[Story] Opening Crawl (the story so far...)

[ruffdove]

Chapter 1: Incident at Absalom Station Chapter 1: Incident at Absalom Station Summoned from around the Pact Worlds by the dwarf Durvor Kreel, T'aro, a shirren biotechnician mystic Mendev Malone, a human bounty hunter envoy Grix, a ysoki ace pilot operative Matsu Soryn, a korasha lashunta mercenary soldier Vette, a half-orc space pirate soldier and Kurskedeva, a vesk mercenary soldierSix aspiring Starfinders traveled to Absalom Station to help the dwarf with a mysterious assignment that he believed would gain them membership in the Starfinders, a secretive organization of explorers, scholars, and treasure hunters. Upon their arrival, and before he could tell them much, Duravor was killed in the crossfire between two warring gangs from Absalom Station's lawless Spike section. Guided by Starfinder Venture Captain Chiskisk, the young prospects worked together to get to the bottom of the killing. Raiding the lair of the Three-Eight Mob and killing its leader, Ferani Nadez, the group uncovered evidence implicating the corporation Astral Extractions in Duravor's murder. The company did not want Duravor to play a role in resolving its dispute with Hardscrabble Industries over a mysterious asteroid--the "Drift Rock"--towed in from the Drift by a Hardscrabble ghost ship under an Astral Extractions contract. With Duravor dead and the guilty parties brought to justice, Gevalarsk Nor--the Pact Council Ambassador from Eox, and arbitrator between Astral Extractions and Hardscrabble Industries--enlisted the Now including Aja Miram, a human cyberborn engineer replacing the mysteriously disappeared Kurskadevagroup to carry out the mission Duravor had assembled them for: exploring the Hardscrabble ghost ship Acreon to determine what happened to the crew and locate the contract its captain had with Astral Extractions. Boarding the ship, the team discovered that a pack of rare and dangerous aliens called akatas had been brought aboard by the unsuspecting crew inside their noqual cocoons. Three of the crew were killed directly or indirectly by the akatas, and the remaining three retreated to the Drift Rock, despite two of them being bitten. The group also discovered a legal contract indicating that Hardscrabble Industries held the rights to the Drift Rock. Following the trail of the three remaining crew members, the group traveled to the Drift Rock and entered a cavern complex. Inside they discovered that the remaining crew had been transformed into zombies by the akata bites as they incubated young akatas. After defeating the zombies, the heroes entered a strange alien underground structure within the Drift Rock where they identified evidence that the asteroid was actually a part of a larger structure or ship and may have been a weapon. Further, they found evidence that two strange alien cultures were involved with its creation. As they explored, the crew also uncovered the final resting place of a Pact World explorer named Moriko Nash and helped put her restless soul to rest. In doing so, they became the legal inheritors of her ship, the Sunrise Maiden, which was hidden in a nearby hangar. After defeating a Drift Wraith that guarded the vessel and securing an alien robot and computer from the mysterious facility, the group used their new ship to leave the Drift Rock. On their way home to Absalom Station, the crew was caught up in a Corpsefleet attack on Station Space and the leader of the attack attempted to board the Sunrise Maiden--possibly to seize the alien computer they had aboard. Working together, the crew defeated the enemy vessel and returned as heroes--their exploits on the Acreon having been broadcast to the entire Station. Ambassador Nor thanked the group for their assistance and warned that many powers in the galaxy would be interested in the secrets of the Drift Rock. The heroes were then debriefed by Station and Pact World authorities, who confiscated the alien computer on the grounds that it was the target of the Corpsefleet attack. After this, the group set about enjoying their new-found celebrity and awaiting the decision on their membership petition from the Starfinder Society.   Part I, Gang War Firstday, 23 Gozran 317 AG T'aro, a shirren biotechnician mystic Mendev Malone, a human bounty hunter envoy Grix, a ysoki ace pilot operative Matsu Soryn, a korasha lashunta mercenary soldier Vette, a half-orc space pirate soldier and Kurskedeva, a vesk mercenary soldierSix aspiring Starfinders arrived on Absalom Station to meet with their mutual friend Duravor Kreel, a dwarven member of the Starfinders. Kreel met them upon their arrival at Docking Bay 94, but was immediately caught in the crossfire between two gangs from Absalom Station's Spike section: The Three-Eight Mob and the New Sczarni. The new arrivals managed to kill or drive off the gang members, and were quickly ruled to have acted lawfully by Absalom Station GuardASG, but their friend Duravor was killed. Which of the gangs fired the fatal shot and why the shootout began remained a mystery. The six made their way to the Lorespire Complex, headquarters of the Starfinder Society and met with Duravor's emergency contact Venture Captain Chiskisk, a shirren astronomer. The Venture Captain shared the group's suspicions about the sudden shootout and gave the aspiring Starfinders the task of getting to the bottom of the mystery. Duravor apparently had a job in the works that he intended to be the group's initiation, but Chiskisk did not know the details. If they uncovered anything about the dwarf's killing, then perhaps the investigation would serve as their initiation to the Starfinders. The group retired for the evening to the Hotel Jalmeray, where Duravor had rented a suite of rooms for the next ten days. Their only clues so far included two business cards lifted from Duravor by Grix--one from Astral Extractions and one from Hardscrabble Industries, two mining companies currently involved in a dispute over an asteroid towed in from the Drift by a Hardscrabble ghost ship--and a notepad with the word "Acreon" and the letters "GN" written on the top page. Seconday, 24 Gozran 317 AG The six members arose the next morning and split up to cover as much ground as possible in investigating the two gangs they had battled the day before and the corporations that Duravor had apparently been involved with. Astral Extractions and Hardscrabble Industries seemed to be a study in opposites. The former was a slick and very lucrative operation, although the group uncovered signs that their business practices could sometimes border on evil. In addition, Tilliana Joss--the woman on Duravor's Astral Extractions business card--was found to have some possible shady connections with the Three-Eight Mob. By contrast, Hardscrabble Industries seemed to be an honest and above board group, but a poorly organized one that perhaps did not meet its earnings potential. The Hardscrabble starship Acreon was the ghost ship that emerged from the Drift with the Drift Rock, but it had been under contract with Astral Extractions. The only signed copy of the contract apparently is on board the ship, complicating the legal dispute. The group also discovered that Astral Extractions has possibly been looking to hire assassins, but canceled the requirement shortly after Duravor's death in the shootout. The group expertly ferreted out much information about the two gangs and their leadership. The New Sczarni was a smaller and relatively new gang from Level 21 that was based on the ancient Varisian crime families. The gang's mysterious leader, based in a Level 21 spice shop called Mama Gorda's, apparently had contracted with Hardscrabble Industries to provide protection. The Three-Eight Mob was a large gang led by a violent woman named Ferani Nadez, based at the Fusion Queen bar and dance club on Level 38. The gang had been harassing Hardscrabble personnel, leading to a war with the New Sczarni. All together, the evidence strongly suggested that Nadez was working with Astral Extractions to intimidate Hardscrabble Industries and possibly to kill Duravor. Some in the group also looked into Duravor himself. He was found to be an expert in mining and mining law from the Diaspora with strong sympathies for the Diaspora-based Hardscrabble Industries and a confrontational history with Astral Extractions. During this day, the vesk mercenary Kurskedeva vanished somewhere in the vast bustling Absalom Station... Thirday, 25 Gozran, 317 AG In the morning, the group traveled to Level 21 to confront the New Sczarni. At Mama Gorda's, they discovered the gang's leader to be a teenage seer who viewed them as a weapon with which she might strike out at the Three-Eight Mob. To that end, she informed them of a Three-Eight lieutenant named S'saa who she believed had motive and ability to help the group get close enough to Ferani Nadez to take her out and hopefully find the necessary evidence to connect the Three-Eight Mob and Astral Extractions. After seeking out a little more information on Nadez, including acquiring a photograph, the group descended the Spike to Level 38 and made their way through the seedy district. Passing through an ASG cordon into Three-Eight controlled territory, the group found S'saa in a dark thoroughfare known as Snake Alley. They learned that S'saa strongly disapproved of Nadez's leadership and thirsted for power himself. After a tense standoff, the party convinced S'saa of their intentions, leading him to arrange for one of his followers to pass them through the Fusion Queen's security without disarming them and to give them the pass code to the back rooms. After creating a diversion, the group burst into the back room headquarters of Ferani Nadez and engaged her inner circle in battle. After a tough fight that saw both Vette and Matsu reduced to near death, the Three-Eight leadership was eliminated. More importantly, the group uncovered damning evidence that Astral Extractions was the true power behind the assassination of Duravor Kreel. Fourthday, 26 Gozran, 317 AG After recovering from their raid on the Fusion Queen, the group reported to Chiskisk with the evidence of Astral Extractions' involvement in Duravor's assassination. The Venture Captain promised to get it into the hands of a Station Judiciary prosecutor with a reputation for keeping the big companies honest, he took the group to Duravor's memorial service. He also introduced a new member to the group: Aja Miram, an Akitonian human mechanic with a penchant for technological augmentation. After a brief ceremony, the body of their friend was taken by his clan back to the Diaspora. His clan was at least satisfied that justice had been found for their kin. This closed the case of Duravor's murder, but the group still needs to find a mission of sufficient cosmic discovery to earn their way into the Starfinders. Part II, Ghost Ship Seventhday, 29 Gozran 317 AG T'aro, a shirren biotechnician mystic Mendev Malone, a human bounty hunter envoy Grix, a ysoki ace pilot operative Matsu Soryn, a korasha lashunta mercenary soldier and Aja Miram, a human cyberborn mechanicFive aspiring Starfinders, having been informed that they still require an initiation into the Starfinders were sitting in their suite at Hotel Jalmeray one morning when there came an ominous knock on the door. A creepy, cadaver-like individual delivered to them a card from Gevalarsk Nor--the mysterious "GN"!--the Pact Council Ambassador from Eox. In the card, Nor acknowledged some connection to the late Duravor Kreel and invited the group to meet with him at the Eoxian embassy in the Eye on a mysterious matter of some importance. At their meeting, Ambassador Nor revealed that he was the Pact Council member who had been mediating the dispute between Hardscrabble Industries and Astral Extractions over the Drift Rock, Duravor Kreel was going to investigate the Acreon and the Drift Rock on his behalf, and the party had been assembled by Kreel for this purpose. Nor has offered the party the opportunity to conduct the investigation. The mission objectives include: finding out what happened to the crew of the Acreon, locating any legal documentation that will settle the disposition of the Drift Rock, and exploring the asteroid itself to assess its nature and origin. The party was also offered the use of a Steward starship to travel to the ghost ship and the Drift Rock. At Docking Bay 42, which is dedicated to a squadron of ASG Wanderer class shuttle/fighters, the party met with Ensign Biriyi of the Stewards who briefed them on the Steward ship they would be using for the mission: the SV Hippocampus, also a Wanderer class ship. With an ASG escort, Grix took the helm and flew the party to the Acreon to investigate. Docking with the ship's port airlock, the group boarded the ship, finding that it had been torn apart by something. Six open cocoons made of noqual star metal were in the port hold, along with evidence that two crew had been killed in the room. On their way to the bridge to restore atmosphere, the group stopped so Aja could fix the artificial gravity and was ambushed by two strange creatures in the main hallway. These were identified as akatas, creatures that had been reported in the past on Golarion as having arrived on that world on meteors. After defeating the two akatas, the group moved onto the bridge. Accessing the computer, Aja was able to locate legal files that would allow Ambassador Nor to resolve the dispute between Hardscrabble Industries and Astral Extractions. The ships log indicated that the Acreon encountered the asteroid it was towing in the Drift and claimed it as a mineral find. The crew found large geodes made of valuable noqual star metal on the asteroid and brought six of them to their ship before towing the rock along on the way back to Absalom Station. On board, these geodes--actually akata cocoons--opened and the creatures attacked the crew. Two were apparently killed outright. Three--including Captain Joyner--evacuated the ship to the Drift Rock. First mate Cala Hardsteel was unaccounted for in the log. Shortly after the ship depressurized, the four remaining akatas dropped from the crawlspace above the ceiling and attacked. In a fierce battle, the party dispatched the remaining Akatas. With one akata killed for each noqual cocoon, it appeared that the party had cleared the ship. A search revealed a few useful items among the crew's belongings. Entering the crew storage room, Vette tripped a hastily jury-rigged laser trap, but was saved by her armor. Inside the storage room, they found the body of Cala Hardsteel, the first officer of the Acreon. A sweep of the starboard cargo hold and the engineering room revealed little else about the fate of the three crewmen who reportedly abandoned ship for the Drift Rock. After resting and selecting whatever found equipment they believed they could use, the group activated their environmental protections and stepped out the airlock to ride the cable down to the Drift Rock. Part III, Phantoms of the Drift Seventhday, 29 Gozran 317 AG Having cleared the Starship Acreon of dangerous akatas, T'aro, a shirren biotechnician mystic Mendev Malone, a human bounty hunter envoy Grix, a ysoki ace pilot operative Matsu Soryn, a korasha lashunta mercenary soldier Aja Miram, a human cyberborn mechanic, and Vette, a half-orc space pirate soldiersix aspiring Starfinders have taken a cable rig from the ship to the Drift Rock to which it was connected. There is evidence on the surface of the Acreon's crew's presence--a claim tag and several excavated sites where they dug up akata cocoons--but no sure sign of where the three crew members who abandoned ship may have gone. In one direction is a broad field of akata cocoons--clearly a shower of the small meteors struck the Drift Rock at some point. In the other direction, there is a low bluff with a cave opening in it. Deciding to explore the cave, the adventurers descended into a strange cavern complex of caves and metal lined passages. As they explored the caves, some of them catching glimpses of a mysterious presence, they located the remaining three crew members of the Acreon, only they have been transformed into gruesome zombies. After a brief and vicious combat, these zombies were defeated and the destruction of the final monster revealed that they had been hosts for embryonic akata. The chamber in which this battle occurred contains a strange metal door in the south wall... some sign of the alien culture that once inhabited the Drift Rock. Before the party can open the door, a gruesome apparition materialized through the west wall. It appeared to be the incorporeal form of a decayed human woman in an antiquated space suit. The specter hijacked the party's comms to send one insistent message: "Release me!" Attempting diplomacy, Mendev seemed to assuage the spirit by asking how to help--to which the spirit said "Follow" and drifted through the west wall. Taking the south door, the party found themselves inside an alien facility of some sort. Writing on the walls defied nonmagical means of translation and strange computer consoles and a malfunctioning robot posed opportunities and threats. Aja disabled the robot and beyond, the party found the mummified remains of a human woman with an old datapad. There are strong similarities between the woman and the apparition. The datapad revealed that the body is that of Moriko Nash, a Pact Worlds human who went missing nearly 75 years earlier. She described a monster that killed her crew and bequeathed her ship, the Sunrise Maiden, to whomever found her body. The playing of the recording seemed to release the ghostly spirit the party had encountered. Grix and Matsu explored a room full of computer consoles. With the help of a technomancer watching the Ambassador's drone feed, Grix hacked into the computer and found that all commands indicated that the console's connection to key systems had been physically severed. The main systems controlled by the console were: Backup Power, Auxiliary Fire Control, Recoil Compensation, Target Analysis Support, and something to do with Core Degeneration. This may indicate something about the purpose of the facility. Grix also noted that it seemed that the operating system had been overwritten from an earlier and original form. In the corridor leading to the hangar, Grix uncovers more evidence of a second culture's involvement with the Drift Rock--a written slogan on the wall beneath the ceramic plating added by the later culture. The slogan suggests a rather evil culture: "The weak shall take their place at our feet and die at our whim." The party located the Sunrise Maiden in a nearby hangar. After defeating a formidable guardian, the party claimed the ship and was advised by Ambassador Nor that their mission was complete. Unfortunately, the party's departure to return to Absalom Station coincided with a Corpsefleet raid and the Maiden was singled out by a Cairncarver called the Iron Rictus, whose captain declared his intent to board the ship. Fortunately, the Cairncarver was no match for the Sunrise Maiden’s new crew, who dispatched the Corpsefleet vessel. Back on Absalom Station, the crew found themselves celebrities thanks to Prime Executive Melacruz’s decision to broadcast their exploits on the Acreon live! Their efforts have settled the legal dispute between Hardscrabble Industries and Astral Extractions, in favor of the latter. They have also found evidence that the Drift Rock was part of a larger weapon system or warship and that more than one civilization had a hand in its creation, but many questions remain...

[ruffdove]

Chapter 2: Temple of the Twelve Chapter 2: Temple of the Twelve While enjoying their newfound fame, the heroes were summoned to the Lorsepire Complex for initiation to the Starfinders. After the ceremony, Chiskisk shared with them a communique he had from the Qabarat University of Xenoarchaeology and Xenoanthropology on Castrovel. Xenoarchaeologist Dr. Olmehya Solstarni had uncovered evidence of one of the strange alphabets uncovered on the Drift Rock in a ruin of the ancient elven Oatian civilization on the wild continent of Ukulum. She extended an invitation to the group to join her on an exploration of the ruins, which the newly-forged Starfinders eagerly accepted. Upon arriving on Castrovel and visiting the city of Qabarat, the party discovered that Dr. Solstarni had been kidnapped. Their investigation revealed that the nihilistic Cult of the Devourer--a religious group seeking to destroy the universe--was behind the kidnapping and had taken Dr. Solstarni to Ukulum in pursuit of some unknown goal. With the authorities too hesitant or slow-moving to initiate an operation on the protected and highly restricted continent, the heroes used their academic clearance to visit Ukulum to go after the Cultists alone. Traveling to the forbidden continent via a magical elf gate and receiving some aid from Asana's military garrison at Turhalu Point on the coast, the group plunged into the steaming jungles in pursuit of their quarry. Braving carnivorous plants, stampeding megafauna, and a deadly mold storm, they discovered the kidnappers' ruined ship--along with confirming evidence that they were Cultists and the name Tahomen scrawled onto the hull. They also explored Oatian ruins and uncovered clues about "twelve defenders" and the "kishalee" and "sivv" and a "place of forgetting, guarded by the twelve." Finally, the group reached the lost city of Loskialua and fought their way through a Cult ambush to the stairs leading up to a great temple in the heights of the Singing Range. Upon reaching the temple, the Starfinders found the ancient building guarded by an undead elf guardian who had been magically enslaved by the Cultists. Though he was bound to oppose their entry, he expressed his desire for them to defeat him and save the temple from the Devourer. After passing this trial by combat, the heroes entered the temple and defeated the Cultists there to save Dr. Solstarni. She had troubling news about the Cult leader Tahomen, who had used her expertise to avoid traps in the temple and navigate its library. She explains his theory that the Drift Rock was part of an ancient weapon and that he made the same connection she did between Zan's findings and the alphabet on the Drift Rock. Her research uncovered that the Oatians had been in contact with a voice from the cosmos that told them of the Gate of the Twelve Suns and the tremendous power it concealed. Although the location of the gate was never given in their writings, Tahomen discovered some important location in the Oatian texts that he apparently viewed as a promising lead. He destroyed the book that contained it and then went up the mountain to transmit this information to others in his sinister order. Before the heroes could chase Tahomen down, he returned from the mountaintop, his mission complete. Gleefully, he ordered the last of his minions into a bloody battle against the Starfinders determined to take as many lives and destroy as many things as he could before succumbing to oblivion himself. When the Cultists finally lay defeated, all that remained was their radio, which contained only a small fragment of the message sent by Tahomen, and the coordinates to which that message was sent: a remote part of the Diaspora known as the Fields of the Lost. The party then made their way back to Turhalu Point and, ultimately, to Qabarat. All the while, they were haunted by the ticking clock. Tahomen's message had been sent, but who received it, and what would they do with the information?   Part I, Questions in Qabarat Fifthday, 4 Desnus 317 AG Upon their induction into the Starfinders, T'aro, a shirren biotechnician mystic Mendev Malone, a human bounty hunter envoy Grix, a ysoki ace pilot operative Matsu Soryn, a korasha lashunta mercenary soldier Vette, a half-orc space pirate soldier Aja Miram, a human cyberborn engineerthe heroes were contacted by Dr. Olmehya Solstarni from the Qabaret University of Xenoarchaeology and Xenoanthropology on Castrovel. She had identified evidence of the predominant of the two alphabets encountered on the Drift rock in elvish ruins on the wild and restricted Castrovellian continent of Ukulum. She located the runes in the most unlikely place--a centuries old sensationalist account written by an adventurer and explorer of dubious reputation named Halkueem Zan. Getting clearance for an expedition to these ruins, Dr. Solstarni invited the group to join her, an invitation they quickly accepted. Fourthday, 10 Desnus 317 AG After flying to Castrovel on thrusters and being greeted by fellow Starfinder and Dr. Solstarni's student, Whaloss Jun, the heroes went out for a night on the town in Qabarat, meeting Whaloss's girlfriend Feilla, enjoying the sights and sounds and tastes of the city, and sampling more than enough beer. Before retiring for the night, each of the heroes indulged in a magical tattoo from an ancient lashunta tattoo artist who seemed to have some relationship to Matsu. This new body art moves across the skin (or fur or carapace) as if animated, and might have some other strange effects too. Fifthday, 11 Desnus 317 AG That morning, the the group went to the University. After quelling a potentially violent student protest at the faculty building, they entered the building with Whaloss only to find Dr. Solstarni missing and her office ransacked. Professor Muhali, the Department Head, implored the heroes to investigate, and they quickly pieced together the clues, concluding that the doctor had been kidnapped and taken to Ukulum against her will on a starship. Detective Qatrol of the Qabarat Metro Police confirmed that the kidnappers were most likely from the nihilistic terror group The Cult of the Devourer, which ultimately seeks to destroy all things in the universe. Part II, The Ukulum Expedition Fifthday, 11 Desnus 317 AG Deciding to pursue the kidnappers--whose ship was shot down in the jungle by the Ukulum Protection Force - an International Military Force of Lashuntas, Formians, and Elves.UPF--the group used Dr. Solstarni's academic expedition permit to travel to Ukulum by aiudara, which took them to the lashunta military outpost of Turhalu Point Station. Passing through the aiudara, they were greeted by the helpful Captain Angrill and Lieutenant Sirik-Nee, two Armed Forces of AsanaAFA officers assigned to the UPF. They also were able to question the less helpful Lieutenant Tel'assar, the station's elven air defense officer who insisted that the kidnappers' ship was completely destroyed with no possibility of survivors. Nevertheless, Captain Angrill ensured that he provided the group with rough coordinates that would have terminated the ship's last known trajectory. Fifthday, 11 Desnus to Fourthday, 17 Desnus 317 AG With the eager assistance of Lieutenant Sirik-Nee, who wanted an excuse to give her armored infantry troops a workout, the group rode in an AFA light armored vehicle to the end of the Turhalu Peninsula and the edge of the vast Ukulum rain forest. There, they began a long and arduous trek through the wilderness. After enduring small, thieving primates and defeating a ferocious carnivorous plant, the party reached the Rune Obelisk described in Halkueem Zan's account. There, the Elven speakers in the group translated the Obelisk's Third watchtower of twelve; we stand guard for Loskialua, those who commune with the stars.main inscription and finding a The kishalee stole an arrow from the quiver of the sivv and they shot it into the sun ending the dark dominion... but at what cost? This is the shame of the kishalee, a terrible stain they vowed to cleanse. So they built a place of forgetting beyond space and time guarded by the twelve.poem carved into one face. The next day, the party found the mostly intact wreckage of the kidnappers' ship! Though an incendiary trap destroyed whatever was inside, grafitti on the outside conclusively tied the kidnappers to the Cult of the Devourer and identified someone named Tahomen. A sniper attack triggered a stampede of giant herbivores, nearly killing several in the party. Pressing on through miserable rain and a hostile troop of kaukirikis, the party was hit by one of Ukulum's dreaded mold storms, and some were adversely affected by the spores. After washing off the mess and dumping ruined equipment, the party pressed on toward Loskialua. Fifthday, 18 Desnus 317 AG Finally the party reached the lost city of Loskialua and the great Stargazer monument. It was there that the Cultists laid an ambush, with the infamous sniper setting up inside the statue's head. Storming the Cult's defensive position in and around the statue and overwhelming them, but not before the sniper nearly killed some of the group while destroying part of the statue. Having reached Loskialua, the group considered their next step--climbing an ancient stair into the Singing Range to a hidden temple high above. Part III, The Lost Temple Fifthday, 18 Desnus 317 AG Upon reaching the temple, the heroes were forced to defeat the undead form of an ancient and noble elven warrior named Panelliar in order to gain access to the ancient fane. They learned that this being had been dominated by the leader of the Cultists and forced to admit the villains without a fight. Inside the temple, the party encountered the machinegun-wielding cultist Avissa and a pair of thugs wiring the building for demolition. Defeating this group in combat, they rescued Dr. Solstarni and learned the true secret of what the Cultists were after. The ancient Oatians learned from the goddess Ibra to cast their consciouses into the void and commune with beings from other worlds. Through this method, they learned of a place called the Gate of the Twelve. This mythical location was at the center of a constellation of twelve small stars in a perfect circle. Though the nature of the Gate was hotly debated by the Oatians, most agreed that the gate held back some kind of super weapon, possibly one that could drain the life out of a star! Dr. Solstarni is sure this weapon is what the Cultists sought. While they did not learn the location of the gate, they did apparently find the location of a promising lead. Tahomen, the leader of the Cultists, had climbed further up the mountain to transmit this vital information to others of his sinister order. The party met Tahomen and his remaining Cultists as they descended and engaged them in battle. After defeating the Cult leader Tahomen and the last of his minions, the heroes discover that he sent a message from the mountaintop before his demise. While he purposefully destroyed the part of his radio that held, Aja was able to salvage a discovered proof kishalee world key to locatingfew fragments of the message. Even better, she was able to find the last coordinates to which the radio transmitted: a remote part of the Diaspora known as The Fields of the Lost. Sixthday, 19 - Sixthday 25 Desnus 317 AG After another grueling trek through the jungles of Ukulum, the Starfinders returned to Qabarat via the elf gate and reuinted Dr. Solstarni with her family and colleagues. There was little time for celebration, however. Tahomen's message had now been sent out a full seven days and what his confederates in the Diaspora were doing with that information was en ever more troubling question...

[ruffdove]

Chapter 3: Splintered Worlds Chapter 3: Splintered Worlds Part 1, Fields of the Lost Firstday, 3 Sarenith 317 AG After six days in the drift, the T'aro, a shirren biotechnician mystic Mendev Malone, a human bounty hunter envoy Grix, a ysoki ace pilot operative Matsu Soryn, a korasha lashunta mercenary soldier Vette, a half-orc space pirate soldier Aja Miram, a human cyberborn engineerintrepid Starfinders arrived in the Field of the Lost, an out-of-the-way section of the Diaspora with a dark reputation. After receiving a message from Chiskisk and transmitting a response, the Sunrise Maiden came under almost immediate attack by a Free Captain pirate ship. Thanks to Grix's fancy flying and the steady hands of the gunners (not to mention their upgraded weapons), the pirate ship Rusty Rivet, commanded by Free Captain Alera Okwana, was quickly brought to heel and forced to surrender. The heroes boarded the pirate ship to parley the terms of Okwana's surrender.