Starworm City (episode)

"Starworm City" is episode 18 of SuperQuest Saga. Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian need information. So they've journeyed to the fringes of the Goblinoid Republic in search of one of Victoria's past colleagues.

An Announcement
Static cuts into an announcement by Brian.

''“Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Let me just… Aha! Here we are. Seems like I’m coming in loud and clear now. I’m not sure where this signal is being broadcasted to, only that I’ve made a connection. Perhaps I’ll elaborate a bit, assuming you can understand me at all. I’ve been tracking two different frequencies, identical yet out of phase. Two different realities, if you will. They’ve just recently come back into phase with each other, you see, this second signal appeared as though it were trying to catch up with the other one, doubling its phasing. However, they’ve now achieved synchronicity and have merged into one cohesive wave. Conveniently, this phenomenon allows me to broadcast using the ship’s communicator boosted by our reserve power. I won’t be able to maintain contact for long, I may have… five minutes, at most, every two weeks, nearly to the T by the look of it. Interesting. And it should be easy enough to hide from that incessant gnome, Watt, and the rest of the crew. Well, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Carter, Carter Huttenburg.” “Who said that?” “Heh heh heh” “and I’m your worst nightmare.” “And I’ll be talking to you again real soon.”''

Brian announces that the podcast was dropping weekly, but it has now caught up with the YouTube channel, which drops bi-weekly, and they will now be dropping at the same time.

Introduction

 * Will Stark will be your diligent dungeon master for this evening.

Recap
It’s the beginning of a new adventure and the party has been through some shit. Last we left off, the party had made a narrow escape from Starwind Bay on Outlaw’s Horizon. A dragon showed up with an army of Draconic Star Sovereignty military; the elves and the dragon people started fighting. The party escaped and have been on the run for a while, and they had a nice sit down conversation where they opened up to each other. They have all decided that they need information to move forward and figure out their next steps. They’ve decided to help Primina figure out her thing, and to do that they need information.

What We Know So Far
The party is aboard The Brunhilde, moving from point to point on the outskirts of the galaxy, staying on the fringes of civilization. During their travels, they have picked up on various rumors that are spreading around the galaxy, the most widespread whisper is that the Draconic Star Sovereignty and the Elven Empire are readying their forces for defense purposes. The two governments are having political talks, but rumor has it the talks have not gone well and the engines of war seem to be ramping up. This is making a lot of people really fearful; these two powers clashing may spark the largest and most widespread conflict the galaxy has seen in over a thousand years.

The two big pieces of information that the party wants are about Dr. Zahn and Dennethar, Son of Anaduir. Sebastian also wants more information on the orcs; he’s found nothing in his research and spoken with Watt about it. Watt has a pretty extensive library onboard The Brunhilde and has access to various libraries in the galaxy because he has a doctorate from a very prestigious academy, otherwise he would have no knowledge of the orcs at all. Sebastian knows that the orcs were wiped out by the elves for some reason 80,000 years ago, and this predates the current God Emperor, who came into power a few thousand years later. Sebastian has also heard a rumor that some Iron Legion chapters have been attacked by elven forces.

Persephone looks into the Gardeners and learns that they are elite firbolg warriors who are raised to be super zealous supporters of the empire. They are all kept under control by slave collars and trained to be murder machines. She also looks into the different factions of druids throughout the galaxy. There are all kinds of druids, most of them are very humanitarian and trying to preserve nature. None of the countless orders are too united, but there are two main categories; some are super focused on the galaxy as a whole and trying to exert the will of the Galactic Spirit, and some serve as religious cults for powerful elemental beings known as Primals.

Primina has agreed to start undergoing some genetic testing done by Watt and Carter. Little information has come from this yet, but testing has just begun. The main things that the group knows about her are that Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian found her aboard an illithid vessel in their original time period, she was held in a machine that seemed to utilize her energy and brought them to this current time. She gives off a powerful signature that is extraordinarily similar to that of Aetherium. There was some sort of joint effort between the Elven Empire, the Cyber Federation, and the Illithid Empire to create her. She spent the first part of her life among the Cyber Federation scientists led by a gnome cyborg named Dr. Zahn, but was then handed off to the illithid forces for some sort of testing. At some point, the illithids went rogue and angered the elves; whatever the illithids tried, it didn’t work. Carter knows that his warlock patron has a very strong interest in Primina, and Nyarlathotep is not happy about any of this.

Furthermore, in these few weeks of travel, Watt has really come to terms with the seriousness of the adventure. He’s dedicated a great amount of time to developing new technical gadgets for the party. Since Sebastian lost his arm, Watt was kind enough to make him a new one. It’s a cybernetic appendage to replace his lost arm that gives him extra strength when using it, with a downside that, since it is mechanical, it can be damaged and require maintenance. The arm also fires a special Blaster Cannon attack. The arm has metal plating but also open sections where you can see the mechanics inside. Persephone received a Bioscanner, a computerized eyepiece with a transparent screen, camera lens, and bioscanner. She can scan one creature to gain information about its damage immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities, and metadata about stats. The scanner will not work on Aberrations, Constructs, Celestials, Fiends and Undead. Percy uses Druidcraft to grow a flower around the Bioscanner so that it looks like a flower on her face instead of the metal gadget. Carter got Gravity Boots, which will allow him to adjust his personal gravity to be perpendicular to any surface, giving him a climb speed as long as the surface can hold his weight.

Beyond the Star Worm
The information that the party seeks is essentially really high level intel, classified elven military documents and background details of a Cyber Federation scientist, which means they will need the help of an information broker. Thus, the party finds themselves on the outer rim, on a moon in Goblinoid Republic territory. Here, on this moon, is a rather infamous frontier outpost known as Starworm City. Victoria knows an informant here.

As The Brunhilde descends over Starworm City, Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian see a crater amidst a vast, red desert. The crater is full to the brim with a sprawling, dark metropolis, with the colossal skeleton of an insectile worm forming almost a divide down the city’s center. The creature’s rib cage forms mile-wide arches, on the southern end lies the enormous centipede-like skull, and at the northern end there are large spines rising from the earth. The Brunhilde lands a mile out from the Skull Gate and they are met by a squadron of goblin soldiers who wish to inspect the ship. Victoria does not look pleased, but she leads them into the ship. Carter follows, running diagnostics as he goes, but Persephone and Sebastian remain outside. Primina and Watt plan to remain on the ship.

After the inspection, Carter, Persephone, Sebastian, and Victoria head towards the Skull Gate, the southern entrance to the city. It’s a giant metal lift guarded by a goblin squadron and an ogre thrall. They descend to the city level inside the crater onto a bustling main street, the skull of the starworm looms a few thousand feet ahead. When Carter looks at the skull, he feels the sensation in the back of his head that indicates communication with Nyarlathotep, and gets a feeling of smug amusement and laughter. Carter looks for data as to why Nyarlathotep would be amused, and he figures that the starworm is not a thing of this reality; it probably crashed down from somewhere beyond the stars, and Nyarlathotep is just laughing because it is dead and he’s an asshole.

Victoria leads them down a cross-street heading east. They pass through some businesses and residential areas, including a winding road called Royster Straight lined with various bars, clubs, and brothels. Carter asks how much further and Victoria says they’re almost there. Carter asks if they should call a car, and the party notices that there don’t seem to be any flying vehicles in the area, most people seem to be on foot. Sebastian asks if anyone wants to get a drink, and Victoria says she’s going immediately to the informant.

Chateau Malidala
Eventually they end up in front of a building that looks like an archaic castle with a Victorian style gate out front, and an engraved sign reads “Chateau Malidala.” Victoria leads everyone through the gates and uses an ornate knocker on the wall to knock on the heavy wooden doors. There is a moment of silence before a wizened, old goblin with a white beard dressed in a butler’s uniform opens the door. “Welcome to the Chateau Malidala, House of Delectation and Delights. Please enter and leave all reservations and disclinations at the door.”

Victoria says “Hey Stiggs. I need to speak with the Madame.” The goblin squints at Victoria for a moment before fumbling to pull a monocle out of his pocket. “Victoria? Is that you? Of course, of course, come in!” and he ushers everyone inside after asking if Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian are with her. Persephone compliments his monocle and shows him her Bioscanner, which he thinks is quite fancy.

Stiggs leads the group through the front entrance chamber into a large hall with sweeping stairs to a higher level, and adjoining hallways extending in either direction on both the top and bottom floors. Everything that they see in the building seems to be made of silk, velvet, polished marble, and dark wood. Flitting about the hallways are dozens of people, most of them in some state of nudity or just scantily clad; male and female of all races, accompanied by obvious sexual solicitors. Stiggs asks them to wait while he speaks with the Madame. The party is uncomfortable and doesn’t want to touch any of the furniture. Victoria explains that it is a brothel.

While they wait for Stiggs to return, Carter pokes around looking in drawers and Persephone finds some hand sanitizer. After about twenty minutes, Stiggs announces that the Madame will see them, and he leads the group to a pair of enormous double doors. He opens them up to reveal an audience hall; sitting on a throne-like chair on the far side of the room is a beautiful humanoid woman dressed in a scandalous see-through silk gown and lingerie. The woman looks human, but her skin is purple and her hair is black. Stiggs closes the door behind the party, and the woman stands up with a smile on her face and opens her arms, moving towards Victoria.

“Oh, Vivi!” she embraces Victoria, “it has been too long!” She gives Victoria a kiss on the lips. Victoria looks very embarrassed and says, “Hey Mali.” Malidala asks who Victoria has brought before her and looks at the party. Victoria starts to introduce them but Carter interrupts. “The name’s Carter, Carter Huttenburg.” Malidala smiles and holds out her hand. Carter takes it and kisses it, and Malidala tells him he is quite charming. Carter introduces Persephone, who gives Malidala a hug, and Sebastian, who holds out his left hand to shake.

Malidala has not seen anyone like Sebastian before and asks where he is from. Sebastian tells her he’s from far, far away. She finds that answer mysterious and alluring, and asks if she can take a closer look at his hands and face. Sebastian is uncomfortable and looks to Carter and Persephone for a cue; they encourage him to let her look. Malidala takes Sebastian’s face in both her hands and meticulously examines him from every angle. While this is going on, Carter tries to ask Victoria about her relationship with Malidala, but she shuts him down with an, “It’s implied.”

After a couple seconds, Malidala steps back from Sebastian, closes her eyes, and her form begins to change in front of them. She changes into a very close approximation of a female half-orc. She asks Sebastian how she looks. Sebastian and Persephone’s jaws drop. Malidala asks how accurate she looks and Sebastian is stunned. Victoria speaks up to say that they’re here for business, not pleasure. They need some information. Malidala changes her form back as she sits in her throne and asks what they want to know.

A 200,000 Credit-Sized Favor
Carter asks what Malidala knows about the starworm. Malidala doesn’t know much, she’s not interested in it. If it is information they are looking for then she can get her people on it. She pulls out a tablet and starts making notes. She thinks a request for starworm lore is an odd reason to seek out her assistance. Persephone asks if Malidala is familiar with Dr. Zahn, and Malidala notes what they know about him so she can work on getting more information. Sebastian is looking for information on the elven Marshal Dennethar, Son of Anaduir. Malidala remarks that elven military information is very valuable. Carter asks her to look up Primina as a keyword. Sebastian asks her to look into time travel, and Persephone asks for more information on the Gardeners.

After she is done taking the notes, Malidala asks how they are planning to pay for this. Carter turns to Victoria and says that she didn’t tell them about this part, and asks how they’re going to pay. Victoria asks for an estimate, and after running some numbers, Malidala tells them it will be very costly, roughly 200,000 credits. Sebastian tries to bargain by saying they’d owe her a favor. Persephone adds that they’re pretty scrappy and can help take care of something. Malidala smiles and tells them that if funds are a complication, she would be willing to consider a 200,000 credit-sized favor.

Victoria asks for a moment, and pulls the party into a huddle. She doesn’t have 200,000 credits; between the repair costs of The Brunhilde and the expenses of being on the run with no jobs, she’s basically broke. The favor might be their best option, but she warns them that Malidala doesn’t fuck around. Whatever she asks will probably be something that the party won’t be inclined to do. Carter asks if they can steal her tablet, and Victoria explains that the tablet doesn’t have the information, it’s just where Malidala keeps her notes. She has people who will procure the information. Whatever the favor is, it will probably be a great story to tell, if they survive. Persephone thinks it should be okay as long as they don’t have to do anything underhanded. Carter comments that they are in a brothel, and Victoria tells him not to be judgmental. The favor seems to be their only option; they could try to run jobs but it would take at least a couple months, and Victoria does not want to steal.

They break their huddle and Victoria asks what the favor is. Madame Malidala smiles and tells them that there is a big goblin festival next week, The Blood Gala. It’s a way for the barbaric goblins to celebrate their founding and festivities for all their war victories. There will be a parade and other festivities, but most importantly, there will be a gladiatorial tournament. The winners will get 100,000 credits and be named Blood Gala Champions. Malidala’s rival, Fanessa, who runs a “harlot’s den down the way” has a formidable team for this year. Malidala would love to watch Fanessa lose, especially to a team sponsored by Chateau Malidala. If the group enters the tournament as a team representing Malidala, she might be inclined to fulfill their request at a massive discount, and even let them keep the prize money. Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian are in. Carter asks if she needs his blood, or a contract, or an undying oath, and Malidala tells him they need to go to the Viscera Pits near the bowel of the starworm to register before the deadline tomorrow night. Malidala shoos them out, but before they leave she speaks to Sebastian. “Mr. Crenshaw, if you want to give me a more detailed lesson in anatomy, you are always welcome to come back.” Sebastian blushes.

The Viscera Pits
When they get outside the Chateau, Victoria tells the party that she is not much of a fighter and doesn’t think she will be much help in the gladiatorial fights. Carter tells her they knew that and asks her to lead them to the butt of the worm so they can sign up. It’s about a three mile walk on the main road, but eventually the party sees the colosseum that sits beneath the huge sweeping arches of ribs.

They get inside pretty easily, it’s a bustling area, and they follow signs for registration for the Blood Gala Tournament. The signs lead to a desk with a very large one-eyed bugbear wearing formal suit attire, his name tag reads “Glurblub.” Glurblub asks for their names if they’re registering, and asks their team name. Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian huddle to discuss a team name. Carter suggests “The Warlocks,” Persephone and Sebastian are not impressed and Sebastian retorts that they should be “The Paladins” instead. Carter gets why his suggestion was maybe not so good. Persephone suggests “Time Rangers” and “Cluster Fucks.” Victoria vetoes all the suggestions. The bugbear informs them that they have until the day of the tournament to submit a name. Carter tells him to put them down as “Carter and The Boys” for now, and Glurblub asks for the 1,000 credit deposit. Victoria sighs and puts up the credits.

Glurblub prints up contracts and forms for them to sign, and informs them that their first match is in nine days. He tells them there’s a free show for all registrants happening now, and gives them wristbands. Carter asks if this grants bar access, and Glurblub tells him they all get one free drink. Persephone and Carter get Jägerbombs and Sebastian gets the house special, a red ale. Victoria gives her drink to Sebastian.

It's Been Decided
The show is two five member goblin squads doing a pirate themed fight on wooden ships. A loud, obnoxious critic from a few seats above the party starts guffawing and taunting the fighters. “You’re all a disgrace, a disgrace to the arena!” Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian turn around to see a large, male minotaur. He’s wearing leather pants and no shirt, he has a large potbelly and salt and pepper hair so he looks aged, and has an enormous jug of moonshine. Persephone scans him with her Bioscanner. He sees them staring and frowns. “You guys aren’t from around here are you?” When they tell them they aren’t, he asks what brings them to a shithole like this. Carter says free drinks, and Persephone tells him they’re here for the entertainment. The minotaur thinks the entertainment is a joke, it’s sad really, pathetic.

Persephone asks if he can do better, and he seems surprised they don’t know who he is. “I’m Korak Ironhide!” and he poses, causing his beer belly to jiggle. Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian still don’t know who he is. “The Iron Bull? Korak The Killer?” Persephone googles him. Korak tells the party that they’re looking at the only three time Blood Gala Champion in the last century, and he takes a long drink. Sebastian asks if he still fights. “Do I still fight?” Korak gestures down at his body. “This...this is the body of a champion. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.”

Persephone asks if he has a stake in the tournament this year. Korak says he’ll watch but it’s just not the same. Percy asks why, do they not kill people anymore or is he not entertained? Korak is definitely not entertained, but the Blood Gala has never really been about killing. He’s curious why they want to know, and Percy and Carter tell him that they’re going to compete and win. Korak asks what their game plan is, and is unimpressed with their strategy. He tells the party that it’s all about the approval of the crowd; they want a performance, entertainment, something flashy.

Carter realizes they’re just yelling at each other from a distance and moves up closer to where Korak is sitting. Carter grabs more Jägerbombs, and as they approach Korak drinks the last of his rum. They give him a Jägerbomb and after he downs it, he says “Okay, it’s been decided. Korak Ironhide is going to be your mentor.”

The Party

 * Sebastian Crenshaw: a half-orc level 6 paladin. Potential anatomy lesson incoming.
 * Persephone Goldpetal: an albino firbolg level 6 druid. She's all about that space booze.
 * Carter Huttenburg: a human level 6 warlock. Super judgy.

NPCS

 * Victoria: a female tiefling. Captain of The Brunhilde. Don't ask her about her personal life.
 * Primina: a young woman of mysterious origins. The MacGuffin. Sometimes a test subject.
 * Watt: an elderly gnome. Engineer aboard The Brunhilde. Builder of dope new magitech items.
 * Goblin Squadron: they're just trying to do their job.
 * Stiggs: an elderly goblin. Butler for Chateau Malidala.
 * Madame Malidala: an information broker and brothel owner. A woman who can change her form at will.
 * Glurblub: a one-eyed bugbear in charge of Blood Gala Tournament sign ups.
 * Korak Ironhide: a three-time Blood Gala Champion. This is what peak performance looks like.

Music

 * SuperQuest Saga Theme - by Brian

Out of Character

 * Sebastian's right arm is the one that is replaced with the cybernetic appendage.