Session XXVIII: The robots below - Report

General Summary

The Crew had reassembled in orbit far above the non-communicative world of Ritammeron. Rasp was still fuming about his lost STC and throwing shade at Eve who he still believed was responsible for it's theft regardless of the fact that there was zero supporting evidence to his claim, just a happenstance correlation to her whereabouts during the time of it going missing.
Stig and Ani were collected from deck of "The Righteous Path" and the command crew of usual suspects along with a platoon of Imperial Guard soldiers who had not been eaten by the Tyranid while reclaiming the Righteous Path. Finally on their way to the planet's surface Bjorn decided to set down close to the major central industrialized kingdom of Villiintynt, the central hub that all trade on Ritammeron previously flowed from. He thought that the fact that no one had been responding to hails was strange and didn't want to put himself or his people in danger unnecessarily.
On their way into the atmosphere the crew was treated to sights and visions of a dichotomous world of extreme peaks and valleys covering about half the planet and a vast ocean covering the other half. In between the mountains and the ocean was a thin band of sun soaked plains that were very fertile farming land which was this planets main source of exports before the current trouble disrupted that.
The also caught glimpses of said trouble as well, with strange areas of clouds getting burned away and sections of earth some as small as a vehicle and others as big as a town scorched away with no trace of life remaining. Ani was the first to try and reach out to communicate with someone once the crew was flying close to the surface. Isaac had suggested reaching out directly to the planet's astropath choir in order to get a better idea of what was going on. Ani was successful in taking the suggestion and was able to quickly have a curt conversation with the primary Astropath Ziozhal, the whole time a stinging pressure was building in Ani's head warning her of telepathic dangers. As soon as the mental connection was severed the immanent stinging feeling went away.
Once the communication was terminated Ani relayed what had been happening on Ritammeron. Apparently some of the kingdoms had been attacked by robotic xenos that had frighteningly powerful technology that was capable of burning away flesh from bone and beyond. Moreover black stone obelisks had begun rising up from the ground below and were interrupting both radio and other mechanical long distance communication as well as telepathic communication. They had been given clearance to land on a platform close to the Planetary Governor's tower and the team decided things sounded safe enough to enter the main city of Villiintynt and put down for a moment.
The flight was short to the landing pad and Bjorn set the Valkyrie gently down on the deck. As the large transport came in a for a landing a crowd of refugees began to gather close to the pad, once fully stopped the disheveled mass of people rushed over to the Valkyrie and began pounding on it's doors and pleading for salvation from this planet. The mob was roughly 50 people give or take a few and Bjorn reminded his men onboard to not use lethal force if any of the locals decided to force the issue. He got on the loud speaker and commanded the crown to form and orderly line and elect a spokesperson to give him the details. The crowd, wanting to appease the disembodied voice of their potential savior stepped back and brought once man forward to tell Bjorn and his crew of their woes.
Once the crowd had reorganized Bjorn hit the button to lower the ramp of the Valkyrie. Murk stood front and center to reinforce the idea that unruly behavior would be dealt with harshly. Upon seeing the large Ork many people ran not wanting to die to the hands of a greenskin any more than their current predicament. The spokesman stood his ground however along with about half of the original group. He was worried as he stepped forward but was articulate still about the current concerns on Ritammeron.
The man spoke of robots of death striking from below unwarranted and unanticipated. They murdered whole villages and have been working towards the central kingdom from the outer kingdoms. It was likely an attack would come within a week's time at the capital if their rate was not halted or slowed. The large black stone towers not only stopped communication tools but have been causing a precipitous decrease in fine motor control in the people and microscopic germs and other life have been destroyed and the people thought that their efficacy would soon start killing off larger creatures.
None of the assembled took this information as good news but Rasp viewed it as an opportunity to educate. He decided to start indoctrinating some of the population to better prepare them for the rigors of living on a void ship in service to the Omnisiah and the Emperor. He gave the great unwashed before him a number of menial and frankly boorishly simple tasks that were outside the immediate education of this feudal planet but if they were able to accomplish their tasks that would of taken the Mechanicus almost no effort they would have proven themselves worthy of a seat on the hermetically sealed cargo container they were preparing for their own transport to the decks of the 'Perdition'.
The group eventually moved on to their chosen locations, splitting unevenly. Ani moved on to go speak to Ziozhal in person while the others minus Rasp went to speak to Governor Caerson Almieda. Ani's trip didn't take as long as she thought it would, gleaning really all the information she required from the well0informed but self deprecating guard for the Astropathicum. She was behind a ways but left to rejoin her Commodore and crewmates. The Crew at the Governor's tower learned that there was work to be had here on the planet and that if the could essentially step in and stop this planet from being overtaken by it's metallic aggressors then fame and fortune awaited them on the others side but the group wasn't given much to go on beyond the mention of a black stone that had been excavated from the planet's surface and put in the local college's museum collection of strange artifacts.
Needing no further prompting the gang reconvened, collected Rasp and headed to the college to investigate. The Psykers of the group were able to detect powerful energies coming off the stone and Isaac thought he saw a pattern in the stone and had flash visions of where the stone needed to be brought. The foot of the mountains where a strange ancient door awaited the object. Ani used her background as a translator and powerful psychic to discover the stone's meaning as a key. The two worked well in tandem together, certainly there was better flow at the moment between Ani and Isaac then Ani had experienced with Bjorn in some time. Her mental state regarding the captain was under constant shift as his mercurial human nature made him both practically inscrutable to the young Eldar and simultaneously alluring as he did have redeeming qualities.
Regardless, upon arriving at the museum Ani was distracted by a scroll floating in a stasis tube that was written in an ancient dialect detailing information about the Storm Prince, an Aeldari figure of myth that was supposed to wield the spear that Ani had sought and Stig had sashed into a thousand shards. She stashed the scroll and returned to the group. Murk though the very large black stone that shimmered green strangely in inconsistent ways would make for a very effective flail head. He was warned against doing anything like that but the large Ork didn't appear to be listening. It was within the big things strength capabilities but lifting a stone like that was going to encumber anyone not of Murk or Stig's strength catergory.
The team pondered their next moves as they spoke among themselves in the abandoned college, there voices ringing hollow down the empty halls around them.

Rewards Granted

Rewards Granted

• +3 xp
• 103 total xp
• Ani +14xp (previous logs)
• Bjorn +14xp (previous logs)
• Isaac +6xp (previous logs and hidden plot found)
• Murk +8xp (previous logs)
• Rasp +1xp (previous haikus) 
• Stig +17xp (previous logs)

Missions/Quests Completed

COMPLETED MISSIONS

• The Milk Run (Completed)
• Murk - A tail of two Waaagh! (Completed)
• Ani - Getting past the visions of the future (Complete)

ACTIVE MISSIONS

• Grasping hands from every corner of the Void - Part 1 & Part 2 complete Part 3 (In process)
• Bjorn - Darktide (begun - Part 1, optional objective 1 failed, Part 2 Complete, Part 3 - In process)
• Isaac - The god-machine (Part 1 & 2 complete, Part 3 - In process)
• Rasp - Children of the Machine (begun - detoured - Objective 1 Complete, Objective 2 failed, Objective 3, - Complete Objective 4 - Paused.)
• Stig - The Jungles of Ash (begun - detoured - Objective 1 failed, Part 2 - In process)

Character(s) interacted with

• Ziozhal the Farsighted- Primary Astropath on Ritammeron
• Caerson Almieda - Planetary Governor
• Ritammeron Refugees

Created Content

• Ziozhal
• Caerson Almieda

Related Reports

Session XXVII

Campaign

Legacy of a Rogue

Protagonists

Stig

Stig

Species

Career

Militant

B 4

A 3

I 2

C 2

W 2

P 2

Wounds 21/21

Strain 13/13

Soak 8

Defence M1/R1

Murc Boilah-Krusha

Murc

Species

Career

Ork

Ork

B 5

A 3

I 1

C 2

W 3

P 2

Wounds 0/26

Strain 4/13

Soak 9

Defence M1/R1

Rasputin

Rasp

Species

Career

Forge World

Chiurgeon

B 3

A 3

I 4

C 2

W 3

P 1

Wounds /13

Strain /13

Soak 4

Defence M1/R1

Vanirach

Vanirach (Ani)

Species

Career

Eldar

First-Mate/Interpreter

B 2

A 3

I 3

C 2

W 2

P 2

Wounds 1/12

Strain 0/12

Soak 6

Defence M1/R1

Report Date

14 Apr 2021

Primary Location

Ritammeron