|
The hallway outside the meeting room is dimly lit and crowded with crates. A welldressed 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 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,[b]” Vex begins. “[b]The monitor outside of this vault doorway currently displays 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 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!”
|
So is this a loot run or merely a look see The human woman pauses briefly and looks round the table Sorry. I occasionally step back into pirate mode. But are we taking copious samples for further study or merely investigating for now. And would it not be advisable to anticipate a low light environment with swampy terrain in case a space has been taken out of the name?
|
|
"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 where it leads. It’s sure to be an intriguing experience, and I have to say I’m rather jealous. ‘Don’t get promoted,’ is what my friends always said. Now I see why!”
|
|
As you check out the airlock, your final questions to Vex are answered by vid-com.
"We know frustratingly little. As I mentioned, there is either shielding built into the device or an unknown type of active disruption that stymies our efforts. I’d like you to investigate both, and take readings from the power source if you can. As for adversaries... maybe, or maybe friends. We don't know.[”
"At least some of them 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.”
Kato's question is also replied to "It’s hard for me to answer that, given that everything we learn about this place seems to raise more questions. We know this is an artificial moon that contains a sophisticated artificial gravity generator and a number of sealed-off vaults. It seems as though there is some manner of intelligence controlling this entire station, but we haven’t managed to contact it to determine its purpose.”
Entering the airlock, you are alarmed for a moment as a laser grid appears, but a quick scan shows it is just a decontamination protocol.
|
|
Just inside the cavern is a 2-foot-wide flat metal holoprojection disk embedded in the floor. It begins transmitting a message as you enter.
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 appears (in your slides)
|
|
Talltree hears the sound of raucous laughter and singing in the distance to the southeast. He also notices a faint breeze in the huge cavern/vault. That is pleasant as the temperature is quite warm, and the air is humid.
Looking around there are low mists over much of the ground, and poking through them are a variety of small trees and bushes, with a surprisingly large amount of large fungi. Of course the dim light means it is not that easy to see off into the distance, so maybe the land further away differs.
There is a high power source that Talltree also locates, in the rough direction of the temple on the map that was provided by the projetor.
|
I was on an expedition that explores the dwarven vault. From what can remember it was a simulation that had been going on for eons. Maybe this vault is another such simulation. Maybe sometime of game, attack the enemy team and gain their territory. From the intro message, it seems that people were brought to this place without their knowledge or consent. The looks around trying to figure out the best and safest route to the temple.
Agree the temple is a good place to start. Everyone, have your weapons ready. I expect we will be attacked by Party Central (tm).
With that Kato pulls out his Static Arc pistol in one hand and his nav gear in the other. He awaits the rest of the party before leading them to the temple.
|
|
"Off-course, that is why they brought me along. But be ready in case I come running back with a herd of aliens behind me. Let's make sure our comms are synced up first. This way I will be able to radio back." Kato pulls out his communication unit and ensures we are all set to the same group call. This way he will be able to radio for help or give the all-clear. Once that is all done, he will stealth up to the festivities to try to see what exactly is going on.
|
|
The group heads towards the sound of the party. Keeping low, the mists help with your concealment. The terrain is mostly flat and there are paths that also help with movement.
A stealthy approach shows a group of buildings that form a small village.
The ground in this 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
The smoke comes from the ground, and is quite thick here, also helping further with your concealment. Roughly half a dozen hairy humanoid creatures lounge around the ramshackle buildings.
|
|
Yeti are intelligent, though not as smart as most humans. They are very cold, and radiate an intense cold around them. Likewise they are vulnerable to fire attacks. They are renown to have a fearsome glare, try not to meet their eyes.
Normally they only group in small family units. Generally they speak Aklo, though Kato heard smatterings of common from these ones.