to my family for safekeeping, I might be more willing to open up about Salvation’s End"
"I've got my own hygiene kit," Iseph offers, "you can have that. As to the tool kit, sure, we'll take that to your family." You're stuck in this place and that's what you're worried about? Getting the tool kit to them isn't going to improve your lot any,
Raonalt stands back watching over the group and the prisoner as they ask their questions.
He steps forward, agreeing with Iseph. "We'll give you all we can, and if you supply us with more information I see no reason why we can't take your tool kit to your family." He smiles attempting to reassure her.
"Do you know if the rest of the crew are actually dead?"
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Keskoday's antennae cross and his mandibles move together as his jaw clenches. "When we docked, we were explicitly prohibited from bringing toiletries. I thought it something to prevent prisoners from creating weapons but... Do they not provide them to you? Why not? Just to humiliate you?"
Keskoday seems genuinely distressed by this, letting loose in Shirren a stream of chittering invective about petty cruelties and how a society capable of shared consciousness should be more empathetic to others... or be done with it and just eat them.
Once he's more focused on the mission, he will ask, "You mentioned your ship, the Archer. I assume it has been impounded?"
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Livewire seems relieved as Iseph promises to return her toolvest to her family and is clearly moved by Raonalt's soothing voice..a kind word in the place goes a long way it seems
"If the warden likes you it should be possible to buy supplies directly from the prison guards..otherwise I think you're stuck with trying to barter with other inmates..or possibly smuggle some into the prison..but you said that isn't your game already..."
"But you seem nice..and it might be good for me to finally tell the story"
“People call Salvation’s End a ‘false moon,’ but that can’t be true. I’m pretty sure that floating metal hulk is actually some kind of really old starship caught in the nearby planet’s orbit. I don’t know what happened to it, but its signature and style don’t match up to any Pact World design.”
“There’s a noticeable spire rising from the false moon’s outer hull. It’s teeming with activity. Crude painted symbols are all along structure’s exterior. Inside, a hive of space goblins flourishes in one of their misbegotten makeshift nests. The goblins sneak out to rummage for scrap metal and other junk found on the false moon’s exterior.”
“Lots of ships disappeared while flying too close to Salvation’s End. Until recently, this phenomenon was kind of an urban pilot legend, but I know what it is! There’s some kind of really powerful tractor beam on that moon. It was strong enough to reel in the Archer, and I only got my whiskers out of there by crashing into the damn thing and ejecting an escape pod right before impact!”
“On our first flyby, we ended up skirmishing with a few goblin junkers. After the battle, we detected a strong signal emitting from underneath the space goblin spire, and even thought our sensors could barely penetrate the tower, the source of the signal was just under the surface of Salvation’s End. There’s something down there, I swear it!”
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Obozaya grins in sheer delight as Livewire continues talking.
"This sounds wonderful," she rumbles happily. "Derelict starship? Space goblins? People will tell this story for generations when we discover what's truly happening here! And don't worry about that tractor beam. You just leave that to me."
Raonalt rubs his chin as Livewire speaks describing what they can expect from the false moon. He adds on to Garrett's questions.
"Very interesting. We will have to deal with those goblins, and find a way out of there when we're done that tractor beam could be troublesome."
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Raonalt tries to remember what he knows about space goblins;
Goblin legend claims that long ago, a tribe of goblins
stowed away on a spacecraft leaving Golarion and made
its way to Absalom Station, infiltrating the station’s worst
neighborhoods and setting up camps in its engineering
passages. Over time, the goblins learned to build weapons
and armor from scavenged parts, albeit without a great
deal of proficiency. While goblins have since managed
to hijack ships and spread to the stars, nowhere are they
as prevalent as on Absalom Station—a fact for which all
other worlds are grateful.
They are small humanoids who's gear - including weapons - tend to blow up sometimes.
"How did I end up here? When I managed to escape the tractor beam I made it to my escape pod and some how made it to the planet..but the impact of landing knocked me out and the local authorities were able to capture me..I was arrested for illegally trespassing on Salvations End"
"It looked to me like the signal came from the spire"
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As you get up to depart, Livewire stops Keskoday asks meekly, “No matter what, please let me know what happened to Bago. If the old lunk’s still alive, tell him I miss my ‘Hairless Monkey.’ If you find it in your hearts after exploring that damnable false moon, please put in a good word for me with the authorities. I’m not sure I can last here for my entire term.” At that, Livewire watches you leave the common area with crocodile tears welling within the corners of her soft eyes.
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Luwazi Elsebo opens communications right after you leave the Sauna. The First Seeker congratulates you on any gathered intelligence before authorizing you to enter the Drift and travel to Salvation’s End.
At this point, you can activate you starship’s Drift engine and enter the Drift. The Drift is an extraplanar void of kaleidoscopic colors that allows for faster-than-light travel throughout the known galaxy.
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"So, kill goblins, deactivate tractor beam at the spire. Sounds like fun," Obozaya rumbles. "Iseph, take us into the Drift! See if you can't find us some 'unnecessary encounters' -- I haven't shot anything in days, at least, and want to see what my namesake here can do."
She pats her ship fondly as she finishes.
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As you get up to depart, Livewire stops Keskoday asks meekly, “No matter what, please let me know what happened to Bago. If the old lunk’s still alive, tell him I miss my ‘Hairless Monkey.’ If you find it in your hearts after exploring that damnable false moon, please put in a good word for me with the authorities. I’m not sure I can last here for my entire term.” At that, Livewire watches you leave the common area with crocodile tears welling within the corners of her soft eyes.
The shirren rests a hand on Livewire's shoulder and says, "Of course, we will find your mate and I will do what I can to reunite you. If he has passed, I will pray to the Lady of Graves that his passage is peaceful and his judgment fair." Keskoday takes the references to a "second mate" literally, given that he has two himself. "As for this prison... Some punishment is in order, but perhaps not here. I will do what I can."
Iseph takes in the information about the false moon, and the space goblins, nodding thoughtfully. His eyes narrow briefly, then brighten with excitement at the mention of taking their new ship into the Drift. "I'll see what I can find, Obozaya," he says to the vesk's request, "though you may not get a chance to shoot anyone when I outfly them."
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Keskoday nods enthusiastically. "It all sounds marvelous. Iseph can show us their skills at flying. If they fail, Obozaya can shoot our those who would harm us. If she fails, I can provide blessings on our way to the Boneyard." His antennae brush against one another in a gesture of pleasure and excitement. "Obozaya, I'm not familiar with the ways of the Vesk. Should I survive and have your body, do you prefer burial, cremation or something else?"
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Obozaya blinks for a couple moments at Keskoday, then bursts out laughing.
Hahaha!" she says, finally able to get her breath. "Should you survive and have my body. Ha! Very funny, Keskoday. You're a good bug."
She wipes a tear of mirth from her eye, and heads to check out the gun systems, still chuckling and shaking her head at the Shirren's joke.
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After traveling uneventful days through the drift you arrive at your programmed destination.
A group of space goblin junkers approaches your vessel as soon as it exits the Drift.
In the distance, a great metallic structure breaks the bleak monotony of space. Massive in size, the grandeur of this planetoid is hard to take in all at once. Before the scale of the moon sets in, a shrill song pierces through the ship’s communications system.
As the first notes of the song shriek out, a quartet of vessels blink on the sensor screens, followed swiftly by a warning alarm klaxon.
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We've now entered spaceship combat..and for me it's the first time..so still trying to figure out how it works..and how it best works in pbp
phases
1. Engineering: The engineers can repair the starship’s systems or give one or more systems a boost. These actions occur
simultaneously, so they can be resolved in any order.
2. Helm: Each starship’s pilot attempts a Piloting check. The pilot with the lowest result acts first to move his starship and perform
stunts, followed by the next lowest, and so on, until all starships have moved. Also during this phase, each of the science officers act at
the same point in the phase as her starship’s pilot, but they can decide between them who acts first.
3. Gunnery: The gunners can fire their starships’ weapons. Although starships fire in the same order decided upon in the helm phase,
the effects of damage are not taken into account until the end of the phase, meaning that all starships can fire, even if they take enough
damage to be disabled or destroyed during this phase.
So first up is Engineering phase. So the ship's engineer can do something; what can be done is listed in the link at the top of the page under ship roles.
Also the Captain can use it's action in any of the 3 phases, but can still only do 1 thing each round (so not 1 thing per phase)
Since it seems pretty much anything that can be done might effect the round after that we'll do this phase by phase.
I've put the map up at the top of the page. I've had to resort to using coloured hexagons because I haven't found a better way yet. which gives some problems with indicating facing...still working on that. If anyone has a good idea to improve..feel free to let me know
So first up: Engineer (and possible the Captain)