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Kultha mulls the news of Big Mina potentially being a lifeform;
"As Vayfinders ve should attempt to lokate brain and kommunikate no? But is true zhat dead ship may hold key or valuable data on Bol'shoy Mina..."
The vesk-tek shrugs her broad shoulders;
"Maybe she like giant potato or tree. Maybe nyet..."
She shoots a nervous look toward DICEBOT should the android mull attempt to flambé the entity.
With the fully-functioning towers providing telemetry, navigation is no longer strictly required; you can each synchronize your personal comms to the network and use it as a simplified GPS.
Your coordinates lead you to a small kasathan starship nestled amongst the treeline near the edge of Big Mina. True to kasathan ship design, it lacks wings and is instead powered by a hybridized, vertically-aligned ring that circles the ship from side to side. This particular model has been decorated with markings similar to the pendant that Mora handed over to you.
Judging by the tree growth and layers of soil that have built up around the landing gear, the ship must have been here for many decades, and possibly even centuries. Vyecmuraf recognizes it as a personal transport that was designed for two, one that is most often used by couples doing pilgrimages together or for transporting small families from one destination to another.
The airlock's seals have degraded due to time and entering the ship is no problem. Inside, you find that one of the two sets of quarters has been redesigned with kennels, food dishes and water bottles akin to an animal shelter. The other living space is sparsely decorated with a cylindrical model of the Idari still hanging from the ceiling.
The cockpit is designed for two, but judging by the wear and tear from multiple scratches on the copilot's seat, there was likely only one pilot, and some sort of pet that occupied the remaining seat. Nothing is written in Common.
The last audio recording is a female voice (in kasathan), "Landing went smoothly! Jet and Fang handled it well. Jazak threw up again. She just doesn't handle motion sickness well. They'll be happy to get out of their kennels and stretch their legs again. What a vibrant world! Thank Talavet for the tales she has charged me to tell. I shall not fail in my duty, here. Jana out."
You see roughly three month's worth of flight logs showing a meandering path across Near Space and ending on this planet. The personal log you just heard was the last entry ever made.
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Lar is obviously disappointed after hacking the audio system and learning that the last message was recorded roughly 40 years after the Gap.
The last audio recording is a female voice (in kasathan), "Landing went smoothly! Jet and Fang handled it well. Jazak threw up again. She just doesn't handle motion sickness well. They'll be happy to get out of their kennels and stretch their legs again. What a vibrant world! Thank Talavet for the tales she has charged me to tell. I shall not fail in my duty, here. Jana out."
"If this creature is Jet, Fang, or Jazak, that would lead need to believe that the other two either perished or are located somewhere else on this planet."
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How long do those things live? asks Mizix. Could be the thing we saw was their kid. Or grandkid. Generations of bone-eaters lost on a calcium rock/alien: alone, disoriented, without any of the trappings of their home. Still scrabbling out an existence and enduring through it all, refusing to let their plight overcome them as they eat and spawn and continue their legacy.
Until we shot it. So I guess the lesson here is don't ram towers.
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DICEBOT looks at Vyecmuraf, wondering if they have gone daft. My advanced algorithms allow me to detect the right pot size for any recipe.
That plateau, he says, pointing to the view-defining landmark, does not fit in this ship.
So I guess the lesson here is don't ram towers.
Or put your hands near a running DICEBOT
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AbadarCorp holds no liabity for any injuries sustained
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” That plateau,” he says, pointing to the view-defining landmark, ”does not fit in this ship.”
”What a stunning observation,” Vyecmuraf responds dryly. ”Truly, where would we be without such insightful leaps of insight. If only those advanced algorithms of yours could imagine a small object - such as a crystal - that might grow into something of that size.” They give the android a disappointed look. ”A pity.”
Finding nothing more of interest at the ship, and with the sun setting, Dr. Montressi contacts you and encourages you to spend the night at the encampment so you can head out fresh the next day and investigate the tunnels.
When you arrive, she takes a genetic sample of the bony crests you collected.
"To answer your questions, Mizix, cresteaters in the wild typically live no longer than a decade, maybe twelve years. In captivity, they can live up to twenty! So this likely wasn't one of the original cubs that landed here. My best guess, judging by the damaged telomeres and unraveling of several chromosomes, plus the striations of the calcium deposits in the crests themselves, is that this creature was heavily inbred. And likely sterile. It may very well have been the last of its population here. Explains why we never came across one ourselves."
Mora nods so as not to offend, but adds, "Well, if it was an introduced species... it is probably a good thing that there was not enough of a siring population. Who knows what long-term damage they could have done!"
The next morning is full of energy! The scientists are eager to hear what you find and they've prepared a celebratory breakfast of Ready-to-Eat scrambled poultry embryos with lactic sugar topping and sodium chloride crystals, a collection of local fruits that the researchers attribute the discovery of to the sloth-like creatures, and a selection of token spell flavored scone bites (it was Little Mina's first attempt at baking and it needed the additional help).
Dicebot's skills are very appreciated during the whole endeavor.
Mora reminds you that you have titanium alloy cable lines and grapplers in your vehicles, which should make any descent relatively easy . She emphasizes there is no rush to delve into the tunnels, although it is evident that everyone is excited to hear and see what you find. You find that your vehicles have already been recharged and packed.
The journey back to the Dry Riverbed is uneventful, and when you arrive you find that the stonegulls have scavenged most of the cresteater, including its prominent crests. You do not find anymore evidence of other cresteaters, reinforcing the idea that this may very well have been the last one.
Descending into the tunnels is surprisingly unremarkable, the uniformly grey walls are unimpressive under your artificial light, although Boris has an uncomfortable time traversing the mostly five-foot-wide tunnels. The temperature also rises as you descend and hovers around 90–100° F for most of the journey.
After about two hours following Mora's 3D map, you must navigate over a five-foot-wide vertical shaft. While the grapplers make it a trivial affair, you notice a torn strip of green cloth that has been caught about halfway down the shaft before it descends outside of your vision.
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Boris is delighted with the breakfast. He eats his fill, which is a tremendous amount. "Oh, my compliments to the chef! This is all delicious! These scones are EXCEPTIONALLY wonderful!"
He gives little Mina a big wink.
After the group drives to the, well, whatever it is and gets down into the tight tunnels,"Again, why does it seem like everything outside Arniselle is built so small!"
After peering down into the 5' shaft that, while he had to maneuver his bulk through the passageways, he was in little danger of falling into it..
"Interesting. Can anyone reach that?"
Using your ingenuity (and likely Lar's Telekinetic Hand spell), you can easily retrieve the fabric.
It appears to be a scarf of some sort.
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After the group drives to the, well, whatever it is and gets down into the tight tunnels,"Again, why does it seem like everything outside Arniselle is built so small!"
Are you kidding? This thing is massive! Mizix stretches her arms wide as they move further into the plateau. The heat is starting to get to me though. The gnome seems a bit unwell, but that may be due to the breakfast. Perhaps it was unwise to gorge so much on fruit brought by a random sloth.
What's that? she says as she looks at the cloth garment. I thought Mora said no one had explored down here. Mizix peers down. Think whoever left this went down instead of over?
The scarf was caught on an outcropping of rock roughly twenty five feet down, just before the shaft angles out of sight. You can't tell how much deeper it goes without either climbing down or using some sort of camera or drone.
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As the day heats up, Kultha activates her armour's environmental protections and enjoys the cooling air recycling system of her Reinforced EVA Suit I.
"Ho-ho. Qvite the hot vun eh Komrades!"
She stands near the shaft, as the scrap of fabric is recovered.
"Ve should go down. Either somevun fell in, or somevun klimbed out. Best ve rule out first, see vhat sekond kame from?"
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Might be best if I do it first. Mizix steps forwards. I'm less likely to get stuck in a tight tunnel than the rest of you. And easier to pull up if the cable starts getting yanked a lot.
Plus, security. She points to her chest, where there's nothing there. The gnome blinks. that would have been more effective if the scientists had actually given me a badge.
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Kultha flashes a toothy grin at the pale gnome;
"Do nyet vorry Sekurity Officer Mizix. If you are plummeting to death ve vill bury you vith badge."
Then she too assists as much as possible with advice and observation from her pit-side vantage;
"Ok.. Vatch your footink Komrade... And zhere. Dah. Now you hav hang of it."
As Mizix descends to the outcropping she finds that the tunnel widens to 8 feet across and over 50 feet deep. The gray, shell-like material is just as ubiquitous here, but it is much lumpier and more irregular.
Mizix makes out the vague contours of creatures inside the walls here and realizes that the tunnels are a kind of trap that captures prey that fall or climb down. "Spouts" disguised as cracks in the wall probably sprayed a calcific gel to imprison these creatures, and they have been mostly digested since, similar to the flytraps at the Windy Cliffs.
The gnome is confident she knows that these spouts are dormant.
She is sorely proven wrong, but deftly dodges out of the way and avoids being trapped herself.
Mizix is sure that this "hazard" should not trigger again for maybe another hour.
At the bottom of the shaft waits one more surprise. As you shine your flashlight over the area you can clearly see the distinctive four-armed outline of a female kasatha, sans face-scarf, who was caught within the calcifying spray and must have slowly suffocated to death. Her body has been preserved, rather than digested. A spherical holorecorder hangs at her hip, and could likely be pulled free easily.
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So good news, bad news, good news! the gnome yells back up.
Good: I didn't get trapped and eaten!
Bad: it looks like that kasatha lady might have.
Good: there's a recorder down here! Vyecmaruf: can you get anything off of it?
Mizix lowers herself carefully down the rest of the way and takes the holorecorder, clipping it to the cable and sending it up to see if their resident kasatha can understand whatever text or words are on it.
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I think its a feature of the tunnels itself. So maybe Mora was really onto something about this whole thing being a creature. But it's fine! I'm pretty sure these calcium spouts are spent for a bit until they recharge! the gnome calls up. Then pauses. Of course I thought they were spent on the way down too...
Yeah, up is better. Mizix says, carefully grabbing the holoreader and making her way back up the cable back to the others.
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Kultha keeps an eye on the ascending Mizix, wary of any undiscovered threat suddenly dragging the doughty gnome back into the depths.
"Up you kom Sekurity Officer Mizik. How you say... Slow and ready da? All good, nothink hungry behind you."
The big vesk moots the prospect of undiscovered secrets and valuable knowledge on the Kasatha holorecorder;
"Most excitink eh Komrades? Vitch and Doktor Montressi vil be most impressed."
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Getting the device to work is no trouble. The projector creates a hologram of a young adult female kasatha, her mouth covered with a green face scarf and her hands outstretched in ritual gestures. A faint audio crackles to life, echoing in the tunnel.
“It has been three days since I landed, and I believe I am the first sapient creature ever to visit this planet. And what a privilege this discovery is! When I first beheld the vast, dry expanse of this plateau, I felt the call of home. 80,000 square miles, according to my instruments. Praise the Storyteller.
“A year have I journeyed, with only my crest-eater cubs for company, and as a citizen of the Idari, I have never seen the deserts of Kasath with my waking eyes. Yet, they are as clear to me now as if they stretched out before me. Now I descend into the depths of this strange, alien desert to find what rests beneath it.
“Mother, father, I miss you and all the members of our family. Soon I will return to add my story to the records of our House. Perhaps one day that story will be retold, and the lessons others have taught me about myself will be repeated in the halls of our ancestors.
“Should I fail, I leave behind this record in the hope that other pilgrims follow in my footsteps. And while it is hope beyond hope, I ask that if you, strangers, find me before the carrion birds have made a meal of my flesh, perform the work of the adata and preserve my memories, for what they are worth, so that I may be returned to my people. For even in failure, there are lessons to be learned, and love can still be found and remembered.
“I am Exu Jana Onorab of House Hadulan, and this is my Tempering.”
Vyecmuraf knows that the adata are a special class of kasatha aboard the Idari who remove a thin slice of brain material from kasathas who die aboard the vessel. This brain matter is added to a vast ancestral record which kasathas can access, even asking questions of those who have died.
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Kultha watches the holovid end with a melancholy "huff"...
"Ach. How sad. Ve must honour her vishes no? Harvesting kalcified brain... Perfomink such delikate vork vil nyet be easy..."
She flashes a toothy grin then pats the toolkit at her hip;
"Da. Am sure I hav little rok hammer and chisel in tool-bag."
With the aid of several assistants Kultha withdraws a cross section of fossilized grey matter and carefully secures it for safe transport.
As continue your descent through the tunnels you hear movement both ahead and behind, marked by a clacking sound like two shells rapidly struck together. Those with darkvision see the source of the noise hiding just outside the range of your light sources: crustaceans about 5 feet long with many long, spindly legs. They travel in groups of three to five, rocking back and forth slowly while observing you from secondary tunnels, but they never approach within the radius of your lights.
Traversing the tunnels for another hour finds the temperature steadily rising before opening up into an enormous spherical chamber 120 feet in diameter. Dozens of tunnels lead up from this chamber, some directly from the ceiling and others ascending more gently around the edges. The temperature here is 120° F . The heat emanates from a massive, golden crystal about 90 feet in diameter that almost fills the chamber. It is suspended in the center of the chamber by many gray, shell-covered columns that each stretch across the 15-foot gap separating the crystal from the walls of the chamber. This appears to be the network of nerve cells and other matter that functions as Big Mina’s "brain".
Mora contacts you on your comm units and asks you to use the handheld geological survey scanners to analyze the crystal. She will process the data through the computers back at the research station, and together you can learn more about Big Mina. When the scan concludes, she sounds both excited, and disturbed.
“Well, Big Mina is definitely not from around here. There are enough traces of cosmic particle decay that she must have spent a long time moving slowly through deep space. Our preliminary growth estimates suggest that was millions of years ago, and she must have been much smaller back then. But it looks like Big Mina and my little one have something in common: a big appetite! This alien creature can consume anything: rock, water, organic material... it’ll take a while, maybe thousands of years, but eventually Big Mina will consume the entire planet!”
Mora’s face appears on the computer screen. “I’m not sure if we should allow that to happen. Vabaimus has a rich ecosystem, and while there aren’t any sapient creatures here yet, it’s only a matter of time before these sloths, or something else, make that critical step. Can we sentence them, and every other species on the planet, to certain death? On the other hand, Mina is a unique life-form, and it doesn’t seem evil. Just hungry. It’s no more intelligent than a giant clam. Can we bring ourselves to murder it when it’s just doing what it’s evolved to do?”
“Starfinders, you’ve taken the lead in so many of our recent discoveries, I would really benefit from your perspective. What do you recommend?”
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The crest-eaters and stonegulls seemed to have no trouble adapting to this lifeform. Perhaps the sloth creatures can find a way to adapt?Besides, big appetite is good.
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DICEBOT has a special ethical protection system that prevents it from accidentally committing genocide under most circumstances
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