Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows...
You are on a starship heading for Salvation's End, an artificial moon filled with innumerable sealed simulation chambers run by a mysterious guiding intelligence. You are bringing supplies to the Starfinder Lodge, headed by Kunoris Vex.
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One of the assembled Starfinders is an androgynous android dressed in an immaculately-maintained suit of freebooter armor. They have short, silver-streaked, blue hair, and pale bluish-white skin. Faintly glowing circuits form an intricate rune that covers most of their forehead and continues down their temples and cheekbones. They wear a few tasteful bits of jewelry: a ring, a brooch, and an Eternal Star (a medal only given to the most distinguished heroes among the Starfinder Society).
”My designation is B-M-R Mk II. You may call me Boomer, or Professor, if you prefer,” they intone politely when they meet their new shipmates. ”My contribution to this mission shall be my scientific and technical expertise, a variety of potent battle magics, and if necessary, basic medical treatment. Perhaps most importantly, I have previous experience with fighting the Vault Lord’s minions. I suspect there has been more trouble involving them.” The android’s normally calm voice betrays the slightest tinge of emotion during that last statement, just enough to make it clear that they despise this mysterious enemy.
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The skull-faced android stands looking out the view port at the ship's destination. Though he readily admits that he was an assassin before joining the Starfinder Society, Reaper Sigma does not otherwise speak of it.
His face does not betray his thoughts, but one might hear him whisper, "What will Sarenrae's light reveal today?"
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A heavily armored Kobold toting a large shield and a glowing mote on his shoulder "Greetings all. I'm Korrigon. Guess it is back to dealing with the Vault Lord yet again.... I wonder what whacky simulation it will have concocted this go around? I'm here to deal with whatever peoples are in the vault this time, deal with mystical items and when things go awry, apply a little stellar persuasion."
Korrigon will pass the time reviewing his union correspondence from back on Akiton, meditating and working out.
You easily land the starship at Salvation's End's spaceport and enter.
Pedestrian and vehicle traffic navigate through the spaceport under the careful direction of a red-furred skittermander, who cheerfully directs new arrivals to Venture-Captain Kunoris Vex’s office. Drones with Starfinder markings patrol the approaches. Nearby, welding sparks shower down from a crew of vesk engineers installing a perimeter point-defense cannon while dwarven mystics inscribe runes into the gate. Stacked prefab housing and repurposed ship hulls rise multiple stories around the lodge proper, with intermingled humans, vesk, gnolls, yetis, dwarves, and others working, playing, and eating in the narrow streets. A cheer goes up from a cafe named Bites and Pieces, where six nearly identical humans watch a vesk throwing dice amid tiny starships on a game board.
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Boomer looks about with interest, taking note of new construction since their last visit to the artificial moon. "It's hard to believe this starport was little more than a stack of goblin-infested hulks just a few years ago, isn't it?" they muse aloud. Despite their curiosity, the android doesn't tarry on their way to Vex's office.
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Hi. A frowning dwarf nods at you, catching up during a meeting with Vex. According to his tattoos, which he even has on his face, it can be assumed that he has a dark and criminal past with experience in various prisons. It seems that the sight of a drow causes him ill-restrained disgust, but still he does not want to go back to where the Starfinders pulled him out from he restrains himself. Name's Verrek. I know computers, engineering and the use of technomagic in the field of physical violence. He chuckles, glancing at the drow once more, but then averts his eyes so as not to provoke a conflict.
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An elven woman in white toga, lies, lavishly not on a seat, but on a confortable couch.
White vapors floats around her, coming from a hooka installed on the couch and the little sip she takes from it.
The couch itself is well maintained, even if numerous cables, wires and circuits seem to come and go through it, as well as some vines that grows all around. Regularly, two mechanical arms sprout from the couch, making tea, opening cans and serving the elf.
In a half asleep voice, the elf on the couch says to her comrades May the Dreams be kind to us, May the Stars guide us to our next journey.
I listen to the Stars, I look at the Voices and Here I am. Never late, always in time.
I'm Gil-Oloth, Dreamer of the Stars. I hope this mission will not be too tiring. I don't like when they are... especially when I fall in a garbage collector...
Usually, when on a ship, Gil-Oloth dreams about the futures on her couch with the help with her own mushroom & herbs concoctions.
When they exit the ship, the couch moves by itself, transporting Gil-Oloth through the corridors of the artificila moon.
Reaper leads the way inside, where things are slightly more ordered, with other agents on assignment or waiting on standby. Inside a conference room labeled “False Memory Support Group,” a cheerful gnome named Nelli Glasstild hands out snacks to a group therapy circle.
Further down the hall, raised voices emerge from the venture-captain’s compact office—a tidy room with walls covered in annotated paper maps of the false moon’s vault and tunnel networks. Within, an orange‑and‑white‑scaled, heavily armored vesk wearing an incongruous safari hat looms over a half-elf in a rumpled suit, who steadfastly holds his ground.
These individuals are Enktuya Shipbreaker and Roderick Fain, important citizens of Salvation’s End who were leaders in their own vault simulations before being rescued by the Starfinder Society. Venture-Captain Kunoris Vex sits at his desk, flanked by his assistant, Kashtee.
“Your requisitions were over half the last cargo allotment, Fain. I don’t care how many flowers you want to plant; they won’t stop the Vault Lord,” the vesk grumbles, then turns to Kunoris Vex. “The Imperium tasked me with defending this place and I won’t fail, but these civilians should have no say in how it’s run.”
The half-elf shakes his head. “While we live here and call this place home, I must represent my constituents’ interests. I entrust Enktuya with our safety, venture-captain, but we also need more infrastructure or even her soldiers will be unfit and miserable.” The gnoll tips her head and raises a hand. “If I may cut in, sir? The supplies have just arrived at the spaceport and are being unloaded as we speak. Also, the Starfinder agents are here.”
Vex grins, giving the Starfinders a nod before turning back to his arguing guests. “Perfect! Best get to using the supplies you’ve requisitioned, rather than arguing over them. If you’ve further requests for our next supply shipment, now’s the time. You have the forms.”
At that, Enktuya and Roderick file out of the office, and Vex beckons you inside and apologizes for the wait.
“I’m grateful the Society could spare such a veteran team; we’ve encountered a new vault, and the team dispatched to explore it reported the inhabitants drove back an attack from the Vault Lord a few months ago.” Vex points to an image of an ornately dressed contemplative pinned to the wall. “Unfortunately, this success has made the vault inhabitants stubborn. Despite our team explaining that they’re living in a giant experiment that could be destroyed at any moment, the inhabitants refuse to evacuate. I’d like you to join the other team, mentor them in negotiating with the inhabitants, and find out what the vault was supposed to be testing. If it’s not safe, get the other team and yourselves home with any locals you can rescue. The Vault Lord threatens all our safety, and the guiding intelligence running these simulations has responded with cataclysmic destruction to anything compromising its experiments. My assistant, Kashtee, has sent you the team’s personnel files and can arrange transport for you.”
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Boomer politely greets Enktuya and Roderick as they depart, having met them both before in their previous missions here. They thank Kashtee, and begin looking over the personnel files.
"The guiding intelligence tests. The Vault Lord conquers," the android says in reply to Reaper's question. They normally very reserved android glances at the image on Vex's wall with ill-concealed disgust. "The former can occasionally be reasoned with. The other cannot." They turn back to Vex. "And yes, any details you can give us about the inhabitants, and the attack, would be helpful."
"I don't have a lot of details on the attack. The onsite team reported a Pact-Worlds-equivalent technology level and a cosmopolitan society. It sounds peaceful so far, with no internal disputes. The inhabitants were unified and capable enough to drive back the Vault Lord’s forces, so I wouldn’t underestimate them. The team planned to meet with a local leader named Lunesha.”
Once you are done talking to Vex, Kashtee loads you into a hovercraft and whisks you down a tunnel of interlocking metal pipes, wires, and screens.
The access corridors of Salvation’s End fly past, with Kashtee checking progress against periodic Starfinder nav-beacons. After a five-hour journey with a few breaks to stretch, you arrive at an access hatch labeled “Vault-23A.” Kashtee asks you to signal the lodge for pickup when you’re ready to leave the simulation, then wishes you good luck.
The access hatch locks are currently disengaged, and systems read as “on standby.”
You note that the vault maintenance scanner isn’t receiving any data.
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From a distance, Gil-Oloth scans the door from her couch
In an half asleep voice, she says I confirm BMR's reading. Lets open it. I just hope to not have to save another population. It seems that I only doing that at the moment. Reading the different timelines seems to have that effect on me...
Sometimes, she seems to talk to herself.
Beyond the access hatch lies a series of marked tunnels. After a few minutes, the PCs feel summery air as you reach the vault.
A warm breeze carries the scent of flowers and birdsong through the park. Two pahtras sit together watching waterfowl in a decorative pond. Delicate crystal sculptures line a walking path where three heavily armed humans watch over a trio of dwarven children playing catch. Waterfalls cascade through groves built into the surrounding buildings. Floor to ceiling windows magnify the artificial sunlight from the vault ceiling high above. A shout and wave come from a blue-furred ryphorian waiting with a ysoki napping against a tree, a tiefling scratching the dirt with a stick, and a dwarf waiting at attention.
“Merin and company at your service!” the ryphorian exclaims. “Wow, when I told Vex we were having a smidge of trouble, I was not expecting this. It’s a real honor and a privilege to meet you! I’ll be honest, the rest of the team’s a bit down we didn’t manage the mission ourselves, but what an opportunity to see some real masters at work. We’ve got a meeting lined up already with Lunesha and the other leaders of this vault, so you’ll get things sorted quick I expect. They’re waiting for us at the amphitheater.”
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In another timeline, we could have been master or not. We are just experienced agents in this one.
Can you tell us the reason that lead to an unsuccessful attempt to convince the people of this vault to evacuate?
We need data to evalutate the best timeline to use and make sure we succeed.
Says Gil-Oloth between two puffs of her hooka while lying on her couch.
”Ah, good, I’m glad you are eager to get moving! Lunesha? She's tip-top and that's a fact! Ramiyel, I hear, are known for kindness and nurturing. I'll let you judge for yourselves, but I think she'll make a real impression on you. I don’t think there’s a specific reason that we failed. We just weren’t up to the task. Sorry to say, morale's down, but I think once they see you in action, it'll lift everyone's spirits. Maybe let us help with the negotiations, give us a chance to be useful?”
As Madakoko and Verrek try to speak with Anavay and Igrim, Merin deftly intercedes, ”Now I’m sure you want to hear more about this vault…”
Reaper and Madakoko corner Merin, who talks about how great Lunesha is, and how the people of this vault had no problems handling the attack from the Vault Lord on their own.
DC 17
If you fail
Nothing happens! Everything is fine. Don't worry about it.
If you succeed
You realize Merin is magically enhancing their appearance somehow. You can additionally attempt a Perception check to try out figure out how.
Verrek approaches Igrim who looks extremely uncomfortable and keeps looking for Merin to intercede. He answers Verrek in Common.
"What Merin said. Gotta meet with Lunesha."
Boomer notices that Betsy's knickknacks and ribbons are stuck on haphazardly. She sighs and rolls her eyes at Boomer's question, and responds with some mumbled arcane equations.
Betsy is currently calculating an explosive blast radius around your party.
Anavay is currently tracing runes in the dirt with a stick, absentmindedly.
"Nobody cares what I think."
The runes indicate confusion and anger.
You can't pinpoint what's off about their appearance.
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Speaks Celestial
Reaper pays attention to the interactions and conversations. "Focus." He blurts out. "All of you need to focus. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves. Stop planning how to kill the people you're talking to. Start listening and stop over talking people." He looks at each member in turn. "We aren't here to take over, but to help. If you want that help, pull yourselves together and focus on the mission."
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"It is unwise to calculate blast radii where your targets can hear you. Desist at once," Boomer scolds Betsy. Then, in Celestial, they tell Anavay, "I care. Speak your mind, Starfinder."
As Boomer speaks, their eyes glow softly as they use their arcane lenses to study the other team, starting with Betsy and Anavay, then Merin and Igrim.
Gil-Oloth and Boomer don't see any sign of magical influence on Betsy or Anavay (or Merin or Igrim).
Anavay manifests a solar scimitar and growls at Boomer. "I have nothing to say to you."
When Korrigan jostles Betsy, she also gets angry. "Don't touch me!"
Merin tries to smooth things over. "Now, now, I know morale is bad because we failed our mission, but there's no need to take things out on these accomplished Starfinders! If we just move along to the amphitheater and meet with Lunesha, this will all be settled."
Everyone can attempt the earlier Will save.
DC 17
If you fail
Nothing happens! Everything is fine. Don't worry about it.
If you succeed
You realize Merin is enhancing their appearance somehow. You can additionally attempt a Perception check to try out figure out how.
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Boomer is starting to have second thoughts about not bringing their diplomatic attache along on this mission. Usually, the technomancer deals with logical things like magic and computers, while Tuesday deal with other people's messy emotions. Rather than antagonize the sullen Starfinders further, Boomer lapses into an aloof silence until they reach the amphitheater.