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Id jumps back with a start. Holy Ibra! Heh, hello there! I’m Id-Sinitis, our pilot and star shaman. I’ve been a point person on a number of missions throughout uncharted space, including Icefront, Colony 684, and of course the Scoured Star rescue mission. Sorry we’re late, took us a few tries to find our way here. We’re here to look around and make sure the place is safe! Tell us about yourself! He takes out his scanning kit and begins sweeping the area for bugs.
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"oh my artificial god..."
For a few second, Drakzul stays dumbstruck.
That freaking bleached haired gnome ! We asked who was Zafeldrin and the word dragon didn't come in the conversation ? Why do we even bother with briefings honestly? thinks to himself the undead mechanic.
He sighs briefly.
"Hi there ! The name's Drakzul. I'm an engineer and scientist. I used to be a member of the lead investigation party for the Scoured stars incident."
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"Holy Ibra, indeed", smiles the dragon, 'you have to turn the apparatus 'on' first, or it will not work as well! Ha ha! I do it all the time myself. But what a wonderful series of adventures!"
Turning to Drakzul: 'And you too were in the Scoured Stars? My oh my! You have done such incredible things. Lucky you... not a stick in the mud like I am."
Zafeldrin turns to the others: "And what other exciting individuals do we have here?"
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Goose works hard to hide his surprise and startled reaction. That wouldn't do for a professional operative!
Standing tall (well, as tall as he can), he smooths his clothing to appear nonplussed and greets the new arrival.
"Mon Tavi's my name. They call me "Goose" though. Like my friends here, I'm a Starfinder as well. I'm a problem-solver by trade. Very pleased to meet you." offers the ysoki while he works hard to not appear as an appetizer to the large creature.
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Looking at Huckle Jim, Zafeldrin shrugs: "And your friend is the silent time. That's fine..."
Turning to the rest of you, the dragon points a clawed paw outside, and looks around the half-finished preparations for the opening gala, giving a sheepish grin.
“There’s still so much to do! I’ve prepared some material on our guests and current events to help you.”
The dragon gestures to a pile of data pads.
“I’ll keep working on putting this whole event together while you review the data I’ve prepared.”
With that he launches into the air and begins flitting about the dome like an oversized hummingbird from project to project.
You walk over to the pile of data pads Zafeldrin left.
But you rapidly see he encrypted the files, and seems to have loaded a sea of trivia on them.
You see that you can work together to crack the encryption.
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Following up on Id's preparations, Goose cuts through the code as if it were soft cheese.
You access all the information, and Goose sifts through what is obviously a test, getting rid of all the useless data, and finally sharing the following useful intel' with all the team via comm' unit.
Zafeldrin pops his big bronze head in, and seeing you reading and commenting the intel', he is obviously taken aback: "Oh?! Naiaj chose you well... Bravo! You are skilled. I mean, you did take a long time getting here, but aced this. I must admit she did not choose you wrongly."
The dragon flies back in and lands beside you.
"You now have some information on the guests, and I will discuss my plans for the opening gala with you."
He folds his wings back.
“I’ve been telling everyone in Cumo about all the amazing discoveries the Starfinders have made lately. I think I might have set their expectations a little high, but that’s why I asked for the best and here you are!"
He smiles at you.
"Representatives from the Skyfire Legion are coming, along with a few notables from town and some dragoncorp reps.”
He cycles through holographic displays of different personnel files, some still flashing with proprietary security warnings from their original sources.
“I’ve already managed to pull together a lot of interesting data about regional powers, possible mission sites, and contacts we can pursue.
I just need to make a good impression with these power brokers so they give us a shot.
Once they see agents like you in action, they’ll be clamoring for our help!”
He looks up at you.
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Id's antennae perk up once he sees the data. Oooh! This is interesting! Looks like important dossiers on the major gala attendees. Can't wait to impress them all! He scans the documents. Looks like we should lean on exploring Parapet Mountains and recovering lost Dragon Legion history to win over Commander Aralyx of the Skyfire Legion. Jaxter the gnome probably wants to see interesting, out-of-system doohickies. This Tefarian character seems shady, let's see if we can dig up some details about him. He starts as he gets to the end of the list. Frozen Trove?! That's not good. Is there any way to follow up on that low-orbiting freighter? That could be a real problem.
He looks to Zafeldrin. Is there any way to follow up with Serozanyxia?
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"So , you found the data on your own." Zafeldrin visibly preens with pride. “I read this great article on the haptic vibration distinctions when someone enters a password on a holodisplay and I’ve been practicing since I got here. It really works!”
"By the way, I like to reward good work and ingenuity."
The dragon rummages around and hands you a little bag.
"Well, I will let you see if you have time to follow up yourselves on Serozanyxia.
Just now that everyone needs an invitation to get in, and the door scanners check for weapons.
What I really need you to do, is make a good impression with the guests, so I’d prefer you focus on that.”
He nodes and smiles.
"If you want to talk to people, know that Aralyx commands a local Skyfire Legion battalion, but more importantly she’s in charge of securing abandoned Skyfire Legion sites in the Parapet Mountains.
Starfinders are just the specialists she needs—even if she doesn’t know it yet.”
Zafeldrin looks you over.
"And, please, wear your mission gear!
The guests want to meet field agents, so the more rugged and adventurous you look, the better!
Of course, you’ll all be allowed to keep your weapons on hand too!
Just no discharging into a crowd of people. Oh, and no throwing grenades.”
Zafeldrin starts flapping his wings:
"Come with me!"
Zafeldrin provides you with rooms and a tour of the lodge, including the dome, kitchen, dining hall, communications center, guest quarters, an empty museum space he hopes to fill, and a room housing a computer mainframe.
"You have a day to prepare for the gala, which is set to occur the following evening. "
Now that you are onsite, you can learn more than you could following you briefing.
To represent time spent examining the lodge before the gala begins, and to learn more about what’s going on around the lodge--
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So, you can take your rooms, and leave things there, taking nice showers and enjoy food either delivered to you, or taken in the kitchens.
Id-Sinitis has enough time to install the armor upgrade, since you have a full day.
You are able to explore the lodge, going back to all the rooms Zafeldrin showed you, as well as where the gala will be conducted.
During the day, after resting and eating and installing the armor, as well as the next day, after a good's night sleep, Id walks around the grounds, and beep beeps around with his scanner.
He is really intense and dedicated, and really does the best he can.
You actually feel there is not much you can do better than him.
Id sees that the information trade in Cumo closely monitors the lodge, and agents from multiple factions, including the city government, surreptitiously spy on the Starfinders. Id spots many people outside with directional microphones, and a couple drones moving around.
As you are approached by someone who seems interested in the objectives of the Starfinder Society, Id realizes, by scanning the man, finding from ID-chip, and cross referencing it, that this is a city councilor named Tefarian Mel.
You see that the government agents with the mikes have been handing off information to him, and that this Tefarian Mel questions each of them closely about the Starfinder Society.
Finally, Id spots a lodge maintenance employee transmitting information.
Id is able to tap into the transmission, and realizes that the employee is sending out security measures and facility maps... and that they are going to precise coordinates in orbit.
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Drakzul studies the result of the mystic's work.
"Stellar work there. I'm impressed. Hope I can be as much of use, Id. Well, it seems Zafeldryn was right to suspect Tefarian was up to something."
During the day, Drakzul focused on a few leads provided by the dragon's files.
He studied the cybernetics hardware provided by Dretchnyliax. Objective was to know what malware was installed and what they were meant to do. Purely for curiosity sake, he was interested by what the corporation offered. Frozen trove is renowned for its tech after all.
He was interested too to see if he could track the signals bounced from the freighter and if he could use them in any way to get informations.
As for Zerozanyxia, he looked up to see if he could find what could be an appropriate gift and if he could arrange a meeting.
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Drakzul finds out that a lot of cybernetics are brain and head implants, with good WiFi connections.
And that the malware was mainly data retrieving bots.
When you try to follow up on the freighter that sent the signals down, it seems it might have been there, but it had not flight pattern or such, and no it is empty space.
Nothing to find.
Serozanyxia likes RuggedSkalez®, a Vesk scales-cleaning product. Especially the lemon-scented one.
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Zafeldrin did say that Zerozanyxia would be his best ally in the drakelands.
Drakzul will send RuggedScalez® to Zerozanyxia then. He buys the most expensive one keeping in mind what the dragon/drake prefers.
He leaves a message with it. He'd rather use a holographic vid and since he's fluent in draconic he will talk or write using that language.
If possible, he would have all the team cooperating for that message including Zafeldrin. in his mind, that's a way to convey strength, unity, resolve.
That being said, he would be a poor choice to be the Society... or rather the lodge spokesman.
Adressing Id :
"If you're not fluent in draconic, i can help translate. You seem like the most likely candidate to send the message. Can you do it ?"
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Id flashes a thumbs-up to Drakzul. I do, in fact, know Draconic! I'm excited to meet all these dignitaries, even if they are surreptitiously spying on us. Just means they'll learn how secretly awesome we are, not just how overtly awesome we are!
Id applies his new armor upgrade in preparation for the event, but otherwise just cleans up using his hygiene kit so his carapace has that extra go-get-'em shine.
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Drakzul manages to get an express order of RuggedScalez® in, and prepares a nice holographic message in Draconic.
He however thinks it is best not to send the gift, since it would not arrive in time, but instead to have it delivered when Serozanyxia arrives at the Lodge.
And, the guests begin to arrive for the gala around midday.
Banners welcoming them hang suspended from flying drones around the dome while holographic displays run continuous loops of video showcasing the Starfinder Society’s recent public accomplishments and discoveries.
The gala event is held in a section of the lodge’s crystal dome.
Internal scanners monitor the rest of the lodge during the event and Zafeldrin insists your "Triaxus group" focus your attention on the area where the guests are.
You are responsible for providing security during the event--
--and for entertaining the guests.
• Each of you can make two checks during this encounter, attempting your own check or using one of you checks to aid another PC.
• These checks must be made to influence guests (see Guests below) or to detect infiltrators (see Infiltration below.)
The constant distraction of guests asking the PCs about their experiences prevents them from taking 10 or 20 on these checks.
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A few dozen guests attend the event at any given time.
They are local officials, dragoncorp agents, or members of the notable guests’ retinues.
Most are friendly and excited to meet the Starfinders while a few exhibit caution or suspicion about another participant in regional politics.
The majority of the guests are civilians, made up of mostly ryphorians, dragonkin, and a few gnomes from the Immortal Suzerainty of Ning.
A contingent of Skyfire Legionnaires are also present, visibly wearing armor and light weapons.
Notable guests include:
• Aralyx, a female dragonkin Skyfire Legion commander ;
• Jaxter, a male feychild gnome from Skyward Imports ;
• Tefarian Mel, a male winterborn ryphorian a member of Cumo’s city council.
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Drakzul sets out to monitor the guests, and looks around, mingles, but also runs some data scans of the guests, and looks them up on the Lodge's list... that is how he succeeds in identifying an agent with an invitation with a forged guest image: "That Ysoki over there is not the Vesk that was invited!".
Drakzul stops the agent, and can question him.
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Coming from behind...
"Aren't you a little short to be a vesk ?"
"Listen, nutfriend. There's a few way we could settle this. Of course, i can make some noise, make everything public, accuse you of pretending to be someone else. You will defend yourself and that could turn ugly. Maybe you just tried to crash a party, or maybe someone sent you there, I don't know. Why don't we talk privately ? You tell me why you are there, i let you go without troubles. Maybe I give you some hints about forging IDs ? You seem to need some. What do you think ?"
Drakzul tries to learn more about Aralyx.
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Id begins his work by scanning the less-populated region of the gala for anything suspicious, conspicuous using his wide-spectrum scanner to look all the more professional. As he closes toward Drakzul's location, he too takes a look at the dragonkin Skyfire agent. She's one to be on good terms, and I already have an in with the Skyfire Legion from the colony I investigated on their behalf. He tries to get a read on her.
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Id-Sinitis feels like Naiaj chose too small a team... but, no, assuredly, you can make it.
You are Starfinders after all! Just get cracking and cover that ground.
Id realizes that Aralyx is talking a lot about the past, and is expressing interest in the Society’s archaeological capabilities, particularly in dealing with curses and haunts.
As Id goes to interrogate the Ysoki that Drajzul stopped, the little guy screams: "Get that bug away from me!", and answers Id fearfully:
"An unknown person sent me the false invitation and this device and paid me to place the device at the lodge during the gala. I do not know what the device does."
As Id goes out to patrol the grounds, he spots another such device hidden under a bench.
Id looks at it: "What is this thing?"
Meanwhile, Huckle Jim is out patrolling the grounds, and tracks down an agent planting a device in the bushes: "Got you, you scoundrel!"
He however does not find anything as he moves around the buildings, climbing posts to check the roof and such...
Zafeldrin answers ID: "A device? ... I urge you to search for more while I occupy the guests."
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Id summons his intern to the device he found. Take a look at this thing, will you? Drop me a line if you figure out what it does. The shirren then makes his way over to the partygoers, keeping an eye on the suspicious rhyphorian while he makes his way over to the dragonkin. So I understand you have an interest in our mystical capabilities, Commander? I consider myself something of an expert on these matters, and would be happy to share my breadth of knowledge with you. I’m particularly fascinated with the way degenerative magicks interact with technology!
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After being stumped for a while, Id-Sinitis intern manages to find, in the end, what the object is...
The intern excitedly comm's Id:
"Hey boss, I found out, I did it. I know what it is. I did good, right? Do I get a raise? Can I become a Starfinder? I aced this, boss!"
It takes a while for Id to finally get an answer:
"Oh, boss? You didn't know? Wow! What a loser.... errr, I mean. Sorry, I thought it was a test! I mean, it is obvious this is a pinpoint transmitter.
It can be used To localize incoming rays... maybe to better eavesdrop, or even some sniper fire, or...? Wow! What it this for?"
Id checks out Telfarian Mel, who is a male winterborn ryphorian, but the fact he is a politician makes it hard to read him. Id is very close, he has some hints... but, no, he cannot say for sure.
Aralyx, the harsh Skyfire Legion commander, nearly swoons after Id explains the ins and outs of degenerative magicks interacting with technology!
She is impressed!
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Goose, having dealt with the technical aspect of the mission, summons the mental fortitude to deal with people. As an operative, his skillset lies in everything BUT social skills. However, the mission always comes first.
Deciding between Tefarian Mel and Jaxter, Goose elects to focus on the latter. Why? Well, as a professional 'fence', Goose may have something in common with someone from the importing business. Secondly, Jaxter is a more diminutive person, not unlike Goose.
"Hail and well met! Might I introduce myself? I'm Mon Tavvi of the Starfinder Society and skilled in the trade of goods." begins the ysoki as he seeks to impress the gnome.
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Hukcle Jim sees that there are some metal bits, and what seems to be wires, and other things... but he has now idea what those things do.
He does however see that it seems to be the exact same object as the other one, the pinpoint transmitter.
Meanwhile, Goose goes over to speak with Jaxter, the male feychild gnome, and, after introducing himself, he chats a bit with Jaxter, who obviously sees the Society as a potential business partner for Skyward Imports, his employer.
Since Goose states that he himself is skilled in the trade of goods, Jaxter lets slip that he himself "is interested in acquiring relics and goods from outside the system", and Goose feels that if one were to show a good knowledge of such relics, or of how to set up sales, that would impress the gnome.
Things seem to be going quite well for you, and, seeing how your feeling is that the grounds are clear, you have more time to concentrate on the guests.
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Having prepped the agent with an exciting banter, Goose leaves the specifics to Drakzul as he approaches and strikes up a lively conversation.
As he excuses himself, the operative sets his sights on Tefarian Mel. Before approaching, he studies the ryphorian council member for a few moments. Feeling secure in the intel collected, Goose approaches the politician and introduces himself.
"Greetings. I am Mon Tavvi of the Pact World Akiton. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am also a member of the Starfinder Society. Perhaps you've heard of us? Well, your reputation certainly precedes you." Goose graciously offers, working to determine what makes the agent tick.
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While Drakzul goes to talk with Jaxter, and describes encounters with incredibly diverse and original groups, the gnome is nearly going crazy with desire for all the items he imagines such peoples will have... he is duly impressed.
Goose goes over Tefarian Mel, the male winterborn ryphorian and Cumo city council-person.
Tefarian Mel listens intently to Goose, and asks: "Yes, your reputation precedes you indeed. Are you... Cumo is independent. It wants to remain like this. Dragoncorps are trying to take over. Are you... Well, I hope you will not aid them."
Goose feels that one who knows how to talk well and explain things, would help clear up the council-person's misgivings and fears.
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Goose, untrained and unequipped for diplomacy by a skilled diplomat elects to allow one of his team members to take the lead in this delicate process. The ysoki does, however, offer up some assistance.
"Now, now. I'm sure everything will work out in a mutually beneficial manner." Cue cheesy smile. :D
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And so, all your smiling faces, and the refills to his drink, pave the way for Id Sinitis explanations and information on the Starfinder Society, and the fact that, no, they are not here to push some dragoncorp, but are a neutral group that he can do business with.
Tefarian Mel is duly impressed.
And you can be proud of yourselves!
You reach out to have some finger food and a drink, but your comms buzz: you have been called for by your brass dragon host.
Emergency meeting!
You rush off to the command station, where, when he sees your whole team has arrived, Zafeldrin hurriedly jabs at a pad displaying an unauthorized data transfer from the lodge computers.
He fumes quietly - literally: smoke is flowing out of his large nostrils!:
“Hackers got in to the computer system a few minutes ago. They’re transmitting my data to a starship in orbit. It’s backed up locally but they’ve got copies of nearly everything.”
He glances in surprise when the pad indicates an incoming communication.
The weathered visage of an old white dragon appears, a twitch in one eye belying her detached demeanor. Zafeldrin breaks the silent regard.
“You seem upset. Just explain yourself and I’m sure we can talk this out?”
The white wyrm presses a button on her display, and slowly whispers:
“Hush now. I want to savor this.”
The dome grows brighter as a new star blooms in the sky above and a roar builds in the air--