Session 12: Plotting the Heist

It is the evening of the 2nd to last day of the year 1136 AV.

### Ancient revelations

The party was exploring Ketratown, and they'd just arrived at the Association of Adventurer-Antiquarians and started a conversation with the resident archaeologists there. As they talked to the Antiquarians, their leader walked in: Dr. Farrin Runefar, a Human antiquarian from the University of Telra and the Chief Antiquarian on Ketra.

Dr. Runefar, an expert on the ancient Vessics, was astounded by the armor they'd taken from the elite commander -- it appeared just as ancient Vessic armor had, except it was new, like no handiwork the known galaxy had seen in a thousand years. And the party's descriptions of the black ships at Bral, she marveled, was identical to those the ancient Vessics used, as was their description of the shadowveil. A realization dawned on her: these might not be neo-Vessics at all. After a millennium, somehow, had the Vessic Empire returned?

She came to another realization when the party described where they were from. The Vessics, she explained, had hidden prison planets all over the galaxy. They wiped the memories from dissidents and political prisoners and exiled them to these planets. Several had been found since the fall of the Empire, all dotted with ruins that marked their name, in an archaic form of Common in which s's and vowels were replaced with z's and y's: Pryzon 1, Pryzon 3, and Pryzon 7. There were other Vessic single-purpose 'auxiliary worlds' whose modern names followed the same pattern of misreading ancient Vessic ruins: for example, the planet Fortryzzii, marked on one of the party's star maps, was actually the ancient Vessic fortress world *Fortryzz 11*.

The legendary ancient gods of Pryzonis that had once walked the world but disappeared a thousand years before were not gods at all -- they were Vessics that had exiled the party's ancestors long ago for being dissidents, or leading a protest, or perhaps fomenting rebellion, and that had wiped their memories of the larger galaxy in the process. 'Pryzonis' was really a misreading of the planet's Vessic name: *Pryzon 15*, a long-lost Vessic prison planet. That is what the elite commander had meant when he'd called the party "exiles" and referred to Pryzonis as the "exile world", and it's why Pryzonians had, until a few weeks prior, nearly no knowledge of the galaxy beyond.

The party also told Dr. Runefar about the creature that had inhabited the Vessic armor: a six-armed lanky creature with a long neck and sickly pale-white reptilian skin. At this, Pantanala, the expert in ancient Originator artifacts, chimed in. It sounded just like an Originator, she said. Could there be a connection between the Vessic Empire and the Originators? Dr. Runefar and Pantanala absconded to a back room to deliberate further.

### The pit mine job

Meanwhile, Anara Lightfoot, whose expertise was "site security and battling ancient evils awoken during excavations", explained the antiquarians' problem with the rumored ruins at the pit mines.

* "We constantly talk to miners around the planet to see if anyone has found anything interesting. A couple times in the last decade we’ve learned of some artifacts or ruins and gotten the Republic to intervene and force a work stoppage so we can go in and do some field work. Most of it’s been ancient Vessic manuscripts and tablets, which makes us really hopeful there might be a library in there. A Vessic library - that’s like the ultimate find in archaeology. They were supposed to all be destroyed. To understand who they were, what they thought, why they were so brutal - these are the questions historians have been trying to answer for centuries."
* "So recently, we've heard they found some large catacombs in the Pit Mines. It sounds like they’re drilling into the catacombs. It’s illegal, but the law’s always been pretty weak and corrupt out here, and with the soldiers all gone, the Republic couldn’t do a thing even if they wanted to. The company just keeps bringing in more security guards because they know we want to get in. They’ve got a whole hive of Thri-kreen muscle patrolling the pits, led by a huge, ill-tempered Braxat named Feln Brutehorn. We don’t know if they intend to simply break through the ruins or cart off whatever valuables are inside and smuggle them out of the system. We’ve gotta get in there and try to save what we can before it's all stolen or smashed to bits."
* "But... there's a problem. Getting in will be tricky. The site encroaching on the catacombs lies at the end of the deepest pit mine carved into the far side of the planet, accessible only by vertical scaffolding bolted into the crust of the planet, cleaved straight down like a ledge hanging directly over the molten planetary core. Approach from the surface, along Prospect Road, and you’ll have to deal with the patrols along the road and then somehow sneak down under heavy guard day and night. It will be even harder to approach from space - in full view of the guards on the scaffolds, past the visorium hauling ships and company patrol ship. And I’m not sure how exactly you’d manage to approach from below… circumvent the exposed magma core while dangling upside down from the sheer rock ceiling? I don’t even know.
* "But here’s what makes this even more complicated: we... can’t kill the guards. If we go in there and start slaughtering everyone, the Company will use that to get the Artifacts Edict revoked. And then, no more work stoppages, ever. They're champing at the bit to get rid of that law, and there are enough legislators friendly to them that one good scandal is all it'll take. It’ll be the end of archaeology in the Vassalages. We... just can’t risk that."
* "We're academics. We don't have a lot of funds, so we can only pay 500 gold. But we can throw in something else to sweeten the deal, something that might be useful to spacers like you. Do you know what a Wildspace Orrery is? If you can get in and out, exploring the whole place and getting out any valuables inside, while not killing any guards or miners, we'll give you ours. We don't need it anyway, we don't get out of Bralspace much."

### A plot is hatched

The party deliberated how to go about this. Maybe, they reasoned, they might be able to cause a strike or other disruption that would get the miners and thri-kreen guards away from their posts? Anara lit up - there was a number of simmering grievances among the mine workers, chief among them the air supply issue.

Ketra and Bral both had thin atmospheres that the creatures living on them quickly depleted, and little plant life. So air had to be hauled in regularly by gashauling ships, either from larger planets in Bralspace like Vana and Tuga, or from other locations beyond the system. A month ago, the scheduled monthly air shipment did not arrive at Ketra, and the air became fouled, enraging the miners. While it eventually showed up a week late, it was still a very sore subject. The company had a history of dealing harshly with labor uprisings: a couple years ago there had been an attempt at worker protests, and Anara said there were still pieces of the protesters floating around the planet to this day.

The party developed a plan: they would spread a rumor that the battle to the north had disrupted air shipments again, and the gashaulers would be late again, or perhaps not arrive at all. They'd also talk loudly about the battle itself, planting alarm that the Vessic dark ships would be making their way south to Ketra and the planet was in danger.

They also recognized the imminent threat of Vessic invasion themselves, so they asked the antiquarians to pack up and be ready to leave once they'd gotten out of the pit mines, and offered them a ride off-planet on the Valiant (for they had no ship of their own and got around by hitching rides with visorium traders).

### Back in town

The party left the antiquarian guildhall and headed back into town, toward the cargo depot and general store. After picking up some bulk visorium to resell for profit elsewhere, some general supplies, and equipment for outfitting the Valiant with a forge and workshop, they headed toward the FarVEC office and the Crater Cantina.

They passed the regional government office along the way, where they spotted several notices and signs posted on a notice board outside the office.

One was a wanted poster:

* **WANTED: FUGITIVE from JUSTICE**
* **Feynik Fanfarkiv**, a most treacherous Ooze Summoner
* For the Negligent Killing of an Entire Town on Northrim IV
* Her cursed Experiments in Ooze Enlargement
* Did cause scores of Innocents to become lethally Enveloped
* **REWARD: 5000 GOLD DEAD OR ALIVE**
* Last Sighted: Heading south from Bralspace
* Deliver to Taldon at Brynn's Hope to receive Reward

Another was a notice from the Adventurer-Antiquarians:

* **URGENT! HELP WANTED!**
* Are you Skilled at Combat and Investigation?
* Do you like uncovering ancient Secrets?
* Protecting historical Treasures from wanton Destruction?
* Then the Adventurer-Antiquarians require your assistance!
* Seek out Dr. Runefar at the Guildhall immediately.

There was also a notice from the company:

* **IMMEDIATE NEED: SEEKING SWORDS FOR HIRE. EXCELLENT PAY.**
* Preferred Experience: keeping Unruly laborers in line,
* and besting Monsters most foul from the Deep Places of the stars.
* Inquire at **FAR-VASSALAGES EXCAVATION COMPANY** Regional Office.

And finally, a public announcement from the government:

* SUPREME HEADQUARTERS MINISTRY OF WAR
* MOST SERENE REPUBLIC OF BRAL
* AV 1136.12.27 18:20:00 / PUBLIC NOTICE / DCL: PUBLIC
* **BY ORDER** of **HER EXCELLENCY** the **MERCHANT-PRINCE**
* **A NOTICE** for the **GENERAL PUBLIC**
* A pirate fleet of unusual Size and Strength approaches the Bralspace from the galactic Northwest.
* Commoners are Advised to remain out of the Spacelanes until after Victory Day,
* and if possible, to consider Vacating the System entirely.

Taking note, they continued on toward the company office.

### The Company Tower

The party arrived at the FarVEC regional office tower just as its normal operations were closing for the day. Its muted stone walls were adorned with the company's logo: a stylized pickaxe crossed with a pair of scales. While every other building in town was built of adobe baked from local clay, the castle-like tower was constructed of imported gray stone, seemingly intended to serve as a reminder of the company's wealth and power in the area of harvesting and transporting stone and minerals.

Inside, the office was filled with rows of desks, each occupied during the workday by a team of clerks and accountants who worked tirelessly to keep track of the company's profits. The walls were lined with maps of the moon's surface and the company's various mining operations. There was also a large board in the center of the room with a chart detailing the company's production quotas. Mining paraphernalia hung from the walls and ceilings. An almost garishly excessive number of skulls and stuffed heads of colorful and strange alien big game animals festooned the walls as well. The tower's first level also contained a the front office where a secretary sat, the Director’s office, and a cargo storage area adjacent to a large open back door.

The party tried eavesdropping on Director Dolgor's office. He was talking to a mine supervisor. He was talking about the need to get a shipment to Kelchormel quickly, the events up north causing a time pressure, his ship needing to be prepared to leaves tomorrow, and forcing the thri-kreen to work double shifts through the night.

The party went and talked to another mine supervisor named Kanar. Initially dismissive, they convinced him to buy the Keen Drunkard's Hat for 50 gold after they let him wear it and he caught an unfortunate deep gnome miner named Beldon sneaking alcohol on the job. Beldon was fired on the spot.

### The Crater Cantina

The party arrived at the Crater Cantina. At its door was a very tall, powerful, and imposing-looking warforged bouncer named Axe, wielding a massive axe, who eyed them warily as they went inside.

The cantina was a popular hangout for miners, who came to unwind after a hard day's work at the Pit Mines. Several were on the dance floor, drunk or inebriated from Kelchormelan eyedust. The party developed a plan to talk to various patrons intentionally close to the miners, to try to get them to eavesdrop on the party and hear the rumors the party wanted to spread.

Around the room were some strange looking cantina denizens. Two plasmoid bartenders and a barback bot worked the bar. A blue lizardfolk woman was going around the room talking to adventurer types. A crew of three mercenaries - a tall elf with blue hair, a huge white bugbear in imposing purple armor, and a gruff dwarf, were standing in the corner. A pirate captain with a red beard and a huge visorium hook for a hand was taking swigs of rum. Two penguin-like dohwar were chatting telepathically with a floating flumph. A huge, dangerous-looking Orthon fiend mercenary was surveying the crowd from another corner of the room. And a sea elf wearing a special suit that kept her permanently immersed in water and a jellyfish-like being were going around talking to cantina patrons.

They first went to speak with the pirate, a human who drunkenly introduced himself as Captain Glimmerhook. Immediately, he picked up that Star Anise was a pirate, and asked her why she was dressed like a member of Crystal Tides. He said that several new pirate fleets had emerged very recently, in the last few weeks, and one of them was using the name Crystal Tides - the name of a long-disappeared pirate nation thought to be obliterated by the Vessic Empire long ago. They were at war across a swath of the Deep Astral, he said, with another recently emerged pirate fleet called Redcloak's Raiders. This new Crystal Tides' flagship, the Crystalhawk, was recently sighted in the Astral Sea to the galactic south of Bral, near the border of the Vassalages. Glimmerhook also mentioned he was there because he wanted to recruit mercenaries to break out his first mate, Belva Barlow, who was convicted of piracy on Bral and sentenced to hard labor in the Ketra Pit Mines. He wanted the party's help to her escape. The party told him to meet by the Prospect Road out of Ketratown at 0900 hours in the morning.

Next, the party went to speak with the two dohwar and the flumph. The dohwars' names were Pleek and Bekbek and they were mineral traders, and the flumph was an information broker named Xaal. The party tried to sell him some information about the Battle of Bral, but the mischievous Xaal used his flumph psionic siphoning ability to simply read the information out of Razznoff's mind. He got angry, but the party convinced him starting a fight with a flumph in the cantina wouldn't be a good idea.

The party then moved on to introduce themselves to the sea elf and the jellyfish being. The elf's name was Peldori Starpetrel, and she was an emissary working on behalf of her friend Phylifera, who was a member of the Scyphazan species. Scyphazans, she explained, also hailed from Cagliari along with the Cagliarans. The two peoples had always had an uneasy truce - the Cagliarians lived in the deep oceanic tunnels that criss-crossed the planet's core, and the Scyphazans lived in the warm tropical reefs at the planet's surface. Centuries ago, these tensions had boiled over into several protracted wars. Peldori was beseeching mercenaries and adventurers to travel to Cagliari and help keep the peace intact, for tensions were now rising again. The Oracle of Cagliari, it was rumored, had made a prediction of a coming cataclysm, and the Cagliarans had interpreted it to mean a civil war against the Scyphazans was at hand. If the party traveled to the Cagliari System and sought out one of the sea elves' peacekeeping Star Manta spelljammers, Peldori said there would be a generous reward, especially if they were able to help broker a lasting peace. She gave them a special bronze token inscribed with elvish carvings to prove they'd met her.

Finally, the party approached the enormous fiend. It turned to them, scowling, and in a rattling deep voice, demanded to know why they dared to approach the mighty Kur the Inexorable. Knowing the Orthons' reputations as relentless hunters, they asked if he was currently on a hunt. He told them he was looking for a short creature, a mage, with an oddly elongated head.

The name of the creature he was hunting, the Orthon said, was Gilderval Callistran.