Call of the Deadly Nightshade 24 - Ghosts of Dathomir Part 1

*Dathomir's secrets are about to be revealed as the group finally fights against the Witch's plans directly - by storming the entrance to her cavernous liar on that desolate red planet. A long time is taken to reach a basic plan and then the group takes almost as many shots as the ones they fire themselves before they reach the entrance to the foreboding temple.*

## **Previously**

After surrendering on Rathalay to the leader of the Consortium, Kylia, the group sends a message back to Katira. She receives it just after her, Callen, Wampa, and Rem turn in the bounty for the captured Skiv-Skiv brothers. With Katira receiving and understanding the coded message for help, the two groups are set to collide on her sister's home turf of Dathomir.

## **Recap**

### Prologue

On their return trip from the bounty hunter's guild Katira receives Blaine's message and then a subsequent message from Kylia. Understanding the danger that she has ended up putting her friends in, she devises a strategy to distract Kylia while Callen and Rem mount a rescue mission. Splitting the bounty - and using Rem's share to hire him onto the job - the group heads to Cloud City and borrows the *Jinxed Starhawk* and two of Blaine's landspeeders (the Sorusuub and the Mobquet).

In their two ships, Rem and Callen in the *Starhawk* following Katira and Wampa in the *Crucible II*, they then head to the location revealed in the second message from Kylia - Dathomir.

### Red-Rocked Valley

As they arrive, Katira in her ship goes in a second direction and sends coordinates to Rem and Callen in the Jinxed Starhawk, who land, cloaked, near Kylia's stolen Sorosuub Luxury 5000. In the meantime, it had been a brutal waiting period for the captured group. Stuck in the holding bay. without any of the expected amenities led to cold nights and hot days as they waited for something to happen. And it did; eventually some of the guards started disappearing until onboard the the ship the group is rescued by Callen and Rem - who, it appears, may have gotten into some of the fancy wine stolen from the Empire back on Trandosh I.

With the captives free, a large group of people huddle around Kylia's stolen yacht on Dathomir. Standing in a small valley amidst the red-rocks of the planet, the groups sees in front of them an old and disused temple at the end of the valley and entrance carved into the rock wall of the mountain itself. Hydrating and refocusing, the former captives re-arm themselves with their weapons and gear and remove their disguises.

They first debate on how best to split the party and use their immediate resources. They see using the luxury ship to their advantage - its advanced sensors and starship-scale guns and weaponry could clear a path for them - but the engines are now inoperable. Jowkazza begins to ensure the guards around the ship are totally incapacitated- and won't steal back the ship and/or out the members of the group left behind in harm.
> *"I may be old-fashioned but why don't we just punch them in the backs of their heads.. a lot." - Rem*
>  *"I've tried that, it's messy. I got my hands stained with all this red stuff." - Jowkazza*
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As Jowkazza administers first aid, he begins to sing - as he often does when working on patients - causing attention to be drawn to the group. Blaine, Bota, Jowkazza, and Rem all need to make a dodges out of the way of blaster fire. Bota quickly steps out of the way while Rem gets hit in the chest and is stunned. Blaine is also hit and just narrowly shrugs off the blaster bolt but Jowkazza's singing is suddenly cut short as he's hit and now wounded.
Rusty picks up one of the passed out guards, using him as a human shield, and moves forward. Rem pulls out his double-shot heavy blaster and returns fire - incapacitating one of the assailants square in the chest. Bota then steps up and shoots at two of the other enemies, hitting both but not really hurting either. Jimmy then goes to hide behind a fallen Jawa enemy and uses a medpac to help heal Jowkazza back from being wounded. Jowkazza, now fully healed, takes a wild shot with his Bowcaster and incredibly hits his target - the enemy assailant drops immediately from the impact of the weapon's powerful quarrel.

Blaine uses his rocket boots to jet over to the frontlines, takes two shots at the same enemies Bota targeted, knocking them out. He lands right alongside Bota and as he looks over at Bota smugly, they are both shot at - and hit - by other enemies targeting them. Bota shrugs off his shot while Blaine takes a blaster bolt right on the chest and goes down wounded.
> "Well, Bota if we're gonna die, it was going to be together... and on this planet." - *Blaine to Bota*
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Back near the ship, Rusty finds a blaster rifle and tosses it over to Callen. He tries to catch it, but it hits in him in the face - but now has a weapon with range. The two inch closer to the enemies but without jetpacks and rocket boots, it's slow going. Also in the back, Rem decides to use his cybernetic eyes to scope out the enemy's lair and sees someone the rest of the group finds familiar exiting the temple - Mar Darik. Turning his eyes to more immediate threats, Rem then shoots his double shot blaster and kills one of the attackers. Perhaps seeing Rem's skilled shot, and being eyed by a dubious Rusty, Callen takes a breath and aims his new blaster rifle and takes two shots which hit both their targets. Meanwhile, Jawa Jimmy decides to ditch the body he's holding a shield and decides to search it... but doesn't find the junk he's looking for.
Back at the front lines, Bota decides offense is the best defense and uses his jetpack to move himself closer towards the attackers and shoots two in his line of sight. Down but not out, Blaine dusts himself off and uses his rocket boots to get closer to the action and shoots two of the already-wounded enemies; clearing an area for the team to regroup at.

At the end of the valley, Mar Darik stumbles out of the temple's entrance and collapses. As they approach the entrance, they have to made a hard decision on what to do with their wounded assailants.
> "Why don't we just push them into the ravine?"*- Blaine*
> "Wait, wait! Let's steal their blasters first." *- Jimmy*
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As they examine the bodies - and take their two blaster rifles - Rem uses his eyes on Mar Darik and, amazingly, sees a primed and armed thermal detonator. Is it rigged to go off when he dies? Only the trained medical professional would know.
> "If Jowkazza wants to look he can identify a medical state on him." *- David*
> "Just shoot him." *- Jowkazza*
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Rem takes aim and shoots the armed thermal detonator - exploding and incinerating everything within 20 meters, including Mar Darik. Thankfully, the entire team is behind Rem watching this unfold.

> "Damn. That was a nice hat, though." *- Rem*
> "Right?!?"*- Bota*
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They sadly watch the burning hat fall into the chasm before entering the temple.
### Green-Lit Temple

The group finds themselves standing the stone entry hall of the ancient ruin as the red sunlight of Dathomir illuminates both the party and the fallen bodies that lay all along the floor. The corpses laying on the stone floor are mangled; they look violently killed and are missing body parts. An even more grim welcome than expected for the group.

Examining the bodies closer, they all look like some kind of mercenaries or pirates or other kind of security force. They all see to have a matching orange octagon symbol on their armor. Jowkazza uses his medical training to assert that some have been there for a while and others are much more recent. The figure laying on the center of the floor, closest to the group, looks like she'd only been dead for a few hours.

In front of them, there's an eerie green glow down the front-facing hallway and it's the only path forward.

As they move down the halls, the light is limited and dim, so the group sticks together. Bota and Rem likely take the lead and rear as they both have enhanced vision - Bota can even see in the dark if he decides to use his bionic eye. They end up taking the right-most passage at the t-junction they face upon entering and, taking the corridor to its natural conclusion, find themselves in a room with bodies of people they've seen before: Maxie, the Kloo-horn salesman and "Bigg'Tuna" from Waypoint... and the twi'lek medic from Waypoint, the droid mechanics from Waypoint. There's definitely a pattern here.
> "Based on my professional opinion... she's dead." *- Jowkazza after examining 'Maxie'*
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Out of the group of bodies, there are only two still alive, Bigg'Tuna and Allona the medic.

> "Hey... Sugah..." - Bigg'Tuna
> "Come on, Blaine, play her a tune on your kloo horn." - Bota
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Jowkazza mentions seeing other individuals back around the other passage, so the group rushes from the survivors and sees another group of individuals - including Rusty's brother... Thrusty! The only person they've run into in these halls that's still hale and healthy is Iain Eve - who pops up nearby the right-most halls.
> "So the only person from our past that's still alive is Iain?" - Bota
>  "That's pretty suspicious. Let's kill him." - Jowkazza
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Trying to both understand how these people arrived here and what this area is, they resort to their usual tactics. Jawa Jimmy pickpockets the dead Jawa from Rathalay, and Jowkazza uses his skills to heal Thrusty.

> "Don't administer to him too quickly, I want him to feel a little bit more pain like he made me feel pain all these years." - Rusty to Jowkazza
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An indignant Thrusty, now healed, begins to explain that 'they' took him and asked him questions - questions he had no qualms about answering in regards to his brother. Getting him to his feet, the group continues onward and see some additional bodies however these look like members of the Collective instead of random pirates.

They continue to explore until they see an area in which belongings (assumedly from the bodies previously encountered) are stored. As they approach their items (which includes Jawa Jimmy's lightsaber!) they run into an old friend and enemy. Hela (FKA Maxie) begins a creepy monologue but is interrupted by Blaine surprisedly exclaiming he thought she was dead. Behind her, there's Droo on an altar with the same green fog seen on Hela and her master, Kylia.

Hela then goes further and explains that this temple was once a temple of the Nightsisters of Dathomir which was destroyed during the Clone Wars and most of the clan killed alongside the attack. It wasn't until later that force sensitive roused the group and they then sought to revive their coven. To do so, they attempted to revive one of their own, which initially failed, but they discovered they could corrupt and possess bodies... and force-sensitive was much better suited for the evil task. This explains Kylia - she harbors at least one long-dead Nightsister's spirit inside of her. She also reveals that by sacrificing living beings at this nexus of the Force, they can then weaken the Force enough to complete this ritual.

Further explaining their beliefs, she explains that the Nightsisters know that the fanged brother and the winged sister and their father deity watch over the Force. And, as a Nightsister, their long-term goal is to establish a mother deity to sit alongside the father - which they believe will change the balance of the Force away from the constant warring of the Jedi and the Sith and establish a new order.

The Focus that Kylia is looking for would be able to create a new Talisman that they can then use on Droo to bring back a long-dead Nightsister in her body. Callen, who is listening to this, knows that from his discussion earlier that day with Katira, that Kylia was trying to resurrect their mother which Katira has already stopped once.

Seemingly tired of monologuing, Hela ignites her weapon - ready for battle.

### Epilogue

As Hela is explaining this, Jawa Jimmy looks around for Iain. He wants to ensure he hasn't run off, but feels like Iain has somehow betrayed them. No, he knows Iain has betrayed them and somehow caused this. He feels a strong pull to ignite his own lightsaber and strike him down. Mentally struggling to resist, he begins to understand what Kylia meant, earlier in her ship, when she said his blade was possessed.

As he watches Iain run away, he remembers that Iain said he'd keep Droo safe... and now Droo is captured and on a sacrificial altar.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Our Heroes**

* Blaine Hansom
* Bota Zi
* Jawa Jimmy
* Roostan "Rusty" Steele & Callen Mutig
* Jowkazza
* Rem Chanceux

### **NPCs**

* Octavian Grant (Sorosuub Luxury 5000)
* Sparky (Stays behind in Sorosuub Luxury 5000)
* Iain Eve (Stays behind in Sorosuub Luxury 5000)
* 8t88 (Stays behind in Sorosuub Luxury 5000
* Wampa (in *Jinxed Starhawk*)
* Bigg'Tuna
* Real 'Maxie' (dead)
* Allona
* Thruston "Thrusty" Steele
* Chadra-fan and ugnaught patrons from coruscant bar (back in Mission 1 of this cycle!)
* Wilks (old xenophobic man)

### **Enemies**

* Mar Darik (dead)
* Kylia Eve (mentioned)
* Hela

### **Mentioned**

* Xx (went with Katira)
* Droo Vos (taken by Kylia)

## **Inventory**

* +20k credits each (for the Skiv Skiv brothers bounty):
	+ Katira
	+ Callen
	+ Rem
* Bota gains +7 number of Jet Pack charges for a total of 7 charges (-2 during mission)
* J'mi loses his Lightsaber and then finds it again
* Rusty gains 2 Concussion grenades
* Callen gains a Blaster rifle
* -1 medpac (Jimmy)
* -1 medpac (Jowkazza)
* +2 blaster riles
* 80 credits to Jawa Jimmy

## **Rewards**

* +4 CPs

## **Notes**

* -1 CP (Bota)
* -4 CP (Callen)
* The Skiv-Skiv brothers have been turned over to the New Republic Bounty Hunters Guild
* Ironically, both Wampa and Rem have bounties themselves from the NRBHG
* Jowkazza likes to sing a song when he performs medicine, one that sounds and translates close to the old standard: "Northwest Passage"
* While sneezing was muted on discord, it wasn't muted for the recording. Listen around 1:20:00 for some old fashioned sneezing fun
* It can be inferred that Space CC was trying to escape the bloodbath in the foyer of the temple, but didn't succeed
* Watch for the unexpected cameo from Plus around 1:58:00
* If the mechanics who took Sparky apart are no longer around - how are we going to put him back together?
* Note: Sound cuts out around 2:09:00 and resumes around 2:011:00

## **Quotations**

> “I think Dead Blaine would be mad if I didn’t borrow his ship” - *Callen, on whether or not to borrow the* Jinxed Starhawk *to save everyone.*
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> “Now did these two drunks knock these people out?” - *David explaining the rescue plan*
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> "I'm your least favorite nephew." - *Jordan's comment en regards to Rem and Grant's relationship*
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> "Droo? Didn't we put her in a cooler?" *- Bota*
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> "Okay, everyone chill... but it would be ice to see her again" *- Blaine*
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> "Okay well, I'll have Callen give Rusty a fist-bump. Behind him." *- Chris P.*
> "You punch Rusty in the back?" *- David*
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> "You flew MY ship here?" *- Blaine*
> "Yeah, yeah I did, okay?" *- Callen*
>  "Well, if it had to be anyone... I wish it had been Wampa." *- Blaine*
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> "You see these guards here unconscious, You don't know when they'll wake up. 'You could kill them and have all the time in the world' says Katira in the back of your mind." *- David*
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> "Okay, so we all like stealing ships... so let's steal this stolen ship." - *Blaine*
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> "I love how the Jawa wants to use a ship's sensors to find an ice chest, only Callen's ship would have something like that." - *Bota*
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> "Am I still enraged? And if the answer is 'yes' I'm going to quit this mission." - *Jay*
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> "We're such good shots but nothing happens!" - *Bota complaining about his 7D damage blaster*
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> "It is a giant chasm that you cannot see the bottom of, so you know when you toss them over they're not going to survive." *-David*
>  Ah, I don't like that, I thought it was more misty, so it'd be... [ambiguous]" *- Jordan*
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> "Next time I'm GM, I'm going to make you visit your kids."- Jordan
>  "What an awkward mission that's going to be."- Luke
>  "Hey kids! Guess which one of us is your dad!"- CP as Rusty
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> "You're not even going to ask your brother how he got here?" - David to Rusty.
>  "That's something the Jawa can do." - Rusty
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