[SFS/Shifty] #2-23 The Edge of Cadascon (B) (Inactive)

Game Master Nik B.

The first attack misses, but not the second one!

R2
Bison - attacked
Tchisk - acted
Conrad - inspired
Daata - acted
Trick - cast

R3
Azara
ENEMY

R Dead
O Dead
Y 16
G 19

Azara up

Azara takes a careful step over to make sure that all friendlies are clear. Then, he closes his eyes for a moment, tilting his head to the side as though listening to a sound only he can hear before releasing the photonic energy inside him in a single blast.

Supernova (DC16 Refl for Half Fire Damage): 5d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 1, 4, 6, 5) + 1 = 18 to all in a 10' radius.

Unattuned.

The blast shatters the two remaining skeletons.

***

Cailis looks happy about the defeat of her previous pursuers, but can only manage a wan smile - she looks weak and the crystal embedded in her wound appears to have grown.

Medicine check to examine or treat.
Also, Perception checks.

"Let's see if we can do anything about this." Tchisk looks at the embedded crystal.

Medicine: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Daata reassumes his quadruped posture and bends over to help Tchisk with their injured comrade.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22 +2 visual
Auto-aid Medicine (+13). Tchisk's total now 27

Mr. Bison Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Zangief Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Meanwhile Tricsie carefully collects the crystal that bounced off Daata's armour, thinking it might help in understanding how to deal with the one in Cailis

Tchisk moves Cailis into a better spot to examine the wound. The crystal appears to be deeply embedded into her flesh and growing - creating more crystaline structures under the skin. It is almost as though the crystal is magical or somehow...sentient?

Tchisk takes his time removing the shard from the wound with Daata's assistance. The undead flesh being a touch easier to work with, the crystaline infection is satisfactorily removed. Tchisk is happy that as long as the infections are identified and treated quickly it seems like a straightforward removal process.

Tricsie picks up the shard and is horrified to see the still 'living' shard sprouts razor-sharp crystaline tendrils, trying to penetrate her glove. If that thing had of struck a target and pierced skin, it would have been quite nasty.

***

With the increased light, a couple of you spot a panel on the side of the crate Cailis is resting upon - investigation leads to a note in a Triaxian dialect!

DC28 Culture to decipher

Don't forget we have notes that grant a +5 circumstance bonus to Culture checks to decipher writing while reading ancient Triaxian and allows such checks to be made untrained.

culture: 1d20 + 10 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 10 + 5 = 35

Translation in slides :)

Tricsie reads it out loud to her comrades.

Culture: 1d20 + 12 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 12 + 5 = 28 "Man you really know your stuff Tricsie! Solid work. Solid work all around. Am I reading this correctly, the crystals are sentient?"

Daata's broad brow furrows. "Sentient and parasitic from the looks of this. My guess is these skeletons authored this note when they still lived. We should be cautious with any whispering gemstones."

Cailis looks happy about the surgery but can only manage a wan smile - "You get after the others, I'll lock myself in here"

Taking a moment to call back to base you struggle to raise comms - but eventually, the comm unit crackles as Zafeldrin’s voice flickers in and out. “Taking this information into account,” he says, “I hereby halt any investigation. Your primary goal now is to retrieve those agents and return to the base camp as quickly as possible so we can regroup and decide how to proceed. I’ve received troubling reports from the other teams as well. We’ll have to—” The comm unit cuts out once more, leaving only static.

Zafeldrin? Zafeldrin? Do you copy? Tricsie replies. She then whacks her comm unit in the vain hope that will fix it. Unfortunately, when it doesn't, she grumps and puts the unit away.

Well, he said go get 'em ... so we go get 'em. Say .. anyone know Mind Thrust? If those crystals are sentient, they should have a mind, and be vulnerable to mental attacks.

Before they leave. Tricsie makes sure both of those crystals are well secured - and not locked in with Cailis.

"Do we want to retrieve the two injured Starfinders or should we return to base and find out if Zafeldrin is okay? It's more than likely that both of them will have crystals imbedded in them as Cailis did. We don't know yet how long it takes for the parasites in the crystals to kill their host.

He said go get them so Tricsie intends to do just that. Besides, we're Starfinders. We do NOT leave any of our own behind unless it's unavoidable .... like the Scoured Stars

She already starts moving in that direction.

"We go get them. Right, Daata?"
As an aside, Tchisk knows Triaxian.

"The mission is the mission. Let's get the agents. That's what I'd want if I were one of them."

"We all go home or no one goes home," Mr. Bison yells telepathically as he orders Zangief to follow Tricsie.

Tricsie realises the comms are now gone, there is too much interference from an unknown source.

Tchisk can see how much damage a twenty-minute old wound had caused, and suspects that it wouldn't take much longer to become life-threatening.

With Cailis (and the shards!) secure, you all head off in hot pursuit!

Obscured Path
A flurry of snow and ash blows through the area. Each of you can attempt either a DC 23 Perception check to keep track of the trail through the flurry, or a DC 23 Acrobatics check to avoid getting the mixture in your eyes or helmet visors.

Mr. Bison Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Zangief Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Not likely to make that. Can I Aid instead?

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

Sadly there is no aid option :)

Azara agrees with the others. "I mean Zafeldrin's a dragon. It seems like he has a much better chance of taking care of himself than the other two," he says.

He does his best to follow the trail.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

But he doesn't have much luck.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Tricsie has to grab her hat before it blows off

Obscured path
Insufficient successes.
The way ahead is unclear, and the falling ash and snow slow your progress significantly.

***

Navigate the City
The ruined city retains numerous signs of its former glory. Each of you can attempt a DC 21 Culture or Engineering check to intuit the city plan and navigate advantageously to gain on the undead creatures.

culture: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Daata nods to Tchisk.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (19) + 11 = 30 +2 vision

The izalguun plows ahead, his large body carving a path through the snow for the rest of the Starfinders.

Engineering: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27

He glances around the city to get the lay of the land.

Engineering: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

Mr. Bison and Zangief grip their weapons in their hands and prepare themselves for combat.

"I think I can see a way into the city proper that will allow us to catch up with the undead who captured out Starfinder teammates."

I was supposed to have that last roll be Acrobatics which is one more than my Perception. I was busy with ConCurrent and didn't double check to make sure my post was correct. I'm asking for some mercy here.

Engineering: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (1) + 20 = 21

Use Promotional Reroll
Engineering: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (7) + 20 = 27

I'm asking for some mercy here.

With that roll amended it would actually tip the party over the line into success

Obscured path
Success
With at least two of you doing well you are able to maintain the pace.

***

Navigate the City
Success
The city seems quite easy to navigate once you can read the signs - and you are sure you are travelling quicker than the enemy.

***

Predict the Undead Creatures’ Intentions
The trail seems to double back and move in strange ways. You can attempt either a DC 23 Sense Motive check to predict the undead’s intentions, or a DC 23 Survival check to follow the tracks and find the correct direction.

Azara is really just along for the ride with all this tracking and scouting stuff. He has no idea what's going on and no skills to help advance their cause.

All he can do is pace as the others check trails and tracks, obviously keyed up and anxious to get to his fellow Starfinders.

"Though sleet and snow may block us."
"Though city streets confound us."
"We will save our lost comrades."

"Sorry I missed out. Should I go back and roll the ones I missed?

Conrad does his level best to try and predict the thought process of the creatures... Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 9 + (6) + 1 = 28

Tchisk is lost at this point and hopes someone on his team can keep them on track.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Mr. Bison attempts to track the undead, but their bony footprints are extremely difficult to differentiate in the snow.

survival: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Tricsie is in the same boat as Tchisk.

"Sorry I missed out. Should I go back and roll the ones I missed?

As long as you have enough successes the party passes :)

***

So far the footprints in the snow seem very perplexing.

Conrad seems to have a few ideas.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

Daata struggles to interpret the undead's bizarre behavior.

It takes a while, but eventually, you spot the likely lair.

An abandoned depot surrounds the mouth of a cave. Pre-Gap mining equipment lays scattered about in disarray. Strange crystal deposits have formed around the mouth of the cave and crept out to cover the ground and abandoned equipment indiscriminately. The crystals shine from within with an eerie, pale blue light.

You enter the mouth of the cave and the ground looks deeply rutted and unstable, but so long as you are cautious and don't do anything too wild.

Map up, north or south?

Tchisk makes sure that his environmental seals are active.

While moving through this cavern, he tries to keep from touching any of those invasive crystals.

Can everyone see in the dark?

Tchisk will suggest starting to the south.
I want to see that small area just south of us.

Tchisk looks around the corner and sees that it holds what appears to be a large equipment locker.

Azara activates the infrared sensors in his armor. He blinks a couple of times as his eyes adjust to the color shift.

Then, he follows Tchisk, wondering how this unstable flooring is going to affect his ability to charge at whatever dangers lurk down here to get to grips with them.

Use Pshychokinetic Hand to try and open the locker from a 'safe' distance. If that doesn't work, go in and make sure it's not trapped before trying to open it.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
Engineering: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (2) + 20 = 22 +4 to open locks

Conrad, feeling the rush of a comfortable form of "work" stays alert and silent as Tchisk does his job.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

Mr. Bison activates the light projector on his armor which sends out a 100' cone of bright light in front of him. He also checks to make sure the environmental seals on his armor are active as he follows Tchisk into the cave.

Mr. Bison Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Zangief Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Tricsie also activates her environmental seals as well as using a Spellgem of Darkvision.

She then waits to see if Tchisk requires some Great and Powerful assistance.

At the last moment it is Conrad who only just manages to spot a strange nozzle, which turns out to be linked to something inside the locker - probably the lock!

Tchisk manages to clear the trap which was very hard to spot, but not too hard to disable.

Inside the locker you find a heavy seismic pick, three mk 2 frag grenades, a scoring dross gun, and a golem-forged plating II. Additionally, you discover that there are several precious gemstones hidden in the lining of the suit of armor worth 4,200 credits.

Azara watches from what he assumes is a safe distance but probably is not.

Also, since everyone else has done it, the checks the environmental seals on his armor.

Once the locker is open, he waits until everyone looks before scooping up a single grenade. The other items aren't really useful to him.

"How about this way, now?" he asks, heading "up" toward the open portion of the cavern.