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As the group finishes up with their contact, Azzirm remains mostly silent....his slight flub on his pitch eating at him.....
Getting down from the chair, he looks to make certain none need help...and with that walks into these 'chutes'.
Azzirm attempt to figure how they work....but by the time he even starts to look...the door closes, and they all are being let out of the one on the ground.
"That chute is impressive...." he marvels....
Checking his supplies, and hearing about the others talking about the 2 armor upgrades, "Gunnz and Grump...if you need help installing either, I can help you....and Gunnz, if you want to keep the jet pack until we get there, and then you feel that the hydrojet would be better, we can install it easily. Unfortunately both jetpack and hydrojet can't work on this beast", he taps his armored chest, " and I already have a filtered rebreather in it. So use them if want either of you."
Seeing the bikes....sized for cloud giant younglings....Azzirm goes to ask if he could rent one of the 'adolescent' ones....as his power armor is almost certainly to big for the toddler sized big wheels.....
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”Roads? There ain’t no roads that lead to Talgradur, little lady,” the kiddie-cycle super-Drift motorcycle dealer tells Gunnz. Then she laughs, and admits that yes indeed there are roads all across Pholskar, though most folks don’t use them much any longer. She then gets Grump fitted out with a black and yellow bike - complete with a happy bumblebee motif and dilly-bopper antennae on the windscreen.
”Well, aren’t you a big one,” the dealer says to Azzirm with a snigger and in a tone meant for a child. ”Sorry, sorry,” she says with her hands up in a placating gesture. ”I know you’re adults, but we’ve never gotten small-sized visitors from off-world down here, and I just couldn’t help myself.” She heads into the garage and returns with a bike that’s sized for a hill giant. The difference between Azzirm’s bike and the others’ is stark, but mostly just in its size and coloration. Finally, she helps Azara get fitted out, points out the road that leads to Talgradur, and bids you farewell.
Two days into the trip, you come to a region recently struck by a powerful earthquake. The fields are littered with boulders and deep ravines and cracks jut into the hilly landscape.
Amid the chaos mills a nomadic stone giant community. Although not in immediate peril, the stone giants are clearly wounded and in disarray. It’s obvious they were hit hard by the recent earthquake and could use some help.
As you approach, you’re greeted by a gregarious male stone giant who identifies himself as Rigeth. Like the motorcycle dealer, Rigeth is surprised to see off-worlders, but is grateful for any aid you can offer. ”We’re a nomadic community that herd upondo out here in the wilds. We trade wool, meat, and foodstuffs with the sky-cities in exchange for their tech,” he explains.
”This region is usually stable, so this earthquake’s severity took us all by surprise. It injured many, spooked the upondo herd, overturned vehicles, and dropped a supply wagon into a crevasse,” he tells you as he points out where various calamities have occurred. ”What’s worse, underground monsters clambered out of the deep earth and attacked us and the herd while toxic gases spewed up around them.” He pauses to help one of his tribe push a boulder out of the rudimentary road. ”The creatures are all dead or driven off now, but we aren’t without casualties,” he finishes as he looks to you hoping you’ll offer to help.
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You may Each attempt One of the skill challenges below. There is no penalty for multiple characters doing the same thing. You may also substitute a relevant Profession check in place of a listed skill.
Companionship: You can befriend the stone giants and improve their morale with a Bluff or Diplomacy check.
Hauling: You can help haul supplies out of a crevasse with an Athletics or Engineering check.
Healing: You can heal the wounded or poisoned stone giants with a Medicine check. Alternatively, you automatically succeed if you expend at least two appropriate items or cast two appropriate spells.
Repairs: You can perform repairs on a wagon or low-tech vehicle with an Engineering check.
Upondo: You can calm the upondo herd or track down its missing members that fled with a Life Sciences or Survival check.
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(As a side note, Grump would have snapped several selfies of himself on the color-matched bike before departing the dealership, to be sent to his nieces after the mission is completed.)
Grump parks his bike & wanders around the camp searching for the injured stone giants. He'll focus his attention on the seriously wounded but also on the giant children.
He ends up using his Healing Touch (worth 50hp), two Remove Affliction spells (to neutralize Poison), two Mystic Heal 4 spells (healing an average of 37hp each), & enough uses of Life Bubble to protect up to 50 giants for 10 days from the gasses.
He'll make sure to snap a few more selfies with some of the locals - again, for his nieces.
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"We knew the surface could be dangerous, but it sounds like even the safe parts can be dangerous. It's very admirable that you live down here," Azara says to Rigeth.
He then moves around the other giants, introducing himself and his companions and giving some background information about them while also trying to hand out some encouragement and empathy.
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Azzirm gets on the bigger bike....and hopes that his augmented suit is dexterous enough do something that is normally instinctual for him normally....
Revving the engine (even if it is an e-cycle...it is still fun), he takes point for the group...his sensors doing their best to help with any unusual geological issues.
****
Seeing the stone giants strength...still ask for aid from them, Azzirm easily accepts. Pulling his normal toolkit out he goes to work on their vehicles.
"So this area isn't tectonically active usually? What about these beasts...could they have been the ones causing the tectonic activity?"
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The Mighty Mite gets just the right leverage to roll a decent sized boulder off the road and into a crevasse. Rigeth looks surprised and impressed.
Azara wins over all the giants he speaks to, as they’re both curious about the small-folk and eager to hear news about the wider galaxy. He really lifts their spirits, and while many of the adults get right back to work, it seems the kids have taken to following him around wanting to hear more stories and poems.
Grump heals up several of the most wounded knitting shattered bones back together with the sheer force of magic. They can’t seem to thank him enough, posing for as many selfies with the dwarf as he wants.
Azzirm just about gets it, but it seems his tools aren’t quite the right size. Something about “gigantic” versus “metric” wrenches.
Rigeth answers Azzirm’s concern. ”I don’t think so. We’ve seen augrisaurs like these before, but only in deep caverns. I think they just got pushed out of their normal lairs by the earthquakes. I’d caution you that if you feel any big tremors in the next few days, watch out for them as they might surface again.”
As everyone’s efforts come to a close, the stone giants express their extreme gratitude and Rigeth gifts you with an adaptive energy shield for your help. He invites you to spend the night in their camp before moving on, offering what food and shelter they have.
=============================================
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Azara is glad to spend some more time with the giants. They were likely going to have to camp, anyway and this is better than just gathering up together and setting up watches. Predators are less likely to attack a group of natives than gobble up a handful of snack size aliens.
He spends much of the night regaling the younglings with various Castrovellian Epic Poems, both his own creations and classics from history.
Unfortunately, there is a time or two when their size makes him forget they're children (some are bigger than he is, after all) and there may be a giant kid nightmare or two to deal with as well as a parent or two having to explain what...
"A night of unbridled lust
Four bodies entwined
Become as one by morning"
...means.
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The Starfinders make quite the impression on the stone giants during the night, as everyone gets down dancing to SSH or listening to epic stories - or both at the same time! After a (very) late breakfast, you say your goodbyes and head off on the road to Talgradur.
Suddenly you feel the ground shaking and realize you’ve been caught in the middle of a large earthquake! As the ground buckles and heaves, each of you must attempt to remain on your rides.
In addition, two large crevasses now split the landscape around you. The base of each crevasse is 30 feet below ground level and is difficult terrain.
On top of all that, corrosive fluids are bubbling up from the shattered earth! The green pools are hazardous terrain, also.
And as if that weren’t enough, two hungry augrisaurs have emerged from the crevasse and proceed to hunt the nearest snack-sized critters they can find - You!
Azzirm may act!
Map: The Quake
Active Conditions: none
Environmental Conditions: acid pools
Azzirm
Blue augrisaur
Green augrisaur
Azara
Gunnz
Grump
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Azzirm installls that new energy shield into anybody's systems if they want during the night, thinking it is a neat system....but not as good as all the other systems in his armor.
With that...he parties into the night...thinking the alcohol and such they have is...different, but great..but drinkable.
Getting up a little late...and wondering if maybe he drank vehicle antifreeze instead of alcohol...and wondering why he feels that his tongue now has hair...he does his best to act normal...and likely failing.
Driving away...the pounding of his head slowly..oh so slowly fading...he feels pretty good that the giants seem amiable to these small folk being among them.
Woolgathering....the earthquake definitely pulls his head away from his muddled thoughts....
And proceeds to go flying over the handlebars....dimly wondering if those decent thrusters were worth the time.....
The descent thrusters kick in....causing some slight scuffs and scrapes on the armor, but no permanent damage....with Azzirm barely able to keep from taking a knee. Fully rising, he looks forward.
"Well...never seen those before....everything here seems to be bigger than what we are used to..."
Knowing his job...he moves forward...putting his self in between the creatures and his allies....
Azzirm does his best to align the ocular HUD on the big armored thing and takes a shot....using his custom rig to give it a little boost
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A hung-over Azzirm manages to catch his fall with his thrusters and quickly hustles to the front line. His shot hits the one with Greenish scales, and all of the energy damage seems to have full effect.
If these things had a language and you could hear them think, they’d likely be excited about the big crunchy snack that just ran toward them, almost serving itself onto their tray.
The one that Azzirm shot trundles forward and then disappears from view below the edge of the crevasse.
The one with the shiny Blue carapace also moves forward out of sight, but then suddenly bursts forth from the ground. Although it seems as if its horn and neck are certainly long enough to get Azzirm, it’s still just out of reach.
BOLD may act!
Map: The Quake
Active Conditions: none
Environmental Conditions: acid pools
Azzirm
Blue augrisaur
Green augrisaur
Azara
Gunnz
Grump
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Grump spent some of that evening enjoying himself - good food, different drinks, & (maybe a bit surprisingly) he chimes in on a few SMC songs with Gunnz.
That old dwarven lifestyle means that he isn't suffering quite as much as Azzirm, so after he says his prayers to Angradd he's ready to face the day ahead when the crew hops on their bikes & hit the road.
He manages to power thru the shake, rattle, & roll of the road before sizing up the situation as he brings his bike to a stop. Engaging his forcepack & grabbing his heavy pick, Grump launches into the air (10 ft up) & heads toward Blue. He manages to engage just at the end of his movement (60ft fly speed).
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Although Azara would have preferred partying with the adults, the kids insist that he join in on their slumber party. And it is hard to argue with a 10' tall 10 year old.
It turns out, giant kids sleep just a fitfully as other kids and he wakes up curled in a defensive ball against slumbering fists to the eye, elbows to the gut and knees to the groin.
They're good kids, though so he tells one more poem over breakfast (about a magical jungle bird, anthropomorphic tiger and a lucky fey who go on a quest to bring magical joy to all kids everywhere.)
He's feeling pretty good as they cruise along, excited about the prospect of exploring the fallen city.
It's only the training wheels that have kept him upright on the bike so far and when the quake hits, he goes sprawling.
Climbing back to his feet, he spots the threat and invites the song of the spheres to play through him as he draws down his stellar mote and moves toward danger.
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Azzirm sees the rest of the group get prepared for these beasts...and Grump even getting into toe-to-claw? range....and smirks.
"Probably best to get rid of this one first...the back liners...be careful..this one burst from the ground...likely the other one I tagged might attempt to get behind us....keep sharp."
With that..he steps to the side a little...attempting to draw any attack from the beast...knowing if it hits...it might take a bit of electrical damage....
Swinging his hand cutting torch, he attempts to score the side of this beast with it....seeing how the cannon was effective on the other beast.
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Gunnz is a much better starship pilot, or maybe she was just distracted, singing SSH in her head. But she recovers nicely, fakes out the big dino, and puts a decent hole in its hide while leaving it vulnerable to her allies.
Which Grump immediately capitalizes on with a flying charge and a pick to the beast’s head!
Azara isn’t much of a pilot, and falls into the dirt in spite of the training wheels. He dusts himself off and attunes to the power of the cosmos.
Azzirm already has the full attention of the closest one, and it doesn’t let a chance at a bite go.
It misses, but keeps going after the snack that’s trying to get away.
And misses again.
Suddenly, the other one does indeed burst from the ground, right behind Grump and next to Azara! It tries to bite the lashunta, not having known about the flying dwarf above it.
EVERYONE may act!
Map: The Quake
Active Conditions: none
Environmental Conditions: acid pools
Azzirm
Blue augrisaur
Green augrisaur
Azara
Gunnz
Grump
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Grump yells back to Azzirm "You were right - you faced these critters before?"
A quick tweak of his jetpack drops his altitude by 5 ft, for better flanking options.
Then, another swing with his seismic pick.
But he fails to connect at all.
Note that should either of them manage to connect with their attacks on Grumo, they'll take some retributive damage from his electrostatic field.
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"A armored l, burrowing t-rex??? No. But creatures that burrow up from the ground...yes, more than I want to admit. When I saw the other dissappear and this one come from the ground in front of us it made sense they would want to get behind us."
That said he keeps attacking at the one he has been working at switching to just pummeling it.
While the first was a weaker feint...the second was a strong uppercut into the creature.
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Azara takes the sudden appearance of an armored dino-beetle in front of him in stride, swings twice and connects once. His solar sword slices its snout eliciting a ROOOOAARR in response.
Gunnz uses her gunnz to excellent tactical effect, tricking the green tinged one and leaving it with a bleeding wound in its flank.
Grump drops down between the two dinos, but his attempt to precisely control his altitude distracts him from his own swing.
Azzirm “feints” once, then connects with a solid uppercut which rattles the dino’s skull. Two big teeth fall out of its jaw into the cracked and dry earth at Azzirm’s feet. This dino looks to be on its last legs, but it’s not out yet.
It turns away from the armored thing that just knocked its teeth out. Maybe the smaller flying morsel tastes better
The bug-zapper deters it from trying that again, so it switches back to the first treat.
Mmmmm, yep, half-orc is better. But it gets zapped for also, which it clearly doesn’t like, and Azzirm’s armor absorbs nearly half of the damage.
============
The green dino flails about chasing flying things and glowy tidbits, but like a cat with too many toys it’s clearly overwhelmed and fails to connect with either of them!
===================
EVERYONE may act!
Map: The Quake
Active Conditions: none
Environmental Conditions: acid pools
Azzirm
Blue augrisaur
Green augrisaur
Azara
Gunnz
Grump
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Azzirm shifts around but even with the dino-bug distracted by two opponents, he just barely misses. Gunnz, however, that girl never misses, and she puts the Blue one down. Grump redirects his swing to the remaining one and hits, putting a long gash into its armored side.
===================
AZARA may act!
Map: The Quake
Active Conditions: none
Environmental Conditions: acid pools
Azzirm
Green augrisaur
Azara
Gunnz
Grump
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"Azara...they had 2 other things to try to eat....something bigger than the rest of ya...and a tenacious dwarf that was being an annoying gnat to them. Don't worry...your time being the punching bag will happen. At least if any other of these 'typical' Starfinder missions are to be used as a metric...."
Azzirm tries to be light at that...but he thinks of all the missions he has been on....why are there Zero boring missions he thinks....
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The Starfinders take a few minutes to catch their breath before mounting up and riding off into the sunset. And another sunset, and another….
One week after the earthquake and the fight with the dino-bugs, having crossed the boundless empty wastelands of Wyoming Pholskar, you finally arrive at the coast. A giant-sized military checkpoint blocks passage forward, although it’s unoccupied and you’re able to just drive right under the gate without being stopped. Beyond are parking stalls where you can leave you vehicles, and from where you spot two fire giants dressed in military gear. As they approach from the direction of the beach, the giants introduce themselves as Cloud Imperium guards and ask if you have clearance to visit Talgradur.
When you present your documents to them, the giants smile. ”Welcome to Talgradur,” one says indicating a piece of wreckage jutting up above the waves half a mile offshore. ”I’m Roros and this here’s Igvale” the one in the brown leather-looking armor says. ”You’ll have to leave your … bikes,” Roros says with a snigger, ”and go on foot out to the ruin. It’s low tide now, so if you hustle, you can get there on foot.” She sniggers again, likely thinking about how tiny your feet are.
The water is hip-deep for most of you, but only knee-deep for Azzirm. They also provide you with an inflatable dingy, which can be moored to the ruins and is intended to hold any objects that you haul out—it doesn’t have oars or a motor and would make a poor boat.
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"Well" says Gunnz.
"Thank you most kindly! We'd best be off before it is more than just our poor little feet get wet!"
With a wave to the friendly giants, she starts off into waves.
"I could fly over, but unless all the rest of you have jet packs as well, I'd just have a long wait for you over there."
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Azzirm smiles at the 2 fire giants. "Greetings...you are the guards here? Do you know anything about this ruin? It looks like some is above water...but any idea how much might be below?"
After that...Azzirm looks at the dingy they will loan them. "If all of you want to stay dryish....go pile in, and I will pull you all to the ruins. After that...we will have to find a way inside."
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Azara parks his bike in one of the stalls and sets the combination on the built in lock - Purple Squox, Red Comet, Blue Flower and Green Heart.
He then joins the rest of the group as they examine the city far offshore.
"I'll walk...and probably swim. I'm no geographist but half a mile out should be pretty deep, shouldn't it? Unless there's a very shallow decline."
He thanks Roros and Igvale by name before setting out.
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The transit from the beach to Talgradur Site 728G takes about 10 minutes whether by wading, flying, or being towed. At least with the last two, some of you would arrive at the entrance with dry footsies. Here you find what appears to be a maintenance tunnel that rises 60 feet above the current ocean level at low tide. The wreckage is steeply angled and covered in sharp coral, squishy slick sea plants, and other marine life that tries to scuttle out of your way.
From the elevated lip of the entry shaft, you can see that this angled shaft drops back down sixty feet into the ruins. Though currently mostly dry inside, it’s obvious that it will flood when the tide rises. Your info about the planet informs you that every 8 hours the tides change, fluctuating between high and low. Currently, the tide is at its lowest point.
Once part of the infrastructure of the flying city Talgradur, this shaft is both angled and sideways, with the tunnel’s floor and ceiling now acting as walls. Descending back down the slope, but on the inside this time, requires you to climb across broken machinery, limpets and more marine life.
Thirty feet from the shaft’s entrance, on what would be the “ceiling” of the shaft, is another passage that leads diagonally up into darkness. A quick assessment by a certain General Contractor tells you that reaching that hall would require flight, a makeshift bridge, clever use of cable, or feats of athletics. However, the entry shaft that you’re already in continues an additional 30 feet below the water level into deeper, gloomier darkness.
You’re reminded of your instructions to return with any and all cultural and scientific relics, personal effects and remains, as well as any information you can glean about Talgradur. Uncovering these finds and information will of course take time. With 4 hours of work, you can uncover 2 bulk of cultural relics from this chamber, primarily tools and small items accidentally dropped, like screws, buttons, and coins, and can salvage 6 bulk of mechanical components and pipework.
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The climb up....Azzirm did his best to maneuver the suit around some things...but definitely scraped a bit of paint off...but sustained no damage [/ooc] DR 5 to that[/dice]
Getting up, he will definitely lower a cable down if others need it on this side or the other. Being the closest thing they have to a mobile post...the armor can be braced to help people get up.
After all are up and down...Azzirm lowers himself down slowly...knowing at worst, he can let go and let the descent thrusters kick in.
But that is not needed...as Azzirm pilots it down safely.
"Got a grappler and cable if we want to go up. And yeah...looking around here might be useful....but I think we know this won't be done in an evening. This place is huge."
Holding out the item he found...[b]"If we have some time....I could swap out my mk1 for a mk2...[/dice]
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Azara is a pretty athletic individual but if there is a spare jetpack available, he's not going to say not to it at this point.
If there's not, he gets to climbing.
He scratches himself up on the way in and takes the painful express path down.
"They need to install stairs," he groans.
Once he gets to his feet and checks out his skinned knees and elbows, he starts looking around. It's not exactly jewels and coins but these lost artifacts of daily life are just the treasures they're looking for.
He starts helping the team gather things up.
"Should we check out the under water chamber first? If the water gets high I'd rather be further up when it happens than deeper down."
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Grump is happy to install his spare jetpack for Azara.
He's fond of the flight option for moving from place to place.
He's also fine with this exploration taking multiple days.
And, as a side note for dungeon exploration, Grump has & is quite fond of the See Invisibility spell. He'll cycle one every 2 hours, leaving a 20-minute gap at the end of each cycle unwatched.
Side note #2: Grump's Null-Space Chamber has 22 bulk worth of space we can use for caching found items.
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After Grump installs the extra jet pack for Azara, the team is able to easily climb or fly up and then down into the heart of Talgradur. Grump starts his regular rotation of spells, and following Gunnz’s lead, the team descends into the murky, dark waters. What appears to be a control room of some type is completely flooded with dark water. The water is highly corrosive and thick with slimy, blue-black gunk. So much so that you can only see about 5 feet in front of you.
The source of the leak is broken machinery, which can be patched with another DC 24 Engineering check. Once the leak is patched the pollutants drain out of the ruins and disperse into the ocean within 5 minutes, which improves visibility and neutralizes the water’s corrosion levels.
Once you can see clearly, you realize that this chamber has two exits on the southern side: a flooded hall that leads out to the southeast and a locked blast door in the southwestern corner labeled “CAUTION: POWER CORE, Restricted Access.”
==================================
Either way…
A further DC 28 Computers check