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A somewhat short shirren in carbonskin armor and a vest with many pockets comes in. His multifacted eyes scan the room as he gives the closest approximation to a smile he can manage. In a somewhat squeaky voice, he spoke.
"Chivix is most happy to make your acquaintance. Chivix has been on several missions with the Starfinders and has enjoyed each one immensely. Chivix is certain that this one will be no different. With Chivix and his friend Gravy at your side, you will never want for tuned up equipment or local fire support!"
Summoned to the Lorespire Complex by Venture-Captain Naiaj, you enter a dimly lit chamber where she watches a map holographically projected onto the spherical wall. This meeting room is aptly named the “Starscape Chamber” and hosts various important strategic meetings for the Society. The pale bleachling gnome slightly nods a greeting, hardly looking away from the stellar map. “Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice,” she says, as she finally turns away from the map. “As you should already know, the Starfinder Society lost not only many agents but also a great deal of equipment in the Scoured Stars incident. Since then, we’ve been dealing with a shortage of guns, ammunition, armor, tools, and provisions. Over the past four months, the Society has recovered to the point that we are able to start replacing some of the equipment we lost. While we are explorers, right now, battle-ready firearms are sorely needed.”
Naiaj momentarily turns to face the map and makes a request: “Starscape, show me Nightarch.” The map on the wall zooms in on one of the outermost planets of the Pact Worlds, showing a gloomy, air-sealed settlement on the small gray planetoid identified as Apostae. “After calling in a lot of favors and holding lengthy negotiations, we managed to secure a deal with the drow of Apostae to obtain a shipment of weapons. House Zeizerer arranged a deal between the Starfinder Society and House Xicton, a lesser drow house with a solid track record on sales. I personally oversaw the negotiations, and only recently returned to Absalom Station to deposit the down payment owed to House Xicton.”
“My intention was to send you to Nightarch, the drow’s surface settlement on Apostae, to guard this delivery. However,” Naiaj pauses briefly, staring blankly at the map on the wall before continuing, “I just received word that the weapon shipment has been stolen. According to my contacts in Nightarch, the thief is a minor noble of House Zeizerer named Villyth, who went rogue and stole the weapons. We do not know her motives or the current whereabouts of the shipment, but I’m sending you to Nightarch to find the weapons and bring them to Absalom Station. As you may have heard, the interhouse politics of the drow are lethal and treacherous, and you will find only trouble if you start searching blindly. For this reason, I’ve arranged for you to meet with Ceobarn Zeizerer, who represents House Zeizerer in this specific matter. You are to discuss how the Society can get its shipment back without causing a diplomatic incident.
“Your shuttle is ready, so I expect you to get your things and get going as soon as possible. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask.”
Before leaving the gnome
Has the society and the Drow have had dealing before? Are they true to there word at face value or is the truth mixed in with the lies and you have to sort it out?
Naiaj replies, “There have been dealings in the past but even combined, this one eclipses them all by many orders of magnitude. Like it or not, Apostae is not only a member of the Pact Worlds, but also the weapon capital of the solar system. Their firearms are high quality and come at reasonable prices. Despite their fearsome reputation, drow are generally as good as their word when it comes to selling and trading weapons.”
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The blue-skinned vesk, who has been standing quietly and listening, says, "I know little of Apostae. Anything we need to know about it? Particular environments? I know Drow live there, so dark, I assume?" He smirks faintly, the mote of red light flashing into brilliance as it hovers near his shoulder.
“While the surface of Apostae is otherwise airless, Nightarch is a sealed city. Its towers, domes, and halls are all constructed with contained environmental systems similar to those on starships, so you won’t need any special equipment. Armor and weapons are not only permissible, but everything short of mandatory while wandering the city streets. And yes, drow generally prefer darkness with the lights turned down. Be sure to keep your wits about you.”
“Ceobarn Zeizerer, as his family name implies, hails from House Zeizerer. They are the most powerful drow household on Apostae, controlling the major surface settlement of Nightarch. They are demon-worshipers and arms dealers like the rest of them, but as far as drow houses go, they are quite reliable because they have
a reputation to uphold. Complications like this are bad for the business. Ceobarn is House Zeizerer's representative to us and has always been blunt and up-front with me — which is how I prefer to handle most of my social interactions.”
Do we know of any other Drow house wanting the arms contract that could cause problems for house Zeizerer?
With his unblinking stare
"The machinations of drow politics is complex so that may be possible, but none of my sources has uncovered any. Being the most powerful household on Apostae, causing trouble for House Zeizerer would be a bold, perhaps rash, endeavor."
"This shipment consists of five containers, all of which fits onto a single pallet. Within the containers are 50 assorted high-end longarms. The nature of our weapons deal includes future shipments if this initial delivery proves satisfactory. The theft itself occurred just yesterday."
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"Thank you for the information. Chivix sees no problem with this information, or this job. We meet the drow representative, get information from they as to the nature of the theft, track down the thief and retrieve the merchandise. It is as clear as kefatd larvae in the wintertime."
"Chivix is ready to depart now."
TK423 agrees with unit Chivix's assessment and is ready to depart as well.
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Flameclaw nods. "Let's get a move on. No way does a Drow with stolen weapons mean good news."
He hardly looks ready to go, bearing just a starknife at his side as his only weapon. At first glance, he seems to not even be wearing armor, instead donning only a scant gladiator's style of armor, with a bandolier across his chest, designed more for showing off his muscled torso than for protecting it. Upon closer inspection, though, it is clear that he is wearing Second Skin armor that blends well with the dark blue of his torso beneath the gladiator's equipment.
He frowns as he glances around the group. "None of you guys are into that Strawberry Cheesecake band, are you? I was stuck on a ship with that stuff blaring over the speakers for a week, and nearly went insane." He eyes Chivix, as if suspicious that he might be the one to worry about.
How interesting, Chivix do you have much experience with Ksarik coitus rituals? Do they have coitus with other musical instruments or just with synth boards?
TK423 looks over to Flameclaw
I do not believe I have heard the sounds created by the units named Strawberry Machine cake. Could we have it playing during our trip so I may observe you become mentally unstable?
Naiaj says, "Very good, if there are no more questions, I bid you good luck. Excuse me while I attend to other business." She leaves the room.
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Flameclaw spends some time meditating, getting in tune with the photonic powers that he communes with. After a moment, he seems revitalized and in good cheer. On his way to their ship, he has conversation with some of the tech team prepping the ship, to see if they know anything of the drow city of Nightarch. Though intimidating when in the fighting arena, he's fairly personable when not in combat.
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A halfing wearing light armor dyed in brown and green and carring a laser rifle nearly as large as he is rushes into the briefing as fast as his short legs can carry him in a panic, only stopping once he ascertains he is in the right spot. For a few moments he huffs, trying to catch his breath. "Hiya!" <breath> "I'm sorry I'm late... some of these halls are really aren't built to be ran through by a halfling. I'm Captain Brobdingnagian." He waits a beat. "That means, 'marked by great size' in my language. It's a bit of a mouthful, so you can just call me "Captain Brob."
He listens intently to the tail end of the briefing and remarks, "Nightmarch, huh? I heard there's lots of alien tech from the halls under the surface of Apostae."
To Naiaj he asks, "Is there anything you haven't told us that we might need to know?" He smiles cheerfully to the rest of the group. "You never know when something important like, 'Don't let people know you're a Starfinder' or 'don't burn down the city' gets left off the briefing." The halfling's grin shines ear to oversized ear.
Naiaj raises her eyebrow at Brob and says, "While I am predisposed to grant you leeway regarding punctuality, be aware that the drow will not. Your teammates can fill you in on the details you missed but let me see here..."
She takes a glance down at her datapad and replies to Brob, "Ah yes, my sources indicate that Villyth Zeizerer, the thief, is a minor noble in the hierarchy of House Zeizerer. It appears she's something of a rebel and my information indicates that her actions were not sanctioned by her house."
TK423 fills in the Captain Brobdingnagain word for word of the meeting and does not stop until he is finished. If the Captain walks away TK423 fallows.
Then the Flameclaw unit said "It's like a stinking virus in your brain ... A brain virus ..."
"Now you have the required information."
TK423 turns and goes to check on the ship.
The shuttle to Apostae takes a week and as the shuttle approaches the dull gray planetoid, several fighters emerge from a hulking capital ship identified as part of the local fleet defense: the Blood Armada. These fighters whizz past like a swarm of angry wasps. The navigation computer lets out a blaring alert as the capital ship scans the shuttle, but soon after, the alert ends and the fighters fly back to the massive carrier. The shuttle descends into low-orbit, and several small settlements with sealed atmospheres come into view. Further out, beneath clouds of dust, several mile-wide blast doors, many large craters, and miles-deep crevices can be seen across the planetoid’s surface. The shuttle soars closer to Apostae’s surface, fast approaching the dark city of Nightarch. The eponymous arch and various tower houses can be seen within the city limits. Nightarch’s vast spaceport is alive with hundreds of blinking red and purple lights, which guide the shuttle into the gloomy capital of the drow.
Upon your arrival, two drow guards escort you through a labyrinth of air-filled, enclosed tunnels to Mileshadow, a tall corporate building owned by House Zeizerer. The guards open the door to a spacious office on the top floor of the tall building, and without even a hint of emotion, one drow barely mutters, “Wait here.” The greentinged windows in the room offer a majestic view over the gloomy Nightarch. Several statues and holographic devices depicting grinning fiends sit on shelves on the walls and on a darkwood desk at the far end of the room. A curious fixture reminiscent of a demonic spider looks down from the ceiling with many glistening eyes.
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Flameclaw walks over to one of the holographic devices with a grinning fiend, and moves his head back and forth, looking at it from different angles. "It's eyes follow me," he mutters. "I do not like it."
He blinks for a moment, then moves slightly closer. He glances at the hologram, then at one of the statues, and chuckles. "Abraxus," he says.
Seemingly content with the surroundings, Flameclaw stands quietly and meditates.
A wall panel at the back of the office slides open, and a middleaged drow walks in and settles into a red armchair behind the desk. “I am Ceobarn Zeizerer.” He gives a nonchalant wave of his hand, and the demonic statue in the ceiling starts shedding a purple glow, illuminating the room. “I take it that your eyes haven’t adjusted to the light levels on Apostae. You are Naiaj’s Starfinders, correct? I heard about the shipment. A most unfortunate setback. Villyth has always been a troublemaker.” After a brief silence, he spits, “But it is not our fault. House Zeizerer officially disowned her months ago. Why should I help you?”
Ceobarn scoffs at Bakoyo, reaches into his desk drawer and pulls out a HALLS (special drow formula) cough drop and hands it to Bakoyo.
"That was a sad, sad attempt. Your thinly veiled threats are but a single drop of water in a massive roiling ocean, which is to say - insignificant.
"However, I admire your spunk. Perhaps this little consolation prize will help you next time.
"And please, by all means, continue. Why else should I help your merry little band of Starfinders?"
I think that the Flameclaw unit was trying to say is that you need to help us. With the missing weapons your underclass of Orcs are most likely arming themselves to rebel. And who knows what they might have gotten there hands on, That is what we will have our hands on when we find the unit named Villyth. So if you refuse giving us aid, we will profit and you will not.
Ceobarn replies, "Hmmm... I see your point there, I hate to admit..."
Ceobarn replies to Twich, "Yes... Yes... House Zeizerer would not want needless destruction in our own city. However, there are already security forces and precautions in place to handle this sort of thing. Perhaps I'll be a bit more concerned if three hundred additional reasons were presented to back up this line of reasoning..." He places an empty hand out, palm faced up.
"As seen on this computer projection the amount of loss that House Zeizerer will loose with out helping us. And here is the estimated gains that the house will receive if they gave cooperation. And this graph shows what happens to House Zeizerer if weapons fall into the wrong hands, It does not paint a pretty picture. Which could also meen a change in leadership for House Zeizerer and possibility the loss of your job."
TK423 shows on his data pad
Once the 300 creds are handed over, Ceobarn replies, "Ah yes, it's clearer to me now how much of a liability these weapons are to the city. I find myself agreeing with you, little ysoki."
Ceobarn skeptically picks up Iseph's datapad and as he examines the details, his expression changes noticeably. "Hmmm... Yes. While I often do not trust numbers formulated by anyone aside from my own staff, your information sources and conclusions appear indisputable."
Ceobarn steeples his fingers and replies, "Yes, we've sat around this table staring at each other frozen in time long enough. I do agree that House Zeizerer stands to benefit from a long term relationship with the Starfinders. So, any other remarks or points to be made?"
Ceobarn raises an eyebrow at Twich. "Your knowledge of Abraxas is most impressive little one. Yes, it's true. Allowing a noble, even a minor one such as Villyth to run amok makes House Zeizerer look weak in the eyes of our demon lord.
“Very well. It is true that Villyth’s actions are bad for business and she must be stopped. On behalf of House Zeizerer, I grant you twenty-four hours of diplomatic immunity. Use this time to retrieve the weapons using whatever means you deem necessary. Here’s a document that proves you’re acting on my authority. If the situation requires it, kill Villyth. But rest assured, if you abuse the power I bestow you, there will be consequences. The drow never forget.
“I know Villyth well enough to know that she has guards and other defenses. The more you know, the less likely you are to walk into a trap. So use your twenty-four hours wisely. Remember that before the time is up, you must locate the weapons, plan your heist, travel to the location, get the weapons, and most importantly, get off my planet!”