While Lynn notices the limited religious decoration around the settlement, Show finds a few statues and public portraits depicting six jinsul warlords, with historical plaques indicating that when Kadrical’s beacon (resembling the Tears the Society recovered from the mentrasi and the izalguuns, which the First Seekers mentioned earlier) arrived here, their most prominent warlords refused the call back to the Scoured Stars and instead took the beacon, broke it open, and consumed the sliver of divine energy held within the Tear. This transformed the warlords into a group of semi-divine beings who brought the disparate jinsul factions together and formed them back into a cohesive civilization.
Lynn finds finds scraps of religious text confirming Show's discovery from a different perspective as they state that when Kadrical’s beacon (the Tear) arrived from the Scoured Stars, several warlords saw it as a divine tribute from a failed god. The warlords consumed the relic, achieving the divinity they believed they had earned for leading the jinsul race through perdition.
After examining the religious iconography, Lynn and Ra join S9 in investigating the unusual vehicles and other manually produced artifacts. Lynn discovers that a few items contain chemical alloys foreign to this planet’s makeup but more common in neighboring worlds, suggesting the jinsuls slowly expanded and conquered a handful of worlds in the region to extract resources necessary for their continued survival.
As she, S9, and Ra are examining some of these artifacts, however, one of the nearby vehicles suddenly explodes! All of them are caught in the blast, but Ra has the extra pleasure of being doused in some of the combustible fuel that once powered the vehicle, and suffers some additional burns!
|
Lynn shields herself from the exploding vehicle as best she can, to little effect. Thankfully she was far enough away from the blast that she suffers little more than singed clothing. Once the group is clear away from any more exploding cars, she balls her fists "That was super weird timing, don't you think? We didn't even touch it. Just boom!"
And as the group discusses their findings, she chimes in with "Huh, that's some pretty scary stuff. Like, what if those warlords that gobbled up the Tear energy are still around somewhere? The way that izalguun was talking, the Tears are seriously powerful." She raises a fist in the air. "But if we have to face them, we'll do it! Right?"
She continues her survey of the landscape during the second hour.
|
(-5 to DC of Pilot related checks)
"I'm guessing that might be related to the enemies trying to zap us with lightning. They probably blew up that vehicle. We need to find more information to track them down." He observes the scorches, bruises and scrapes then replies to Poppilo, "Looks like we are okay for now, but a few more things like that we may have to stop."
1-Hef
2-Show
3-Lynn
4-Ra
5-S9
6-Poppilo
As you continue traveling and begin investigating another small collection of ruined buildings, decrepit vehicles, and cultural artifacts, another peal of thunder cuts through the steady sound of wind. Once again the bolt of lightning finds its way toward your mystically attuned kasatha - Hef!
Moving around the ruins, Lynn and Show lead the party on to further discoveries about jinsul culture. There are many depictions of the warlords throughout both settlements you've explored thus far, but they are defaced and desecrated. Trying to understand this further, you come to realize that when the “prophet of Kadrical” (called Dhurus in some records) arrived to bring the jinsuls back to the Scoured Stars, he riled the jinsuls into overthrowing their current lords, whose semi-divine energies kept them alive despite the coup d’état.
Rather than study a means of permanently ending the apostate warlords, this prophet, Dhurus, had each of the toppled jinsul leaders affixed to the prow of an immense flagship that would serve to lead the newly re-formed Jinsul Hierocracy. Now ritualized sacrifice of heretics, or effigies representing them, is an integral part of the jinsuls’ renewed pursuit of salvation in the eyes of Kadrical.
After the party's significant discoveries related to the jinsul's society, Poppilo and Hef continue digging for further evidence of their ritual life. They find a cache of documents and religious iconography that confirm the existence of Kadrical’s divine heralds, named Dhurus. He appears frequently in the more recent religious iconography, and his likeness bears mystical signatures far stronger than those of the demigod warlords. He came to the jinsuls after they desecrated the Tear, and his horror at what the jinsuls had done to his master’s gift was boundless. He sought to punish these apostates for eternity while bringing the rest of the jinsul flock back into Kadrical’s fold.
Evidence of ritualized sacrifices, cannibalism, and self-flagellation reveal that jinsuls who seek Dhurus’ forgiveness routinely seek out opportunities to sacrifice heretics to representatives of Kadrical’s “true” faith. In this case, a kohkleim demon that offers protection similar to Kadrical’s divine barrier serves as a suitable recipient of the jinsuls’ depraved offerings.
While Poppilo and Hef dedicate themselves to picking apart the mysteries of jinsul faith, Ra, Lynn, and S9 discover more abandoned vehicles beside the road. Ra is just beginning to wipe away the dust and grime from what appears to be some sort of license plate on the back of one vehicle, when Lynn begins to pick up what appears to be an effigy of Dhurus from the front of one of the vehicles. She pulls too hard on the effigy, it seems, for just as the figure detaches, there is a splash, a wheeze, a click, and a boom! Again, Lynn, Ra, and S9 are engulfed in an explosion!
|
|
Hef cringes as the electricity courses through his body, back arcing in pain. He snaps off a quick response to the annoying telepathy, "Obviously!" He speaks to the group about the lightning, "It doesn't seem random at all, definitely targeting me. Maybe I should be honored I'm considered such a threat." He powers on a short bit longer but when his allies get blasted again, he suggests they take a short bit to recover.
At some point he poses a suggestion, "Maybe if we can find these toppled Jinsul leaders, we could sow some chaos in the ranks by backing their play for power. It's a classic tactic."
|
|
Unpleasantly singed once more, Lynn huddles under the lee of one of the ruined buildings. "Well, we're avoiding them so far! But I think if we totally super absolutely have to fight them, we should. If we don't, maybe some more junior Starfinders would have to face them." She looks up at the swirling storm outside and pulls herself further under the lip of the ruin's roof for protection.
As they rest, she thinks out loud about what the group found. "If we read that weird tablet back there right, it sure sounds like they stuck the toppled jinsul leaders onto the front of their warships. Which is... super gross and weird! And now they started a trend where the other jinsul are doing that too? Like, they're finding other jinsuls that don't want to follow Kadrical and are sacrificing them." Lynn shudders theatrically.
1-Hef
2-Show
3-Lynn
4-Ra
5-S9
6-Poppilo
After resting for a short while among the ruins of the second settlement you came across, you finally decide you need to continue on toward the larger city in the distance. You estimate that, at the rate you've been traveling so far, you're about half way there.
Almost as soon as you set out again, though, there is another crack of thunder, and this time S9 feels the overwhelming power of lightning coursing through her!
The team recovers quickly, though, and hurries on toward the city. Once again, you come across a small ruined village along the road you have been following, this one seeming even more barren than the first two. At this point, the signs of worship and the elements of common culture are very familiar, and you think you have a good grasp on those aspects of jinsul society.
|
|
Lynn ponders the story about the Kohkleim demon as she continues with the rest of the group. She taps a finger against her cheek "Hmmmmm~ So what do you guys think that demon is all about, anyway? It doesn't seem like it fits in with the other things we know about the Jinsuls."
As the lightning flashes, she calls out "Ah! Careful S9!", but her warning comes way too late.
|
|
"AGH!" S9 tries to backflip away from the lightning bolt, and of course, it's futile. She heaves as smoke billows from her armor. "Damn it. Not even a life bubble can stop lightning, I suppose."
After she spends a bit of time taking care of her wounds, S9 sheepishly examines the village ruins. "Guys, at this point, I'm even scared to look at things!" She clicks, slowly inching her way forward.
|
|
Lynn cocks her head to the side at Poppilo's comment. "I don't think I know any demon worshipers. Is it really that common?" She hums for a moment, then adds "I sure hope none of my friends or fans are secretly into demons. That'd be..." She trails off, making a *bleh* face for just a moment before winking.
"I guess the Jinsuls here needed to replace their Kadrical guy with something, right?"
As you move from one vehicle to another, you begin to notice some interesting details that seem to add to what you have already learned about jinsul society. Different markings that resemble license plates indicate numerous divergent forms of identification, suggesting the race splintered into hundreds of smaller warbands, each attempting to eke out an existence within the inhospitable territory where they’d settled.
- Defenses A kohkleim, like many demons, is resistant to physical damage not inflicted with cold iron weapons, and also resists harm from acid, cold, and fire-based weapons. It has some resistance against spells in general, and is generally immune to diseases, poisons, and damage from electicity.
- Special Ability: Control Climate (Su) A kohkleim can alter the climate in a 7-mile radius for one week by meditating for an hour, making the area colder, warmer, or more or less prone to storms. For each successive week in which the kohkleim controls the climate in an area, the effect’s radius increases by another 7 miles. The kohkleim automatically senses any large disturbances in the weather it controls, such as a powerful magical effect or a starship moving through the area.
- Special Ability: Stormsight (Su) A kohkleim gains blindsight against all creatures inside any fog clouds it created within 300 feet. When a kohkleim uses arcing surge or its lightning strike attack against any creature inside a fog cloud it created, all other creatures within that cloud also take electricity damage (Reflex for half). Once per hour, the kohkleim can instead use this ability to create a scrying sensor anywhere within the area of its control climate ability. This effect lasts for 7 minutes or until the kohkleim uses its lightning strike attack against any creature it sees through its scrying sensor.
While the rest of the crew investigates the vehicles and continues learning about the jinsul's scattered society, Hef keeps an eye out for threats. His vigilance is soon rewarded, as he spots a group of jinsuls trek through the cold towards the city on the horizon, accompanied by a shaggy-furred creature with a toothy snout and long, double-jointed legs emerging from its back like a spider’s. Its tail sports a collection of manufactured plates resembling a contorted suit of armor, curled up over the creature’s spine like a shell.
|
|
Lynn fills the group in on what she knows about kohkleim demons , ending her summary with "I learned WAY too much about them at a fan meetup. My fans are super smart - I've learned a lot from chatting with them and listening to them talk about their work. I love seeing them so zetta passionate!" She giggles at recalling the memory.
Turning back to the dire situation at hand, she adds "Seems like the Jinsuls here got really into following this kohkleim demon, right? Maybe it's still around. We should be ready with a plan if we come across it!"
At Hef pointing out the jinsul party, she murmurs "Mmm, doesn't look like they saw us, but we're going to same way. Maybe we should give them a lot of room before we follow?"
Inhabit Armor (Ex): A jeskraal’s tail has several muscular
protrusions that allow it to shape a suit of armor into a
suitable shell in moments. It then uses the shell to protect
its vitals. A jeskraal may use its inhabited armor to convert
a critical hit against it, or against an ally whose Armor
Class it has increased with the Bodyguard Feat, into a
normal hit. Doing so imposes a –4 penalty on the jeskraal’s
EAC and KAC until it takes a full-round action to readjust
its armor. Jeskraals are proficient with all light and heavy
armors and can don armor hastily at no penalty. The DC of
any Engineering check required to resize armor reclaimed
from a jeskraal increases by 4, and the armor requires
twice as many credits to be refitted by a professional.
|
|
Hef suggests a course of action, clear and concise. "I think we should follow that group to the city on the horizon, but stay very far back to avoid being seen. It should be easy enough to follow the tracks through the snow."
He then asks, "I don't know what other options we have, our destination is the ruined city they are going to and I don't think any of us wish to make ourselves known to the enemy at this time."
|
|
Lynn trots up to S9 before she leaves. She begins humming to herself, before quietly breaking out ♪♫into a slow and relaxing song♪♫. Ripples form in the air around her as she sings - ripples that settle around S9 and start slowing down. As they slow their vibration, they bend light around the shirren until she's completely invisible.
Lynn turns back to humming for a moment and murmurs "Four minutes, go quick if you can!"
S9 moves closer toward the jinsul in utter silence and takes a moment to watch them from a shorter distance. They mutter to one another occasionally in their own language, which S9 is unfamiliar with, but from the gear they are carrying, she gets the idea that they are likely some sort of hunting or scouting party. It's difficult to read how successful they have been by their body language, though, given their strange anatomy.
|
|
Lynn nods enthusiastically. "Yep! If we're not careful, they'll try to grab us and sacrifice us to their Kadrical guy, or maybe even the Kohkleim demon."
At Hef's comment, she adds "They don't look like they're going super fast, but we're not that fast either." She taps her chin with a finger. "Hmm, Sighnine, maybe you could distract them? Like, make a weird noise off to one side that they go investigate for an hour or two while we get ahead of them?"
|
|
"I guess I could try?" Invisible S9 somersaults back over to get closer to the jinsul, and when she's sufficiently far enough from everyone else in the party, she fires a round from her shirren-eye sniper rifle up to the sky. Then she pivots on one foot and somersaults back. "It's done. Come on, let's go!"
These jinsuls lack the leg blade augmentations used by their Scoured Stars kin and use less refined tactics compared to the well-disciplined and well-equipped jinsul military that the Society has previously encountered. Their wild behavior suggests that they may not care about catching their allies in friendly fire.
The jinsuls fervently seek out various objects that may have sentimental value (such as photographs or writings) and immediately set them on fire. Based on their behavior, it appears those left behind by the main jinsul force desperately seek to prove themselves by purging their cities of reminders of any former heresies.
The jinsuls decorate themselves with tokens that resemble military regalia, squabbling over preferred medals and bits of armor. Their focus on such tokens suggests Dhurus brought the jinsuls’ strongest fighters to engage the trespassers (i.e. the Starfinder Society) when they re-opened the path into the Scoured Stars, and those still on Rax seek out validation for their own combat prowess.
As the jinsuls are traveling, they occasionally stop to pick through equipment they find among some rubble, squabble over it, then “compromise” by separating the armor into equal pieces for each to keep before departing. The jinsuls discard the assorted pieces they currently carry, which S9 believes you all could recover and reassemble afterward.
|
|
Lynn gives a quiet cheer at S9's success as she sees the shirren coming over the rise back to the group. Once S9 fills the group in, Lynn considers the weird behavior of the jinsuls while humming to herself.
"Hmmmm, these jinsuls are super strange, aren't they? Like, obsessed with how they were left behind and not good enough to fight with the main group. That's defs something Luwazi and Jadnura are gonna want to know!"
S9 is on her way back to the party as Lynn's magic falls away from her. She is moving about as quietly as she ever has, but what she didn't account for when firing off her shot to draw the jinsuls' attention, was the path they would take to get to the noise she made. It seems they moved closer to her own return route than she originally predicted, and as she dashes from one bit of cover to the next, one of the jinsuls cries out in their strange language.