DM Carbide's Commencement (Inactive)

Game Master John Woodford

"Ah, yes - I'm quite good at computers, I'm sure I'll connect with the hacker with ease! And they'll probably be thrilled with the prospect of joining the Starfinder Society!"

”Ok. I mean maybe they have good reward there for finding the hacker or whatever. There are a lot of businesses there. “

Istilnar, nods in approval. For the first time you can see his eyes from beneath his hood and it is a terrifying sight. Colored golden, with hourglass pupils, to look into them is like staring into the abyss. He quickly pulls his hood tighter over his head and retreats away from the group.

Popper clicks his chitinous "fingers" together in mild agitation. Oh, I don't think reward money is the point of this mission, Laanok. But let's find this hacker first before we make any hasty decisions, yes?

He turns back to Historia-7. I accept this mission. What is the location you traced the hack to?

If this hacker has this information, we will find them. Kaath nods to Popper.

Benacu nods, again uneasy. "I couldn't pull off subtle on my last mission. Got me kicked out of a secure Abadarcorp building. Here's hoping others can pick up on my slack, and that this hacker is a white-hat."

The android peers at Istilnar with interest. [i]"Hourglass-shaped? How does that work in bright light? Do you get two pupillary openings when the neck contracts, or does the neck stay at constant width while the top and bottom contract?"[/b]

The location that Historia-7 provides points to an apartment that resembles a cement cube, with several tomato plants in plastic barrels sitting on an otherwise barren porch. A young human male is going over the plants with a small brush as you approach the apartment.

"Excuse me, young gardener, may we speak with the computer hacker in residence? We have a fantastic job proposition!"

The young man looks confused at the question. "There's no computer hacker here. We only have one cheap link to the station infosphere."

"Aha! Playing coy, hmm? Well, we Starfinders never flee from a challenge, right, companions?" Vaal Noor looks around, waiting for someone with a diplomacy bonus to take over.

Kaath is not the most diplomatic but is intrigued by the disposition of the man.

”The cosmic alignment brought us here for a reason. We must just figure out why.“

Sense motive : 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

or not....

"My people, the Brakim, were conquered by the Azlanti star empire. They are a cruel and heartless race. I was taken from my family by their scientists and used as an experiment. The things they did to me I will not recount." He pulls aside his hood to reveal his skin is also colored gold and his hair prematurely white. The combination makes him incredibly unnerving to look at. "My eyes are one of the curses they left me with. I see time at an accelerated rate. When I look upon another being I see them age before me. There is no beauty anymore in life for me. I only see death."

*****

Istilnar joins Kaath and attempts to discern the young man's intentions.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

"Personally, I think that sort of thing is very cool. It's why I'd make an awful hacker myself; I'd never stop telling people about my exploits." Benacu tries to bait the man out, not sure what to make of him. The kalo slows his heart down to mask any tells of what he's up to.

Bluff: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Popper, being about as awful with people as he is at shooting weapons, clasps his forelimbs together and watches the boy's reaction with interest.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

"Well, this might actually turn into a troublesome situation, if we don't find the hacker... wait, you said "we" - who else lives in here? May we speak with that person?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Laanok looks at the gardener

” Would you mind showing it to us? I have a sneaky suspicion it connects far past the infosphere. “

Diplomacy, aid Vaal : 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10

”Any help you provide will be greatly appreciated. “

Aid diplomacy: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

or not...wow three nat-1s in one round. I feel like this guy has Kaaths photo pasted to the wall with darts and red X on his face lol

Previously:

Historia-7 frowns. "That's interesting. I didn't realize that the Azlanti used the hourglass as a symbol of time. It's far from universal among spacefaring societies." She jots a note to herself before sending you off to Drifter's End and the suspected hacker's apartment.

The present:

Istilnar and Popper are reasonably sure that the young man's reaction is genuine. In reply to Vaal's question, he calls back through the open door, "Gramma? Some people are here asking funny questions."

An old human woman in a blue-and-white abaya hobbles out of the apartment. "Yes? What is it?"

Istilnar approaches the old crone. "Appearances can be deceiving, can they not? Information is currency and greed rules the universe. Mental acuity has no connection to physical strength. We believe you have access to information that we seek. Pray tell us what you know."

"I really don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you come in and have some tea while we sort this out?"

Assuming you take her up on the offer:

She fills a pitcher with hot water and sets out cups and an assortment of teas. "Now, why are you here?"

Computers: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

"Why, hello ma'am! We are from the Starfinder Society. One of our top ranking officials is tracking some hacker's endeavors through the Bluerise Tower’s computer systems. We are here to locate the hacker and offer that person a job with the society - apparently they are quite talented!"

Vaal Noor prepares a tea cup and drinks it.

"Hmm, quite a bite this one has! I'm used to drinking just river water from Icefront. Getting back to the topic, our patron traced the hacker down to this very address - and if she did, others may do the same! So we would like to recruit either you or that young gardner, whoever is the hacker prodigy - but we have to hurry a bit!"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16

The old woman sips her tea and gazes off into the distance, her eyes defocusing, before starting and looking around. "I'm sorry...it's the disease. The implants help, and of course Jubair looks out for me. Give me a moment...ah! You were asking about hacking Bluerise Tower? Well, I don't remember doing it, but...." She closes her eyes, concentrating, before opening them wide with surprise. "Well! So I did! And I got quite a lot of good intel, didn't I? Still got the moves, hee hee!" She chuckles to herself and takes another sip of tea. "Biscuit, anyone?"

Jubair looks shocked. "Gramma? You mean they're right?"

Istilnar, tries to discern if she is telling Vaal Noor the truth.

"Things are not always as they would appear to be," Istilnar whispers.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Istilnar is unsure.

Laanok spits out his tea as he gasps in amazement

” WHAT?! YOU HACKED BLUERISE TOWER!?! Oh yeah.....I forgot we already knew that. Forgetfulness am I right? “

He pours some more tea.

” Can I have the recipe? This is really good.“

Popper's antennae writhe excitedly. So it was you! What are these implants you speak of? Are you ill?

She nods before giving Jubair's shoulder a squeeze. "I'm sorry I never told you. Before your da was born, I was a very good hacker indeed." Addressing the rest of you, she continues, "It was a long time ago, so probably none of you have ever heard my name, but I'm sure there are a few people out there who still remember Ceren. Now, though, I have a neurodegenerative disease, yes. Some coding patches on my old hacking implants have stabilized things, and I've got some backup memory and a personality model in there. When I lose track of where I am or what I'm doing, I get prompts. I figure I must have slipped into my old mindset, cracked Bluerise, grabbed that wonderful set of files--" She smiles again. "--and then forgotten about it. The personality model has all my old opsec habits, so of course it wouldn't remind me about the hack until I asked. I can be so frustrating to work with sometimes!

"Now I have a little problem, though. It's only a matter of time before they come after me, and their security people will probably kill me and Jubair. That won't do at all. So I'll trade you the files I found for protection from the Society for both of us. You'll have to come up with a way to fake my death, though." She rocks back and forth in her seat. "Oh, this is just like the old days!"

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Istilnar whispers. He locks his hourglass eyes on Ceren. We may be able to save your life now, but you won't live beyond the end of this year...

"I guess that isn't the craziest thing I've done for the Society," Benacu says slowly, taking extra time to process this developement. "You sound a bit jaded about the whole affair, though. Does that mean you've been through such things, or have any pointers? Crazy idea or not, I've never faked anyone's death."

“I have some ideas, let me see if it’s possible - it’s not quite my area of expertise! First I’ll look if any elderly female human died recently, with few to none relatives; then I’ll switch her information with yours - if anyone looks into the ownership of this house, they’ll find her data instead, and presume the hacker died!” Vaal Noor grabs his comm unit and hacks the system.

Computers: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

” Maybe there’s something in the files that might help! Maybe they have a description on the person they are looking for as in you and we can disguise you as another tenant of the building. You could say that you moved away months ago! “

[Ooc anyone got disguise? [/ooc]

Popper rubs his forelimbs together, considering his basic medical training. Would it be enough to simply fake a death certificate?

Medicine: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Vaal thinks he has a candidate, but the catch is going to be that if the as-yet theoretical pursuers already have a description for Ceren they'll recognize that the body isn't her. Popper is pretty sure that faking the death certificate alone won't do it, but he thinks that--given the description of the woman Vaal found--he could easily modify her appearance to match Ceren's.

Ceren will also need a new identity, which can be provided using a variety of skills or methods.

"She'll need a new identity if we are going to do this properly. I can forge the necessary documentation for that. Leave it to me," Istilnar whispers.

Profession Smuggler: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

"Yes, what is inside those files anyway?"

"Oh, I haven't had time to read them yet. They came out of the Chief Operations Officer's most secure directory, though, so they're probably something interesting."

Istilnar knows exactly what needs to be done to set up a new identity for Ceren, although because smugglers tend to be transient the identity will need some further work to hold up under scrutiny indefinitely. That is, there are a couple more checks to attempt.

Kaath realizes he is woefully unprepared to assist with false identities.

Who are we really in the universe? Does anyone actually know?

Computers: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

"Well, Ceren is about to become a migrant from the Vast. Any preference in names? I suggest Taana Sool - she was my favorite art professor back home!" Vaal Noor keeps hacking away.

"Any cosmetic change should be made before I wrap this up, for the profile picture!"

Vaal's own hacking skills provide further depth to Istilnar's start. The only other thing you figure you'll need is either a set of allies and contacts (though that depends on a skill which the party lacks) or a plausible (and not terribly dangerous) job.

Do you like gardening? Popper asks excitedly. I could give you some basic pointers in herbalism!

Would it be possible to make a Prof (herbalism) check for that? I'll roll it just in case.

Prof (herbalism): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

JEEPERS

You wouldn't happen to have a reroll lurking somewhere, would you?

"You've worked in the shadows before. If you don't mind working them again I know a certain person at the Absalom Station space docks who could use someone with your talents."

Profession Smuggler: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

"I don't think I have any career tips or references," Benacu says. "The Manta Corps usually wants, um, the whole, hale, and amphibious."

That and I'm not trained in Profession.

Not unless Hero Points suddenly became a thing in Starfinder. :(

Istilnar is able to once again use his contacts to find Ceren a job.

With that, the party is sure that they've done what they can. While you've been doing that, Jubair has been gathering up the duo's most irreplaceable belongings, and Ceren herself has hidden. The plan is for you to meet her in Jatembe Park, in the Eye.

The park is popular with residents of the station, but the area where you are to meet Ceren is heavily forested and not as well-frequented. You hear a stream in the distance, walking along the path, and then a bridge comes into view. The geriatric hacker is waiting for you on the bridge. She turns to see you, relaxing, when a shout comes from the other side of the bridge. "That's her! Get her!"

Round 1 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Enemy-moved; delaying acting
Istilnar
Kaath
Vaal
Popper
Laanok
Benacu

A trio of humans emerges from the forest, leveling hand weapons at Ceren. The one in the lead calls out to her, "Going somewhere?"

Everyone can act!

Enemies: KAC ? EAC ? HP taken--Green: Blue: Red:

Laanok draws a heavy looking plasma rifle.

And who might you be?

The vesk readies to fire at red if the trio tries to attack.

Kaath sighs.

Always lost in the spirals of the galaxy are such as these. Wisdom often comes only through hard lessons.

He advances towards Ceren.

It would be wise for you three depart.

"Pointing guns at an old lady in the park," Benacu mutters as he sloshes forward. "You idiots are begging for a change of mind."

Istilnar, moves up to the edge of the stream while pulling his hood back to reveal his horrifying visage. Drawing upon the negative energy from the plane of shadow he prepares to unleash a mind assault on any assailant that approaches Ceren.

He'll cast Mind Thrust on the first assailant that comes within 25' of him.

Fixed Vaal Noor’s size on the map and added his drone

“Aww! All that hard work for nothing!” laments Vaal Noor. “Hey, local criminals. That’s our friend you are pointing guns at! Bone Drone, if you’d please!”

Vaal Noor uses a move action to overcharge his drone’s weapon, and gives a standard action to it.

His drone uses a move action to boost its weapon, and a standard action to shoot at the blue goon.

Ember Agitator vs. EAC: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Fire damage: 1d8 + 1d6 + 1d4 ⇒ (6) + (2) + (3) = 11

C'mon, dice!