Game Master S's "Duskmire Accord 9" [1-4] (Inactive)

Game Master Chris Marsh

Shokil, hanging back and taking notes listens with concern about a ritual in which people become Yeti.

Slinking forward, he doesn't yet joint the group, knowing that trouble can strike from all sorts of unusual places. Especially when you are a writer.

He looks up, wondering about the ceiling of the place.

Ask them about the others! He thinks as loudly as he can.
stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

Garcon does his best to 'inconspicuously' look around the area. Someone was boozin' it up here and a good cocktail waiter should always know the drink order BEFORE it's placed.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 Looking for hints on what they like in general, and possibly what 'test' we may be up for.

The party nervously looks around. No one gets any kind of clue they're hoping for. Shokil does, however, notice that there are low level shoft LEDs providing the light. They're chaotically spread out like stars...

The yetis begin their Common/Aklo chants, "Ditch."

"Ditch."

"Ditch."

Inix halts them, "Prepare the ceremonial ditch for jumping!"

They lead the group to the nearest muddy ditch and, with a great deal of hooting and hollering, egg you on to jump over it!

The ditch is 10 feet across, but the slippery ground means it could be deceptively tough to clear. You're making an Athletics check to clear it.

"LET THE CEREMONY BEGIN!"

Still to jump:
Venari
Merisiel
Garçon
Shokil
Ohmarc
Catsial

"Ditch! Ditch! Ditch!" Venari is soon caught up in the creature's ritualistic chant as they pump their fist in the air to mimic the drunken yetis. Taking a swig of rum for a bit of Diasporan courage, the Witchwarper runs forwards towards the pit and leaps, desperately hoping they don't get stuck in the mood. They consider pulling from reality 4-Gamme where this area is a soft land of feather-like flowers, but decide their hosts may take exception.

Athletics to jump: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Venari runs, jumps.... and lands flat in the mud. There's no pain, excepted for wounded pride. The yeti all laugh and help him up. "DITCH!"

Still to jump:
Merisiel
Garçon
Shokil
Ohmarc
Catsial

Over:
Venari: FAIL

"With all of this ditch chanting, I think they want us to jump over the ditch. This is a far better choice than fighting. However, that does look a little far.

"Here goes my best effort!"

Ohmarc gets a running start and then . . .

Athletics: 1d20 ⇒ 14

With a successful landing, Ohmarc cannot help but smile.

"Thank the Dawnflower for getting me across that one."

Ohmarc turns toward the yetis, puts his hands together and bows to them out of respect.

"I cannot believe that I had that within me."

Ohmarc's jump is impressive enough! He lands just barely clear of the mud, but he does! There is a massive roar from the yetis.

Still to jump:
Merisiel
Garçon
Shokil
Catsial

Over:
Venari: FAIL
Ohmarc: PASS

Merisiel carefully stows her camera and begins her run up

Ditch! Ditch! Ditch!

athletics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

She turns and bows to the yetis and the other Starfinders

More cheers go up!

Still to jump:
Garçon
Shokil
Catsial

Over:
Venari: FAIL
Ohmarc: PASS
Merisiel: PASS

Shokil, seeing a test that looks good to him, joins the group.

Putting down his equipment and notebook, the halfling eyes up the challenge with a grin. With a running jump he ....

athletics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Garcon grabs the 'expresso' shot glass off of his tray and knocks it back.

Basic boost: Speed +10 ft putting my base speed over 35 ft, so +4 bonus to jumping

He rushes forward, still holding the cocktail tray, and leaps...

"Wheeeeeee!"

Athletics: 1d20 + 0 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 0 + 4 = 15

...landing on the other side without spilling a drop.

Catsial observes with amusement how his allies are jumping through the ditch. He begins to remove his outer coat, backpack and weapons. Standing in his shirt and trousers he decides to rely on his natural grace to jump through. He begins to run, moving his four arms to keep balance, takes the step

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

And slips, falling down into the mud. After landing on his back he stays there for a moment to deal with his anger. Then he stands up.

Nat 1 ;)

Shokil and Garçon both make the jump with aplomb, but Castrial slips just before the jump. He gets a LOT of laughter, but it seems good natured.

Inix nods his head impressively. "Good! Good! But that is only the first of three tasks! You must go SMOKEHOLE HUNTING!"

The other yetis respond, "SMOKEHOLE HUNTING!"

Inix explains, "We like the smoke here. It makes us picture blizzards and tundras! We need to find another smoke hole. You accidentally stepped on the one we were using. You must find and dig!"

"SMOKEHOLE!"

Perception, Physical Science, or Survival checks will help you find underground pockets of smoke and release them. You're not sure why or how they're there, or what sense it makes.... but that's the ritual.

Laughing along with the creature as they lift him from the dirt, Venari brushes off some of the muck clinging to their coat before wiping the rest away by reaching into the strands of reality and transposing upon him a coat from a reality where he didn’t make an ass of himself Token Spell. Taking another swig of rum he turns to the yeti as the new task is revealed to them.

”Alrighty then mateys! If smoke is what you want, smoke is what you will get!” they exclaim, taking a moment to focus in on this reality and search.

physical science, aid: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Ohmarc thinks about the fact that they stepped in the smokehole the yetis were using and thinks to himself that they need to be more mindful of their surroundings. With that thought in mind, the priest begins slowly and mindfully looking around for another smokehole.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30

"Right... finding a smoking hole... My characters are normally looking for a smoking gun.. or a steaming laser.. but I can do this."
perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

"What about over there?" he asks.

1d2 ⇒ 2 After a couple hows of digging and getting dirty, the party manages to find a good one. After a bit (there are no tools) you manage to release a pocket of smoke. The yeti all run to join you, getting uncomfortably close.

"SMOKE! SMOKE! SMOKEHOLE!"

Inix is suitably impressed, "One final test! You must inhale deeeeeeply. Come now, take in the smoke and breath our air! You shall be one of us!"

Is anyone going to NOT inhale?

Shokil, used to the writers dens of the less popular decks in Absalom station, is well used to inhaling smoke, and does so.

After a couple of hours, Telepathic Message has expired.

When he gets a private moment, Ohmarc takes an interest in the halfling and socializes a little with him.

"Well, my friend, Shokil. You are going to have some stories to write after this adventure. Would you ever have guessed that you would have been initiated into a tribe of yetis? Can you incorporate this into your next book?"

Ohmarc is delighted that they were all able to find a smokehole. However, when he finds out that he needs to breath in the smoke, the priest is starting to have his doubts.

Do they know how bad smoke can be for the lungs? I don't think they realize the sacrifice I am making to become their friend. Why can't they use meditative breathing practices in their ritual? No. It has to be breathing in smoke!

Ohmarc reluctantly agrees to inhale the smoke. He likely coughs in the process.

"Well.. perhaps if we set an adventure on an ice station... hmm... ice station.... unicorn? Ice station.. Yeti? Hmm.. not quite right.. I know. 'Ice Station Zebra!'. It's perfect. But should the Yeti be the rightful owners, oppressed and seeking to assert their rightful dominanance? Or perhaps bandits, seeking the stations wealth? Or perhaps they appear the second, but we later discover it is the first! Oh I think there is a story to be made here!" agrees the author enthusiastically.

"Glad to see you join us in the tent Ohmarc. You might get some interesting visions in here. Did I tell you about ... no... maybe another time."

Carried along by the Yeti, Venari joins them in the dug smoke hole and tries their best to settle in the packed confines of fur and hulking bodies. "Well well, the ol' peace pipe eh? Some of the Free Captain Clans still keep up the process - deep culture in places.!" He says with a smile, clapping the clearl reluctant Omarhc on the back. "Smile Priest! You're about to have a religious experience!"

oopse, sorry, didn't fix my alias.

"Space Pirates! Wow, really? You must tell me some of your tales.. it'd give me some great ideas. I've been thinking of branching out into a bit of Space Opera. Detectives in Space!" says the bright halfling.

Merisiel first records the smoke on her camera and then inhales

Catsial asks Garcon for a small glass of his expresso and he grabs his reusable straw to drink it. He does it calmly putting the straw under his face wrap. After he regained some balance, mostly emotional Catsial would help to dig the whole.

"I would love to hear the tales as well, have you ever crossed your ways with some artifacts? You see I am in the business of buying those and fixing legal matters related to their origins. " explains calmly

When asked for inhaling the smoke, Catsial follow the others wondering what the smoke is.

Everyone who inhaled must now make a DC 14 FORT save or be wracked by a coughing fit.

Fort: 1d20 ⇒ 19

Managing to keep from coughing and making a fool of themselves as the alien smoke fills their lungs, Venari leans back and lets the effect wash over them, reminding him of the time with the Kithaniel Clan of Castrovel and the time spent in mud huts - living up historic rituals.

"Ain't half bad!"

fort 14: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
life science: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

"Smile Priest! You're about to have a religious experience!"

"I love your optimism, Venari. You really do see the positive in our situation. You are right, I am just going to embrace this experience and gulp down as much smoke as I can."

Ohmarc takes Venari's advice and inhales as deeply as he can. The smoke fills up his lungs and then . . .

Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Ohmarc begins coughing and coughing, and coughing uncontrollably! He cannot seem to help himself.

Medicine: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

He is coughing so much that he cannot even concentrate on what his medical training might think this is.

Indeed, Ohmarc coughs non-stop for 1d4 ⇒ 3 rounds. The yetis roar in laughter, mimicking his coughs. Merisiel and Venari have no problems though. To them the yeti give a triumphant fist pump.

Still to save:
Garçon
Shokil
Catsial

Smoked:
Venari: PASS
Ohmarc: FAIL
Merisiel: PASS

"Whoah when did your fur turn that shade of blue" she says to the closest yeti

if telepathy becomes available see spoiler

Fortitude: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Catsial hoped to handle this trial a bit better than the last, but the smoke was to harsh for him.

The yeti laugh uproariously at Merisiel. There is much back slapping. When Catsial begins coughing, the laughter only intensifies.

Still to save:
Garçon
Shokil
Catsial

Smoked:
Venari: PASS
Ohmarc: FAIL
Merisiel: PASS
Catsial: FAIL

fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
"Cough" "Splutter"

"I havn't had anything this bad since that space-goblin spiked the hookar back in Bastiza's bar!" splutters Shokil.

"Did that story make it in to one of your novels? If so I want that one!" Merisiel asks Shokil with a smirk

mostly curious on how a goblin can spike one of those

As the smoke pours out, Garcon takes a peek at a little display on the bottom of his serving platter. Using his custom microlab as a chemilyzer.

Physical Science + Chemilyzer: 1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 4 = 27

Seeing the readout, Garcon shrugs and breaths in.

Fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

If Garcon has time to do a 'minor booster' biohack on himself, then he'll attempt that as well. Medicine check DC 14 to give himself +4 on the fort save.

Medicine: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Garçon sees what's going on and prepares himself. The results across the party on the whole are mixed, but it doesn't matter, the yeti love watching.

The yetis entreat you to return to Inix's hut in order to join their clan. The affair is simple and straight forward. There is food (mostly bland protein that you think might have been some kind of fauna within the vault), drink, dancing and singing. The actual initiation is nothing more than Inix declaring that you are now part of the tribe and wishing that someday you too will "win the contest to gain freedom so that you too can feel the cold of the mountains in your lungs."

"Well my friends, I'm glad to be a part of the tribe! I can't say that I enjoyed the smoke part of things, but it turned out in the end. What exactly do you mean by feel the cold of the mountains in your lungs? Have you all gained your freedom? Do you truly feel free living here in a vault?"

Tucking into the plain fair with gusto, Venari laughs and drinks with the Yetis a relives the trials, from their own poor luck with the jump to Omarhc's coughing fit. "Glad to be here all! We're not from round here, who are the other two factions the Temple spoke of?"

Shokil, delighted with the friendly locals is busy scrawling plot ideas across his notebook... along with a very badly done yeti sketch.

"Lost tribes... ohh.... I think I can work that in."

Garcon will of course, make sure the drinks keep flowing during the event, keeping his ears open for interesting tidbits.

Profession (Cocktail Waiter): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

"That was fun! So umm..."

He continues mixing drinks with 2 hands while eating with 2, wiping his face with 1, and keeping 1 for gesticulating.

"So uh... you all seem nice! What are the other tribes like? And where are these cold mountains?"

"The cold mountains are in our blood! This is not our home. We've.... always been here, but in our dreams we long for cold air and mountains! you are now Muckfurs! You'll dream this way now too."

At mention of the others, "It is told that If we defeat all the others, we can have our dreams. To the north are the weak and pathetic gnolls. We have driven them easily, but they're stuck like a tick in fur now. To the west.... ohhh to the south."

His voice drops to a whisper, We have sent small groups set off to explore the swamp to the south. We had seen strange lights coming from that direction, but the place had always filled us with inexplicable dread. The first groups never came back. Other groups left in search for these explorers, but only a small number of them returned, all of them telling wide-eyed tales of a terrifying ghost that not only murdered its victims but mutilated and displayed the corpses in warning. Soon after, underground fires broke out throughout the land. you dug for it and found the smoke! But we never go back there now."

"Ohhhh.." says Shokil "And a ghost story as well... wait a minute... you were saying about to the west..." he prompts...

It takes some time for Catsial to recover from smoke. Drink from Garcon helps a bit in that matter so Catsial joins yetis in the celebration. He is not as vocal as Ohmarc or as emotional as Venari, but he shows content in his own way. The culture of his people left his mark as he chats with Yetis and accompanies them when drinking.

"When you say that it is told, what do you mean by that. Who is saying anything about letting others out? And when you say, you have always been here, do you have any idea how long is it? "

Does the tribe has children?

"Can you mark those places that you speak of on our map? "

"The Pirate Prince and the Haunted Swamp eh? Sounds like a glorious tale of Swashbuckling and Ghosbusting!" Venari chuckles and offers the idea to Shokil as if it were lined with credits. "Just remember to include us in your 'Special Thanks' section!"

Ohmarc enjoys the fact that the trial is over and he doesn’t need to breath in any more smoke. After his coughing fits are over, he asks the yeti chief a question.

”Inix, I am wondering, does the name Duskmire mean anything to you?”

Garcon whispers to Catsial, "Strange lights and smoke... the weird energy Mr Venturecaptain mentioned?"

To the west. Are there mountains?

Garcon whispers to Catsial, "Strange lights and smoke... the weird energy Mr Venturecaptain mentioned?"

"Could be, could be. The more I think of it the more I believe we should have asked which device showed them such readings and take it with us. " responds to Garcon

My apologies everyone. Work kicked my butt yesterday.

"We don't remember who told us.... just that it was told. I... We.... that's just the way of things. We were told. The word Duskmire doesn't mean anything to me."

"Yes. Look here." He slaps two oily fingerprints on the map."

"Hmm makes sense - well we'll see what we can do chief!" Venari replies to the yeti boss before studying the fingerprints on their map and turning to the companions. "My vote is the Gnolls next, might be we find out a bit more of this 'Ghost' if we head there?"