Minah and their patrol usher the PCs deeper into the caves. Soon the natural rock gives way to smooth metallic tunnels lit by thin blue tubes set into the walls. The tunnels branch off in various directions, apparently branching into a vast network of subterranean roadways.
Tunnels interconnect and merge together, leading to a vast subterranean chamber. The ceiling sits several hundred feet above, lit by blue orbs, while round metallic domiciles fill most of the chamber. All surfaces are smooth, polished, and hum with a soft tinkling from crystals inlaid into each structure. The streets lead towards a central plaza. Ixtli gathered in the plaza step back suspiciously, some reacting to the outsiders with curiosity or fear, and others barely able to conceal their anger.
Minah leads the Starfinders to an ornate blue metal building with domed doorways. They refuse to answer any additional questions. Minah waits outside the chamber, motioning for the agents to enter.
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Pogo keeps quiet, but finds himself staring at the advanced technology similar to most space stations and indicating the locals possess advanced technological understanding. If Envar came this way, they likely can provide evidence of it and perhaps help the Starfinders locate where he went from here if he is not present. He keeps on guard, however, for though they seem friendly, they might be holding him prisoner and may do the same to the new arrivals.
The Starfinders, somewhat off-put by the silence, follow Minah's instructions and enter the room.
This large chamber is illuminated by thin crystals set into metallic braziers which cast a deep blue glow. In the middle of the chamber is a semicircular table, on the far side of which sit three chairs, each decked in fine cloth of a different color. An elderly ixtli occupies each chair, their hands clasped with fingers intertwined. “Greetings, offworlders,” intones the one seated in the red chair, “please excuse the forceful nature in which we have brought you to us.” At this, the one seated in the white chair leans over and speaks in a harsh voice.
“Bhrea, such apologies are unnecessary. We have seen the chaos these strangers bring. Offworlders, justify why you are here, now.”
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Ashgrok straightens up his suit, and speaks confidently and professionally as legal representative of the Starfinder Society.
"Greeting my name is Asgrok augmented paradox conjunction, I'm a Lawyer, Philosopher, and Counselor. My associates and I are representatives of the Starfinder Society. Our current mission is to find a missing person named Envar. Since we have not had a full introduction yet I'm operating under the assumption that you are the lawful leaders representing your people. As such the Starfinder Society would like to assure you we are here peacefully our mandate is to explore, report, and cooperate. If this is a first contact event between your people and the Starfinder Society, we are authorized to initiate the first contact protocol, to form peaceful relations between our people. Although we come in peace if your people are under an extinction-level threat from other species we are authorized to use any force necessary to protect you and your people. I have digital copies of the Starfinder Socity mandate, first contact protocols, and a list of actions and services we are authorized to provide. If you don't have a way to accept these digitally if given something to write them on and time I can make you a written copy. Thank you for allowing me to speak I hope this is the beginning of a long and beneficial relationship between you and the Starfinder Society."
The ixtli in the white chair nods at the statements about peaceful contact, though seems a bit bored with the length of the statement.
The one in the blue chair interrupts, asking, “How are you related to the mirror-eyed stranger who came before?”
The ixtli in the red chair answers, "You don’t physically resemble Envar. Have you taken different forms in order to trick us?"
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Pogo volunteers to explain. He says, "Envar is a member of a race known as Lashunta. They have some abilities to communicate their thoughts directly. There are many other races in our confederation of worlds. I am an Ysoki." Pointing to Asgrok, "Ze is a race known as a contemplative. He," pointing to Wilson, "is a human. And we have a nuar, the fellow with the horns. The universe is full of different types of intelligent life, you see. We tend to think this diversity provides resilience and strength, so long as we cooperate. There are other races in our confederacy who are quite different from any you see here."
The one in the white chair butts in, dismissing the other ixtli's concerns as irrelevant and proclaiming the Starfinders’ intentions are only to cause further disruptions to the ixtli way of life. They launch into a torrent of accusations.
The one in the red chair asks you to clarify your intentions.
The ixtli in the blue chair is willing to hear the Starfinders out but wants to ensure they understand the ecological disaster at stake.
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Wilson looks at the one in the blue chair and says, "Listen, we go to all kind of planets." He motions toward Domehead. "I rescued this little gal and have raised her from a hatchling. We always take great care to not have negative impacts on the local ecology, and have found several planets where we've been able to intervene in ecological disasters and help mitigate the damage."
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Asgrok tried to clarify your intentions starting with the history of the Pact Worlds alliance and the founding of the Starfinder Socity.
"The Starfinder Socity started shortly after the Gap, and played an important part in creating the Pact Worlds alliance, which is an alliance of several planets all with varied cultures working together for mutual benefit. Out intentions are clearly laid out in subsection J97.324-7A parts 1 through 7"
Asgrok goes on for a long time in great length of all the details.
"So in conclusion we have summed all this up into a short concise mission statement, explore, report, and cooperate."
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Pogo follows up on Asgrok's monologue with more specific information about the current mission. "As an organization that performs a variety of services to those in our federation which we call the Pact Worlds, we are not operatives of a government or a major business. The leader of one of our important energy corporations has a son who has more technological and financial resources than common sense. He was known to be enjoying a vacation and visiting exotic locations. Then he stopped communicating."
"We only had this photo to try to figure out his last known location." Pogo pulls up the image of Envar on the purple sky planet with the dim red star and hands the comm unit to Howland and has the drone show the images to the ixtli in the blue chair and then to the others. "Not much to go on, as you can see, but we have impressive data processing capacities that were able to identify this star system. We consider it great good fortune to have discovered not only the missing person we seek but in the process to discover a sophisticated sentient race with impressive technological achievements. We have much to gain from a peaceful opening of communication and trade.
"The boy's mother is worried sick about him and he has a following of sorts among well-connected young people. We only want to bring him home safely to his mother. Cooperating with us could be an important first step to making a powerful ally with technological sophistication matching your own."
He mentions a few ways Pact World technologies might be able to improve the functions of the station.
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The one in the white chair butts in, dismissing the other ixtli's concerns as irrelevant and proclaiming the Starfinders’ intentions are only to cause further disruptions to the ixtli way of life. They launch into a torrent of accusations.
Oshari clears his throat, the noise echoing through the chamber for a moment, before addressing the one in the white chair. While he does not seem to be trying to be intimidating, his size and generally stoic demeanor make this a difficult task.
"I apologize for my silence up until now, I have been allowing my perhaps more qualified colleagues comment first, but I do believe this is something I may be able to address. My name is Oshari Soteria, and I am what is known in our space as a health and safety inspector. It is my duty to ensure that, for our safety, everyone in our space abides by our own rules and customs to mitigate potential injury. In particular, I have a knack for navigating such regulations, even when others may simply see them as a tangled knot of red tape, and for the duration of our visit, I have full confidence in my abilities to understand and abide by your rules and regulations if they are laid out for us, and I will ensure that the rest of my colleagues do as well."
Oshari think he would have been better off continuing to keep his mouth shut, but the others seem to soothe the ixtli in the blue and red chairs. The former rises. "We hear your concerns. I am Nikku, and my colleagues are Certu -" they point to the white chair "- and Bhrea."
“We are acquainted with this Envar.” Nikku says, frowning. “That one came here a few weeks ago. He took photographs while climbing our sacred monuments and made jokes of the statues of our deity. He even bathed in the pools of contemplation! Spat up any food we gave him, too.”
Slamming their palm on the table, Certu interjects. “Never mind his bad table manners! His very presence and outrageous ways inspired a whole faction of our youngsters to begin imitating his behavior. For the first time in over three hundred generations, our warren has split, with this so-called ‘Tamm Squad’ cult travelling outside the tunnels! Who knows what damage this might cause?”
Bhrea speaks in a quiet voice. “My concern, Certu, is the group of angry ixtli who remain here, who are ruled by fear and hate of all offworlders. I’m sure you know of which faction I speak, given your sympathies. But never mind that. If you’re looking to find Envar, he left the warren hours after his arrival. I’m sure someone knows where he may be found now. Make your inquiries, but do so with care.”
After this, Minah rejoins the group. As an eager crowd forms on the other size of the plaza, watching the Starfinders with a mix of fear and
curiosity, they explain, “They’re curious about you. If you’re looking for a lead on Envar, you could try asking around the feeding hall and see if anyone knows more. Alternatively, I heard the scientists at the seat of learning have a few thoughts on items he left behind. I suppose you might also want to head to the civic center, as he left quite an impact there. Where do you want to go?”
This tall building spreads over several floors, which in turn possess various wings housing both education centers and research laboratories. Young schoolchildren learn writing skills in one chamber, whilst another houses a higher education text library. Upper floors contain a series of rooms in which computer developers and engineers work eagerly on various pieces of unfamiliar technology.
In one of the rooms, the Starfinders see a holographic image of Envar, projected by a small piece of hardware that rests on a laboratory table. Several ixtli scientists pour over the machine, which you immediately identify as a comm unit.
The lead scientist, Byent, is happy to discuss the machine. They explain, “One of our expedition teams found this device in the Ruptured Hills. I presume Envar left it for us to find, or just dropped it. We have been able to extract data including some fascinating digital maps, a few recordings made by Envar, and at least three recipes for interesting drinks.” Byent is content to show the Starfinders images they recovered from the device. Envar’s holiday snapshots include an image depicting him posing with very unimpressed-looking ixtli elders. However, the scientist refuses to allow you to take the device or scroll through its data themselves, explaining that only those approved by the Triumvirate can touch the device, which some now see as a divine relic.
"We can transfer the data to you, but you will absolutely not handle the device yourself!"
You are starting to get the impression that Envar was a very polarizing figure here.
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Ashgrok takes out his com unit and shows it to the Byent.
"Com units are a very common device where we come from, I can show you how it works. Just type in this number and hit the green icon on the com unit you have."
If Byent does, Asgrok's com unit rings, and Ashgrok answers talking into the com unit.
"This is Asgrok how can I help you today."
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"Hold on ... Some of your people think Envar is ... divine? Why? This is a comm unit, and you appear to have this level of technology yourself. Usually incidents like this happen with more technologically primitive societies." He frowns. "Lashunta do have some psychic.powers, though ..."
Oshari gives Wilson a look of disapproval.
"While it's true that comm units are common where we come from, I can imagine that if you didn't have such technology yourself, it would appear quite novel, especially when connected to such a... controversial figure. While we seem to be roughly on the same level of technology, that does not necessarily mean it's exactly the same, and I'm sure you have plenty of commonplace technology that would be utterly incomprehensible to us. I hope that, should this mission go well for all parties involved, we might someday be able to discuss some sort of technological exchange during more formal first contact proceedings, if that is something you would be amenable to. For now, though, I believe transferring of data would be sufficient for our purposes, provided it's sufficiently complete."
You get the information from the comm unit. There are maps enough here, but what it lacks is organization. Even once you filter out the files about other worlds, there are many locations marked that could be Envar's destination. Looks like you will need more context to get it.
The streets leading to this building are populated by small fountains, around which sit ixtli in various states of amicable banter. Between several of the fountains sits a large crystal, which sheds heat and light, under which several people recline in various states of undress, bathing in the light. Various artistic sorts make up the crowd. Writers discuss books while a group of actors rehearse for a play. An artist completes a holo-painting of a pastel, hilly landscape. Apart from the joyful crowd, several pious-looking ixtli gather around a tall statue, heads bowed in prayer. The statue is roughly ten feet tall, carved of dark marble, and displaying a somber-looking ixtli wielding a bow. Around the statue stands a hastily-erected scaffold, upon which an elderly ixtli frantically scrubs at a large mark painted over the statue’s eyes.
While residents stop to gawk at the Starfinders without initiating conversation, the pious worshippers seem keen to ask questions. Eventually, one of them steps forward and asks if they have any messages from the Dark Hunter. From up on the scaffold, a grizzled white ixtli shouts down, warning the pious ones to “Get away from the harbingers.” The elder ixtli then approaches the agents, introducing themself as Koopi.
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Around the statue stands a hastily-erected scaffold, upon which an elderly ixtli frantically scrubs at a large mark painted over the statue’s eyes.
Oshari eyes the scaffold, assessing its safety.
He nods to Koopi. "Oshari, and this is Ariadne."
The blob of nanites perched on his shoulder gives a cheerful wave.
"What happened with the mark on the statue?"
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"Koopi, my name is Asgrok augmented paradox conjunction. I believe we might now be in a conjunction of paradoxes which I'm having a particularly hard time wrapping my rather large brain around. If you would be so kind as to fill us in on recent events since the arrival of Envar, we might have a better idea of what's going on."
“Envar said our holy statue looked ‘totally rad, but needed shades,’ like his own. Since then, worshippers have been sneaking in to paint. I’ve never known such things. It’s heartbreaking. I have to do this nearly every single morning. Will you help?”
"These kids today with their Abysscake and their Tamm Squads and their Starfighter Frenzies... I don't get it. Sure, we didn't interact with the rest of the galaxy much, but we were doing well on our own, grozit! Then some punk with shiny eyes comes through and the kids are painting my statue. Can you believe it?"
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Wilson frowns, and says aside to the others, "I don't get this. These kids are obsessed with Envar, and none of the adults seem to know anything about why ... they're just apparently scared to death of violating some kind of new taboo. I mean, the scientists didn't care about Envar, but still wouldn't let us touch the comm unit, because they were scared it would upset these worshippers. Is it maybe some kind of psychic mind control effect or something?"
To Koopi he says, "Has there been violence associated with this Envar cult or anything, or just this kind of general ... disorderliness?"