Desna's Song was a stately ship. The massive bulk freighter was over 200 years old, but she still cut a fancy line as her prow plied the space lanes of the Pact Worlds.
200 years running the transit lines between the various plants and Absalom station. She had been fitted out for,transporting the various inhabitants of the system, those willing to pay for the long voyage between worlds. In her heyday, she could pack six thousand souls in comfort. That was before the advent of the Mark 3 Drift drives though. Before ships could be kitted to make the run in 6 days, not the sixteen weeks it currently took her.
Her engines were too vast and the style of hull too integral to the mountings for a retrofit to be possible. Now she made her living hauling cargo too big for the mainline crews. Were six thousand people used to walk her decks, now fewer than a thousand booked the cheap fairs. Time was just too important for the majority of those living in the Golarion system.
The four sentients currently gathered in the "state lounge" were a mixed lot. Each had their own reasons for being on board. Keeping a low profile, too few funds, inexperience all of these were reasons why folk boarded the 'Song now.
Be it fate, or the twisted vagaries of chance, these four now sat cradling their drinks and listening to the warbled crooning of the stage band as the giant vessel pushed inexorably through the vast emptiness of space.
Their seats were pre allocated, tied to the room numbers they got when boarding the ship. With not much else for entertainment, the four of them looked at those seated with them and tried to spark some sort of interesting discussion.
The small humanoid in the grey flightsuit took a sip and put down the glass quickly.
Two seconds later he did the same thing while his legs dangled off the chair and moved incessantly.
He pulled out some sort of tool from one of his many pocket, sniffed it, and put it back. After a couple of more tries, he pulled out a half-eaten cracker, sniffed it, and smiled, "I knew it was here."
He looked around the table, "Anybody want a piece?"
Twitch stated looking at the other ysoki on the table, "You know what this is, right? It's a cracker."
He took a bite of it and turned to the other two sentients, "See, it's a cracker. You can eat it. Aren't you guys hungry?"
A tall green insectoid humanoid sits quietly in his assigned seat. In a long blue cloak. Antenna are flicking around, seemingly directed toward any group of people talking or moving. It's face seems to be constantly be moving. Mandibles twitch and chitter. Though very little sound comes from any of this movement.
Looking at the Ysoki speaking toward him. {OOOh, sure! I would not mind some of your pocket cracker} While no sound comes out of the Shirren, words in common are sent directly to the mind of the kind Ysoki.
Inserting the small portion into his mandibles, with what must be a jaw of some sort working. Silently to the Ysoki {This is quite good. Seems to have aged well}
Now directing this thoughts to the small group seated around himself, {Are you going to turn down an offering if peace, such as this cracker represents? This great ship, named after my Goddess of Fortune, is going to lead us all to great things. I just know it}
Looking around the small group around himself. {During this long trip, shall we get to know eachother? I will start.. I am Tuk'yik}The name is accompanied by a small chitter sound from the creature itself. {Nice to meet you all!}
A well armed Ysoki sits at the table, making no attempt at all to conceal the fact that he is armed with two pistols and a baton.
He looks up and smiles, revealing lots and lots of pointy teeth. But he does seem genuinely friendly for all that
"Hello. Trellik here. Thank you, no cracker. Not like cracker. But have oranges. Any of you want oranges?"
With that, his mouth contorts a little and he proceeds to spit 4 oranges into his hands. He grabs a clean cloth out of a pocket and wipes them down, offering one to each of his companions
"Don't worry, Ysoki spit very clean. You peel orange anyway. Very safe"
In Ysoki
"ltqajna biex tieħu pjaċir ma 'l-aljeni"
"You worship Desna? Why? What you think special about her? Not criticizing, curious. I worship all Gods. Or none. Seems safer"
Speaking to group now {I would love an orange fruit}
Tuk'yik takes the orange in his three fingered claw/hand and places the entire thing into his mouth. With a squish of liquid he makes a sound that must be some form of "slurp", some of the juice gets on his blue cloak.
{Ah, forgive me}
With a quick wave of the hand there is a small purple haze for a second and the juice spill is gone.
{I do not wish to look uncivilized or cultured. Yes, I do worship Desna! She has given me the luck and curage to travel my world, and now beyond. She is the great dreamer. Other gods have their domains, I do not wish to diminish them, but Desna will always be my North Star to follow. Travel and help along the way, sure are worse ways to live one's unique life!}
Looking around the small group around himself. {During this long trip, shall we get to know eachother? I will start.. I am Tuk'yik}The name is accompanied by a small chitter sound from the creature itself. {Nice to meet you all!}
The voice in his head was a little startling but not unknown to Twitch. He always bothered that those with mindspeak would read his thoughts.
And he always replied with speech even though he'd been told that he could just think a response. Too weird.
The ysoki extends a pink hand with grimy nails, "I am Twitch. You know? From Akiton."
He hoped people didn't think he was carzy like he was talking to himself, "It's good to meet ya, Tuk'yik."
He then continued eating the rest of his cracker.
The fourth figure in the room is in stark contrast to the others--especially the pair of ysoki. The vesk is large, over seven feet tall and more than three-hundred pounds of muscle and scale. Hunched over on his chair, he looks comically oversized compared to the furnishings, built well before there was peace between the Pact Worlds and the Veskarium. The scars visible on his snout and arms make it clear he's no stranger to fights, either, although the only weapon present is the scattergun holstered on one large hip.
At the offer of the cracker, Tek shakes his head, and he chuckles--a deep, raspy sound--when Tuk'yik proclaims it as an offering of peace. Trellik's oranges give him pause, but when the ysoki offers one to him, Tek accepts, carefully taking it between two massive fingers. He sets his drink on a nearby table and nods. "Thanks. I'm Tek, least that's what you can call me. I don't really worship nuffink. Not like I've got a problem wiff it, just never really had the time, eh? Drink to ol' Bess ev'ry now an' agin, though."
He only tries to peel the orange for a moment before grunting, wiping it on his vest, and then popping the whole fruit in his mouth. He chews for a while, and then swallows with a slight grimace. "Kinda bitter, innit, if you can't get the peel off."
The ratman caught the orange offered to him and dug its claws into its peel. He munched on the fruit while he responded to his fellow ysoki, "Thank you."
He then added, "I'm Twitch. From Akiton. Where are you from?"
-----------
{Hello Tek, hello Twitch-from-akiton! Don't worry, friends, I will not try to convert you, like some other god's followers. I think of Desna's luck as something that should speak for itself}
Looking at Twitch
{Good to see another from Akiton! It's a harsh but beautiful place. I was hatched there. Spent my life, so far, traveling around helping where I could. Wonder if I ever crossed your path before..}
{Good to see another from Akiton! It's a harsh but beautiful place. I was hatched there. Spent my life, so far, traveling around helping where I could. Wonder if I ever crossed your path before..}
Speaking out loud and hoping that wasn't some sort of offense to the bugman, the ysoki replied, "All over the place really. I used to ply my trade with a motorized travel caravan. The one owned by the Corin Family. Ever hear of them?"
The chatty ratman continued, "Yeah, been all over that planet trying to keep the vehicles running. I got red sand up to ears, I do."
He wanted to make sure, "You don't mind if I just talk back to you, do you? I mean not talk back like disrespect or nothing like that. It's just that it's strange to think in my head and you hearing about it."
After a very brief antenna wiggle, {You should speak however is best for you! I take no offense. I might have assumed. I speak mostly through my mind. If you wish you can respond though your mind, but usually its best to speak how you would normally speak. I am able to isolate and talk to an individual's mind, but I only do that when it is needed, usually I project my thoughts to all people I am conversing with. Oh, and don't worry, I am not able to pry in your head. Your thoughts are safe. Sorry for the confusion.}
Tuk'yik's mandibles shake and a sound akin to popping bubbles comes out. Even with the very alien body language this is easily interpreted as a small laugh.
{Sadly I do not recognize the Corin Family name. Though I am horrible at names, to be fair.}
Google translate is your friend Translate will detect the language and translate it. Mostly. The end result is sometimes amusingly far from where it started but usually the meaning is pretty obvious :-)
"I'm from Absalon Station. Family legend say originally from Golorion. Not know if that true or not.
I also like to talk, not just think. Talking FUN!! Like hear sound of voice. But you can think if prefer. Ok too.
Never been to Akiton. What you say different from what I've heard.
Anybody want to play a game of logħba tal-poker? Like your poker, but better"
"Hey, Akiton, Absalom Station? Nice digs, eh? Fink I been to Akiton once, runnin' a deliv'ry after the war ended. Grew up Vesk Prime meself. Course, I got outta there when I was pretty young. Got a job, y'know." Tek gives another raspy chuckle and leans forward, a twinkle in his eye.
"Now, if you're sayin' you wanna play a hand o' cards, you can deal me in now, bruv. An' get ready to lose whatever we're playin' for." The vesk seems to just keep staring forward, but a keen eye might notice clear eyelids slip across his eyes for a moment, and someone familiar with vesk culture would recognize their equivalent to winking.
The bridge of Desna's Song. 18:15 standard
Ensign Beaufort sat staring listellsssy at the main screen of Desna's display array. He'd drawn the long shift for monitoring the slow progress of the great vessel through the longest stretch of her voyage
The Diaspora represented a barrier to ships of her size and thrust capacity. Navigating through the clusters of asteroids and debris was out of the question, so the ship took a week long curve above the orbit of the ring. It was tedious work, with no real navigational needs and clear space around them.
The Ensign sighed deeply, and turned to the Caff machine, wondering when the old piece of junk would power up so he could make the hot brew he so desperately craved. His eye caught sight of flashing warning light just as he turned back. An energy spike had been detected 300 Knicks forward port of the ships current trajectory. Beaufort frowned at the reading, and tapped the dial in annoyance.
"That can't be right" he muttered to himself. The energy dispersion was equivalent to a battle fleet dropping in from Drift space. But the rest of his sensors, and the main projected display showed no signs of any vessel at all out there in the vast.
He was about to key the Comms and call the petty officer to the bridge when gentle hiss behind him caused him to turn. His eyes widened for the briefest of moments, then his head exploded, spraying sits contents across the consoles of the bridge.
The State Lounge, 18:37 common
The poker game had been running for only three hands when the ships Comms chimed their annoying medley. The voice of AVA (the ships AI) came over the speakers, talking in her annoyingly soothing voice. "All crew are to report to stations. All passengers, please report to quarters and secure your rooms. This is not a drill"
On the stage, the three members of the stage band came to a garbled halt and stood staring uncertainly at each other. Then the main doors to the Lounge crashed open and a ships Steward barrelled into the room. His dress uniform stood in stark contrast to the Marine Pistol strapped to his hip. The weapon looked menacing enough, but the man himself gave of an air of barely checked panic.
"Ok, if everyone could please just leave their meals and make their way to the main foyer. From there we'll direct you to your rooms. Rest assured, management will reimburse whatever costs you accrue for leaving food unfinished"
The four men sitting at the table looked across at each other. What the hells was going in here?
Standing up very fast {What is happening? This isn't normal is it?}
Looking to where he should go. Looking back at the group he has gotten to know a little. {Shall we go?}
As soon as the Steward came in and started talking, Twitch reached out in front of him and started gathering his poker chips, maybe even grabbing a couple not from his pile. He stuffed them all in his pockets and cheek pouches.
The ysoki looked at Tuk and nodded, "Yeah, we should go. This big tub is gonna shake. And I gotta get Bertha to maybe come out and play."
He looked at the others, "You all better gran your chips; this game ain't over yet."
He addressed the Steward, "You all need any help? I'm pretty handy to have 'round."
Tek stands when the officer comes in, not bothering to grab his chips. They could always begin again later, and right now it seems there are more important matters. When Twitch suggests otherwise, Tek looks down at the ysoki and his tail sways behind him. After a moment, he shrugs and bares his teeth in a frightening "grin," and scoops a handful of the tokens into a pocket. "Might as well. Lookin' forward to losin' some more?"
As he turns to head for the foyer, the vesk cracks his knuckles and jerks his head to the door, looking at the others. "Best get a shove-on, eh? Dunno 'bout you lot, but I ain't ready to wear the flag just yet."
Taking a second to calm down, Tuk'yik looks at the ships Steward. Trying to get a feel for the intent of his words. Routine, or is something really bad happening.
This most certainly doesn't look good. But the best thing is likely to just appear to follow instructions for the moment. And take our own precuations
Tellik drops to the ground. While he is hidden from sight, he quickly draws his pistol and puts it into his cheek pouch.
In a whisper to his new companions
"I don't like this one bit. Maybe we should just "happen" to make our way back to our suites together. And linger by that data access terminal I say outside. I'd love to access the computer and find out what is REALLY going on"
Tuk'Yik
The Steward, a tall Lashunta, looked down at the offer of help from the little Ysoki. His eyes had the look of refrained panic. He was definitely operating in a high stress situation here.
" Sir, we really need you to just get your rooms and lock the doors. Ship security is handling everything. I'm not sure exactly what's occurring here, but I don't want security to mistake a passenger for something dangerous ..." his eyes flicked towards Teksumah on that last point.
Outside the lounge, Trellik took one glance at the terminal and realised I wasn't going to be much help. The screen hissed in white noise and garbled sounds bleeped occasionally from the system. From all his experience he could tell the system itself was fried. That sent a chill through his fur. If this was a system wide spike, how in the nine hells was the ship navigating?
There was a loud explosion from above them, the sound travelling through the metal hull to echo with a booming resonance you could only experience in space. The vacuum outside prevented the loss of sound energy through particle transmission. Everything sounded louder in a ship or space station. Nothing escaped.
The noise served two purposes, the small crowd around them suddenly erupted in panicked movement, with sentients rushing towards the various corridors that led to their rooms. It also fixed the resolve of the Steward. His eyes steeled at the sound and he drew the pistol from his hip holster. He turned to the four men who had lingered the longest. " That was the escape pod bay. " his voice was flat, emotionless. " Get to your rooms, stay low. May the light shine on your path". With that he strode towards the elevator doors and took up station behind a counter there, his pistol trained on the metal frame.
Directed so the Steward can hear {And may Desna's luck guide you!}
Looking at the other 3 around him, {This is definitely serious, at least he thinks so. Shall we stay together as long as we can, till we get to our individual rooms?}
Tuk'yik is going to start moving towards his room, but attempting to stay in a group. His antennae shoot upward, reading as many vibrations as he can, making sure he doesn't miss anything, as they go.
Tuk'yik will always feel more comfortable in a group of people. So accustomed to having communal support. A racial trait from back when they were still part of the swarm
Thoroughly alarmed, Trellik draws a pistol in one hand and a baton in the other, although he holds them both besides his body where hooefully they're not too obvious.
"sticking together seems like a great idea. Lets all get our gear and then stay together in one of the cabins. Is everybody armed?"
Looking down at an empty gunbelt, but sees my small bag of ball bearings.
{My weapons are in my cabin, but I am useful without them}
The ysoki nodded, "That's where Bertha is. She's my rifle so yes, let's go to the rooms."
Without waiting for a response, Twitch took off, his small size helping him maneuver around the people.
The corridors were a mixture of ancient wood panels and modern metal paneling. The old wood veneer just couldn't be replaced cost efficiently any more, so as damage occurred the owners had gone cheaper and more pragmatic options. Every few metres, a computer terminal hissed its static and garbled beeps at the four men as they moved quickly along the narrow passage.
Nearly everyone else was in their rooms now, the doors they passed casting a slight Crimson glow from the "locked door" signs on their panels. Each of them came in turn to their rooms and ducked in to gather equipment for whatever came next.
Tekumsah was the last one to arrive at his room, but all of them were in the same general area. It's how they're table seating was arranged after all. As the big Vesk squeezed his bulk through the doorway, he could clearly hear the sound of gunfire coming from the the foyer. It seemed the ensign had met their new guests. It wouldn't be long now.
The walls began to thrum with sound. A low vibration, at first barely discernible but rising to a deep rumble that set the teeth in edge and caused the ears to ache. Tuk'Yik was the first to notice it, his carapace and spiracles amplifying the sound and causing his antennae to twitch in annoyance. The entire vessel was now humming, like some ancient marine mammal sending its song through the deep waters of old Golarion.
Hands gripped weapons or flexed in anticipation as they watched the doors to their room.
..........
.........
The ship came apart. There was on better way to describe those last brief moments.
Each panel, each wire and screw, twisting and separating like some bizarre TelePrompTer shematic occurring in real time. The artificial gravity gave way and they found themselves drifting in a soul of debris and dissipating atmosphere as the the vast emptiness of space greedily sucked the gases and failed away from the "ship"
People of all races floated in shock, unable to act with no fronctio al surface to move from, and with the atmosphere rapidly destroyed, the small group could only watch helpessly as those without armour or protective space suits succumbed to the cold and pressure.
The area around them suddenly erupted in a bright blue light, a ring of energy forming around the debris field and filling with what looked like the brightest and bluest water any of them had seen. The wall of energy rushed inwards, inexorably ......
Everything went white.......
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Twitch went to his room, grabbed his laser rifle and prepared to sell his life dearly.
His mother's advice flashed through his head as the ship started falling apart, "Stay in the warren. Find yourself a wife. Have many litters of children. Like your cousin Earl."
He remembered saying, "Cousin Earl has no ambition and can;t see his feet due to his potbelly..."
He mumbled to himself as another bolt flew off a cheap metal panel, "I bet cousin Earl would be laughing at me now..."
The ysoki stuffed his handgun and ammo in his cheek pouches* as everything went white...
-------------
They awoke to the sensation of something damp and viscous covering their faces and body. Their first reflex was to wrench two, thin tubes from the nose and open the mouth to extract a small pipe which apparently kept them from drowning in the thick gel now draining through the bottom of an enclosed cylinder supporting their upright bodies. Harsh light shone from above as they wiped more of this unknown substance from their face and eyes. Their muscles felt weak and uncertain as they pused open a transparent window-like door to release them into the room beyond.
Eight, similar cylinders greet their eyes, all arranged along the room's four, stone walls, forming an irregular octagon. Each one appears constructed of a thick, durable, organic material except for the transparent doors which swing open from the front. Fibrous roots snake down from the 15-foot ceiling overhead, attaching to the top of these cylinders, and a metal plate bolted above them illuminated the room. To the north stood a door bereft of hinges or handles, while a green, three-inch circle slowly blinks on the wall next to it.
All four of the table companions found themselves in this room, covered in gel and naked as the day came in to the universe. Three other creatures were also emerging from the fluid, their thick brown fur matted and clumped from the gel. Each of them stood around the size of Ysoki, but had the heads of dogs. Their arms and legs were muscular and their jaws moved in snarls as they took in the room and the group of sentients from the Golarion system.
The ysoki cleared his throat loudly and spit some vile stuff on the floor next to him.
Even before opening his eyes, he noticed that Big Bertha was not within arm's reach.
More hacking and spiting; next he noticed he was naked but, more importantly, were the dog-like people currently growling at him.
He backed away and went toward his fellow poker player seeing as how they were in the same butt-naked situation he was.
"Anybody know what happened?"
He checked his cheek pouches, "S!*~, I have nothing, truly nothing."
He looked at the dog people, "Listen, we are in this together OK. I did not do this to you. Understand?"
-----------
Gel covering all of Tuk'yik's carapace, dripping down on to the floor. His eyes and antenna move around the room quickly taking in his surroundings.
Looking over at Twitch {I have no idea what in the abyss that was.}
Looking down at his naked body, mating claws visible for the first time in public since he was a child. Tuk'yik quickly pulls them as close to his body as possible. His skin getting ever so slightly darker shade of green. A quick shake of this head.
Looking at these "dog" like creatures {Excuse me.. Do you know why we are here? What happened? We seem to be in a situation. Are we being experimented on?}
While projecting these words to the group in this room, he looks around the room with eyes and antenna. Looking for monitoring equipment, cameras or sensors that could be watching us.
What the <deleted> is going on? Please, let this be some nightmare. Wake up! Wake up!!!
Trellik quickly ducks behind the Vesk, looking around the room frantically for something that he could possibly use as a weapon.
He also holds his paws up in an attempt to show lack of hostility and mirrors Twitch
"We friend. You not fight us, we not fight you. Friend!"
Tekumsah had taken some umbridge at the ensign's glance his way, and even had a snappy remark on his tongue, but he let it go as the fear in the man's eyes became more obvious. With a hooked thumb he'd made his way with the others back toward their rooms, ducking inside as he heard the gunfire. On his bunk, he'd taken a quick swig from his flask, replaced it, and double-checked the scattergun's load. Then he'd waited... and then he'd started cursing and helplessly activated his armor's life support, and hoped for the best as the ship came apart around him. Well, it ain't how you saw yourself wearing the flag, but it beats prison, innit?
- - - - -
In the stone room, Tekumsah sputters alive with a start, rearing up in his pod and ripping the tubes from his face. He practically crashes to the floor, nearly turning the container over with his bulk, and his tail writhes in agitation and confusion as he casts about, clear lids invisible over his eyes. He catches sight of the other familiar faces, but then his gaze settles on the doglike creatures. They might look sort of like the ysoki... but they also look angry and liable to attack.
So Tek does hat his people do best, besides staging military conquests. He pushes himself to his feet and rears up to his full size, over seven feet of bristling, powerful muscle. His jaws open in a fearsome snarl as his teeth show, and his tail snaps through the air as he cracks his knuckles. The entire display is designed to cow the enemy, startle and shock and browbeat them into submission without even raising a weapon.
The sound of a strange voice speaking into,their heads set the dog men to helping. They looked around, more agitated than ever, their teeth bared and ears flattened as growls rumbled deep in their throats.
Both Ysoki moved into the protective field of the hulking Vex, doing their best to look non threatening, even as the giant reptilian expanded and oozed the threat of lethal violence.
No language barrier could mistake that stance, and the already phased and rattled creatures came to realisation that this was not the time nor place to start aggressive negotiations.
The three creatures retreated back into a neutral corner of the room and began panting in distress and uncertainty. For now at least, they were content to sit and wait.
Twitch breathed out a little easier as he moved next to Tek.
He looked up at the bristling vesk and whispered, "I think I took some of your poker chips but I'll give them back to you as soon as I find them."
Apology given, he stated, "How about we all slowly move as a group and grab those sticks over there? You see my mother always told me to keep my claws clean and they're just not good for much more than scratching my ear."
The ysoki kept an eye out for the dog-people and looked around.
---------------
Realizing, too slowly, that speaking telepathically to strange aliens might not be smart, he turns to the 3 he knows. {I am glad they backed down a bit. Though they look as nervous as I feel}
Walking over to the stick near his tank, grabbing it. Looking again in his tank and the goo that is still on the floor. Trying to figure out what it is, and if he has ever heard of it being used in the Pact Worlds. Or any race that might use something like this.
While looking at the goo. {We should figure out how to get out of here. Anyone have any idea what that green circle thing is on the wall? We able to open that door? I am not sure I trust whatever put us here, after the events on the Desna's Song. Also, why where we released?}
"Thank you Murmillo La'Awethikah. Think you stopped fight"
He sidles over to the clubs, grabs one, and then goes to the door and looks it over to see if he can figure anything our
(2 lower if computers was appropriate check)
He'll also try to see if he can identify anything about the dog people or, at least, try to get some clues on how to keep them calm, see whether they're sapient, etc.
. Note that he is a Xenoseeker so, in theory, he does NOT take a penalty for rarity. Yeah, I know, identification may be impossible but I thought I'd at least point it out :-)
Twitch
Twitch took the time to carefully scan the room now that the dog men had backed off. He couldn't determine any more useful information than what they'd already discovered, except the gel was starting to become even more viscous as it pooled on the floor and lay exposed to the atmosphere.
Tuk'Yik
The poles looked strange to him. They were heavy and long enough to be wielded two handed, but the leather loop at the end just made no sense to him.
The pods on the other hand, reminded very much of the egg chambers from his planet. The gel was clearly life sustaining. Probably something that cold be turned into a protein food snack if it could be collected before it spoiled. The odds themselves reminded him of stasis pods, for deep space travel before Drift engines made that into short trrips.
Trellik
Trellis moved cautiously to the green panel that pulsed gently near tine door. As he checked over, his hand brushed against it and the panel felt warm briefly. There was a slight throb, like a pulse beneath thin skin, then the door beside him spiralled open noiselessly.
Beyond the doorway, he caught sight of a much larger chamber, though it was cast in darkness, broken only by the occasional flicker of light as sparks leapt from the walls and ceiling.
He couldn't place a name to the dog men, but he remembered ancient texts talking of the gnoll expansions pre Gap era. No one took much notice to stuff like that any more though. The Gap had done a thoroughly good job of messing up reliable records of the past. It was very possible these were descendants of those aggressive gnolls of the home worlds. If so, it would make reading their behaviours and maybe working out a language with them much easier.
With nothing to put the gel into, Tuk'yik takes note to come back and save some of this stuff, just in case we don't get access to food later.
Seeing the door open, he moves over to the opening. Tries to get a good look though the opening.
Compound eyes and antennae focus outside the door, looking for anything of interest, or any movement.
The ysoki continued to lick his paw and wipe off the gel from his fur where it was already staring to harden.
With the dog-men at bay, he went to the door to try and figure what's going on and, more importantly, how to get out of here.
He asked, "Does anyone remember anything that happened after the ship started to fall apart?"
He studied the pods and the gel and the tubes to see if anything seemed even remotely familiar.
-----------
While taking a look out the door, {I remember nothing! I think I was able to protect myself after the ship fell apart, but I just whited out and woke up here. By the way, if we save some of that goo, we could eat it later. Might be smart, if we don't find somewhere to get food.}
Tekumsah takes a moment more to stare down the dog creatures, and then he chuckles at Twitch's comment about claws. "That's interesting, mate. My da practically raised me on how to get dirty with my fists. Sometimes I wonder if he'd be proud o' how I bloody 'em now." He flexes the fingers again and casts one more look toward the strange beings before moving toward the door.
While the others scope out what's beyond the portal, Tek cracks his neck and considers Twitch's question. "Must've taken a good crack in the shell or summat, coz yeah, can't fink of a bleedin' fing since the ship went all pacty. Summat ain't right."
So, how good a storage container is a Ysoki cheek pouch? A question that I didn't think I'd be asking :-).
"No, I don't remember anything either. I wonder how long we were in those pods? Could be a LOT longer than we realize. Happy thought. Not!!"
He will very cautiously taste a tiny, tiny bit of the goop to see if is is edible.
"We should try and make friends with dog things. Maybe similar to gnolls. Not want them angry behind us"
He then tries talking directly to them. Taps himself.
"Trellik. Ysoki"
points at Twitch
"Twitch. Ysoki"
He then goes to some of the goop and draws something approximating a Ysoki.
"Ysoki." Then points to Twitch and himself.
[b]"Ysoki"
Then points to them inquiringly
Beyond the door
Outside their current room, the place seemed to open up more. A series of corridors that seemingly joined at main juncture, punctuated by a floor to ceiling metal shaft that looked like an elevator system.
The room was very dimly lit, mostly from the the occasional sparks from damaged electrical panels and falling lights.
A rhythmic noise came from the left most corridor, sounding suspiciously like something constantly opening and closing. There was no other sound apart from that.
The Pods
Twitch couldn't tell any more than had already been discerned by the others when it came to these devices. They were clearly designed to keep life forms in a suspended state but alive and healthy. The technology was foreign to him, but he felt confident he could work out the necessary essentials if it came to it.
The Dog Men
The small beasts looked warily at Trellik, but noted his movements and words carefully. Eventually one of them pointed at itself and the others and growled something that sounded like Baghra. They then turned their backs in the group, huddling together in a defensive stance but clearly unwilling to continue any more discourse. They were still panting in distress.
"Time to go. Nothing here. Lets Explore. Find answers. Or food, water, weapons. Tekumsah, you toughest. You willing to take lead? If get PROPER weapon I lead then"