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

Game Master Nik B.

No enercycles for dragons :( Damn.

"That looked like a test. Should we come up with a riddle of our own? How do you call when a dragon is giving a fake direction to a group of starfinders? A bad joke."

Croaker looks at the truck and asks the driver for a list of items.

"I just want to make sure this is not transport of empty containers"

Croaker finds the truck is filled with a feast for a dragon and about a dozen or so friends.

Starfinders of all kinds mill around the gardens, laughing and chatting. Hover drones flit about the space, cycling through countless musical genres and displaying “WELCOME, STARFINDERS” on their screens. Tempting smells drift from a buffet in the center of the space. “Please, take this time to relax and enjoy yourselves, as well as to mingle with your fellow agents. Connections to one another are one of the most valuable treasures we can possess,” Zafeldrin says from where he reclines upon a raised platform.

Looking around you can see that your fellow Starfinders appear to have splintered off into three groups.

Buffet Table:
Cailis and Ritska stand next to the buffet table. Ritska is doing the talking, but Cailis the Borai seems even more frosty than usual.

Garden:
Talet and Iko are walking in the garden engaged in friendly conversation, Talet appears to be doing most of the talking.

Dining Tables:
Naveret and Kran both volunteered to pick the music playing from the hover drones, and the music alternates sharply between Naveret’s Verthani electronica and Kran’s classical elven pieces. They appear to be engaged in a good-natured debate over something.

Bar will walk to the Dining tables after a very quick divert to the buffet to get some shrimp (or their analog) and some crackers with dip. Hearing Naveret and Kran talking about music, Bar smiles.

"Ahh, I hear people talking about music. My home away from the Starfinders. Mind if I join you?"

Obo will head to the dinner table and grab some food.

She gobbles down some meat and head over to Bar.

She nods.

"This food is good."

Croaker heads towards the buffet table. He didn't go through hell enercycle shop to get this order to not try some of the dishes. When seeing Cailis he asks concerned.

"Everything is alright? You seems a bit quiet, even more than usual if I may say that, knowing you for couple of hours."

Buffet Table:
Croaker.

Garden:

Dining Tables:
Bar & Obo.

Ceo and Cesar TBA

Ceolor bounds up to the buffet table himself, still not having gotten the info he'd like out of the borai, but slows some as he gets a sense of what is going on. He walks up next to Croaker with a plate of food in hand. "So whatcha guys talking about?"

Buffet Table:
Croaker & Ceo

Garden:

Dining Tables:
Bar & Obo.

Cesar TBA

Cesar shall take a stroll through the garden. He'll listen in on the conversation if he is able.

Buffet Table:
Croaker & Ceo

"So do you even taste the food? I mean, you are dead after all right?" Ritska pauses to pick a few crumbs off a pristine suit of well polished armour, Cailis looks a bit annoyed at the line of questioning, and it looks like it has been going on for a while.

Diplomacy (guide the conversation), Intimidate (silence Ritska) or Profession (Soldier or mercenary) to change the subject

Garden:
Cesar

The conversation pauses a moment, allowing you to join in. Iko seems very welcoming "I'm quite new to the Society, and would appreciate any
wisdom or advice you have to share about the creatures that populate the universe. Talet was sharing some great stories, and I am really interested in hearing yours as well" Talet seems quite encouraging "Yeah what have you come across so far?"

Engineering or Mysticism

Dining Tables:
Bar & Obo.

Naveret and Kran are both deep in the debate, but as you approach, Swift, Naveret’s squox, greets your approach curiously and the creature seems to be interested in engaging...

Survival

Obo looks at the creature headed towards the tables.

Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Croaker is surprised how insensitive Cailis is with his questions so he attempts to change the subject

Diplomacy, aid Ceolor: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

"You know what, I was cooking for the dead jury when performing at Pact World Warriors." But soon he realized how it all sounded

Cesar happily recounts repelling the attacks of rebellious sarcesians while in the Diaspora (In 1-18, The Blackmoon Survey). "We had to engage them at extreme ranges. Luckily, I had a rifle, and we had at least a little cover."

Cesar goes on to explain some of the technical aspects of engaging targets at extreme ranges.

engineering: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Bar sees the small fox/squirrel like creature and smiles. Pulling a small cracker from his plate he leans down to offer it to the squox.

"Why hello there little one. You seem to be such an interesting creature. I have seen a few of your kind in the park on Absalom Station."

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Ceolor's mouth pops open at Ritska's words. "Oi, oi! You know that's insensitive, right? It'd be like me asking you why you aren't all over the cheese platter! Anyways, if you're genuinely curious there's much better ways to word those types of questions. For example asking politely if you can ask about things, 'Mind if I ask about your sense of taste?' or comparing experiences, 'Ohh this meat is tangy, like lemon! How's it taste to you?' And most important of all, pay attention to how the person your asking is reacting, if they are shutting off or looking annoyed, then apologize and move onto different topics!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Buffet Table:
Croaker & Ceo

"...but I rather like cheese" the Ysoki offers, "And what do you mean 'shutting off or looking annoyed' - I didn't see any hair standing on end or tail flicking" you can tell that Ritska was fairly oblivious to the cues, and Cailis is very thankful.

Cailis takes a breather and chats with Spike, and you notice she was a half-elf "Some people don't get it. I died while trapped in the Scoured Stars system and I was partially revived due to desperate experiments with scavenged technology conducted by the rest of her team. The team ultimately perished before rescuers arrived - I got to stay alone, drifting,waiting. It felt like lifetimes alone before I was found"

"Hey I found this on a previous mission, I don't have a need for it" - she hands spike a thunderstrike sonic pistol.

Garden:
Cesar

Situational bonus from earlier

Iko is thrilled with the conversation "I look forward to encountering these things on future adventures, I am inspired by your knowledge. Here, I have been working on a few items during the journey here"

A first aid kit containing three mk 2 serums of healing, a bloodbrother serum and a subdermal extractor.

Dining Tables:
Bar & Obo.

Bar and Obo seem more like curiosities to the Squox, it seems somewhat aloof.

"Hey why don't you bring my little devil back over here and talk music with us?"

Culture, Diplomacy, or Profession check related to music

Ceolor give Cailis a grin of support and then turns back to Ritska. "Uhhh, you did go through the mandatory Starfinder Sensitivity training, right? Well let me give you a quick refresher,not everyone has tails or hairs that respond to their emotions. If they are dropping out of the conversation then you might be saying something wrong. Also don't assume something because of race. My sensitivity teacher had a phrase they loved to repeat, 'Assuming makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'. Best to ask instead of jumping to 'you're dead therefore you don't taste.' We can work on that if you want. I won't get pissed but I'll point out if you're saying something that might offend people. Sound good? "

Bar nods and picks up the little squox. "Sure, come on little buddy."

With that Bar walks up to Naveret and Kran.

"Now, I hear that you both have interesting choice in music. Naveret, the Verthani electronica band Cybernetic Zombies is an awesome band, and their use of modified cybernetics to help control the 328 different synthesizers is pretty amazing, but Aelin-uial Gwathel from Catstrovel is also amazing in their own way. Trying to get the synchronicity of a couple of harps in round is one thing, but they have so many harps doing that....it is quite beautiful."

Profession (Guitarist ?): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

I am Icon theme if it helps....

Obo doesn't know a lot about music and just nods as the conversation drifts away.

when will they talk about weapons...

Croaker pats Ceolor on his arm

"Well said my dear Ceolor, well said."

Then he turns towards Cailis trying to show worry on his furry head. His nose is moving just slightly while his whiskers are still.

"I think I understand Cailis, a lot of agents came back scared in some way from Scoured Stars. Some in a more visible way, while the others in more subtle." Here Croaker points to Bar speaking about music

"We cope with it as best as we can, and we do what we can with what is left. You are among friends now Cailis. I am sorry for what you went through but I am glad that you are here." He smiles saying that

When offered the gun he reloads it and aims it at the sky

"Thank you, it will be of use."

Cesar thanks Iko. "I hope we won't need any of these things!"

But Cesar knows they'll probably need to use them Starfinders always seem to find trouble.

Cesar will keep the Bloodbrother Serum, but will happily distribute the other items among his Starfinder team.

Dining Tables:
Bar & Obo.

Baur manages to smooth the water with some on-point discussion and a good ear for music, and somehow ends up with Kran coming up with a soundtrack that keeps everyone happy.

"You do well at getting people working together. I've got some notes you can borrow from my personal collection - they detail the varying historical dialects of Triaxian"

The notes grant a +5 circumstance bonus to Culture checks to decipher writing while reading ancient Triaxian and allows such checks to be made untrained.

***

Zafeldrin sits slightly separate from the main table, enjoying a sizeable banquet whilst 'casually' observing the gathered fellow Starfinders.

"Ahem" the draconic venture captain announces "It seems that there were a few incidents today, it turns out that the ingredients were misplaced, and perhaps some drones malfunctioned, I can't possibly fathom how this could have happened" the dragon appears to almost smirk "..and perhaps these mysterious events gave me an opportunity to see your teamwork and resourcefulness at play"

"I offer a token of my appreciation to your teams"

Some small drones bearing giftboxes head out to the groups.

Your Box contains a purple nanite hypopen, a manual sight weapon accessory, a longstrider module, and a credstick with 900 credits.

"Thus concludes tonights festivities - we leave at dawn tomorrow, so try get a good sleep."

With that, the dragon departs.

"If nobody minds, I wouldn't mind the longstrider module. I have an open upgrade slot...well, I will once I pull the IR sensors module that was put in by a crazy dwarven mechanic when I asked for help to upgrade my armor....I knew asking a drunk dwarf named Jagrur for help at the Lorespire was a bad idea...."

Yep....that tells you how tired I was when I got myself prepped for this game, I actually bought IR sensors even though I have Darkvision.....sigh

Obo looks over the notes and chews her food quietly.

Hmmm...

Croaker pats Bar at his shoulder

"Don't you naturally have darkvision? Yeah, I thought so. No worries we all had such bad mornings. Do you want me to install it for you?" asks Croaker and already begins to pull out some tools and duck tape.

"We ysokis have engineering in our blood." He smiles broadly presenting his teeth.

Do you even need engineering for swapping upgrades? I couldn't find anything on that topic. And yeah buying IR for pahtra, good one :D

I haven't seen anything that says Engineering - maybe they're just USB plug and play? :p

***

Map up!

You leave the White Sands Lodge at dawn the next day. The trip to Cadascon takes most of the morning and some of the afternoon with all-terrain vehicles. As you arrive at the outskirts of the city the terrain begins to change; as the hours pass, snow covered lowlands eventually give way to craggy foothills and finally to the shadow of the Sunset Peaks themselves.

As the convoy approaches a fork in the Charnel Run river, Zafeldrin calls for a stop after doublechecking several devices. “This looks like the optimal spot to set up a base camp, and not just because I worry the trucks won’t be able to make it much further up this mountain,” Zafeldrin says. “The remains of the city should just be a bit further on. Teams, I’m sending you the coordinates I’d like you to investigate. I’ll be playing the part of mission control and monitoring your position from here. Remember to check in periodically.” Just as Zafeldrin references them, the coordinates pop up on your comm units, directing your tean to a site roughly half a mile away.

You begin wading through a foot of snow while keeping an eye out for unsteady ground. You spot the occasional animal darting between the snowbanks, but nothing dangerous crosses your path. Away from the dull roar of vehicle engines and the hum of conversation with numerous Starfinder groups, the quiet of these snowy fields is all the more pronounced.

As you crest a final rocky outcropping, your destination comes into view. A crumbling stone tower stands precariously on each side of a narrow pass. What appears to be a damaged and outdated communications satellite still sits on top of one of the towers. The bases of the towers are covered in a thick layer of snow.

The array is on the south tower

Obo takes out her rifle and looks around for signs of trouble.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 7

oh my rifle looks nice...

As they....well trudge is probably the ONLY nice word Bar can think of....through this snow...Bar mutters, "Okay, maybe Apostae might not be so bad...at least I wouldn't be worrying about how many feet of snow is underneath me...."

Hearing Zafeldrin call for a stop and to have us check around their location, Bar looks up and sees that there are two stone towers, with snow packed around them, and on top of what is left of their roof.

"Not a place I want to be going....it looks like some kind of Horror flick you would see at the VR Cinema....Been in to many of those in my life I really would hate to see another."

But knowing that being part of the Society is about exploring and such....that being said, these missions seemingly always to go South fast.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

And apparently Bar is thinking so much that he can only see the tower.....

Oh dice.......

"Maybe Zafeldrin can use that old comm array up there to help with his drone reception...and maybe our own communications reception...."

Neither stafinder sees any sign of trouble, and the only sound is a gentle breeze carrying soft powdery snow...

Cesar takes a few tentative steps forward.

"I suppose we can start by investigating the south tower. Perhaps we can at least get out of the snow for a bit in there."

Cesar scans the area.

perception: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Yeah it sounds like some plug and play ;) the same with weapon accessories. BTW. I will not let this slide @shifty :P, how did the dragon travel? With us on the truck? Flying nearby? We know that he didn't use an enercycle ;)

Croaker leaves the vehicle and takes out his laser rifle. He mounted the manual sight to it the day before and he uses it to observe the towers.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

"Yeah it looks like a place from some movies. I don't like it"

[b}"Yeah, we should make our way to that tower. "[/b]

With that Bar will move forward some.

You move around to the tower, moments before entry Croaker spots a creature hidden inside under the snowdrift, and with enough warning to avoid its ambush!

R1
Ceolor
Bar
Cesar
ENEMY

Bar moves forward pulling his pistol and firing.

Scorchgun, Microwave (EAC): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Fire damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

I do have mobility, so any AoO from moving is +4 to my AC

Bar shoots wide - a pile of snow turns into a cloud of steam!

Cesar steps to the side. Pulling his pistol, anyone nearby hears a gentle whirring noise as several lenses moves in and out of an aperture. Taking aim, he fires.

to hit: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
fire damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Cesar, on the other hand - aims true!

R1
Ceolor
Bar - acted
Cesar - acted
ENEMY

R 6

Ceo up!

Ceolor gives a small exclaim of fake surprise. "Oh my! This was totally not the place to expect an ambush!"
He reaches up and grabs ahold of the small mote of black light that floats around his head pulling out something that you'd not expect to fit in there, a long laser rifle shaped weapon, the detail of it amazingly accurate, but also obviously nonfunctional. He raises the weapon, which spills off a black light and takes aim at the snaw crab thing. "
Though to be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be so ugly... Any clues as to what this thing might actually be?"
His eyes take on a solid red glow as he aims down the sights of the weapon. As he focuses a small jolt of electricity flings out at he beast and tries to connect. At it does the beam then strengthens as it pulls heat off of whatever it hit.
Solar Flare, Heat drain: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
Photon Aligned, d4+4 Cold, d2 Electric damage: 1d4 + 4 + 1d2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + (2) = 10

The creature is hit, but seems mostly undamaged - only a slight singe...

It moves forward in anger and reaches around the corner for the Pathra!

Attack 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24 vs KAC
Damage 1d6 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
+DC13 Reflex save or be entangled by saliva.

R1
Croaker
Obo

R2
Ceolor
Bar - acted
Cesar - acted
ENEMY

R 8

I assume to have the rifle in Croaker paws as he used the scope from it to scan the surroundings.

Croaker was still watching the tower when the crab-like monster attacked Bar. Observing the enemy Croaker lifts his fingers to his ear and connects with his egg-head assistant on Absalom Station:

"Do you have the vision through my camera? Can you tell me what it is?" asks constantly looking at the foe.

Life Science, Amateur Hireling: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23 Resistance, special attacks - Mysticism +9 if needed.

Without waiting for a response he raises his rifle, takes aim and pulls the trigger.

"Runaway Bar! Maybe you can outrun it!"

Attack vs EAC: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Damage, laser: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10 First attack with weapon specialization! ..... Bites the dust. BTW. Is identifying an action? If not I will move somewhere to not be that clustered.

I don't believe identifying is an action

Spike gets the feed that this an Ursikka, but even this large specimen is only considered a hatchling. They are well suited to cold climes (Resist cold 10), their saliva is quite nasty - freezing its victims rapidly, and it can spit great gouts of it at foes as a breath weapon.

The shot goes wide.

R1
Croaker - acted
Obo

R2
Ceolor
Bar - acted
Cesar - acted
ENEMY

R 8

Reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Wait did Bar and Cesar act for round 2 already?

Ceolor gives a frown as his heat drain rifle barely leaves a mark. "Should have known the creature living in this frozen place would be cold resistant. Time for tactic number 2." He flips around the controls of his rifle and the almost purple dark light radiating off of it changes into a vibrant red, wreathing the weapon in a flicking-almost fire like coloration. He raises it up and takes aim again, the light dancing around his eyes intensifying further.

Solar Flare, Heat drain: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Plasma Sheath, Photon, Fire damage: 1d4 + 1d2 + 5 ⇒ (3) + (2) + 5 = 10

Croaker quickly looks through the data that is displayed before his eyes.

"Ehhh, bare with me..... This is small Ursikka, yeah it can resist cold. The saliva can freeze you immediately.... and it can spit at the range." relates during battle.

Corrected the action list
Ceo that was a crit

R1
Croaker - acted
Obo

R2
Ceolor - acted
Bar
Cesar
ENEMY

R 18

Obo fires at the nearest bad guy with her rifle. She takes her time in firing.

attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Obo shoots wide!

Crits are rolled twice right?
Plasma Sheath, Photon, Fire damage: 1d4 + 1d2 + 5 ⇒ (2) + (1) + 5 = 8

Yep :)

R1
Croaker - acted
Obo - acted

R2
Ceolor - acted
Bar
Cesar
ENEMY

R 26