A vesk in a faded tracksuit rises from a crouch, a sly grin creeping across his face—Julzakama. He waves a credstick in one hand, the gold chains glistening around his neck in the streetlight. “Looking for work?” he asks. “Got a job for you. I just acquired a freighter with a colorful past—a great investment opportunity, the listing said, which means it’s a fixer-upper. The deal I got was maybe too good to be true. Word on the Ring is my guy towed it in from Azlanti space. Could be a big payday for salvage, but I’m up to my horns in other work and need somebody to clear it out. Help me catalog the assets. If you want in, take a shuttle up to the Armada. Use my passcode to get past the impound lock and clear out any dangers that survived quarantine. You’ll get a primo cut of salvage, of course, and a little something extra for the trouble.”
Lasgun as long as he is long, couple of frags dangling at his side haphazard, our scrappy hero puffs up his skinny bust up as the old lizard answers his own question "Yessir! Bein' that is you got a lookout for a chap such as me!" his enthusiasm upping the ante the youngun raises his voice to a boisterous near yell "Just lemme git that code, yes, and I can get your Junkship up and cleared out" he looks back and sees the rest of the space party mustering behind him "Pardon fer interductions - seein' as the rest of ya comin' with me Laurel - I'd be the sharpest shot in the Ring!"
He bows before them with a slick grin, then turns to face Julzakama "Any chence yuh got a little up front?" he twinkles his handsome eyelashes and holds out his open hand with jubilant expectance... sizing him up!
[CONCENTRATE ENVOY EXPLORATION]
Frequency: once per hour
You spend 1 minute observing a specific individual, 10 minutes researching a specific individual on the infosphere, or 1 hour networking and gathering information about a specific individual in a settlement or appropriate location that they frequent, learning how best to endear yourself to, scare, or otherwise manipulate that individual. This subject is your asset. If you assess your asset via observation, you don’t need to know their identity, but if you assess your asset via research or networking, you must know their identity, which requires at least two relevant pieces of information about them. Examples of relevant information could include their name, their place of origin, their current residence, the name of their parent or significant other, their employer, or their organizational affiliation. The GM determines what constitutes relevant information for this purpose, based on the asset you’ve selected. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Deception, Diplomacy, Intimidation, and Perception checks made against your asset or in relation to your asset if the target knows your asset, and a +1 circumstance bonus to attempts to Recall Knowledge about your asset. You can maintain one asset at a time. If you Size Up another asset after that, your new asset replaces your previous one.
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Mustering just behind Laurel is a jade green insectile individual. The head: very mantis-like. Their compound eyes seem to reflect hundreds of tiny, upside-down reflections of Laurel. In addition to their insectile head, additional chitinous exoskeleton peeks out from their carbon skin armor. Clawed upper appendages hang at their side.
Mandibles twitching, Laurel hears a voice in his mind, speaking in Common.
Greetings brash one. I am Zashodu. It sounds like you are admist the striking of an agreement with this Julzakama, to sort his salvage. I think I may be of valuable assistance.
An ysoki dressed in doctor's garb elbows Laurel and speculated Look at the jaw on that feller, look at the way his veins are dilated. He sounds stressed out, do you think he needs a tranquilizer?
I'm Sanity, by the way. But you can call me Sani, everybody does. Laurel, eh? You look a bit skinny. Do you want an IV nutrition drip? He pats around his doctors robe until he finally pull out an IV needle that looks like it was sterilized well before it was inserted into at least two previous arms and then spent a week in that pocket.
Dangers? Like stowaways? Sani's eyes glisten, I've never seen an Azlanti specimen, I hear they're quite unique humans.
Laurel talks louder as the telepathic transmission broaches his lobe - perhaps, for him, it feels like "yelling" and he responds in kind "Valuable assistance, yup. I kin keep you live and kickin, mind bug. You just stick with ol' Laurel!" he grabs his lasgun and points it at the sky, shooting imaginary foes, and making SHHOOOO SHHHOOOOO sounds (but not deploying the trigger).
"Keep yer needles to yourself - I'm fit as a fiddle!" he protests the impromptu medical examination with full rebuff!
Yes, yes, you are now. I always say, 'Stay fit but carry a health insurance card' Get a platinum one, it might deflect a bullet, hee hee
He the turns to Zashodu and look swith amazement Those muscles on these mandibles... look at them! Sani takes a moment in studious amazement. Compound eyes, very effective for spotting movement. They're a pain for sight correction, though, just imagine how much time it takes to put on contact lenses. Do want want an eye laser correction?
Seems like Laurel isn't the only one with laser equipment.
That's why I have two kidneys! Sani says, and adds to Jazz' remark Well, hard to kill makes my job easier, no? The harder something is to kill, the easier it is to keep alive!
Oh, phone call!
Yes? Uhuh... No, don't worry, the radix is not load-bearing... What color is the blood exactly...? That sound is normal... Just give him a bandage with an animal on it and feed him some chocolate, okay?
Laurel looks at Dr. Sani with sudden interest - his stomach growls.
"You, uh, yuh got chocolate!?" he grins with expectant hope.
20cc of chocolate extract, straight into the vein, Sani says, searching for his IV needle again there's no problem known to mankind that is not curable by the liberal application of chocolate, every med student knows that.
A vesk in a faded tracksuit rises from a crouch, a sly grin creeping across his face—Julzakama. He waves a credstick in one hand, the gold chains glistening around his neck in the streetlight. “Looking for work?” he asks. “Got a job for you. I just acquired a freighter with a colorful past—a great investment opportunity, the listing said, which means it’s a fixer-upper. The deal I got was maybe too good to be true. Word on the Ring is my guy towed it in from Azlanti space. Could be a big payday for salvage, but I’m up to my horns in other work and need somebody to clear it out. Help me catalog the assets. If you want in, take a shuttle up to the Armada. Use my passcode to get past the impound lock and clear out any dangers that survived quarantine. You’ll get a primo cut of salvage, of course, and a little something extra for the trouble.”
"You came to the right skittermander, Julzy. Always happy to help!" Grizzi says, holding out one of his hands even as he slicks back his reddish hair with another. Yet another hand fidgets with a spin toy as a fourth brushes a patch of dirt from the set of overalls hanging over his armor. The skittermander looks rather unkempt and a bit disorganized, although the rifle slung over his back looks rather shiny and well-maintained.
"You can dive back up to your horns in your work. Don't worry about a thing. You can count on me!" He gives the vesk a broad smile, waving with one hand as he gives a salute with another.
His remaining arms, he extends to the others present. "And I'm glad you've gathered some Nufriends too!" He presents his hands in greeting.
"Can't say I know much about Azlanti. Or insurance. Or kidneys." he says, trying to keep up with the conversation. "Or chocolate. But, I know how to track down info on a computer and none too bad a fixing things."
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A female pahtra wearing a torn Rafemii Hellcats brutaris jersey over sports armor tries to gracefully sneak up on the conversation to see what is going on.
"Did you say work cleaning up a ship from Azlanti space? Count me in I'm Fengsai number 19 from the Rafemii Hellcats."
Fengsai spins around showing off her name and number on the back of her jersey.
"I'm here on Absalom Station to do some team recruitment and to try out some of the hover skate derby they got going on over there. I don't mind getting dirty cleaning up an old Azlanti junker as a side job."
Fengsai tries to see if Julzakama is armed
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Oh, look at the strength of those bones Sani remarks when he sees Fengsai that's what a career of microfractures does to you, you get extra-strong bones. Makes you a little harder to move as well.
Wow. Did he just call Fengsai fat?
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Fengsai looks at her loose-fitting jersey thinking to herself, did Dr. Cheeky just call me fat?
"Thank you for the advice Dr. Sani, I'll have to remember to not get hit. I guess you haven't seen the Rafemii Hellcats play before, unlike most brutaris teams we're known for our speed. If you know any way to boost our speed the team might be looking for a Dr."
I only do the post-game triage, I've never seen an actual game. As for speed, have you tried growing extra limbs with radiation therapy?
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Fengsai's tail makes a nervous twitching motion back and forth as she thinks to herself, more limbs would that make me look fatter? Well, as long as I'm faster I guess that doesn't matter. This off-season break is killing me, I need to start my workout again.
"Do you think radiation therapy could help make my limbs longer? I think that might help my speed more. Do you think radioactive dark chocolate would help?"
Everyone knows that Julzakama (opportunistic male vesk pawnbroker) is a sketchy character who hangs around local bars when he’s not running his pawn shop, but his credits spend just fine, and he’s always in the market for contractors who don’t ask too many questions.
The adventurers got Julzakama’s contact info from a friend, found his ad on the infosphere, or when he recruited them at one of his hangouts. He messaged them to clear out an impounded ship he bought at auction, rumored to be a wreck towed in from Azlanti space. He’s willing to give them a cut of his profits from salvage if they neutralize any dangers and help him catalog the goods inside.
This meeting takes place outside a dive in the Vesk Quarter.
Julzakama claps his hands together. “Excellent! The passcode’s 1607. I’ve got work to do, so go book your shuttle. Send me a comm once you’re in. Good luck! Unless you have questions?”
He seems to have lost the question about advanced payment--due to the chatter, no doubt.
"Naw I'm good. Easy mission. In. Out. Payment. 1607. That how old you are? We gotcha mr lizard. Doncha worry none"
He looks around at the crew, and ducking the needles, points to Dr. Sani "He got questions tho" matter-of-factly.
Laurel scratches his head ”Can mr lizard be trusted?”
Grizzi ponders if something he knows might spark a question or at least be helpful to his Nufriends.
Laurel recalls that Julzakama referred to the person from whom he purchased the ship as simply "a friend," and didn't seem eaer to part with additional information. Though he really doesn't seem to know anything else about the ship. His impatient nature and distaste for details may mean he legitimately doesn't know anything.
Fensai knows that the Armada is the nickname for all the ships orbiting Absalom Station. Some of them have crews on board, others are orbit locked, some even derelict. They're in orbit and not docked, so the party will need a shuttle to get there--but they can hire one at the docks.
Grizzi knows something about the Azlanti Star Empire. "Big eyebrows, big problems," said Julzakama's message. They’re humans who took a portal from old Golarion, started a big space empire, and conquered a few worlds with their Aeon Guard.Now they think they’re better than everyone else. (The Veskarium is confident they would crush them.) They have lots of shiny magitech, and if the rumors about Julzakama's purchase are true, that ship might be loaded with equipment that isn't much seen on this side of the galaxy.
Since the party has no other questions for him, Julzakama heads back into the bar while making a call on his comm unit. He leaves the team free to linger at the bar, chat with the other patrons, and prepare for their mission at their leisure.
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Sani spends most of his time inspecting Julzakama, rather than listening to him, and departs with a You should get that mole checked
Some ship towed in from the Azlanti empire? I'm guessing it's just full of Aqua purum and sedimentis ad solutionam. And vetus quisquiliarum
Sani is just showing off some of the Azlanti he learned in med school.
He has a look around the bar to see if any of the patrons need an IV are of interest.
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Fengsai shares what she knows about the Armada almost exactly quoting the flight attendant said while passing through the Armada on the trip to the Station.
"The Armada is the name given to Absalom Station's fifth unofficial sector, a collection of permanent, semi-permanent, or transient spaceships docked or in orbit around the massive station, or so the flight attendant said, we can hair a shuttle at one of the docks."
Fengsai literally flips out (toumbles) when hearing the words Azlanti Star Empire, Fengsai tries to tumbling through the party to listen more closely.
Fengsai lays on the ground for a minute and thinks to herself that didn't look good, then does a few stretches before getting back up, jumping up and down a few times testing the gravity.
"I'm not used to this gravity yet, much higher than my home world."
Fengsai lays on the ground for a minute and thinks to herself that didn't look good, then does a few stretches before getting back up, jumping up and down a few times testing the gravity.
"I'm not used to this gravity yet, much higher than my home world."
Seeing a nufriend in distress, Grizzi rushes over to help the pahtra. He extends a number of hands to help her up. "Oh my, I hope you are okay, Fengsai. Let me help you up. I had heard that pahtra always land on their feet, so I am surprised to you see you on the floor, but happy to be able to assist you."
"Did you hear that this broken ship was from Azlanti space? Do you think that it could belong to the Aeon Guard? Those are the soldiers that do lots of conquering for the Azlanti Empire." He inquires as he helps Fengsai to her feet. "I hear the Azlanti have lots of shiny magitech and that that ship might be loaded with equipment that isn't much seen on this side of the galaxy!"
Once satisfied that Fengsai has been adequately helped, Grizzi's thoughts turn back to his efforts to help Julzakama and the mysterious ship, too, as it can no longer fly on its own.
To that end, Grizzi approaches one of the other bar patrons.
"Greetings, Nufriend!" The skittermander declares, holding out a hand "Have you heard about a new ship that was towed to the station? Julzakama hired me and some others to check it out!"
Before getting up Fengsai whispers to Grizzi.
"I hear the vesk fear the Azlanti maybe we can find something on this ship to help the Vesk go home? Would you like to help the Vesk go home Nufriend Grizzi?"
"I did not know that Julzakama was afraid of the Azlanti or that he could not go home," Grizzi whispers back, before the excitement gets to him. Like a shaken soda can, he pops.
Laurel laughs as Fengsai falls "Betcha didn't see that comin, didja?"
Then he helps her up.
"Gunna keep my eye on you" and turns to the group with earnest "What in the blazes is a nufriend? Am I, Laurel, a nufriend?" the question is honest, his own lexicon not in sync with the new parlance...
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"What in the blazes is a nufriend? Am I, Laurel, a nufriend?" the question is honest, his own lexicon not in sync with the new parlance...
A pair of Grizzi's hands begin scratching his head, then he blurts out matter-of-factly. "A nufriend is you." He explains, "And you, Laurel, are a nufriend."
A buggy voice re-enters your minds telepathically.
What is a nufriend? Are there oldfriends? Anyway, I look forward to discovering many things about Azlanti magitek, and comparing facts with the akashic record!
"You are a nufriend, too, Zashodu." Grizzi nods, as he speaks aloud in response to the telepathic inquiry. "As for 'oldfriends'? I have never heard anyone use that word before. As far as I know, there are only 'friends' and 'nufriends', although I suppose there are a number of nufriends that I just haven't met yet!"
He thinks for a moment. "Maybe, we'll get to meet some Azlanti nufriends!" He adds with a hopeful tone.
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Fengsai does one last stretch, then still feeling self-conscious about falling decides to hide she is on a sports team by putting on her explorer clothing (looks like a Star Wars rebel alliance camo poncho) to cover up her team jersey, and pulling up the hood to hide her face.
"I'm ready to clean up this mystery ship, everyone else ready?."
The bar patrons don't seem familiar with the ship, or at least don't have any additional useful information. Grizzi hears a rumor about vampires kidnapping people on the Station. Browsing the infosphere about the rumors leads to a rabbit hole of conspiracies and urban legends about the so-called Ghost Levels, a liminal space below the slum neighborhoods of the Spike filled with dangerous monsters and strange occurrences. Clickbait news stories and chat forum rumors about the Ghost Levels seem to have increased over the past few weeks.
The adventurers might want to prepare for their upcoming mission or make last-minute purchases. They can purchase gear at the Freemarkets, an AbadarCorp-sponsored mega strip mall bustling with hundreds of vendors on the industrial side of Jatembe Park.
They’ll need a shuttle to get to the Armada. It's easy enough to learn where to hire a shuttle. They have plenty of options, from the waterlogged chambers of the Puddles to the pristine runways of Kavalasa’s Arm, but the most affordable shuttle is U-Go rideshare in Little Akiton.
While searching the infosphere, anyone notices a pop-up breaking news story about a supply chain breakdown near Aucturn space, though the reporter has no details about the cause of the trouble.
The party catches a crowded autotrain or hovercab to their destination. Outside their stop, a lashunta street preacher yells at them, his arms waving wildly as he rants, “Something’s coming! The star-child breaks free of its planet-womb! Repent, sinners, and leave your old ways behind! The time of its birth is nigh!” A crowd of gawkers cluster around the preacher, some carrying hand-painted signs supporting his message while skeptics record his antics with their datapads.
Grizzi and Jazz uncover credible articles about the Ghost Levels, a liminal space with gateways popping open in neighborhoods around the Spike. They learn that the Ghost Levels are part of a pocket dimension that mirrors the neighborhoods it connects to, filled with dangers such as psychic molds, trapped ghosts, hungry oozes, and dimension-hopping monsters. Access points to the Ghost Levels supposedly appear after energy surges or outages that affect the Starstone, or coincide with other strange phenomena on Absalom Station.
Zashodu recalls reading similar articles.
Fengsai doesn't recall anything relevant.
Grizzi is delighted to share what he knows about hiring a shuttle, suggesting a place in Little Akiton.
A crowd of gawkers cluster around the preacher, some carrying hand-painted signs supporting his message while skeptics record his antics with their datapads.
As the party passes, Grizzi stops for a moment and offers to hold the datapad of one of the skeptics. "I am happy to take the vid for you, if you want to be in the picture with the sign holders!" He recommends cheerfully.
Once his business is done with the preacher and the crowd, Grizzi pauses again, this time to pick up one of the painted signs that was dropped in order to hand it back to one of the followers. "You might need this for the birth." He suggests, holding out the sign. "I hear that time for it is nigh."
Realizing the rest of the party is on the move, Grizzi rushes to catch back up with them. En route, he pulls out his comm unit and does some searching, in an effort to be helpful.
"It says here that the Ghost Levels are part of a pocket dimension!" Grizzi tells his nufriend, Fengsai. "How neat!"
He then tries to think the same to Zashodu.
"COOOOOOOL!!!!" after it is explained to him where they are going.
Whoever gets on the computer, Laurel lingers by overclose, asking annoying questions at each pop up "What's that?" and "What happened?" and "Who is that?" fascinated with them despite not having skill with them.
And "Me? Nah! I ain't 'fraida no Ghosts!" he points his gun to the sky like shooting an imaginary one.
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Fengsai shares in Grizzi's excitement about the ghost level.
"The ghost level sounds cool, I wonder what we could find in a pocket dimension? but first cleaning up that ship is nigh!"
Seeing Laurel draw and point his gun, Fengsai instinctively drops her stance while drawing her gun before realizing there is nothing there, feeling a bit embarrassed by her overreaction.
"Sport reflexes what can I say."
Fengsai slowly puts her gun away but keeps checking over her shoulder looking up to make sure there are no Vesk drop ships landing.
"Little Akiton is this way we can get a cheap shuttle there."
As the party reaches Little Akiton, they board an elevator to head down from the residential levels to the docks.
The metal doors close with a tinny chime and the elevator lurches downward. On the way down, metal whines as the elevator screeches to a dead stop. A pregnant moment passes before an emergency alert broadcast blares out from every comm unit. The elevator shakes as the alarm shifts into a wordless scream that spikes dread into every nerve. The lights flicker and blaze to unbearable brightness, searing the image of a floating, tentacled monstrosity into view. Then it all goes dark.
Outside their stop, a lashunta street preacher yells at them, his arms waving wildly as he rants, “Something’s coming! The star-child breaks free of its planet-womb! Repent, sinners, and leave your old ways behind! The time of its birth is nigh!”
What's the time between contractions? Sani asks, pondering the impracticality of a planet-sized IV.
Sani also wrinkles his nose at the mention of ghosts Ghosts are just difficult patients, they're very sceptical of modern health care. I had one that was just continuously complaining about its past health care bills, and how they didn't do them any good.
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Sani tries to triage the situation, and to him it seems that the tentacled monstrosity has the biggest potential for harm. He tries to find a reasonable basis for that assumption
It seems unlikely that the broken elevator is the cause of the emergency alert. Perhaps whatever the alert was about has also damaged the elevator.
Power surges, spatial anomalies, strange visions--Fegsai can certainly conclude that whatever happened was most likely supernatural.
The darkness, however, seems entirely mechanical. The elevator was damaged and isn't functioning properly.
Laurel scrounges through his things, looking for a flashlight... ...in the dark...
Don't panic, most of us can hold out for at least three minutes without air. Sani says. He seems to be looking in his pockets for something, but can't seem to find it.
”Whoa”
When the psi bug turns on the magic light, Laurel searches for a way out!