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Rilynn, encouraged to see how effective magic is against these creatures but worried that the team is running low on such resources, wonders if she should have specialized differently. Indeed, her skillset is decidedly unuseful in any combat situation, and she's finally understanding that these missions never, ever resolve diplomatically, and cleverness is rarely rewarded. She can do little else but offer her body as an attractive meat shield. What a shame.
Full defense.
One of the okay-who-are-we-kidding-they-are-goblins remains still, breathing the noxious smoke. Its companion drops to the ground unconscious.
IT'S A TRAP ROUND NINE Cont'd/TEN Begins
Meme Nom Mimsosil Homus Jul -10 SP | -7 HP
Gava Son of Emer -1 SP
Rhubarbie -7 SP | -1 HP
Rilynn Rae
Lexicor -4 SP
Burham Kenyon
Blue -12 HP
Green -8 HP
Full Action Coup de Grace on Helpless Blue.
Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide.
The last creature falls down to the ground, unconscious.
With the last gasp of the last creature, the lodge falls silent save for the constant hum of the emergency power and the occasional shower of sparks leaping from conduits and equipment damaged during the battle.
You discover three mk 2 serums of healing strapped under a shelf in the medical storage room.
Now that the trespassers have been defeated, you have successfully reclaimed the lodge. All areas within it clear, you are able return to the landed shuttle and head back to the Lorespire Complex to meet with Calder Soren. There, you find the morlamaw eagerly awaiting your return, and after having you stand in line once more, Calder affirms his intention to send a more permanent team to Kalcijet 5 to permanently reoccupy the lodge and use it for further exploration missions in the region.
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"That was... unpleasant," says Rilynn. While the rest of the team is turning the lodge upside-down, she takes the time to examine their adversary, taking notes and logging her experience. She takes a tissue sample for her lab and then joins the team on the shuttle back to Absolom.
"I have often wondered what compels someone to pursue the path of the Solarian. I vote for Ehu Hadif next."
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"Dudes! I know I'm still kinda new to this whole Starfinder thing, but I never thought I'd just suck this badly. I think I may need to find some other type of weapon if I'm not gonna die out there."
Meme spends his time aboard the ship training and vlogging. To the surprise of his followers and, likely, the rest of the crew, he is rather humble in his retelling of the battle.
Once back at the Lorespire, Meme nods in agreement with Rilynn, "Wouldn't be a bad thing for me to learn a little bit about the 'Old Ways'. I just hope a traditional kasatha like Ehu won't look down on one of his own kind being so decidedly non-traditional. Don't want to get off on the wrong foot, if you know what I mean. Amiright?"
You meet with Ehu Hadif Ko’ra Amares of Clan Tolar in one of the Lorespire Complex’s many meeting rooms. Unlike the prior candidates that you have met, Ehu prefers the traditional meeting arrangements used by venture captains. When you arrive, the kasatha has clearly been waiting, sitting at the opposite end of a rectangular table. With one of his many hands, he motion for you to sit.
Picture of Ehu now available on Slides.
Folding one pair of arms while the other rests on the edge of the table, Ehu Hadif looks over the assembled agents before giving a solemn nod.
“Good. I trusted First Seeker Elsebo to send me the best of our latest group of agents and she has provided." explains the kasatha. "My name is Ehu Hadif Ko’ra Amares of Clan Tolar, and the Society needs your help. With our recent victory in the Scoured Stars, it has become apparent that our Society lacks a solid direction to take us into the future. Though First Seeker Elsebo has held us together through our trials, we need more than a desire to survive if we are to give something back to the universe that has given us the chance to exist.”
Ehu unfolds his upper arms and waves a hand over the desk, which promptly displays a blue wire-frame image of a slowly spinning planetoid.
“This is Athaeum, home of the Curators." he continues. "You may have heard of it, before but worry not if you haven’t. Athaeum is a library world known to teleport throughout the cosmos. The residing Curators control the planet and its associated libraries, which contain the rarest knowledge in the galaxy. I say the rarest, because the Curators ensure that the information stored in their world is the last copy in existence, going so far as to seek out knowledge on other planets for destruction."
"“I need you to go to Athaeum to investigate some tomes that pertain to a previous Starfinder mission to the planet, long before the Scoured Stars incident." Ehu states, his speech maintaining an air of formality. "This mission was never recorded in our records, so it is a blind spot in our history. The Curators have graciously allowed us to send a team—all of you—to Athaeum to review the texts that were previously investigated. By learning about this past mission, we might find guidance on where our future should take us.”
Ehu concludes with a nod, eager to take any questions that you may have.
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"Ehu has been a strong supporter of the First Seeker, and an even stronger combatant in the field against adversaries of the Starfinders, Rilynn summarizes for the team. This was mostly common knowledge, especially among her faction. Ehu's unwavering support of Luwazi was one of the reasons for her great success.
"His intentions are noble; he has a philosopher's soul," she waxes. "Yet he yearns for a North Star to guide his pursuits, a grand design which can unite all factions with singular velocity. I have heard he spends much of his time researching past Starfinder missions. What he's looking for is likely unknown even to him."
Rilynn absorbs Ehu's opening statements. Among the first sensations she experiences is acid reflux and the taste of bile in her mouth. It is disgusting.
"We are pledged to assist, Ehu." She pauses and considers her words, but her Lashunta emotions are riled. "These Curators, you say they are gracious, but do they not seem like the worst kind of criminals? Those who control Knowledge have unparalleled power over others, and you admit the Curators seek total control of Knowledge, going so far as to destroy it where it exists beyond their sphere of influence. What of those others who keep such secrets? Are they murdered? Do the Curators have the ultimate say in who knows what? Do they fancy themselves to be gods?
"What becomes of us when we are allowed to have this piece of information? Surely, they cannot let us keep it!
"Ehu Hadif Ko’ra Amares of Clan Tolar, if it is a unifying goal you seek, I suggest that the Curators are the most dangerous threat to the pursuits of science and societal advancement, and to basic freedom of thought, in the entire universe. Should we not infiltrate them for the purpose of designing a strategy to arrest their tyrannical control of knowledge?"
She's spoken well past her rank, but she believes Tara Nova would have done the same in her position.
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Listening to Rilynn, Meme is hit with the realization that being a Starfinder wasn't going to be as easy or carefree as he thought. He turns off his recording equipment before replying, "Dude, Rilynn, that is some heavy stuff. But, I kinda can't argue with that. I mean, I'm all about sharing my life and what I know on the vidsphere afterall."
In a move that he swore to himself he wouldn't make, Meme turns to Ehu and says, "I'm Meme Nom Mimsosil Homus Jul of Clan Soltri and, as Talavet knows, I will go and take back the information you seek. Are these Curators as potentially murderous as Rilynn states?"
"When you say never recorded, do we know if the original mission made it home? Were the records or the team lost?"
"I wish that I could provide you with that information. However, as I said, there appears to be no record of the mission within the Society's archives or any other Pact Worlds database." Ehu explains. "Indeed, we only came to learn of the existence of the mission recently, when a band of Starfinders accompanied Forum member Royo to Athaeum to recover information related to the Scoured Stars. It was on that mission that one of the Curators confided that they had had prior interaction with members of the Society. Prior to that time, the Society was unaware of any such prior expedition to the library world."
"Ehu Hadif Ko’ra Amares of Clan Tolar, if it is a unifying goal you seek, I suggest that the Curators are the most dangerous threat to the pursuits of science and societal advancement, and to basic freedom of thought, in the entire universe. Should we not infiltrate them for the purpose of designing a strategy to arrest their tyrannical control of knowledge?"
She's spoken well past her rank, but she believes Tara Nova would have done the same in...
"Rilynn Rae," Ehu replies. "You are well give voice to your concerns and your inquiries are not without valid basis. Yet, the goals of the Starfinder Society are to seek and obtain information, not to pass judgment on opposing viewpoints or to wage war on those that may pose a potential threat in either practice or belief."
If Ehu intended his words as a jab at views voiced by one of his fellow candidates vying for the position of First Seeker, there is no indication of such within the tone of the kasatha's voice.
Consider Meme and Gava's words, Ehu assures, "The Curators pose no threat to us, at least not at this present time. To the contrary, the Society has reached and understanding with the Curators, who have previously recognized the Society’s need to reproduce information necessary to recover lost agents and have granted the Society a measure of immunity in replicating such key data found on Athaeum in order to complete our ongoing mission. I know of no reason to believe that this understanding has, in any way, changed."
"If you have no other questions," Ehu offers. "then l shall make arrangements for a shuttle to transport you to Athaeum."
"Do we have a contact to ask for on Athaeum?"
"Your contact is the Curator, Albryan." Ehu explains. "On the recent, recorded Starfinder expedition to Athaeum, the agents dispatched read several tomes that the Curators have now earmarked for this mission. The Curators haven’t relayed information over standard communication channels, so you need to travel to the planet and investigate the information within the tomes."
Ehu arranges for a shuttle to bring you to Athaeum onboard a Starfinder vessel called the Ceaseless Escapade, piloted by an exuberant dwarf named Karlato.
Thanks to the planet’s unique means of teleportation, it takes only a few days in the Drift to reach Athaeum. Karlato announces that he will await for you in orbit above the mysterious world.
As Ehu had indicated, you are greeted on arrival on the surface of
Athaeum by the Curator Albrayan, who escorts you to the Tower of the Inspired, one of Athaeum’s many library towers. Albryan looks like a
steel-skinned damaya lashunta wearing robes made of glowing mathematical equations. The Curator directs you into a specific section of the tower and provides you with the coordinates for a set of tomes that the
Society had previously researched.
Magical illumination covers the room, and the ceiling rises up 25 feet in height.
It does not take you long to pull the texts Albryan indicates from the shelves. You find that the series of four textbooks are written in Common, but they appear to be entirely incoherent and assembled from a variety of Pact Worlds documents from over the past two centuries. The text is a complete garble of everything from news reports, to food recipes, to anthropological studies of alien life-forms.
Albryan informs you that you have one hour to spend recording the documents and trying to decipher the text.
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Rilynn is pensive for four straight days. She tries to keep herself busy onboard the shuttle - no easy task - doing some light calisthenics and a lot of reading. History is replete with leaders who thought they had an "accord" with an aggressive neighbor-state, only to be consumed by it, usually by abject slaughter. She had known of Ehu since before she had even joined the Starfinders; his prowess as a combatant and adherence to Kasatha solarian traditions, and his unusually steadfast support of Luwazi made him a prominent figure in the system. But with these Curators, was he right to trust them or was he dangerously naive?
For its part, the Tower of the Inspired is not oversold. Imagine the greatest library of Antiquity, overflowing with scrolls amongst marble columns and tapestries fifty feet tall; such was the awe inspired by this library, although the setting was infinitely more wondrous. But then, how many civilizations had to be exterminated to make this repository the unique collection it represented?
Albryan was too much. Seriously, was this planet now mocking her? No, she wasn't that important, of course, but a damaya lashunta - really?
Rilynn gives the Curator nothing but attitude and advances to the chosen tome.
"The text is hidden by magic," she surmises. "But like any cipher, there are patterns. See how these characters repeat? Even magic follows an algorithm - sometimes."
As the you are winding down on your research, having gleaned a number of potential insights, a book drops from a nearby shelf and falls open upon the floor.
Streaks of light briefly flash out of the pages of the newly-opened book before the tome then snaps shut, closing on its own.
The falling of the book is accompanied by activity elsewhere in this chamber of the Tower of the Inspired, as a host of creatures emerges from several of the bookshelves!
Picture of creatures now revealed on Slides.
Map of library chamber now revealed on Slides.
THROWING THE BOOKS AT YOU! ROUND ONE
Rhubarbie
Burham Kenyon
Gava Son of Emer
Creatures (blue, green, red, yellow)
Meme Nom Mimsosil Homus Jul,
Lexicor
Rilynn Rae
Magical illumination covers the room, and the ceiling rises up twenty-five feet in height. You stand on a mezzanine that rises approximately eight feet above the main floor below.
Gava knows that the gishvits can force unwanted information into beings' minds and can be reduced to blank books with requisite magic.
Gava further knows that, left to their own devices, the gishvits would destroy many of the books and other documents in this chamber and, in time, elsewhere in the Tower of Inspired. Said books and other documents are, at least purported to be, the last copies of such in existence.
THROWING THE BOOKS AT YOU! ROUND ONE
Rhubarbie
Burham Kenyon
Gava Son of Emer
Creatures (blue, green, red, yellow)
Meme Nom Mimsosil Homus Jul,
Lexicor
Rilynn Rae
The gishvits advance towards the Starfinders, skittering across the floors and climbing up walls to confront them!
THROWING THE BOOKS AT YOU! ROUND ONE Cont'd/ROUND TWO Begins
Meme Nom Mimsosil Homus Jul,
Lexicor
Rilynn Rae
Rhubarbie
Burham Kenyon
Gava Son of Emer
Creatures (blue, green, red, yellow)
Meme Nom Mimsosil Homus Jul,
Lexicor
Rilynn Rae
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"Gava! We've got to turn around. We've been cut off."
Lexicor tries to determine if disabling or destroying the vermin is appropriate
”We cannot have them destroying the knowledge before we have our chance to recover or receive it. “
He casts magic missiles at the closest one.
[Dice= MM]3d4+3
...
...
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Rilynn realizes that, while the Curators are clearly evil, and their desire to have total control of knowledge makes them susceptible to the kind of unique destruction currently ravaging the collection, it doesn't mean she can allow it to happen. The Curators should be brought to justice, or eradicated, using their own methods against them, but the knowledge in this tower must be preserved if possible. She can rationalize helping in this situation.
But then she finds herself hemmed in and uncomfortably close to the little critters. Her slow reflexes have allowed them to get the drop on her position, and she has no time to draw her pistol and still make a run for it. And besides, she doesn't want to drop the tome.
She step out from behind the shelf unit, points her finger at the little green monster, and says, "Pew!"
He casts magic missiles at the closest one.
The android's spell shreds one of the gishvits .
Rilynn zaps another , charring its pages.
THROWING THE BOOKS AT YOU! ROUND ONE Cont'd/ROUND TWO Begins
Meme Nom Mimsosil Homus Jul
Lexicor
Rilynn Rae
Rhubarbie
Burham Kenyon
Gava Son of Emer
Creatures (blue, green [-3 HP], red, yellow)
Meme Nom Mimsosil Homus Jul,
Lexicor
Rilynn Rae