Chapter 1: Station

When a mysterious visitor comes to Absalom Station selling items belonging to a lost Starfinder, the Starfinder Society takes note. The PCs are dispatched to discover out how the recent arrival found these items, leading them on a series of quests beyond the Pact Worlds and into the stars.

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Chapter 1: Station

Post by ManWithDoor » Fri Jan 05, 2018 7:10 am

HISTORY:

History is broken in Starfinder. No matter where you go, from the myriad mortal worlds floating in space to the strange realms of the gods, you'll find the same thing: historical records go back a few centuries and suddenly go blank or contradictory, shifting randomly between readings and becoming reliable again only when referring to the dim and misty ages of the ancient past. Nations forgot why they were at war. Angels lost track of sinners' indiscretions. Everything in motion remained in motion, but without context or reason.

Today, roughly 3 centuries after the obscured period now referred to as the Gap, most societies view the historical cataclysm with little interest, save for the cryptoarcheologists, salvagers, and scientists who attempt to unearth and reverse engineer wondrous artifacts from the lost age. For everyone else, the focus is on creating new history, moving ever onward and upward.

When history recommenced at the end of the Gap, many worlds found they had already established spaceflight and interplanetary trade. Vercite aetherships, Eoxian bonecruisers, Brethedan vacuum-swimming biovessels, and more all plied the void, and magical gates and dimension-hopping spells granted opportunities to visit other worlds and confer with colleagues throughout the system. Yet while spaceflight was relatively common, the vast distances between the stars still made travel beyond a single solar system mostly infeasible - the realm of planeswalking spellcasters or long-lived daredevils.

The Ascension of Triune changed all that. While the solar system had always had gods dedicated to machines, even back to confirmed antiquity, they'd always remained relatively minor. Yet exactly 3 years after the end of the Gap in the Golarian System, a new deity revealed itself: a divine network integrating Epoch, the machine-built deity of Aballon; Casandalee, the god of androids; and Brigh, the clockwork goddess. Calling itself Triune, this new collective consciousness vaulted to prominence by providing mortals with access to a heretofore unknown hyperspace dimension called the Drift, reachable only via technology and granting easy travel to distant stars. For a relatively low price, ships could now acquire a Drift engine that let them slip quickly between star systems. Today, space exploration remains rampant and lucrative for citizens of the Pact Worlds, but it's still a romantic pursuit and fraught with danger.


LOST GOLARION:

The solar system today called the Pact Worlds has been inhabited for millennia, stretching back tens of thousands of years even before the Gap. While all of the planets in the system could make an argument for their own significance, most outside observers agree that the system's most important planet was the third from the sun, called Golarion.

The presumed birthplace of humans, dwarves, halflings, and numerous other races still found in the system, Golarion was most notable not for its vast civilizations, but its theological significance: in addition to caging a dark god of destruction called Rovagug in its core, Golarion was also home to a magical object called the Starstone, which allowed mortals to ascend to godhood. At some point during the Gap, however, that world vanished. High priests and divine servants petitioned their gods for answers, and all received the same information: Golarion still exists, as do the descendents of those people on it when it vanished, safe in a seclusion unreachable by magic or science. Beyond that, gods and demons all maintain the same firm policy that no further information will be forthcoming - if indeed they even know it. The existence of Absalom Station in Golarion's former orbit raises even more questions. Was it built as a lifeboat? Was it simply a Golarion-made space platform left behind after the disappearance? Or was the station itself somehow responsible for the planet's disappearance? Regardless, the mystery of Golarian leads many both within and without the Pact Worlds to still refer to the solar system as "the Golarian System."
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Chapter 1: Station

Post by ManWithDoor » Fri Jan 05, 2018 7:21 am

PACT WORLDS:

In the inhabited solar system nearest to their own, enthusiastic explorers from the Golarian System encountered the vesk, a reptilian race that lent credence to fears of extrasolar threats. Having already conquered the entirety of their own system, the warlike reptiles longed to expand, yet had mysteriously failed to receive Triune's gift of interstellar travel. When the first explorers arrived via the Drift, the vesk received them warmly just long enough to decipher Drift technology - and then promptly began assembly Drift-capable war fleets aimed at their generous neighbors. In the wake of the disastrous Battle of Aledra, the independent planets of the Golarian System recognized the vast danger facing them and banded together for mutual defense, creating a single system-wide government capable of defending against the vesk. This coalition became known as the Pact Worlds.

For the next 250 years, the two systems would remain each other's greatest threat, skirmishing over planets outside the direct authority of either autonomy, or else engaging in limited space battles along the cordons between their systems, too evenly matched for either to commit to a full-scale assault. This so-called Silent War finally came to an end in 291 AG (After Gap), when a vast, world-devouring entity called the Swarm attacked both systems simultaneously. In danger of being completely overrun, the Veskarium - as the reptilians call the empire - and the Pact Worlds signed a formal alliance, together managing to force the Swarm out of their region of space. Yet while the alliance put an end to active hostilities and opened both systems up to trade with one another, citizens on both sides recognize that the alliance was one of convenience and could fall apart at any moment.

Fortunately for the Pact Worlds, not all extrasolar contact was so violent. The insectile shirrens arrived in 83 AG, bearing nothing but goodwill and quickly integrating into Pact Worlds society. Kasathas, who appeared in 240 AG on the massive worldship Idari, proved less willing to be assimilated wholesale, yet they quickly established themselves as valuable allies. Although other sentient reatures hailing from beyond the Golarian system occasionally arrive, brought back by Pact World explorers or homing in on Absalom Station's powerful Drift beacon, the Starstone, the already incredible diversity of life-forms in the system means that most such creatures can easily blend in and take up residence, provided they don't stir up too much trouble.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Chapter 1: Station

Post by ManWithDoor » Fri Jan 05, 2018 7:55 am

ABSALOM STATION:

Floating in the orbit formerly occupied by Golarian, Absalom Station is the primary home of humanity and the undisputed center of both interstellar trade and governance among the Pact Worlds. From here, the Pact Council and its legion of delegates from all recognized Pact Worlds control the fragile alliance keeping harmony in the system, while also regulating property claims on newly discovered worlds. Here as well are the headquarters of the interplanetary law-enforcement officers called Stewards, AbadarCorp's home offices (at least on the Material Plane), the Archives of the galaxy-exploring Starfinders, and more. Yet the most improtant feature of the space station is not its grand and mysterious architecture, nor its myriad residents, but the strange artifact locked deep within the station's heavily guarded core: the fabled Starstone. For reasons unknown even to priests of Triune, the Starstone not only powers the station but acts as an immensely powerful hyperspace beacon, allowing ships to jump quickly to the station around it no matter the distance and making Absalom Station a natural relay point for voyages returning from beyond the solar system.

While trade, politics, and a cosmopolitan atmosphere are major draws to Absalom Station, they're not the only ones. The Arcanamirium trains some of the best technomancers in the solar system, while the station's famed Cosmonastery teaches the solarian's path. Religious organizations seek converts, the Eyeswide Agency hires out psychic investigators, the Starfinder Society launches expeditions into the unknown, and more. This endless bustle marks Absalom Station as a land of opportunity - a chance for people of all sorts to make a fresh start.


STARFINDER SOCIETY:

Leader: First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo
Headquarters: Lorespire Complex, Absalom Station

The quest for knowledge and the desire to explore and unravel the mysteries of the universe are hallmarks of a great operations. For members of the Starfinder Society, that curiosity is more than just a drive - it's a lifestyle.

Based out of the Lorespire Complex on Absalom Station, the Starfinder Society is a loose association of scholars and adventurers who travel the galaxy seeking to advance the cause of knowledge. Founded shortly after the end of the Gap and inspired by incomplete tales of a similar pre-Gap organization called the Pathfinder Society, the Starfinders initially set out to map the temporal edges of the Gap and piece together the hidden history of what transpired during it, to locate lost Golarian, and to use the spreading network of Drift beacons to explore and chart new worlds.

Today, the Starfinders include scholars of all sorts, from biologists and computer scientists to archaeologists and military historians, distinguished from corporate research groups by a unifying tenet: that increased dissemination of information can foster growth, development, and ultimately peace. All Society leaders rise in the ranks by earning their peers' respect through bravery and scholarship.

Given its active recruitment of promising candidates of all sorts, including from cultures outside the Pact Worlds, the Starfinder Society is one of the most cosmopolitan and egalitarian organizations in the system. While Starfinder discoveries sometimes interfere with corporate or government interests, leading to a certain amount of armed conflict, the organization is universally recognized as the leader in both new planet discovery and first contact due to its willingness to fund forays into the Vast with no expectation of financial return. Many different types of patrons, from governments to private investors, eagerly sponsor Starfinder expeditions or hire Starfinders onto their own teams as independent contractors, and even the most heavily inhabited Pact Worlds host Starfinders digging into their ancient ruins and histories.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Chapter 1: Station

Post by ManWithDoor » Fri Jan 05, 2018 9:01 am

CHAPTER 1: STATION

Life on Absalom Station is varies greatly depending on where you happen to be. No one knows who built the vast space platform or when it entered Golarian's orbit, though the name hearkens back to that world's pre-Gap history. Artificial gravity creates a consistent "down" in most of the station's radial arms and soaring towers, and aside from individual neighborhoods retrofitted to accommodate the environmental needs of resident aliens, most of the station seems designed to cater to human comfort. Otherwise, neighboring districts often have shockingly different cultures and living conditions, from Sparks' hardscrabble engineering bays and the flooded tank-warrens of Puddles to the rowdy spacer bars of Drifter's End and the elegant, self-contained corporate enclaves in Bluerise Tower. As a general rule, money and power flow inward from the numerous bustling docks toward the great park-like dome known as the Eye, while the downtrodden masses sink down into the machine-cramped access warrens of the Spike. Gangs rule lower-class neighborhoods such as Botscrap, Downlow, and Pipetown.
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In addition to the platform itself, Absalom Station is surrounded by a constantly changing swarm of undocked ships, both transient and resident. These latter are somewhat mockingly called the Armada, yet most are not military - the station has only a modest security fleet, depending instead on the Stewards and robust station-mounted defenses for its safety. Rather, the Armada is comprised of those starships whose owners seek the benefits of living near Absalom Station while remaining unbound by all but the most basic station laws. Absalom Station's generally permissive government allows this, since the volume of trade pouring through its corridors means even the lowest taxes suffice to keep the station flush.

Each of you is on Absalom Station for your own reason - personal, political, professional - when you receive a message from Venture-Captain Arvin of the Starfinder Society. Evidently he is searching for a few good freelancers looking for a job. If you're interested in the job, or know someone who is, he invites you to meet at his office in the Lorespire Complex at 3pm local time.
WELCOME TO STARFINDER! Feel free to introduce your character, and include an image. Either the stock pre-gen photo or something else, whatever you want.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Chapter 1: Station

Post by JohnnyWeird » Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:11 am

"...which is what brings us to this place today, darling!"

Stepping out of the public transit station, Keskodai tilts the cradle-jar he carries toward the nearby Lorespire. His priest's clothes are immaculate, his mustache groomed to its finest state, his antennae all but twitching with excitement as he walks to the complex. He passes a public chronometer reading 2:48.

"Our business here may prove quite lucrative! 'Lucrative' means it will pay well. It could also be a chance for us to go to new places, maybe where nobody else has ever been!

"We might also die, which is the way of things. Remember the Spiral, my dear - every point is a turning point."

The shirren priest enters the lobby of his destination on this note, his tone remaining friendly and soothing even as he offers this last bit of doctrine to the especially handsome larva in the jar. A deep breath, and he approaches the reception desk, grey mandibles in a friendly affect.

"Good afternoon! Keskodai, priest of Pharasma. I have a three o-clock appointment with Venture-Captain Arvin."
Hi! K looks like this.
https://goo.gl/images/ypRPpt

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Chapter 1: Station

Post by Eilandor » Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:05 pm

Iseph exits the mass transit car onto the station platform and deftly blends into and maneuvers the bustling crowd. The Lorespire Complex is about a kilometer by foot travel so the android sets to it. A retinal implant that shows the time and some other menial data tells him he will not be late. Iseph approaches the lobby doors and muses that punctuality is but a lost virtue. Passing through the doors, he gets in line behind a shirren who announces himself a priest of Pharasma and more importantly has a meeting at three o'clock. Iseph leans to the right, revealing himself from behind the priest, "Pardon the intrusion, but I too have an appointment at the same time and with the same individual."
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Chapter 1: Station

Post by Vardaen » Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:19 pm

Skitter.

Scatter.

Buzz.

Buzz.

Darting from one bench or potted plant to another across the courtyard outside the Starfinder Complex is a well equipped ysoki, or as some rude folks call them, rat-man. Buzzing down the lane to come to hovering above the door is a small drone pitching slightly to the right, its camera panning across the area taking snap shots of those that enter the building including Iseph and Keskodai.

Quig, the drone's operator is hiding in a bush, watching the camera feed. From time to time he switches his position darting across open space to another hiding location. He mutters to himself in the Ysoki native language, but then stops dead in his actions as the smell of a food cart passes by floating a foot or two off the ground. He forgets all about Scout, the drone, leaving it just hovering there as he jumps out before the cart's vendor nearly scaring the halfling half to death. "Gimme gimme gimme!" He buys one of the nutrient pies from the short human like halfling, and yanks his breather mask off and pulls up his goggles. For a while he just sits there, right on the ground, eating joyfully.

Then Scout starts to beep, and he screams, "LATE!" he pitches the foil bowl to the side and charges the front door, Scout swings around and trails behind him a half meter. So the two barrel through the lobby door with a crash. He screams out in the common language to anyone there with ears, "QUIG! QUIG HERE TO SEE CAPTAIN! NOT LATE! NO-NO NOT LATE!"
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"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Chapter 1: Station

Post by Trogdor » Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:06 pm

Stepping off the lift, Raia checks her chronometer and sees that she still has several minutes to make her meeting with Venture-Captain Arvin. She's an attractive lashunta of average height, well dressed, though definitely of an adventuring style. Hanging from her belt are the unmistakable shapes of a pistol and a baton, showing that she knows how to take care of herself. But also there is the flat shape of a kit of some sort. Perhaps a medical kit or an engineering kit? The general impression is of someone with an education, but also a bit of experience.

She needs no directions to the Starfinder's Society headquarters. Everyone knew where that was. She'd even been there a few times for lectures on distant cultures. But this time was different. This time a venture-captain wanted to see her. No doubt the resume she'd submitted all those weeks ago had finally percolated to the top of the list. It would be good to see if her hopes of a position in the Society were to be realized.

Raia walks purposefully down the corridor, weaving through the mass of people all pursing their own important tasks. She makes as much of a bee-line as the crowd will allow across the courtyard in front of the impressive Starfinder headquarters building, through the front door and up to the, now quite busy, receptionist. When the overworked sentient spares Raia a glance, she smiles and says, "I am also here to see Venture-Captain Arvin. Perhaps we are all to be included in the same meeting?" Her antennae twitch in a manner that would imply a question to one familiar with lashunta expressions.
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Chapter 1: Station

Post by ManWithDoor » Fri Jan 12, 2018 6:44 am

The receptionist is a ysoki with an almost manic amount of energy, constantly fielding a great number of tasks with gusto. You suspect a lesser being would have had a nervous breakdown after a week of this job, but the man seems to have no trouble typing out a response to an official inquiry, fielding office conversations, and even filing paperwork with his prehensile tail. "Yes, yes, appointment at 3. Expected guests, arrived on time." His words flood out as fast as his hands move. He hands a dossier to a seedy-looking Vesk bounty hunter, accepts the delivery of a datapad from a human bureaucrat, checks in each new arrival. Despite all this activity, in no time at all you find yourselves allowed into the Starfinder Society offices.

In contrast to the fast paced environment outside, the Venture-Captain's office is calm and quiet. It's not just the sound-proofing, but the man himself. The damaya Lashunta holds himself with a kind of dignity that speaks of measured confidence. He nods to each of you, inviting you to take a seat. "Welcome. Thank you for arriving so quickly. I must admit that you each make a good impression, given your quick response to my request. It turns out that your reputations are well earned." He puts away one pile of paper, exchanging it for the next. "What brings each of you to Absalom Station? It's always good to know a little about the people one is hiring."
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Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Chapter 1: Station

Post by Vardaen » Mon Jan 15, 2018 4:01 pm

Quig lets out a long whistle, "Fancy digs!" He leaves Scout hovering in the lobby as he moves into the Captain's chambers and looks around. He pokes at things, lifts up picture frames to look at the pictures inside, taps the desk toys to get them moving. He runs a hand along some books. "Old stuff in here What? Oh yeah, work of course."

The rat man plops down in a chair a bit too big for him, "Work, excitement, prospects of striking it rich. Everyone comes here eventually, figured I'd start my career here instead of ending it." He then starts fidgeting with a small device that is sort of triangular, with three spinning ends, and central axis that he spins about.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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