The cramped space is packed with steel shelves
stacked with supplies (mostly canned rations and jugs of
filtered water), but also:
a chemalyzer
an explorer’s canteen
a tactical hypopen
4 medpatches
an emergency beacon.
The crude furniture is crowded around a rickety card table stacked with various types of ammunition and a commercial laser pistol disassembled on it. A character can put it back together in working order with a successful DC 13 Crafting check. There’s also a commercial plasma sword with what looks like a stylized Z engraved in the hilt.
Lunar-17 catches something magic, and finds something hidden! Concealed behind a bare mattress leaning up against the wall is a commercial null space chamber in the corner containing a few copies of vintage racing magazines and the missing transistor relic you were arrested for stealing! That find is worth 120 XP.
laptop sits on top of a wooden crate, charging from a portable generator. The laptop’s password protected Computers check to hack.
It takes the team a little while, but after a strong opening, Nitpick seals the deal. The door opens to... well, you don't know what you were expecting.
Smooth, marble steps completely out of place inside the ice-rimed rock pit—almost as if they were ripped from another world—descend 20 feet to a frigid hallway of bare gray stone. A heavy airlock door hangs open, leading to a one-room survival bunker. The cramped space is packed with steel shelves stacked with supplies. There's a LOT to go through here...
This would be easier to handle at a table. EVERYONE should roll. You're all working towards solving the door. You can all roll whatever skill you want from the list.
Nitpick starts, but it'll take more. Thus far, Nitpick's +7 seems to be the best. People can work simultaneously, but I do need to know how many checks it takes to hit the success threshold.
Nitpick recites some longshot words he overheard once, and it works! It causes the outline of a door to appear in violet light. Still, there's no means of opening it, at least not obviously. There are runes along the door, but it's like there's one missing. You also discover you can move the runes like you'd manipulate a VR HUD.
This may take a little teamwork. Crafting and Perception are about trial and error. Arcana, Occultism, or Religion will work through discerning the right changes. You need more than one success, and it can be from any combination of skills, including repeats.
Through skill of magic, tracking, and keen skill, the party discovers a pathf forward.
A hidden door carved into the cliff face about fifteen feet down from its peak is accessible via a narrow, unstable rope bridge, marked by an invisible holy rune of Eloritu painted onto a rock beside it.
Squeezing through, you find the door to be ...unopenable. Religion to figure out. Worshipers of Eloritu auto-succeed.
Staying focused, the party reaches the location known as "The Last Goodbye."
Biting wind howls over the precipice of this steep cliff—a ledge of jagged rock is the only barrier to the abyss below. A few yards from the ledge, sheltered by some thorny shrubs with sweet blue berries, a gentler slope is partly obscured behind a boulder painted with a strange symbol.
[ooc]Survival to find and follow tracks
Perception to spot an outline in the rock or a patch of melted snow
detect magic to discover entrance
Arcana, Occultism, or Religion to recognize ...something
???:
Tapkey (14/14): Go
Nitpick (15/15): Go
Lunar-17 (17/17):Go
Vorza (23/23): Go
Wildfire (22/22): Go
Jaedana (HP: 17/17): Go
Moving with purpose and skill, the party gets to the bottom without issue. Unfortunately it's hard to follow a trail down a cliff. You've got to pick up the trail anew. It's harder here too as the undergrowth is thick.
Survival to find and follow tracks
Perception to spot destruction in the surrounding landscape.
Everyone should also add a Society check after their obstacle check.
TRACK DOWN LEADS:
Tapkey (14/14): Go
Nitpick (15/15): Go
Lunar-17 (17/17):Go
Vorza (23/23): Go
Wildfire (22/22): Go
Jaedana (HP: 17/17): Go
The team, perhaps energized by making progress after a frustrating investigation, easily handles the descent. As Wildfire decends Everyone needs to roll for me to resolve.
Nitpick tends to the wounded creature. It skitters away after the food and attention, still limping. It does, however, begin to follow the party at a distance...
The party moves out of sight with enough speed and skill that the hunters completely pass over you! Ahead the landscape opens up as you find yourselves atop some pretty steep cliffs.
Athletics to Climb down Acrobatics to rappel down (Gear needed or at least one success at...) Crafting to rig a belay system.
Climbing Steep Walls
Tapkey (14/14): Go
Nitpick (15/15): Go
Lunar-17 (17/17):Go
Vorza (23/23): Go
Wildfire (22/22): Go
Jaedana (HP: 17/17): Go
This frosty "rainforest" grows on tiered cliffs that slope downward toward the bottom of the Ice Wells. The atmosphere is normal here, rich with oxygen exhaled by the pristine forest.
A massive shape blots out the rays of light filtering down from above—a mature sharpwing screeches as it spots new prey, turning into a sharp dive! This one is MUCH bigger than the young that you've faced off with previsouly.
Athletics or Acrobatics to block an incoming attack, tealth to hide, Survival to create camouflage, Nature to repel the sharpwing or lure
it away.
HUNTING SHARPWINGS
Tapkey (14/14): Go
Nitpick (15/15): Go
Lunar-17 (17/17):Go
Vorza (23/23): Go
Wildfire (22/22): Go
Jaedana (HP: 17/17): Go
Sorry yesterday work exploded, and then my laptop died a noisy, loud, and hot death....
It's close, but the team avoids the roving pack. You do see an injured young shroomclaw in the back. You could potentially entice it away if you wanted a pet. No pressure, just officially donate some rations/food and then make a Medicine check.
The rest of the trips to the canopy is uneventful. And the journey nets you each 40 XP.
The trip back to Absalom Station through the Drift takes 1d6 ⇒ 6 days. You don’t encounter any anomalies or strange structures on the return visit, although anyone who experienced hallucinations in the extraction lab finds their dreams plagued by disturbing sights and haunting cries. Back at the Lorespire Complex, Arvin thanks you for your hard work and apologizes for the "unexpected complication." He promises to investigate the data they collected and asks each of you for your opinion: "Should the Starfinder Society help Dreamlink Labs with their research?"
As a show of his appreciation, Arvin takes you out for dinner at a high-end restaurant called Perfexion located in the Eye of Absalom Station. The restaurant is known for its experimental cuisine and psychic chefs who deliver delicious meals the guests didn’t even know they wanted.
"Amazing! Get back to work, of course. Needs must, and all that. We’ve friends to lay to rest, rooms to clean, and research to continue. The Newborn brought us here for a reason. A few disasters won’t sway us from our course!"
She thinks a bit before continuing, “I caught a glimpse of what I believe is a holy site important to the Newborn, perhaps even a temple, in the dreamscape. Once I get the dreamscape a little clearer, I’ll be able to pinpoint the location. I’d like the Starfinder Society to help us explore it—in the real world, of course! While we here at Dreamlink Laboratories possess boundless enthusiasm, we admittedly lack the field experience to undertake what could be a dangerous mission alone. You’ll help us, won’t you?"
Despite the horror, death, and exhaustion, Arta seems pretty resilient. The remaining scientists, less so. They are clearly a bit shocked, but otherwise okay.
Arta looks at you, clearly processing. "OH! You aren't here for a rescue. You're here because I need Starfinders. Well, I needed you for something before I needed you. You know?"
She looks wide-eyed at Rolo's obvious mention of danger. “Dreamlink Labs was attacked by orocoran raiders called the Ichorwells my RESEARCH itself isn't dangerous. They wanted to steal all our aucturnite. Orocorans used to eat it, you know, back when they lived on Aucturn. They drank it right out of the ground and called it ichor. It’s addicting and terribly bad for your health. I would like to say I feel bad for them, but I find today’s events have put a damper on my empathy. Anyway, they burst into the labs without even bothering to dock—tore right through the hull! Some of my colleagues attempted to hold them off while the rest of us grabbed a data drive containing our research and fled into a dreamscape. We didn’t expect them to follow us in, of course.”
The Starfinders press. Helianthoides comes back to send the alien reeling, and Kazi's spell finishes it off! Rolo quickly heals the team, but the threat has pased. The scientists give a cheer, but the cheer from Arta is weak, as she had very little left in the tank.
The dreamscape begins to break up. Pockets of existance lose focus and vanish as the space changes to accomodate. The sensation is like getting squeezed through a tube. In a matter of seconds, you find yourselves back in the lab.
“Oh, thank goodness the Newborn answered my prayers!” Arta exclaims. “You arrived just in time! Or a few hours late, depending how you look at it, I suppose. But really, you could hardly be expected to arrive before I prayed for your arrival!”
Arta looks panicked and emotionally overwrought, but she straightens her coat and rearranges her hair, clearly trying to maintain an air of professionalism despite the grim situation. “Pardon the terrible state of the station. I assure you we usually maintain the strictest standards here at Dreamlink Laboratories.”
With a flourish and a tilt of her head, she introduces herself. “I’m Arta, founder and head researcher of Dreamlink Labs, professor at the vaunted Arcanamirium, and devout worshipper of the Newborn. How can I help you?”
The team takes a methodical approach to exploring. Before long Tapkey and Vorza find some... footprints? They're nothumanoid feet. They look like someone dragged two swords through the snow while walking on stilts. It leads to an area of churned earth that’s oddly bare of moss or other flora. Buried two feet down is a steel lockbox of an unusual, brutalist design. All the items inside have a similarly strange aesthetic but function as the following items: an autograppler, a climbing kit, a commercial plasma cannon with 100 charges, a suit of commercial aegis series armor, and a commando serum. Will take a Society or Scoured Stars Lore check to identify the strange asthetic.
There are other tracks to follow, but you're suddenly beset! A large pack of strange looking quadrapeds. Each are Vorza-sized.
HUNTING SHROOMCLAW PACK:
Survival to evade tracking
pursuers
Stealth to hide from the predators
Nature to change your behavior away from what they'd consider prey. (Gives free Identification on the same roll.)
HUNTING SHROOMCLAW PACK:
Tapkey (14/14): Go
Nitpick (15/15): Go
Lunar-17 (17/17):Go
Vorza (23/23): Go
Wildfire (22/22): Go
Jaedana (HP: 17/17): Go
Yeah I did mess up re:Slack. Pipp and Pipsqueak, the white ysokis, were both Bleeding. My bad!
Pipsqueak keeps bleeding as Jewel takes aim and scores a hit!
The alien concentrates for a moment on the dreamscape and Occultism:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14 and psychically shoves Helianthoides away to get a clear shot at Jewel's brain:
NOM:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26 for DMG:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11 Bleed 1
ROUND 4:
Jewel (4/15, Bleed 1): Hits
Pipsqueak 19/19, Bleed 1): Kill
Hostiles: ATK
Helianthoides (8/19): Go
Rolo (18/22): Go
Pipp (14/16, Wounded 2): Go
Kazi: Go
Scientists: TBD
1d20 ⇒ 19 Pipp sounds the call as the party begins to tighten the noose. Her bleeding wound stopping at a convenient time. The scientists hold their ground. Arta, exhausted, simply maintains the shield.
ROUND 5:
Jewel (15/15): Go
Pipsqueak 19/19, Bleed 1): Go
Hostiles (+1 v. Red): TBD
Helianthoides (8/19): TBD
Rolo (18/22): TBD
Pipp (14/16, Wounded 2): TBD
Kazi: TBD
Scientists: TBD
Lunar-17: I'll give you a +1 to all your checks in the next scene. Everyone, you're about to explore an inhospitable world looking for a needle in a haystack. This is essentially a multiday Infiltration scene as you look. This means EVERYONE has to roll every scene. Without further ado...
In the morning, the team heads out into the Ice Wells. Silvery grass grows thick beneath gnarled trees with drooping canopies of blue and white flowers, some of which have ripened into sweet berries. Icy waterfalls sparkle along the cavern walls, trickling into shallow pools full of mossy stones.
FIND THE PATH:
Survival to find and follow tracks
Perception to spot destruction in the surrounding landscape
Society to identify boot prints of the type commonly worn by Pact Worlds humanoids
FIND THE PATH:
Tapkey (14/14): FORT + Go
Nitpick (15/15): FORT + Go
Lunar-17 (17/17): FORT + Go
Vorza (23/23): FORT + Go
Wildfire (22/22): Go
Jaedana (HP: 17/17): FORT + Go
The creature's breath smells like copper and rot. It replies to the suggestion with a telepathic mental image of itself eating Helianthoides' brain. Still, it doesn't stop the Starfinder from connecting with the solar weapon!
ROUND 4:
Jewel (4/15): Hits
Pipsqueak 19/19, Bleed 1): Kill
Hostiles (+1 v. Red): ATK
Helianthoides (8/19): Hit
Rolo (18/22): Go
Pipp (5/16, Wounded 2, Prone, Bleed 1): Go
Kazi: Go
Scientists: TBD
Jaedana, shivering and miserable does evince some pity as she asks around, learning a lot about the Ice Well’s various habitats. She gets a lot survival advice - the need for warm clothes, rappelling tools, camping gear, and rations.
she also hears much about "Zirem", an explorer from off-world who frequently spends days at a time in Striving before making short visits to the Ice Wells.
Spring Frost, the proprietor furthermore offers up some free gear - a bespoke kit of their own ordering. One for each of you!:
a downloadable guide that helps identify edible plants and fungus (+2 item bonus to Nature or Survival checks to identify, harvest, or Recall Knowledge about plants and fungus in the Ice Well)
homemade trail mix (counts as 3 days of rations for 1 Medium or Large creature)
explorer’s bandages (2 commercial medpatches)
an air bubble spell gem.
There seems to be little else to do here Though I'm happy to support any creative ideas. Otherwise in the real world morning I'll advance.
Jewel shoots the thing twice. Now alone, it decides it needs to change tactics. Occultism:1d20 ⇒ 17 It slides through the dreamscape to tower over Pipp. It's wide maw opens to try and swallow the ysoki:
GAH!:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 for DMG:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 111 Bleed
ROUND 4:
Jewel (4/15): Hits
Pipsqueak 19/19, Bleed 1): Kill
Hostiles (+1 v. Red): ATK
Helianthoides (8/19): Go
Rolo (18/22): Go
Pipp (5/16, Wounded 2, Prone, Bleed 1): Go
Kazi: Go
Scientists: TBD
A few hours will pass here. Despite your urgency, heading into the wilds at night is likely not a great idea. Since you're all here, maybe Gather some Information. ;-) MY vacation is over, so I'm ready to do this!
Tapkey gets a little further than Lunar-17. There's a local, the owner of the outfitters by the name of Spring Frost. If anyone knows what's out in the wilds, it's them.
The camp is rather nice, a cozy lodge built of petrified wood ethically harvested from Canopy below. The hearth and dining hall take up most of the cabin’s first story, with a pantry and staircase in the back. Upstairs is a set of partitioned bunks and pallets surrounding a hearth, where guests have an open invitation to stay.
You can gather information here, shop, and if you'd like, spend time Earning Income or acclimating. Today and tomorrow are the last days of my holiday whirlwind. so I'll be slow for another 48 hours or so.
I'll say that Wildfire is already acclimated, no use wasting the backstory. Wildfire gives a bit of explanation about The Ice Wells
After getting dropped off, you make the trek to the only base camp. A precarious ramp with no railing hugs the dull blue ice shaft as it winds down into the pit, offering dizzying views of radial layers of frost-crusted greenery spiraling down into darkness. Frigid wind whistles up from the deep, carrying the odor of slow decay and fragrant wood. Awaiting other saves.
Day 1:
Jaedana: 0 of 3 Successes
Lunar-17: 0 of 3 Successes
Nitpick: 0 of 3 Successes
Tapkey: 0 of 3 Successes
Vorza: Success
Wildfire: Acclimated
While Pipp's aim is off, his words are inspirational! Arta does her best to help, but it's clear she cna't keep this up: 1d20 ⇒ 13 Try as she might, she can't move the clear leader of the assailants.
While Pipp's aim is off, his words are inspirational! Arta does her best to help, but it's clear she cna't keep this up: 1d20 ⇒ 12 Try as she might, she can't move the clear leader of the assailants.
The Teardrop Ice Well is one of the planet’s pristine micro-ecosystems found in the wilderness northeast of Striving, just south of the Sea of Glass. No high speed transportation infrastructure connects to that location, but a private planetary shuttle can reach the location in roughly 45 minutes—a well-connected bartender who can hook you up.
Aballon’s atmosphere is thin outside Striving; creatures that aren’t acclimated become fatigued after a few hours. At the end of each day, creatures who aren’t acclimated must attempt a DC 14 Fortitude save to determine how their body is adapting to the thin atmosphere. Acclimation requires you to succeed at your saves for three consecutive days (a critical success counts as two days worth of successes). Using magic or tech to breathe can suppress fatigue or prevent the need for a check, but using such a method doesn’t help you acclimate to the atmosphere.
Kazi fights with the power of the Dreamscape itself! RED Will:1d20 ⇒ 18 and RED Will:1d20 ⇒ 2 and RED Will:1d20 ⇒ 9, but to limited success, only moving one Black
ROUND 3:
Jewel (4/15): Hit
Pipsqueak 19/19, Bleed 1): Close
Hostiles: ATK
Helianthoides (8/19): Defense
Rolo (18/22): Heal
Pipp (16/16, Wounded 2, Prone): Go
Kazi: Mindpowers
Scientists: TBD
As quick as he fell, Pipp is awake thanks to Rolo.
Helianthoides cleanly decapitates the alien harrying the team up close! It's a tight fight, so I'll give you the action back that you used on your second hit.
ROUND 3:
Jewel (4/15): Hit
Pipsqueak 19/19, Bleed 1): Close
Hostiles: ATK
Helianthoides (8/19): Defense
Rolo (18/22): Heal
Pipp (13/16, Wounded 2, Prone): Go
Kazi: Go
Scientists: TBD
Helianthoides cleanly decapitates the alien harrying the team up close! It's a tight fight, so I'll give you the action back that you used on your second hit.
ROUND 3:
Jewel (4/15): Hit
Pipsqueak 19/19, Bleed 1): Close
Hostiles: ATK
Helianthoides (8/19): 1 Action
Rolo (18/22): Go
Pipp (0/16, Dying 2): Go
Kazi: Go
Scientists: TBD
The hack works quickly and they both move to attack! They shoot freaking lasers out of their eyes:
Black v. Vorza:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 MISS
Black v. Vorza:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19 for Fire:1d6 ⇒ 4
Red v. Tapkey:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11 MISS
Red v. Tapkey:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 MISS
ROUND 1
Cyberwings: ATK
Nitpick (15/15): Go
Lunar-17 (17/17): Go
Vorza (19/23): Go
Wildfire (22/22): Go
Tapkey (14/14): Go
Jaedana (HP: 17/17): Go
******************************************
TACTICAL MAP Location: Downtown Striving
Party Conditions: Gravity:Normal Atmosphere: Thin Lighting: Normal Battlefield terrain: -
When you return to the ally, there’s no sign of the scamps who used to live here; instead, a pair of cyberwings await you, lurking in the shadows. They emerge slowly when you appear.
DC 13 Nature or DC 11 Life Science Lore:
These cyberwings are also modified sharpwings, and know they originate in the planet’s Ice Wells. These creatures are outfitted with simple comm units.
Pipsqueak tightens the field as the two aliens are relegated to mino attacks as they close: spending most of their efforts closing distance:
Black vomit v. Rolo:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25 for DBL Acid:2d4 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2
Probiscus v. Pipsqueak:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27 for Double DMG:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 and 1 Persistent Bleed
With an otherworldly laugh, the bipedal alien unloads its reaction breacher:
v. Pipp:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27 for Double DMG:1d8 + 1d8 ⇒ (6) + (8) = 14 v. Jewel:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16 MISS
The laugh intensifs when Pipp crumbles.
ROUND 3:
Jewel (4/15): Hit
Pipsqueak 19/19, Bleed 1): Close
Hostiles: ATK
Helianthoides (8/19): Go
Rolo (18/22): Go
Pipp (0/16, Dying 2): Go
Kazi: Go
Scientists: TBD
