Each of you get a message from the Starfinder Society:
You have been selected for a mission. Please report to mission room 512, the Starscape Chamber, for the briefing.
-VC Naiaj
You know the "Starscape Chamber hosts various important strategic meetings for the Society.
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A small orb of flaming plasma floats into the room. Although it looks for all purposes like a tiny star, it is merely warm in its vicinity. It floats to the head of the table, where dark spots in the shape of eyes and a mouth appear
"We are Kapteyn, to Whom all will be revealed, and We have been called to provide Our aid to you." When this pronouncement is met with blank stares, the sphere continues, "Our pansophistry is not yet complete, so We will hear this briefing with you."
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A muffled impact and the door swings rapidly open. A furrily-eyebrowed man with dark close-cropped hair catches the door before it hits the wall, and strides in. His burly frame is made hulking by his heavy ringwear armor. A reaction cannon is slung over his left shoulder, a sidearm hangs off his belt to the right, and a long sword on the left. Grenades festoon his belt.
"Is this the meeting for the thing? I was told to come to the Starscape Chamber."
Seeing Kapteyn, he frowns. "Are you going on the mission? I don't think I've ever worked with someone of your kind before. You'll need to tell me how best to protect you. Will my medkit work on you?"
The door opens and in walks the bleaching gnome venture captain, Naiaj. Her expression is, as usual, flat and business-like. She strolls to the head of the meeting room table, and places the datapad she walked in with screen first into the holster, linking her datapad to the table's system. She then begins tapping on the table panel.
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A tall nuar in business clothes and glasses sits down at the meeting table, placing a briefcase next to him. A small cloud of nanites emerges from the briefcase, settling on the table in front of him, forming into a smiling face.
"Oshari Soteria, Health and Safety Inspector. This is Ariadne."
The cloud of nanites waves cheerfully.
Venture-Captain Naiaj nods to Oshari as he takes a seat. "The last has arrived." She presses a button and a map is holographically projected onto the spherical wall of the dimly lit chamber.
The pale bleachling gnome stares at the stellar map for several moments. “Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice,” she says, as she finally turns away from the map. “As you should already know, the Starfinder Society lost not only many agents, but also a great deal of equipment in the Scoured Stars incident. Since then, we’ve been dealing with a shortage of guns, ammunition, armor, tools, and provisions. Over the past four months, the Society has recovered to the point that we are able to start replacing some of the equipment we lost. While we are explorers, right now, battle-ready firearms are sorely needed.”
Naiaj momentarily turns to face the map and makes a request: “Starscape, show me Nightarch.” The map on the wall zooms in on one of the outermost planets of the Pact Worlds, showing a gloomy, air-sealed settlement on the small gray planetoid identified as Apostae. “After calling in a lot of favors and holding lengthy negotiations, we managed to secure a deal with the drow of Apostae to obtain a shipment of weapons. House Zeizerer arranged a deal between the Starfinder Society and House Xicton, a lesser drow house with a solid track record on sales. I personally oversaw the negotiations, and only recently returned to Absalom Station to deposit the down payment owed to House Xicton.”
“My intention was to send you to Nightarch, the drow’s surface settlement on Apostae, to guard this delivery. However,” Naiaj pauses briefly, staring blankly at the map on the wall before continuing, “I just received word that the weapon shipment has been stolen. According to my contacts in Nightarch, the thief is a minor noble of House Zeizerer named Villyth, who went rogue and stole the weapons. We do not know her motives or the current whereabouts of the shipment, but I’m sending you to Nightarch to find the weapons and bring them to Absalom Station. As you may have heard, the inter-house politics of the drow are lethal and treacherous, and you will find only trouble if you start searching blindly. For this reason, I’ve arranged for you to meet with Ceobarn Zeizerer, who represents House Zeizerer in this specific matter. You are to discuss how the Society can get its shipment back without causing a diplomatic incident."
“Your shuttle is ready, so I expect you to get your things and get going as soon as possible. If you have any questions, now is the time to ask.”
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"Vomatian," the Novian exclaims, "your efforts on Our last mission were adequate!" They then listen to Naiaj's information.
Following the briefing, They state, "This treachery will not be tolerated. We will recover your armaments and rain fiery doom upon those who would steal from the Starfinders. And House Bitcoin shall regret their failure to protect our shipment."
Clearly Kapteyn missed the line about 'no diplomatic incidents'.
Naiaj looks to Kapteyn with a neutral expression. "Diplomacy in Drow culture does involve shows of power. However, it also involves precision and regard for those with more power. If you do not think that you can represent the Starfinder Society well in this situation, tell me now so that I can find a replacement in time," she delivers with no hostility or acid.
"Groveling and posturing are appropriate in different situations. That said, your safety is essentially in the hands of Ceobarn Zeizerer, who you will be meeting with. Zeizerer is the most powerful house on Apostae. In Nightarch armor and weapons are not only permissible, but everything short of mandatory while wandering the city streets. Be sure to keep your wits about you.”
"If that is all, your shuttle is ready," Naiaj says aa she grabs her datapad from the table and walks out of the meeting room. She leads the way down corridors and on an elevator to a private garage with a unique enercopter.
Once everyone is in, the enercopter takes off and flies to Absalom Station's docks. Upon arrival at the destination, there is a shuttle with an unusually obvious Starfinder Society symbol on it.
"Off you go," Naiaj says, pressing some buttons in the cockpit of the enercopter.
The shuttle has a route saved into the console, but is empty otherwise.
The trip takes about a week. What do you do during that week?
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First thing during the flight, Burn checks the plotted course. He doesn't alter it because the timing of their arrival might be optimized for Ceobarn Zeizerer's convenience. Early guests can be as annoying as late ones.
The next thing is to unpack.
This is followed by disassembly, cleaning and maintenance of his gear. During this process he's happy to talk about equipment and skill sets, but don't think that avoiding him during this process will spare you. He hunts down all the team members to discuss gear, abilities, and philosophical approaches to missions and combat.
He's quite transparent about his own gear, abilities and attitudes. Although he an enthusiastic devotee of the Exo-Guardian faction, he doesn't care for the faction motto, "The sword that seeks the darkness." His motto is "Everyone gets home alive." He assures you that as much as possible, should things come to a fight, he'll stand between you and the foe. But in line with his motto, he prefers diplomatic solutions. He's also a great one for teamwork, so he likes a flanking buddy if someone else in the group likes melee.
It is quite clear after spending any time in this shuttle, that is is certainly newer. In addition, it is also clear that it has been thoroughly cleaned and tidied.
As the shuttle approaches the dull gray planetoid, several fighters emerge from a hulking capital ship identified as part of the local fleet defense: the Blood Armada. These fighters whizz past like a swarm of angry wasps. The navigation computer lets out a blaring alert as the capital ship scans the shuttle, but soon after, the alert ends and the fighters fly back to the massive carrier. The shuttle descends into low-orbit, and several small settlements with sealed atmospheres come into
view. Further out, beneath clouds of dust, several mile-wide blast doors, many large craters, and miles-deep crevices can be seen across the planetoid’s surface. The shuttle soars closer to Apostae’s surface, fast approaching the dark city of Nightarch. The eponymous arch and various tower houses can be seen within the city limits. Nightarch’s vast spaceport is alive with hundreds of blinking red and purple lights, which guide the shuttle into the gloomy capital of the drow.
When you exit your ship onto Nightarch, two drow guards wearing a stylized Z of red and purple are approaching. They say very little just "Follow." and lead you from your shuttle, escorting you through a labyrinth of air-filled, enclosed tunnels to a tall corporate building with the same symbol that is on their uniform.
The guards take you up an elevator to a room with only one set of double doors. The doors open to a spacious office on the top floor of the tall building, and without even a hint of emotion, one drow barely mutters, “Wait here,” before both guards exit the office and close the doors behind them. The green-tinged windows in the room offer a majestic view over the gloomy Nightarch. Several statues and holographic devices depicting grinning fiends sit on shelves on the walls and on a darkwood desk at the far end of the room. A curious fixture reminiscent of a demonic spider looks down from the ceiling with many glistening eyes.
You are now alone in this office.
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He's quite transparent about his own gear, abilities and attitudes. Although he an enthusiastic devotee of the Exo-Guardian faction, he doesn't care for the faction motto, "The sword that seeks the darkness." His motto is "Everyone gets home alive." He assures you that as much as possible, should things come to a fight, he'll stand between you and the foe. But in line with his motto, he prefers diplomatic solutions. He's also a great one for teamwork, so he likes a flanking buddy if someone else in the group likes melee.
Oshari nods. "Good motto. I don't like unnecessary risk."
The nuar spends the first day of the journey ensuring the shuttle itself is up to code, then researching the Nightarch legal code.
"Nothing much to do but wait, I suppose." If there's an available chair, Oshari sits down and pulls out a book to read.
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Kapteyn chats with the locals and then shares what They learn with the Starfinders.
The city has a sizable orc and half-orc population, but they are treated as second-class citizens at best, and slaves at worst. Most orcs and half-orcs are destined to live and die as mercenaries, or, as some drow houses prefer to put it, cannon fodder.
Weapons are Nightarch’s main export, and many drow houses are involved in arms trade. What most people don’t know is that there are thousands of miles of tunnels and numerous vaults of alien technology beneath the surface of Apostae. Many weapons designed in Nightarch are reverse-engineered from this technology.
Of the many bizarre technologies that drow are known for, fleshwarping is perhaps the least understood. It involves mutations and magic to transform a humanoid creature into a hate-filled abomination. While originally a punishment, a more refined form of fleshwarping can be used to create augmentations which—while gruesome to behold—greatly enhance the individual’s physical qualities. In the most drastic cases of fleshwarping, the target often suffers from incredibly reduced intelligence, limiting the creature’s tactical acumen.
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Burn follows at the end of the group. It's easier to see threats coming when all his teammates are in front of him, and if anyone comes up from behind, they'll attack him first.
In the office Burn checks to see if the door is locked behind them before going to the windows and gazing upon the city. He amuses himself by looking for likely sniper perches.
After about ten minutes, a wall panel at the back of the office slides open, and a middle aged drow walks in and settles into a red armchair behind the desk. “I am Ceobarn Zeizerer.” He gives a nonchalant wave of his hand, and the demonic statue in the ceiling starts shedding a purple glow, illuminating the room. “I take it that your eyes haven’t adjusted to the light levels on Apostae. You are Naiaj’s Starfinders, correct? I heard about the shipment. A most unfortunate setback. Villyth has always been a troublemaker.” After a brief silence, he spits, “But it is not our fault. House Zeizerer officially disowned her months ago. Why should I help you?”
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Burnham's surprised. Ceobarn's attitude is unhelpful and even counter to his own interests. He takes another look around the room and checks the safety on his sidearm by feel. It would be too obvious to check his rifle, besides he's sure both weapons have been safed.
He waits for someone else to reply.
Ceobarn's eyebrows raise slightly. He looks to Burnham, "Expecting trouble Starfinder?" Then wicked smile creeps into his face, "Or, are you about to threaten me?"
The drow’s smile widens as his eyes dart back to the holster, "You may be able to off me, Starfinder, before my guards can assist. But then you'd have this entire Zeizerer company building to escape from. That's not even considering you having to make it back to your ship. You see Starfinders, my good nature is all that protects you currently, here on Apostae. There are many enthusiasts that enjoy the sport of hunting off-worlders."
"That said," he says looking slightly impressed, "you have amused me a little. Villyth Zeizerer took your shipment. Why should I care? My and Villyth's relationship extends as far as distant family."
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"We always expect trouble. You don't last very long here otherwise.
"Now, We hear you say 'officially disowned'. That makes me think you still have some kind of relationship with her. Why don't you tell us what that is while my friend still has his gun in its holster?"
Oshari pinches the bridge of his nose (although his bovine appearance makes this somewhat more striking than typical).
Sighing, he chimes in, measuring his tone carefully. "My colleagues are correct. The Starfinder Society, while not strictly paramilitary, requires a regular supply of weaponry to function, and by being here to assist in diplomacy, your house could secure a potential customer for quite some time. One shipment may not be worth much in your books, but a series of regular shipments in the foreseeable future, ones you would be able to have a stake in, may prove more valuable."
"...there is, of course, also the question of culpability." Oshari's voice drops somewhat lower. "While you say you disowned Villyth months ago, with an operation of your scale, the bureaucratic process to do so could have taken some time, and I imagine errors in paperwork can be quite dangerous. If, for instance, it turned out she was able to pull off this theft due to retaining access or intel from her time here, that could reflect very poorly on your house."
He straightens up a bit, perhaps realizing he forgot his place for a moment. "Of course, I trust that your house is quite efficient in its organization, and have no doubt your filing was not in error. Still, I believe that by positioning yourself even more firmly as a mediator between the Starfinder Society and Nightarch, you could even further entrench your position of power in the city."
Ceobarn narrows his eyes and stares at Oshari for a few seconds, "Presumptuous indeed." His face then relaxes and the smile is back. "You are right in some ways, Starfinders," he says but doesn’t explain further. He waves a dismissive hand and pivots, "So, let us say I give you permission to remain. I do not know where she is. Do you have sufficient skills to find and deal with her?"
"So you say," Ceobarn says snidely, "but I do not make decisions purely based on assurances. And that is completely glossing over the fact that being able to deal with her is moot if you never find her." Ceobarn sighs, "How Starfinders? How are you going to accomplish the tasks?"
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Oshari thinks for a moment. "Unless she's planning to form a militia of her own, which would likely become obvious rather immediately, I'd expect she would find somewhere to fence them. A large shipment of weaponry hitting the black market would stand out, so we could begin by searching for illegal weapon sales, or any reports of gang activity armed with these weapons."
"Alternatively, we could lay a trap, set up another fake shipment of weapons for her to steal. It'd be a delicate operation, though. If we make the security too low, she'll see the trap coming, because now we'd have reason to suspect an attempt, but if we set it too high, she'd get spooked and avoid it entirely. I do think it's doable, however."
"In either case, we would require some minor assistance, namely leads on potential fences she would go to and falsified negotiations for a second shipment, but beyond that the rest would be out of your hands."
Ceobarn looks to Vomatian, "You say you are good at that, show me."
"While he works on that," the drow says turning to Oshari, "most of those methods would take much longer than you can have on Apostae."
Kapteyn begins attempting to contact locals to gather information, but finds that they are currently unwilling to chat.
"That will do," Ceobarn says flatly in response to Vomatian. "So you can use the net. Anything else?"
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Oshari - Sense Motive (with theme knowledge) for being able to sort through any information we get for truth (though that may be hard to demonstrate)
After Vomation searches the net, Oshari holds out a hand for the tablet. "May I?"
He spends a few minutes scrolling through, before handing it back. "Those leads should be the most likely to pan out."
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"My skill set doesn't play nice indoors. But if you've got a fast vehicle and want to go for a ride, I'll show you part of why she won't get away once we find her."
If Ceobarn is up for it, Burn will take him for a drive, trying to make it a scarily fast as possible. It might help that Burn doesn't care if the vehicle comes back with a few dings, creases, or dents that it didn't have before.
Or it may not.
Ceobarn says flatly to Oshari, "Parsing is good."
Ceobarn seems unimpressed with Burnham, "Congrats, you can pilot.."