To watch the game session on YouTube, visit https://youtu.be/M22opPvWpig.

​Kymber joined the group and is playing Zaleria (female human solarian who grew up with the Free Captains).

Note: We spent a little bit making a cooler token for Nuil’s nano-swarms. It took a couple iterations but the group picked a cool pic.

Stephen did a great Cypher impression. Switch, Drez, and Nuil went to walk the perimeter.

Wesley and Ryder searched the tent and found 7,080 credits. They also located a very simple tier 1 datapad which Cypher quickly hacked into. The datapad reveals the marrowblight’s name was Xerantha Mortrant and she was recruiting Eoxian dissidents for the Corpse Fleet. She was working with someone named Captain Zeera Vesh, a name Ryder recognized from his time as a slave. He grudgingly reveals his past to the rest of the crew and his concerns about facing Captain Vesh. He recalled she was a vampire with some unique abilities and weaknesses. Her weaknesses included an aversion to a bowl of cooked rice.

Cypher remarked, “That is a messed up childhood.”

Wesley searched Xerantha’s body and found the thunderstrike streetsweeper sonic longarm she had dropped at the end of the battle.

The PCs were too far from Orphys to tap into the InfoNet but Cypher used a comm dish Xerantha had mounted on her tent to boost his signal. While Cypher hooked up his gear, Drez returned from his patrol. With the boosted signal, Cypher finally taps into the InfoNet and begins scouring it for information about Captain Vesh. After an hour, he finds a secure mobile data node which has worked very hard to keep itself invisible on the net. Cypher nails it down and breaks through its defenses. Inside he finds a series of orders directing Corpse Fleet activities in Orphys. Finally, he finds a message from Vesh herself giving orders to gather her forces at Skullcap Gorge. She plans to launch one final assault against the PCs to end those “blasted Starfinders!” The location is 7 clicks from their current location. The crew debates their course of action for a bit and decides their window to take advantage of this information is small so they go on the offensive.

As the crew starts moving towards the Skullcap Gorge they notice a humanoid figure moving through the hills nearby following them (Zaleria). Ryder slides behind a boulder and waits for Zaleria to pass. He steps out his laser pistol drawn and said, “Why are you following us?”

Zaleria responded, “Well, I was sent here to help you but you didn’t seem to need the help.”

Ryder asked curiously, “Send here by whom? Clearly, anyone who knows us knows we don’t need help.”

Zaleria rebutted, “Well, tell that to the Free Captains.”

With that, Zaleria explains she was sent by Captain Allera Okwana who felt obligated to send them aid according to the Free Captain Code. It’s an honor thing. Cypher was suspicious but Wesley was enthralled with the idea that Allera had sent someone to help “him.” He was disappointed to hear Allera hadn’t mentioned him by name. The rest of the group introduced themselves and Ryder gave a quick overview of their quest. Wesley thought the group was sharing too much (or his feelings were just hurt, hard to tell). Ryder got the impression Zaleria was being sincere with the crew and when he sized her up, he realized she was a solarian which means she was probably good in a fight.

Despite mixed (and hurt) feelings, the crew proceeded with Zaleria at their side.

Note: I got suckered into the group having a second ship which is how Zaleria made it to Eox. That needs to be worked out, lol.

As the crew approached Skullcap Gorge, they noticed the hills which formed the gorge we actually enormous piles of corpses left her long, long ago. Despite the macabre nature of the hills, they searched for a path to allow them to approach the gorge stealthily. The rest of the crew negotiated the hill and Cypher used a combination of his jump jets with his new haste module to make his way to the top.

After some quick planning, the crew launches a surprise attack. The battle begins at approximately 1:25 in the video on YouTube. The crew defeated Vesh and her minions (Ryder got to land the killing blow on Vesh!) and the group began to rummage through the Corpse Fleet’s bodies for loot as we ended the session.

Note: Removed the Fleet feat from Zaleria and gave her Order of the Empty Orbit. This feat enables her to use her supernova ability and only target her enemies. This should turn the “avoid the ticking time bomb” approach to “fighting bravely side by side with the solarian.”​

To watch the game session on YouTube, visit https://youtu.be/e_oRpMhcles.

​Nuil, Drez, and Switch take the crew’s surplus gear to be sold.

Cypher, Ryder, and Wesley continue the investigation and heads to the flat to meet Gretal who reported her roommate. They are wary of the dangers in the Splice and they keep a constant vigil for threats. They notice a pair of undead humanoids who look like spacers who died in tragic decompression accidents. They seem to be very intent on the PCs as they move towards them.

The PCs try to reason with the undead aggressors but the villains insist the “Master” sent them to eliminate the Starfinders. The undead are physically powerful and possess powerful auras which manipulate gravity around them and cause their victims to feel like their lungs are decompressing. Battle ensues! The two creatures put a hurting on the trio and Ryder almost paid the ultimate price but in the end, the PCs prevailed. On the creature’s bodies, the PCs find evidence the creatures had been sent by the Corpse. In the words of Cypher, “These guys are really starting to get on my nerves.”

Nuil wandered back to the trio after selling the crew’s surplus goods and she treats Ryder’s wounds (restoring 6 hit points of damage). The group wonders who the “Master” was but no one can recall anything in particular.

The crew made a quick stop at Gentlesage’s Necrografts & Sundries and bought some mk 2 healing serums (Ryder).

When the crew reached the address from Waneda’s second report they found the sliding door to the flat partially busted in. They cautiously crept inside and called out for Gretal. They found her on the ground and beaten to within an inch of her unlife. Ryder introduced himself and heard a voice from the shadows say, “Ryder, that’s not the name I knew you by, A230385.” Ryder recognized the voice of Larex, the ghoul who was Ryder’s hander when he was a slave of the Corpse Fleet. Horrible memories flooded Ryder’s memory but he managed to fight to maintain control of himself. Larex taunted, “Well, what do you have to say for yourself, A230385?” Ryder responded, “Bastard!” “Is that any way to talk to your master,” said Larex. Ryder quick drew and fired his pistol just as TIM-X attacked the approaching ghoul. Larex managed to block TIM-X’s attack and ducked into an adjoining room to dodge Ryder’s attack.

The ghouls were well trained but the crew of the Raza had slowly become a force to be reckoned with over time. The battle begins in the video at roughly the 1:38:00 mark. Shots were fired. Grenades were thrown. Hammers down! The crew prevailed and Ryder had his revenge against Larex (turning him into green goo in the process).

Switch dragged the ghoul soldier’s bodies into the flat from the street to avoid any unwanted attention. Gretal was immensely grateful to the Starfinders and gave them free and full access to search the entire flat for any valuable clues. They found her roommates journal (How archaic!?!) which confirmed Gretal’s suspicions. Harvinne had left to meet with a creature called the marrowblight to join the Corpse Fleet. Included in the journey were coordinates for a meeting outside the city of Orphys later that day.

The crew ventured out into the hellish landscape of Eox and managed to negotiate their way to the coordinates with little difficulty. They passed through Skullcap Gorge, terrain covered in hills formed from the corpses of Eoxians who died millenia ago and were preserved in the toxic atmosphere of the dead planet. When they reached the coordinates, Wesley released Canary to survey the area. They found a tent (crafted from living flesh) and a campsite built from scavenged gear and equipment. They also found a garden crafted from bones and flesh to mimic the appearance of a rose garden. Wesley runs a scan for sources of life and picked up a very large creature moving towards the camp. Nuil can’t tell what it is from the readies fed to the group from the drone. Nuil climbed the highest tree for cover (which proved to be a hazard during the battle). Meanwhile, Wesley scanned for any underground structures but found none.

Cypher quoted, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

An ellicoth soared over the nearby hills and charged towards the Starfinders. Xerantha Mortant was hidden inside the flesh tent but joined the battle when Wesley ran into the tent for cover. The battle begins in the video at roughly the 2:46:00 mark. and runs through the end of the game session.