Season 2, Episode 4: "Out of Alignment" Report
General Summary
With the police on high-alert and private militia on the hunt for Abelina and Jun, Mining Team 6 hastily packed up their wards and the to-go bags stashed in their homes, and used Jun's ability to "Skip" to teleport to the Aga Jain.
General confusion abounded, as Abelina and Jun believed that Mining Team 6 was already contracted by Valentina Terris to serve as a Golarion expedition team, and that they had a secure to location to escape to. Having heard nothing of the sort, the team feared a covert manipulation, but decided there were more pressing matters at hand.
After a few tense minutes of arguing, database hacking, surveillance feed scrubbing, and some semi-reliable alibi generation, the group took off from the docks of Striving, mere minutes ahead of their pursuers. With a longing glance, Lockette got one good look at the Horse Eye Orbital Plate before the party entered the Drift, leaving much of their remaining business on the planet behind.
Over the course of two days (three nights) in the Drift, things heated up among the party and their guests. Abelina revealed that she was Blessed by the Dreamer, and shared in the dreams of her hosts, which showed Shalema's exit from Project 9 (and murder of Jessel Kesh), hints to Skittles "madness", and Deku Ollivander's journey to the Forge. Abelina also explained that her Alignmatist knack lent itself well to warfare, but that she was opposed to directly harming sentient life, and would refuse to do so if asked. Still, she would aid the party until they got to their destination, and offered up the possibility of working together despite the confusion surrounding Valentina.
Worried about Cornelius' sudden, aggressive appetite, Isra sought Jun's council, and discovered that he had visited her planet in the past, as part of a research project into the residents' Core technology. He did not elaborate on why he needed such knowledge, but Isra saw something in the window of his eyes... Nonplussed, she continued the discussion, and found that Jun could show her the way to the Forge via Alignments, but did not know the exact coordinates.
Tesin also sought Jun's council, confused by the dream of her old master, which implied that her mind had been Splintered instead of completely wiped. Jun seemed worried that this would cause her severe mental issues in the future, and offered to take a look into her mind, but Tesin declined for now. The Alignmatist also revealed that a member of Project 9 had tried to infiltrate his psyche while in prison, but he reduced her to a puddle of meat...
Lockette spent some time with Zhao family, given their shared past, although the duo hadn't seen Lockette (specifically, Lockette Endrinmaster the 1st) in over 7 years. Abelina simply remembers her as Dr. Dinosaur, a friendly neighbor and local scientist on the Horse Eye Orbital Plate, but claimed that she often saw Lockette and her grandfather fighting. Jun seemed tight-lipped about the matter, stating promises to the original Lockette, but did say that she was once his apprentice, and that their disagreements surrounded her project with the Stewards.
The greatest schism involved secrets of the past, which Lockette wanted to share with Abelina, but the party as a whole was eager to conceal. Abelina seemed to take some offense to the censorship of Lockette, but did not care for the information directly, and stated as such in a tense disagreement. The response was an awkward silence, which led Abelina to confide in Lockette in private, and after some idle coding sessions, the decryption of the Project 9 tablet recovered from Varos.
Despite the subtle tension, a good secret was too interesting to pass up, and the party hovered over the data in the mess. The scientist's notes claimed that Shalema had tried to see Tesin several times during her imprisonment, but was denied on every account. In addition, he was elated to be studying Chad, calling the experiment a "continuation of the Egg Project", and cited that Chad's previous brain scans looked "surprisingly similar to REDACTED"...
The rest of the time was passed with some lively cooking by Mist, idle game sessions with Chad, and some much-needed rest.
After landing on Absalom Station, Valentina was quick to transfer the funds for a job completed, and invited the party to visit her shop. She was happy to see them, but things turned somewhat sour at the mention of possible manipulation, and Valentina invited them all to sit down and talk.
She explained that a previous team - Wolfgang Merc - had been sent to recover Abelina before the hiring of Mining Team 6, and they were to be her team on Golarion. But they were killed at some point during the mission, and their base of operations on Apostae was destroyed. This was the team that Abelina had heard was coming to save them, but the limitations of Drift travel meant a return message was delayed. The team seem satisfied with the explanation, and after a cup of tea, the open question was put on the table.
With Wolfgang Merc gone, was Valentina interested in hiring Mining Team 6 long-term?
After some brief debate, the terms were settled, and a contract signed:
- Mining Team 6 would secure a suitable location for an Access Beacon, and decide on a six-person team to enter Golarion.
- Once secure, Valentina would provide all the funds necessary to make the location livable, and deliver supplies for a Drift Beacon Engineer to build an Access Beacon.
- Mining Team 6 would be required to access Golarion at least twice per month, or for a single period totaling 14 Golarion days each month.
- All information and resources recovered from Golarion would be the property of Mining Team 6, unless they involved information surrounding magical spiders or their eggs, which would belong to Valentina.
- If Mining Team 6 discovered the present location of the eggs of a "Charlotte Spider", the contract would end, and Mining Team 6 would gain ownership of the base station and Access Beacon.
- If any of the above terms are violated, Valentina remains in ownership of the base and its Beacon, and the contract becomes null and void.
Rewards Granted
Tarot Deck
- No changes
- Alignment Spindles (Abelina, 1/person)
- 2,000 credits/person (Valentina)
Missions/Quests Completed
Due to the number of action items and quests piling up (sorry not sorry), these are now being tracked by the party in the Dream Team board on Trello!
Created Content
New and updated articles for Rel, the Fifth Rail, Jun Zhao, Casandalee, Brigh, Epoch, Triune, the Horse Eye Orbital Plate, Flexmaster, Flex - Corrupted, Flexmaster, Flex - Pure, Aballon, the First Ones, the Shrouded Lady, Shalema, Dirty Ace, Phoenix Avirae, Poppy, Skittles, Deku Ollivander, Nakira Umbutu, Sarge, Varos Mining Team 5, and the Stewards.
Tesin Movahesh
Thunder in the Mist
Lockette Endrinmaster 12 2.0
Isra
Chad
Report Date
14 Dec 2020
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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