Navasi climbs up on to the float and helps to entertain the crown with tricks of sleigh of hand, tossing candy to the crowd that she draws from somewhere unnoticed.
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Cha'mon Cha'mon, desperately tries to put the restrictor plate back on the float's engine when he realizes Morvruul is driving.
Driving through the streets
Morvruul begins to glower.It would seem a restrictor plate's
Draining the float's power.
Down alleys he continues
Trying quite hard to race,
Yet, accomplishing no more
Than a rather slow pace.
When Morvruul's eyes with a look,
His destination do take.
Suddenly, the witchwyrd manages
To slam on the brake.
Stopping the float,
Placing the "gift" 'neath an arm
Morvruul rushes to deliver
The object of harm.
He strides up to the door
Of the dwelling of Orence,
The name of the foe with which
He schemes to dispense.
Preparing to knock,
He spots a note upon
The door, which says,
"Sorry. I'm not here. I have gone
Home for Reunion
Back to the Planet Akiton."
"Drat." mutters Morvruul
Now, suddenly, withdrawn.
With his explosive still in hand
And a mask-covered frown,
He releases a sigh,
Then turns back around.
Getting back in the float
He rides out the rest of the parade
Thinking quietly to himself
Of new schemes to be made.
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The magic tricks, the candy and Morvruul's driving actually impresses the crowd enough that your float ends up being fan favourite. A couple of other Starfinders, who were a couple of floats behind you, actually come over to congratulate you. One of them, a human female, is rather shy but greets Cha'mon, as they had been together on a tour of the Veskarium and even says hello to Morvruul saying that "she had heard a lot about you, mostly from Miss ... erm ... Doctor Seggas".
Yichen is grateful for your aid and thanks you profusely at the parade’s completion. He even gifts you a hat of disguise.
During the parade, Morvruul was able to deliver his gift.
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One of them, a human female, is rather shy but greets Cha'mon, as they had been together on a tour of the Veskarium and even says hello to Morvruul saying that "she had heard a lot about you, mostly from Miss ... erm ... Doctor Seggas".
During the parade, Morvruul was able to deliver his gift.
Though his scheme went not
As he prior did intend,Morvruul is pleased to hear
Word of his, er, um... "friend".
"Doctor Seggas, you say?"
Asks he, the woman to talk t'her.
"I'd much like to again see
The... notable doctor."
"Should you see her soon
Please do give to her
This item here.
To her, to deliver."
Reaching into a pocket
A vial he retrieves,
Which he hands to the female,
And in her hand he leaves.
"Please take this gift to Seggas.
When her you next find,"
He says with hope this holiday,
To remain on Seggas' mind
Navasi takes the hat and shoves it onto her head, turning her hair green. "Now that's a real time saver. Thank you!"
She thinks, but doesn't say, that it might have useful if Yichen had given it to them before the parade. It could have been useful as part of their performance.
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Amy accepts the aid although she does comment she was intending of getting back in the water bubble shortly as - crowds make her nervous and it feels safer in there. Obviously the float she is a sparklor for is getting a bit of attention too. Mind you, a lot of floats are.
Another week passes before you are contacted again by Camellia. During this time, the Lorespire Complex hosts a concert, two vidgame competitions, where a new brenneri vidgamer is making a name for herself, and numerous special courses, including a self-defense class hosted by former First Seeker Jadnura. At the end of the week, Camellia sends you another comm message.
((see slides))
Reunion is an Akitonian holiday that developed in the first century AG in response to the thasteron bust, poverty, and mass emigration. The holiday promotes generosity and kinship despite economic difficulties and great distances. Traditions include sending a message to distant family and friends, then gathering to enjoy a meal with close friends and family. Traditionally, Reunion Day meals were prepared with cheap ingredients, ingenuity, and lots of love—resulting in outrageous dishes many Akitonians keep on the menu for ironic or nostalgic reasons.
On the one hand, Navasi feels that a bunch of strangers showing up seems counterproductive to reproducing Granny's celebration of being with your closest people.
On the other hand, free trip! She shows up at the appointed time, bag in hand.
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Camellia has added a footnote to the message. Normally, Alora’s grandmother hosts the feast, but she passed away this year and the family is gathering to honor her memory. Alora is tasked with meal preparation, but Camellia knows Alora is a horrible cook. Camellia asks the PCs to visit Alora and help.
So off to Akiton you go. At Camellia’s urging, you travel to Akiton via chartered shuttle. From there, it’s a short overland trip to the Cembar homestead, located a few miles south of the Winterlands. The temperature is well below freezing, but their transportation is warm, and the journey is without incident. The Cembar home appears tiny, but most of the building is below ground, protected from the frigid wind and kept warm by a powerful heating system. The sounds of a gathering are audible from outside.
When you knock, two skittermanders open the door. They are - yes you guessed it - Olive and Violet, cousins of Alora and the same skittermanders responsible for the fire in Dot’s storage unit and the malfunctioning Newspark projector. The duo are shocked to see you but welcome you inside, apologizing for the trouble they’ve caused this month as they were only trying to help. Alora appears behind them, looking out of place in a frilly apron (her grandma’s) and relieved to see fellow Starfinders.
Alora gives you a tour of the homestead and introduces her family. In the living room, Olive and Violet watch over six young ysoki—Bitts, Flutter, Grubby, Popper, Scamp, and Slicer—who fight over whose turn it is to play “Junk Race Jitters,” a popular two-player racing vidgame. In the dining room, three hykli—Becca, Cass, and Orence—bicker over how to properly set the table. Lastly, the half-elf Agner naps in the den, their pet squoxes AA2 Musa and Gator curled at their feet.
When you reach the kitchen, Alora shuts the door, which does little to drown out the yelling.
Alora releases a deep breath as she struggles to retain her composure. Well, that’s my family. The Cembars might be odd, but we chose each other, and I love them dearly. Right now, though, we’re falling apart. We lost granny earlier this year, and things have been rough ever since. Granny was the glue that held us together. Since she passed away, we’ve been lost. This is the first time we’ve all been together since the funeral. I thought Reunion would bring us together, but it’s pulling us apart. They’re all so determined to make today perfect in honor of Granny—to do everything exactly the way she would’ve done. So here I am, in an apron, with no idea what to do!
Alora sniffs at the air. Smells like smoke, she remarks. Her eyes widen, and she dashes to the oven, removing a baking sheet covered in an unidentifiable charred lump. Alora’s lip quivers, then she screams, tossing the ruined meal into the sink. I quit! I can’t focus with them bickering, and this is hard enough on its own!
If you wish to calm her down, make Diplomacy or Intimidate checks.
"Hey, hey, no need for that!" says Navasi consolingly, "This is exactly what we're here for, and, well, now we're here."
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Navasi is able to calm her down. Once calm, Alora explains she was given “the privilege” of preparing dinner, recreating Granny’s recipe of roast arabuk stuffed with stone-stored apelos, served on a bed of sticky rice and topped with gravy. Her attempt was a charred disaster as you can see.
She takes stock of the remaining ingredients in the house, discovering she’s out of arabuk.
Do you think you can go arabuk hunting? she asks hopefully. And if you can find some winter herbs to improve the flavour, that would be much appreciated.
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In the dining room, three hykli—Becca, Cass, and Orence—bicker over how to properly set the table.
Is that the voice of Orence?
Morvruul pauses to perceive.It is! So, it is!
With him, my "gift", I can now leave!
Rifling through his backpack
Hoping, the explosive, to grip.
Morvruul soon realizes
He left it back on the ship.
The witchwyrd starts pondering
Before he deduces.
If I'm to sneak away to the ship
I'll need some excuses!
Then, opportunity comes
Just as the host
Announces her plans to make
An arabuk roast.
"I'd be happy to help!" declares he.
"No further need to entreat.
I'll just be gone for a while
Then, return with your meat."
"I have no need for assistance,"
He let it be known.
"Why I can bring down an arabuk.
And do it all on my own!"
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Ears is on edge all the way from the spaceport to the Cembar homestead. He is continually looking around, even spinning 360 in an attempt to watch everywhere at once. He visibly relaxes once inside. He even grins and tries to get the young ysoki organized into a round-robin tournament of Junk Race Jitters by offering his spare comm unit as a prize. If that doesn't work he tries to bully the kids into behaving in the gruff ysoki manner, but they see through the obvious facade.
Some of the kitchen conversation catches his large ear.
"Arabuk! Hunting one all on your own? Nobody hunts arabuk alone. They'll eat you after they kill you, and you won't see them coming. You need at least three sets of eyes to watch everywhere at once. From my point of view their only advantage over shobhads is that they don't have long range firearms."
"It's a kind offer, Morvruul," says Navasi with a smile, "but don't be silly. We're all here to help! You don't have to do things alone. "
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Alora gives you her old hunting gear, an advanced shobhad horizon striker and a veteran shobhad harness before you venture out into the cold. Outside, the sun is setting, making it dim light and extreme cold.
Please make Perception or Survival checks to find arabuk footprints or a Life Science check to intuit their likely location
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That is a success (only needed one). Within twenty minutes you find three arabuk yearlings at an icy pond, clawing the ice to force water out of the cracks. Both the ice and snow are difficult terrain. The DCs of Acrobatics checks attempted on ice increase by 5. The DCs of Stealth checks attempted on snow increase by 5.
(see map on Slides)
Initiatives:
Everyone except Morvruul and Speaker are up
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"I can make use of your rifle Alora. I'm skilled in long range marksmanship as you must be also."
Cha'mon Cha'mon, drops to one knee and flips the long range sights up on Alora's Shobhad Striker rifle before carefully aiming through them at the arabuk directly in front of him. He squeezes the trigger sends a round downrange at the animal.
As they step out of the home, Navasi activates her armor's environmental protection and hopes it will be enough. The infrared sight in her visor activates as the light dims.
She opts to keep her two pistols in hand, reasoning that creatures that can survive in this environment probably aren't built to handle fire.
"Good job spotting them o far away, Speaker," she says. But... perhaps too far. It's probably a good thing, but she lacks Cha'mon's skill with rifles. Her pistols just don't have the same effective range--and she can barely seem them over there!
She trudges forward in the snow to try to give herself a better shot, then aims at the closest animal.
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"We're going to eat them, unless they kill us. It's better for everyone if they're dead first."
The ysoki turns back to Cha'mon. "That was terrific! Almost like magic. Now pull yourself together and we'll do it again!"
OBviously his go to is supercharge weapon for the best attacking PC.
Speed Walk 30'
Ranged arc pistol, static (small) +5 (1d6+1, critical Arc 2; Stun)
Ranged semi-auto pistol, tactical (small) +5 (1d6+1, critical -; Analog)
Technomancer Spells Known (CL 3rd; concentration +4)
1st(4/day)-comprehend languages(DC ), grease(DC 14), hologram image(DC 14), supercharge weapon
0th(0/day)-detect magic, mending(DC 13), psychokinetic hand, telepathic message, token spell, transfer charge(DC 13)
(Spell cache flashlight; Energize spell provide opportunity for 2 extra spells /day.)
Skills Acrobatics +3, Computers +8, Culture +4, Diplomacy +1, Engineering +10, Life Science +8, Mysticism +5, Physical Science +7, Piloting +7, Profession (Professor) +8,
"Keep piling on, we've got it!" Navasi calls, leveling her flame pistol at the injured animal. Getting them lined up seems unlikely, but she needs to test her theory anyway. Hopefully being a little bit pre-cooked won't offend.
She unleashes a line of fire from her flamethrowing pistol.
"Ouch! I didn't know they could do that..."