Search for Sithspawn 2 - One Creepy Castle

*The hunt for Lord Sithspawn continues, but this time in a dungeon. There are many traps, 4 creepy murals, 1 space baby and 4 confused heroes. In a place where space and time are meaningless, our heroes wander through a maze, Bota gets hit with every possible trial and trap and Katira wanders into a bed and breakface situation. We meet a wineo named Gaston, old Marney and a host of other wandering characters, including a really grumpy Jedi that gets pummeled and rocketed back from whence he came.*

## **Previously**

*Investigating a disturbance on the surface of Ibis, our heroes ran across a small detachment of apparent Imperials and they were… looting a grave? Moving in closer to investigate, Tek blows their cover by sending a droid to do a sentient being’s work. The droid does manage to remind the group of one key piece of information: don’t mess with thermal detonators. Though they manage to thin the herd of troopers their mysterious leader: a Sith resembling one “Sithspawn” that Bota knew previously, managed to escape. Hot in pursuit, the team catches up with the dark lord just outside his ship.*

## **Recap**

### **Into the Unknown (Regions)**

Suddenly Droo seems to lose her focus as she stares at the figure in the distance, her eyes glowing an eery blue as she turns to the group. She tells the group that she will be sneaking onto Lord Sithspawn’s ship and send a signal that they will be able to track. Tek comments that it looks like some ethereal entity is possessing Droo and directing the action, but sensing that there is no malice in the being the group allows their plan to continue.

As the ship lifts off it is struck by a massive bolt of lightning, but somehow it manages to absorb the bolt of energy and continue on its ascent. Soon after, Bota Zi receives a transmission from *The Redcrest* that indicates they have received a signal from the departing vessel, identifying the YE-4 Gunship as *The Skulldugger*, and reporting its destination as a largely uninhabited area of the unknown regions roughly one day’s hyperspace jump away, listed as under Imperial rule but not known to be currently occupied.

The group takes a few moments to discuss the possible return of the Empire, and deciding to take a small strike force to rescue Droo, they head out:

* Genos Ia'danian takes time to reflect and atone for his previous actions that, while done in an attempt to fight the Empire, was in actuality serving them. In this time, he intends to lead the fleet if the Empire returns to Ibis
* Lt. Nera Piven and Katira accompany Bota Zi aboard a Lambda-class shuttle, with Katira available to impersonate an Imperial if necessary
* Blaine, Tek, and Talcoborro will pilot a cloaked *Jinxed Starhawk*  behind
	+ A stormtrooper (Connel) and the Khepri leader Lynn join the group aboard the *Jinxed Starhawk*

### **Spring *all* the Traps**

Exiting from hyperspace, Blaine immediately activates the cloaking field onboard the *Jinxed Starhawk*, and the ships begin their sublight approach to the planet’s surface. Upon receiving a transmission from the planet for landing permission, the group transmits codes from the Lambda-class shuttle without issue as the shuttle retains active codes as part of the compliment of the *Redcrest*. Piven comments that the codes being received from the planet appear to be roughly 5 years out of date, which Katira comments matches up with the timeline of when the *Skulldugger* went missing from Imperial records.

The ships enter the atmosphere and approach the base where the *Skulldugger* is transmitting from. A barren landscape rises up to meet the ships, a crusted black with no plant life anywhere to be seen, appearing as though volcanic activity covered the planet and has cooled. The landing platforms themselves are the only structure visible, with walkways proceeding under the planet and coming to a massive door.

> "*This planet isn’t contained in your knowledge cartridges or the ship's computers, so you have no idea where you are.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Sounds about normal for our group.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

Entering the facility, the darkness is so complete that Lt. Piven immediately passes out glow rods to the group. As the rest of the group is adjusting to the now dim light, Katira approaches the mural at the end of the entryway for a closer look. Though initially just appearing to be a mural of farmers and laborers receiving food from a benevolent lord, the image rumbles and alters when Katira depresses a hidden button. Where before there were thankful laymen being given food, the masses were now cowering in fear as a Sith stood over them and rained down force lightning. Deeper into the facility, a faint whistle can be heard in response to the change.

> "*Oh great… you just rang the doorbell.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*Maybe they’ll turn on the lights now that they know we’re visiting.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

Moving ahead down the only hallway that appears to lead further in, Bota triggers a trap. Feeling the ground shaking beneath his feet, Bota stumbles as he moves back and is struck as a blade slices out from the nearby wall, only managing to scratch his armor.

> "*You need to have a penitent kneel.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

Bota continues forward, coming to a split in the hallway where he tells Tek to send his scout droid out ahead. When the droid reports another mural, Bota lets Katira take a look as he and Tek keep their distance yet again. Finding another hidden button, Katira watches as the mural changes, and where there was a man breaking the chains of slaves and leading them to freedom, the new mural shows the chains being replaced with leashes as a Sith Lord forces the masses to grovel before him.

As another whistle begins to sound further in, Bota opens a room filled with seven stone beds, each containing a still body beneath a sheet. As Bota steps through the threshold, he transitions his sight to ultraviolet and notes that the bodies are not emitting any heat. Once Bota is fully inside the room, the bodies suddenly jump to a seated position and stare at the intruders. He pauses, then carefully backs out of the room as the bodies fall back to their beds.

Tek repeats the process with no changes in the behavior of the bodies, then leaves his droid in the room to monitor while the door is closed, finding that the bodies only seem to respond to a life form entering.

> "*Not to be too **me** or anything, but… can we send a stormtrooper into that room and close the door?*"
> ― Katira
>
>

Bota continues to lead the way, triggering another trap and receiving another set of scrapes on his armor when he fails to avoid the falling spikes. Just past the trap, another split in the hallway appears, this time with a massive door blocking a third path. Noting that the door has four latches, with two of them released, the group surmises that there must be two more murals with hidden switches that need to be found.

### **Shady Dealings**

Deciding to divide and conquer this creepy castle, Blaine heads down one hallway with Lynn, Lt. Piven, and Stormtrooper Connell as Bota, Tek, and Katira take the other.

Katira offers to take the lead, Bota having already sprung two traps, and begins to walk alone down a long hallway. As she progresses the hallway comes to light, and Katira begins to see her shadow split as if there were differing sources of light, but does not see anything in particular causing the effect.

Moving further, Katira notes that there is no observable reason for the increased number of shadows. As she continues, she notices that she now has six shadows, and as she moves the other shadows all mimic the action with a noticeable delay. Katira turns to Bota and asks him to filter through the differing spectrums to see if he notices anything, then takes one step further when Bota prods her on. Looking down, Katira notes that she now has seven shadows. She turns to walk back, but is suddenly frozen on the spot as the shadows around her rise up and surround her. Her vision goes black, and at the end of the hall Bota looks on as she vanishes.

Katira comes back to consciousness on a bed with her face covered by a sheet. Hearing a noise, and she shoots up and turns to see… to see Bota Zi walking into the room. A room with six other bodies sitting up in their beds and staring at the bounty hunter as he slowly backs out.

Confused after having watched Katira disappear into shadow, Bota heads back and finds Tek. As he explains the mysterious disappearance of Katira, Tek shrugs it off and asks Bota to come help him open a set of double doors that he didn’t want to open by himself. Bota nods, but decides to call over to Blaine first for some support, and possibly to borrow a stormtrooper that can take a walk down the mystery hall.

> "*Maybe we should go and figure out what’s going on with Blaine first before we go open another door and get ourselves stuck in a mess, Tek.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

As the pair are discussing their next course of action, shouts and blaster fire can be heard back from the direction of Blaine and the two former Imperials. Bota and Tek rush down the passageway to their friend, disregarding any potential traps as the sound of blasters fades to a faint echo and then die out at last. They turn the final corner to find Blaine standing over the still smoking body of Connell as he sheathes his sword and sighs. In the corner, Piven slowly lowers her blaster, a look of confusion on her face as Blaine comments that Connell’s suddenly attacked the pair.

With Connell dead, the heroes take a moment to look over a third mural, found by Blaine just before Connell attacked. This one displays a cohort of spearmen fending off wild beasts. For several minutes they search for some hidden button but come up empty handed. As they are cursing Katira’s impulsive walk into nonexistence, Tek’s archaic scout droid finally manages to locate the button. As Tek depresses the button, the sound of another lock releasing can be heard and the image alters to show the spearmen now slaughtering defenseless peasants.

### **Musical NPCs**

Searching for a fourth mural and some means of finding Katira, the group heads back to where their resident thief went missing to explore the remaining space. From the double doors that Tek was so keen to open earlier a persistent knocking can be heard, and after a bit of back and forth amongst the group in deciding who should open the door - our “heroes” agree that one of the \*cough\* disposable \*cough\* Imperials should be made to do it - Lt. Piven finally gets sick of waiting for someone else and opens the door herself.

As the doors open, out walks a young human male wearing a fancy - though antiquated - cape, and a flashy smile. He thanks the group for releasing him, and begins to leave when Bota stops him for a few questions. Tek and Bota both catch on to the man’s reticence to answer any questions regarding the castle or his imprisonment directly, preferring to deflect or make up extravagant tales.

> "*Hey… long story. I met this old man that looks like a ghost. I wake up here in this dungeon and I’ve been here ever since. Tale as old as time. My name’s Gaston, I grew up on Kuat and I’ll be happy to get back there.*"
> ― Gaston
>
>

> "*Alright, you’ll have to help us get out of here if you want to get back. Do you know anything about this place?*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*I know where they keep the wine.*"
> ― Gaston
>
>

Trusting their newfound friend for the time being, the group moves ahead and discovers the mural that should release the final lock and allow them to progress deeper into the castle. A crowd dominates the frame, their fists raised as their faces express cheers of joy for the General standing on a raised dais. Bota calls out for Blaine to join them while Tek takes a moment to search for the next hidden button.

As Bota looks down the hallway leading to the room, he sees Blaine and Lt. Piven approaching from the mysterious hallway that Katira disappeared into. As they pass the double doors that Gaston emerged from, for just a moment their image shifts, and Bota looks on confused as the pair appear to be walking backwards down the hall before they pass the double doors and return to normal.

Tek and Bota bring Blaine and Piven up to speed on the situation, then bust open the doors that Gaston emerged from to find… an empty room. Putting together what clues he has, Bota surmises that the disappearance of Katira down the hall has something to do with Gaston’s appearance.

> "*Walk down that hallway.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*What? Why would I do that?*"
> ― Gaston
>
>

> "*Because I have a gun pointed at you.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*I don’t think you’re gonna shoot.*"
> ― Gaston
>
>

> "*I’m gonna shoot him in the foot. He can drag himself down the hall.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

With a blaster wound to the foot, Gaston’s tone quickly changes from cool to concerned. He pleads with Bota, offering treasure and secrets in exchange for his freedom, leading to more confusion when he claims that the treasure is located on the planet Alderaan. When Bota mentions that the planet was destroyed years ago, Gaston is unsure what to believe and claims that he was just there before arriving at the castle. Disheartened at the state of the universe that he has woken to find, Gaston turns and walks down the hall with no further objections.

As Gaston vanishes into the shadows at the end of the hallway, a human woman stumbles out from the room that Gaston was discovered in.

> "*Where am I? This doesn’t look like Coruscant at all!*"
> ― contestant #2
>
>

> "*We’re not even gonna get into who you are. We’re tired of hearing all these stories.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*We don’t even want to know your backstory, just go down the hall. Blaine get out of the way so I can get these people out of here faster.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

Now having some sense of how this mystical hallway works, Bota and Tek set to work forcing every new individual that walks out of the magic closet to walk back down the hallway and return to their space-time altering beds. Things get confusing the more that each new character emerges from the hallway, making comments that obviously refer to the distant past, eventually reaching a crescendo when one of the individuals appears to have intimate dealings with the group on Cloud City at some point in their past.

> "*Who’s the Baron Administrator of Cloud City?*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Uh… this guy right here, good old Blaine!*"
> ― Old Marney
>
>

> "*He knows it all, this guy is even better than Katira.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

Finally forcing Old Marney down the hallway, Tek and Bota grow disillusioned that Katira will be cycled out if enough individuals walk into the shadows. They move back to the final mural after locking the closet and search thoroughly for a hidden button. Finally discovering it, they depress the button and watch the crowd of cheering people transform into a sea of hands reaching up from the grave, the figure of a Sith Lord raising them to life.

### **Getting the Gang Back Together**

Walking back toward the locked door discovered earlier in the castle, Tek is knocked to the floor when the closet doors that he just locked blow open from an unseen force. A dark robed figure steps out, and immediately states that he will not be walking back down that hallway. Tek tries to strong arm the mysterious man, but is suddenly blown away from him, hitting hard against the nearby wall.

The figure rushes away, toward the entrance of the castle, directly into Blaine, Bota, Lynn, and Lt. Piven. Lynn is launched into the nearby fireplace, but Bota manages to hold his ground against the sudden shove. In a flurry of blaster fire, Lt. Piven and Tek manage to hit the force wielder several times. Several blaster bolts seem to dissipate when the space wizard reaches out his hand to absorb them, but two seem to harm him. Lynn attempts to aid the group by throwing a razor edged discus, but watches as its course is suddenly altered and it clatters to the ground.

Tired of playing these games, Bota calmly walks straight up to the man and cold cocks him straight in the face. With his head spinning, he offers little resistance as Blaine attaches one of his rocket boots and launches him down the hall.

Behind the group, Katira suddenly comes to consciousness. Cold, confused, and alone in a room that she doesn’t recognize, she slowly sits up and stretches.

> "*This is the weirdest… sex dungeon… I’ve ever been to!*"
> ― Katira
>
>

Katira stumbles into the hallway, thoroughly lost, and nearly runs straight into Bota Zi. Having no idea what has happened since she vanished at the end of the hallway, she accepts a brief outline of recent events and the current situation before heading to the now completely unlocked main door.

As Blaine and Katira force the massive door open, the archaic surroundings of the castle are suddenly flooded with artificial light. Through the doorway, a completely modern, clean, and thoroughly terrifying room is revealed. In the center of a room filled with cylinders holding unconscious individuals of varying age and development stands the gaunt visage of Lord Sithspawn.

> "*Guys, that was me. I played all those people. I have so many costumes.*"
> ― Tek as Sithspawn
>
>

The Sith turns to face the group, nodding in recognition to Blaine and Bota as he muses on his theory that force sensitive individuals are drawn together. Far behind the clone master, the unconscious form of Droo can be seen lying in the back corner of the room.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Our Heroes**

* Blaine Hansom
* Bota Zi
* Katira Eve
* Tek Krodak

### **NPCs**

* Lt. Nera Piven
* Lord Sithspawn
* Gaston
* Old Marney

## **Inventory**

* +glowrods (group)
* +glimpe of a future friend (Blaine, Bota, Tek)

## **Notes**

* Murals and changes synopsis:
	+ A benevolent lord giving food to their laborers changed to reveal a Sith Lord murdering laborers with force lightning
	+ A gracious man leading a mass of slaves to freedom and breaking their chains changed to reveal a Sith breaking the chains and fastening leashes in their place
	+ A group of spearmen defending against an onslaught of creatures changed to reveal the group of spearmen slaughtering unarmed innocents
	+ A large mass of men cheering at a rally for a general changed to show a sea of hands reaching up from the grave

## **Quotations**

> "*Leave them to their force lightning. Let’s get out of here.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Let’s go find another mural that looks better than this one.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*Everyone’s an art critic.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*I want to find one where they’re all getting money and fame.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Dang it! I wasn’t going to take that step, Bota!*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*Haha… at least it’s not me getting messed up with spikes falling or saw blades shooting out.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*So Bota, you see Katira disappear. What are you going to do?*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*I’m gonna go head over to Tek and see what’s going on over here.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*You’re abandoning me?!*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*He can’t hear you.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Alright, suddenly you hear a knock on this door as you walk by.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Do we have any more of those Scottys or Johnnies with Blaine to send over there? You know, those no name characters that we can just kill off because you don’t want to remember their names?*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*I believe you mean Stormtrooper Connell. RIP, because he went crazy.*"
> ― Blaine
>
>

> "*Gaston will give you the kiss of life, Katira.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Noooo one shoots like Gaston, kicks and fights like Gaston, no one… kisses like Gaston.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*No one kisses like Gaston?!*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Tek said that he would give Katira the kiss of death!*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*No one necks like Gaston.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*No one hides under the sheets like Gaston.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*What would Droo do in this situation?*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*She would hug it out.*"
> ― Blaine
>
>

> "*She would go to Gaston and ask him what he did to Katira. He would lie to her, and she would believe him because she’s too nice.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*She would just let her elephant run wild in here.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*He would love all this **space**!*"
> ― Katira as Droo
>
>

> "*Alright, I’m gonna tell Gaston to walk down that hallway.*"
> ― Luke
>
>

> "*Roll intimidation.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Aw… don’t tell me to do that.*"
>
>
>

> "*Uh… is anybody thirsty?*"
> ― contestant #2
>
>

> "*There’s wine down the hall, just get walking.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*Roll your intimidation*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*NO! Damn it. Why are you doing this?!*"
> ― Luke
>
>

> "*Well… this isn’t the gig I thought it was, but I’m ready to sing my song.*"
> ― contestant #4
>
>

> "*The stage is right down that hall, now get lost.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Oh, hey! It’s so good to see you guys again. Bota, Blaine, Lt. Piven… beetle lady… what are we doing here? Is this somebodies ship?*"
> ― contestant #6
>
>

> "*Is that… you Katira?!*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Yeah, is that you Katira? Did you turn into a clueless male?*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*What’s the best squadron in the universe?*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Uh… I kind of remember you talking about this on Cloud City… I don’t remember.*"
> ― contestant #6
>
>

> "*You’re dead to me. Walk down that hall.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

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