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Wyrd, there's nothing keeping you from asking for the bikes and then showing up with the cruiser, too. Right now I have: Cruiser:
Motorcycle 1: Empty
Main truck:
Vedrir and Puzzle are TBD.
For this anti-heist, I wasn't sure if you all had agreed to bring your own vehicle (Kit's 5-person modded SUV with the jumper seat) or if you wanted to use what Taza was going to provide for you. If you were using her vehicles, there are two motorcycles capable of carrying a driver/pilot and one passenger each. If you were going to bring your own, it uses the stats of a police cruiser with modifications to allow one pilot/driver, up to four passengers (one in the jumper seat), and has no room for prisoners. I'll update the slides to allow you to pick where you're going to be during the trip!
After accepting the deal, Taza wishes you luck and transmits a general area in the Brass Bazaar to your coordinates. "I'll be in touch tomorrow at that time with further instructions. Good luck," she smiles broadly as you depart. At the appointed time the next day, you receive an anonymous message on your personal comm units, directing you to a non-descript hover truck within a block of your current location. Inside the hover truck you find a very nervous human man dressed in a trucker's uniform over second skin. A tactical semi-auto pistol sits in the seat next to him. As you approach he waves you over and then issues a warning. "Hurry up! Listen, name's Phillin, and if any of you all mess with me you'll have Taza to answer to. Hurry up and get in, or get in your ride, and let's get going. The goods are in a secure container in the back, and the sooner we can get out of here, the better!" The truck can hold up to two of you. Or you can
Taza keeps smiling right through Vedrir and Wyrd's questions. "What an offer!" she says when Wyrd has finished. "Unfortunately for now, I think it's best to keep our professional relationship confined to this particular job. The Vestrani Gaming Complex is very... particular about the people we hire on a full time basis, and solving this leak problem, if there is one, from the inside would require a level of access to information that you wouldn't be privy to." She turns to Vedrir. "The two previous attacks have been made by several ifrit working together. I suspect they were likely hired by a rival organization. They've tried to stop the truck and loot it, mostly by pulling alongside riding enercycles and shooting it. Nothing terribly original, I'm afraid." She continues, "And yes, I'll have a few vehicles assigned to you. If you wish, you can use your own instead. "If there are no other questions, I will transmit the first half of your payment and a time and location in the Brass Bazaar for you to arrive at tomorrow. We have a deal?"
Well I said a post on Friday, but it's Monday, so that was sort of close... Anyway, we're back! New Gameplay post is up, the interesting lashunta is featured in artwork on the slides, and the party has another decision to make! Regarding post timing, there's still a fair amount to do here, so there'll be a few days this week that I already know I won't be able to post during. My goal will be once every ~48 hours or so for the next few weeks (hopefully daily but tbd on timing) as I begin re-incorporating PbP into the routine. Thanks again for your patience!
***A quick recap:*** After recovering valuable DCI information stolen by the Brass Dragons , at Nib's direction the party set out to meet with the Corona Artifact Divers to secure a ship said to be capable of flying into the sun (and, even more impressively, coming out again). After a meeting a the Divers' HQ, the party made their way to the Vestrani Gaming Complex, said to be run by the intimidating Vestrani cartel, to find Lurian "Lu" Straza, the inventor, pilot, and now-former owner of the Sun Diving starship, after betting and losing the ship on a bit of a gambling bender at the Gaming Complex. After meeting up with Lu and (unrelatedly) performing a memorable musical number at the hotel/casino/resort's restaurant, the party has agreed with Lu to attempt to reacquire the ship from the Vestrani cartel. Rather than trying to find and steal the ship back, the party has agreed to try to seek out the Vestranis and make a deal. ***And now, back to the show*** The party returns to the Gaming Complex with Lu to get the Vestrani's attention to work out a deal. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, upon re-entering the lobby, the concierge calls out as the group enters. "Oh good, you came back rather quickly. I've been directed to offer you all a one-hour complementary spa visit, on the house. Now that you're back, I think it would be worth your while to go over there as soon as you've checked back in." Perhaps noteably, Lu does not receive a complementary spa access code. Still, she encourages you to use the invitation. "This has to be about me and the Diver. This might be their invite to talk," she says in a hushed voice as you enter the main casino floor. If/When the party decides to make your way over to the spa, the worker at the desk notes your voucher's access code and directs the party to a side room toward the back. Inside the room, you all are met by a female damaya lashunta dressed not as a spa worker, but in lashunta tempweave armor with a laser pistol at her side. She smiles as you enter, and you hear her voice in your mind. "Ah, hello! So glad you could make it. My name is Taza, and I work as a security and acquisitions expert here on staff at the Vestrani Gaming Complex. You'll forgive the meeting place, but this is sort of an impromptu 'office' for special guests, like yourselves, who aren't on the payroll... yet, right?" She lets out an audible laugh and smiles again. "On the behalf of the Vestrani, I'd like to let you know we're interested in hiring some professional security, like yourselves, unaffiliated with the Vestrani Gaming Complex for a mission of some sensitivity. I need you all to guard a shipment of freshly mented Vestrani chips for the casino! The Gaming Complex sources our chip-sticks--ha--from a legitimate and certified credstike processing facility outside of the Burning Archipelago. They're shipped into the Burning Archipelago and are then transported by truck to the Gaming Complex, where we load them with chips for the enjoyment of our guests. "We vary the shipping routes to prevent heists--even though the chips don't have value loaded onto them, the encryption process is a closely guarded secret, and there are always rival organizations trying to make trouble in the cut-throat casino, gaming, and hospitality business. Still, our last few shipments have run into some... issues en route, and I suspect someone might be tipping off troublesome outside organizations to the routes we're using. This is where you come in!" She extends her hands and spreads them out, to indicate 'all of you', before smiling and continuing. "If you accept, I'll send you directions to meet up with one of our trucks in the Brass Bazaar tomorrow. I can offer you all 5,000 credits up front if you take the offer, and 5,000 more credits if the shipment makes it safely to us here. Normally the shipments have Vestrani security, but since you aren't on the payroll, this will help us see if there's a leak somewhere in security. If all goes well you'll have a nice easy trip from there to here, you'll have our thanks and can get back to gaming!" She closes with a smile as she asks, "What do you think?"
Lu finishes a sip, nods, and for the first time in the conversation flashes a seemingly genuine smile. "Okay, awesome. Great. Just... thanks. Okay. Now to business." She sighs and seems to gather herself. She speaks again, in a hushed tone. "When I checked into the Gaming Complex I brought the Diver to show it off a little, since they have a valet service for starships for VIPs, you know? So after I... after the enercycle race, I went back to the downstairs garage to see if it was still there. It wasn't. But I'm not convinced it isn't still somewhere in or below the Complex - they say this is the Vestrani HQ, afterall." She thinks for a second. "The way I see it, we have a couple of options--assuming you don't just have 75,000 credits you could just use to buy it back?" She pauses hopefully, but continues when it's apparent that isn't an option. "Right, so option #1 would be have you all investigate the garage area and see if you can find any trace of it. I still have a room key that grants me access since that's where my ship used to be, but it's basically entirely valet and staff only. You'd have to get around that, somehow. "Option #2 is for you to try to get on the Vestrani's good side. Get hired on, somehow, or provide them with some kind of favor, maybe? You all look pretty... well armed... and I know the Vertani are always looking for mercenaries to help with jobs. Maybe we could all work out some sort of deal? "We should decide what to do here, then, whatever is decided, go back to the casino and start putting the plan into action. I'll do whatever I can to help. This has to work."
"Well," Lurian begins. "First of all, this ship is very complicated. It's literally one of a kind. The fact that the Vestranis didn't start using it themselves as soon as they got it shows they don't know how to operate it. Working with me allows you to skip all of those complicated steps and get to using it right away." She takes a sip and continues. "Second, as the ship's original owner and creator, keeping me on board gives you legitimacy and resources that you wouldn't otherwise have access to. Have you heard of the Corona Artifact Divers? With me you'll have access to all of their resources and expertise. After this conversation, Without me none of them will even let you in the building, let alone speak to you. "If you want to make the most out of this investment, the Diver's more valuable me--ya know, the creator and expert on everything about it--than it is with you poking around in some garage."
The party gathers and heads off after "Lu" after depositing your winnings/salary at the Service Desk and retrieving your gear. About a block away, you find the bar Lurian mentioned. She's staring off into space over a colorful fruity drink as you approach, but smiles when she notices you. "Puzzle! Hi, are these your... business associates? I wasn't expecting a group so well... armed. But it'll probably help. Have a seat." Taking a sip of her drink, she continues in a low voice. "Hey, so, here's the deal. I have a fantastic business opportunity for you all. Once in a lifetime deal. See, and I swear to Triune on this--on Sarenare even--, I have invented and built a ship capable of descending into the Sun! Mataras herself. Now you might think, well big deal, any ship can go into the sun--but listen, dummy, mine comes back out again in one piece!" She flashes a sarcastic smirk, perhaps only to herself, and the continues. "Yeah, that's cool, so where is this ship, right? See, like I was telling my new business associate"--she says the words slowly, like she's seeing how they feel to pronounce--"Puzzle here, I am a frequent guest of the Vestrani gaming establishment. To celebrate a recent success of mine, I prepaid for a couple of weeks in one of the Ukalam Suites and went out to win some chips. I got on this huge hot streak--I could not lose!--and had this good tip on an enercycle race. I... I put the Sun Diver, you know, my ship, up for 75,000 chips, to really cash in. The racer crashed, and now my ship is gone." She starts to tear up a little bit before swallowing hard and taking a long drink. "This is where you all come in. I need the ship back. You want to be wealthy, or famous, or something--more wealthy--anyway, whatever you want, this ship is the key to it. I can't pay you anything--if I could, I'd already have the ship back, right?--but if you can get the ship back for me, you can be my co-owners. At first I was going to suggest you just buy it back from the casino, but," She glances at your weapons and armor. "but maybe, I dunno, you're the type to just shoot up a place and steal it back. I mean liberate it. After you find out where it is. But you all look like very smart, prepared individuals." She looks around the table at each of you before landing on Puzzle. "What do you say?"
The manager listens backstage as Wyrd creates his own haunting supernatural show! Vedrir helps set up some of the equipment, but afterwards neither he, Nomyra, nor Kit really add to the performance. Still, between the glowing moth, unnatural tones, darkness, and costume changes in the blink of an eye, the manager is impressed. "Well, that was... wow, really something. Not sure that it fits the ambience we're going for here... try to make it a bit more jungle-like, if you could... but it's better than nothing! You're on! Eh, and the rest of you, maybe better if you could just watch."
Despite the atmosphere of the restaurant, Wyrd's performance is a hit! Most of the patrons give a polite round of applause as Wyrd finishes his show. As Wyrd exits the stage, the rest of the party present see several patrons leaning over and discussing the show excitedly. There's no sign of Lurian here, though. The manager shakes Wyrd's hand once he exits the stage and the next group begins to perform. "Great job, Mr... 'Wyrd'. What a great name for the act! Here are your credits, and we'll be in touch to see about your availability next week." He passes Wyrd a casino chip-stick with 580 chips!
Lu glances between Puzzle and her cards as they make conversation. "Well, good for you, Puzzle. And say what you want about all your mathematical distributions of numbers," she pauses and considers her hand before selecting a card to play. "But I think the gods do play dice. And I think some people, special people, can make their own luck. I'm an engineer, an inventor, and I've created things that nobody else even imagined was possible." She finishes her drink and immediately orders another one. [b]"You've had some recent success 'property acquisition'? I might be looking for somebody like you for a special 'property acquisition' of my own. It's high risk, but we're in a casino, right?" She tosses her hair back to flip her hair out of her eyes. Then she nods at the door. "We can't talk more here. After this game, there's a bar down the street we can talk in. It's a bigger prize than you're going to find here, anyway. Promise."
The woman turns to look at Puzzle. When they mention her success, she stifles a laugh which dovetails into a self=conscious snort. "Ha, no, well, not lately. Just trying to get some of it back." She sighs and waves down an employee walking around the tables, asking them to fetch a cocktail. "I was really on a hotstreak... I couldn't lose! Then I had this insight scoop on an enercycle race that... well, the racer crashed, and now I'm just trying to get back to even." She takes a rather large swig of her drink. "Name's Lurian, but you can call me Lu. Who're you?"
As the "band" assembles, the manager looks disappointed and then resigned. "Yes, on stage, ma'am. If you all have musical... or any sort of 'entertaining' talent, just come back stage, demonstrate you can carry a tune, and then we'll put you out there. Minimum 100 chips each and if you're better than passable we can pay more than that. Maybe even get you into our regular schedule, since it looks like we have an opening. How's that sound? No pun intended."
The manager--a human man--turns toward Nomyra, his look of annoyance replaced by one of apologetic customer service. "Oh, yes, my apologies. Unfortunately our scheduled band act is a no-show. Say, you wouldn't happen to have--or know anybody with--any musical talent, would you? A quick try out back stage and we could get you up and singing in five minutes. We'd pay you, of course."
GM screen:
Wyrd doesn't know of a way that he himself can monitor the restrooms without arousing suspicion, but there are restroom attendants who offer assistance to anybody coming in or out of the restrooms. Wyrd approaches one and, after thinking up a story, asks if they've seen a woman matching Lurian's description, making up a story about how he's lost track of an acquaintance.
Even if the story isn't the best, the attendant seems willing to listen to his question. The attendant says a woman matching Lurian's description has been gambling every day at the hotel for at least a week, usually late into the night. The attendant hasn't seen her yet today, but the attendant thinks she usually comes down from her room later in the day.
Meanwhile, after concurring and purchasing 100 casino chips, Puzzle checks out the skimmer tables! Kwox, the skittermander dealer at the skimmer table, smiles as Puzzle returns. "Welcome back!" "First time at a skimmer table?" Kwox asks, as Puzzle bets the minimum 50 chip ante. "Don't worry, it's easy!" Kwox says encouragingly.
Over the course of a few hours of play, Puzzle manages to double their ante from 50 to 100 chips! After a few hours, Kwox offers a six-handed round of applause to the table. "Good hands everyone!" He winks. "Great job! I'm off on a break, but here's Vola to keep you all company." A bright purple female skittermander in a dealer's uniform approaches the table. She introduces herself as Vola and begins shuffling the cards in preparation to deal. Just before the next game starts, a woman--seeming Lurian!--sits down at the table with Puzzle! Despite it being early evening, she seems like she might have just woken up. "Hey again, Vola. Deal me in," Lurian says, anteing 1,000 chips.
While Puzzle gambles and Wyrd checks out the restrooms, the rest of the party waits in the restaurant. While several interesting-looking people enter and exit, none appear to be Lurian. Interestingly, after a few hours, the live music pauses as one band rotates out. After about 30 minutes another band still hasn't arrived, and the party notices the restaurant manger looking increasingly cross at empty stage.
The party decides to check out each area before committing to a plan of action. Stopping in each room to investigate takes the better part of an hour and reveals the following scenes: Enercycle betting (A3):
A polished wooden bar with gold fittings encircles an ovoid pit here. Cheering patrons lean on the outer edge of the bar, looking down at a high-definition holographic projection of a zero-gravity enercycle race. Streamed live from the racing venue in Chroma, the race has three-dimensional models of each enercycle in its real-time position on the sloped walls of the racetrack. Each cycle’s statistics, including its driver and win percentages, circle it in rotating halos. Gamblers use touchscreens and chip slots in the bar’s surface to place bets and order drinks, while several drones serve beverages. You don't see Lurian here. Bets of between 50 and 1,000 chips can be placed on races of five to ten enercycles. Taking some time to study the racers and ask around could provide an edge. Wall of Many Mountains challenge (A4):
A rock wall stretches to the ceiling, various paths to the top marked with glowing, colored tracks. At the top, a leaderboard displays the best times for recent climbers and the heights they reached. A nearby kiosk plays a looped vid, showing that the wall is composed of billions of hair-thin, high-strength, retractable rods, allowing it to configure itself into any surface. The wall’s database allows it to reproduce climbing routes of real mountains. Its current display is a difficult stretch of the Pact Worlds’ tallest peak: Ka, Akiton’s Pillar of the Sky. A bright digital sign reads, “Beat Darius and Win 8,000 Chips!” Below the sign, a lifelike, two-foot-tall rotating hologram displays a muscular female kasatha wearing climbing gear and a black face mask. In a looping animation, she dips her hands into a container of chalk and then claps them together before flexing and crouching, as if ready to leap. Here, climbers can pay a 1,000 chip entry fee to compete in a climbing competition with Darius and other climbers; the next such event is scheduled for tomorrow evening. You don't see Lurian here. Puzzle and Nomyra recognize "Darius" as the kasatha is Darius Pelata, a climber renowned for being the only one to summit each of the four highest peaks in Castrovel’s Singing Range without magical or technological assistance. Holoslots (A5):
Banks of holographic slot machines produce a cacophony of chimes, music, and spoken enticements. Dozens of different models make up the array, each holoslot themed differently, from ones featuring colorful reptilian renkrodas to a game about matching different castes of ant-like formians. A particularly popular model, Kaukariki Surprise, features Castrovel’s venomous bat-monkeys adorably rendered as cartoons with expressive eyes and softened features. The chittering creatures celebrate each win. You don't see Laurian here. Meteorite Roulette (A6):
High stools surround oval tables here, each table with a casino employee standing at one end. Hovering above the center of each station is an electromagnetic sphere painted to look like a nonspecific jungle planet, spinning lazily in place. Each table has a grid of available bets that correspond to numbered continents, oceans, and islands on the planet. Players place bets on various squares of this grid. Groupings of markers allow a player to bet that the meteorite hits water (represented by 2–10) or land (11–19). Each round of betting, the table’s operator calls “no more bets” while lobbing a stylized “meteor” into orbit around the larger sphere in a direction opposite to the planet’s spin. The meteor’s orbit decays until, after several seconds, it strikes the planet, sticking to a location through electromagnetic force. Winning bets are paid out, losing bets are collected, and a new round begins. You don't see Laurian here. Spa (A7):
A bright, clean spa sits atop a raised circular platform surrounded by deck chairs. An array of pools takes up most of the space. Each can be modified in temperature and chemical content to match a wide variety of preferences. The spa offers a couple other amenities. Two kasathan masseurs perform eight-handed deep-tissue massage for 100 chips. It costs 1,000 chips to rest for 2 hours in one of several rejuvenating beds. You don't see Laurian here. Qabarat Restaurant and Lounge (A8):
Serving varied cuisine any time of day, this massive eatery also features live music and boasts a different celebrity chef each month. This month, the celebrity chef is a korasha lashunta named Lassa Beni, best known for pioneering formian-lashunta fusion cuisine. Despite a number of patrons enjoying the food, you don't see Laurian here. Restrooms (A9): These are well-appointed, all-species restrooms staffed by dutiful attendants. You don't run into Laurian inside.
Tomorrow I can provide a description quick walk around all of the currently accessible areas of the casino if that would help the party's decision making process. The post will be on the lengthier side so won't be finished tonight. And you might just run into her in the third room! Wouldn't that be convenient...
GM screen:
Skimmer card tables fill this room. Each is a brightly lit arc in the otherwise dimly lit space. People crowd around, playing the card game in quiet concentration. Each table has a dealer seated at the center. Most are human or kasathan, but a highstakes table near the center features a skittermander dealer who expertly deals six cards at once. The skittermander calls out as you approach. "Hi, Nufriends! I'm Kwox. Plenty of room for more!" he gestures, while simultaneously expertly dealing out hands to all of the mostly human players at the table. You don't see a woman matching Lurian's description here.
Spoilered for space:
Jungle noises and a rush of warm, humid air greet you as you walk into the casino (A1 on the map)! Several gaming tables, and other sources of entertainment and refreshment, spread out before you, nestled into what the Vestrani would have you believe is an authentic recreation of a Castrovelian jungle! And now, for some rules about how things work in the casino. These will have been explained to you by Guest Services after you check your weapons. Vestrani Chips
Each chip costs one credit and has a similar value inside the casino. In addition, each transaction to purchase chips has a 10% fee with a maximum fee of 100 credits. Winning chips while gaming allows a player to earn back up to their original stake, including the 10% fee. Once a player's chips exceed their initial take, however, the casino charges a 25% exchange rate on the excess when converting chips into credits. Any chips taken out of the casino and returned can be exchanged only for 25% of their value. Visitors who want to earn back their original stake must exchange the chips before exiting. Alternatively, guest services can store chips so they keep their stake value when a guest leaves the complex. Gaming
Leisure
The casino's restrooms for this floor are designated by A9. Elevators to the casino's hotel rooms can be reached with a room key via the elevators designated as A10. Rooms
No worries, Puzzle/Supersuperlative! Since the party's checking their weapons and going into the casino through the front door, tomorrow I'll plan on posting about all of the ways to win wealth and fabulous prizes inside the casino. Maybe you'll even find that pilot you're looking for, too!
Great playing with you all again! I'm leaving the game up for about ~24 hours for any final final comments, then I'll mark as completed.
The human man at Guest Services stands as you approach. "Good evening, sir. My name is Jannik. Weapons in storage are registered with your biometrics. Our automated security system securely handles and stores checked weapons; no person comes into contact with them." He indicates the counter. "When you put your weapon to be checked on the counter here, I press a button back here, you see, and at the same time, the casino's scanners register the guest’s biometrics, and the computer will send you an encrypted code that can be used to retrieve the weapon. The computer accesses security-scanner data to pair with the code, as well, so a person who somehow loses access to their comm unit can still retrieve weapons after a short security check. No person has ever failed to retrieve one of their weapons here."
At long last: Let me know if anybody has trouble getting access or if there's anything amiss on the chronicles. Thanks for playing, everyone!
As you all discuss in the middle of the lobby, a well dressed, smiling male ysoki approaches the group. "Excuse me--hi folks. Welcome to the best casino and resort in the whole Pact Worlds! I go by Slim, and I'd love to help make your night here more enjoyable. I couldn't help notice you looking a little bit lost, and I'll say you stand out a bit here. "Can I help you on over to guest services? If you have a reservation we can get you checked in, or if you're just here for the evening we can get you set up with some chips. Large weapons have to be checked, but since we want all of our guests to feel safe you're permitted to keep a side arm or personal protective item if you prefer, though I can assure you our security here is second to none in the whole bubble. "Just follow me over here and we'll get you ready for have the time of your lives!" the ysoki says, turning and walking toward Guest Services.
Hanging out in the lobby for a bit, you see a well-dressed vesk enter the lobby and walk to Guest Services with a corona laser rifle. After a short discussion, the vesk registers her biometric data with the consierge and places her laser rifle on the Guest Services counter. After a moment the laser rifle disappears downward, seemingly absorbed into the counter. Interestingly, the vesk did not check a perihelion laser pistol, which she wears openly at her side. She walks into the casino past security, who don't bat an eye as she enters and the faux-stone doors close behind her.
With the delicate gravitational dance of the Floating Gardens preserved and three void palms seeds in your pocket, you head off to the Verthani Gaming Complex. Finding the largest gaming center in Verdeon is easy. And even if it weren't, the casino has six automated hovertaxis circling the bubble, offering tourists free rides to the casino. The multi-story building stands tall, with a fountain as large as a swimming pool dominating the approach to several large tall, dark wooden doors at the front. The gaming complex greets you with a cool blast of wind as you step through the doors. Just through the large front doors is a lobby, thickly carpeted to resemble a jungle floor covered in moss and stone. This surface is luxuriously soft. The space centers on a raised, faux-stone dais with a life-sized animated hologram of a ksarik that resembles an amalgam of predatory beasts. A couple guests take selfies using the holographic terror as a background. To the north, a large holosign above a counter reads “Guest Services," and behind it sits a bald human man. Clearly posted in the lobby are the Vestrani Gaming Complex’s Three Rules:
Kit and Puzzle combine their fire to non-lethally take the plant down! Those that can see into the darkness notice the plant slump down as the threat is eliminated!
Ferrah, the khizar Xenowarden, is ebullient that you managed to take the plant alive! They offer their profound thanks for dealing with the threat and ensuring the safety of the Floating Gardens. They begin contacting other Xenowardens to safely relocate and replant the rare specimen. In gratitude, they offer you three void palm seeds from the downed plant. They advise you not to plant the seeds without first consulting the Xenowardens. (With a little bit of asking around, you determine the value of a viable void palm seed is about 3,000 credits each! This does potentially pose a moral quandry, however, because any sold seed is no longer under your "supervision" as is, but void palms take years to grow to maturity.)
Great success everybody! I'll have the chronicles up in the next couple of days. I also appreciate your patience/lack of angry private messages as the pace of the game slowed to a crawl at the end. Thanks for sticking with it! Let me know if there's anything else I need to know on the chronicles and I should have a link posted here soon.
In a furious barrage of laser fire, acid, and a miniature supernova, the party manages to detatch the tongue! The beast roars in pain as the platform jolts upward, freed from the tongue's restraint. The beast cries out and turns back toward the depths of the atmosphere, ceasing pursuit, and the party is able to make short work of the one remaining brood on the space platform. After a few moments, the leviathan disappears under and orange cloud and can no longer be seen.
"You did it! Great job!" Fitch's ecstatic voice breaks through on the comms. "I'll align the ship and welcome you all aboard. And then let's get out of here before that thing comes back." A few moments later the space platform slows alongside the Pegasus. The party and the survivors from Indigo Deep scramble aboard. Once everyone's inside, Fitch turns the ship starward and out of Wehemothal's atmosphere. She fires a few lasers out of the aft arc to discourage pursuit, and once free of the planet, enters the Drift for the (relatively) shorter ride back to Absalom Station. Once clear of the planet, Fitch’s grandchildren eagerly greet you and beg for stories of what you encountered below, though Kivv is far more restrained yet no less curious. In the Drift, Fitch does what she can to welcome the few survivors and ensure you all are in good health. The voyage back to Absalom Station, and then on to Aballon, is relatively peaceful. Dr. Tsorsk recuperates within a few days of being provided her essential hormones, all the while regretting the loss of Indigo Deep. As best she can ascertain, the great beast learned of the station from launched probes, ascending to investigate and attack by following the station’s communications signals. She’s willing to start work on the Starfinder Society’s new joint venture with Resurgent Technologies, but only after debriefing and explaining to her mechanical superiors why it’s important that she have time off to mourn. Resurgent Technologies grants the request after some deliberation, using the opportunity to also allow you all to keep any of the hardware you recovered from Indigo Deep but also requesting the data recovered. Celita and Fitch send much of this information to the corporation, through Celita no doubt has hidden away copies for her own analysis.
The party's attacks on the tongue holding the platform continue! Sefel misses and Rani hits the tongue, unfortunately dealing minimal damage. Deckard fires three quick shots, but only one manages to hit. Meanwhile on the platform, Conrad fires at yellow, provoking an attack on himself.
Azara rushes across the platform, knocking the purple broodling off of it and into the open sky! The broodling begins to fall - as it drops over the edge you can see it struggling to deploy the sac-sails that it used to climb up to the platform, but it seems sufficiently out of the fight as it plummets toward the planet's core. Even after the heroic stellar rush, Azara is still bleeding.
The only remaining broodling on the platform continues to slash and claw at Conrad!
Conrad dodges out of the way of the attack, barely hanging in the fight!
The beast flies closer.
R10
R11
The party has a tough time, with everybody's attacks missing the plant. The plant lashes out at Nomyra as she retreats.
The plant lurches forward slowly, coming to the edge of the darkness (to those that can see it) before lashing out at Kit!
The vine finds its target!
R6
Rani leans over the side of the ship and hits the tongue with her laser pistol! Unfortunately the broodling next to her slashes at her with its claw as Rani does so.
The creature's claw slashes into Rani! Deckard also hits the tounge . Despite his injuries, Azara's solar weapon finally finishes off another (green) broodling! Yith's doshka also finds its target, slashing the (purple) broodling! Conrad's shot hits yellow, but the prone (purple) broodling makes an attack when he does.
Conrad just barely dodges the attack! The (purple) brood that Yith it turns its attention from Conrad to attack Yith, while the one that just hit Rani keeps clawing at her.
Rani deftly dodges away from the attack, but Yith gets hit!
Azara continues bleeding from earlier injuries.
Below, the creature continues flying toward the stuck platform with tremendous speed! It's jaws look big enough to devour the whole platform if it catches up, and it looks like that's going to happen very soon. [ooc](Based on how fast it's moving, the folks looking over the side guess you have about 18 seconds (3 rounds) until the creature can take a bite out of the platform.)
R9
R10
Kit and Wyrd's shots land on the plant, with Wyrd's hitting thanks to Vedrir's work to lower the plant's defenses! As Vedrir retreats through zero gravity, the void palm lashes out!
Puzzle slams into Nomyra as they try to push her away from the plant. Although Puzzle keeps moving thanks to the jump jets, both Puzzle and Nomyra need to try to stabilize to avoid becoming off-kiler.
Both Puzzle and Nomyra keep their feet about them (while floating). A moment later, the darkness breaks! For those that can still see into the darkness, the plant slowly moves forward now that it no longer has any prey in its reach. After moving five feet, it lashes out again at Vedrir!
And Vedrir is slashed again by a vine, wipping out of the darkness before returning!
R5
Despite his first attack missing, Azara hits the broodling with his second. The creature seems weakened but determined, at least until Yith comes over and finishes it off.
Rani, Conrad, and Sefel's shots don't find their targets, but Deckard shot once again gets the better of the broodling fighting against her. Undeterred by another broodling falling, the remaining creatures attack once again! One attacks Azara, and the broodling that was formerly attacking Yith moves over to help its brood-mate slash at Conrad!
An attack hits both Azara and Conrad!
The space platform flies upward another 150 feet--only 300 feet (and a handful of broodlings) separate the party from the relative safety of the Pegasus! Then, almost impossibly, the beasts long tongue shoots from its mouth. Thin and rope-like, the tongue ascends for hundreds of feet toward the space platform!
The gigantic tongue attaches to the underside of the space platform! The platform's formerly upward momentum is halted with a sudden jerk; Dr. Tsorsk and the two anacites scream and fall to the ground with the impact.
GM Reflex rolls:
Two of the brood also fall prone as the station lurches. Fitch's voice breaks over the comms. "The platform's blocking my shot of that tongue, and it's too thin to target effectively with ship weapons! You need to shoot it, burn it, just get it off of the space platform!" The beast continues to fly higher toward the ship.
R8
R9
Despite the plant's special void abilities, Nomyra, Vedrir, and Kit all manage to land at least one hit against the plant! When Vedrir fires, the plant whips a tendril out at him as an attack of opportunity.
Through the darkness, Vedrir is slashed by one of the plant's sharp tendrills. Puzzle encourages Nomyra, and Wyrd's blast of cold misses. The plant continues to lash out at Nomyra!
One of the plant's attacks misses, and a second is blocked by Nomyra's armor. Despite being unable to see her attacker, Nomyra is only hit by one attack.
The plant continues fighting on! Party is up in round 4. R4
The beast opens its mouth, and begins unfurling a long, thin tongue from its maw. You watch with some amazment as the tongue continues to unfurl, dozens of feet in length, at least. The beast continues flying after the platform. "That thing looks really, really long," Fitch says over comms. "I wouldn't go flying off of the platform right now!"
R7
R8
Despite bleeding, Azara swings and hits the brood closest to him! Its hurt more, but looks ready to keep attacking. After the beast's terrible roar, Rani shoots yellow and shakes off the roar. Sefel also shakes off the effect while casting a spell. Deckard's trick attack finds its target, blasting her adjacent foe! Despite the fear, Conrad encourages Azara and keeps directing the party to attack yellow! Finally, Yith moves over to assist Azara, but her doshko swing just misses the creature. With Azara bleeding, two of the emboldened broodlings attack the solarian!
One each then attack Yith, Rani, and Conrad!
R7
R8
Yith shot hits; Azara's slash finds its mark along with Sefel's shot; and Deckard's blast finishes off the red brood with a blast straight to the face! Conrad follows up by encouraging Rani and encouraging the party to attack yellow. Two new brood float up to the platform and land, ready to attack next round! Yellow tries to take another bite out of Conrad, while blue tries to slash Azara with its tentacle!
The attack on Conrad misses, but the second brood's tentacle hits Azara hard!
Azara's damage reduction helps with some of the attack, but he finds himself bleeding from the deep slash.
As the leviathan continues flying, it suddenly lets out a tremendous roar! The waves of sound are so overwhelming you begin to feel physically uneasy while the brood seem emboldened to attack! Fort save DC 18:
Failure: Sickened for 1d3 rounds. The space platform continues to rise, 900 feet above the (former) location of the Indigo Deep station.
R6
R7
Even those with darkvision have trouble making out the void palm through the darkness; its swaying fronds make it hard to focus in on the plant with your shots. Void frond ability:
When seen in black and white, such as with darkvision in darkness, the pattern on a void palm's fronds resembles a dim and distant field of stars. The effect is disorienting. As long as the void palm is in an area of darkness, it has concealment against creatures observing it with darkvision, and such creatures are flat-footed against the palm's attacks. GM screen:
Despite the trouble aiming, Puzzle manages to hit the plant! Wyrd's shot misses. Then, the void palm lashes out with several fronds at Nomyra! Those that can see in darkness see the plant's attacks, but Nomyra has trouble anticipating the attacks in the darkness.
Two of the attacks hit!
Party is up in round 3! R3
Vedrir's daring plan to run headlong into the darknes... works! He crashes into Nomyra but manages to administer the toxicology booster. Nomyra steadies herself in the darkness and throws a punch at the plant. Her attack misses, but Kit's shot (with Nofun's help) hits the palm!
R2
R3
As the brood flies toward the platform, Deckard and Rani shoot Red while Conrad and Yith blast yellow! Sefel prepares for the combat by casting a spell. The brood continue their ascent, flying onto the platform and attacking! Red brood attacks Rani, Yellow brood attacks Conrad, and Blue brood attacks Azara!
All three claws hit!
R5
The platform ascends another 150 feet toward the Pegasus! The Leviathan flings another set of brood at the party! Space platform 750
R6
Puzzle's shot hits the void palm! As Nomyra rushes forward, Wyrd's bolt of cold misses. As Nomyra rushes forward, the palm's fronds begin swaying. Light and gravity flee the area around it, leaving Nomyra in darkness!
Nomyra finds herself off-kilter as gravity goes away, and those outside of the sphere of darkness without darkvision can't see Nomyra or the palm in the darkness. Off-kilter:
You can’t take move actions to move your speed, crawl, or take a guarded step. You are flat-footed and take a –2 penalty to attack rolls.
You must use a method of propulsion to right yourself or grab a stabilizing object such as a wall or ladder (usually as a move action) in order to end this condition. Party is up! R1
R2
For lots of text:
a void palm is a large plant that hunts using its abilities to affect light and gravity. The fan-shaped void palm’s broad fronds are a deep, mottled red, and they are in constant motion, as though stirred by a gentle breeze. When a suitably large living creature wanders nearby, a void palm plunges the area around it into magical darkness while simultaneously interrupting gravity’s normal function. Creatures caught in this area might become unable to propel themselves out of range of the void palm’s lashing fronds—something the plant deliberately makes more difficult by using its leaves to sweep the area around it clear of debris that might be used as handholds or counterbalance. Though they are rare, void palms are found across the galaxy. Their unique method of reproduction lends itself well to a slow but inexorable colonization of the stars. Once a year, a void palm produces a brilliant blue seed at the end of each of its stalks over the course of a week, and then it flings its progeny into the sky. The remarkable seeds each carry the void palm’s supernatural ability to ignore gravity, allowing the momentum imparted from their parent to carry them off the void palm’s planet and onto new ones. This unique ability makes void palm seeds rare and expensive curios. A void palm can create a dark, zero-gravity area in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on itself, negating the effects of gravity and nonmagical light sources in that area. When seen in black and white, such as with darkvision in darkness, the pattern on a void palmfs fronds resembles a dim and distant field of stars. The effect is disorienting. As long as the void palm is in an area of darkness, it has concealment against creatures observing it with darkvision, and such creatures are flat-footed against the palm's attacks. Electricity should work just fine. Plants aren't immune to non-lethal damage, so you should be able to knock it out like you would any biological creature (using nonlethal damage). The khizar responds to the "how to knock out the plant" question by providing a brief overview of the vulnerable parts of the void palm. The khizar also lets you know that you need a seed to have a new void palm; a bit of the branch won't do it. Assuming you agree, the khizar thanks you profusely. They direct you to a clearing off of the road where the void palm is located.
Initiative:
R1: Bold up! Wyrd
Mechanical background on what's happening if I'm not describing it well:
Dr. Tsorsk turns to Deckard. "I'm afraid wrickreechees weigh at least 250 lbs; even in my malnourished state, I don't think you'd be able to lift me with your jet pack. We'll all be to the ship soon enough," she says, trying to end on a hopeful note. The platform flies another 150 feet closer to the Pegasus! The party successfully targets another blast from the Pegasus onto the Leviathan! It definitely does damage, but doesn't have the same effect as before-the creature continues in pursuit of the party! As it flies, the beast takes a few of its front tentacles and flings something forward toward the space platform. Almost unbelievably, it seems that the beast has flung three broodlings into the skym! As the mini-leviathans approach, they deploy a long fan of rigid white threads, like a mix of a parachute and a sail, and begin riding the wind toward the platform! Initiative:
Although the Fitch's blasts from the Pegasus hit the creature again, it doesn't seem deterred by them any more. A split second later, however, it is hit again from below by the lasers firing from Indigo Deep! The massive creature lets out a surprised roar before turning to look behind it. GM screen:
After spotting the station's lasers, it swings its massive lower half and obliterates that part of the platform, taking the lasers permanently offline! Meanwhile, the updraft takes everyone 150 feet closer to the Pegasus.
Conrad keeps his orientation steady in the updraft; everyone else remains on the platform.
As you give instructions, you hear Fitch's voice over the comms. "I've got my hands busy, you're going to have to--oh, hey there, Reepu. How about you be a sweetie and help your gran-gran out and hit that button labeled 'orbital strike' a few times, hmm? That's dear." The Pegasus blasts away at the leviathan! Starship-sized lasers, which many of you haven't ever seen in action outside of a starship, bolt past you through the atmosphere and hit the creature! Over comms you hear Reepu making high pitched firework sounds. The leviathan recoils for a second as the powerful blasters scorch its skin! But, concerningly, it does not seem to be losing altitude. A moment later, it resumes its pursuit. The updrafts and platform boosters push everyone another 150 feet toward the Pegasus! On the platform, BY7 makes a comment. "Did anybody tether Indigo Deep's lasers to a comm unit? You might be able to hit it from the station, too!
The khizar's seedpod turns toward Vedrir as the kasatha approaches. Vedrir hears a voice in his mind. "Hello! Please, if you can, help! My name is Ferrah, the Xenowarden responsible for maintaining this platform. I've just discovered a rare and dangerous void palm has reached maturity in the forest near here! I tried to uproot the palm myself, and I barely escaped with my life! "The void palm's gravity-warping abilities are affecting the careful balance between platforms - if somebody doesn't do something soon, the entire platform will crash into the ground, or worse, another platform! If you can, you must help! If you can subdue the plant--again, an incredibly rare species--the Xenowardens will pay you handsomely, and I will find a safe place for the plant far away from these platforms!" Vedrir: Vedrir knows that a void palm is a large plant that hunts using its abilities to affect light and gravity. The fan-shaped void palm’s broad fronds are a deep, mottled red, and they are in constant motion, as though stirred by a gentle breeze. When a suitably large living creature wanders nearby, a void palm plunges the area around it into magical darkness while simultaneously interrupting gravity’s normal function. Creatures caught in this area might become unable to propel themselves out of range of the void palm’s lashing fronds—something the plant deliberately makes more difficult by using its leaves to sweep the area around it clear of debris that might be used as handholds or counterbalance. Though they are rare, void palms are found across the galaxy. Their unique method of reproduction lends itself well to a slow but inexorable colonization of the stars. Once a year, a void palm produces a brilliant blue seed at the end of each of its stalks over the course of a week, and then it flings its progeny into the sky. The remarkable seeds each carry the void palm’s supernatural ability to ignore gravity, allowing the momentum imparted from their parent to carry them off the void palm’s planet and onto new ones. This unique ability makes void palm seeds rare and expensive curios. A void palm can create a dark, zero-gravity area in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on itself, negating the effects of gravity and nonmagical light sources in that area. When seen in black and white, such as with darkvision in darkness, the pattern on a void palmfs fronds resembles a dim and distant field of stars. The effect is disorienting. As long as the void palm is in an area of darkness, it has concealment against creatures observing it with darkvision, and such creatures are flat-footed against the palm's attacks.
The party departs for the Verdeon bubble and the Verthani Gaming Complex! Using DCI funds, you all book passage on energy crawlers from Corona to Verdeon. It's a long trip - first you have to travel from Corona to Asanatown, then from Asanatown to Dawnshore, and finally from Dawnshore to Verdeon. Upon entry to the Verdeon bubble, you notice a start and immediate difference between this bubble and the rest of the Burning Archipelago. The air here has the rich quality of a jungle planet, its scent a constantly changing medley of flowers and soil. Birds and insects dart among dense groves of vegetation that include plant life from all over the Pact Worlds. Drifting through the center of Verdeon are the numerous platforms of the Floating Gardens, slowly shifting in a complex and mysterious dance. As the platforms glide past one another, they spin slowly, and avenues for vehicles and alleyways for pedestrians open and close. While traveling through Verdeon on the way to the Verthani Gaming Complex, you notice a khizar (a plantlike humanoid with a glowing seedpod for a head) acting very unusually; they're dashing too and fro between traffic with seemingly little regard for their own safety. Culture or Life Science DC 20: You know that the color of a khizar's glowing seedpod head indicates the individual's mood. Based on the color of this khizar's seedpod head, it appears this khizar is panicked.
Sorry if this part gets a little confusing. In the slides I've created a map showing everybody on the space platform. This perspective is from above - imagine there's a dying space station and a giant moster below. If/as people start jet packs or other flying abilites, we'll move your position around on a 2D plane but with notations expressing your relative position to the space platform (i.e. +30 feet). I'll keep track of everybody's total distance traveled in Gameplay; essentially this phase of the scenario ends when everybody (or everybody still alive) reaches the Pegasus (1,500 feet above the initial launch point).
Seconds after the platform lifts off, you hear a roar coming from below Indigo Deep. "Uh oh," Fitch says over comms. "I think it noticed." Peering over the edge of the space flatform, you see the giant centipede-like leviathan begin its ascent after the space platform. Its several hundred feet below you, but you're not really sure how fast it can move. "It's hard to pilot and shoot at the same time. Maybe one of you could help?" Fitch asks.
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