Game Master S's "On the Trail of History" [Tier 3-6] (Inactive)

Game Master Chris Marsh

Close call, we should take 10 minutes, but I have a feeling the mission is already complete.

After the altercation with Farvenzi and Spinjack, Dr. Monsylkis arrives at the scaffold tower around 10 minutes later, "What... What happened here? Why is there violence! What it going on?"

"Hello Dr. Monsylkis. I'm Ohmarc Lightwalker, and trust me, we were trying to keep peace. However, somehow we provoked them. I'm not sure what we did, but something has been strange about this whole situation."

Rahdokama, still woozy from the fight smiles eagerly at Orhmar. "Doctor! I really really like your planet! The beasts here are sensationally strong! I will need to come back here and train more once we are finish with our mission...speaking of which..."

And thank you for the healding, Ohmarc!

She seems shocked. "You have KILLED my officers! Explain yourselves and now!"

You should likely include social skill rolls as you try to calm her down. If you stray into appeals to logos, include the proper skills there (e.g. Life Science)

"My dear Doctor, lets us listen to the calm voice that speaks to us all from within. Breath in. Breath out. Ahh. I can feel the atonement at once. I can assure you, my companions did everything they could to keep the peace. There appears to be something nefarious at work here and we intend to figure out what that is, but in the meantime, trust me when I say that we had no choice. We are all clever, level headed people. Now let's us figure this out and find a solution to our problems."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

She definitely calms down as Ohmarc speaks, but she'll need more if she's going to abandon this place.

Once, Ohmarc has the good Doctor calmed down, he proceeds to explain what he knows.

"Now, Dr. Monsylkis. Perhaps you can help us. We have some interesting information to share with you. We talked to Naarma, the leader of a group of izalguuns and she explained to us that the research station’s experiments are having adverse affects on the ecosystem. She mentioned that the climate control device is extending and harshening the winter weather while muffling the natural plant growth, and the normally docile fauna have become aggressive with cravings for the engineered plants. She even mentioned that izalguuns who eat the plants exhibit withdrawal symptoms once they stop. I am nowhere near as clever as others, but even I am wondering if any of this ties into the violence we just experienced."

Kat waits atop the wall until her Excocortex reads the Doctors vitals signs returning to normal as she calms down. Believing the danger to the crew to be over for now, she slides down the ladder and joins the crew, but lets Ohmarc and the others do the talking.

Just checking in! Ohmarc seems to have this handled nicely

Mustachio nods and contributes. "Why we had no intention of violence when we came here, but your people here ambushed us! Like Agent Ohmarc here is saying, they were clearly conducting experiments behind your back and didn't want to be discovered!"

diplo: 1d20 + 11 + 1d6 ⇒ (18) + 11 + (1) = 30

"Behind my back? Do you have evidence?" She seems to be leaning towards believing you, but she's not there yet...

"Well, the anecdotal evidence from Naarma is a good start. We have no reason to believe she is being deceptive. However, the fact that we were attacked when we brought these issues up, is certainly not acceptable behavior. At this point, I am inclined to believe they are being deceptive. Let's look around and see what we find."

Do we have any evidence of wrongdoing yet? Do we still have a laboratory belonging to the scientists to explore?

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23

Rahdokama laughs, "Evidence? Is this enough evidence?" The vesk pulls up his armor, to reveal the large glaive wound he received from battling with the dragon. Most of it is healed now, but you can easily see it is recent. "It was a GLORIOUS battle, but in my defense, they did swoop in and attack first." He describes in detail what happened, using his military knowledge to spice up some of the details.
Diplomacy, Soldier Background: 1d20 + 11 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 11 + (2) = 14
errrr Reroll: 1d20 + 11 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 11 + (5) + 1 = 31

Finally he adds, "If you have any more of these 'allies' you would like us to 'incapacitate' please let us know! I would love to get into some more battles! Your species and people here are mighty warriors!" Obviously this is both a joke, and not a joke at the same time.

"I.... I.... Oh dear." She thinks for a few minutes. "I've been worried that there was something going on. Spinjack and Farvenzi have been acting weird this whole time, and there are some unexplained things at the lab. I.... Can we go back and look? I promise total transparency. If we have been up to no good, I promise to pack up the station and leave."

Once agreed, you accompany her, and before long it's obvious to everyone involved that there was a second set of goals here. Dr. Monsylkis is horrified. "I cannot explain away the unsanctioned experiments, the tainted local flora, any of it. Yes, yes indeed. It's time to leave. I'm sure the locals will be happy, and now I don't blame them. I'm definitely quitting my position. I just don't know what to do..."

"I could give you my agent's number. There are plenty of acting or writing roles where a real scientist's input could be useful. Otherwise the writers just use random science jargon generators. Oh and also the Starfinder Society is hiring, and they take ANYONE."

"Even a gullible scientist? I'll consider it if you're serious..."

"...and they take ANYONE."

"He's not kidding. I've worked with some real wack-a-doos" Kat adds, totally deadpan. "The society would welcome you with open arms, especially if you brought your pharmaceutical research. I would think you could also find meaningful employment with any of the big corps. You could return to absalom station with us, assuming your guards didn't sabotage our ship during repair"

"Even a gullible scientist? I'll consider it if you're serious..."

"Yes, they take gullible scientists or even a life coach like myself. I know practically nothing about engineering or computers, and I can barely aim a laser blaster, but they still took me in found work for me to do. I think you can offer a lot to the society."

The doctor finds some solace in the thought. Feeling confident that all is as it should be here, you head back to the izalguun camp and find a grateful Naarma. The izalguun elder provides you
with a handwritten star chart bearing a black X over a small moon four orbits away from Icefront’s sun and tells you that "You will find the relic you seek on a secret facility hidden inside the moon. I will send you specific details on where the installation is located. I warns you, however, that the facility was designed to ensure the relic was never found, and you should proceed with caution." She refuses to elaborate further but does mention that she hopes the izalguuns technologically advanced status can remain a secret.

With your mission accomplished, you head back to Absalom Station. Upon your return, the Nominated First Seeker is elated that you discovered a new lead. Luwazi rewards each of you with a mk 1 electrostatic field armor upgrade. Luwazi immediately begins preparing exploration teams to investigate the moon from the izalguun’s map, putting the your names at the top of her roster. Luwazi is particularly interested in your thoughts on the matter of the izalguuns. It’s clear that the izalguuns want to keep their advanced technology and association with the Scoured Stars hidden, but the nominated First Seeker remains unsure on how to proceed.

“The izalguuns have lived in relative anonymity for millennia, and they’ve done so despite prior invitations to return to their home system. Although our responsibility as Starfinders is to share our findings with the Pact Worlds, doing so in this case might seem a violation of a people’s wishes. I can provide counsel, but in the end, you are the only Starfinders to have interacted with this culture and studied them firsthand. What is your official recommendation?”

"If isolation is what they want, I vote for us to give to them. Allow them the peace of not getting caught up in all of the Pact's s!+@... er... excrement."

do we really get that field armor upgrade or is that just adding to the credits at the end?

Chronicle at the end. That's 1 vote for isolation.

"I agree with Mustachio. If they wish to remain in isolation, then I think we need to permit them to do that. Although I like transparency, I think in this case we want to let them remain isolated."

Once I have a third concurrence...

Okay, isolation it is.

"Mhhhm! It is a shame, your people make for some mighty warriors. But if it is your wish to stay in isolation, then i must accept this!"

”It is a shame that they do not want to become part of the greater community, but I will respect their decision. Regardless, I think we can call this mission a success. I will admit that there were a few moments when I had my doubts, but you all came through when we most needed each other. I am most grateful for the opportunity to have worked with all of you. I would gladly serve with any of you in any future missions.”

Excellent!

Luwazi nods at the choice. "Very well then."

She also expresses both curiosity and concern about the aggressive starship you encountered. She double checks all of Guidance’s known starship designs and can’t find any known blueprints that match your attacker. Fearing that there might be more of these hostile starships, Luwazi asks the you to prepare a presentation on your encounter for the rest of the Starfinder Society, so future expeditions can be better prepared to challenge them....

And congratulations! Not only did you achieve your goal in finding the relic, you convinced the Dr. to abandon the station, and she does petition to join the Society! I'll report the game today, and should have chronicles out by tonight!