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A young and very muscular half-elf is sitting back in his chair, relaxed. There’s a holographic sign atop him, with the words MODERN BODY written in glowing neon colors, alternating between purple, green and pink. Sometimes they are replaced by a moving sign that says “modernbodymodernbodymodernbody”, repeating itself a couple of times before going back to the original.
He seems to be watching something on his comm unit, which he puts away for a moment. “Hello, companion. I am Modern Body. You might have seen some of my magical fitness holovids - they used to be very popular some 5 to 10 years back, in at least a third of the Pact Worlds. Nice to meet you.” he goes back to his comm. His armor is carefully tailored to reveal his impressive chest muscles.
Sedoriku dot so I cna find out who to bring.
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"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Kai Starchaser. I'm starting to learn my way around this little number" he pats the arc pistol on his belt "and after a recent mission I picked up this baby" he pats a sniper rifle on his back "but my main skillset is in tech and research--I'm interested in all kinds of lore, history, and other knowledge. And I've been flying ships around Absalom Station as long as I can remember. At this point I've been in a few dogfights and always come out on top."
"I've been to Salvation's End once before; I'm looking forward to exploring it again."
The sound of a filming crew packing up fades into the distance as a group of starfinder heads down a dark corridor. At the end, a single, flickering console reads the words 'Duskmire Accord 9'
The hallway outside the meeting room is dimly lit and crowded with crates. A well- dressed drow waits in front of the door, greeting the new arrivals. “Starfinders! I’m so glad you’ve arrived. I am Venture- Captain Kunoris Vex,” he says, approaching.
The drow offers an outstretched hand, but is forced to jump back quickly as a pair of rapidly chattering ysoki dash in front of him, waving their arms excitedly and pointing at readings on their holographic displays as they run down the hall. Vex in smiles. “As you can see, there’s a lot going on here, and I want you to get right down to work.”
Vex gestures to a nearby doorway, leading into a conference room with insta-plastic tables and chairs arranged haphazardly about. The holographic display unit’s core sits atop the table, ready for a technician to install it. “Sorry for the mess. I’m sure you understand we’re right in the middle of setting everything up.” The drow politely pulls out the chairs for others to sit.
Once everyone is seated, he pulls out a pocket computer and projects an image onto a nearby wall. The readout shows a series of images of a long, massive hallway lined with gigantic doors spaced far apart. “As you can see, this moon contains a large number of vaults. We recently gained access to one of them,” Vex begins. “The monitor outside of this vault doorway currently displays or, the words ‘Duskmire Accord.’ We’ve found no records in our research here or from the databases on Absalom Station about the term ‘Duskmire,’ but we assume it is the name of a place. Our scans from the hallway reveal a powerful energy source s somewhere within the vault, although its construction or some manner of shielding prevents any meaningful readings. It appears that if we want to learn anything more, we need to send in a team.” He cocks his head, raises an eyebrow, and looks meaningfully toward the group.
The drow turns off the projector and smiles broadly as he leans forward. “I’d like you to go into this vault and see what you can find. Identify the source of these energy readings, and learn anything else you can about the interior of the vault. There may be inhabitants, but we don’t know whether they’re likely to be peaceful. As always, be ready for anything!”
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"I know the drill, Kunoris, I've been here before - this is some sort of a giant zoo, with simulated environments for all sorts of species. Now, how did you get through that door, and what do you mean by powerful energy, could it be radiation? Suddenly I feel like requesting some thasteron khefak armor! Aren't we going to film the exploration this time?"
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Just before the briefing begins, an android with the face, hair, beard and general look of a middle-aged professor but the energy of a two year old, bounds into the room and extends a hand to the assemebled Pathfinders. "Hello! I'm Asier-23-7! I've been told that the most appropriate greeting is 'It's a pleasure to meet you,' with a 73.9% probability or 'It will be a pleasure to work with you,' with a 72.1% probability. Given those are close statistically, which do you feel is more appropriate in this situation?"
He pauses for a second as he listens to responses, clearly adding them to some mental data bas, and then continues, "I'm still only 6 months old, so I'm not sure what I am good at or not, but I did learn enough mechanically and software engineering to understand my body. Also my exo-crotex, Suzuta, has an extensive database on biological creatures! She teaches a class all about them at the Artificial Advancement Academy of Aballon, Absalom and Akiton: Android and Abiological Alien Arm, so she knows her stuff."
He then realizes that the group is just about to start their briefing and with an embarrassed look takes a seat and listens.
He nods at the explanations, but doesn't seem to have any questions right now.
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"I think 'It will be a pleasure to work with you' is more fitting for the society... but I have always been pleased to meet my fellow agents, as well." Kai offers.
"So we know nothing about Duskmire and we cannot get any kind of reading... it doesn't seem like there are any other questions you can answer. Has anyone else been inside?"
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A very tall and tidy kasatha wearing full body armor enters the briefing room late, but only enough so to maybe cause a distraction as Vex speaks. She looks confused at the information being presented, then concerned at the mention of a giant zoo.
"I also wonder, have you sent any scouts inside? There could be danger, certainly, but that is what they're there for."
Realizing she's forgotten to do so a few seconds later, the kasatha quickly adds, "Dr. Buse, reporting."
We're not filming this time, no. the drow answers. So far, we have not resorted to sending scouts, he continues, his look implying that the 'so far' is about to end with the current group. We've managed to learn frustratingly little. As I mentioned, there is either shielding built into the device or an unknown type of active disruption that stymies our scanning efforts. I’d like you to investigate both and take readings from the power source if you can.
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A towering humanoid follows on Dr. Buse's heels, stopping short when she realizes she's in the right place. "Sorry I'm late, I got caught in some customs bureaucracy on my way back from Nakondis. I'm Hermena, and after hearing so much about Salvation's End I'm excited to see the interior for myself."
She looks over at the Venture-Captain. "If we don't have any scouting reports, is there any preliminary information that might clue us into what kind of energy source this is? Have we found anything similar in a different vault? Did anything come out of this vault when we managed to open it?"
We haven't opened the vault. . I was hoping extended scans and scrying might eventually pierce the disruption, but to little avail.
We know some of the vaults are occupied. The first vault we opened was occupied by a group of dwarves who believed they were deep underground on Golarion, of all places, and that they were undergoing some kind of task for the vanished god Torag. They seemed to have had their memories altered somehow. Whether that was a fluke or a pattern remains to be seen.
Vex concludes the briefing I’ll have a vehicle deliver you to the access tunnel. Since no one else has gone in yet, I really don’t have much more advice for you than to travel down and see seems where it leads. It’s sure to be an intriguing experience, and I have hat to say I’m rather jealous. ‘Don’t get promoted,’ is what my friends always said. Now I see why!
From the lodge on Salvation's End, it is but a short drive to the access point. There is a passageway that ends in an airlock. Next to it, a monitor reads 'Duskmire Accord 9'. One after the other, the starfinders are flash-decontaminated by a laser grid.
One other side of the airlock, the starfinder find an open space.
A holographic projection of a horizontal blue line appears in the air above a circular disk in the ground. The line begins moving in a waveform pattern like that of an oscilloscope. “Greetings, ERROR: NULL RECORD,” a polite, cool voice speaks, in Common.
“Welcome to Duskmire! You are understandably confused by your sudden arrival, but rest assured that there is all you need here to survive should you choose to do so. You can enter the temple and be released when you have achieved dominance over the other two resident powers within the Duskmire area. Please accept this simple map as a gift to guide your way. Happy conquest!” A map printed on a simple plastic sheet materializes on the projector ()
The projection comes from a projector deeply embedded in stone, using technology of unknown origin.
There is some raucous laughter and loud singing coming from the southeast
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"Lovely. Let's investigate the temple first. I bet the energy reading is coming from there. Don't forget everything here is a lie, holographic, engineered, smoke and mirrors - this place is a giant zoo, and the inhabitants tend to not know it. And they also don't take too kindly to finding out. If no one objects, I think I should be the leader of this expedition."
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"There's a projector deep in that stone. It's the source of this image but I can't tell the source of the technology."
"It definitely sounds like someone's laughing over there." he agrees.
Kai reaches for his rifle at first, but then decides to go for a more non threatening look.
"I'll take the lead on talking to whomever it is."
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"I think 'It will be a pleasure to work with you' is more fitting for the society... but I have always been pleased to meet my fellow agents, as well." Kai offers.
Asier's face breaks out into what could be called a grin. "I'll add it to Suzuta's probability matrix... That brings the two closer together, though and does stymie the situation though. Guess I need further data points. "
Asier takes an interest in the opening of the vault and the projection with the intensity of a small child.
"Ohh I wonder how they were able to make that projection so clear? And in a language they probably haven't encountered before? IS there a language extraction field here? Did they calculate it off of our few phrases alone? Or are there other Common speaking species here and therefore the moon could know which language to use?"
He hums to himself for a moment as he tries to extract the holo-projector, before realizing, "Wait, 'Happy Conquest?' 'Achieved dominance?' Are we in a warzone or something similar? Ughhh, I'm probably not going to enjoy this am I?"
While the starfinders ponder the possibility of being dominated, Modern Body and Kai lead the group in a southeasternly direction.
The terrain is mostly flat and has trails throughout. The ground is soft and squishy, a thick mat of semi-decayed vegetation that is comfortable to walk on. There is no sunlight in the cave, but a variety of pale grasses and scrubby bushes cover the landscape throughout the area. The air has a slight haze, and there is no wind.
Moving a mile or two in the direction of the laughter, the group uncovers a village. The ground in the village is covered in mud splatters, half-eaten food, and other garbage. The buildings here are relatively squat and list to the sides, formed from stacked bricks of peat. Some of the buildings have fallen over, while others have been bashed into misshapen lumps. A thick, lavender smoke hangs heavy a few inches above the ground.
There are five large, furry creatures strewn about on the floor, each of them in a barely conscious state, possibly stoned out by the heavy smoke.
There's a large tent in the back, which seems inhabited.
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“Well, will wonders never cease?” Modern Body turns on his environment protections. “Good luck, Kai. If they are receptive, I have some material on how drug use gets in the way of the perfect balance between magic and muscle. It was never very popular, but it’s from the heart.” he taps Kai on the shoulder.
Before anyone approaches the creatures, Modern Body casts Detect Magic on the smoke. If one of the creatures is within 30 ft., he’ll also cast Detect Affliction on it.
The smoke seems to be entirely natural, probably the result of underground fires in vegetable matter. The stoned-out state of the furry creatures also seems to be completely mundane.
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Asier bounds along happily following right behind Modern Body. He looks at the half-elf and starts asking some questions. Soooo I wasn't around when you were at your peak! What did you do during that time? You have video clips? Your pectoral and deltoid development is certainly impressive compared to the average half-elf. At least 33% bigger! Is that what you did? "
As the group gets closer Asier takes one look at the furry things and gives a look of surprise. His left eye gives a *Whirr* *Click* as his pupil swivels and the extends out like a camera lens and starts a whirring noise that could only be recording sounds.
He also shifts back through Suzuta's memory banks on what these could be.
Asier identifies the creatures as Yeti, the mythical monstrous creatures. What they are doing here is anybody's guess.
The dozing yeti's do very little to react, but one mutters you new, talk to chief, pointing in the direction of the large tent.
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Asier bounds along happily following right behind Modern Body. He looks at the half-elf and starts asking some questions.
"It's a complicated matter, legal business and all. I can't really share the holovids of my speaking tours or anything, but you can find bootlegs on some infospheres. You should check them out, even a slob like you could in great shape - it's all about the perfect meld between brains and brawn. But I can't go into much detail, that might qualify as "Creating New Content" and get me into all sorts of trouble."
The dozing yeti's do very little to react, but one mutters you new, talk to chief, pointing in the direction of the large tent.
"Looks like asserting dominance over these smoke huffers won't be much problem" says Modern Body as he joins Kai and starts making for the tent "I'm really glad this armor blocks smells just as well as pathogens. You furballs look spicy!"
The yeti responds to Dr Buse before Modern Body heads off to the tent, You're not member of tribe, we can't tell you.
Modern Body finds a large, daydreaming Yeti inside the tent, looking considerably less stoned than his tribesmen.
HEY! He bellows at Modern Body, who are you? You're not null....
At least, that's how Modern Body understands the Yeti's words.
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"It's a complicated matter, legal business and all. I can't really share the holovids of my speaking tours or anything, but you can find bootlegs on some infospheres. You should check them out, even a slob like you could in great shape - it's all about the perfect meld between brains and brawn. But I can't go into much detail, that might qualify as "Creating New Content" and get me into all sorts of trouble."
Asier pauses to process the information for a second. "I think my body is already a good shape, though definitely not 'in shape' as the vernacular seems to mean... but then half of my body has been modded by predecessors of mine to the point I'm not sure it ever could be 'in great shape,' but I would love to watch some of the videos as they could be very informative!"
Wandering through the tent town, Asier gives little oooohhs and aaaaahhs over the Yeti he finds there, their living conditions and even tries to get an atmospheric sample of the smoke if anything gets near him. He walks into the leader's tent, still recording, and asks, "So.... Wha...cha smoking? cha? Really Suzuta, Cha is an appropriate word here? ...It's slang? I don't know if I ever want to say that again..."
The tent is a weird assortment of stuff, most of the furniture is rather small for the size of the large yeti, and all the items around it look like a dollhouse's inventory relative to the creature.
Asier's remark seem to rub the yeti the wrong way, but Dr. Buse salvages some of the situation.
Society? Haven't heard of them. I am Inix, chief of this tribe. You see these guys smoking outside? Let them enjoy it, none of my business. Things have been strange here, so hot after we got that message about 'dominance' when we first awoke here.
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"Well, we are here to turn this place inside out and discover all its secrets, and believe it or not, we are not profit-oriented. Care to share your story or any information about the temple? If you'd like to leave this smoke pit we can arrange that as well. We do have plenty of resources to throw around, and helping the needy scores me some points with the higher ups."
We are the Muckfur tribe the yeti starts, and we own this part of the cavern. I'm not sure how we got here, we simply awoke here. In this place, he says, pointing to the small shacks and cramped furniture some other creatures were living. Called themselved 'nulls'. Smaller then us, and not a strong as us HAHA!
We took their home, as the voice told us. There's a lot of food here, so we don't have to anything. That's when the smoke started. My underlings enjoy it, I don't care much for it.
We don't dare to go near the temple, there's a swamp ghost there. Dangerous.
You are strong? We like strong. You should join us, and become honorary muckfurs. If you can prove you are strong...
The chief gets up, walks to the opening of the tent, and yells THE TESTS!
This seems to get the attention of the stoned yeti, who get up, sniggering, yes! the tests!
The chief points to a nearby dirt, muddy ditch, roughly ten feet wide That's the first test. Show us you can jump over that ditch!
Yes, show us! another yeti calls out.
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Hermena keeps a sharp eye out for any foul play. The yeti's admission that they overpowered another group makes her wary, and now she wonders if this chamber featured multiple rounds of "competitors" fighting each other for dominance, with the aerosolized sedative keeping winners complacent until new challengers arrive.
She keeps her concerns to herself for the time being, and lets the more diplomatic Starfinders lead the conversation with Inix. She attempts to jump over the ditch, choosing an angle of approach that would let her keep most of the yetis in her sights.
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Modern Body barely keeps from snorting at the tribe name.
"I would jump, but this armor is terrible for moving around, and there's no way I'm removing it right now. Don't you have some sacred rock I can lift to show the results of my life style?" he raises both arms and flexes his muscles. "Perhaps some arm wrestling?"
The yetis applaud enthusiastically as Dr Buse clear the ditch, and cheers as Hermena manages to clear the gap. The two jumps seem enough to satisfy the yetis, until they start yelling smokehole! Find us a smokehole!
One of the yeti explains Smokehole hunting, it's when we set out to find new smoking holes. Sometimes we have to dig a bit to find a good spot with good smoke. Find us a new one!
Lexicor frowns as feats of strength will not be his forte.
So how long have the Muckfur's been here? You say you just awoke here? As in recently?
A few months ago. We found this area quickly, drove those annoying nulls out, and we've had it easy since.