Zoey checks out the computers. Each has essentially the same information on it: thousands and thousands of files containing the mundane information about running the base. There's also another recording!
In my fear and mistrust, I have doomed us all.
Strange how now that the air is clouded with poisonous gas that I can finally think clearly. There was no spy, no mole. Just a platoon of soldiers worried about what their unbalanced commander would do next. It would only be natural for them to try to relieve me of duty.
But I was seeing enemies everywhere. Though what I did was unforgivable, I’m sorry. I pray to the Great Vanquisher that other ghibrani survived the war because otherwise, I have doomed my race to extinction.
Zynn's question hangs heavy in the air, with no answers yet available...
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"I will admit, from those journals this captain does seem a little unbalanced. I wonder if the mushrooms had an effect on him. What exactly did he do to doom the rest of his crew?"
"Mushrooms seem to be the working theory for those smarter than me." Burn nods his head toward Zoey and Twila by the door, then tilts it the other way toward Ysh and KINAA. "Starting a nuclear exchange is one way he doomed his men long term. Maybe he also engineered the gas release and doomed them that much quicker. Something about the gas cleared his mind though, before he died."
Burn frowns, a sign of mental computation. "If the mushrooms are the problem, we're pretty deep in enemy territory." He frowns some more. "Klarima, how are you feeling?"
Klarima seems shaken by the immersion in such dark history, but she nods, "Thank you Agent Burnham. I am okay for now."
Twila-5 finds the door open and untrapped. Nearly every inch of flat surface here is covered with colored mushrooms, from the floor to the oval table that occupies much of the room. Doors on the east and west ends of the room exit south. There's a gentle sobbing coming from the northwest corner, but from this angle, no one can see the source.
not long after the two enter the room, it seems... strange. It's... woah, this is... strange. It's serious... It's.... not okay.
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That's clearly not magical... what happened here is beoyond my understanding. says Ysh' uneasy about what to expect and worried that something darker is going on in this doomed place.
I prefer the tied space of ships and the emptiness of space than... that. she wonders while following Twila-5.
The sobbing makes her jump! Scared, to death.
F... Fa... Far too real to me!
She looks around, afraid.
She gets closer to KINAA who seems unafected by the events.
There is no source of the sound. There's NOTHING there. There's nothing of note in the room...
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"Okay. We came, we saw the mushrooms, it's time to go. K.I.N.A.A. and I will clear this room. The rest of you, why don't you head back and check those other doors for traps?" Fighting back a wave of nausea (and the urge to smash these cursed mushrooms), Twila-5 prowls through the mushroom room, checking for traps and anything notable.
It's just mushrooms. Why do they do so well here?
It looks like there's nothing of note in this room. Thankfully there are other doors to check.
The door here is completely safe, opening to a long hallway. Ysh' advances to the next and finds it equally nondescript. So she opens this one too.
Strips of fabric in shades of dark green, steel gray, and white hang from the ceiling, affixed with some unknown substance. A comfortable-looking bed is up against one wall, adjacent to a large wardrobe whose doors hang open. A writing desk with a personal computer terminal on it stands in the southeast corner. The air here smells faintly of cinnamon and freshly dug soil.
Lounging on the bed is a foul looking creature, his pale, grotesque form glowing faintly. He waves a clawed hand for you to step farther in the room.
“Darlings! So good of you to pay me a visit in my humble abode! But we have yet to be formally introduced. I am Skorusko, master of dread and despair, horticulturist extraordinaire, and all-around gourmand. And who might you delectable morsels be?”
Ysh doesn't really know what she's looking at, but she suspects its some kind of fay.
"So kind of you to notice1 Yes! It has all been me. The whole time! Even that silly silly Colonel Trogoss. Isn't it grand?"
"I object! I'll show you lot!" He leaps up in the bed and begins to shake and convulse....
Round 1:
Twila-5: Go
K.I.N.A.A.: Go
Zoey: Go
Burnham: Go
Ysh;: Go
Skorusko: TBD
Zynn: TBD
Ysh' wastes no time with additional pleasantries. The trio of missiles slam into him, and visibly wound the fay.
Round 1:
Twila-5: Go
K.I.N.A.A.: Go
Zoey: Go
Burnham: Go
Ysh': MM
Skorusko: TBD
Zynn: TBD
Skorusko: 9
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It must've been boring being here all this time since then. He might have gone mad. Regardless, it looks like this creature is the cause for all the death and destruction that wrecked this planet so long ago, and he seems eager to do it some more. Best to see that he can't. *Ever.*
Tumbling Stumbling into the room, she draws her non-cursed weapon and splits off to the left, spreading out to make it harder for him to target the group. "I don't like what he's doing!"
I don't like what *I'm* doing! Geez!
Keeping with the theme, K.I.N.A.A. also drills the fay with magic!
Unfortunately Twila-5 trips at the worst time.
Round 1:
Twila-5: Oops
K.I.N.A.A.: Stars
Zoey: Go
Burnham: Go
Ysh': MM
Skorusko: TBD
Zynn: TBD
Skorusko: 18
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Zoey, with a flare and some lines (and moves) from the latest Rocket Girl release, exhorts the party to GET'EM.
for
Round 1:
Twila-5: Oops
K.I.N.A.A.: Stars
Zoey: Hit
Burnham: Go
Ysh': MM
Skorusko: TBD
Zynn: TBD
Skorusko: 24
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Taunts and magic missiles fly, creating a situation the Burn can comfortably identify. Zynn goes right, so Burn crosses to the left, expecting to execute a pincer attack soon, and meanwhile protecting Twila and the casters in the hallway.
As he moves he lifts his new red star plasma rifle and sprays hot ions over the bed.
"So what's your shtick here, Slugrusko? Gardener the hut?"
... E&F
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 176
Level 6; Price 4,600
Hands 2; Proficiency Longarms
Damage 1d10 E & F; Range 40 ft.; Critical burn 1d4
Capacity 40 charges; Usage 4
Bulk 2; Special line, unwieldy
dice= Sword v KAC] 1d20 + 6 [/dice] ... dice= damage] 1d8 + 6 [/dice]
dice= Battleglove, Cestus v KAC] 1d20+6 [/dice] ... dice= damage] 1d4+6 [/dice] B analog
dice= Reaction Cannon, Light v KAC] 1d20+5 [/dice] ... dice= damage] 1d10+3 [/dice] P 90' Penetrating 6 rounds
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“Darlings! So good of you to pay me a visit in my humble abode! But we have yet to be formally introduced. I am Skorusko, master of dread and despair, horticulturist extraordinaire, and all-around gourmand. And who might you delectable morsels be?”
Hi, I'm bright and sparkling Zoey, Zoey says, because she can't just help herself, and adds prepare to die!
Burnham's attack is way off. Skorusko, trying to keep the party from getting too close, coughs up and spews for a fungal mass. It lands with a splash in the hall, quickly turning to stick filaments!
Round 1:
Twila-5: Oops
K.I.N.A.A.: REF+ Stars
Zoey: REF + Hit
Burnham: Miss
Ysh': REF + MM
Skorusko: Blech
Zynn: Go
Skorusko: 24
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Yugh! Zoey exclaims as the sticky mess lands, though she manages to avoid it just in time.
Zynn misses by the thinnest of margins.
Round 2:
Twila-5: Go
K.I.N.A.A.: REF + Go
Zoey: Go
Burnham: Go
Ysh' (Entangled): Go
Skorusko: TBD
Zynn: TBD
Skorusko: 24
Spore Rest: Round 4
With Zoey's encouragement, Zynn puts that extra twist in the swing! The weapon connects, but it's effect is muted a bit. Apparently this creature resists at least some of Zynn's solar weapon.
Zoey keeps up the pressure, also connecting for a light hit.
Round 2:
Twila-5: Go
K.I.N.A.A.: REF + Go
Zoey: Hit
Burnham: Go
Ysh' (Entangled): Go
Skorusko: TBD
Zynn: TBD
Skorusko: 31
Spore Rest: Round 4
Still able to see the creature, K.I.N.A.A. and Ysh'yaal both drill it with magic!
Round 2:
Twila-5: Go
K.I.N.A.A. (Entangle): Stars
Zoey: Hit
Burnham: Go
Ysh' (Entangled): MM
Skorusko: TBD
Zynn: TBD
Skorusko: 52
Spore Rest: Round 4
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Burn watches the sticky blob, fly by and block the doorway. He smiles when the casters retaliate with magic missiles. They're relatively safe behind the barrier, and can still attack. Meanwhile the team members he wants beside him in a standup fight are both right here.
"Couldn't have planned that better myself." The big fighter sheds his rifle and moves in. When he jumps onto the bed to spring behind Shorusko, his sword clears its scabbard and swoops down with his full momentum behind it.
...
Burnham rushes in and in a complete turn of luck, strikes with all his might! The fey's head topples from its corpulent body.
Before long the team works to undo the two stuck agents.
Zynn pokes around and finds a key card on the body. It looks like it's a master key! This will go a long way in exploring this place. Additionally under the bed is a stash of goodies! There are valuable gems worth a total of 1,500 credits Among the stash is a mk 1 ability crystal and a set of elaborate elite stationwear armor.
The remaining room isn't anything special. The bathroom seems like it was once very stylish, while maintaining a great deal of practicality. However, time has reduced the fixtures to rust, and lines of mold run up and down the tiles.
With the pressure off, Twila-5 thinks through the evidence. She concludes that this was a type of fey known as a "Fear Eater." Fear eaters are malicious fey that terrify victims and feed off the supernatural fungi that grow on them as a result...
Before long, you've explored the bunker under Egoret Base to your satisfaction, and can easily make your way back to the surface and board the ship. Before you leave, Klarima wishes you luck in your future endeavors and voices the hope that whatever threat the Starfinders need the weapons to face, it doesn’t result in, " a catastrophe similar to the one that claimed my home world."
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Back on Absalom Station, Zigvigix debriefs you, leaning in to hear every detail of the tale. The shirren breathes a sigh of relief and states, once again, that these weapons will be used only in self-defense. Zigvigix also notes that they will personally take any information related to the history of the ghibranis to the Dataphiles for storage in the Society’s archives.
Upon returning to Absalom Station or other major population center, a PC can make further attempts to remove the curse using remove affliction or skill checks. A PC can instead pay 20% of the weapon’s price in credits to hire a specialist to remove the condition. If the PC does not remove the condition before concluding the scenario, the weapon is destroyed.
You can also simply sell it... but be careful about your reputation.
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Zoey just stands in the underground room, having nothing much cheerful to say about the memory of global nuclear catastrophe. I hope things get nicer here now... she finally utters. If he wanted people to be afraid, couldn't he have just asked? Pfft.
---
Back on the station, Zoey looks at the poor state of her sniper gun. She's all about sustainability, so she opts to repair her rifle rather than throw it away.