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."
He taps at a screen on his desk before continuing. “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.”
Obozaya grins widely, showing lots of sharp teeth. "Why waste your credits? Gathering information from Vesk is a lot easier that you make it out to be. I'll beat him into submission in honorable combat, and he'll be obliged to tell us everything for free." She punches one scaly hand into another with a quiet hiss.
Navasi rolls her eyes at Obozaya's gesture. "Why is violence always the first thing you think of?" she asked with folded arms.
"Besides, it shouldn'y be too difficult to get info from this vesk without having to resort to violence. Not too mich violence at least."
Navasi recall 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.
Venture-Captain Arvin gives Obozaya a polite half-grin, and says, “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. However, it is not in our best interest at this time to lay claim without payment.”
He holds up a Starfinder insiginia for you to be able to recognize on sight. "The crew of the Unbounded Wayfarer 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.”
Arvin tucks the insignia away, then looks back to you. "If there are no other questions I can help you answer, I trust you will want to be on your way to help us resolve this situation." He taps up a map of Downlow, and you all feel confident that you can find the location.
"Affirmative. Gather insignias and information. Julzakama will not be a problem." Iseph turns to look at her companions.
"Are either of you familiar with Downlow?" she queries.
Navasi rolls her eyes at Obozaya's gesture. "Why is violence always the first thing you think of?" she asked with folded arms.
"Besides, it shouldn'y be too difficult to get info from this vesk without having to resort to violence. Not too mich violence at least."
"Because violence is best answer," says Obozaya, with the same tone that might be used to point out that it's day because the suns are up.
"But if we have to leave the pawnbroker intact, verbal violence will do just fine. If he responds to bluster over honeyed words, like a proper Vesk, then I'll give it to him, hard!"
She goes quiet, thinking about it, completely missing the question about knowing anything about the Downlow district in favor of plotting the best words for intimidating their quarry.
Downlow is a lower-class district of the station. It and others like it are more likely to respond to the leadership of local gangs than a more formal government, but the tenacious truces that these gangs take up ensure a general peace (though protection costs can be high for store owners).
Although some areas of Downlow are clean and trendy, the narrow alley of concrete and metal buildings you find yourself in 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.
He is carelessly disassembling an old computer when you step through the door, and spares but a moments glance at you as you approach. "Well, what'll you have? Or are you selling? Get to it, I've got important work to do."
Navasi's nose wrinkled as they enterex the pawn shop. She looked at the various trinkets at items that cluttered the shelves. When the vesk adressed the party, she spoke up first, "We're here on official Starfinder business. I understand you have some insignia from some of our lost comrads?"
The vesk grins broadly when you mention the insignias. "Well then, manling - you're just in time. Here's your parcel for your betters." He slides a metal box through a gap in the bars and gives you a wolfish grin. "Thanks for your business." When you open the box to inspect the contents, you see seven insignias bearing the compass-like logo of the Starfinder Society.
After a moment, the vesk scratches the scaly skin between his bony beardspikes with a clawed hand 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.” His voice grows hard at this last line, clearly taking a defiant stance.
"now, now. I'm sure the lot of us can be reasonable," Navasi says as she tucks the parcel into her bag.
"Now I'm sure you're quiet familiar with the starfinder society and the good it does for everyone of all walks of life and whats good for us is good for everyone. Just like I'm sure one such as yourself can work with us on comjng to a resonable middleground in collecting the info." she says with a smile.
Obozaya rolls his eyes when Navasi attempts to appeal to the pawnbroker's 'better nature.' It's the strangest thing about humans, but they always assume everyone likes and appreciates the same thing.
But 'Zaya knows better. This pawn man is Vesk, and Vesk respect strength and take advantage of weakness. While Navasi says her piece, 'Zaya instead picks out an electronic trinket of slightly more than negligible value, and punctuates the end of her comrade's sentence by throwing it against the floor with a hiss.
"What my friend means," she starts to explain, putting it in terms that Julzakama will better understand, "but is too polite to say outright, is that the information is already agreed upon. You've got a nice place here. Homey. But when you don't pay your protection money, it stops being so nice." She gets right up to the cage and lowers her voice menacingly.
"You're safe in your little cage, but all your junk's out here with us. How much more stuff do you think I can break before you decide that your words are less valuable?"
Navasi flinches at Obozaya's actions. Her eyes narrow slightly and she sucks on her teeth in annoyance, knowing the ruckus she was creating woukd drown out her displeasure.
Iseph nonchalantly grabs a semi-valuable item off of a shelf and gives 'zaya a friendly shoulder smack. "Ah, destruction of personal items is not outside our parameters. You are wise in the ways of negotiation. Perhaps we could find more valuable items to smash, yes? Or perhaps the point is made. What say you, Julzakama?"
Julzakama holds his hands up in the air. “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. Smelled terrible, too. She mentioned something about hiring some local muscle 'just in case.' Now can you leave, before you destroy my whole business?”
An ysoki trailed by a hovering drone breathlessly enters the shop. "Guys! You started without me! Man, that's super rude. And I--" He pauses, staring at the drone as it drifts near one of Julzakama's trinkets. "No no no, Scout! Get away from that! If you eat it, it'll jam your works up something fierce!" It's not clear how the drone could eat anything, or even if it was moving intentionally, but the ysoki pushes a few buttons on a pad on his forearm and the drone returns, hovering by his side. He cocks his head as if listening.
"What's that? Well, it's true, I did get distracted. But I still wish I hadn't missed...whatever this was! Looks cool! All sorts of good stuff in here. But it looks like we're heading out? That's cool too! Where we going? I heard something about the 'Vat Gardens?' Never heard of 'em, but I'll ask around!"
Quig falls in with the party on the way out, chatting up a storm--sometimes with the party, sometimes not.
Quig runs around for a couple hours gathering information about the Vat Garden, while the rest of you grab some lunch. He learns that the Vat Garden is a ysoki-operated garden, once a vast pool of bio-active substances that drained away decades ago. The residue in the pool still enhances the growth of biological organisms, and an enterprising ysoki family purchased the empty pool and turned it into a garden, selling fresh plants around Absalom Station. Demand exceeded their supply, so the family took in any sort of biological waste as mulch to grow their riotous tangle of plants. You think there's something people aren't telling you, but you can't be sure (or get them to share more).
"Vat Garden? Hmm. Sounds delightful, I'm sure." She doesn't seem excited at all to see something called a 'vat garden.'
"Hey, now, it's run by ysoki, or so I hear! Sounds like a very nice place to me personally. And it's gotta be kind of nice, anyway, it's a garden! Haven't been in a real garden in a long damn time, y'know. Scout and I could go for some fresh fruit and veg!"
"I'm sure it's very nice," Navasi added and looked over at Quig. "Nice and... clean. Hopefully this time we won't have to stoop to such brutish tactics to continue forward on this quest of ours." With that she quickened her pace to the front of the group despite not fully knowing exactly where Vat Garden was.
"Aw, man! I missed out on that sick 'Zaya brutishness?!"
Obozaya looks genuinely pleased by Navasi's assessment of the encounter with the pawn broker. "I thought it went rather well, too," she says. "But I know enough that not everybody is made of the same stuff as we Vesk are. Ysoki..." she pauses and shrugs. "I don't mean any offense to present company, but I always feel like I'm going to break them in half by accident instead of on purpose. I promise I won't interrupt, this time, unless you decide a show of force is necessary."
Navasi really can't recall a time she would ever have needed to come near such a place. Food just comes from the dispensary, right?
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.
S
P
Navasi and Iseph you catch the sound of muted conversation down in the pit behind the foliage as Obozaya tromps up behind you in her heavy armor. The conversation stops for a moment, before a voice hisses, "Drive them out of here - it's what I hired you for!" Two men bellow battle cries in response, and a laser pistol blast flashes past you to hit the wall near the entrance!
Leaves and plants rustle, and you see a human man run forward and take up position behind the pillar in the center of the vat.
Iseph pulls her pistol out and streaks forward, rushing down the stairs, in an attempt to get to cover and conceal herself in the vegetation.
A beam of red light lances out at Obozaya from a hooded figure in the back of the Vat Garden!
Round 1
'Zaya's face lights up like a small child just given a fantastic gift. And she thought this was going to nothing but boring talk!
"AH-hahaha!" she calls out at the one that shot at her. "Missed me!" Then she breaks into a dead sprint around the clear outside of the pit to close the distance with the one that provoked her so generously. Her hands clench into fists as she goes, itching to close the distance and bring the pointed spikes of her doshko to bear.
Round 1
damn it all to the void. Navasi's eyes narrow as she tries to focus where the bolt of energy came from. While she could not make out where he was, he wasn't trying to hard to be quiet about it.
"Cowardly bastard's hiding in the leaves. Lets take him out before he can strike again!" Navasi says to inspire her allies. She then takes aim with her pistol and fired towards theirnhidden foe.
fire
You hear a loud hiss as your laser sears through the shrubbery and strikes the cloaked figure in the back.
Quig yelps as the laser fire explodes. "Hey! No need for all that! We can be friendly! Sprachen-sie ysoki??"
When there's no response, he sighs. "Typical. Oh well. Scout, kill." He taps a few buttons on his arm and the droid whirs off over the battlefield. Lifting his gun, he fires at the figure among the greenery.
As Scout clears the pillar in the middle of the vat, Quig mutters, "Alright, lessee, buddy." A little screen drops down on the inside of his goggles, resting in front of his eye.
Your pistol's bullet zips through the foliage, but doesn't appear to hit any targets.
C appears to be a fairly burly humanoid, armed with an assault hammer and a laser pistol. He's got a crew cut, and is wearing a nondescript set of normal clothes.
The opponent that Quig just targeted seems reluctant to stray too far from his boss, especially when there's a Vesk that looks like she's about to jump over the railing! He readies his hammer in one hand, his laser pistol in the other, and tracks Obozaya with his eyes to see where she comes down.
G runs around the pillar, and tries to brain Iseph with his assault hammer!
He lands a solid blow to your side!
Thanks to her internal quick release sheath, Iseph whips out her survival knife and tries to cut her attacker.
She will not be an easy target. She slices at her opponent, drawing a line of blood across his chest.
Your blade cuts deep into the man's chest!
The hooded figure hisses at Obozaya's approach. It steps back, and fires again at the mighty Vesk...
... but the shot goes wide, and the figure backs up a few feet to stay clear of your approach.
Round 2
Obozaya sniffs the air as the second shot goes past her, relishing the aroma of ozone left behind from the laser weapon. The squishier races can keep their flowers and perfumes, 'Zaya could never understand their appeal anyway.
She watches the pink-skin back away after missing again, obviously preparing for the inevitable onslaught. But 'Zaya instead considers her first rule of combat excellence: never do what the enemy expects. Instead of leaping down like a feral monster, she instead plucks a canister from her belt, activates the shock grenade, and lobs it towards the retreating man's feet.
Quig scurries down the stairs into the Vat Garden, keeping one eye on the screen. "Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that Iseph has engaged our first opponent under the foliage." K-ZAPP! "...and our vesk friend has detonated a shock grenade! But the spunky little ysoki and his good buddy scout are about to join in the fray!" He taps a button on his arm panel, selecting a target for Scout, and takes aim himself.
Obozaya's grenade bounces off of a larger plant, and goes off slightly to the side of where she aimed with a flash and sizzle...
...and the shrouded figure shrieks as electricity courses through it. As it throws its head back, the cowl comes off and you see that it's face is emaciated and pallid, and a long flickering tongue that lashes out in rage.
Quig's bullet zips through the plants and hits the burly man who is looking up at Obozaya! Scout's sensors also lock on correctly, and strike that man, too.
Navasi tries to aim at the foe currently battling with Iseph but can't get a clear shot. She swears under her breath and moves to get a clear shot and fires.
fire
Navasi's blast goes wide, cutting through plants and leaving a trail of small flames, but not connecting with her opponent.
The man near Obozaya curses that he's wasting time, and pulls up his laser pistol to fire at the Vesk...
...but the shot glances off her armor.
The man that fighting Iseph lashes out with his assault hammer, attmepting to trade blow for blow again...
...but the hammer goes wide. He takes a tactical step around Iseph, trying to keep the android between himself and Navasi's laser.
Iseph understands the tactical positioning her enemy is using, but tries to use her own positioning to her favor.
Catching her foe off-guard, Iseph's blade cuts deep into her opponent's belly.
Iseph's dagger cuts deep indeed, and a massive amount of blood starts spilling out onto the ground. The man groans in agony, and falls to the dirt, unconscious.
The other man sees him go down and yells, "Dammit, Gurge, get up, we're getting out of here!"
The ghoulish figure, hearing this, hisses and screeches, "Not worth a single credit of your pay, are you Corvell?! KILL THEM!!" It levels a pistol at Obozaya again, and fires off another fiery laser blast.
"lets try to keep one alive," Navasi calls out before taking aim at another. "not you though."
fire
She swears as her shot goes wide again.
"I agree!" Quig says, scampering past Iseph as she cuts into the man's belly. "Not this one...weirdo Eoxian, paying these people to do your dirty work!" He fires off another shot, and Scout turns to target that foe as well.
Quig's shot goes wide, but the robot's sensor-guided pistol is far more accurate...
Scout's bullet slams into (as you have likely guessed) Exegara's side, and she grunts in pain.
Round 3
Obozaya lets out a hiss like an alligator as the first shot finally hits her. To the untrained ear, it would probably sound like anger or hate. Her companions have likely learned by now, though, that's it's something closer to amusement.
"Enough foreplay," she mutters. "Time to get up close and personal." Then she goes over the edge of the pit, trusting her reflexes and strength to find the best branches in the best places to get her down to the bottom quickly and impressively.
Once down, she closes the distance with E, staying on a side that will make it difficult to get to the ladder and escape.
[ooc]Currently haven't drawn the doshko yet, so I can still make AOOs unarmed if the need arises (my unarmed strikes can do lethal and make AOOs thanks to my natural weapons racial ability).[ooc]
Obozaya crunches through leaves and trees, and sprints forward to close the gap between herself and Exegara.
Corvell says "Screw you, lady! Nothin's worth this!" and he bolts for the exit as quickly as the foliage will allow.