GM Zoomba's The Day the River Died [GAMEDAY XIII][SFS] (Inactive)

Game Master Zoomba

Gameplay Thread

the atmostphere aboard the Master of Stars is busy. Of course its always a bit busy: the Wayfinder flagship is massive and serving as a mobile base for the faction means there is a constant stream of Starfinder agents moving along amidst an expansive support staff.

The ships' bridge is no different you notice as you walk in to meet with Fitch as requested. It's a spacious and brightly lit room through which science officers, engineers, and other supplementary crew hurry back and forth as they perform their duties, operate the scanners, and maintain the massive starship. Fitch herself stands with the middle of the room, bent over a digital tabletop with a holographic interface and at least a dozen mission briefs and reports open at once. Behind her, eight ysoki children tumble about, bumping into the crew and jostling levers and buttons that look like they should not be jostled — typical behavior for Fitch’s grandchildren.

The Wayfinder leader seems to be ignoring them, but her focus falls on you when you enter and a smile corsses her face as she waves you closer.

“There you are, Starfinders!” Fitch exclaims, pulling up a hologram of a river winding through an asteroid belt. “Let’s get right to it then. As you may know, the River Between is the lifeblood of the Diaspora. The water flowing within its containment field sustains hundreds of flourishing settlements and provides a means of cheap travel throughout the region. Over the past several months—"

Fitch’s grandkids suddenly bound across the table, their scurrying motion causing the holograms to shift wildly, then wink out completely. The youngest ysoki screeches and waves their arms around, nails bared in an inaccurate imitation of some aggressive monster.

She pauses for a moment to let you process the situation.

“Not during briefings!” Fitch shrieks as she shoos the kids away. Gesturing at a nearby ysoki Starfinder, she calls, “Kiha! Watch the kids!” Kiha groans melodramatically. “I’m working, Grandma!” “So am I! That’s an order, Starfinder!” With a roll of her eyes, another ysoki (Kiha you presume) ushers the kids away, muttering, “Kirkath should be saddled with the babysitting.”

Fitch takes a deep breath as she reopens her files. “Anyway to cut to the point: he River Between is deteriorating. Where the waters once flowed cold and clear, they’ve slowed to a murky crawl. Even worse, water levels are lowering, as if there’s a leak somewhere along the route. Sarcesian créche worlds throughout the Diaspora are already seeing poor harvests and failing filtration infrastructure. Whatever’s happening, we need to figure out how to halt and reverse its progression."

“Our scouts pinpointed the source of this inexplicable drainage: an asteroid that serves as the base of operations for a group of pirates called the Riveters. Word is the Riveters abducted half a dozen scientists, engineers, and arcanists from across the Diaspora, whom they’ve yet to issue ransom demands for. I strongly believe the Riveters are using the expertise of those abducted to sabotage the River Between, likely to hold the whole Diaspora hostage and demand a ransom for its repair. Your mission is to rescue the civilians and stop the pirates from causing irreversible damage to the River Between.”

The stout Dwarf with spiky red hair and beard you met earlier named Freeman laughs, "Pirates, eh? We know how ta' deal with them, right Drone?"
The small flying drone hovering near his shoulder lets out a few beeps of machine code and ends with a moderately clear "Pew PEW!"

Freeman smiles. "Ah, that be right. Good Drone."

He's already outfitted to go. Wearing some light armor, a broken down sniper rifle in a case, a carbine, pistol and knife. Drone is sporting two pistols as well. He is also festooned with tools and testing equipment. You remember he introduced himself as an engineer...

The bleachling gnome dressed in a deep purple suit, with aqua arm patches on the tweed jacket, nods to the group. "Ah, greetings my fellow Starfinders. I am Professor Thaddeus Glimgletch, adjunct robotics lecturer at Absalom Station Community College, recently accredited in temporal mechanic transdynamics. These Riveters certainly sound like they're up to some dastardly business, and I am assured we shall swiftly to stop their nefarious machinations." He types notes feverishly into his datapad.

"Now, Fitch, what do we know of these Riveters? Do we have information on who was abducted?" As he sits, his cybernetic leg taps nervously.

And how long has this .... deterioration been going on ma'am a soft feminine voice asks. This voice belongs to Amy Mercury, a short human girl with blue hair, currently wearing what looks like a yellow 'battle bikini'. I've been thinking of swimming the River - no ... not all of it ... it'll take years, just the more ... interesting bits.

Amy introduces herself as a Star Shaman mystic as well as having gill implants so she can survive in space as well as underwater. She is also working on her first PhD in magical cosmology.

She listens intently to Fitch although the children do distract her, just a bit.

Visual Aid

A wiry, crested dinosaur wearing a crisp Steward's uniform - looking like he just stepped out of a recruiting poster - steps into the room. He stands ramrod-straight near the other agents and takes up a parade rest stance, announcing formally, "Tactical Officer Kalhoun, reporting for duty."

He listens intently to Fitch - though he does cast a sideways glance at the children, who are clearly not rated for bridge duty - and ponders a number of potential operational strategies. "Sir, what intel do we have about the pirates to date? Have they issued any demands?"

Embidi enters the room, and makes a beeline for Fitch's kids, reminded of his own many grandkids back on Ssets’Akana, in the Ash’Akan System out in The Vast. "Hey, Kiha! How's tricks? Tell Reepu and Zivv I say hi!"

Embidi looks like a three-to-four foot dall carnivorous raptor dinosaurinid. He's covered in small charms, fetishes, bone carvings, and with many feathers attached to his clothes and armour, to accentuate his own natural plumage (which is looking a bit sparse, and the colouring a bit drab, in places - telltale signs of dinosaur age.) Anyone familiar with magic or tech can tell he's wearing all analog gear: nothing digital or electrically powered, from his Azlanti analog longarm, to his treated defrex hide armour. There's a small cloud of aeon stones orbiting his head, however.

He chuckles at the kids' antics during the briefing, and puts on his best "doting grandfather" performance to try and settle things. He'll listen intently during the briefing.

He's interested in hearing the answer to Gletch's question, on what we know about these Riveters. "I don't suppose we're lucky enough to have a chance at talking them down, or there being a diplomatic solution to this, eh Fitch?"

Gletch nods to Embidi. "Indubitably, that would be ideal. Alas, I know that such negotiations are beyond my skillset. I know enough to prevent major diplomatic incidents. You seem a charming chap, though, so perhaps we'll give you a go at it, before things devolve into ... unpleasantness."

Embidi would be absolutely tickled to see Kalhoun walk in. "Long tail for counterbalance, stout clawed forearms, proud carnivorous muzzle - ah, it's so good to be working with another sapient of respectable morphology! It's rare to see another Starfinder with such an excellent body plan."

Replying to Gletch: "Well, claws crossed, I suppose! It's always good to have a Plan B for if talks sour, though. They always seem to."

A scarred and tattooed orc saunters in. There is a casual confidence about him. "Then I'll do my best to keep the conversation sweet." He smiles. "I'm Thraega."

I've been thinking of swimming the River - no ... not all of it ... it'll take years, just the more ... interesting bits.

"Well, I suppose you could - the River Between is an actual river in a cylindrical containment field - but I don't think that outfit would provide the most protection." Fitch politely brings up. "Or be the most sanitary activity. The sarcesian créche worlds scattered throughout the Diaspora rely on the water carried by it to sustain life. Likewise, the Free Captains, mining corporations, and other visitors to the Diaspora use the River Between to supplement their water recycling systems. Which is why its so important to ensure it stops...well stopping."

To Gletch, the ysoki elaborates: "So far we know of at least half a dozen abductees. They took a mechanical engineer named Jazen (I think he specializes in hybrid technology of some sort), two Disporan historians, Linatta Cray and Firin Udor, Quira, a spellcaster known for her powerful disenchantments, Rad-3, a hydrologist, and Mirai Vox, a noted physicist. It's possible there are more we aren't yet aware of too, but each of those we are are renowned in their own fields. I worry that the combination of all their knowledge and abilities could cause significant destruction."

"The Riveters themselves are one of the many groups of priates that operate within the Diaspora. Though before this we've always categorized them as 'smaller fry'; it seems they're making a play for larger aspirations. Their home base lies on Asteroid Y-47; as far as we can tell, they number around three dozen pirates, plus an unknown number of supplementary crew. Their fleet consists of six starships, captained by the human woman Alera Okwana of the Rusty Rivet"

Amy ponders this information while blushing at Fitch's opinion of her outfit. She has been known to wear considerably less while Star Dancing or aquatic dancing at the Starlight Club.

So what area of physics does Mirai Vox study? Just curious to see if it is the same as mine.

"More knowledge of all of the scientists would be helpful. Also, any more on the Riviters. Anything that could be useful in finding and, perhaps, approaching them."

"Finding the pirates should be the easy part." Fitch says. She makes some adjustments to the hologram and the projection zooms in to highlight a small rock within the Diaspora. "Their base is on Asteroid Y-7. It's a small thing, only about 3 miles long, but the Riveters do run random patrols around it.
We’ve also gathered that they installed weaponry on the exterior of the asteroid, but we haven’t tested the full breadth of their defensive capabilities." The yoski looks up from the diaply at Thraega. "As I said, they've got at most 6 combat-capable craft and a few dozen actual fighting types, but at any given time a good chunk of them will be out and away doing, well pirate-y stuff. Get in and out, rescue the captives, and sabotage their…well whatever they have that's draining the River, and you should be gone before their reinforcements can return to try and stop you."

As far as more details about the civilians who have been taken, a Culture check or an appropriate Profession skill might jog something in your memory. If you're particularly interested in a specific abductee or two let me know as you roll.

Gletch considers if he's met any of these academics at any conference he's attended, and does a quick review of the infosphere for any journal entries citing them.

Profession(professor): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30 Most likely any knowledge would be about Jazen or Mirai Vox, given their specialties

"Hmm, Quira, that does sound familiar..." Embidi is a dabbler in spellcraft and magics, and has maybe heard of the disenchanter before.
Culture on Quira: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

Thraega knows a little bit about a lot of things.

Culture: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

culture: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Putting your heads together and with your knowing research you know the following things about the abductees:

Quira - a female shirren abjurist and priestess of Yaraesa. While not notable in the church's official hierarchy within the Pact Worlds, her treatise 'The Stripped Veil' - which puts forth that the unreality of magic is an inherent obstacle to the pursuit of objective truth - caused some controversy within the faith, as the extent to which it might be arguing against the use of even Yaraesa-granted divine magic is hotly debated.

Jazen Korash - a male lashunta engineer who last year designed the 'Locus Shield' for the Norikama Syndicate. This magitech containment field that could be integrated into starship engines provided the Syndicate's ships with significantly increased stability during and after the Drift Crisis, and has led the young Jazen to be hounded by job offers from competing firms. All of which he has so far declined.

Mirai Vox - a genderfluid sarcesian that graduated from the physics department at Qabarat University. They have published extensively on solar energy and solar currents and are a a professor at the Solar University in the Burning Archipelago, though they have been on sabbatical for the past year studying solar currents in the Diaspora.

Linatta Cray - an ilsha maraquoi historian that is one of the foremost historians on the destroyed world Daimar (on of 'the Twins' whose destroyed remains constitute the Diaspora.) They have a long-term relationship with Firin Udor: a male human who himself is scholar of the destroyed other Twin, Iovo. While both historian's research and scholary evidence is widely respected, the conclusions each partner draws are notably different. Linatta believes that Daimar's solar technology and the sarcesian's ability to ride solar currents points to a planet with a strong planar connection to one or both of the Plane of Fire and Creation's Forge, and that their use of light and vitality energy likely brought them into (a disastrous) conflict with Eox. Firin's writings instead argue that the Iovians manipulations of solar currents may have begun to disrupt Daimar and Iovo's balanced orbits in a way which may have placed one of both worlds onto a collision course with Eox.

Rad-3 - an agender android hydrologist well-known in the Diaspora. The android has worked across the decades for most of the major mining companies operaitng within the asteroid belt and is one f the most experienced surveyors at locating retrievable water sources in the area. While their rates are understandably high, Rad-3 has also been known to occasionally provide his services at a far lower price point to smaller crèche world communities in times of hardships.

Amy had actually read Quira's paper in preparation for her own paper on Magical Influences in Unusual Solar Systems and intends to actually disprove it - or at least try.

While Amy was more into cosmology and magic in general Mirai's research is also useful in helping model some of the effects going on within other stars, something else which is also related to her own research.

Even some of Cray's and Udor's writings are of interest, and one of her side projects is to model the interactions between Daimar, Ivo and Eox. She is also modelling the interactions between Vesk 8, Vesk 7, and Traverse.

Gletch nods as the group consults with each other on what they know about the abductees. "Well, this is an intriguing assortment. It does seem like many of them have expertise that might help with this sabotage of the river ..." He turns to Fitch. "Can you give us a sense of the timeline? How long between when these abductions occurred and when the damage to the river appears to have manifested?"

"Hmm" Fitch says in response to Gletch's question. The ysoki brings up a datapad. "That's a fair question. The River Between's been getting murkier and its water levels have been dropping for the last three months or so, though the speed at which its drying up seems to have ramped up quite a bit in the last two weeks - that's one of the ways we were able to pin down the source of the drainage to Y-47. As far as the abductions go:"

Fitch's paws continue to type away. "Jazen's ship was hijacked 22 days ago when it was passing through the Diaspora on his way to Castrovel. Linatta and Firin were reported missing four months back, Rad-3's home trashed three and a half. Quira was witnessed being kidnapped 2 months ago. Mirai we aren't certain of the precise timeline: they were last seen five months back but apparently the sarcesian sometimes goes off the gird during research. Their damaged transponder was found two months ago as part of salvage from a scuttled Riveter raider ship."

If there are any other questions, feel free to ask (and Fitch may or may not be able to answer them. Otherwise, she's have the Master of Stars hanger prep your starship of choice (a Tier 6 version) and note that the Master's quartermaster has a selection of gear to purchase if you may need some final prep.

"So - get in, punch the pirates, rescue the scientists, save the River, and bosh, back by dinner? Sounds lovely! Let's do this," Embidi says with oversized confidence.

I'm usually all about the Drake, but something about this mission tells me the superior speed and handling of the Pegasus may be better. Or, we could split the difference, and take the Drake, but use that Defender of the Fleet boon to upgrade from Medium 8 to Medium 10 Thrusters?

"If we get into a fight on the way in, we've already failed. If we get into a fight on the way out, we run. We need the countermeasures and speed."

Kalhoun also has Defender of the Fleet, so we get two upgrades.

"I'd prefer if we were more prepared for a stand-up fight with the pirates, especially if we expect more hostiles could arrive at any time."

One vote for Drake.

"Mmm. The Drake has the firepower fer sure and it's never failed ta bring us home!"

Freeman also has the Defender of the fleet boon. I think we cn take it more than once and just pick different items, right?

Looked through all my Boons amd Freeman also has a Con special boon to replace one heavy weapon with a Heavy Solar Cannon...

Gletch nods to Freeman. "True, but I've been in confrontations in both craft, and neither has failed to bring me home. However, it seems like there's a consensus growing around a slightly augmented Drake. I have some modifications I can apply, as well."

I've flown both and ... well .... I prefer the Pegasus but, I'm thinking a Drake may be more logical for this.

"There's a certain Drake I saw in the hangars here, on the ride in - cherry red coat of paint, with bright orange flame decals along the sides. She's a beaut, sure and true. I've been in that one before - finest engines, finest computers, and finest weaponry in the Starfinder fleet! Let's see if we can't nab that one."

Isn't that Maverick's ship? The Thunderbolt?

Looks like the Drake frame it is.

Leaving the briefing you can prep your gear and finish outfitting the Drake-class starship before launching from the Master of Stars and into the Diaspora. Any starship boons being slotted/how you're arranging any Defender of the Fleet boons you can quickly confirm in the Discussion thread. The journey from the Wayfinder craft's orbit at the fringes of the Dispora takes several days as you guide your ship through towards Asteroid Y-47. Looks like Amy Mercury will be your pilot, is that right?

Early on in your trip's second day your charts show you should be about ten hours away from the Riveter base's position. A bogey suddenly begis pinging on your ship's scanners. Quick scans show it to be an Inheritorworks light freighter registered as the Herald, its hull decorated with the sun and sword iconography of the goddess Iomedae. Its course seems to be taking it into the outer part of the Pact Worlds system. A hailing message comes through to your comms.

Hail Starfinders! May the light of the sword shine on you today! Where are you headed this morn?

Knowing that we're headed to a big ol' River, Embidi buys a couple spell chips of lvl 2 Swim. Also, he slots his existing spell gem of Gyre, left over from a past mission to an ocean panet, into his ruby sphere magical computer aeon stone.
Can anyone cast Life Bubble? If so, he'll defer to our other casters; if not, he'd buy a spell chip of that to cast on us, too.
Oh - lastly - for the other *checks notes* three spellcaster in the party, Embidi can do great things to your spells! He needs to spend a Standard Action, though, so if you want your spells buffed, just call out :) The list of buffs he can apply to your spells is here.

Assuming Embidi's the captain, Embidi is happy to take the call and do the talky-talking. "Well met; light of the Inheritor upon you, as well! We're en route to help the good people of the Diaspora with some trouble with hydrological systems we've heard about. And you?" Embidi would give them the truth, but kind of dance around the whole "we're going to attack a pirate base" component of the truth.

Ah! Good deeds done make the days shine all the brightest! the ship responds. Bringing up video, you see a female human woman talking to you, while in the background various crewmemebrs go about their duties. Water is the key to life after all. It is good to still see your Society offering assistance to those in need. I recall we served as comrades in arms to others in your guild during the crisis with the Drift not long past.

I am captain Hada Ebun she introduces herself. My crew and I are on our way out to investigate the effects of Aucturn’s unholy effluence. That foul world's recent tumult and outflow of dark energies could pose a danger to the system: the Church must understand what has happened to ensure we are prepared to guard against it.

Gletch listens to the exchange from the sauna he had installed on the ship in one of the hangar bays. He types notes into his datapad to research these "dark energies" when he gets a moment.

"Ah, yes, we at the Starfinder Society are doing all we can do make sure we're a net force for good in the system! We don't always get it right, but by gum we're trying! Be careful out on the rim - I've heard it was some real chonky business there, on Aucturn, right at the end. Good hunting."

Making sure to wait until communication has been cut off, "Ah, good people. Some have a er, stick up the butt issue but overall, good'ns."

"I'm sure the Stewards and Starfinder Society will send representatives to Aucturn to investigate the goings-on there, but our mission is on the river. Is there anything you can tell us about the situation there?"

Later, after Freeman makes his comment, Kalhoun grumbles, "Excuse me, it's a tactical baton," before realizing that the remark was not directed at him.

Aucturn? My doctorate professor is somewhere out in that area. Has something happened to it? Amy exclaims.

Embidi would shoot everyong a look like, "are you gonna tell her? You? No?" before puffing out his lips a bit.
"Oh, Amy. Grab yourself a mug of a comforting beverage at a soothing temperature for your species, and meet me in the mess hall." He'd try and let her down as gently as possible.

I'm assuming we can surmise 7-05 takes place after 7-03, so - I'm guessing it's roughly happening around the same time as A Cosmic Birthday? So, the whole "Aucturn situation" has happened, but concrete news is probably still very shaky and developing.

Freeman busts out a genuine 10 second belly laugh. He finally stop, tears i his eyes, "Ah! Thank ye', Kalhoun! I needed that! Will have ta' use that line in the future.."
Drone lets fly with a little machine code. Freeman grimaces and glares at him, "Ya know better than tha'! I've never owned a tactical baton."
Drone hovers up and down quickly, more code spewing forth.
Freeman puts his fingers on his temples, "Ach, all that fer a 'that be what she said' joke."

I would reach out to your professor with haste! captain Ebun says with urgency to Amy. Strange energies and heretical deeds have always occured on that far-off planet, but now all contact has been lost. Massive energy waves and strange readings have been detected from the far reaches of the system; we are taksed to try and ascertain what new corruption Aucturn may be brewing.

And yes: events that may have a connection to 7-03, the playtest adventures, and other elements are so recently and the occurrences so chaotic that details have yet to be widely disseminated or confirmed and rumors are running rampant.

--

You can feel free to continue conversing with Hada Ebun, but whenever you eventually continue onwards:

The better part of another day passes as you keep moving through the Diaspora. Finally, the pockmarked form of Asteroid Y-47 comes into view on your scanners. As does the winding trail of the River Between: as it weaves through clusters of smaller asteroids and debris the River flows directly into one end of Asteroid Y-47 and out the other. Even from a distance you can observe that the water flowing inside the containment field of the River Between is murky, and there are places where debris has penetrated it or where water is leaking out through the field into open space.

physical science: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16
Eh, not quite seeing the issue here.."

Mysticism: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

It's not supposed to look like that

mysticism: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23

And, it's containment field is failing

Earlier on, she had sipped at a hot chocolate while being told of the latest developments on Aucturn. As a result, several frantic messages had been sent back to Absalom Station. She was still waiting on replies.

I told him it was an egg she said sadly.

"Well, let's get closer and stabilize it."

No, Kalhoun has no idea how to accomplish that.

A fine idea Kalhoun. But the devil's always in the details...

How are you looking to approach Asteroid Y-47? Sneak up on it for a stealth landing? Zoom in full speed notice-be-damned to catch them off-guard? Or something else?

If the 'sneaky' router, I'll need everyone to give me a check, whether its Piloting to plot a course using asteroids as cover, Computers or Mysticism to keep your ship shrouded from scanners, Phys Science to plot the asteroids' trajectory, etc (basically most checks could work so long as you can decently pitch how they'd help).

Racing full speed before they can react would be Piltoing/Engineering checks. And other would be...well other, depending on what you'd like to try and do.

piloting: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

I could go EVA once we get close but I see what Fitch meant by 'unhygienic'

Thraega is still for being sneaky.
Mysticism: 1d2 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11

Gletch tries to modify the front sensor array to transmit randomized noise that will help mask their approach by making them look like random background debris.

Computers w/ bonus from ship: 1d20 + 15 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 15 + 2 = 31