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When the invitation to the museum arrives on this wrist-com, Compucast sighs.
"There is much to be learned from the past, and from museums." notes the mighty vesk to anyone who might be listening.
"Parties however are generally frivolous. Oh do not get me wrong. I understand the advantages of building team work. And it sounds like this will be where the team meets. I do hope they don't drink too much."
Putting on his best battle armor, for a warrior is never unprepared, Compucast checks the museum location and takes leave of his quarters, heading toward the party with his mind elsewhere.
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Goose gazes into the mirror in his quarters while tapping his foot impatiently. Using his holoskin, he cycles through outfit after outfit after outfit, searching for the just the right one.
A tight fitting body suit. "Makes me look too fat." he muses while sucking in his paunch.
A military regalia outfit. "No, too short-person syndrome. Overcompensating for something." he chuckles.
Click, click, click. He cycles through some more options, programming his wrist-mounted holoskin interface.
"Too short. Too tall. Not ysoki enough. Too ysoki. Too desperate. Not regal enough. Too stuffy." he ponders, cycling through more outfits.
As he turns the holodeck off and sees himself in his normal adventuring gear, he shrugs. "Why not?" he considers.
He does top it off with a swanky beret, cocked to the side to go with the swagger of his recent impossible mission. In addition, he pulls out a newly commissioned purchase from under his bunk. He opens the box and pulls out a pair of soft and supple leather boots made from an exotic and very alien species. "I can't wait to talk about these!" he whispers and pulls on the pair of white boots.
With that, he pulls up the recent invitation to a museum party. He confirms the address and departs his room, eager for his next adventure.
Starfinders,
There's a party tonight at the First Seeker Ilyastre Memorial Museum on the grounds of the Lorespire Complex. I have my own reasons for wanting you there, but it's good to be seen attending these events. There will be people to hobnob with, excellent food and of course... history. Who can resist the lure of history?
After tonight, I hope you won't.
See you there,
Radaszam
You all start arriving at the museum, where the party is just starting. An android in a butler uniform takes your coats, and you all see signs that advertise the newest exhibit: 'Tentacles of Welcome: The Many Faces of Manifold Host.'
Inside, the pristine and cavernous halls of the First Seeker Ilyastre Memorial Museum contain holographic displays depicting Starfinders meeting new people, exploring breathtaking planets, fighting alongside one another, and discovering fantastic relics. Strange artifacts recovered during Starfinder missions fill glass cases in some rooms and are mounted to the walls in others. Chatty throngs of people move throughout, holding wine glasses and filling the space with the susurrus of shuffling feet and quiet discussion.
The new exhibit is full of portraits of new races, all with images of the settings where the Starfinder Society recruited them. There are portraits of Copaxi, Morlamaws, and even races from the Azlanti Empire. One portrait has been covered over, with a 'REDACTED FOR SECURITY REASONS' sign posted to it. A mouthy SRO that looks a bit like a trashcan says to anyone who will listen, "Seriously? They won't let us talk about how we joined? That's absurd!"
You don't see Radaszam yet, but he was right that the food here is excellent. There's tons of miniature pies, savory food wraps, sea weed crisps, and a gnome with pink hair serving a wide variety of fancy teas. In the midst of all this, you see Fitch run past, chasing two little ysoki children that have their hands full of stolen cookies. "That's it! That's the last time I take you to a serious cultural event!" The kids run right past you out the door. "You will be GROUNDED for a WEEK!' Fitch shouts.
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"Probably above our pay grade," answers another vesk carrying about a small glass of wine in his claws. Despite a lack of exceptional height, for a vesk at least, his defined muscles clearly announce his strength as they struggle and fight to break free of the formal stationwear. "Knowledge is strength and it is hard to freely give that strength up. I'm sure their is much information within the grip of the Archives that will be released only when it helps the Society.".
Musing over his thoughts he grins and offers a hand, "Sorry for that. A bit stuck in my own skull. I'm Ivok, I run a few programs helping people keep their bodies lean and talons sharp. At least when not on missions. On those I tend to be a bit more hands on with problems." The armor whines as the Ivok flexes against the suit. "Although seeing Fitch's pups running around, I'm wondering about trying to help form some junior holoball leagues for the little ones."
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Goose sees Fitch and her brood scampering across the room, playing joyfully. He almost, but not quite, jumps in eagerly to play with the group. He stops himself with a jerk and looks around self-consciously.
He then realizes that he misses his extended family, both on Akiton and beyond. Fitch has served as a good surrogate family member as the leader of the Wayfinders and Goose has certainly built up a strong reputation among that faction, but it is not a substitute of actual family. A wistful expression of emotion plays across his face as he remembers those youthful times.
He decides now is not the time for melancholy though. He has a task to do. He moves to the buffet and tries a few delicacies and takes a drink while he mingles. Looking around, he seeks out those like him, as he knows a prelude to an adventure begins.
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A goblin wearing a red bandana, dark sunglasses, and a black shirt with a Bamford Tools™ logo strides into the room dramatically
With that, the brightly coloured Vesk strides into the room firing imaginary air pistols with his fingers at the Ysoki children "HOWDY KIDS! WHO WANTS A TURN RIDING BUSTER!?" - and at that point Buster the celebrity quadbike rolls into the room with a fresh coat of high gloss black paint and way too much chrome "It's ok, the weapons are offline for now because remember kids SAFETY FIRST!"
Jim hands out a few signed 6"x8" photos and poses for a few snaps whilst vidcasting the whole affair. #Bamford #toollife #blessed #safetyfirst #mechanics #JimsJams - Use discount code BIGJIM20 for 20% off your first Bamford tools order
Once things have died down a bit he wanders over to the party "Hey if it isn't some familiar friendly faces! That must mean we have another collaboration co-branded production coming up, that's terrific - ratings on the last outings were through the roof. Hey what's under that cover do you reckon, they didn't mention a big reveal tonight so maybe someone just left the wrapper on by accident - couldn't hurt to have a peek amirite? I mean, what's better than a sneak preview?"
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Ivok gives a booming laugh as he gives a firm grip to the boistrious vesk. "Seeing you again Big Jim is getting my blood pumping. I would love to work together again! Although many of those times I've spent a lot of time laid up in recovery tanks recovering from lightning strikes, explosions, and bite wounds." The muscular vesk twinges in pain during the recollection and rubs his shoulder to ease away the phantom ache. "I've been yelled at plenty of times that it isn't 'Good Branding' to tell how people to live healthy and spend half of my production laid up."
"Maybe, for the sake of my production, have a little less excitement today."
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"Geez Ivok I take your point, and it's going to be great working together but you kow the industry - getting some bumps and bruises is all part of our commitment to the art, and the fans expect quality actions scenes - hey at least we do all our own stunts amirite? That's dedication. Besides, we can clear up all the obvious grievous injuries in post-production" Jim smiles.
As the new guest arrives and clearly knows Ivok, Jim welcomes him into the group "Antoine Desilet, the photojournalist! No we haven't worked on anything together but we attend the same industry events so may have brushed each other on one of those. This must be a great mission - we have a few celebrities and one of the best photojournalists and public relations guys on Absalom Station, this is a star-studded event. Anyone else for champagne?" Jim looks about for the waiter.
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Goose, having never worked with any of the folks in the room, observes quietly. He scopes out gear, mannerisms, speech patterns, and other quirks of personalities. If you look carefully, he takes notes with a rapid staccato tapping of his tiny fingers on a datapad.
He seems focused primarily on the gathering of iconic figures congregating together. Having heard some booming voices from the less than subtle celebrities, he does some on-line searches to learn more about them, adding the notes to what he directly observes.
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All three of us would have:
Celebrity (6th)
You are famous enough that pretty much everyone has either heard of you or can quickly find information about you (it’s a DC 10 Culture check to recognize your name and a DC 20 Culture check for someone to recognize you out of context from your appearance alone). Among those who follow your iconic profession, you’ve built up both fans and detractors due to your celebrity. If you’re looking for a generic person like “a doctor who can treat this disease,” you can almost always find one who’s a fan and whose attitude starts as friendly or helpful to you; this takes 2d4 hours. At the GM’s discretion, fans might give you services (although not goods) for a discount or even for free.
Antoine - the Famous photojournalist, wrote papers on numerous topics (scoured stars,Jinsul menace)
Ivok - a motivational guy and personal trainer. Did some collaboration with Big Jim for disadvantaged Vesk youth.
'Big Jim' - home improvement, vehicle maintenance, and general handyman show. Does a lot of charity for kids.
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Goose was able to quickly find profiles on the celebrities.
He takes some more notes and matches them up with the folks in the room. He also quickly generates some macro-subroutines to gather additional information on them to peruse later.
The ysoki scrunches his face up a bit as he considers that these individuals go out of their way to gain fame and notoriety, which is a foreign concept for someone like himself, who values his privacy fully.
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A shirren wanders the party enjoying the food and drink.
He wanders over to Goose. "I don't think we have meet but I think I've seen you on the Master of Stars. I try to help out Finch when I have some downtime and not working on my studies. Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm T'kai."
T'kai then spots the three icons roaming the party and moves to introduce himself.
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Outside his media he promotes physical events like marathons and other races on various Pact Worlds.
Ivok offers a firm handshake to T'kai along with a wide toothy grin as he introduces himself. "It is great to meet you T'kai! I don't think I've had the chance to work with you, but I'm hoping that we find some project we can both put our strength behind soon! What are you studying now? Myself I've run myself through though various engineering classes. I've broken more than my fair share, but I think I'm getting the hang of it now!"
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Ivok gives a big grin as he recalls his recent business. "It has felt a bit like I've been running a non-stop marathon Antoine. As new races join the Society, I have been taking on my on my shoulders to learn more about them. I just finished a series working with one of the new aquatic people. I passed it to marketing under 'No Sea, No Problem! Muscle Training On Dry Land.' Trying to make sure they get a warm welcome and keep all their muscles toned and trained, even if they can't get access to the pool rooms."
"What has been your latest project Antoine, or at least the latest one you can talk about?"
"Big Jim, take this as a chance to rest and recuperate. I know how hard you work and it is important to not throw away the chances you have to take a breath. I sometimes forget myself, but this has been nice and calm."
He flexes for a moment and his claws scratch out on his armor in anticipation.
"Much unlike most Society business."
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The vesk warrior-scholar looks on, tapping his fingers as he scans a mystical text using his wrist com.
"My last mission was a charity do on Castrovel... for Radaszam. I hope this one turns out a little calmer."
He shakes his head. "I can still hear those musicians weird sounds echoing around inside my head."
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Goose continues monitoring the celebs gathered at the event. His intuition tells tells him that this is the beginning of yet another Society mission. He can feel it in his bones.
Not missing the opportunity, the ysoki paces along the buffet line, grabbing handfuls of grub and snacks and stuffs them in his cheekpouches. He already has a chubby face and this just adds to his charm. As he begins to reach his limit, he wipes his hand on a napkin and wanders over the group.
"Hoi chums." squeaks ysoki as he reaches the group, dwarfed by the muscular vesk gathered. Without fear, he continues and speaks clearly, despite half a buffet of food stuffed in his mouth. "So, ya love art or history?" offers Goose as he chuckles a bit at a joke clearly only funny to him.
"Mon Tavi's the name. But my mates call me Goose."
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Jim reflects on Ivoks words with an understanding nod, but his hands seem to flex unconsciously due to not having fixed something in the last few hours, or tinkered with a random object.
As the Ysoki appears Jim looks rather enthusiastic "Art if it were a choice, Vesk history hasn't always been that swell, in fact both Ivok and I seem to be trying to show people that not all of the Vesk are the same two-dimensional angry militaristic conquerors we all get painted as, but instead a diverse group with a range of other productive interests and sharing that we do have either a sensitive and reflective side " he thumbs towards Ivok "Or that we are creative and outside the box thinkers like good old Big Jim here" the thumbs toward himself "And both of us care a lot about the kids, especially the Ysoki kids down in The Spike on Absalom Station, they do it real tough down there...hmm... try level 21 Downside, there's a great little Ysoki run bodega down there - MAMA FATS - they do an amazing spiced potato roll."
"Where was I? Oh yeah, the art. Definitely the art"
Jim signs a 6"x8" photo - To Goose, keep being awesome, always buy Bamford, Big Jim and hands it to the Ysoki
"Where'd you get those hors d'oeuvres?"
An android tour guide comes in and announces “Next tour to begin in 30 seconds. Please queue here...” pointing to an area adjacent to the drinks.
After the crowd has gathered, the Android starts the tour. “The Starfinder Society has a long and prestigious history of exploration, first contact and archeological expeditions. As I’m sure many of your know, the First Seeker determines the focus...”
The script is alright, but they really should have a tour guide able to give it with more style. The stiff delivery and monotone voice is likely to induce coma in the tourists. You notice the mouthy SRO has joined the tour, perhaps they will liven it up.
As the tour is led away, you notice Radaszam enter. He moves over to a museum display piece showcasing an ancient polearm of unknown make.
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Ivok has a thought pass as he nods with appreciation with T'kai's study, but his musing is interrupted by Radaszam's arrival. He looks to the tour for another moment, but hearing the guide continue to drone on quickly convinces him to join the others in approaching the Acquistives leader.
"This is a nice gathering Radaszam. A good way to cool down from a day of heavy training. But I don't get invited to many of these unless weapons are expected. Should I start warming up in case assassins break in?"
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The plaque only says ancient glaive, origins unknown. It then goes into some details about how glaives were used in ancient combat with illustrations of a hobgoblin wielding one.
“Ah great! Have I got a job for you, hotshots. I don’t expect any assassins this time” giving a nod towards Ivok “but staying alert for trouble is always a good idea.”
“Heard the name Jelev Rasheen?”
It would be almost impossible to have never heard the name. She was a human explorer and adventurer from the early days of Drift travel. Jelev made periodic sallies into unexplored systems in the Vast, each time returning with holds full of relics and treasures from distant civilizations. Shortly after the Stardust Plague swept through the Pact Worlds, she left on her final voyage, never to return. Rasheen's legacy continued however, in the form of self-declared children and adventuring companions who spread the belief that Jelev Rasheen's last haul was the greatest of all: a cargo fleet laden with unimaginable riches.
Jelev Rasheen evolved in the popular imagination from a canny explorer and gifted raconteur into a legend across the Vast. The truths of her exploits are almost impossible to ascertain, as few excerpts of her own tales and those of her followers survive, and even those remain clouded by doubt of their veracity.
Multiple studios have produced different movies showing her exploits. All of them have lots of action, many don’t even pretend they had a historian reviewing the script or any technical advisors checking it for accuracy.
He turns away from the display, walking and speaking while waving for everyone to follow. “Most of you probably have, even if kids these days don't read the gazetteers anymore. She was a big shot explorer in the early days of Drift travel, sallied forth to find new worlds and meet new civilizations, all that explorer romantic kind of stuff. She always came back with holds full of riches, but I think for her the real treasure was the stories she got out of it. Until she didn't come back, that is.”
Radaszam continues through the museum, still waving for the group to follow him. “No one knows what really happened to her, but everyone she met seems to have had a theory; from her kids, those who call themselves her kids, her adventuring buddies, and the people who read those godsawful pulp stories. Don't get me wrong, I like a good adventure story as much as the next vesk,” he adds, “but I've been on some of those planets and that writer had no idea what he was talking about.”
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Radaszam chuckles at Antoine’s request. “Can’t say I’m surprised by that. First you need to find something, then we can discuss your releasing the information. Fortunately this mission is likely one we will want talked about, assuming you find something.”
Stopping abruptly, Radaszam motions at a clear case on an ornate pedestal, with the label “”
It contains several pieces of engraved platinum. “What with all the conflicting accounts, some coming from Rasheen herself, it's hard to tell what's real and what's artistic embellishment. But there is hard evidence for many of her journeys—we have several reliable accounts from SEASONED Starfinders who ran into supposedly uncontacted species with prior exposure to the Common language, and with some digging we've been able to connect them with Rasheen's travels. Not to mention the reports of huge stelae with her family sigil carved on them in the middle of nowhere, or collections like this—” he gestures to the case—“lurking in a retired adventurer's attic, to be sold off by kids who don't know their history.”
“Jelev Rasheen's fingerprints are everywhere in the exploration business, once you start looking. And with things settling down after our last dust-up, I had some time to look through the Society's metaphorical attic for leads, and what do I find but a map of Jelev Rasheen's last journey.”
Radaszam pauses to make eye contact with everyone present. He then removes a laminated hard copy map from a hidden cabinet in the pedestal; it's an image recovered from a damaged hard drive, with some areas pixelated beyond interpretation, but it clearly depicts a star system, with navigational information in its legend.
“Following in her footsteps—or even finding her final resting place—would be a major accomplishment, both on its own and for raising the profile of the Society in the Pact Worlds.” Radaszam unlocks the case, removing an object smaller than his palm that may once have been a pendant. He touches it to his forehead reverently, then replaces it carefully, saying, “Trust me, the experience alone is worth it—it's a rite of passage for a true explorer. I almost wish I could lead this expedition myself.”
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"I admit I've read stories of her back in the Veskarium back when I was just a little whelp. I was told much of it was fluff and human propaganda, but I loved those stories." He treats the pendant with same reverence as he can barely hold back a youthful grin. "I've heard stories, but what happened on her last journey? Where does this map lead?"
Radaszam grins as Ivok steps up and performs the same ritual with the pendant. He then gestures for the rest of you to do the same thing.
“Map is to a location in the Vast. Hopefully it will lead to a beacon.”
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"Well if is is bringing a bit of celebrity and publicity to this affair you were after then you sure picked the right team. I gotta say, Jim's Jams - Rasheen special episode will probably rate through the roof - might even beat Jim Jams it up the Jinsuls, this is just the sort of story the kids need to spark the imagination and have them inspired to be the explorers and craftspeople of the future."
Camera zooms in on the pendant, then moves to a wide-angle shot as Jim also performs the ritual. Back out at the party, Buddy the Goblin sits in a corner monitoring the shot and then begins placing teaser snippets out into the infosphere that seem to promise much but show little - just enough to start getting the home viewers excited
"So, we're assuming the pendant is real and not just a prop from one of the dozens of movies - what do we know about the location in the Vast, and what do we know about this beacon?"
“Yes, the pendant is real.” With a shrug, he adds “The ritual is more something to get people in the spirit, no mystical powers that I am aware of.” He smiles, then mentions “You don’t have to be Vesk to join in.”
“We don’t know much about the location; famous explorers don't pick well-mapped systems. It seems a mining company did a quick fly-by, saw there weren't any mineral deposits floating around, called it the Arat system after their rather… self-obsessed captain, and then they left. Their initial scans show a young yellow star; this map doesn't depict any rocky near-solar planets, but there are several gas giants, so we might be looking for a moon, or if any local species have achieved advanced technology, a dome system. At those distances from the sun, sub-zero temperatures are almost certain, so pack accordingly.”
“Back when Drift navigation wasn't as reliable, explorers sometimes left beacons to broadcast their claims to first right of settlement before returning to their home stations. Jelev Rasheen used hers to mark her path on longer expeditions; she'd leave a beacon-zero at her first stop outside known space, with a quick situation report and her planned heading, then beacon-one at the next stop, and so on. If we can find one of her beacons, we can confirm whether or not it's actually from her last journey, and get a lead on where her next destination might have been—those beacons will be guideposts to her final resting place, if we can just find the first one.”
“The Katter-Zin display is something you can look up on the infosphere, the only thing important about it is that Jellev got there first and recovered these artifacts,” He gestures towards the display.
“We know that Jellev made first contact with a number of societies. She used beacons to mark her routes. Each beacon gives directions on where she planned to go next.”
“We also know she never came back from her last expedition.”
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Jim just looks at Antoine uncaringly and shrugs dismissively "Have your people call my people, pretty sure your readership and my viewers ain't the same folks"
Turning back to Radaszam "Looks pretty straightforward then, head out to that location, check around for beacons, get ready to kick around yet-another-frozen-planet. Can't be any worse than that frozen pile of rock the Jinsul base was on, remember that one Ivok? Glad we had the Big Jim Truckster for moblity. Looks like we'll be packing the truck again, not getting caught walking long treks again in these inhospitable holes the Society keeps sending us to. Once, just once, I'd like for us to be sent to some tropical planet with azure blue water and golden sands, where the biggest danger is the cocktail menu" Jim chuckles.
"Anyhow, assuming we find this beacon, do you want us to just retrieve it or start following the breadcrumb trail?"
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"Space exploration searching for leads on long lost explorer. Count me in. Do we need a group photo before heading out?"
"Now that is a great question, you're a natural at this game. We can get some promo shots done up, you got a persona you want to project?"
Jim turns and speaks into his comms system to the side whilst people keep discussing the mission.
"Buddy, going to need you to untangle Buster from under all those terrific Ysoki kids, we need some publicity shots"..."Yeah I know they are having fun and it kills me to stop them, hand out some of the co-branded Bamford & Big Jim balloons"..."Yes you will need to get the dropped cake and fingerprints off the chrome work"..."And have the Big Jim Truckster moved to the loading bay, and throw in some blankets, as we're off to the cold again"..."Yeah I know, I suggested that tropical paradise we talked about on Castrovel, heck I'd even settle for Akiton at this point"
“Try to find the beacon and retrieve the data. See if she left anything interesting behind.”
“The data is likely to be highly encrypted, so it may take the resources of the Lorespire to crack it. She has been missing this long, I would rather go about this step by step rather than have someone rush to follow all the beacons.”
“Pick up any supplies you may need and choose your ship.” Handing over the map, he adds “Good luck to you!”
“Any more questions?”
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"Retrieval, check for anything interesting. Sounds good and should play well for the camera"
"Unless anyone has a different view I'm going to recommend the Drake, plenty of legroom and less likely to have us ending in a fiery blaze if we come across some of those cheaper marketplace competitors out there - SAFETY FIRST!"
Jim gets back on the line to buddy "You bet you are coming, I don't care if it is cold"..."call the guys at Bamford and let them know we have another Jims Jams special coming up, get one of those new stick-ons for my axe while you are at it - the one that makes you go faster"..."and some badges and t-shirts, because we might meet some fans"..."Get the guys down at engineering to check the guns on the Drake we are taking, you know how I like them set-up, make sure Barry hasn't taken another coffee break and slacked off on the power couplings on them again - I want those beam weapons on high beam if you know what I mean"..."And don't forget the blankets in the Truckster, and get the Truckster on the Drake. And pack Buddy away carefully for the flight -
make sure he has all fresh batteries and keep him on a trickle charge too"
Ally: Elite Hireling
Faction: Acquisitives
Promotional: Tshirt & faction pin
Personal: Scoured stars survivor
Social: Sponsorhip
Starship: Defender of the Fleet - Finest weapons (reroll 1's on damage)
Slotless: Starfinder Insignia
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Compucast eyes the map with a certain scepticism.
"I'm more interested in the province of the map and the drive it came from that the pendant. " he says slowly.
"Not wanting to sound paranoid, but if you wanted to lay a trap, wouldn't scattering around treasure maps ... or hints about long lost famous explorers...be a great way to do that?" he shakes his head.
"The drake has superior firepower, but is lacking in tactical manoeuvrability - which is of critical importance in a space fight. Still, I'm not going to be flying it. Sensors in the Pegasus is better too now I think of it. Still, if the rest of you prefer the Drake I'll take one for the team."
He thinks for a while longer. "If it is a trap, then I think I might have a bit of a tinker with the computers, see if I can give them a small upgrade."