Watch the game session on YouTube at https://youtu.be/8bC_1kQ_M40.

The crew wasted no time. They leapt into action to save the space puppy (or to eat it, in Drez’s case).

The battle begins at the 2 minutes 50-second mark on the video.

The cultists never really stood a change and were quickly dispatched. The PCs claimed their speeder bikes and searched the area. They found a mk 2 animistic amulet which was given to Cypher (to help with his aim issues). The PCs also claimed the cultists remaining mk 2 incendiary grenades and their broken golem plated armor.

Nuil tended to the space puppy’s wounds and it took a liking to her. With her archive of data on flora and fauna, she identified the creature as a velsasha. She claimed the puppy as her own.

The technomancer employed her x-ray visor to begin scanning the rooms around the ruined entrance. She found what looked like a small and a large set of control rooms. In the small room, numerous computers were tracking millions of signals all across the planet and coordinating their movements. She realized these were the robots which maintained the control planet for the massive gate.

Wesley investigated the area and found a hidden compartment with three round objects and an ancient kishaleen pistol. He identified the weapon as a disruption pistol and the orbs as temporal frag grenades II.

Wesley went the small room and as he walked across the room, a kishaleen hologram appeared in front of him. The hologram was quite rude but Wesley politely apologized. The hologram noted the young man was more polite than “the others.” It finally realized the PCs were not part of the cult and closed the door to the small room with the PCs outside.

After a small bit of debate, Wesley knocked on the door and was told to go away. Wesley tried to impress the hologram with his knowledge of engineering but it did not work. Cypher had been studying the tome on quantum dynamics so he and Nuil struck up a more sophisticated conversation. This time it worked and the hologram opened the door again. The hologram said, “Thank the First Cause. I thought I was going to be trapped here with those lunatics forever.” Nuil explained they had come over from Istamak which had fallen on hard times. The hologram told them his name was Eltreth and someone else called Osteth had been isolated here for quite some time. He told them to go into the larger room and he would join them and explain further.

It’s a trap!

A bulk of the floor in the larger room was rigged as an electrical trap. The trap went off and hit everyone but Wesley and Drez. Fortunately, the trap was an old one and had lost much of its punch. The trap knocked the wind out of them but did very little harm. Eltreth appeared in the room and was frustrated they had not all been incapacitated by the trap. He bellowed he had notified Null-9 and the mistress would be coming soon to deal with them.

Switch caught the name and demanded the hologram tell him everything he knew about Null-9. The hologram started to respond but then cut himself off. He realized he was sharing too much information.

The PCs tried to grab the hologram but could not touch him. Wesley smashed the console of one of the computer terminals. This infuriated Eltreth. Cypher stopped Wesley and accessed the computer himself to see what he could learn. Eltreth demanded “specimen x-23” cease his efforts. Cypher did a quick search for x-23 and found this was the designator for the genetic blueprints for the ysoki race. He also took control of the system’s modules which included minor environmental controls for the room and some kind of “jailing” program for computer programs.

Eltreth had finally had enough and he walked out of the room through the closest wall.

The crew debated what to so next and Switch insisted, “We have to stop Null-8… Null-9… Whatever she calls herself now.”

Ryder asked him what his connection was with Null-9 but before he could respond, Nuil spotted inbound cultists.

The battle begins at 1 hour 17 minutes and 42 seconds on the video.

A cybernetically modified half-orc operative led a small group of cultists against the PCs. The two groups were clogged in the narrows hallways making it difficult for either side to gain the advantage. Meanwhile, Cypher began hacked the jailing program. When he opened it, a second AI emerged and the hologram of Osteth appeared in the room. Osteth immediately thanked Cypher for freeing him.

Midway through, Eltreth realized the battle was not going the cultists’ way and he summoned additional cultists and shades from other areas in the facility. One of the cultists tried to escape but Ryder and Drez stopped him. The group found themselves split into three groups as the new attackers descended upon them.

The fight was a long and grueling one but the PCs prevailed. They did take some heavy hits and earned the information and loot they had acquired.

Next session, perhaps they will learn more about Osteth and Eltreth, the fate of Null-9, and what waits in the still hidden recesses of the kishaleen control facility.

Watch the game session on YouTube at https://youtu.be/7qll1enDnT0.

Ryder and Nuil tended to the crew’s wounds while Cypher examined the maltur nav terminal. From the terminal, Cypher found a wealth of information on quantum fluid dynamics which demonstrated how advanced the Kishaleen/Maltur were. He also found the coordinates for the Gate of the Twelve Suns and the data confirmed that to be the location of the Stellar Degenerator. The gate literally consists of 12 stars which had been pulled together and locked together through technomagic means. Cypher also determined this data was last accessed a few days ago which corresponded to the arrival of the Cult of the Devourer. The cult also possessed the location of the Stellar Degenerator and a head start to reach it. The crew decided to remove all information about the Gate of the Twelve Suns and the Stellar Degenerator but left the rest. Nuil politely left a note as well.

The crew left the Temple Found and found Li Shao Sho had managed to escape the Raza again! She fled the Raza and somehow discovered the Event Horizon (Captain Garrity’s ship) on the Istamak docks. She and the remaining Kroo took off in the ship in search of their own adventures. Garrity was NOT happy.

They punched in the coordinates for the Gate of Twelve Suns and jumped into Drift space. Several days into the journey they picked up a massive Drift storm in their path. They decided not to chance passing through it and plotted a new course which took them around it.

On the other side of the storm, Nuil noticed part of the storm had broken off and was following them. She identified the cloud as anhamut inevitable. These are constructs created by the Axomites composed on millions of nanites which can shapechange at will. They possess an incredible urge to explore the galaxy and learn more about the cosmos. They are explorers, scientists, and protectors of those who follow the same path. The crew opened comms and immediately realized this inevitable was malfunctioning when it threatened them. Ryder tried to intimidate the inevitable but alas, the entity was not so easily manipulated. The Raza and the cloud danced around each other in the starry sky. Captain Garrity bluffed the inevitable and convinced it there were complying with its instructions. The entity disengaged and let them go on their way.

When they reached their destination, they found the magnificent Gate of Twelve Suns. A single planet orbited each star and all but one were lifeless orbs. From the one living planet, a trio of starships lifted off and locked on an intercept course with the Raza.

Cypher opened comms with the approaching vessels. A human with silver dreads appeared on the vid screen. Switch and Captain Garrity recognized him as The Jangly Man, someone they had not seen for many years and they had not parted under the best of circumstances although Switch and Garrity did not elaborate. He called his ship the Singularity and the other ships were Fang Fighters. The Jangly Man was obviously a bit mad and a devout follower of the Devourer. Cypher grew tired of the Jangly Man’s monologue and opened fire.

Starship combat ensued. Shortly after the battle began, the crew activated the Raza’s new phase cloaking system and they went invisible. This provided the advantage they needed against the cult’s numbers and they managed to disable the Singularity. One of the Fang Fighters flew into a nebula and blew up. The other fled.

End of session.

Watch the game session in action at https://youtu.be/FXWDn5f5PQg.

Cypher and Drez found a bauble. They thought it might be important to stop and study while the other PCs continued searching the Temple Found. AKA a couple players couldn’t make it (or were a little late) and I concocted a reason for them to hang back a bit.

Wesley and Zaleria found a safe place to park the Raza. Wesley scanned the Temple Found and realized the PCs were about to stumble into a pack of eohi! He and Zaleria rushed inside just in time to find their crewmates had encountered the eohi and dispatched them. Welcome back Wesley and Zaleria! We missed you last game session.

The PCs scouted the sole door and Nuil saw a plain looking office on the other side of the door with her x-ray visor. The table in the room was scarred by hundreds of cut marks and there was a small window on the far wall. The PCs entered the room and thoroughly studied the table. Although the cuts looked ritualistic in nature they couldn’t determine their purpose.

They searched the room and found a secret door which led to a repository of datapads (like a library). In the center of the room was a ruined elevator shaft which led down deep underground. At a glance, it looked like it went deeper than the ground level outside. They only briefly surveyed the datapads and found one which detailed the flora and fauna on the Kishaleen planet.

Note: If used, the datapad provides a +5 bonus to Life Science checks to identify flora and fauna.

The rest of the datapads were out of order. They opted to continue exploration of the Temple Found and return to this area once Xavra was dealt with.

Nuil bravely climbed down the ruined elevator shaft to recon the area below. She found a long hallway which led north and turned to the west. She also heard voices from beyond the end of the hallway. She reported back to the PCs.

There was a debate about how to best get TIM-X to the bottom which continued for a bit before TIM-X walked himself to the edge of the elevator shaft, fired his grappling hook into the ceiling, and lowered himself down. The rest of the PCs followed and snuck down the hallway.

Through an open passage they found an ancient repository decorated by the kish with religious regalia. Glowing purple and blue runes covered the room and surrounded an altar (which Nuil recognized as a navigation terminal). Two large insectile humanoids and a human sat in the southwest corner of the room tied up. The PCs did not recognize the trio and had not been noticed yet.

In the northern section of the room, a kish in red tinted armor paced back and forth. He screamed at a device the PCs recognized as a kishaleen nav terminal, “Speak ancestors! Speak damn you! Tell me the secrets!” In frustration, he smashed his hands against the nav terminal. In response to his touch, the terminal responded in kishaleen which he does not completely understand. The PCs recognized him as Xavra.

Two kish hunters stood at attention near Xavra, his personal guard, and three more knelt on prayer mats in the lower section of the room.

The group debated how to approach the situation and decided Nuil should contact the three prisoners telepathically to gather some intel. Nuil contacted the human and startled him. The human quickly gathered his senses and responded, “My name is Captain Garrity. I’m here to rescue you.” Needless to say, the crew were skeptical. The PC’s arrival is the moment the captain was waiting for and he jumped to her feet and freed himself from his bonds. His gauntlets transformed into holdout blasters. The PCs recognized his attire as common for a Free Captain.

Nuil reached out with her mind to the agitated kish in red armor but could not penetrate his mental defenses. The warrior walked over to a terminal on the wall and activated a force field.

Roll for initiative! The battle begins at 32:03 in the video.

GM Note: The rest of this session consists of the battle with Xavra and his hunters. If you are not interested in the play by play, you can skip down to “THE BATTLE ENDS” below.

Xavra walked up to the force field and began to monologue, “I don’t see you! But I know you’re there. Bring yourself out. Reveal yourself to the Devourer. Let him judge you to see if you are worthy.”

The PCs were shocked to learn the kish hunter had been corrupted by the cultists. They stepped out (for dramatic effect) and saw he had recently carved the symbol of the Devourer into his own forehead.

Ryder taunted Xavra, “How you must have fallen to be a worshipper of the Devourer. You’ve betrayed your people. Hoyfeq and Tyzael have united and are now against you. Give up or perish. Dun! Dun! Dun!”

Wesley was done with the banter. He ordered TIM-X to lay down cover fire and opened fire on the closest kish hunter who had been kneeling on the prayer mats. His blast struck the kish across the chest and drew blood.

Switch charged across the room to the second of the kish hunters and slashed him across his back with his bone blade. Ryder followed Switch’s lead and fired at the same target. The blast spun the hunter around and knocked him flat-footed. The envoy then barked out encouragement for his allies to attack the same target as Wesley.

The first hunter drew an ornate kish blade from his and ran at Wesley. Wesley raised his arm and caught the attack across his arm. The blow stunned the young Starfinder.

Although Wesley was in danger, Nuil determined he had things well in hand. She summoned a trio of magic missiles and sent them hurtling into the hunter which Switch was engaged with.

One of Xavra’s personal guards disappeared from view and activated a force field which covered the entrance to the entire chamber. Nuil sprung out of the way just as the field came to life. The PCs found themselves trapped in the larger chamber with the three hunters. Xavra, his guard, and any chance of escape were out of the PC’s reach now.

Additionally, a square-shaped circuit board drifted out of hidden slots in the wall. Energy flared around them and they turned to face the PCs. Nuil recognized them as constructs known as a guardian disk. One of them flew at Nuil and slashed through her side. As it cut through her, electricity leapt from the disk and shocked her. This left her dazzled.

The hunter engaged with Switch tried to back away but Switch struck him down. The android turned to the next hunter and taunted, “You’re next!”

The second of Xavra’s personal guard raised his battle bow and fired at Switch. The PCs were surprised when the arrow flew through the force field unhindered but the ranged attack missed Switch.

Captain Garrity turned to his Kroo (the large insectile humanoid who were tired up with him) and freed them from their bonds so they could join the battle.

Zaleria summoned her solar cutlass and moved to the other side of the guardian disk to flank it with Nuil and slashed through the construct. Solar energy began to gather around her and she became photon attuned.

The third praying hunter withdrew to cover and drew his battle bow. He intended to fire on Zaleria but rolled a critical fumble. He tripped on a small object on the floor and the bow snapped back across his arm, causing damage to himself.

A second guardian disk emerged from the wall and closed on Wesley. It slashed at him but the agile mechanic dodged the attack.

From the upper levels, Cypher had finished his investigation and ventured down to rejoin the crew. The sounds of blaster fire drew him through the Temple Found until he reached the force field which cut him off from the battle. He began looking around to find a way through the barrier.

Xavra continued to try to influence the crew from behind the safety of the force field. “Really, there is no cause for this. You’ve taken your price in blood already. Throw down your weapons and let me open your eyes to the wonder, the might of the one who destroys all, the Devourer. You could join me. You could join the cultists. They told me where they’re going. I could share all of this with you. Become the children of the Star Eater.”

Nuil quipped, “I guess we need him alive so we know where they’re going.”

Wesley maneuvered TIM-X to fire its jump jets and Wesley grabbed the drone as it was flying by. Wesley tried to slap a sticky bomb on the hunter’s face but instead dropped it at his feet. He flipped the hunter off as TIM-X momentum carried them both away. The sticky bomb exploded. The guardian disk slashed through the glue as it exploded but the hunter was not so fortunate. The compound covered him and he was stuck firm where he stood.

Switch charged the hunter who had harmed himself with his bow and slashed through the hunter’s center. The android smiled, “I said you were next.”

Ryder closed on Switch’s new target but could not find the perfect position so he took cover behind Switch. He fired his laser pistol at the wounded hunter but missed. He still yelled for his teammates to “Get em!”

The hunter trapped by the sticky grenade busied him with freeing himself.

Nuil cast jolting surge on the guardian disk trapped between herself and Zaleria. Electricity surged through the construct and it began to short circuit.

Xavra’s personal guard fired at Captain Garrity but the arrow went wide.

The guardian disk sliced twice at Nuil but missed.

Cypher found a somewhat hidden terminal and quickly hacked in. The system was a fairly simple tier 2 computer with two modules. The first controlled the force field and the second was a common environmental control module. He quickly dropped the barrier, activated his haste module and ran up to hide behind Switch. He had spotted a second terminal across the room which might open the second force field protecting Xavra but he could not reach there quick enough to avoid fire from Xavra’s personal guard.

With the ysoki out of sight, Xavra guard targeted Zaleria and peppered her with arrows which penetrated her armor. This surprised everything as archaic weapons normally did not fare well against modern armor.

Much to the crew’s surprise, Captain Garrity ordered one of his Kroo to grab Wesley. Wesley’s performance wasn’t quite convincing enough so the Free Captain told the Kroo to make him bleed. The Kroo obeyed and squeezed Wesley enough to bruise. Captain Garrity pricked his own finger and drew the symbol of the Devourer on his own forehead.

The pirate walked to the middle of the room and declared, “Xavra, mine eyes have seen the glory! Welcome me into your cult and we can let the Devourer destroy this universe together.”

Xavra was fooled by the charade, “I’m glad to see one of you have listened to wisdom and turned to the ways of the Devourer. But first, we must subdue the rest of these threats. Help dispatch and then we will talk brother.”

Garrity pressed his advantage, “The messages from the Devourer are fast diminishing. You’ll need them translating soon if you intend to breed.”

Xavra considered Garrity’s words and nodded. He ordered his guard to drop the force field. Garrity nods to Zaleria. She had seen him pull this kind of trick before.

She chuckled and was moderately distracted as she advanced on the first guardian disk. It took a swipe at her and missed. She returned the favor and smashed the construct hard. It exploded into sparkles.

The hunter which battled Switch dropped his battle bow and drew his kish blade. He swung the blade violently. Switch parried the first attack and the hunter’s second swung too low (critical fumble) and he cut through his own foot, removing his toes. The hunter howled in agony. The goddess had forsaken him!

The remaining guardian disk flew at Zaleria and slashed through the air but the solarian parried the attacks with her solar cutlass.

Xavra’s guard obeyed his orders and dropped the force field. As soon as it dropped, Zaleria suddenly felt the presence of another solarian who was attuned. Xavra stepped out, raised his arms, and used his mastery of gravitons to dilate time. This provided him with a second turn each round.

Wesley drew his laser pistol and fired on the hunter he had trapped with the sticky grenade previously. He acted like the shot was accidental and it caught the hunter in the left leg (critical hit). The hit caught him on fire and hobbled him. He ordered TIM-X to play along and the drone started acting like it was grappled as well and fired at the hunter but missed.

Switch tired of the imbecilic hunter he was facing and he swung his blade parallel across the hunter’s shoulders. His foe’s head came free from its body and the hunter fell dead to the floor. The android turned and stepped up to Xavra.

Ryder did not want to be that close to Xavra so he retreated to where Nuil and Zaleria were fighting the guardian disk. He fired back at the leader of the hunters but he missed.

Nuil retreated up the wall and summoned her nano microbot swarm. She surrounded Xavra with the swarm.

One of Xavra’s guards moved down to clear his line of sight around the swarm and fired at Zaleria. The arrow hit, broke through her armor, and pierced her side.

Xavra, now fully graviton attuned turned gravity against Cypher and Switch. He lifted the pair into the air and slammed them down. Both managed to catch themselves and resisted the effects of the attack.

Cypher did not want to risk that kind of attack again and rushed across the room to the far side. He still turned and projected holograms around Xavra to further distract him (trick attack) and fired. His shot missed.

GM’s Note: The dice were not kind to Bill this session. Other than making some good checks to hack he missed with almost every attack. Bill thinks he misses most of the time but statistically he hits as much as he misses. That is, until this session which was a fluke. I’ve been watching closely as we played and the next two game sessions went back to normal (with him actually hitting more often than not during our last session). Sorry Bill! These things happen.

Xavra’s second guard wanted to attack Nuil but could not get a shot on her. So he turned to Zaleria and hit her with another arrow. Poor Kymber. I was turning Zaleria into a pin cushion this session.

Captain Garrity, who still had the kish fooled, moved to get behind them and took shelter near the nav computer.

Zaleria, now fully photon attuned, she moved up until she was the same distance between Xavra and Xavra’s guard. She exploded with solar energy and engulfed the area in flames. Xavra could not avoid the attack and took the brunt of it but  his guard managed to avoid some of it.

The guardian disk used the distraction to attack Ryder but missed.

Xavra drew his kish axe and unleashed a flashing strikes attack against Switch. The android barely managed to parry the attacks.

Wesley shoved his way free from the Kroo. He leveled his rifle at the hunter but the hunter slashed him before he could fire. His shot flew wide but he suffered the penalty of firing in close range.

Switch launched a pair of attacks of his own against Xavra. Xavra easily parried the attacks but smiled nonetheless, “Yes, yes. You will be a worthy opponent.” Switch could not tell if Xavra was messing with him or not.

Ryder had grown tired of the guardian disk and blasted it. He caught the disk just right (critical hit) and the guardian disk exploded into purple sparkles. He then rushed across the room to engage Xavra’s guard who was firing at Nui.

The hunter tried to stab Wesley but the mechanic was still be flailed around by the Kroo and he could not connect.

Xavra’s second guard rushed all the way to the bottom of the room to where he could see Nuil. Fortunately, this left him with no time to attack before other acted.

Xavra ignored the rest of the crew and continued his assault on Switch. He missed with his first attack but connected with the second, gravely wounding Switch.

Nuil split up her swarm and began to move them so they would cover multiple enemy targets. She fired at the guard who now threatened her but missed.

Cypher turned his attention on the guard who was targeting Nuil. He hit and began taunting the guard to draw his ire.

The second guard continued to follow Xavra’s orders and rushed away from Ryder drawing an attack but the envoy missed. When he closed some of the distance between himself and Nuil he raised his bow and fired. It missed and went careening down the hallway.

Captain Garrity, aiming to misbehave, ordered the Kroo to attack the kish. The first Kroo draws a pirate-looking tactical dueling sword and attacked the hunter threatening Wesley. The other Kroo advanced on the hunter which was firing on Nuil and swung at him. Unfortunately, neither Kroo particularly excelled at swordplay and both missed with their attacks.

Garrity pulled the pin on his grenade and tossed it. He tossed the pin, not the grenade. He suddenly realized his mistake and began juggling the live grenade back and forth.

Zaleria retreated up to the nav computer and looked around. She saw the stick figures and runes. She began working on the nav computer, trying to figure out how to access it.

Xavra pressed the attack on Switch and penetrated the androids defenses again. Blue goo began to ooze from Switch’s newly opened wounds.

Wesley maneuvered TIM-X to fire his grapple gun at the hunter which harried him but the grapple hook missed. Wesley tried to open fire on the hunter but forgot to back up. The hunter swung on the mechanic but Wesley dodged this time. Wesley quickly took a guarded step back from the hunter.

Switch launched a vicious full attack at Xavra but only connected with one of the attacks and slashed across Xavra’s upper left arm.

The tides had turned and the battle was not going well for the crew.

Ryder encouraged Switch (and restored Stamina points in the process). He then ordered the crew to “get” Xavra.

The first hunter being attacked by the Kroo turned on the huge insect and slashed through it and caused it grievous damage.

The first of Xavra’s guard was tempted to attack Cypher but fired at Nuil instead and missed.

Xavra continued to pummel Switch, draining the life from him with each subsequent hit.

Nuil sent the swarms back to Xavra to keep him covered if he only tried to take a guarded step away from Switch. She fired at the guard targeting her and hit him.

Cypher taunted the guard who ignored him and used his trick attack but missed with his pistol.

The second guard turned on the second Kroo and slashed through his carapace.

Garrity finally dropped the juggled grenade and it went off. The blast hit Zaleria, the nav computer, and himself but did minimal damage. He finally aimed one of his holdout blasters and fired but missed.

Zaleria brushed off the shrapnel from the grenade explosion and poked her head around the corner. She shot at Xavra but could not hit him.

Xavra contemplated moving to get away from Nuil’s nanobot swarm but he decided not to risk it. He swung at Switch twice again but only connected on the second one. Finally, I worked my way through Switch’s mountain of stamina and started to get into his hit points. 🙂

Wesley blasted the hunter and did good damage but his foe still stood. These kish had proven they were tougher than anything else the crew had faced on Istamak.

Switch finally began to feel the pain and reconsidered his strategy. Instead of throwing multiple attacks at Xavra he focused his skill and energy on one more accurate blow. He quickly studied Xavra’s defenses and swung hard when he saw an opening and tore into Xavra’s side.

Wesley’s hunter (because at this point, it really was Wesley’ hunter to deal with) struck one of the Kroo and killed it. He backed away from TIM-X. The other Kroo began to whimper.

The first guard pondered who to attack between Nuil and Cypher. Cypher said, “Hey dumbass, over here.” The taunt was too much and he threw himself at the ysoki. He missed and Cypher quipped, “My grandmother shoots better than that.” The hunter threw down his bow in frustration and drew his kish blade.

Xavra bellowed at Garrity, “The deception has become obvious!”

Garrity agreed, “Took you long enough…”

Xavra tried to move away from Switch but the android quickly attacked him and caught his leg. Not allowed to move, Xavra unleashed a supernova where he stood. Only Switch was caught in the blast and it drove him to his knees.

Switch groaned, “Man, a healing grenade would be really great right now.”

Nuil heard the grumbling request and pulled a healing grenade from her belt. She tossed it so only Switch was in the blast radius and he received some healing.

Cypher positioned himself between the guard and Nuil. Then he decided to fire on Xavra with a trick attack but missed with the attack.

The second guard attacked the sole remaining Kroo but missed the big bug man.

Garrity fired up his second holdout blaster and fired with both at Xavra but missed. The Kroo attacked the guard in retaliation but missed.

By now Zaleria was fully attuned again and went supernova. Xavra tried to avoid the attack but caught the brunt of it again. He wavered a bit but managed to stay on his feet.

Xavra quickly cleared his head and attacked Switch with a fury. He could not hope to reach the ranged combatants as long as Switch kept him locked in place. He missed with the first attack but cut into Switch’s clavicle with the second one (critical hit). Switch dropped unconscious. Emboldened by the victory against the android, Xavra moved to face the other solarian, Zaleria.

The guard cornered by the Kroo and TIM-X swung on the combat drone and cleaved a chunk of machinery from him.

The other guard, still feeling insulted by Cypher, attacked the ysoki but missed.

Xavra launched flashing strikes at Zaleria and tore into her.

Nuil contemplated her options but decided hitting Xavra was the best option. He shot Xavra in the back and yelled, “See! If I can do it, you can do it!” The crew was inspired!

Cypher missed… again.

The last kish hunter cuts down the Kroo.

Garrity fired with his holdout blaster but missed. Things were quickly going downhill fast!

Xavra went supernova! Garrity evaded part of the blast but Zaleria caught it full on. She dropped unconscious.

Wesley goes all “SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!” and sprayed bullets all over but didn’t hit anything. TIM-X used a much more precise approach and slammed the hunter with his swoop hammer. The hunter went down.

Switch regained consciousness and threw himself at Xavra but missed.

Ryder recognized the direness of the situation and walked to within range of Xavra, pulled a pin on a grenade, and let it go off in his hand. Garrity ducked for cover. Ryder took the full blast. Xavra cringed and caught shrapnel but managed to hang on.

The first guard slashed Cypher.

Xavra stumbled towards Garrity. Switch swung on the kish but missed. Xavra threw flashing strikes at Garrity and struck him down.

Nuil wanted a sure thing. She dropped the nanobot swarm. She screamed, “I’m done! I’m just done!” She conjured a trio of magic missiles which slammed into Xavra. The missiles tear right through him and kill him.

The remaining kish are demoralized and drop their weapons. The battle is over and the crew has won.

THE BATTLE ENDS

Xavra has been defeated. The PCs have reclaimed the Temple Found. Tune in next time to see more!

End of session.

Watch the game session at https://youtu.be/DlqJfkZUnnY.

Pain shot through Cypher’s body. The PCs spotted the glint off the optics of a sniper rifle before it disappeared from the ruins atop a building near the House of Renewal.

Cypher yelled, “Hey Li, you’re slipping! There’s a time that would have gone through my forehead instead of my shoulder.”

The taunt drew no response. The PCs could chase Li or retreat to their ship. With little time to debate the matter, the group decided to chase Cypher’s wayward protégé. Cypher activated his haste circuit and used his jump jets to leap to the top of the ruined building where Li had fired from. Switch swept wide along the street to flank Li. Ryder and Nuil rushed along the southern edge of the building to cover the other side.

Cypher landed on the dilapidated roof just in time to see a cable hung over the far edge of the building. The operative rushed to the edge and saw Li had rappelled to the ground. Ryder and Nuil came around the southern edge of the building and the three PCs saw Li rush into the lower level of the next ruined building.

Cypher quickly drew his pistol and scored a hit on Li. She had redonned her armor when she escaped from the Raza but had not found the time to repair the damage from their previous skirmish. The laser blast did not slow her down and she disappeared from sight again.

Ryder fired up his comms and informed the whole team of Li’s location. Switch acknowledged and charged forward to close the gap. Ryder also warned everyone to keep an eye out for traps. Li had apparently planned this escape route which made it dangerous. Cypher leapt to the roof of the building into which Li had fled and began looking for a way to descend quickly. Meanwhile, Switch scouted the north side of the second building watching for Li to emerge.

Ryder cautiously checked the opening through which Li charged and he spotted an explosive tripwire. On the north side of the building, Switch also looked for traps but failed to notice the tripwire there. A jury-rigged frag grenade exploded next to him but Switch is so damn tough he ignored the blast (low damage roll plus Switch’s damage resistance = no damage). Cypher located an elevator shaft (sans elevator) and deftly dropped down to the lowest level of the building to rejoin the chase below.

The PCs all reached Li at the same time. The bounty hunter spun and fired on Ryder but the attack flew wide. She then turned and prepared to jump out an open window. Switch blitzed through the building while Ryder sprayed bullets in Li’s direction. He barely caught her and she spun. Nuil summoned her magic and cast a grease spell which coated Li and the area between her and the window.  Switch slammed into Li and wrapped her. The pair slid through the grease and slammed into the wall.

Li demanded Switch release her and struggled against the vesk’s grip. Cypher asked her what she was trying to accomplish and Li admitted she just missed. If she had hit Cypher in the head she would have gotten what she wanted. Ryder commented on how disappointed he was with Li’s efforts to escape. He expected better from one of Cypher’s protégé.

The PCs wondered if they should end Li now or try to detain her again. Cypher tried to question Li and she made her intentions very plain. She was going to keep coming after the ysoki until she ended him. He asked what he had done which made her want to kill him so badly. She responded it was what he didn’t do. Cypher never went back to rescue her after they split to escape the Guild. She reminded him about what the Guild had done to her when they caught her.

Cypher insisted he had gone back to look for her but she was gone. She wondered aloud, “Did you really come back? I don’t think you did.”

Cypher responded, “You know, maybe not physically.”

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT!

Li felt even more justified.

Ryder quipped, “Li, I think you deserve at least another shot.” However, he insisted she clean herself up first because she wasn’t good enough when she was on the juice. She insisted she couldn’t do that and Ryder reminded her that they would help her. Nuil insisted Li needed to get clean before she killed Cypher. In the meantime, she suggested taking Li back to the ship because they had things to do.

Back at the Raza, they found Wesley and Zaleria had given the ship a shakedown and it was fully secure. Wesley rigs one of the rooms so Li could not escape a second time. The rest of the group recognized the flaws in his work and they managed to properly secure the bounty hunter.

The group returned to the Temple Found. Ryder recalled the air ducts Wesley had found with Canary previously. After some debate, the group decided to enter the facility from the roof. They used Canary to scout through the duct system and found a dimly lit hallway below them. Retrieving the drone, they dropped into the hallway below.

In the hallway, the PCs found 2 massive metal doors, a smaller door east of them, and more hallways further to the west. The small door revealed a staircase which led to a lower level. Eventually, the temptation of the giant doors got the best of them and they could not resist. They opened one of the doors and discovered a large fire elemental who was very happy to be freed. He was also ready to cause some mayhem.

The fire elemental pummeled Drez with its fiery fist. It then thanked the PCs for freeing it. The kishaleen had imprisoned the elemental to power the Foundry and the creature admitted to have some pent up rage. Cypher tried to reason with the elemental but it admitted it had been waiting a long time to smash a puny mortal and it didn’t much care which puny mortal that was. Drez took that as his queue and slashed through the elemental with its doshko.

On the far side of the room, the floor rumbled underneath Nuil’s and surged upwards. A large earth elemental had been hiding in the floor and it attacked Switch and Nuil. The elemental rolled a critical fumble (first use of the critical fumble deck) and smashed its hand into the floor. The impact smashed his craggy fist. For the next round, the creature had to use a full round attack to make a single attack.

Ryder blasted the fire elemental, activated his haste circuit, ordered the party to “Get em!” and then retreated around a corner.

Nuil summoned her nanobot swarm and surrounded the large earth elemental. Then she climbed up the wall and retreated around the same corner as Ryder.

Cypher joined Ryder and Nuil behind cover. He then summoned holograms to distract the earth elemental (trick attack) and blasted the creature with his aphelion laser pistol.

A large air elemental appeared in front of the trio undercover and unleashed a wind attack against Ryder. The quick-moving envoy dodged the attack!

The fire elemental tries to smash Drez but the vesk soldier was too quick on his feet and he dodged.

The creature left itself vulnerable and Drez slashed all the way through the monster. That was 81 points of damage crit and it was epic.

The earth elemental swung wildly at Switch (penalty for multi-attack, the penalty for the off-target, penalty for Nuil’s swarm) and his attacks amounted to nothing but futility.

From under the second door, a pool of water began to flow and the PCs finally knew where the inevitable water elemental was hidden.

Ryder used his clever attack and blasted the air elemental (making it flat-footed). Ryder used this opportunity to rush past the monster to find safer space on the other side of the room.

Nuil crawled along the ceiling to move away from the air elemental as well. She then fired back on the air elemental but didn’t do enough damage to harm it. She split her swarm to distract all of the elementals (including the water elemental which was forming).

Cypher, not to be left out, cleared out of the hallway and got farther away from the air elemental. He decided to focus on earth elemental and blasted it knocking it down to 2 hit points.

The air elemental rushed towards Nuil and Switch took a swipe at it. The android hit the elemental and stopped it from moving. Electricity arced off of his weapon and electrocuted the earth elemental for 6 points of damage. It resisted 5 points and took 1 point, bringing it down to 1 hit point.

The “One Hit Point Wonders” strike again!

Switch followed up the opportunity attack with his own turn and smashed the air elemental again causing 1 additional point of damage to the earth elemental, destroying it.

Drez charged into the air elemental and finished it off with a solid strike. Drez broke wind…

At this moment, enough water had finally pooled into the room and the water elemental reformed itself. It bashed Switch with two watery fists.

Ryder turned on the water elemental and opened fire with his laser pistol and a Get em!

Nuil retreated into the far hallway again for cover and blasted the water elemental with her laser pistol. The PCs discovered this elemental was vulnerable to fire when it took extra damage from her attack.

Cypher threw his holograms at the water elemental and mowed it down with his laser pistol. He crit the creature for 56 points of damage (it had 57 hit points left). It was vulnerable so it took additional damage and was destroyed.

The PCs opened the second door. Examining the two rooms, they realized the rooms were rigged to slowly absorb the energy of the elemental and would convert it into electricity to power the Foundry. In the room, they found an ancient kishaleen x-ray visor. They realized they could modify the device to work for a two-eyed creature and stopped for an hour to do so. Everyone took a short rest while they worked.

They decided Nuil would be the best to carry the device. They moved to the additional hallways to the west and explored a series of doors they found there. Nuil put the new visor to good use and scanned the rooms through the walls. These appeared to be offices which had not been accessed in quite some time. The last door led out to the roof but junk and rubble had collected outside the door making it unpassable.

Cypher checked the terminals in the room and was able to access them. They confirm their suspicions about the Temple Found being the Foundry where the Stellar Degenerator was studied. However, any valuable data about the superweapon would be found elsewhere in the Foundry in a secure repository.

Fascinated with the new visor, Nuil walked the hallway and wandered down to the end of the hallway to look through cubicle walls the PCs had spotted there. She spotted a snarling wild creature which was looking in the PC’s direction and sniffing the air.

Nuil identified the creature as an eohi although this specimen was much larger than other eohi she had studied. At some point, the kishaleen must have brought these creatures here before the collapse of their empire. She yelled out to her comrades for assistance.

Cypher ran around the corner and Nuil pointed at the cubicle in which she had seen the creature. Within a good line of sight, Cypher drew his grenade launcher and skillfully fired a grenade into the cubicle from above. Although he could not see the creature, it howled in pain, and the operative was sure he had hit his mark.

The eohi climbed up the cubicle wall and leapt at Nuil. It brought its fists down to smash her but Switch stepped forward and hit the creature (using Bodyguard) knocking it off target. Nuil was spared from the eohi’s fury.

Drez charged the eohi and slashed through it but did not manage to kill it. He howled, “Leave my friend alone!”

Nuil cast Inject Nanobots and slammed her fist into the side of the eohi’s neck. The creature instantly began to froth at the mouth and shake its head violently. It was confused and Nuil backed up five feet.

Ryder leaned around the hallway corner and rained fire down upon the eohi. He scored a crit and caused 69 points of damage to the creature, destroying it.

It was a good night for PC crits, no doubt.

Switch moved farther into the room and spotted a second eohi. He charged into the monster and provoked from a third eohi which was hiding in the cubicles. The eohi crit Switch but was not able to trip the soldier as he went by. Switch smashed into the second eohi but fumbled his attack. He spun out of control and part of his armor popped open lowering his KAC by 2 until he finds time to repair it.

A fourth eohi comes around the cubicle wall and spots Switch. It double moves and flanks Switch.

The third eohi slams Switch again with its fists. It tried desperately to knock Switch down to make him more vulnerable but the soldier managed to stay on its feet.

Cypher loaded another grenade and ran around the edges of the cubicles. He quickly launched his holograms at the closest target (the fourth eohi) and fired his laser pistol. He hit and the creature howled in pain.

The second eohi (flanking Switch with the fourth eohi) clawed at Switch but could not hit the soldier even with the advantage.

Drez could hear the sounds of battle along the southern edges of the room and run in that direction. As it turned a corner, it saw the second eohi attacking Switch. Before he could act, a hidden kish with a drawn battle bow fired on Drez but the arrow bounced off Drez’s armor. Drez taunted the archer feebly and vowed to deal with him soon enough. Cypher was embarrassed by the taunt.

Ryder followed Cypher in and clever attacked the same eohi which the operative had attacked but he missed. He followed this with a “Get em!” and spent a resolve point to affect all the creatures he could see.

Nuil climbed up the wall and used a spell hack on her crossbow. She shot the third eohi and her arcing surge spell triggered from the attack. Electricity ripped through her target and the eohi which stood next to it.

Switch cleaved the two eohi Nuil had attacked. He hit the first eohi but fumbled the second attack. Somehow he managed to tangle up his weapon in his own legs and tripped himself. He failed his fortitude save and when his face smashed into the floor, his eyes were filled with refuge. He was blinded for 2 rounds.

With Switch on the ropes, the fourth eohi which Cypher and Ryder had attacked, turned on them and charged towards Ryder. It smashed into the envoy, crit him with its attack, and knocked him prone.

The third eohi moved into a flank around Switch and tried to hit him but Switch managed to fend off the attack.

Cypher tried to protect Ryder and fired at the eohi which had knocked the envoy prone but he missed.

The eohi closest to Drez turned on him and slashed his legs out from underneath him.

Drez quickly jumped to his feet and dodged the eohi’s attack of opportunity. The vesk slashed through the eohi in retaliation.

The kish climbed across the wall, no longer satisfied to wait for an opportunity to ambush the PCs, and leapt into melee range with Cypher and Ryder. He slashed with his battle axe through Ryder and struck Cypher with his cleaving attack.

Ryder used his clever attack against this new threat and shot him at point-blank range. Now the kish was flat-footed and Ryder was able to jump to his feet and back away to a safe distance.

Nuil, using her x-ray visor, spotted the perfect place in the middle of the cubicles to drop a grenade. She tossed it over the cubicle wall and caught two of the eohi and the kish in its blast radius.

Switch pushed himself to his feet and took a defensive posture to protect himself while he was vulnerable.

The eohi which had charged Ryder leapt over the wall and continued to follow him. It lashed out at the envoy but missed.

Cypher activated his holographic clones and 2 extra Cyphers popped up next to him. He then backed away from the kish and moved back into the hallway outside the cubicle room.

The eohi fighting Drez slashed through his legs again and knocked him prone a second time. Drez cursed the creature!

Drez jumped to his feet again and the eohi clawed through Drez’s shoulder. The soldier slashed through the eohi with his doshko but failed to kill the creature.

The kish climbed up on top of the cubicle wall and fired his battle bow at Ryder and impaled him with an arrow.

Ryder stepped back from the closest eohi carefully and used his clever attack on the creature. He mowed it down and killed it.

Nuil climbed across the ceiling to find the right position to hit the kish and the closest eohi. She unleashed a second arcing surge, this time from herself, and blasted both targets. Only the eohi managed to avoid ‘some’ of the damage.

The kish bellowed, “Why did you do that?”

Cypher taunted, “Cause you’re a dick.”

Switch, still trying to clear the debris from his eyes, went into a total defensive stance until he could restore his vision.

The injured eohi which had been dancing back and forth between Switch and Ryder returned to the soldier as his target and slashed with his claws. Switch, blind but not helpless, heard the attack coming and managed to avoid it.

Cypher repositioned himself and threw his holograms at the kish but failed to distract him. He still managed to hit him with his laser pistol. Cypher spent a Resolve Point to ensure the kish was off-target anyway.

Meanwhile, the eohi which was continuing to pound of Drez missed with his attack and Drez was not knocked prone again. Drez wound up his attack and dropped the creature once and for all. The soldier then leapt through the air and landed next to the kish.

The kish slashed through Drez’s armor with his battle axe. Vesk blood covered the cubicle walls!

Nuil conjured three magic missiles which slammed into the kish. The kish looked back at Nuil and wondered if he should ignore the vesk and go up the wall after the magic user.

Switch finally cleared the debris from his eyes and tore through the last eohi with his blade and killed it.

Cypher made his holograms dance around the kish to distract him and shot a hole through his shoulder. The kish attacker was barely hanging in there.

Drez asked the group if they wanted him to keep the kish alive. The vesk soldier tried to knock the kish out but failed to hit him.

Ryder offered surrender to the kish but the warrior refused. He slashed through Drez with his battle axe and cleaved into Switch as well. He then tried to make a quick getaway. Switch and Drez swung on him as he went and Drez connected with his doshko, killing the kish.

Weary from battle, the group searched the room and took a short bit to rest before they continued on. Nuil checked the crew and administered first aid where it was needed.

They found some baubles hidden in the cubicles which they estimated were valued around 2,000 credits to the right buyer.

END OF SESSION

Watch us play this session on YouTube at https://youtu.be/U5B3EFZHLXI.

The crew left the collapsed Securitech office behind and ventured to the edge of the earth mote where Drez and Zaleria waited for them in the hovering Raza. Drez tried to land the ship but lost control. Wesley quickly accessed the ship’s flight controls remotely and corrected its trajectory before it crashed into the earth mote.

Once on board, the PCs stopped to ponder their next destination. They decided to visit the House of Renewal before heading to the Temple Found. Somehow they also decided the ship needed an Artificial Intelligence and Wesley worked on his “special projects” during the quick trip to the House of Renewal. In route, they also took a short rest.

The external portions of the House of Renewal reminded Nuil of medical facilities from her homeworld. As they approached, Wesley sent Canary to scout the area. Wreckage and ruins had crashed down around much of the building which caused damage and portions of the building to collapse around the edges. Switch inspected the front doors, found they were not locked and heard some rustling noises on the other side of the doors.

They entered and found themselves in a ruined waiting room. Charcoal drawings covered the walls and two kish warriors were loitering inside. The warriors were startled by the PCs and drew their weapons in alarm. Quick thinking, Ryder intervened and talked the warriors down from a fight. His approach worked and bloodshed was avoided.

Nuil mentioned Tyzael which caused tensions to rise again. When last they spoke with Hoyfeq, Tyzael was outcast and they had orders to attack her and her people on sight. Ryder tried to reason with the warriors one last time and managed to talk them down once and for all. Wisdom prevailed. One of them let it slip they had been waiting for too long. The other told him to hush.

Intrigued, Ryder pressed and offered the PC’s help. The warriors considered his words and confess they had come to the House of Renewal with two of their friends who were injured in the battle with the Cult of the Devourer. Their friends had gone into the holy site and if worthy, they would be healed. Nuil asked what the rules of the site were. The lead warrior explained that if the individual meditated before entering the inner temple and found balance, the ancestors would deem them worthy and heal them. Ryder was confident his team would be found worthy and could help. He then eased the transition for Cypher to enter the room (having become fully aware of the effect ysoki had on the locals after their encounter with the cultists). Nuil asked the names of their friends and was told the two who went inside were Hien and Tzuyu.

The PCs searched the room for any systems to access (functioning or otherwise) but found nothing of use. The building was lit but there was no network connectivity. However, they found they could interact to a limited extent with the powered systems around them.

Based on the descriptions of the effects of the House of Renewal by the warriors, Nuil recalled similar technologies on her homeworld but noted they were rare and expensive. She asked the warriors what to do with their friends when the group found them. They answer as expected but they mention an ill fate which sounded suspicious to the group. The warriors explained if their friends were unworthy they would be Noshku, a word which only Nuil could translate as similar to “rebuilt.”

Drez opened the door into the next area and found a short hallway mostly blocked by the collapsed ceiling and junk. Additional doors exited the hallway to the north and south. Above the junk, Wesley noticed some air duct connected to the rest of the facility. He decided to send the drone forward to scout further inside. He managed to navigate the tight duct system and found a darkened room. Canary picked up low levels of radiation. He looked around for a bit before movement flashed across the camera. He quickly retreated.

Through the northern door, the PCs found a thoroughly scavenged storage room. Inside they found a techno-magic hybrid device which Nuil identified as an Mk II Ability Crystal.

Through the southern door, they found a “receptionist’s area” with another door which led south. There was some paperwork left in the room but little of value to them.

In the next area, they found lockers covered in more charcoal drawings. Wesley suspected they were close to the area where he had seen movement in the darkness and he warned Drez to be careful. The room looked promising for loot but they quickly realized the room had already been looted.

Drez approached the pile of junk in the southeast corner. A pylon was rigged to impale the next person who approached too closely. Drez spotted the attack at the last second and rolled with it but still took 70 points of damage when it struck him. Fortunately, the soldier had 72 points of stamina. The wind was knocked from his body but he survived. The blow would have killed almost anyone else in the crew. The group took a short rest so Drez could recover. He had never been struck so hard in his life before.

Recovered from the trap they went through the door Wesley suspected led into the dark room. The crew planned for a bit before they decided for Wesley to overload the lights in the room when they opened the door. Wesley hacked the lights, Drez opened the door, and the lights suddenly grew in intensity and then exploded. There were three creatures inside and two of them looked up at the lights and were dazzled by Wesley’s attack.

[[ The battle begins at the 1 hour 18 minutes 30-second mark of the video. ]]

Drez charged past the first “rebuilt” kish and it smashed him with a tentacle as he went by. The blow was nothing compared to the one he just suffered and he shrugged it off. The vesk soldier spun and slashed through the creature’s side with his doshko.

Switch used the opening made by Drez, swept past the first rebuilt, and attacked the second one on the far side of the room. He slammed his weapon into the creature and it wailed on him in return, exchanging blows. The android taunted the vesk with his prowess.

Wesley moved TIM-X into flank the closest rebuilt with Drez and blasted the creature with his projectile weapons. The bullets ripped through the monster and damaged it but the pain of the attack did not seem to register.

Ryder fired on the closest target and encouraged his crew, “Get ’em!”

The third rebuilt closed with Switch and thumped him with a tentacle. Despite being dazzled, the creature still seemed capable of landing attacks against the threatening PCs.

Cypher maintained a safe distance outside the entrance and conjured his holograms to trick attack the closest target. He blasted the creature, knocked it off target and burned away its flesh. Cypher taunted both soldiers having demonstrated his superior operative abilities.

Nuil moved over just enough to see the target Cypher had blasted and summoned her mystic powers. Twin missiles of magic leapt from her hand and slammed into the creature. Under the combined onslaught of multiple attackers, the first rebuilt collapsed and decomposed in a slithering pile of goo and body parts.

Drez charged one of the remaining rebuilt. He was determined to move the creature aware from Switch who Drez knew was quite proficient at cleave attacks. He managed to move the unwieldy beast 5 feet but not far enough to clear Switch’s threat range.

Switch chuckled and cleaved the two adjacent rebuilt, doing more damage than the operative. He quickly taunted Cypher with HIS superior combat skills.

Wesley sent TIM-X to charge the closest rebuilt and yelled, “Flash him!” The combat drone rushed the monster and went crazy. It was a dirty trick but the chaos was lost on the mindless creature. It was not hindered by the automaton but he was taunted by it. The creature turned on the drone. Wesley used the distraction to fire his pistol and tore into the taunted monster.

Ryder moved to fire on the creatures and was also distracted by TIM-X’s display. The envoy fired wide and filled the air with a spray of bullets.

One of the rebuilt tried to back away from the soldiers but Switch clipped its leg. His quick reaction forced the creature to stay where it was and Drez slashed through it with his doshko.

The second rebuilt smashed two tentacles down into TIM-X and drone components went flying all over the place.

New holograms danced through the air but did not distract the rebuilt this time. TIM-X still held the monster’s attention and Cypher missed with he fired his laser pistol.

Nuil stood her ground and conjured a more powerful barrage of three magic missiles and slammed into the creature on which the PCs were focusing their attention. Her magic pummeled the beast but this time the rebuilt was not destroyed by her final attack.

Drez knew the creature could not have much more left in it and stepped into a powerful swing of his doshko and slashed through it. It crumbled into a second pile of goo.

Switch launched a full attack on the sole remaining rebuilt and destroyed it.

The battle ended, the PCs wondered if these creatures were the kish who had been brought here. Nuil examined the remains and determined there was enough mass here to account for three kish.

Now they had time to examine the room in earnest and found a circular metal plate surrounded by stone statues engraved with the holy symbol of Talavet. Nuil recognized this as a base for the kind of healing technology she remembered from her homeworld.

Wesley dismantled the plate and claimed 29 UBPs from the salvage.

Nuil cringed but wondered if she should try to claim the Bio UBPs from the fallen rebuilt. She realized at the last moment their bodies were tainted. In the end, she decided to collect the “volatile” biological material, 212 Bio UBPs with the keyword “mutation.” These should be tracked separately from the other Bio UBPs as Tainted Bio UBPs.

Seeing the damage to TIM-X, Nuil cast Make Whole and repaired 22 points of damage to the drone.

They studied the statues briefly and Cypher realized they represented the ancestors judging those who passed through the chamber.

Drez opened a door in the north wall and found the remaining hallway on the other side of the collapsed ceiling. The hallway had three doors leading north and one door to the east of them leading south.

They checked the first door and found a room which had not been entered in some time. Scavenging the room they found 3 mk III serums of healing.

Through the second door, they found a room similar to the first one but this chamber had been ransacked already.

Through the third door, they found a partially collapsed room with thick dust on the floor. In the dust, there were heavy footprints. They examined them and realized normal footprints had entered the room and something fell in the corner. Then the footprints leading out were much different than the ones leading in. A charcoal drawing was left on the wall by where the figure collapsed. It was a farewell letter from one of the two kish who had come here and been transformed into Noshko.

Cypher quote after rolling a crit on his third (or fourth) Culture check in a row: “I wrote a book about Istamak and its primitive screwheads!”

Amidst the kish’s belongings, they found a masterwork kish battle axe and an ancient kishaleen jet pack (armor upgrade, claimed by Wesley). Nuil noted scraps of clothing which matched scraps of clothing on the rebuilt they had encountered earlier.

The last door was stuck. Nuil summoned her magic again and cast “Knock.” The door popped open safely. Inside, the group found a capsule attached to a console. Nuil recognized it as a Maltur Chamber of Renewal. Offerings like one would found on an altar were laid all across the floor in front of the capsule. Nuil checked the console and realized it was definitely malfunctioning. No matter who stepped inside the chamber, there was a 25% chance they would be mutated into a rebuilt. The problem was found in one of the emitters inside the chamber which would malfunction and bath the patient inside in high levels of radiation which would cause the mutation.

The techies set about repairing the chamber and successfully restored its functions in roughly an hour. They sift through the console’s systems and find it was configured primarily for Kishaleen biology but they find hundreds of species listed in the system including lamertians AND ysoki. The entry for the ysoki indicates they were also an engineered species created by the Maltur. Nuil downloaded all of the data. Everyone accepted this revelation immediately because “how else would rats suddenly walk on two legs?” Cypher was offended.

However, he was more occupied with the potential profits of the chamber of renewal. In a corner, he found a Kishaleen datapad and reconfigured it for his own purposes. It was a Tier 5 computer.

There was one last door in the south wall which led to a mostly collapsed room filled with rubble and junk.

The PCs returned to the warriors who waited at the entrance. Ryder informed them he had communed with their goddess and garnered the favor of their ancestors. No longer would the chamber harm their people and was renamed the Chamber of Nuil now. Ryder instructed the warriors to return to Hoyfeq to tell the chieftain the PCs had retrieved the “magic password” and were on their way to the Temple Found.

As they stepped outside a laser blast hits Cypher and cuts through his shoulder. The PCs had found Li Shao Sho…

END OF SESSION

You can watch the video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/6D_6kdPtNb4.

​Nuil rushed to tend to Kiram wounds. Kiram explained he was keeping watch over the entrance to the Temple Found under Tyzael’s orders. He had seen Hoyfeq plead with Xavra to reopen the doors of the Temple Found but the crazed huntmaster still refused. Kiram confessed he believed Hoyfeq had grown weak and Xavra was now the leader of their people. Tyzael believed Hoyfeq was ashamed he had lost control and unjustly drove Tyzael away from the tribe when she forced the issue. Tyzael revealed herself as a mystic and healed Karim’s remaining wounds.

While the group debated what to do next Nuil studied the corpses of the sharpwings and gathered 174 Bio UBPs.

Cypher Quote: “That’s your plan!?! That’s not even 12% of a plan!”

Ryder asked where they could find Hoyfeq and Tyzael said they would find him at the Temple Found or north of there at Hearth.

Wesley Quote: “I think Ryder’s got the gentle touch.”

The group completed its trek to the Temple Found and spotted two warriors standing guard. They noticed the guards were not watching the road as much as they were watching the doors to the temple. Wesley launched Canary to scout the exterior of the temple which drew the attention of the sentries. The effort was not a loss as the young mechanic identified numerous air ducts on the roof of the temple.

The warriors know Tyzael and confront her (and the demons she brought with her). The mystic insisted they should not allow this conflict to divide them but the warriors did not trust the PCs. Fortunately, Nuil managed to convince them the PCs were not the same of the cultists. However, they insisted the group go speak with Hoyfeq.

The group continued their trek and decided to find a place to get some serious rest. At the base level of a building northwest of the Temple Found they found a defensible nook they could shelter in.

Before they sheltered, Wesley noticed one of the warriors from outside the Temple Found had followed them. The PCs brazenly called out their stalker and Wesley/TIM-X fired a warning shot which scared the warrior off.

While resting, Tyzael casts a powerful spell enabling all of the PCs to communicate with the kish. She informed them Talavet had recently blessed her with the knowledge of this spell. At the time, she had not understood while her goddess would share this particular spell with her but she now believed it had been bestowed on her to help the PCs.

Tyzael Quote: “All must prove their worth to the ancestors.”

The group asked her about Istamak, in particular, if her people slept for the entire night. She said they do not and she mused that is one of the mysteries she wondered about. Her people do not follow the cycles of their home. She asked the ancestors about this once and they told her about a people called the Kishaleen but she did not understand most of what they told her.

Eight hours later the sky is still dark but the PCs are well rested. They continued their journey to Hearth. As they approached the settlement, Nuil asked how many people lived there. Tyzael told her there were several hundred in Hearth. Cypher followed this up and asked, “How many are locked up in the temple?” Tyzael admitted she did not know how many hunter Xavra had taken into the temple with him. The operative wondered if Tyzael’s people could take Xavra if the PCs would get the temple open but Tyzael did not believe so. She thought Xavra would have taken the best of her people’s hunters with her and taking the temple by force would be costly in lives. The group decided to stick to their plan of action and speak with Hoyfeq to ask for his help.

Sentries stopped the PCs as they approached Hearth. Once again, Tyzael was informed she was not welcome and the sentries were horrified to see her with the “demons” who had attacked them and defiled the temple. The PCs explained (again) they were not the cultists and eventually convinced the sentries to take a request to Hoyfeq for an audience.

Nuil Quote: “Look, four arms. Not the demons!”

While the group waited for Hoyfeq, the PCs questioned Tyzael more about the situation and the “demons” who came before them. The PCs also told Tyzael a bit about the Devourer who the cultists worshipped.

Hoyfeq, the aged and battle worn chieftain, arrived and stopped 50 yards from the group. He admonished Tyzael for returned to Hearth. She explained she had brought the PCs to help and Hoyfeq bristled at being challenged again. Ryder spoke to the chieftain and Hoyfeq grew angry that Tyzael had shared the kish’s language with them. Ryder bluffed the chieftain and told a story about a prophet who sent them to reunite all of Hoyfeq’s people. He asked for Hoyfeq’s blessing. Hoyfeq, a prideful leader, lied and said he had ordered Xavra to keep the door to the temple shut. He did not like the PCs and he did not want anyone’s help. Cypher called him on his bluff.

Nuil explained the demons had taken a dangerous weapon from the temple, one which could destroy stars. Hoyfeq denied this as a foolish tale. Nuil grew frustrated and Ryder pled for Hoyfeq to take a wiser approach.

Finally, Hoyfeq dropped the façade and admitted he had grown old and weak. He told the group there was a way to open the doors to the Temple Found past down from chieftain to chieftain. There was a place in the Broken Lands where the chieftain could retrieve “magic words” from the ancestors which could open the doors. When he shared this hidden secret, he passed the role of chieftain to Tyzael. He admitted he was too old to make the journey but Tyzael’s allies should be able to survive it.

Cypher Quote: “The Broken Lands? Why is it never the Happy Lands? The Candy Lands? Why is it never the lands of rainbows and puppies?”

On the PCs map, Hoyfeq showed them one of the floating rocks in the northwest corner of Istamak. Ryder wondered aloud if the group should retreat to their ship. This confused Hoyfeq and Ryder explained that once the kish flew in ships like the PCs. Hoyfeq was not sure he believed the tale.

The PCs returned to the Raza to find the gangplank is down and the ship is in disarray. They checked the ship’s systems and discovered Li Shao-Sho managed to free herself. She rummaged through the ship until she found her gear. In a secret compartment in the butt of her rifle, she retrieved more of the drugs she had grown addicted to. She injected herself and then left the ship, disappearing into Istamak. Ryder used the ship’s sensors to scan Istamak but could not locate the wayward bounty hunter. The group debated what to do. In the end, they decided to rely on Tyzael’s hunters to track Li. More than anything, they did not want Li to ruin the work they had already done.

The PCs dropped Tyzael off at Cloudside to begin the hunt for Li and they continued on to the Broken Lands. They quickly found their way to the designated island and circle it. They find there is nowhere to land their ship. Switch maneuvered the ship in close enough for the PCs to drop onto the island. Zaleria and Drez stayed in the ship.

The PCs who ventured onto the island found a building covered in white mold with a sign labeled Securitech. The air is filled with a sweet honey-like smell. Nuil decided to take some samples from the mold (36 Bio-UBPs and the trait Angry). She took a moment to study the mold but did not recognize it’s species (failed check).

The group had the environmental protections of their armor but to be safe, Nuil cast Life Bubble on everyone (which did protect them from some of the threats in this location).

The crew spied in the windows (after cleaning enough of the mold off) and see a reception-like area and a couple conference rooms. Just for good measure, Wesley flew Canary around and above the building to look for other entrances. He found none.

Switch tried to pry open the doors but the mold held firm. Nuil tried to analyze the mold again to see if there was a way to break it free (another failed check, a botch this time). Ryder wondered if it was angry mold and they just had to be nice to it. While the group worked on the puzzle, Switch used his bone blade and cut down the seam of the door. He managed to break it open.

The smell of sickening sweet decay was thick inside the building. Nuil rushed to the mushrooms on the floor but found they weren’t very useful to her. Ryder searched the rest of the area and found some ancient calibration tools. Although worthless, Wesley claimed those.

The PCs passed through the hallway and into the cubicle offices in the northwest corner of the building. The room in the corner was a location for preparing meals and an ancient refrigerating unit which still had power. Wesley extracted the power supply from the unit and 86 UBPs of scrap. Hidden in the back of the unit is a syringe with whirling purple liquid. Nuil identified it as a serum of enhancement (scientist).

Beyond the cubicles they found two offices for a Chief Executive Officer and a Chief Technical Officer. They found a child-sized set of ancient kishaleen armor with stats equivalent to the next level of armor for Cypher.

East of the offices, they found another door grown over with the mold. They use Switch’s “universal key” to open this door as well. Beyond they found a workshop. Wesley walked into the room and stumbled into a hazard. Wiring on one of the workbenches decayed and electrified one of the floor plates. When Wesley walked across it, he closed the circuit and electricity threw him back across the room.

They rummaged through the room and found an ancient kishaleen motion detector. Nuil handed it over to Wesley who needed something to make him feel better after walking into the hazard.

They moved into the southeast room and found another room covered in mold except where two large server mainframes sat. The mold did not grow on the mainframes. The group searched for a means to turn the power on but realized there was no good source. Wesley decided to use the power unit he scavenged and rigs up the system to run for 1 minute (10 rounds). This was not a large window to retrieve the data they needed but Cypher thought it would be long enough.

Wesley powered up the system and the PCs waited 2 rounds for the system to come online. Cypher began running his protocols and immediately ran into resistance. The system gave everyone around the mainframe a slight jolt which stuns them for just a moment. Cypher bravely told everyone to back out of the room and he took Nuil’s serum of enhancement (scientist) which gave him an additional bonus to Computer checks. This enables him to successfully bypass the system’s security protocols. The system gives him a password to access the Foundry.

With the necessary information in hand the search the room one last time and find an ancient kishaleen weapon (equivalent of an ultrathin doshko). Nuil examined the biological material on the floor and identified it as the inner lining of an animal’s stomach. They suddenly realized the mold was more than they realized and they were inside its stomach.

Nuil quickly recognized the creature as a writher swarm, a mobile mold with carnivorous tastes for flesh.

The writher swarm attacked. The battle starts at the 2 hour and 10 minute mark in the video. The PCs opened fire on the swarm and Switch was engulfed by it but they managed to destroy it.

The building began to suddenly collapse around them. The skill challenge to escape the collapsing building begins at the 2 hour 29 minute and 13 second mark.

The group barely managed to escape in time and were battered and worn from the experience. With the password in hand they began the return journey to Tyzael and Hoyfeq.​