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A scrappy little halfling forces his way through the crowd of tall folk. As he moves to the front of the room he makes a quick about face, trying not to loose a rifle, that's almost three time larger than him, over his shoulder. He makes short, quick bow and blurts out-
"Oi, mates! The name be Reticent Stroidjumper. Now I know you must be thinkin,"
He straightens up, raises the tone of his voice and makes a mocking face- "Is your name Mum?"
"See, me mum thought she was a funny one but you won't be laughing if you call me that."
And he makes a sweeping gaze at everyone and wipes his thumb across his nose.
Shifting the bulk of his weapon, his demeanor changes to a more pleasant attitude,
"Now see, me great-great-great-great-great gran-da woke up after the Gap lost and confused. Previously being a Lakehopper, he had no idea what to do in this big metal structure and fled to the Diaspora were he explored most of the belt, helped set up the council at Broken rock, and became one of the first freecaptains earning the name Captain Stroidjumper or that's how me mean ol' mum says it."
"Needless to say, I hear you are a plunging into a deep dark rock and your gonna need the ranged support of someone who has it in their blood. Now while you may never see me,"
He hands out his character sheet so you all can see his +14 to stealth and then disappears, letting the paper fall to the ground as if it floated there on its own
"I'm still there, covering your back side as will be usual."
His voice fades and everyone looks around then back at the sheet that is not there and all you hear is giggles at the most inappropriate times....
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Walking into the room is a middle-aged dwarf. His face looks like he has seen more than his share of the hard life. Wearing a burnished plate of iridishell armor with the holy symbol of Iomedae inscribed in the chest piece, his left gauntlet inscribed with a stylized hammer, and the right gauntlet inscribed with a stylized anvil. On his back he is a very large cannon, and on his side is a decent looking sword.
”Agh…. My’s name is Baragh Dented Helm, from Salvation's End…well…at least that is where I last remember being from. I am here as a holy warrior of Iomedae, and of Torag bless his divineness--where ever he is. I figure that she won’t mind me also worshiping a lost god...at least until I find him. Blasted thing...losing a god, even though I swore he was still around back on Salvation's End.”
Lightly thumping his left hand on his head and then shaking his head. ”Things been a bit fuzzy in me noggin for a while now. But I know that the Starfinders will help me find Torag, and the Lady Iomedae herself is giving me her divine blessing to do so. “
Looking around he realized that he is once again likely the punching dummy for the group. ” Me old da used to say….’Son, the only thing we are good for is to hit, and to be hit.’ I guess that is what I am here for the group. See….I know how to use this sword, and this cannon, but me da…he was a scrapper. Taught me all he knew. So, expect me to run forward, and trying to draw the fire and ire of all our baddies. Ya’ll might have noticed the Hammer and Anvil of Torag on my gauntlets….yeah, I prefer scrappin as well as my da.”
With that he will look for a wall to prop up, not worrying about sitting down.
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An android with purple eyes wanders into the room, pre-occupied with a data pad in her hand. She is wearing large audio headphones sync'ed to her internal audio processors and doesn't seem to notice the two others already in the room. When she looks up she's startled and quickly pulls the headphones off. The sounds of Strawberry Machine Cake quickly cut off as her internal audio processors pause the recording.
"Oh, my apologies. My sensors were tuned to the 10-20kHz range to listen to aspects of my music that I had not analyzed previously. I failed to notice the low frequencies generated by others in the room." Her tone is flat, not common among androids who haven't tried to perfect the natural intonation of speech.
"My designation is LA64397F. Most organics, however, prefer to call me Elle or Ella. All are valid. Designation Historia-7 has assigned me as the data analyst and archivist for a survey." She's dressed in what is sometimes known as 'hacker-chic' and carries a pistol on her belt and a laser rifle slung over her shoulder.
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Soon after Elle introduced herself a fairly tall Kasatha walks into the room, his light armor is covered by loose clothing in the color of dark red. He wears no visible emblems or marks, he walks and behaves in a way that people might want to look at him and hear what he says. The only weapons that he has is pulsecaster pistol and a long pike.
Over his head a bit to the back a sphere of pure darkness hoover. When you look at the sphere it seems to be sucking the air around it, yet it has to be some illusion as nothing is sucked inside.
When the person stands in front of you with one hand holding the pike and the other pair crossed he speaks with a low voice: "Welcome fellow agents my name is Vecro Asynti from the House Khadil, you may call me Vecro. As you probably noted I am a student to the stars and a big fan of honorable fight. At the moment I can be of best use in a close fight and to a certain extent in diplomacy. As I just got hired by starfinder society I will follow the lead of more experienced agents."
After that Vecro went to the back to chat with Baragh about his past missions.
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With Baragh seeing Vecro coming to the back of the room to chat with him, he will pull out a hip flask and take a hit of the liquid. With that he will pull out a folding straw from a pouch and offer the flask to Vecro. "I've had a friend with your same features. I know he was a bit sensitive on how he drank. If this will help, go ahead, that is good dwarven spirits."
With that he will quietly (as quiet as a dwarf can be in the back of the room) start to chat about his past missions to Salvation's End, and dealing with cyber zombies on Absolam Station.
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Vecro accepts the flask, put the straw under the scarf covering his mouth and take a sip. Giving himself a moment to recover he speaks.
"Highly appreciated my fellow warrior, it is always nice to meet someone accustomed to the habits of your people."
Solarian makes a pause to cough. Then he continues: "I only heard stories of dwarven spirit and I must say that they were not exaggerated, it's deadly. The more I think of it, maybe it's actually the dwarven booze that started us drinking through the straws in the first place. HA ha ha.".
Considering his joke funny, Vecro burst into laughter.
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He guffaws at that quite loudly. "Lad, this is just some of the weaker spirits...I don't have any of the GOOD stuff on me, that stuff is expensive. Those spirits would make hair grow on even your chin it is that strong. But tis great to have another person who likes to get into the middle of a scrap and will be a great ally in protecting the others." With that comment he lightly slaps Vecro on the back.
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A small giggle followed by a "YYYYYYYeah, zzoombiesssss" echo from the dark. A tiny blur darts out of the shadow to Baragh's shoulder and steals a quick sip through the straw in the dwarf's hand. It then appears of the floor in front of the two tallfolk in the form of Reticent.
"Oh, I remember that night of the zombies. I got back home just after all you Starfinders broke into me best mates house." He chuckles and adjusts his rifle. "I'm not mad though. That wanker owed me quite the spot of creds. You all also did a good thing for me cousin's mum, so there's that...."
Reticent crosses his arms behind his back, pods up to Baragh, tries to stretch to his full height to meet eye to eye with the dwarf (still almost hidden underneath the beard) and stares for a brief moment before he steps quickly away and extends a hand with a big smile to say "Good to meet ya, new best mate! Here's for hoping this partnership ends better than the last....and more lucrative too. Me mates call me Mute."
He quickly flashes his eyes from kasatha to the android and cups hand around his mouth. Seeing how Vecro is probably the second of his kind that Mute has ever seen, he whispers to Baragh "By the way, dibs on the lady droid." Giggling, he turns, striding up to LA64397F and leaves the dwarf and the kasatha confused with the wrong assumptions.
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Baragh looks at the diminutive folk in front of him, sizing him up as it were. His eyes looking over the uniform, equipment and even the oversized rifles on Stroidjumpers back. After the quick evaluation, he smiles and pulls out a battered field cup and pours a bit more of the strong brew into the cup and hands it over to Mute.
"I've never been one to judge a person by their size, as me da used to say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And me friend...that gun of yours sure will make the big ones fall. I hope all your bullets find their mark. I would be honored for you to have my back in any scrapes we get into."
As Mute leaves, Baragh looks over towards LA64397F, and wonders what kind of trouble the crazy halfling will get himself into. He shrugs minutely and mentally prays to Torag--and Iomedae--to protect the lives of fools.
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Vecro, smiles listening to Mute saying: "He is intense. I hope he will live to see the end of this mission.". Reticent is definitely the first Halfling that Solarian see in his life. So he watches him carefully, being interested in the way he speaks and moves.
Later he changes his focus to Ella and wanders her reaction to dwarven spirits. He is aware that Androids are naturally more resilient to poisons and wonders if they can suffer from a hangover.
"Even if this mission will be boring I am happy with the team we have."
With that Vecro sits down watching from time to time if someone else would enter the room.
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Ella sips the dwarven brew. At first, she drinks it a bit like tepid tea, wary and a bit offended. Then you see her blink very quickly several time. The android then tosses back the rest of the drink in a single gulp. When she brings the drink down, she has a very broad grin on her face.
"I shumi drigowus liropds!" She smiles at Baragh before her words register. "Hurtima writoch?" Gridros bristal rhdriso chrispe! She blinks several times before hurriedly reaching for her hacking and engineering tools and begins running several diagnostic scans.
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Mute stops in his tracks as Elle passes by him, contemplating her comment. Not quite sure how to react, the android's flat mannerism continues to wash over him.
"Oi, ya know," wheeling around on his heels, "I accept your comment about being a child coz' I would never want to to be a cold, stuffy android, though you won't ever see me skipping around with lollies and comic books," he stuff a comic book deeper into his pocket, "and if I'm a liar who will continue to say your a vision of beauty, then what does that make you? Don't hurt yourself in that loop of logic." He strides past her seeing Vecro's gaze on him and Elle, no doubt having quite the laugh at the two's banter.
He pads up Vecro and sits besides him. He tries to mimic Vecro's posture staring at his two hands versus the Kasatha's four, shakes the confusion from his mind and continues, "Not sure how the women are in your culture," he says with a side look, "but I feel like Asmodeous just got a chill."
He continues to stretch himself to try and match Vecro's pose but carries on, asking questions, to Vecro's surprise that these are rather intelligent compared to the androids comments, about him and his race answering questions in return.
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Immediately after the Lashunta enters an android. He's draped in black and grey clothes and armor. A rifle hangs at his shoulder. He nods when he notices the other member of the party set up for the new mission he will be involved in.
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"Your arrival ergdw usiwa --" Ella frowns and adjusts her vocal modulators.
"Greetings. Your arrival is still within parameters. We are...enjoying refreshments. It was quite an experience. My designation is LA64397F. However, many organics prefer to call me Elle or Ella." She nods to the new android.
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Vecro stands up and approaches the newcomers, leaving his pike leaning on the wall. His mote of blackness follows him trying to suck things inside. Kasatha fixes his dark red clothes and speak:
"I will join Ella in welcoming you Kaeon from Castrovel and you too my fellow Android. My name is Vecro Asynti from the House Khadil. This is Baragh Dented Helm, who so generously offered his dwarven spirit and last but not least this is Reticent Stroidjumper who goes by the nickname: Mute. And you will soon understand why."
After that he returns to the place next to the dwarf and takes a sit, waiting for the briefing to start.
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The android simply looks at the people talking to him saying: Me, Mec-01.
So they will be two extrem in the part. One who should speak a lot and another who doesn't speak at all. Perhaps because he wasn't programmed with social skills.
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After you've gotten to know each other a little bit as you sit around a table in the Lorespire complex in Absolom - HQ of the Starfinder Society an android walks in through one of the meeting room doors
"Thank you all for coming, please take a seat so we can start the official part of this meeting; the briefing on your next assignment. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Venture-Captain Arvin"
The Venture-Captain then dims the lights and calls up a holographic representation of a planet, which by the name glowing underneath you identify as Eox
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Venture-Captain Arvin’s calm demeanor erodes for a brief moment, replaced with the genuine excitement of sharing some piece of obscure lore. “When the bone sages of Eox launched the Magefire Assault in 7 ag, they ended up triggering an ancient doomsday weapon the sarcesians left in orbit over their home world. This dormant ordinance detonated with enough force to send part of a moon crashing into the planet, where it completely obliterated the Eoxian necropolis city of Muthal. The rock remains a geological anomaly, now called Blackmoon, and is one of the most fascinating excavation sites in the Pact Worlds.
The potential combination of technological detritus and magical residue residing within and beneath Blackmoon represents a treasure trove of knowledge about Eox and its history. By calling in a few favors, and through some diplomatic back channels, the Society acquired the rights to excavate key sections of this munitionsmade mountain with backing from the bone sages about a year ago. The Society has agreed to share any magical discoveries—including any magical items—unearthed within the ruins of the lost necropolis of Muthal.”
“In exchange,” Arvin says, with an air of professorial summation, “the bone sages continue to allow us access to the region and broadcast any major discoveries in the Starfinder Chronicles. None of this is why you’re here—not exactly. You’re here because a few weeks ago, the Blackmoon excavation called for assistance. The excavation overseer, a kasatha borai named Taylehm, has reported that every time we try to expand the boundaries of the dig, several Society workers and even some of the mindless undead laborers have disappeared or turned up dead or destroyed. The Society needs you to go to Eox, investigate the dig site, find the cause of the disturbance, and restore the excavation to working order—without jeopardizing our partnership with the bone sages!” he ends emphatically. “Now, do you have questions?”
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As your minds mull over the words from the Venture-Captain you start to recollect things you might have heard once at a time about the things that were just mentioned.
Much of the planet is lawless and ungoverned, without resources or recourse to fall back on and infested by feral mindless undead.
city of Muthal. It came to exist following the activation of the Thousand Moons—a sarcesian-made doomsday weapon that could hurl several of the asteroids orbiting Eox down to the surface.
Bone sages across Eox squabble over Blackmoon, and the area is renowned for its reputation of housing feral undead. Many question whether or not the sarcesians have established bases within the region as a means of keeping an eye on the bone sages
Some come to the strange planet seeking taboo medical or magical procedures to extend life beyond nature’s grip, and others have simply existed in their state of undeath for centuries and intend to do so for that much longer. None exemplify this more than the growing number of borais. Borais aren’t a true species, but are instead the result of other species experiencing complications while being brought back to life (such as via a raise dead spell).
Borais are corporeal and sentient undead and have few places in the universe that accept them; Eox is one of a handful of planets to openly embrace the growing number of borais into its populace
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Vecro shifts on his chair and says:
"I always wanted to visit Blackmoon and Eox. How fortunate."
After a short break continues:
"Do we know if there are any other parties in the area of the site? Especially the kind that might be hostile to Society? The dead and destroyed bodies did they had any marks on them? Gun wounds, wounds of the claws or similar? This information could help us prepare better for this mission."
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Baragh mulls over what he might have remembered about Eox, or anything Mystical from his teaching of Iomedae or Torag.
"Argh...Eox....Undead....and the weird warping of people trying to outlive their time here. This kasatha borai, Taylehm I think ye named him. Is he one of the Eoxian's lackies, or one of us....Starfinders? Borai are a weird one....somebody who had the misfortune of a reanimation--magical, scientific, whatnot--gone bad. I actually feel sorry for that kind."
"Venture-Cap'n, so to make it clear to me mind, since you used all those fancy words in your speech. We go to Eox, to this Blackmoon site, talk to this borai fella, go find out why undead and our Starfinders have gone missing or found dead, and get the site back up and running....am I correct?"
If Arvin agrees, Baragh will grunt, and let the intellectuals talk about questions. He will go back to the corner of the room, bull out his hip flask, and a dataslate that the words "Eoxian for Dummies" is barely seen on it, and starts to reread the book....grumbling lightly to himself that he hopes others know the language better than he does.
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Culture: Fast Retrieval (Ex), so Computer:
Mysticism: Fast Retrieval (Ex), so Computer:
The android let his circuits take the lead and let the others ask questions. After he explains what he retrieved in his search.
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"The Bone Sages are not a unified group. They themselves are tribal, fractious, and territorial over the Blackmoon, which houses many feral undead. Are we sure the Society's agreement with the Bone Sages is honored by all of them? Perhaps one of them does not agree and is taking steps to hamper the excavation."
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Mute thinks really hard about what he knows about a “Blackmoon” as he's grown up with the stories of his brave explorer, grandad. He remembers several bits of info from his past but feeling the weight of his new venture, he chooses to with hold for now.
He's been told that his family has had magic users in the past but this is a feat he has yet grasp and silently waits in the shadows for his more mystic party members to share their knowledge.
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Venture-Captain Arvin seems to mull over Vecro's questions
"We do not we know off any other parties in the area, but it would make sense for someone..or something to be there."
"We don't have much information."
“Taylehm’s message was brief, and it seems she needs assistance in figuring out what’s happening at the excavation site. It’s likely that she knows more but didn’t want to present it on a communication channel that could be intercepted. You’ll need to find out what’s going on and help her ensure these disappearances don’t jeopardize our ongoing operations.”
"So I don't have any information about marks, wounds or claw marks..but that doesn't mean there aren't any"
Arvin then turns his attention to Baragh while nodding his head
"That is a fair summary"
Arvin then holds up a finger
"But let me repeat; without jeopardizing our partnership with the bone sages"
"Yes, we'll arrange transport for you to the planet. I think we have a vessel docked right now. It's called the Hupplepuff it should be sufficient for your requirements to get you there and back. Just make sure to bring it back in one piece."
On the question about Tamsym he answers;
"Tamsym. She’s the overseer of our excavation operations around Blackmoon. She was once a Starfinder field agent but suffered
a grievous injury on a mission in the Vast that... well, it killed her. The Society paid for her resurrection, but the process didn’t go as expected and she returned as a borai—a corporeal undead that clings to its soul. While Taylehm wasn’t eager to return to field duty, she agreed to continue her work for the Society and offered to use her new undead status to help manage our operations on Eox. She’s a serious agent who’s seen a lot in her lifetime.”
At LA64397F's question about infighting between the Bonesage Arvin seems to give it some thought before answering.
"..that's an intriguing possibility. It's unknown at this time. I personally don't expect it, but it could be a possibility. But that's why we are dispensing a team to the site - to figure out what's going on."
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Baragh looks up from his dataslate, muttering "elebeiak...means non-elebrian....need to remember that."
Baragh nods his head at Arvin's comment about Tamsym. "So she is still an agent?...Good. Borai's are tricky, they often are not accepted by the living, and from what little I know that can cause them to have trust issues with the likes of us breathing folk. If you say she is still a member, and she still considers herself a member, I will trust her. And ya, Eox is probably the...well...safest place for her, as her undead nature would cause a lot of living folk to not want to deal with her."
With that Baragh puts his head back into his dataslate, probably to look up the words 'alcohol', 'surrender', 'final rest', 'peace' and 'Where can I find the restroom?'.
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"If there are no further questions I suggest you gather your belongings and buy any last minute supplies you think you might be missing for your expedition and get to docking bay 64 where the "Hupplepuff" will be waiting to transport you to Eox"
"And please remember to active your environmental protections before exiting one of the designated "safe" zones..you wouldn't believe how many people have been lost to the toxic atmosphere on Eox. Let's try to not add any Starfinders to that count."
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Mute steps forward from the dark next to Arvin and reaches up to pat him on the back, of course not quite reaching high enough. He muses for a second about his memories and says, ”Never fear Cap'n Arvy, Mute is on the case. Like me granda would say, a rock unexplored is a good way not to get paid.”
His gaze sweeps over his new companions and thinks, This seems like a crew even me granda would be proud…. even with snobby but beautiful android…
He steps forward and makes a quick about face to the venture-captain with a salute, rounds again and stops in front of the group, ”Well mates, shall we?”
Mute continues down the hallway trying to conversate with Baragh about the night of the zombies and if the Eoxians would be anything like them but it's turning into a one sided conversation that Arvin can hear for quite some time after they have left causing him to shake his head with a chuckle.
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Baragh listens to Mute for a while, as they walk towards the lifts on their way to the docking bay. While patient, even the stone eventually wears from the constant running of water. Finally Baragh looks towards Mute and asks with a humorous grin, "For such a small one, ye seems to be the opposite to yer name. Maybe that is because we haven't found the right button to push. So... Mute, where is the mute button on ya?"
With that, Baragh attempts to ruffle the halflings hair. "I hope that ye can keep quiet when you are being our scout and our eyes out front. Aye, I noticed that you were able to be so quiet before Arvin others came in and ye came out of hiding. Ye will be a great asset to us in the field."
Before going to the docking bay, Baragh will stop at one of the catinas to fill up his hip flask, probably with something about as expensive, but probably a bit more with a kick.
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As you arrive at dockingbay 64 you take in the glory that is the "Hupplepuf"
There might be a better bucket of bolt held together by spit and duct tape out there somewhere...but you haven't seen it yet.
After you board the take off is ..shaky at best and darn right bumpy at worst but the ship stays intact. Well intact enough, the nuts and bolts that fall off due to the rattling didn't seem to fulfill any vital function and you manage to launch into space from which on out it's smooth sailing as you contemplate how the landing is going to be once your arrive.
The journey from Absalom Station to Eox takes 5 days, which you use to get to know each other better.
The chartered shuttle refrains from entering the Drift, instead coasting along the Pact Worlds trade lanes that connect Absalom Station and Eox. Overall, the journey to Eox is uneventful, with the exception of a flotilla of Aballonian starships. This small fleet consists of seven Compent AEV ships escorting and defending a heavily damaged Compent Group Defense Frigate. The robotic starships, under the direct control of an intelligence identifying itself as Tutor 2–12, respond to hails indicating that everything is satisfactory and that they’re on a slow burn to Aballon for repairs.
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As the Hupplepuff starts to make it's final landing approach ( you can only hope it won't be it's _final_ approach) you take a look outside through a porthole to see what you will be getting yourself into.
The Hupplepuff lands - and with land it's more of skipping along the ground a few times before coming to a complete stop - on Eox, in the necropolis settlement of Zinhew, located on a shelf of rock north of Blackmoon. You make your way to a prearranged meeting in one of the transport docks with a member of the Blackmoon excavation staff.
At the loading bay where transports disembark into the wastes of Eox, an imposing female Vesk named Berchta Deepdelver meets the yous with an allterrain transport for the trip to the Blackmoon dig site. Although Berchta’s utilitarian clothing is stained and mud splattered, her beard horns, teeth, and the frilled ridges of her head are the multicolored hues of an oil spill on water, and it’s not clear whether the coloration is natural or by elaborate design. Alongside Berchta, a robust mechanical drone with six arms underslung with sawlike drilling implements stands ready to receive gear for transport.
"I be Berchta, I am being Society-contracted “dirt boss” for excavation site. Drone being Digger. We be getting orders from Taylehm to bring you back with us to Blackmoon site."
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Reticent explodes out of the air lock, skipping across the landing port trying to look at everything at once (and trying to hide the fact that, in his excitement, he almost forgot to turn on his environmentals). He takes a lap around the the pad and, seeming satisfied for the moment, heads full speed towards Berchta stopping hard in a cloud of dust in front of the large vesk.
"Hello, Mr. Deepdelver!" he says as he tries very hard to reach out to a hand that is far above him. Seeing the unamused gaze of the dig boss and catching the glint of the drone next to him, Mute turns his attention and begins to muse over it, "Hey! that's a cool drone. Never seen implements like these attached to one before. He is pretty wicked looking. I bet my granda would love to of had something like this in the Diaspora. Hey Vecro, does your kind only grow the two or are there others with six like this guy?...."
He continues to paw over the drone until he hears Baragh start asking important questions and withdraws from the sight of the group, only to reappear behind that drone trying to climb up it with intent of riding to their next location.
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Vecro in the spaceship looked a bit uncomfortable, he tried meditating, practiced fighting as well as cleaned his weapon. When leaving the ship he says quietly:
"One can judge the importance of a mission by the kind of resources that are assigned to it and I must say that this travel filled me with proud to be part of Starfinder Society."
After a few seconds he adds:
"Good thing that they have a good success record of resurrecting their Kasathas agents. I may look for a flat while we are on Eox."
After listening to himself Vecro continuous: "I am sorry, my father always said that my level of sarcasm and emotions is not acceptable even in a youngster like myself. I should know better. And to answer your question Mute: we only have 4 arms no more no less. And most of our droids usually have 4 arms as well."
After that, he shifts to Vosk and says: "Welcome Berchta and hi to you Digger." After that Vecro walks along holding his pike in a left hand and his mote of blackness staying in close proximity.
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Baragh smiles at Vecro. "Good way at looking at it there mate. Though I do think that Arvin was being a bit...stingy...with the cash on this one. At least this thing made it to Eox in one piece...Iomedae and Torag be praised. Though it might take divine intervention to get me back on that 'flying' coffin."
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"I being Dirt Boss. I fix things, I make sure things run, keep diggers digging. Now I be getting you like Taylhme said to make sure I have diggers to keep doing digging"
Bechta lets out a throathy laugh at Bargagh's comment
"Walk! Silly dwarf! Site being far away from here. We don't walk! We take transport."
She then points at a nearby transport vehicle that looks well armored and big enough to hold the entire party and their gear including the droid
The vesk looks quizzically at the halfling
'I am being female, not be calling me Mister if you want to keep your scortum where you like to be having it"
She then grins a toothy smile at Stroidjumper
The droid reacts to the halfling climbing on top of it by picking it up in 2 of it's arms and carrying it towards the transport before commencing to load the halfling inside.
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After Berchta and her drone help load you and your gear into the transport, the vehicle disembarks from Zinhew with a low rumbling sound and lot of shaking and bumping.
While it seems from orbit that the monochromatic bleakness of Eox’s surface was a simple trick of the eye, driving through the gates of Zinhew reveals the surface to be every bit as barren and lifeless as it appeared from high atmosphere. Up close, Eox’s ground looks less like gray dirt and more like desiccated skin peeling away from ancient, cadaverous flesh. A haphazard sprawl of berms and rock clusters push themselves up like broken bones and scabs, and shambling forms—humanoid and non-humanoid alike—move across the landscape in eerie half-shuffles and stilted gaits.
Above it all rises Blackmoon. True to its name, the gigantic hemisphere, itself a color between darkened ashen sand and volcano glass, looks less like a mountain and more like a heavenly body that collided with Eox and refused to let time or the elements break its shape.
The surface of Blackmoon is crisscrossed with footpaths and roads packed down and flattened by the passage of hundreds of vehicles. The transport has a generator and recharging unit that ensures your armors remains at full capacity. Berchta stops the transport outside of a large camp complex of interconnected research and storage pods, mess areas, and sleeping quarters for researchers, scientists, and the few laborers among the living.
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Vecro looks at the view from the board of the vehicle and he speaks:
"Wow, that is a living history lesson right here. What an outcome you might get as a result of one's actions. Kasathas surely had their part in planet-scale disasters, yet seeing the outcome of one tells me more than learning about them."
Solarian falls into a contemplative mood while seeing the vast destruction of the planet.
After we land he asks: "Now that we arrived, where can we find Taylehm?"