[IC] SWS/DnD5, Star Wars the Old Republic – A Gathering Darkness

[IC] SWS/DnD5, Star Wars the Old Republic – A Gathering Darkness

[sblock=OCC and Heroes]
The Rogues Gallery thread
The OCC/Rolling​ thread.

The present Heroes are…
Cal Domaru, a Human Scout (Naturalist) and doctor (played by Forged Fury)
This Gand, a Gand Soldier (Tech Sage) and scholar (played by Binder Fred)
Kacela Nejis, a Twi’lek Jedi (Acolyte) (played by Shayuri)
Jihahna Darut, a Human ex-merc Fringer (Scout/Mercenary [Soldier] (played by Sezarius)
Reks Seviir, a Human Jedi padawan (Acolyte) (played by Torgdor1992)
[/sblock]

These are dark days for the Galactic Republic. After the Shacking of Coruscant, they were forced into signing of the Treaty of Coruscant, effetely splitting themselves in half between the Republic and the Sith Empire.

The Hutts have declared their independences from both sides and pirates and black marketers are exploiting the Republics weaknesses like never before. Small brush wars along the new boarder between the two nations have broken out on a dozen worlds. The economy is in shamble and the citizens are afraid and demanding action.

On the loading docks of the upper floors of the Republic Survey Corps building on Coruscant, three young heroes have gathered. Each has been assigned or hired to aid the Republic to stop a massacre of a minor semi-sentient species in the Outer-Rim. Normally the Republic might have more resources to devote to such an event, but not these days, not even close.

And so they have gathered the three to assist the Corp. They are being sent to the world of Dathomir. This world has only been settled by a few miners for the last twenty years or so, and is still very “wild” and untamed. The republic is trying to stop the slaughter of the native species, the Kwi by mercenaries hired by miners of the Czerka Corporation. These miners had been using the Kwi as domesticated animals and beasts of burdens as they did not know they were sentient. The Kwi are extremely primitive and their form of communication is so bizarre and complex that no one recognized it as a form of speech. Recently the miners have discovered a new deposit of industrial crystals and minerals in one of the many heavily forested mountain ranges and had set up a large mining camps there. This is when the troubles started. For some unknown reason the Kwi started attacking these camps, killing and injuring a number of the miners. Czerka then brought in bounty hunters and mercenaries to “deal with the problem”. As this was happening, members of the Republic Survey Corp discovered that the Kwi were sentient but the Czerka did not listen and so they have sent back urgent messages requesting help.

Dathomir is not a Republic member world and as such they cannot impose the full weight of Republic Laws there, even though the Kwi are a primitive species and the Republic does have law preventing the exploitation of such species within its borders. Czerka Corporation has been using legal maneuvering and misdirection to thwart the Republic’s representatives’ trying to stop it, believing that they can kill off enough of the Kwi too drive them away from the mining site before they are legally stopped.

Cal Domaru has been provided the few limited dataclip maps of the heavily forested planet taken over the years and ‘This Gand’ has some spotty research notes and historical data on the planet. ‘His’ research suggests that the Kwi were once either part of the Infinity Empire or conquered by them. The Republic itself have very few records on the Infinity Empire itself (and its existence is widely unknown by most citizens at large), most coming from the days of the Jedi Civil War. When the Jedi Knight Revan discovered the Star Forge and declared himself the new Dark Lord of Sith, those Jedi that would eventually oppose him found some shattered remains of this ancient empire. For an unknown reason the Kwi lost their technology and reverted to their present, primitive state over 20,000 years ago and have never recovered. Kacela Nejis’s master was badly wounded during the attack on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and so her master has sent her along as part of her ‘trails’ on the path to Knighthood while he recovers and contemplates on matters of the Force (as many Jedi Masters and Knights are doing, withdrawing somewhat from Republic affairs). He hopes that a little time away from the temple and other Jedi will expand her ‘world-view’

We open with the Survey Corp rep, a well-dressed zabrak by the name of Kooth Odok, giving the young heroes some final advice and mission details “Again, I need to stress to each of you that you need to do everything possible to intervene on behalf of the Kwi and stop the killing. Captain Kaldo here is delivering some supplies to the miners and we have arranged for your passage on his ship. Once you have resolved the situation, report to the local Survey Corp rep, Vivian Rell. She should also be meeting you when you land at the planets spaceport, Footfall. Do you have any final questions or requests?”

A human dressed in a dirty spacesuit is leaning against the ship that is going to transport the heroes to Dathomir, the Morning Song, a class 580-series light freighter. This ship has seen better days from the looks of it, but for a light transport it can carry a fairly good size cargo load and requires only a crew of one.




OOC – this is a good place to introduce what your characters look like. You all meet only early today when summoned to the Survey Corp building. On the upper floors of the building is a good size landing bay that stretches out and allows at least two small transports to be parked here. At present only the Morning Song is here, hissing out gases as it idles, awaiting take off. The journey should take about one weeks’ time and then the captain has been paid to wait around at least an additional week for you to accomplish your mission.

If you have any additional requests, questions, etc. now would be a good time to ask. The Corp does not have as many resources as they would like, but no one in the Republic does these days. They might be able to supply you with some additional gear if you want. You will need a Charisma (Persuasion) check to see, depending on what you might want.

We might role-play a bit of the journey as you discuss any plans and also to get to know each other’s character but I want to move quickly to the planet and the adventure. /OOC

The gand before him silently listened with insectile attention, shoulders and head bowed in humility.

She or he - it's almost impossible to tell - hides his modest form under a badly worn poncho covering a loose robe, with even her (its?) three-fingered hands encased in platy gauntlets. Only the bulbous head is uncovered to the hangar air, ridged in hard chitin, light brown with delicate markings that complement huge, reddish compound eyes.

When it's his turn to speak: a humble dip of the head, even lower than before, then a jumble of drones and clicks, muffled by the combination ammonia breather and vocoder. When the words in galact-base finally come, they come in a steady, feminine voice, "asdfgasdfb DEETNH This nameless one finds the situation most regrettable. odsfbdrvv sadf aajk And offers hope the matter can be settled most peacefully." A pause. "Kth udkuk Xdfv dfa ISD corangsdkj Does Kooth Odok think this is likely?"

His/Her head orients to the other two in turn, gesturing for lack of offense.


OOC: Were we issued with something that marks us as representatives of the republic, GreenKarl?

Cal Domaru nodded his head in understanding as Kooth Odok explained their mission. Hearing the zabrak's instructions, Cal was feeling better about his decision to abandon his research grant funded by Czerka Corporation. The unscrupulous practices the company was undertaking with the Kwi turned his stomach; he couldn't understand why the lure of profit drove some people to treat others in such horrible ways. He glanced cautiously at the Gand and Twi'lek. They would make for interesting companions.

As the zabrak spoke, Cal checked over his gear to make sure he had forgotten nothing. His blaster carbine was slung over his shoulder; worn, but obviously well maintained. Unlike most carbine models, his weapon did not feature a folding stock. He wore a holstered blaster pistol on his right thigh and a large survival knife was strapped to the outside of his left boot. His clothing was utilitarian and functional: grey pants with large pockets on the thigh and smaller pockets on the calf, an off-white long-sleeve collarless shirt, and a mottled green explorer's vest featuring a variety of survival tools and supplies. Slung over his right shoulder and across his body was an olive drab medic kit, a series of snap enclosures further secured the kit to his left hip via his web belt. Stenciling on the bag in cracked red paint appeared to read: FRE AL ERA N; it seemed clear some of the lettering had faded with time. The young man had shaggy brown hair and green eyes; a faint scar cut from his left ear to the corner of his mouth. At best guess, the human was likely in his late 20s or early 30s. Lanky and small in frame, Cal looked like he weighed about 65kg and stood about 1.75m.

Typically direct in his questions, Cal asked, "Do we have any contact within the Kwi population? I understand that communication is difficult, but do we know if they are aware the Republic is trying to help them?"

Kooth shrugs to This Gand's question, saying "If the Force is with us...maybe. The Republic has a lot of problems right now and not much is going our way these days. I hope that you are able to find a solution. Whatever it might be that saves the Kwi..."

He also shakes his head in a negative to Cal's question "Not to my knowledge. Vivian might have had more luck since she sent the last dispatches with the request for help. But from her first reports she had just cracked their linguistic code to determine that they were sentient. You will have to talk to her when you make planetfall."

"Understood," Cal replied. Turning to his datamap reader, the human examined the topography of the planet, looking for any signs of unusual features that might require specialized equipment. As far as he could tell, what they were supplied with should be adequate for their expedition. Although there was one piece of equipment that was always handy for a jaunt in the wilderness. "If you have one to spare, can we borrow a power recharger? I mean, you know, it's not critical and we could probably get by without one, but it's always nice to have, especially if we end up having to spend some time away from civilization. But only if it isn't a huge bother." Cal didn't particularly feel like he had been all that persuasive, but hoped for the recharger none the less.

Looking over his datamap, Cal can see that the planet is mostly covered with swamps and forests and that there are a number of large mountain chains, but almost none of the planet is properly mapped. Just orbital shots that can focus down with high-res, but as the planet is covered with large forest and swamps it is just the tops of local trees. He really can only figure out large geographic features.

There are three primary continents surrounded by large ocean/water bodies. The miners on located on the northern continent (also the largest) and concentrated mostly around the starport Footfall which is located in the foothills of a large and long mountain chain. The secondary mining site where the troubles with the native Kwi started is located about 400km north of the starport deeper in the heavily forested mountains.

The survey notes that much of the planet is plagued with a strange phenomenon of unusual mists and fogs. These mists form almost everyone, even over the oceans and only clear out during a rare wind event. Possible reasons is high humidity or unknown gases in the atmosphere, but the true reason has not yet been defined.

Kooth nods and an assistant comes out from a near by room with a portable power rechargers and hands it over to Cal.

Taking that as her cue, the gand again gestures respect to the representative, concluding that: "ohkf jfcla d'f Ckrk Mnju nbcert Hopefully our humble actions will not bring the anger of Czerka Mining upon all our heads."

"If we are going to attempt to make peace, we should begin with the aggressor," Kacela said. An attractive, azure-with-darker-stripes skinned twi'lek, she was dressed in the staid tunic and robe of a Jedi, though one familiar with the Order would note that the pale hues of her clothes most likely indicated she was not yet a Knight. Of course, it was hard to be sure...there was not really a firm dress code. There was no mistaking the lightsaber hanging from the side of her belt though.

"I'll assume our data includes the location of the Czerka planetary headquarters, and the names of the executives stationed there, shall I?"

Her voice was crisp and educated...the accent of a core worlder. Her lekku were mostly tucked away under where her hood fell against the back of her neck, and under the shoulders of her robes; their tiny movements making it look almost like there were snakes hidden therein.

Cal glanced at Kacela. He wasn't sure what to make of Jedi. While the people of Alderaan had appreciated the efforts of the Jedi and Republic forces in freeing the world from Sith occupation, there were some who suggested that the Sith problem had only been exacerbated by the Jedi. He didn't know what to think, not particularly paying much attention to intergalactic politics. It was hard to stay up with current events when you were elbows deep in alien muck trying to extract a newly discovered medicinal herb from an Outer Rim swamp world. What he did know was that things back on Alderaan had changed considerably since the occupation. Normally a peaceful people, many powerful Alderaanians had started to push for strong retaliation against the Sith Empire. So much so that his homeworld had seceded from the Republic in protest of the Treaty of Coruscant. Cal hadn't been home in some time, but he understood the move had only made matters worse.

Still, with respect to Kacela, he was determined to give her the benefit of the doubt and see if her actions proved those back home wrong.

Kooth nods too Kacela, saying "Yes their corporate headquarters on the planet is at the spaceport, Footfall. That's where our office is also... all three Surveyors worth. Its my understanding there is not a lot of development on the planet, mostly around the spaceport and the mining facility in the mountains."