Session 007: The Last Refuge Report
General Summary
Midnight Squad made their way back to their Commander Hadiya Najiri.
She had the computers worked on by technicians, during the debriefing. They were able to find a map of caves. Xelonan was messaged to come in, while some of the squad got some rest. They aksed about the orginal settlers. They set up in Old Town, & the Temple of Hylax was one of the first buildings errected on Utraneus.
Using the computer systems they were able to put the map of the caves found on the Reckoners computers to Vibrakleen an automated laundry mat.
The Commander ordered them to go to the caves & survey them as a potential area for an evacuation zone.
After making their way to the sonic mat, they went into the employee's only area. Finding a loose panel they were able to remove it & make their way into a tunnel made with weak acid & simple tools. The sound of the automated laundromat likely covered the sounds of the tunnel being dug. e caves of pilgrimage.
Room 1:
An entire wall here is carved with intricate reliefs of strange insectoid figures in a precise style with minimal negative space. Some resemble known Swarm creatures, but others are more obscure. All have oversized mandibles dripping with fluids. A large, modern crate, the top of which is pitted with acid burns, stands in the southeast corner of room, with a trio of glass beakers arranged in front of it. To the north, a rough passageway slopes upward. Tunnels to the west and south have collapsed into rubble, and another tunnel the east is covered with heavy plastic sealed against the ceiling.
Written on a wall was, “Awakening to the Nightmare” written in Shirren.
The modern crate was trapped & that was disabled. The crate contained emergency medical supplies (an advanced medkit, 3 doses of sprayflesh, and three mk 2 serums of healing), three web grenades I (Starfinder Armory 26), and a planetary survival kit that includes a compass, a flashlight, a grappler with 50 feet of titanium alloy cable line, and a 5-week supply of field rations for four people). It also contained several credsticks loaded with a total of 4,000 credits and a portable tier 3 computer.
When the portable computer was used it played a message from Sister Spark: "If you are hearing this, it is quite likely that the hall has been raided, and my lieutenants and I are dead. You and another survivors have gathered here for safety as planned. However grim things look, you are in a far better position than the fools who never answered the Swarm’s call. The masters will show their gratitude for our efforts. Remain here until the hunt has died down, then resume operations. I’ve left records and equipment to assist you. This city will burn, but the pyre will please our new masters, and you will be rewarded.”"
Room 2:
Visible layers of sediment form waving striations in the walls of this beautiful, open chamber. Regular hollows have been carved in the wall to retain water and colonies of bioluminescent algae, which light the chamber like organic lamps. Thick, blue-gray lichen covers the floor, rising up in fern like tendrils near the northern wall. Flickering holographic displays line the southern walls, projected from hidden emitters. The westernmost display shows a meticulously ordered garden with flowers of every description; withering and growing anew in a never-ending cycle. The central display depicts a series of rolling hills covered with short grass; every few moments, a herd of alien beasts passes through the landscape. Riddled with static, the easternmost display shows several terrifying, long-legged creatures slowly surrounding a family of sleeping shirrens; the image resets before they attack.
A feeder fungus was in this room & it's narcotic spores were harvested by Rivet.
The holographic emitters were too well hidden to be found. Not all choices are equal, or easy, & the best may be the most difficult to make.
An illusionary wall blocked access to the third room.
Room 3: This room was unnaturally dark (all non-magical light was extinguished) & Ahnje luckily missed falling into a hole, & located handholds to climb over the one she stopped in front of. Finding carvings on the top of the room, the carvings appeared to be mathematical equations & astrogation charts to astrogate a starship. Though it is impossible to tell the starting location. The western section appeared to have sharter jumps. The symbology of the equations represent the desperation that drove the Shirrens in their exodus.
Room 4:
The floor here has been smoothed out, except in several places where the stone has been formed into low benches. Niches have been carved into the southeastern wall, directly under another intricate bas relief showing shirren figures mingling with other humanoid figures. Passages exit to theeast, west, and north.
In this room was small with benches that could be used as beds or seats.
Room 5: The sound of dripping water is muted in this side cavern. A small shrine is set up against the eastern wall, its front a simpler, older holographic display showing what appears to be a list of names. A package wrapped in brown paper sits next to a small metal bowl holding a half-burned stick of incense on the shrine. A poem has been carved into thewestern wall. The only exit is to the south.
Was a memorial & the chest was cursed so that anyone defiling the offerings were cursed. Room 6:
A short, narrow passage opens into a large cavern with a ceiling nearly 40 feet overhead supported by several stone columns. A cluster of stalactites hang from the ceiling, and stalagmites poke up from a shallow expanse of water covering much of the chamber’s floor, the source of which appears to be a small waterfall cascading from a hole near the ceiling. In the western end of the cave, a tunnel exits near the ceiling. Two Utranean Seawyrms were here flushed in from the sea by the recent hold to the south.
Room 7:
A column of amber stretches from floor to ceiling in this chamber, radiating a warm golden light. A hemispherical shape can be seen within the column, but the details are difficult to make out. A dusty shrine stands against the western wall, etched with symbols of an insectoid head. A tunnel to the north has collapsed long ago, but another, smaller passage leads to the south. When approached, hidden hybrid holo-emitters in the shrine activate to show a life-sized shirren representation of Hylax: an insectile humanoid woman wearing a flowing white robe and holding her arms wide as if about to embrace the viewer. She says, “Welcome, pilgrims” in Shirren and then dissipates into dozens of motes of golden light. The motes arrange themselves into a pattern that are several constellations visible in Utraneus’s night sky(adjusted for the passage of 3 centuries).
The Amber column quickly meted & a creature came out of it attacking the party, Midnight squad defeated the creature.
The altar had a low-level telepathic field that engendered feelings of comfort & safety.
Resting in this room had the surveying take 20 minutes rather than the usual 10.
Room 8:
A modest chamber carved into the rock, this room contains a small bed, a series of shelves, and a large trunk. The shelves hold several holographic picture frames, an antique sextant and compass, and several fist-sized glass globes. The trunk is made of a shiny metal alloy and is etched with images of stars and insect heads. A standing lamp in one corner is dark, though the soft glow of several patches of bio-luminescent moss provide some light. The only exit is to the north.
Some globes, & a photo of a Shirren family were in this room & a staff of mystic healing was in a chest without latch or lock, it was not trapped.
The ancient computer & tablet were taken to the SDF force to be worked on, & a diary belonging to Mynesh was found. It can also gave a glimpse of the shirren’s life, as she was the Caves of Pilgrimage’s third Guide. Her writing paints a picture of a devout young woman who is proud of her position but who also misses her family. Many of her writings are musings on the Forever Reliquary and her fervent hope to visit it once her term as Guide is completed. The last entry mentions several small tremors that have wracked the caves over a few days; Mynesh writes that she hopes these don’t presage a natural disaster similar to the one that caused the original shrine to Hylax to fall into these caves.
Making their way back to Commander Najiri, she thanked them & sent them to get some sleep after their debriefing.
Returning when they woke up she said,"Thank you all for coming. The cave’s final guide mentioned something called the Forever Reliquary, a phrase I had read and heard several times in texts and lectures by Hylaxian scholars, but most of them gave the impression that it was a metaphorical place, an ultimate utopia of peace and friendship that all should strive for. Some even believed it was another name for Hylax’s domain. In either case, what you have discovered leads me to think that it is an actual place here on the Material Plane. I did some searching on the infosphere and found an article written by a shirren named Galchak containing theories about the location of the Forever Reliquary. However, there is one big problem."
"The most recent information we have on Galchak is that they were a professor at Zessh University on the planet Ilemchuuva in the Chuuva system ... which was the last system hit by the Swarm before they came to Suskillon. We can’t be certain if this is a coincidence or not, but if the Swarm are seeking this Forever Reliquary, it can’t be for a good reason. We need more data, and that’s where you come in."
"This mission requires speed & stealth, so I'm going to assign you to the Razor Crest. You can stay for a week to upgrade it & get supplies if you think there is a need for that. Xelonan has transferred 2,000 credits to you as thanks for the historical discoveries within the caverns you found."
She had the computers worked on by technicians, during the debriefing. They were able to find a map of caves. Xelonan was messaged to come in, while some of the squad got some rest. They aksed about the orginal settlers. They set up in Old Town, & the Temple of Hylax was one of the first buildings errected on Utraneus.
Using the computer systems they were able to put the map of the caves found on the Reckoners computers to Vibrakleen an automated laundry mat.
The Commander ordered them to go to the caves & survey them as a potential area for an evacuation zone.
After making their way to the sonic mat, they went into the employee's only area. Finding a loose panel they were able to remove it & make their way into a tunnel made with weak acid & simple tools. The sound of the automated laundromat likely covered the sounds of the tunnel being dug. e caves of pilgrimage.
Room 1:
An entire wall here is carved with intricate reliefs of strange insectoid figures in a precise style with minimal negative space. Some resemble known Swarm creatures, but others are more obscure. All have oversized mandibles dripping with fluids. A large, modern crate, the top of which is pitted with acid burns, stands in the southeast corner of room, with a trio of glass beakers arranged in front of it. To the north, a rough passageway slopes upward. Tunnels to the west and south have collapsed into rubble, and another tunnel the east is covered with heavy plastic sealed against the ceiling.
Written on a wall was, “Awakening to the Nightmare” written in Shirren.
The modern crate was trapped & that was disabled. The crate contained emergency medical supplies (an advanced medkit, 3 doses of sprayflesh, and three mk 2 serums of healing), three web grenades I (Starfinder Armory 26), and a planetary survival kit that includes a compass, a flashlight, a grappler with 50 feet of titanium alloy cable line, and a 5-week supply of field rations for four people). It also contained several credsticks loaded with a total of 4,000 credits and a portable tier 3 computer.
When the portable computer was used it played a message from Sister Spark: "If you are hearing this, it is quite likely that the hall has been raided, and my lieutenants and I are dead. You and another survivors have gathered here for safety as planned. However grim things look, you are in a far better position than the fools who never answered the Swarm’s call. The masters will show their gratitude for our efforts. Remain here until the hunt has died down, then resume operations. I’ve left records and equipment to assist you. This city will burn, but the pyre will please our new masters, and you will be rewarded.”"
Room 2:
Visible layers of sediment form waving striations in the walls of this beautiful, open chamber. Regular hollows have been carved in the wall to retain water and colonies of bioluminescent algae, which light the chamber like organic lamps. Thick, blue-gray lichen covers the floor, rising up in fern like tendrils near the northern wall. Flickering holographic displays line the southern walls, projected from hidden emitters. The westernmost display shows a meticulously ordered garden with flowers of every description; withering and growing anew in a never-ending cycle. The central display depicts a series of rolling hills covered with short grass; every few moments, a herd of alien beasts passes through the landscape. Riddled with static, the easternmost display shows several terrifying, long-legged creatures slowly surrounding a family of sleeping shirrens; the image resets before they attack.
A feeder fungus was in this room & it's narcotic spores were harvested by Rivet.
The holographic emitters were too well hidden to be found. Not all choices are equal, or easy, & the best may be the most difficult to make.
An illusionary wall blocked access to the third room.
Room 3: This room was unnaturally dark (all non-magical light was extinguished) & Ahnje luckily missed falling into a hole, & located handholds to climb over the one she stopped in front of. Finding carvings on the top of the room, the carvings appeared to be mathematical equations & astrogation charts to astrogate a starship. Though it is impossible to tell the starting location. The western section appeared to have sharter jumps. The symbology of the equations represent the desperation that drove the Shirrens in their exodus.
Room 4:
The floor here has been smoothed out, except in several places where the stone has been formed into low benches. Niches have been carved into the southeastern wall, directly under another intricate bas relief showing shirren figures mingling with other humanoid figures. Passages exit to theeast, west, and north.
In this room was small with benches that could be used as beds or seats.
Room 5: The sound of dripping water is muted in this side cavern. A small shrine is set up against the eastern wall, its front a simpler, older holographic display showing what appears to be a list of names. A package wrapped in brown paper sits next to a small metal bowl holding a half-burned stick of incense on the shrine. A poem has been carved into thewestern wall. The only exit is to the south.
Was a memorial & the chest was cursed so that anyone defiling the offerings were cursed. Room 6:
A short, narrow passage opens into a large cavern with a ceiling nearly 40 feet overhead supported by several stone columns. A cluster of stalactites hang from the ceiling, and stalagmites poke up from a shallow expanse of water covering much of the chamber’s floor, the source of which appears to be a small waterfall cascading from a hole near the ceiling. In the western end of the cave, a tunnel exits near the ceiling. Two Utranean Seawyrms were here flushed in from the sea by the recent hold to the south.
Room 7:
A column of amber stretches from floor to ceiling in this chamber, radiating a warm golden light. A hemispherical shape can be seen within the column, but the details are difficult to make out. A dusty shrine stands against the western wall, etched with symbols of an insectoid head. A tunnel to the north has collapsed long ago, but another, smaller passage leads to the south. When approached, hidden hybrid holo-emitters in the shrine activate to show a life-sized shirren representation of Hylax: an insectile humanoid woman wearing a flowing white robe and holding her arms wide as if about to embrace the viewer. She says, “Welcome, pilgrims” in Shirren and then dissipates into dozens of motes of golden light. The motes arrange themselves into a pattern that are several constellations visible in Utraneus’s night sky(adjusted for the passage of 3 centuries).
The Amber column quickly meted & a creature came out of it attacking the party, Midnight squad defeated the creature.
The altar had a low-level telepathic field that engendered feelings of comfort & safety.
Resting in this room had the surveying take 20 minutes rather than the usual 10.
Room 8:
A modest chamber carved into the rock, this room contains a small bed, a series of shelves, and a large trunk. The shelves hold several holographic picture frames, an antique sextant and compass, and several fist-sized glass globes. The trunk is made of a shiny metal alloy and is etched with images of stars and insect heads. A standing lamp in one corner is dark, though the soft glow of several patches of bio-luminescent moss provide some light. The only exit is to the north.
Some globes, & a photo of a Shirren family were in this room & a staff of mystic healing was in a chest without latch or lock, it was not trapped.
The ancient computer & tablet were taken to the SDF force to be worked on, & a diary belonging to Mynesh was found. It can also gave a glimpse of the shirren’s life, as she was the Caves of Pilgrimage’s third Guide. Her writing paints a picture of a devout young woman who is proud of her position but who also misses her family. Many of her writings are musings on the Forever Reliquary and her fervent hope to visit it once her term as Guide is completed. The last entry mentions several small tremors that have wracked the caves over a few days; Mynesh writes that she hopes these don’t presage a natural disaster similar to the one that caused the original shrine to Hylax to fall into these caves.
Making their way back to Commander Najiri, she thanked them & sent them to get some sleep after their debriefing.
Returning when they woke up she said,"Thank you all for coming. The cave’s final guide mentioned something called the Forever Reliquary, a phrase I had read and heard several times in texts and lectures by Hylaxian scholars, but most of them gave the impression that it was a metaphorical place, an ultimate utopia of peace and friendship that all should strive for. Some even believed it was another name for Hylax’s domain. In either case, what you have discovered leads me to think that it is an actual place here on the Material Plane. I did some searching on the infosphere and found an article written by a shirren named Galchak containing theories about the location of the Forever Reliquary. However, there is one big problem."
"The most recent information we have on Galchak is that they were a professor at Zessh University on the planet Ilemchuuva in the Chuuva system ... which was the last system hit by the Swarm before they came to Suskillon. We can’t be certain if this is a coincidence or not, but if the Swarm are seeking this Forever Reliquary, it can’t be for a good reason. We need more data, and that’s where you come in."
"This mission requires speed & stealth, so I'm going to assign you to the Razor Crest. You can stay for a week to upgrade it & get supplies if you think there is a need for that. Xelonan has transferred 2,000 credits to you as thanks for the historical discoveries within the caverns you found."
Rewards Granted
Level 5
Notes
Survey results:
- The surveyed the entrance room & determined that as this chamber is closest to the surface, itis the only real option for a communications center. A signal receiver can be placed here with data cables leading up to antennae on the surface, allowing any refugees to remain in contact with the SDF as long as the station here is maintained and operated.
- If this chamber is carefully scoured of organic material, it is large enough to store generators, hydroponics tanks, water filtration systems, or other bulky equipment to support a camp.
- In its current state, the passageway is unsafe for pedestrian traffic. To start, magic lighting would need to be installed here to banish the darkness, or someone would need to permanently dispel the enchantment. New Grakka was famously founded when engineers discovered a chemical formula to stabilize Utraneus’ brittle limestone surface. Most likely, the city’s civil engineering corps will be able to stabilize this floor.
- The benches here can serve as makeshift beds with enough padding, making this chamber a fine potential infirmary.
- This chamber is usable as is. As a quiet sanctum, refugees can meditate or pray within this room, which will help to increase morale. Of course, anyone using the space would first need to be warned about the trap on the memorial.
- This is the largest open area in the caverns. If properly drained and the leak plugged, it can hold prefabricated housing, tents, or other temporary shelters for around 100 people. In addition, if given enough time and with sufficient equipment, an emergency escape route can be installed near the ceiling (making sure not to drill into the sea).
- As another large chamber, this space could be used to house more refugees. Alternatively, it could serve as a common area for recreation or dining. In either case, the shrine will likely put people at ease. If the rubble is removed from the northern tunnel, it would be easier for people to reach this room, but some form of security gate or door would need to be installed to keep the refugees safe.
- This chamber’s proximity to the entrance (a potential communications hub) make it ideal for a command center.
Fumbles <None given>
Rivet
Ahnje L'Treaux
Remu Skiehopper
Kosh Theronidas
Report Date
27 Mar 2022
Primary Location
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Comments