Session 4: Repairs & Research

### Locke's timeshift: conclusion

The Githyanki clock shop clerk says the box Locke opened was handed down to her from her great-grandmother, and has been in her family for many generations. She didn't know what was inside, but she says the Oracle of Cagliari told her to give what was inside to the timeshifted person, because it would help them determine the fate of the galaxy.

Locke asks about the Oracle of Cagliari. The clerk says she is located on Cagliari, which is just over a sector away to the galactic south, and then explains a bit about galactic navigation and draws a crude map of how to get there, by either the more direct route through the Astral Sea or by taking the safer, but longer, path down the Far North Route and then cutting over via the Tyshilro Run. They discuss the broader galaxy a bit, and she mentions the dangerous Blood Stars region and the unexplored Unknown Stars, which span about half the galaxy.

With the manuscript in hand, Locke returns to the Valiant. Locke doesn't show the manuscript to the other party members yet.

### The next morning

After a long rest aboard, the party awakens. It is now Day 4 of the Victory Day festival week on Bral. The party has lots of questions, and they need to repair the Valiant. They also want to see if they can find a way to rescue Deg from the Donjon. The party decides to split up, one half focused on getting repairs done and the other focused on finding answers that will help them in their quests.

### The repair team

Half the party goes to seek a way to repair the ship. Torman believes he can leverage his clan crafter reputation to get a discount on repairs, so they head to the Dwarven District of Bral.

#### Gnome Depot

At the far end of the Dwarven District, they see a carpentry and blacksmithing supply warehouse shop called Gnome Depot. Inside, they meet a shopkeeper clad in an orange tunic, a gnome named Timbo. He tells them that he's happy to supply them all the material they will need, but if they need personnel to repair the ship, he recommends working with the Shipwright's Guild -- they and the Gnome Depot have a kickback arrangement, so working with both can get them a discount.

#### The Shipwright's Guild

The party members then head to the Shipwright's Guild, at the center of the Mid City. Inside, they meet a halfling shipwright named Keena Boffin, who listens to their request. She tells them it will cost about 800 gold for materials and labor to repair their ship, but working with the Gnome Depot can knock it down to 600.

Torman, eager to leverage his clan crafter connections, asks about dwarves in the Guild. A dwarven shipwright named Bhagda Broadriver walks over and takes over the conversation from Keena. Seeing that Torman is an accomplished clan crafter, she happily knocks the price down to only 200 gold, and promises to put several shipwrights on the task, so it should only take two days. The party pays her 100 gold and she requests the party return in two days for the rest. The party discusses bartering, and learns that the focus turret they recovered from the mysterious faction shrike ship is worth 1500 gold.

Bhagda sends shipwrights out to the Docks, and the party members head to the Donjon.

### The research team

The rest of the party splits off to search out information, first about the galaxy, and then about specific questions they have.

#### Elmandar's Star Charts

They first arrive at Elmandar's Star Charts, hoping to purchase some star charts. Elmandar, a mysterious, tall, cloaked elf, tells them that his charts are tremendously expensive, and the party can't afford them. He directs them to the children's learning section, and Menny uses his merchant negotiating skill to negotiate Elmandar down to a price they can afford. They end up buying two star charts, one a broad-strokes map of the galaxy, and the other a zoomed-in view of the northernmost section of the North Quadrant. Each corroborates much of what the clock shop keeper told Locke earlier.

They notice Pryzonis is on the map. Elmandar says yes, it was added to his maps very recently, having only been discovered a few months before. This confuses the party -- months? They thought the planet was unknown, and they'd only arrived yesterday?

Elmandar tells them that some merchant ships picked up signs of destruction from some sort of battle between unknown vessels and followed them to a previously unknown planet, whereupon they made contact with the locals and learned it was called Pryzonis, and that two vessels had traded fire over the world, and one had crashed, but couldn't be located now. Trade was established, and several vessels with refugees actually arrived at Bral about a month later, so there are Pryzonians here now, or at least there were recently. The party realizes that one of the properties of the Cube of Portage is it can fling those who use it forward in time, and realize that must have occurred with them. They've skipped ahead about three months.

Finally, they ask about the Unknown Stars. Elmandar says no one knows what's there -- but, he adds, if they happen to go there, he'd pay handsomely for any new information he can add to his charts. He'd even pay royalties on the sale of each chart to them.

#### Cloaked elf encounter

With the star charts in hand, they head to the Library of the Spheres. On the way, they must cross the Festival Grounds, which are packed with a massive crowd of people trying to get in to watch the jousting in the Arena of Frun, the highlight of Day 4 of the festival. As they push through the crowd, Menny spots a cloaked elf man watching them, and he begins following them. With deft stealth, they lure him into an alley, enclosing him from both sides. Turning to speak with him, the figure dashes up a chimney. The party tries to apprehend him using several spells, but he manages to slip away up the chimney and across the rooftops. Locke notices something he dropped, and finds a tiny glass vial of clear liquid. Locke can tell it is some sort of chemical catalyst or reagant, but cannot determine its exact use, as it can have multiple uses.

#### The Library of the Spheres

The party members finally arrive at the Library of the Spheres. Star hands a dismissive half-orc librarian a list of books, and he goes to retrieve them. He brings back the following:

* *Bribing Your Way To Freedom For Dummies: A Short Primer on the Court Systems of Bral*
* *A Spelltastic History: A Kid's Guide to Spelljamming*
* *Pirates of the North Quadrant*
* *Caring for Your Space Guppy: A Step-By-Step Guide To Keeping Your Miserable Pet Alive, Barely*

He says there are no books on magic at this library, and any technical tomes regarding spelljamming would probably be found at the Mage's Guildhall. Locke asks about ancient Vessic writing, and hands the librarian a scrawled parchment with some characters from the clock shop manuscript. He is suddenly very interested, and brings out a manuscript displaying different eras of Vessic scripts. The earliest matches Locke's manuscript, and the latest looks just like the inscriptions the party has seen on many ruins across Pryzonis...