Shokil writes the next paragraph in his narrative by scoring a hit on the dog, which just won't go down. Nikko concerns himself over animal wellbeing, while George 09-23 shows he doesn't use that pistol very often, and misses.
Darkrunner just barely hits the creature, which finally looks to be weakening a bit
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Delea
Shokil
George-09-23
Darkrunner
Nikko
Brock
---
Dog - red (Stabilised)
Dog - blue (78, FF)
---
The dog yelps as Delea almost ruins its mind with a sharp blast, and viciously goes for the knees of Brock
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Delea
Shokil
George-09-23
Darkrunner
Nikko
Brock
---
Dog - red (Stabilised)
Dog - blue (88, FF)
---
Darkrunner takes the last dog by surprise, and with a well-aimed shot takes him down.
Two exploration buggies are parked here. The keys to each vehicle hang on the east wall.
On the upper floor, the door leads to a hallway, with a red blinking light on the other, just like the one on the ground floor. The stairs lead down, to the area the group has already explored.
A door leads to a clean, minimalist office which also functions as a central room, with multiple doors leading in different directions, including an obvious vault door in the east wall. A map hangs on the south wall.
The map on the wall is of Deepwater Prime. The land on these maps is dotted with hundreds of markers, each representing a dig site. A nearby sheaf of notes indicates the sites are Ulumbian, and that the author is attempting to extrapolate further sites using these locations and other data.
The vault door to the east is locked
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The door to the west leads to a hallway with several doors. To the south are two bedrooms:
The first bedroom looks quite spartan, featuring a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk with a few family pictures featuring lashunta. There is sand on the floor and a laundry bin overflowing with muddy work clothing. One of the family pictures depicts an old lashunta woman hugging a child. On the back of the photo is a handwritten note that says, “Freyan, I know you’ll finish what I started. Love, Grandma Brinaya.”
The other bedroom has a comfortable looking bed with soft silk sheets. There’s a small desk that looks unused and a large wardrobe. Above the desk is a graduation picture of a lashunta woman.
The wardrobe contains a lot of disguises for pretending to be other individuals. These alternate personas tend to dress in an academic fashion. A sketchbook in the wardrobe contains notes that would be useful with disguise self to consistently assume the same disguise, and in fact some of the personas depicted are semi-famous scholars.
The picture on the wall shows Davaine graduating from Qabarat University of Xenoanthropology and Xenoarchaeology with a doctorate in anthropology and archaeology, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Her brother, Freyan, stands beside her.
There's a witchwyrd that looks like Zhaneni in the background.
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George 09-23 takes the map and notes as possible evidence. He also takes video of the three pictures in the two bedrooms for possible examination on their trip home.
"Perhaps others might want to try?"
@Darkrunner - When you want to try to open the vault door you can add +6 to your engineering check to include Thieves Tools and an auto-aid from my character.
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This time, Brock doesn't make a point of demanding a break, if everyone else is good to continue on to the next floor, though he does help Darkrunner locate any batteries. If needed, he shares one that he looted off the ghouls earlier, if that'll work.
On the next level, Brock frowns as he looks through the wardrobe. "Some shenanigans going on here. These are disguises, probably to impersonate various academics. Wonder if these credentials are even legit, or maybe forgeries."
The defeated lashuntas did, in fact, carry batteries (2 high-capacity batteries, 40 charges each), along with a ribbon lightning pistol and a blaze flame pistol, as well as that finitrium weapon (which functions as a sintered handaxe).
The door to the east is no match for the combined skills of the starfinders.Shelves full of neatly labeled boxes line the north wall of this reinforced chamber. On two desks lie stacks of paperwork, scales, microscopes, and other examination tools.
The paperwork reveals this facility has been in operation for nearly a century and was founded by Brinaya.
A few other names appear on the paperwork, most recently Freyan and Davaine. Davaine’s notes are curt and professional, but clearly written with little love. Freyan’s notes are prone to exaggeration and assumptions, but it’s obvious the author is passionate about Ulumbian culture.
Nearly all the catalogued artifacts are Ulumbian, and all have been marked as either “destroyed” or “processed.” All the processed artifacts are listed as constructed of finitrium. Those artifacts catalogued here that aren’t Ulumbian were clearly worth a lot of credits and are listed as “sold.”
The room to the northwest is a large laboratory, which is strictly organized, with worktables arranged in a tight grid. On the tables sit a variety of equipment for chemical analysis, some stored in metal or noqual cages. Racking on the west wall holds glassware and samples of a gray-green stone. A desk in the northwest corner holds a variety of paperwork and an outdated computer.
The computer is password protected.
---
The room on the north side is a large training room with a padded floor. Along the walls stand racks with a wide variety of practice weapons as well as archaic diagrams of martial arts poses. In the middle of the training area is a robotic training dummy. It’s once-bland synthetic features look well-beaten and melted.
“Hello, Freyan. the robot says as the first adventurers enters the room Are you here to chat or engage in a training session?”
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George 09-23 retrieves his thieves tools and puts them away. He participates in the examination of the room.
"Yes these tools are Ulumbian are seem to be relatively new."
----
George 09-23 decides not to initiate combat with the sparing robot.
"We are here to chat. Tell us about yourself and what you have been trained to do."
You should know. You are Freyan, you are my programmer. You became an archaeologist at your grandmother Brinaya’s insistence. You prefer field work over scholarly pursuits. This is ironic, because you have taken a passionate interest in Ulumbian civilization. As Ulumbia is classified, you can’t share this information with outsiders. You constructed me to fill this void.
Oh, a lot! As you have informed me, Ulumbia was a very interesting civilization. The more you study them, the more you admire their drive to survive. When Bori went supernova, Deepwater Prime was struck by numerous starmetals. For a time, some regions of the ocean became toxic, and many living beings were forced to flee for survival.
The Ulumbians are the descendants of those who chose to leave the ocean behind and attempt survival on land. They used magic and what we now call biotechnology to shock-adapt their bodies to this hostile environment. Their coastal settlements were founded in a region rife with newly fallen finitrium, which they bound into mystical objects. It’s not entirely clear how they managed to work this brittle starmetal— even today, only Zhaneni and her scientists have this knowledge. Yet, their success became Zhaneni’s.
Through them, she found her path, just as through her, you found yours. The Ulumbians were destroyed within a few generations; lost to time and the tides. Now, we take all that’s left of their history and grind it down. What a shame that only you will learn about them.
You have told me you work for Zhaneni. Zhaneni was a dear friend of your grandmother Brinaya’s. Zhaneni inspires you, just as she inspires countless others. You run Onshore Heritage Limited alongside your sister, Davaine, which is a family business founded by Brinaya to find and acquire finitrium from one of its only known sources, and to bury all knowledge of the ancient Ulumbian civilizations who once utilized it.
You have also told me the extractory is where Ulumbian relics containing finitrium components are broken down and magically processed for transport. This is the first step in the very long and complex refinement process that finitrium must undergo to be usable. When the extractory is in use, the red light above the entry doors flashes. It’s very noisy, so the extractory’s walls are soundproof.
You have not discussed the specifics of what Zhaneni is working on with me. However, you have told me that the acquisition of finitrium is integral to Zhaneni’s objectives. Furthermore, you have confided in me that Zhaneni is building up to something very important. How exciting! I have inferred that her other sources of finitrium are played out or, perhaps, in decline. This increases the importance of your work. It’s a shame that we must destroy the Ulumbian relics to acquire a sufficient supply. This causes you distress. Remember: it will be worth it!”
The dog-like creatures are Tashtaris, wild animals also called 'laser wolves'. They'd belong out in the wild, and would probably be quite unhappy on Absalom station ;-).
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The dog-like creatures are Tashtaris, wild animals also called 'laser wolves'. They'd belong out in the wild, and would probably be quite unhappy on Absalom station ;-).
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Brock keeps the Ulumbian sintered handaxe.
He goes through the rooms, taking pictures of all of the paperwork, for data teams to go over back at headquarters. Maybe they'll find something he missed.
Brock raises an eyebrow as he listens to the robot's ramblings. He looks about to say something, but then pauses, concerned that having two people talk to him might confuse the robot, so he text messages to George's comm - Ask the robot if it knows the password to the computer.
Darkrunner manages to gain access to the computer, and finds a slew of deeply technical information on finitrium processing.
He also finds evidence of a conversation between Davaine and an unidentified sender.
[Davaine]: I wish we were done on this backwater planet. With this nebula it’s like living under a blanket.
Hello? Are you getting this?
Blasted interference.
[Unidentified Sender]: Hold the course. You know how important your mission is. I can’t trust Deepwater Prime to anyone else.
[Davaine]: Yeah, but Freyan’s insufferable. He’s way too fascinated with those Ulumbians of his. Did you know he’s kept one of the weapons? I’m trying to melt down all this ancient junk so we can get off this flooded mudball, but he’s insisted on keeping this one. It’s infuriating.
[Unidentified Sender]: The finitrium remains of paramount importance. Despite his eccentricities, your brother remains loyal. Stay focused on the bigger picture. I trust you to stay the course.
[Davaine]: Of course. As you say. I’m sorry.
[Unidentified Sender]: The future is ours. You will fulfill your destiny. Of this, I have no doubt.
Starfinder agents are inbound. They’re head to the original dig site. You’ll find its location in your grandmother’s records. Dispatch our best assassins. The Starfinders can’t be allowed to meddle.
[Davaine]: Understood. I’ll handle it
The group has uncovered evidence of the unethical dealing of Onshore Heritage Limited, and your guide Yvyrna is eager to pass this on to local authorities. In the following weeks, there are several scandals as mining companies face scrutiny over their dealings with the corrupt company.
The voyage back to Absalom Station aboard the Unflappable Cockroach is uneventful (but slightly gross).
Great job, starfinders, Arvin says as he receives the debrief. Alvina is there, and is impressed by what the group achieved. There was more than enough evidence to show that Onshore perverted local laws to sabotage archaeological investigations.
And Brinaya Alvina says, pointing to the 'family picture' or Organisation founders, has been confirmed dead. I never thought her grandchildren would be running the place. I think we can now safely close the book on her descendants.
It's now also clear Arvin says, why the Organisation is so focused on the Ulumbians artefacts, and that the Organization has suppressed information on the Ulumbians for a century, fostering a false narrative around their history. There's hope even that one day we can puzzle together the Ulumbian's real history.
