You each receive a communication from Venture-Captain Naiaj over your ship’s holoscreen. Provide the players with Handout #1 and give them time to read the missive. Naiaj is sending you to Vesk-2 to rendezvous with a local archaeologist and survey Trafodi’s ruins, gathering as much data as possible while there.
After landing on Vesk-2, you navigate to an administrative complex within Command 2. Inside, an ijtikri receptionist asks you to wait while your escort finishes her current meeting. Eventually, Jelbnerjeckti “Jel” Sqidtich emerges from a meeting room, frowning. After signing a multitude of forms at the reception desk, Jel ushers the you outside to her roomy hover vehicle.
As the hovercraft glides over the clear water, the vesk visibly relaxes and finally speaks her mind. “I hate all the bureaucratic garbage they force on me—especially meetings and paperwork. I’d rather be out in the field.” She gestures towards islands in the distance. “Welcome to the real Vesk-2. Beautiful views as far as you can see and a climate perfect for days spent on the beach, rather than in an office. Ruins practically cover the planet, some in better shape than others, and they all hold mysteries of the past.” Jel smiles and looks to the horizon. “I remember once I was surveying on Kilti when—”
Jel curses as the hovercraft bumps against a sandbar just under water’s surface. She refocuses and steers around the obstruction. “Sorry about that. I get to telling stories, and sometimes they get me! So, about the ruins on Trafodi—I’ve spent years exploring them, but there’s so much I haven’t discovered. They’re structurally similar to other sites, but nearby radiation levels are unusually high. I’d love to get my hands on the technology you Starfinders have access to and take another crack at those ruins!” Jel excitedly punches a few buttons to set the hovercraft into autopilot, then turns to fully face her passengers and grins. “Now we can chat without wrecking our ride.”
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Lexicor finds his android existence does not lend itself to understanding cultures of living organisms, other than in the most academic terms.
Several of these forms were out of date with industrial norms.
He completes the registration process and then indexes the comments made of the mission objectives.
(assist Rodkin as the more skilled)
It is apparent you have great interest in archaeology of this site. We will provide what assistance we are able. Any additional information you can share will increase our Likelihood of success by a proportional margin.
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Mich is quite happy to get back into the Veskarium! After gaining much experience with the Society, now, they can help the Empire even more!
As they get on Vesk2, they search in his modified cortex about all the information they could gather about the planet.
Mich is a quite heavy modified blue Skittermander in heavy armor with a big smile and a love to help!
Happy to help! It's so exciting!
Vesk-2 is the second planet from its system’s sun, Ghavaniska. It’s a largely oceanic world, and vesk leadership split the planet into 7 administrative zones, including its capital, Command 2.
Vesk-2 is the second planet from its system’s sun, Ghavaniska. It’s a largely oceanic world, and vesk leadership split the planet into 7 administrative zones, including its capital, Command 2. Command 2 is an equatorial island at the intersection of the Ikzili and Trafodi Oceans, and the capital of Vesk-2. The seat of planetary government and its main base for the Veskarium military are located here. All requests for touring Vesk-2’s ruins must be approved through the city’s bureaucratic channels. The only species more prevalent on Vesk-2 than vesk are squid-like ijtikris. Over time, ijtikris evolved into a harmonious relationship with vesk, and many ijtikris form closer bonds to a vesk than their own parents. Vesk often mentor young ijtikris, sometimes helping them learn a trade skill, as is the case for many ijtikris who become defrex farmers.
Vesk-2 is the second planet from its system’s sun, Ghavaniska. It’s a largely oceanic world, and vesk leadership split the planet into 7 administrative zones, including its capital, Command 2. Command 2 is an equatorial island at the intersection of the Ikzili and Trafodi Oceans, and the capital of Vesk-2. The seat of planetary government and its main base for the Veskarium military are located here. All requests for touring Vesk-2’s ruins must be approved through the city’s bureaucratic channels. The only species more prevalent on Vesk-2 than vesk are squid-like ijtikris. Over time, ijtikris evolved into a harmonious relationship with vesk, and many ijtikris form closer bonds to a vesk than their own parents. Vesk often mentor young ijtikris, sometimes helping them learn a trade skill, as is the case for many ijtikris who become defrex farmers. The defrex of Vesk-2 are vicious, but farming them is quite popular due to the lucrative market for their hides. Defrex hides are incredibly tough and are commonly used to make armor. Young defrexes’ hides are less thick but possess sharp spines that extend when they’re cornered or threatened.
After a half hour of driving full throttle around a chain of islands, Jel slows the vehicle and parks at a rickety wooden dock. A strip of sandy beach gives way to rolling hills. On the crest of a large hill stands a cottage with fenced fields all around it. A male indigo ijtikri squats in the yard, repairing a gate with synthetic ropes.
As the ijtikri catches sight of Jel, he shouts happily: “Big sis! Thank gods you came— and brought friends! As you can see, my fence is busted. Coral—that’s the little one—charged me this morning at feeding time and broke clean through the gate. I couldn’t run after her and leave the fence like this.” Two of his tentacles gesture to the damage. “One of them getting loose is bad, but the entire herd? I’d never risk it. But now I can’t figure out which way Coral went. Can you help track her down?”
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Command 2 is an equatorial island at the intersection of the Ikzili and Trafodi Oceans, and the capital of Vesk-2. The seat of planetary government and its main base for the Veskarium military are located here. All requests for touring Vesk-2’s ruins must be approved through the city’s bureaucratic channels. The only species more prevalent on Vesk-2 than vesk are squid-like ijtikris. Over time, ijtikris evolved into a harmonious relationship with vesk, and many ijtikris form closer bonds to a vesk than their own parents. Vesk often mentor young ijtikris, sometimes helping them learn a trade skill, as is the case for many ijtikris who become defrex farmers.
Let's see if we can help you find Coral.
Jel's friend introduces himself as Bozamn Zorbolo. He takes Rodkin's efforts to find tracks as agreement.
Coral escaped hours earlier, and finding her isn’t easy, but Rodkin locates signs of her trail through the field, spots bent blades of grass and flattened vegetation that mark her passing.
Coral’s trail leads through the field to a marshy clearing. The water is 2 feet deep and dotted with small clumps of grass and sediment.
Only Rodkin moves with confidence, as Lexicor and Mich struggle.
Lead by RodKin, the party makes it through. The marsh leads to a dune-covered beach. A set of defrex tracks is clearly visible in the sand, but as you follow them across the beach, the sky darkens as distant sand clouds obscure the late afternoon sun.
The party sees the storm, but collectively misread the situation. Pushing through is a lot of effort. While no equipment is damaged, the ordeal leaves everyone fatigued.
The grassy marshland recedes as low hillocks rise from the sodden ground, leading to a white sand beach. The dunes covering the beach shift as the wind blows sand into gusts and whirlwinds in the air, creating an ever-changing landscape.
Not long after, you spot Coral, sprawled atop a dune napping in the warm sand!
Invisible, Rodkin slowly and carefully takes the dunes. The sand kicks up once on the approach, but it's not too bad. In a tense moment, the stealthy ysoki manages to get the harness on Coral. With the harness on, anyone can now safely wrangle the defrex!
Amariel shakes the defrax awake. Immediately Coral thrashes a bit. Thankfully the harness is solidly built, as if prepared for ill-tamed creatures. It seems like you'd be able to easily return it to Bozamn Zorbolo despite the fierce animal's thrashing.
Skittermanders know quite well that vesks are rough and tumble things. Defrexes are difficult to tame, although vesk have attempted to do so for centuries. Shortly after vesk first landed on Vesk -2, the defrex captured their imagination and respect as a reflection of vesk virtues of dueling and fearlessness. A defrex mount or pet is a status symbol among vesk. Demand for defrex hide has led to defrex ranches, which are risky enterprises. They are after all, famed for their strength, tough hide, and aggression. In short, no one wants a tame defrex.
When you return Coral to the ranch alive, Bozamn cheerfully thanks you and promises to "...pass on my sincere gratitude to the governor’s office at Command 2!" He gifts you a picnic lunch of homemade biscuits, fish sausage, and aged defrex cheese. All in all, it's a good afternoon.
Once it's socially acceptable, everyone says their good-byes.
You return to the ship to see a message from Naiaj awaiting you.
It looks like it's orders to go to Vesk-4, which is going to be tough as the gravity is triple the normal there.
Someone flips the message up on screen.
You take off and have a relaxing and fully restful journey. Even tually you arrive and land in the planet’s capital, Command 4, a bustling industrial city designed with military efficiency. There you board a large, tank-like vehicle transport that carries them through the reinforced Antreway tunnel beneath the Vyskandi mountains and into the barren Lodelands desert.
The Lodelands stretch as far as the eye can see in all directions, a sea of rocky fields broken by occasional crystalline outcroppings. Few landmarks exist to distinguish one location from another in this radioactive quarry. Miners bundled in protective gear gather near a massive drill, suspiciously eyeing the approaching transport. One of them, a young talphi with a sunburst symbol emblazoned on his environmental suit, approaches the vehicle.
“You must be Starfinders,” he says reverently. “I’m Elgr. Kataali is waiting by the terrestrial scanner. Follow me.” Over a rocky ridge, a muscular vesk in armored coveralls stands beside a dark gray pahtra with a cybernetic arm.
“Good, you’re here,” the vesk says. “I’m Kataali, the site supervisor. This is my assistant Elgr, and our chief engineer, Rukka. They’re authorized to act as your liaisons while you’re with our team. Please begin the survey when you’re ready.”
“Use our equipment to perform a geological survey and give us your professional opinion about what’s under our feet. If you find ruins, we pack up and move on. Otherwise we can get back to work," says Elgr.
You're then given specific instructions. "Four terrestrial scanners are set up at various points around the ridge. . Each scanner is a bulky computer with three spiderlike legs and a large central needle that drills into the ground. Their readout screens provide accurate information to about a mile beneath the surface. All you need to do is...."Team member Rukka demonstrates how to operate the terrestrial scanners. He’s enthusiastic, but his lessons aren’t particularly beginner-friendly.
Lexicor translates into more natural terms.
The vesk miners seems put off by you for some reason, and keep their distance as you work.