GM Fireclaw's SFS PBP 1-08 Sanctuary of Drowned Delight (Inactive)

Game Master FireclawDrake

Moxie poses dramatically and extends a hand towards Oshessa. "I'm Moxie Moon and I hail from Absalom Station, center of the Pact Worlds. As a kid I was the beloved star of "Too Much Moxie." I'm guessing that your community has been isolated from the Pact infospheres for awhile though, so you probably wouldn't recognize me."

Moxie brushes her gold streaked hair back with one gloved hand and flashes a smile that is clearly intended to charm at the resplendent Morlamaw. "Anyways, nowadays I am one of the Starfinders up and coming diplomatic envoys." She looks around at her fellow Starfinders and gestures at each of them.

"Don't feel like our scant numbers undermine the seriousness with which we take this first meeting. The standard size of an exploratory Starfinder team is only around four to six individuals. And also, I can assure you that if our numbers seem to be lacking, we surely make up for it in quality."

Drei continues with his closed posture and stands saying nothing.

Remi ducks her head slightly in a gesture reminiscent of the bows of the morlamaws. "My name is Remi, and I am from the planet of Castrovel. I left to join the Starfinders in order to visit new places and discover new cultures and forms of life, so I thank you for this opportunity and for your welcome here."

She can't help thinking, I hope all these formal greetings won't go on for too much longer, but tries to maintain a patient and friendly expression. I'm glad Moxie and Osuro are here to handle most of the talking.

"Lovely, lovely. Thank you, I appreciate hearing all about it" Oshessa says, her manner continuing to be warm and friendly. "I wonder," she says as she shuffles forward towards Osuro and Moxie, "This is where your stomach is?" she asks as a flipper brushes against Osuro's midriff. She continues to shuffle, now in front of Moxie, "And your lungs, here yes?" she touches just below Moxie's bust.

Without seeming to realize how uncomfortably she is acting, Oshessa merely smiles. "Fascinating. I shall not keep any more of your time, Starfinders. Please, make yourselves at home. Dinner shall be served soon, and shortly afterwards I shall give a sermon on the Weeping Knight. I ask that you avoid entering the airlocks on this side," she points to the north end of the lodge, "as they contain our Holy Relics, and outsiders are forbidden. Once you have heard my sermon, you shall be free to enter."

"I must retire for now, thank you." Oshessa smiles at the group, before turning and leaving, exiting back the way she came. Teltham, the silent morlamaw who greeted you, also turns and accompanies her.

As a note - north on the map is actually to the right. Wanted to be able to fit it all in on one of the slides, so I rotated it. In case my writing wasn't clear enough, I'll warn you before you attempt to enter an area that Oshessa asked you not to.

Hinevera watches Oshessa leave with admiration on her face. "Isn't she wonderful?" she says somewhat wistfully.

She shakes her head a little and smiles at the Starfinders once more. "Please feel free to start your search. We are here to answer any questions you may have!" she smiles again and turns to go, before stopping and turning back around. "Oh! One last thing. One of our own accidently activated a security robot in that room there." She points at the first door on the left. "It seems to have gone haywire and attacks anybody who goes in, so please be careful!"

Hinevera then smiles and turns around to go talk with the other morlamaw.

Chivix gave his little half-bow again and then started off to follow the morlamaw's words. One area being as good as another, he headed off to the left to the first door there. After all, malfunctioning robots were so interesting!

I can't move myself on the map, but I am definitely making a beeline for the malfunctioning robot room :)

Sense motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Remi gives the two exiting morlamaws a side-eye glance, but she has no choice under the circumstances but to accept them at face value. She also stares at the departing Hinevera with some consternation. "Isn't she a little too cheerful if there's a robot attacking people? Oh well, we'd better take care of it." She follows after Chivix and approaches the indicated room, while cautiously drawing her static arc pistol just in case.

The slides are set to view only; you need to give edit access

Everyone can position themselves as they choose on the slides now. You have a chance to position yourself before Chivix opens the doors.

This crowded workshop has benches and a large cabinet lining the walls. The room is filled with disassembled computers, weapons, and gadgets. You enter from the north, while another door exits to the east.

Inside there are three security drones that float up in response and begin powering up their weapons.

All PCs except He-who-Grinds-Blades-to-Dust are up. Reminder you can position yourself somewhere outside the room before Chivix opens the door.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 7 + (2) = 13

As Moxie sees the drones begin to power up, she pulls her arc pistol out of it's holster and flips the switch to the KILL setting.

Moxie points to the closest drone and shouts, "C'mon guys, concentrate your attacks on that one until we bring it down!"

Get 'Em on the closest drone.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

"Roughly, yes. There is an assortment of additional organs to complicate things a bit, though. Perhaps some Pact Worlds anatomy education could be part of a trade agreement?"

------

"Rogue robot, hunh?" Osuro draws her Arc Pistol before the door is opened, also, trying to be prepared for any threat posed by the robot.

As the door opens, she registers what's inside, and the fact the robots are activating, she decides to try a cheap solution. "This is Osuro, Starfinder agent 15864-701. Remain in your current position and power down."

Unlikely, but it had to be tried.

Grinds bends over and makes a loud clicking and clacking of disapproval.

They couldnt have warned us?

Drei hustles toward the tables as he seemingly grabs, what looks like, a sniper rifle out of thin air (the case he left in the airlock rattles) and then presses an odd looking button on the battery. Upon reaching the tables, he crouches behind some chairs to remain hidden to the enemies. His movements are fluid and quite obviously well practiced.

swift-activate called fusion, standard to cast supercharge weapon, move 30ft +hide
Stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27

Engineering: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

Remi raises her pistol to fire as the doors swoosh open, but then takes a closer look at the robots. "Those are like the ones Starfinders often use. If we can prove that we're Starfinders, they might just back down." She looks over to Osuro, who appears to be having a similar idea. "Does anyone have one of those... Starfinder Society implants?" She holds up one hand and flexes it with her eyebrows raised questioningly.

No other action this turn

Yeah, but I tried the verbal bit first. I can upgrade the attempt if there seems to be the possibility of a payoff.

As Osuro states her number, the drones suddenly stop and turn to her. In unison, they say: "Present identification."

Without visible hesitation, though her mind is running at a great pace, and she considered just getting out of the way, Osuro raises her left hand and activates the sub-dermal implant, displaying the Starfinder Society emblem clearly through her palm.

"Identification accepted. Welcome, Starfinder! Have a pleasant day." All three security drones speak in unison, giving a somewhat creepy effect. They then power down and go into inactive mode. They will require a restart before they go into defense mode once more.

COMBAT OVER

As the Starfinders explore the room, it becomes immediately apparent that this was most assuredly a workshop of some sort back when the lodge was fully operational. There appears to a locked cabinet near the back of the room.

Some equipment is scattered around the workshop, including a weaponsmithing toolkit and a pile of 600 UPBs.

The Cabinet will require a seperate engineering check to open.

Seeing the robots power down, Moxie reholsters her arc pistol and steps into the room to look around. "It looks like we have some tools for weapons manufacturing and some raw material in here. If we had the time, we could probably make something out of it. Maybe one you more technically minded agents could come in here and see if there is anything else in here that we could use."

engineering, examination: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25
engineering, cabinet: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

"Ah yes, these are definitely Pathfinder Society security droids. And this workshop appears to have been abandoned for the most part a long time ago. But see here? Some of these tools have been used recently. Chivix thinks that the morlamaws might have been trying to use the workshop when they activated the security robots. Now, let us see what is in the cabinet."

Chivix brought out his engineering kit and selected a few tools to help open the locked cabinet. His tool kit was a bit eclectic, having a little bit of everything from fine-bitted drivers to battery-operated cutters, to blasting caps. You never know what you are going to need in a junkpile.

Remi breaths a sigh of relief. It's always nice when brains are more effective than brawn. A little smugly, she takes a look around the room they've opened.

Engineering: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

She doesn't notice anything that their shirren friend hasn't already spotted, so she wanders over to see if he needs any help getting the cabinet open. He seems to know what he's doing and has things well in hand, however.

Drei wordlessly walks over to the workable corner and carefully sets his rifle down.

Chivix hears the satisfying click of the lock bending to his mastery, and the cabinet swings open. Inside there are some medical supplies, and a pair of weapons - a tactical cryo pike and a squad machine gun. The Starfinders who went shopping with Osuro immediately recognize the Kalo tech used in the weapon designs. Each are designed for underwater use. The machine gun has something scratched on the side in an uncommon language.

"I hope it doesn't become important, but I can make good use of the Medkit if something happens."

For reference, looking at everyone's sheets, Remi has a Medicine of +10 and I have a +11, so we've got two good options. Either of us can Take 10 and successfully Treat Deadly Wounds with an Advanced Medkit.

"That is good to know." Remi silently hands out a healing serum to each person. With that accomplished, she eyes the door on the eastern wall. "Does anyone want to do something else with these drones, or shall we move on to check the next room?"

I'd say it makes sense for each of us to carry one of the mk2 healing serums, just in case. That is a door on the bottom wall, right? Once everyone is done here Remi will go to inspect it for traps and see if it's locked.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

Moxie takes the serum from Remi and slides it into a hip pocket. "Thanks. Hopefully we won't need these, but it's always nice to have a little magic healing."

Moxie points to the door on the eastern wall. "How about that door? Who wants to do the honor of opening it?"

The door slides open easily as the Starfinders continue their investigation. Racks of weapons line the walls of this area, though many show signs of damage from spending decades underwater. Several suits of armor hang from the southern wall, while various boxes of tools rest on the ground. The only exit from this room is the door you came through.

Where to next? The only "off-limits" door you can see is the airlock is the back right of the map.

I say keep working clockwise around the room

Chivix looked around the armory and decided he didn't really need anything at this point. He moved on to the next door in line, wondering what there was to find here.

Glancing over the equipment, Osuro stops and reaches out to the armor. "This is nice . . .." she says while fondling one of the D-Suits. "There are two of them here. It is a pretty good armor upgrade for me. Anybody else?"

Not sure how many people would consider these an upgrade, but it would take me from +2/+3 to +5/+6 for the same bulk (L) and AC penalty (none). Doesn't mean I'm the right person to get one of them.

Fine with me. I rarely get attacked, and if I do I am a 6 playing down. I have twice as many hp/sp as most of you.

Drei gives the weapon a cursory glance, then follows the party.

"You should go for it, Os. I think the blue stripes on it will compliment your eyes. As for me...". Moxie picks up a gleaming spear off the rack. "I think I look pretty badass with this spear. Take a picture of me, will ya?"

"Quite nice, quite nice indeed." Remi agrees with Osuro. "It just gives off that air of... exploring new planets, you know?" She grins at Moxie and pulls out her datapad to snap a static image of a spear-throwing pose.

The D-suit armor would be a substatial improvement for me as well: a gain of +4/+4 AC, so I'd like to use one if it seems nobody else needs it.

Also, continuing to the next room clockwise sounds good to me.

"Certainly. I'm thinking from just below waist high, up towards your face, with the spear planted on the ground in front, leaning out so that the top of the picture seems larger than the bottom? Real warrior-woman poster pose."

Drei rolls his eyes, shakes his head, and sighs at the shenanigans. He follows Chivix through the next door.

The massive haan tucks a few of the starknives onto his person.

Having the proper tools is important for any job

Posting from my phone so editting the map may have to wait until I get home. --- Nope, managed it.

As the girls engage in an impromptu photo-op (or perhaps "branding excercise"), the rest of the group carries on investigating the rooms. While some of the morlamaw are looking curiously into the room with the now-disabled drones, most are simply happy to carry on their business. Chivix opens the next door...

This small rectangular room measures about thirty feet across. It has a single entrance to the north. Cabinets and small counters line most of the walls here, with a cooking table and stove combination resting against the southern wall. A pike lies along one long counter with several fish speared on it. A single magenta morlamaw is in the kitchen working away on dinner, maintaining several boiling pots of water and gutting fish from the pike. He greets you as you enter and introduces himself as Zavlig, but otherwise is focused on his work.

Life science: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

Remi peeks into the small room that seems to be a kitchen, curious what morlamaws eat. “Impressive, some of the preserved food is still around. Wait, is that-“ She rushes over to a small collection of empty bottles. “I know this ingredient! It’s used in lashuntan treats back home, but usually it’s poisonous to aquatic creatures. You aren’t cooking with it, are you?” She whirls to face Zavlig.

At that, Drei suddenly grabs at the air once more, his rifle appearing in his hands. With trained efficiency he levels it at the cook.

Moxie rushes into the room, but doesn't step past Drei, who is pointing a weapon at the morlamaw chef. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is going on here? I'm sure there is a perfectly rational explanation for what's going on. Right?"

Moxie whispers to Drei, "Good job locking him down. Please don't kill him yet. I think we should let the Morlamaw leadership deal with him."

"Why are we threatening the cook, again, exactly?"

The morlamaw raises his flippers as Drei levels his rifle, giving the universal sign of surrender. "I wasn't cooking with it, I swear!" he says fearfully, "It's been there a few weeks. I ain't always the cook, we all take turns! Even Oshessa cooks!"

Moxie looks the morlamaw up and down.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (18) + 7 + (6) = 31

"His story seems like it makes sense, but it doesn't really matter. Either way, I think we have to bring this to the attention of their leaders and let them deal with it. The question is whether we tell them right away or do some more investigating first. What does everybody think?"

Drei doesn't move, finger still over the trigger.

"Chivix is thinking that he would not like to partake of anything prepared in a kitchen where empty food containers sit around for weeks at a time without being cleared away. This is worse than Klivvorinix-Grixvvynl's kitchen, and Chivix left that place many years ago, swearing to return with a flamethrower and a container of synth-fuel...for the good of all!"

Chivix let the others deal with motives and such. his mind was already back on the security robots, and the uses he could put them to in his own work. Maybe as a external remote for Gravy?

Still thinking about it, he moves on to the next door.

Remi is startled by the sudden threats of violence. She holds out her hands and cautious, "Hold on, hold on. Even if someone did take it, it might have been a mistake. I agree that we should inform their leaders, but we might as well continue searching the other rooms first." She sends the morlamaw cook a sympathetic glance and then follows Chivix toward the next room.

"Okay?" the morlamaw looks nervously at Drei, still threatening. One of the pots on the stove is starting to boil over. "I need to handle that please!"

Meanwhile, Chivix is moving on. As he arrives at the next door, he notes that it appears to be an airlock, and it appears to be in use. After a moment, the airlock clicks to 'all-clear' and slides open, a pair of morlamaw dripping wet as they look at the Shirren. They greet Chivix genially and slip by him.

Those who wish to enter the airlock do so, and it slowly fills up with water before the other side opens. There's a set of stairs that leads down into a flooded room. This room is the basement of the Lodge, and was likely a barracks. Now, the morlamaw have filled the room with beds and checks, providing a living space for several dozen creatures. Blowing gently in the water is a trio of curtained off sections on the far side - perhaps for the higher ranking members.

The basement has roughly the same dimensions as the top layer withou the walls, but there's no map.

Drei lowers his weapon and walks away to follow Chivix. Though before he is out of the cook's sight he shoots him a glare as if saying I am not finished with you.

Perc: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26
Engineering: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

Drei spots a glint of something in the room and maneuvers over. He seems to pick up something and then bring it back to the group. (Feel free to read the Perception spoiler)

"Oh, an insignia, hm?" Remi inspects the object in Drei's hand.

Culture: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

Not seeing anything particularly interesting about it, she slowly wades through the water to look curiously at one of the beds. So this is where they sleep, I see, I see. I wonder if they ever have trouble with mold around here.

engineering: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

"Chivix thinks that this insignia looks too new to have been leftover from a century ago. According to Gravy's analysis, the design has varied subtly over the decades. See here, where the six tick marks are in the upper semi-circle? Those were only added about twenty years ago. No, this insignia is definitely recent."

Drei, after hearing Chivix and Gravy's analysis, tightly closes his fist around the insignia. Based on the few visible facial features, it is likely he is quite angry. He then quickly heads back to the airlock while pulling out his rifle once more.

In the airlock (should anybody be with him) he seems to be double checking the rifle's peak operation level, in a fashion that suggests that he plans to use it a lot very soon.

Culture: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
A chill goes down Moxie's spine as she sees the Starfinder insignias and realizes something is wrong with the Morlamaw's story. She looks over nervously at Drei.., and sees that he appears ready to shoot somebody.

Moxie approaches him and whispers to fell halfling, "Drei, I am grateful that you're ready to act, but we need to get a little more information before we start putting holes in people. There is something definitely wrong here, but I get the feeling that not everyone here is in on it. I don't think you can talk, but can you nod if you understand me?"

Moxie then pulls Osuro and He-who-grinds-blades-to-dust to the side and informs them that there is something fishy (pun intended) going on with ths Morlamaw community.