Suns of Fortune I: Den and Kin

*Modernity and tradition clash when the crew delves into the tunnels of Selonia...*

## Agents

* Alro
* Eve
* Gristle
* HAX
* Saber Scintel
* Chimagura (chim chim)

## Mission Report

*Summary by Ben*

While investigating the nannarium root trade for the Broker, the team is led to Selonia. They head to the city of Scasmirs Den, landing on a surface spaceport pad before being led by the city’s guard through tunnels to the city proper, well beneath the surface. Gristle chats up the guards, inquiring about any recent goings-on, and one of them reveals that there have been a string of jewel thefts in the city. Normally, there’s no crime in the city, so any sign of danger has some people riled up. On top of that, the thefts involved several murders. Gristle offers the team’s services in investigating the crime, but the guards brush them off for the moment. Otherwise, they seem impressed by the shistvanen and view the party slightly more favorably than other off-worlders.

Down in the den proper, the agents part with the guards, but not before one slips Gristle a datachip containing her comm frequency. Deciding that helping with the investigation might help them establish the nannarium root operation, they first head to the scene of the crime: a jewelry store known as Krystal’s Crystals in the merchant district. After conversing with the owner, they find that a group of selonians had been casing the joint shortly before the theft itself, during which three of the crystals were stolen and several guards were slain. Gristle and HAX convince the owner that the agents are there to help with the investigation in order to establish better relations for their employer. Understanding, the owner has her guards bring in one of the remaining crystals. Saber immediately feels something from the crystal and reaches out, causing the crystal to glow. This startles the guard holding it, causing her to drop the crystal and its casing on the floor, shattering the glass. The other guards step in, alarmed by the noise, and demand to know what’s happening. Gristle and Saber impress upon them the value of the crystals as well as the danger that possessing them presents. The owner is interested in the price, but concerned with the danger and immediately closes the store for the day, ushering the agents out while her guards secure the remaining gem.

Outside, Gristle and Chimchim spot a hooded human woman who had been watching the store from a nearby crowd. As soon as they look over, she flees and Gotham instinctively chases after, but Chimchim stops him and calls for the agents to run. Noting the commotion, some selonian guards move in to stop the agents, but Gristle deflects them onto the supposed thief’s trail, calling out that she was one of the ones responsible for the robberies. Just before the woman fled, Chim recognized the scent of Amunet, and as the guards fan out to find her, Saber uses the force to seek her path, seeing through many of the illusions the inquisitor has sent out to throw her pursuers off. Certain they’re on the correct trail, the group moves after her to one of the tunnels at the edge of the den, where they find a door blocking their way, but the scent persists. Saber finds a poison dart trap rigged to the door’s mechanism, and to save the time required to disarm it, HAX steps in front of the barrel and takes the darts to the chest while Alro disassembles the door mechanism. Chimchim stays hot on the trail, but as they draw closer to their quarry, the tunnel begins to tremble and the path behind them collapses. Saber pulls out his lightsaber to provide some light, but the ringing immediately attracts a massive tunneling worm that bursts into the chamber with them. Chimchim turns to fire at the beast, wounding it severely just as part of the nearby wall collapses, revealing a new passage.

Without anywhere else to run, the agents divert down the new tunnel and soon find themselves in a watery cavern covered in glowing fungus. Chimchim detects something hiding nearby and sends Gotham over to investigate. The wrix discovers a cowering male selonian, and the others quickly come over to question him. He seems frightened and can speak broken basic, but HAX steps in with some understanding of the selonian language and is able to translate. He’d fled his own den, hoping to escape off-planet eventually, clearly dissatisfied with his life on Selonia. Meanwhile, Alro investigates some of the nearby bioluminescent fungus by covering herself in it, and although it doesn’t make her feel very good, it does glow brilliantly. A few moments later, a group of female selonians rush into the cavern and demand that the male be turned over, but Eve steps in and challenges the leader, who takes it as a personal challenge between alpha females, thus initiating some sort of ritual combat. Gristle quietly stims Eve and steps back to watch while the two prepare for their agreed duel. Eve opens with a stunning blow that sends the selonian reeling for a few more swift hits, but she quickly snaps out of it and retaliates with a few brutal strikes from her glaive. The two exchange hits, and a nasty hit to Eve’s arm seems like it might end the duel, but the damage is mitigated before it can cut too deeply into the limb. The selonian is briefly invigorated, but Eve strikes her with another staggering blow and delivers a final hit, knocking the contender into submission. With the ritual acknowledged, the group of females agrees to let the male go, but he will never be allowed back into their den.

Satisfied, the team finds their way back to Scasmirs Den and provides the male selonian with a suitable disguise for extracting him from the city using one of Chimchim’s old coats and some of the fungus from the cavern to hide his scent. Meanwhile, Gristle calls the guard whose frequency he’d acquired earlier and notifies her of the tunnel route that Amunet had taken and goes with Saber to complete their search for a contact in the nannarium root business. Before too long, they find a farming operation that agrees to do some work with the Broker, and they negotiate a fair deal before heading back with the others to safely smuggle the male selonian out and to the stars.