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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 9602768" data-attributes="member: 11760">It was a box canyon. A good place to hole up. Or a good place for an ambush. Either way, Facula Albedo was on the wrong side of it.At the far end, he could see through his electrobinculars, there was a sturdy little cabin perched on the cliff's edge. Nothing fancy, but probably someone's escape from work, a beloved haven with a view of the obsidian lowlands all around. Steps carved out of the stone led down into the canyon.The canyon, though, was full of zauvvaiks. Each three meters long, with gleaming black tusk-blades designed to slice would-be predators to bits. Their fur rippled with the breeze from their two pairs of wings, which they vibrated now to regulate their temperature while grazing in the gorge.A frightened herd of zauvvaiks would tear anyone they found threatening to bit before trampling the remains and racing away.So that's what Albedo would have to do. The trick would be to survive it.The canyon was lined with more gleaming spikes of obsidian, evidence of some long-ago volcanic cataclysm.It took some doing, but there was a narrow path, wide enough for his stolen hoverbike that Albedo could use to get up above the canyon and out of the zauvvaiks' way. Probably.He looked through the gear bags attached to the bikes and found what he had thought he'd seen earlier and fired the flare gun toward the far end of the canyon.The zauvvaiks thundered by below, tusk-blades gleaming as they whipped their heads back and forth, kicking up dust with hooves and wings as they raced out of the canyon.Now, at the top of the steps leading down into the canyon was an avian Valk, his mouth open in horror, holding an unused flare gun in his hand."Great minds think alike," Albedo muttered and raced back down into the now-empty canyon and toward the steps at the far end.The Valk was waiting for him at the top, but a flare gun is a bad weapon and Albedo was expecting it, ducking to the side and letting it burst in the box canyon behind him."Aiki Yuukr," Albedo said, pulling out his stun baton. "I've got some questions for you."He jabbed the Valk with the baton, causing him to twitch and shake uncontrollably, dropping him to the ground.Aiki blubbered, stumbling backwards, pulling a tiny pistol the size of a finger from his sleeve. Albedo backhanded it out of his grasp with his stun baton, sending the gun skittering into the rocky terrain."Knock it off," Albedo growled. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead.""Torture?" Aiki screamed, whipping his head from side to side, one wild eye at a time searching Albedo's face in panic. "Tell the Cartel I won't do it again! I was desperate! My sister's kid is sick! He tricked me!""Who did, the mystic? Itsuki Itch?""Yes, yes! He did this thing," Aiki mimed dragging fingertips across his forehead. "He knew I knew and forced me to give him the information.""Forced you? Word is he paid you off."Aiki wailed."He did pay me, but I'm sure he already knew, he was pulling it from my mind!""Pulling what?""The archive! He knew it had been moved off-world and wanted to know where the order had sent it!"Albedo paused a moment, confused."I don't ... what are you talking about?""That's why the Mystic Order is here: They have hidden archives here, things too dangerous for them to keep at the temple on Veltari! But he found out that the order had shipped the documents he wanted off-world, using Targ Cartel smugglers to get it past the Red Moon.""So, is he going to get to a port, stop them from being shipped off-world?""No, it's too late. It's been gone for months. They could be anywhere now."Albedo pondered."Did he give any indication of where he's going now instead?""Something about finding a Storyteller, to get his story out.""OK," Albedo put away the baton and reached out a hand to help the Valk up. "I guess I need to find this Storyteller before he does.""Wait, the Cartel didn't send you?""No," Albedo said, walking back to his bike. "I'm after the mystic. And you should get off-planet -- three different people were able to give me directions to where you were hiding out."Behind him, Aiki wailed as he hurriedly packed up his things.Later, Albedo drank. It was a Ghol bar and he was the only human in there, but that was fine by him. For starters, Ghol bars always seemed to have good alcohol and good music. And secondly, the Ghol knew everyone's business. If there was a Storyteller on the planet, odds are, somewhere here would know.Unfortunately, it also had something else."I guess the Masters-At-Arms couldn't finish the job, then."A massive hand landed on Albedo's shoulder, causing him to spill a little of his drink."Djed Kebay," Albedo sighed, wrenching his shoulder free. "What happened to 'Nomads Don't Fight Nomads?'"Kebay shoved Albedo forward, almost causing the man's head to bounce off the bar."I just sold the Admiral some information on where they could find you. And I'm not a Nomad in here -- this is my bar."A bouncer tossed Kebay his power hammer, which coughed to smoking, noisy life when he caught it."And we didn't know you were a Nomad -- you were just an armed and belligerent drunk who resisted being tossed out into the gutter -- didn't you?""It wasn't my idea that we should both be competing for the same bounty on Oceron -- you should be mad at the Guild, not at me.""You just loved making me look like a fool in front of everyone, didn't you?""Well, that was a nice bonus."Albedo had to jump back out of the way of the power hammer, letting it destroy a chunk of the bar he was standing next to as patrons scrambled toward the exits. The hammer was deadly, if it connected, but slow. Albedo darted in and jabbed with his power baton, hitting Kebay in the crotch, almost getting him to release the hammer as a result."Cute," Kebay gasped. "Let's see how cute your brains will look all over my walls."Albedo was right -- the hammer hurt. It picked him up and threw him across the room. When he got up, it felt like several ribs had been broken, along with the glassware and booth he had slammed into. His poncho hung in scorched tatters."Well, you probably will want to redecorate after this," Albedo coughed. He dropped his baton and pulled his pistols before Kebay could close the distance.It was over in a half second, outrage and frustration flickering in Kebay's expression before a pair of blast holes opened in his chest."I guess I'll toss myself out, then," Albedo said, moving as carefully to avoid making anything hurt more than it already did. Holding one pistol on the crowd, he tossed a handful of credits on the bar. "For my tab."[SPOILER="This round's rolls"]Exploration roll 4: "If your Notoriety is 4 or higher, you encounter a lead. Otherwise, roll once on the Exploration Events table." At last!First time checking out this page on Leads. I need to roll for a Showdown to create the location where I encounter the Lead. Then I roll for the species and personality of the Lead.My third Lead, when it happens, will actually be the showdown with the Target, at long last.For Showdown Site, I roll a 4: "You track them to a densely packed forest, rock formation or junkyard." For Setting, I roll another 4: "One of you has enraged a huge herd of native beasts, causing a stampede that rushes towards you."Going back to the Game Master's Sci-Fi Toolkit book, I roll on the alien fauna tables and get a large and lean creature that flies with 2d4 wings, which turns out to be four wings. It travels in groups of 3d8 creatures -- 13 for this pack. Its major diet is plants, berries and fruit. Its notable feature is its dense, shaggy fur and its natural "defence" (both of the books I'm using this game are from Britain) are its long, chipped tusks. I hit up the web for an <a href="https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/alien-names.php" target="_blank">alien species name generator</a> and this beast is called a "zauvvaiks," which feels appropriately Star Wars.For this Target, I roll a 10 for species, a bird-like Valk, the first time I've encountered one of this species in this adventure. His name is Aiki Yuukr. I roll a 2 for Personality -- skittish.Back on the Lead table, I roll a 3: "They're desperate for money and were hired by your Target. Roll for their faction (1-2: Challenging, 3-6: Minor)." I roll a 2, so they're with the Targ Cartel."Resolve all" of the three prompts, starting with what job they were hired to do and why did they need the fast credits, speak with them and then they attack (+2 attack, +1 defense).Albedo rolled a 3 + 3 for the first attack with the stun baton, for a total of 6. Aiki rolled a 1+2 for a total of 3. Albedo rolled a 6 + 1 for the second attack with the stun baton, for a total of 7. Aiki rolled 4+2 for a total of 6, leaving him defeated.And after all of that, it's on to the Destination. No rest for the weary. I roll a 4: "You arrive at a small town run by Locals." I can either roll on the Destination Events table or rest and barter to gain 1 Motivation. I've never rolled on the Destination Events table, so I choose that and roll a 3 and then a 6 on the subtable: "You enter a bar and immediately bump into another Nomad. This isn't the first time you've encountered them. Roll a d6." I roll a 3: "There's bad blood between you and they immediately attack (+2 attack)." Lose 1 Favour. "How did you interfere with their previous bounty?")He's a Ghol Brute (Brute being one of the other Nomad "profiles" -- classes) named Djed Kebay, a former Red Moon enforcer turned Nomad, with a massive crescent-shaped scar on their torso, a souvenir of a run-in with a carnivorous beast. He previous served as a gladiator in the fighting pits of a mining planet. All of that works to make Djed a native of Storix. He fights with a rapid-fire laser rifle, in melee with a power hammer and wears a bandolier and ill-fitting jumpsuit. The other choices for Brutes look like this is where you'd get a Chewbacca-like character.So, Djed has a +4 attack in melee combat (!) and +1 Defence.Albedo rolls a 4 + 2 for his first use of the stun baton for a total of 6. Kebay rolls a 6 + 4 for his power hammer, for a total of 10. Time to use one of his three Motivation to get Kebay to reroll. He gets a 1 this time, for a total of 5. Albedo jabs with the power baton, using up Kebay's 1 Defence.Albedo rolls a 3 + 1 for his second use of the stun baton, for a total of 4. Kebay rolls a 2 + 4 for a total of 6.  Both of those rolls are middle of the road and a reroll wouldn't make enough of a difference, so no spending Motivation on this turn. Albedo's 1 point of Defence for his duster/poncho is gone.Albedo rolls a 2 + 4 for a total of 6 with the laser pistols. Kebay rolls a 2 + 4 for a total of 6 with the hammer. So we'll reroll.  Albedo gets a 4 + 4 for a total of 8 this time. Kebay rolls a 4 + 4 for a total of eight. Albedo will spend another point of Motivation to try and get a lower result for Kebay. This time he rolls a 3 + 4 for a total of 7 and guns the other Nomad down.Albedo gains another point of Notoriety, has lost his point of Defence for now.[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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