Vahni Dahawan's page

'Pologies for mine as well. Will be one or two more dies before I can post.

Before they leave the scene, Vahni calls station security, appraising them of the situation and heavily hinting that they might have information about Bluerise Tower's shenanigans. They also begin setting up the process of inducting Ceren's grandchild as a ward of the Society, as promised.

OxOxO

Vahni openly gawks at both the inside and outside of the Master of Stars, having never seen such a monstrous ship before. They nod along to Fitch's rambling briefing, and ask, "Considering the state the ship's in, if we do end up having to fight something, are there any special precautions we should take?"

Vahni hurtles out of the smoke, yelling, "Stand down! You've lost. If you give a full confession and testimony against Bluerise to the station security and the Starfinder Society, I might be able to help you get off easy."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Unsure of how much longer that they can hold out, Vahni, taps the side of their neck, activating a glowing blue ring and spreading a thin, translucent film over their face before moving into position to take down the ganger.

Activating my environmental protections and using all my movement to skirt the ganger's threat range.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

What’s the action to activate environmental protections again?

Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Vahni manages to keep from choking on the smoke, and unleashes a flurry of slashes on the ganger.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Attack 2: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

All damage is nonlethal. If the first attack takes down their opponent, can they take a guarded step towards the other ganger as a move instead of the second attack?

Fully photon attuned.

Their body cloaked in an aura of golden light, Vahni easily parries the ganger’s wild string and unleashes their own assault.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Attack 2: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

All damage is non lethal.

Vahni, glowing with solar energy, charges straight into the fray at Red. As they run, they flick on their sword's merciful fusion, which starts playing disturbingly serene music for a battle.

Their blade's edge dulled with pink light, Vahni swings with all of their might at their opponent.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Vahni slowly moves towards Chetna, still gripping the hilt of their sword in case things go bad.

"Ceren, get in the trees! They're here!" Vahni yells, their shield manifesting in a flash of light as they reach for their sword. "Let's try to keep casualties at a minimum here. We don't want to give the Society a bad rep."

"Glad we understand each other." Vahni releases TRS and goes to the rest of the group to get briefed on the situation.

Vahni pulls the old woman aside before she leaves to tie up her loose ends, saying, "I don't know if the others discussed this with you, ma'am, but if we do this for you, could you do us a favor in return and hand over that data your alter ego stole? The Society is interested in how Bluerise Tower actually ended up getting this level of legal impunity, as our resident researchers have turned up nothing. This information might help us get to the bottom of that particular mystery, and, quite frankly, the Starfinders need all the wins we can get right now. It's either something very illegal, in which case it'll boost our PR by giving it up to the Stewards or station authorities to handle; or it happened during the Gap, which falls squarely in our interests. If you give the data as a sign of cooperation, I'm fairly certain it'll smooth the process of getting your grandson Society protection."
___________

Vahni scrolls down their list of Platinum-Tier subscribers on Absalom Station, thoughtfully hemming and hawing over the best candidates. Finally, they set aside a few and set up a video conference.
__________

"Hey there, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals! So, what do you call a hacker with situational amnesia and dementia?" Vahni pauses, letting the fans time in with their punchlines, genuinely chuckling at a few of them. "Answer is: not a joke, and actually a very serious matter I need you to help me out with." They sigh, rubbing the back of their head. "So, I'm finally on my Commencement after those shenanigans on Akiton, and one of my verification missions is to help out this hacker who stole some very, very interesting data and keep her from getting killed by Bluerise Tower goons. Problem is, she's very, very old, and the cybernetics that help her deal with her degenerative brain disease have the teensy side effect of occasionally causing her to black out and revert to her old persona. She's in no shape to avoid the corps, and I'd rather not see a relatively innocent little old lady beaten to death. Plus, she has a grandson, and chances are the corps are going to come after him too. Right now, we're setting her up with a new life, disposing of her old one, and getting her grandson Society protection.

"The former is why I need your help. Here's the deal: she needs a support network and a plausible group of friends to help her out and avoid scrutiny. If you're willing to help me here, then I'll throw in lifetime Platinum Subscriptions plus some good ol' fashioned warm fuzzies. Whaddya say?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

After TRS speaks, Vahni appears frozen for a moment, as if they’re struggling to compute something. They finally, with great effort, put on a tight smile and say, ”Thank you for your offer, ma’am, but I’m afraid I need to discuss some things with TRS here before I can join you.” Their hand clamps on TRS’ shoulder.

When the others enter, Vahni turns towards TRS, eyes burning with fury. They take a deep breath, trying to calm them self down, and growl through clenched teeth. ”Now. We’re coworkers, and if we fail to work together, there is a very real possibility that we won’t get our licenses. So as much as I’m inclined to punch you right now, I’m extending an olive branch here: no more sniping, no more quibbling, no more squabbling. We don’t have to like each other. We just have to tolerate each other. And in order to facilitate that, I need to make one thing very, very clear for you.” They pull TRS close, glaring directly into his eyes. ”It’s not miss. It’s not missus. It’s not mister, either. Not she, or he. It’s just Vahni, and I assume you have a firm enough grasp of the Common tongue to use they/them pronouns. Got it memorized?”

Vahni gets up and says, "Sorry on the behalf of my colleagues, ma'am. Some of them," their gaze darts towards TRS-80, "aren't exactly the most civil, and appear to be under the impression that Jubair here is the culprit of a high-profile corporate hack simply because he's the first person we met when we came here. Rest assured, we're not here to make a mess, just to help the perpetrator get to safety before some corporate guns get here and tear them to pieces. And probably the rest of the neighborhood, too. I don't think they'd be that concerned about collateral damage." They get up and brush some dirt off their jeans. "If you'll have us, this conversation would probably be better conducted inside. Name's Vahni Dahawan, by the way."

I think I'm going to play it safe here and take 10 on Diplomacy, for a total of 17.

Vahni sighs, pushing through the crowd who's quickly surrounding the kid. "For the love of- back off! What the hell is wrong with all of you? Accusing the kid of being our guy just because he's the first person we meet?" They shake their head and kneel down to eye level with Jubair, smiling kindly. "Look. Sorry for my colleagues, but they are right about something: the Society's traced a hack to this location. We managed to cover the tracks of whoever broke in to Bluerise Tower's mainframe, but that's not going to last for long. Fact is that corporate goons are going to get here pretty soon, and they aren't exactly concerned for the safety with anybody remotely involved with the hack. If you know if somebody in this apartment ended up doing this, please tell us. We can get them a job doing what they're good at in the Society and protect them from anybody gunning for them because of what they did. It's for their own safety. So, do you know anything?"

Diplomacy, if needed.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Sorry, life got kinda crazy today. Will be able to post tomorrow.

Vahni quirks an eyebrow upwards. "Alright, I'll bite. What's so interesting about this data in particular that makes it worth aiding and abetting a criminal to get it, or is that classified information?"

Vahni frowns. "Yeah. We're supposed to help execute the First Seeker's vision, whatever personal project they're working on. I joined up because..." they pause, sigh, then begin again. "My sibling got caught up in the Incident, and helping out Luwazi Elsebo put the Society together again is pretty much the only way that I can see to finding Smoky."

Vahni shrugs, then pauses, looking at Guidance. "Hey. Um, what about us? The Second Seekers? We're a faction too, right?"

”Nice to properly meet you all.” Vahni pauses. ”Well, it’s nice to properly meet most of you anyways.” They waltz up to the station and quickly apply the swab to their mouth, toss it into the receptacle, then after a moment of hesitation place their hand on the panel.

Haha, oooh man. TRS is lucky that Vahni can’t hear his internal monologue right now. They’re normally pretty nice, but they do have a breaking point, although why they would blow up at TRS for that isn’t really his fault because they’re pretty androgynous.

Vahni sighs, mentally preparing themself for having to work with an android who apparently thought that modeling himself after a stock sitcom character was a good idea. "I'm a solarian. This," Vahni summons a shimmering gold shield into existence on their arm, glowing lines spiraling out from a star emblem in the center. It vanishes as quickly as it came. "is my shield. I'm capable of holding my own in a fight, but I'd like it to not come to that. I'm generally good enough at blundering my way through conversations to prevent violence, though, as long as I'm given a chance to talk. I'm a halfway-decent pilot, but I don't think we're leaving the Station today."

As soon as TRS finishes, Vahni has their comms unit out, and says with a sweet smile, "You make a move on any of us and I'm calling HR and pressing charges for sexual assault. Now, can I trust you to be professional?"

Vahni shrugs. "It's supposed to be some kind of induction deal. Y'know, run around doing the errands for some of the higher-ups before we get officially certified. I got pulled in to help out on a mission to Akiton before I could do mine because of, um, staffing issues, but I get to do it now at least."

A rather extraordinarily tall human with a dark tan sprints into the Complex, wearing a brown synthleather jacket over a simple black tee. A garishly pink longsword is strapped to their back, and their blue jeans are frayed and faded. Voluminous black hair cascades a bit past their waist. Panting, they apologize, "Sorry for being late! Today's sub train ran a little long and the shuttle back to the station got attacked by shobhad bandits on the way to my stop. Vahni Dahawan, reporting in!"

Hnnnngh why is finding a table for the Commencement so hard?

Thanks for the chronicles! Are you going to put up the equipment bought section later, once everybody has made their selections?

I'm curious, what was the secondary success condition for this mission? I'm guessing it was to find a way to bring Talbot to justice and/or perform a no-casualty run.

As in, I'm only getting a merciful fusion for my longsword.

Heh. Yeah, I'm just going with the merciful fusion. That way I get the dual benefits of Vahni being able to whack people with their sword without feeling guilty about it and having their status as a pseudo-expy become complete :P

I did roll a bit upthread. I got twenty-five.

Hey there, does anybody know if Sfounder's Yesteryear's Truth table is still recruiting? The sheet lists it as blank, but I haven't seen an announcement for it. The scenario I'm playing in is wrapping up and the GM is reporting, so I'm looking for a new one to hop onto.

And, wow, an aside: if people keep the pace up it's amazing how quickly scenarios fly by o_O

How much credits are each of us getting, factoring the dayjob boosts in? Also, did we end up netting the secondary goal?

EDIT: To speed this process along, unless we got a lot more credits than I thought we did, the only thing Vahni's purchasing is a merciful fusion for their longsword, and they're saving the rest.

Vahni nods. "That about covers it. Talbot is getting due process down on Akiton courtesy of AbadarCorp, for both the charges of theft and fraud. We also did a little bit of good on the ground, or at least I hope we did: the corp's converting Tasch into a new shipping center, which will hopefully make a few jobs. If we get out word that we helped start that up, the Society could get a PR boost which I really think it needs right now. And, um, as for myself..." Vahni blushes slightly, looking at their feet. "I handled myself pretty well, I think, but, um, when we finally cornered Talbot I ended up spending more time running after a minecart than actually fighting." They pause. "Don't ask. More details are in the report."

Vahni crinkles their brow, pondering Moktargan’s point. ”Yeah, but it’s like our venture captain said: the society doesn’t have the time or resources to prosecute him, like it or not. Turning him into Abadarcorp might be our only chance to prosecute him. Speaking of, and I’ve been wanting to hear this,” Vahni turns to the buggy and drags Talbot out, ripping off his gag, ”What do you have to say for yourself, mister?”

Vahni nods. "Yeah. That seems like the best option, he needs to be prosecuted both for stealing from the Society and for conning all the poor people here."

"I'm fine, I didn't take any hits this battle," Vahni says, but then rubs their arm, "...although I still have a few bruises from rumbling with that shobhad. Don't worry about it, though."

As the others begin to recover, Vahni sighs and plucks the stone from Talbot's unconscious body, examining it suggesting, "I say we haul in Talbot to the reps. He could've stopped when he figured out the stone was fake, but he didn't, and that's on his head now. I don't know what we should do about his goons, though." They pause. "Anybody got manacles for when he wakes up?"

Vahni gets to their feet, dazed, and attempts to hop in the cart once more.

No whammies.

Athletics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Gods damn it. I don't think I've actually done anything this battle XD

I did not rest, no.

As soon as Talbot comes into range, Vahni attempts to leap into the cart.

Athletics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

...the dice roller is not kind. How many 1s have we rolled this session?

...and promptly falls flat on their face, Talbot easily shoving them away.

Vahni scrambles after Vandor, iron in their eyes.

Another double move. Le sigh.

Vahni draws their blade as they brush past Vandor and Fuskee, rounding the corner before charging directly at Talbot, dancing past the red miner.

Double move to get to Talbot.

EDIT: I think I have to move through the red miner's threat range. Acrobatics to avoid AoO:

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Also, dayjob, because I forgot :P

Profession (streamer): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25

Throughout their journey to the mine, Vahni is unusually quiet, waving off questions with a tired smile that doesn't quite reach their eyes. When LEO points out the glamered thasteron, their grip tightens around the hilt of their blade, but they remain quiet.

When combat breaks out, Vahni finally lets out some things they've been ruminating on. It almost hurts to look at their shield, it's glowing so brightly, and even their eyes seem to be shining.

Attuning to Photon Mode at the start of combat.

Will: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Vahni groans at the shobhad's psychic assault, their pistol dropping from their hands. Taking a deep breath, they unsheathe their blade and dash around the table towards the shobhad, blade alight with stellar energy as their shield shines almost painfully bright.

I forgot to mention this, but I attuned to photon mode last round, which gives Vahni +1 to damage rolls, so Maarbadvae should actually take 1 more point of nonlethal damage. Currently at ⅔ attunement, and I’m spending my round to draw my sword and move into range to attack Maarbadvae.

As their brilliant roundshield flashes to life in their left hand, Vahni ducks behind a table and raises their pulsecaster pistol, quickly firing a shot off at at the hulking shobhad. Attempting to mask the fear in their eyes, Vahni yells over the din of battle, ”Please! This is your last chance. Stand down or I will begin using lethal force! I don’t want to hurt you!”

Pulsecaster Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Pulsecaster Damage (Nonlethal): 1d4 ⇒ 2

Hey guys, I am not going to be here for a few days due to a personal crisis. I may be able to post occasionally, but feel free to bot me.

Throughout their conversation with Philit, Vahni's smile never quite reaches their eyes. When the voice begins booming, their hands tighten into fists, whitening at the knuckles. Taking a deep breath, they yell out, [b]"Please! You have no idea what Talbot is actually doing! I don't want to fight you, and I don't even really want to bring him in, but I have to."[/n]

Diplomacy (Aiding Vandor): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Vahni steps in, saying, "We're here representing the Starfinders. Talbot is a former agent, and due to the... incident, he was hoping that he would secure a promotion to Venture Captaincy due to his services to the Society and his prowess. Because of his rather unstable temperament, the leadership elected to keep him at his current rank. Talbot then stole an artifact from our vaults and bolted. Ironically, we don't believe that Talbot was intending to con you - rather, he thought what he stole was a philosopher's stone, a relic from Golarian that has extraordinary transmutation powers, such as theoretically being able to turn thasteron into drift fuel. However, what he got instead was a very similar item, intentionally designed to be confused with the genuine article: the charlatan's stone, which instead gives the illusion of having the transmutation take place, which fades after a few days. Talbot probably has no idea how much trouble he's in." They sigh, shaking their head, and continue. "Regardless of whether he should be charged with fraud, Talbot has undeniably stolen from the Society, but the state of our organization makes extraditing him from Akiton for due process less than a priority item for the leadership. We would happily assist you in his capture, if you can negotiate with AbadarCorp to help with the extradition and the prosecution fees, so he can be brought to justice for both felonies."

Diplomacy (if needed): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Holy s&%~, don't worry about it. Real life takes priority. I hope your husband gets better soon.

Vahni expertly weaves through the crowd, cheering and reveling with everyone else, although their eyes grow increasingly conflicted as they slowly make their way to the corporate reps in the corner. "Hey there!" they say, displaying their brilliant signature smile. "What're you folks doing here? I mean, I can't blame the 'corp for wanting in on a piece of the action, but why do you look so down? It's a a new era for Akiton!"