|
Eselar calls again the power of Iomedae to heal everybody, Kan-Zal and his acolyte included.
Starfinders are not murderers, we could make mistakes, we are humanoids after all. But we try to learn from it to do better and, if we can, correct them.
I hope it will be the same for you.
Go back in peace, and find a way to do better. Join the Society, if you think she don't do a great job to change it from the inside.
We always need people ready to do good.
You could starts your pilgrimage, like I do several years ago.
Says Eselar to the two Kasathas.
|
Eselar addresses the Kasathan Solarians who keep their heads bowed, and picking their weapons, shuffle off back towards the Monastery.
But you do have the impression that they are thinking things over.
_________________________
You continue your trek back to the Idari’s Crucibles without further incident.
Just before arriving, you receive a message on Eselar's Comm' Unit, from the Pradulex Monastery, offering the Society an official apology for the attack, and a promise that they will handle discipline for Kan-Zal and the others.
Finding your way to the spaceport, you spot the the starship designated as the Void Scholar, and, just as you approach, a Kasatha with dark skin outstretches his arms as he walks down a ramp exiting the vessel:
“Hello! I am Kahir, and this is my beautiful ship, the Void Scholar.
You must be the Starfinders I spoke with earlier.
You look a bit dusty—I guess monastery life isn’t for everyone.”
Chuckling, he continues, “I suppose we should be on our way to find Jadnura. I was planning on heading back to that old temple where I left him anyway. He’s been there for several weeks now. Since you’re here and my last cargo shipment has been sold, I suppose we should get you all on board and get underway!”
|
|
"ESELAR!!! So great to see you! Meet you! Hello hello!"
Captain Kahir claps you on the back with both his right arms, while waving both left ones at the rest of the team.
"The planet?! Ooooooh! Curious, aren't you?! Ha ha! Well... don't tell everyone, but, I imagine you can keep a secret. The planet we are headed to is", he leans closer and whispers: "currently unnamed, and located in a system, also currently unnamed, in Near Space."
He takes a step back: "But where that planet is is the thing: I, that is me, Kahir, so maybe we will end up calling the system Kahir, and the planet Kahir I, since it is I, Kahir, who uncovered a very rarely observed stellar phenomenon,"
He waves all four arms mimicking stars and explosions and big things:
Calming down, he pursues: "Yes, a rogue asteroid, at the fuuurthest fringes of this event, contains the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to... to... to? Do you really want to know?
Dedicated to... "
He leans in close to you all, opening all his arms wide so you can huddle up close: "...Ibra."
Again he takes a step back: "Ibra's the deity of cosmic mysteries, so it seems fitting! Anyhow, good old Jadnura opted to remain on the asteroid, having borrowed extra oxygen tanks from me. Sounds kind of silly, but, who am I to ask questions of one like him, heh?"
____
|
|
"Yes, the sooner the better, and the better the sooner!"
Captain Kahir waves you onto the Void Scholar:
"Please tint your helmet visors or put sunglasses on!... you are about to be dazzled by the BEAUTY of my ship!"
Kahir leads you all to your temporary quarters, while at the same time using his comm' unit to direct his small crew to make their way to the Near Space system:
"And here you have the toilet system, made to accommodate 17 diverse bowel systems -- get the all clear from the control tower -- and you have extra blankets up there -- move us into the Drift now -- I promise I will get you to the temple even quicker than my ship is able!
You will be there before a Draelik can blink its eyes!"
Well, the blink of an eye turns out to two weeks of journeying through the Drift, and being invited to share the captain's table for... breakfast, lunch, tea-time, dinner, and late night drinks.
All you can say, is that though Captain Kahir never stops talking and telling tales, he did not repeat one anecdote, always a new story to tell... and he is VERY interested in all and anything you have to share.
Finally, it is time to slip out of the Drift--
"COME COME COME, come view our arrival in this place!"
-- and the Void Scholar emerges at its destination.
Those having accepted to be with the captain on the bridge follow the phenomenon from the main view port as the crew navigates the Void Scholar down to the surface of the nearby asteroid.
And it IS truly a stunning cosmic event you are viewing.
Beautiful and awesome...
Once the ship lands, Kahir gives you all a lunch basket: "The best Akitonian ham sandwiches for all! You will find that the temple is located just an hour’s walk from the landing site. I would have moved you closer to avoid sore feet, but the terrain prevents even an INCREDIBLE ship like the Void Scholar from landing any closer!
So, just keep on trekking that way-- he points --and you will come to a canyon about a half-hour into the journey, and, there, you must take the small path to the North, which will lead you to the temple itself!
Come back, with another GREAT story to tell us! But safe... and with Jadnura.
I will be waiting for you!"
You leave the Void Scholar and its verbose captain, and head off to the nearby temple.
The asteroid has no atmosphere and low gravity, so you all seal up your environmental protections, which should protect you for far longer than you need to complete you mission.
As Kahir said, it takes roughly 30 minutes on foot to reach the canyon you were told about.
You move up to the canyon, ready to find the path to the North...
|
|
Eselar always interested by new stories, passed most of his time with Captain Kahir.
Both to train his mind against annoyance and as a way to learn how to listen to others.
Thank you Kahir, see you in a few hours, I hope.
Eselar activates his armor's protection before jumping into space.
I hope First Seeker Jadnura will welcome us.
|
Desha is initially suspicious of the talkative Captain Kahir--her experience has often shown that those who talk too much are the ones with things to cover with noise--but she is soon disarmed by the kasathas enthusiasm and charm. She joins the captain at every meal, and is glad to take in the sight of the incredible astral phenomenon when they exit the Drift into the "Kahir System".
"Well Captain," she says as the strange half-light of a star being consumed by a black hole washes over her, "I don't know if half the stories you told us over these past two weeks were true, but you were not lying when you said this place was beautiful."
When Kahir tells the crew about the Ibran temple, Desha spends some time thinking over what she knows of that particular goddess's temples.
Finally, as the Starfinders step off of the Void Scholar, Desha makes sure everyone's comm systems are linked, and reminds the crew it might be a good idea to have weapons ready, just in case this asteroid proves not to be uninhabited apart from Jadnura.
|
|
Desha does remember that Ibra’s temples are most frequently found in space, rather than planetside, and they always include observatories where worshipers may study the cosmos and record their observations and hypotheses.
Some even directly exposed to vacuum.
She also recalls that no one in the Pact Worlds knows what species first venerated Ibra as a god, as the oldest discovered monuments to the deity have all been massive temple complexes on otherwise uninhabited worlds, including Bretheda’s tiny moon Chamari.
|
|
You enter the canyon, some thinking of how Jadnura will greet you, others of what kind of ham you will be having for lunch.
You soon find the path, and know you are only some 30 minutes away.
But, as you turn to enter that path, to wind your way up a scarred gully on this asteroid--
--you are stunned to spot what seems like a huge ball of solar energy hovering above the ground!
This huge solar ball immediately rushes towards you...
You see that it illuminates an area of about 15 feet around it, but you do not see any appendages or such that could give it reach.
|
|
As Desha calls out for all to spread out, she adds that this is: "A Solar Wisp! That's a Native Outsider. It has no special resistances. It can live in a sun, and fly through space, and it is Aglow, meaning it can increase the light level around it!"
Eselar adds that: "It is just a juvenile! But still Huge. It is an Elemental, both Fire and Air. And is has the normal Elemental Immunities, but also, it is immune to fire and radiation! And, beware... it can Engulf us! Otherwise it'll just try to slam us with fire..."
Desha moves to the side and fires... her shot off target.
While Eselar moves into towards the huge ball of solar fire... and sees that there is like some sort of solar flare, a kind of fiery proboscis of lava that darts out to catch him with an attack of opportunity--
--but it is nothing, just a little fiery eruption!
No, this creature is really big, but definitely has no reach.
Sadly, Eselar's blade swishes through the heat and photons and does not connect.
|
|
Chassarch and Starfinder-19 - who spent 8 days in the Drift - prepare arcane magically boosted shots, while the android should be happy, it did find a star, or part of a star!
Drak remembers a holovid on the StarDiscovery Channel and shares the fact that the Solar Wisps fly around and are vulnerable to cold.
He also witnesses the fact that his hammer bashes into the sphere, and knocks pieces of magma left and right, and punctures small pockets of gas... hurting the wisp.
The Solar Wisp lashes out, twice, with molten matter, against Eselar, hitting once and burning him.
The Starfinders react...
|
|
Desha continues strafing around to the back of the solar wisp, the calls upon Hylax to send a companion to attend the massive orb of fiery energy. A much smaller ball of light, hardly any bigger than a solarian's stellar mote, appears just over the top of solar wisp and dances around, drawing away the cosmic being's attention for just long enough to create an opening for his allies!
|
|
As Drak moves around, a blob of plasma lashes out at him, and burns the Dwarf.
The burning must have upset Drak, because the hammer does not connect.
Chassarch, however sends his magically boosted shot into the big wisp, and the electricity fries it, but it is obvious the cold does more damage than it would have against most other creatures.
And that is just enough to have the wisp dislocate... and the embers of the solar power dissolve into the dusty asteroid ground.
The threat is gone.
|
|
As you look around, and see if Drak needs a rest, you spot some things shining in the dust.
You find a shard that you identify as a least photino crystal, as well as some gemstones that must have been part of the wisp.
You evaluate them as being worth some 1,000 credits.
You then are able to follow the path leading further north, that narrows as you take it, and after a half an hour the path changes, and now you see it turns into a winding trail that leads down along the asteroid’s surface, curving back into a wide depression, at the bottom of which... a vast temple of stone like that of the asteroid rises from the depression.
Rubble covers several areas outside of the complex, though a side stairway is visible along the building’s southwestern edge.
A primary staircase admits entrance along the structure’s northern edge, beginning right at the end of the path.
You have arrived.
|
|
You walk slowly along the winding trail that leads down to the asteroid’s surface, curving back into a wide depression.
As you descend, you observe the vast temple made of asteroid-stone that rises from the depression, towering above you once you get to the bottom
This must be the Ibran temple where Jadnura went to meditate.
You get a general sense of the temple’s layout on your approach, just by observing the structure’s exterior.
The temple’s ceiling is 50 feet from ground level.
It is carved directly into the enormous asteroid you are standing on, and you know this asteroid is held at the far edge of the black hole’s reach.
When you move down, looking over the West side,--
--and then turning back and arriving at the North entrance, you have remarked several things:
• rubble covers several areas outside of the complex.
• there is a side stairway visible along the building’s southwestern edge. That you could reach either by climbing back up from the path, or going just West of the entrance and then moving South alongside the outside wall.
These set of stairs along the stone structure’s Western edge rise up to what might be a secondary entrance.
• right in front of you is what must obviously be the primary staircase, that admits entrance along the structure’s Northern edge, beginning right at the end of the path.
This is a fifteen-foot-wide set of stairs that ascends to the South, leading from the worn path.
You see that silver doors lie partly ajar on the eastern and western walls of this wide entryway.
A dull-blue, uncut crystal, roughly the size of a human child, floats in the center of the entryway.
A dim light pulses from the bizarre gem.
A secondary set of stairs ascends further to the south--
--ending at a thick stone wall with a single golden doorway bedecked in astrological symbols.
Eselar does not spot anything special.
|
|
Desha regards the large floating gem and, based on the team's recent encounter with the solar wisp, tries to identify it.
"What do you all think," she asks, turning to her fellow Starfinders, "Should we make our way in through the main entrance ahead, or try the side entrance to the west? I don't think splitting up is a good idea, but if anyone is feeling risky, I wouldn't stop you."
|
|
Desha and Drak look at the blue crystal gem, and try to recollect as to what it might be.
Desha does not dredge up any useful memory, while Drak is quite sure that this crystal is a tool used for greeting, like a magical version of a holographic attendant. Although it seems somehow inactive--
--maybe not totally inactive, more like no longer useful for greetings, but active in other ways!
Because Desha and Drak suddenly feel a mental wave surge towards them.
Meanwhile, Eselar notices that the astrological symbols on the southern door match those of several prominent topics within the church of Ibra.
|
|
Desha and Drak sudden feels this psychic wave, as though long lost souls of several of the temple’s former custodians wash over them, coming from the gem.
These souls are screaming!
They used to serve, to help, but now something has gorged itself on their minds, consumed their brethren, and the few that remain are like tormented remnants lashing out anyone.
Luckily you close your mind to them, and do not let them enter...