Endgame

Athletics currently has no bearing on dodging attacks, and right now there is no plans to change it; if you want to dodge or resist attacks, put points in Skill. I think that would work in simpler battles, but when things get more complicated and agents are taking multiple turns and teleporting around the map with Spells, eventually they will need to be able to react. Otherwise they would be swinging at air all day. I love the idea of enemy AI, because it allows some interesting RP scenes... if a villain and an agent build a rivlary, having that villain forego logical moves to lash out at the object of their hatred could be fun, for example.

Updating from mobile, so I apologize for any formatting snafus or the like. I actually tend to agree that my definition for the medicine proficiency is... pretty bad. So that needs to change. I am not huge on using it for resource free healing, because the whole point of having potions and limited spells is that healing is not an unlimited resource. That being said, I like the idea of it potentially harming a party member if you botch the roll. The idea I came up with is that the Medicine proficiency boosts the effect of healing items. So, for example, right now a Plasma Potion restores between 1-6 health, decided via die roll. Someone with a proficiency of Medicine 3 would get the 1d6 + 3 health restored, which could be neat. Also, yes, Performance could be used to make a spoony space bard flavored character. To answer your battle questions, joeshmoe: 1. So, I actually ran this by WBD. The rules as is imply that the hero and enemy action orders should be meshed togrther, but that poses some problems. As the enemy party, I know all of the party actions, and it gives me an unfair edge where I can react to the agents, but they have no means of reacting to me. It results in agents targets moving out of range, stealing spaces, all sorts of weird stuff. So I split the orders to keep things fair. 2. Nope. 3. White is the only occupyable square... the others are just background, which I tiled for aesthetic.

Mission Master Note: Sorry for the issues! Indeed, you should have had Purging Font, and yes, Oozelings are meant to be melee specialists. Dunola should not have a fourth spell yet, because she has yet to expend the Holo Scroll. Let me know if there are further things to fix.

First combat is up and running! I'm sure there will be questions, so I am happy to answer. Stats/attributes (Skills, smarts, etc.) are always 2 EXP points for a +1 to that stat, as far as I can currently tell. Smarts is a stat that means "How many more proficiencies can I learn above the base 3?" E.g. a Smarts stat of 5 means you can know 5+3=8 proficiencies. Essentially, if you had a Smart stat of zero (somehow), you would still be able to know a max of three proficiencies. So in effect, all heroes start with a max of, technically, four. It takes one EXP point to learn a new proficiency, because think about it; technically, you're increasing it from level 0 to level 1. Here is my breakdown on how I would interpret each proficiency, personally. Future MMs will obviously have different interpretations at times, and these could very well get heavily revised or recontexualized. Ones in Red have a direct influence on combat. Acrobatics: Would be used for feats that require bursts of insane body control or skill. E.g. swinging across a chasm on a vine or something. Artillery: Used to buff damage from artillery weapons. Arcana: Used in spells. I could see situational uses where you would also want to use it out of battle, too, if you were dealing with something magical. Athletics: Used for sustained feats of physical exertion, e.g. chasing after a fleeing thief. Culture: Used to gleam information about a people, planet, or society. Deception: Used to lie or otherwise misdirect, through whatever available means. Engineering: Used to tinker, alter, or create solutions to problems, using materials on hand/provided by the MM. Insight: Can be used to notice potentially important but otherwise unseen details about a person, place, or situation. Intimidation: Used to frighten NPCs into a desirable course of action. Long Range Weapons: Used to buff damage from Long Range weapons. Medicine: Used for healing the ailments of people or animals encountered, e.g. encountering a space-horse with a broken leg. I could also see it being used to attempt out of battle healing? But that seems borderline cheating. Melee Weapons: Used to buff damage from Melee weapons. Nature: Used in spells. Could also see it used to better interact with, to gleam more info from, or to direct flora fauna. Perception: Useful for detecting traps or deception. Performance: Could be used to engage in the arts (playing an instrument, drawing something) but also as a way of portraying yourself as someone else (acting)... could even be used for a Deception type role in that sense. Piloting: Used when operating vehicles. Occult: Used in spells. Could also see it come in handy with dealing with anything supernatural. Religion: Used in spells. Would also have some out of combat uses, as a way of learning about or potentially using religion as a persuasion tool. Short Range Weapons: Used to buff damage from Short Range weapons. Sleight of Hand: Used when attempting to steal, pick pocket, or otherwise do crafty hand motions. Stealth: Used when trying to conceal oneself. Survival: Used when trying to utilize the environment (natural or otherwise) to personal positive effect. Technology: Used to increase access and mastery over certain pieces of technology. I believe part of my above spiel answered that, but let me know if I misinterpreted the question.

The inert red droid stirs to life when it is asked a question. "Received Query: Is there an oozeling infestation in this sector? Answer: no, less than 5% of ships have reported Oozeling issues, and is therefore not recognized as a major issue by the Cydonian Collective. If new figures are fine, please report them at once." "Listen, you guys. I really appreciate your help, but if you do anything suspicious, well, I'm the one who swiped you guys in. You'll be sharing a jail cell with me. So listen, if this jek guy is that bad, please, be careful when it comes time to, ah, "investigate" his ship. Now then..." Faeja presses a button on a remote, and the cargo door slides down with a mechanical hiss. Lured out by sunlight and fresh air, four creatures come shambling out from the confines of the ship... "Ech, that's them!" Faeja quickly takes three paces backwards, disgusted by the four slimy entities. Their tentacles writhe as they propel themselves forward, the strange stalks on their head pointing at the party of agents... "Grrraaauuughhh!" They lunge forward, leaving a gelatinous trail across the patterned stone ground of the shiplot. They were certainly aggressive little creatures! AGENTS, PREPARE FOR CONFLICT! The Battle Grid: When declaring your action for round one, first specify which vacant (white) square you want to start in. Next, choose which action you'd like to perform! Turn order is decided based on Skill stat. Tie breakers will be decided via die roll. Agent turn order: Yelana Kleek Enson Igaz Tester-Three Dunola Enemy turn order: Oozeling Stoic Oozeling A Oozeling C Oozeling B The Enemy Party: "Grurk!" Oozeling A Vitality: 4/4 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1 Equipment: Slimy Fangs (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Sickening Radiance (Spell) Drops: Plasma Potion x3 "Myurg!" Oozeling B Vitality: 4/4 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1 Equipment: Slimy Fangs (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Sickening Radiance (Spell) Drops: Nanite Philter x2 "Bluh, bluh..." Oozeling C Vitality: 4/4 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1 Equipment: Slimy Fangs (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Sickening Radiance (Spell) Drops: Energy Cell "...Mrm." Oozeling Stoic Vitality: 7/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Artillery Weapons 1 Equipment: Slimy Fangs (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Projectile Spit (+1, Artillery Elemental Weapon), Sickening Radiance (Spell) Drops: 60 credits Agent Party: Igaz (Goliath) 300 Cycle, Male Undead Vitality: 7/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Intimidation 1, Melee Weapons 2, Short Range Weapons 1 Credits: 10 Equipment: Standard Vibrolance (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Standard Plate Armor (+1 Kinetic Armor), Warding Bond (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster Kleeck (KotZ) 35 cycle old, male Ornithun Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Spells: Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1 Credits: 60 Equipment: Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube, Summon Spirit Ally (Spell) Inventory: Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Lord Duvors) 60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Religion 2 Credits: 10 Equipment: Standard Void Star Hammer (+1, Melee Elemental Weapon), Healing Light (Spell), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion Dunola (Kintobor) 125 cycle old, Female Dwarf Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 3/3 Proficiencies: Arcana 3, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Engineering 1 Credits: 10 Equipment: Standard Flame Thrower (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon), Holo-Scroll, Elemental Evocation (Spell), Obfuscate (Spell), Transmutate Matter (Spell) Inventory: Energy Cell Tester-Three (samurai-turtle) One Cycle Old, Genderless, War Bot {Robotic} Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Technology 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Piloting 1, Perception 1, Engineering 1, Credits: 10 Equipment: Standard Arm Cannon (+1, Long Range Energy Weapon), Standard Metallic Exoskeleton (+1 Kinetic Armor), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster Yelana Fennix (Classic_Spaceman) Unknown Age Human Female Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Technology 2 Credits: 10 Equipment: Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle E (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon), Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle K (+1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon), Obfuscate (Spell) Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip Mission Master Note: Here we go, ladies and gents, Heroica 2.0's first official unofficial combat scenario! Here is a quick refresher on what actions you can take in battle. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have!

Right now there are no set structure on how EXP points are rewarded. We can certainly discuss and build one, but right now EXP is awarded at the MM's discretion. Right now, EXP can be spent as follows: You can spend 2 points to raise one of your Vitality, Strength, Skills, Smarts, or Spirit by one. You can spend points on a Proficiency equal to the level of the Profieincy you wish to reach. For example, to go from technology 4 to 5 takes 5 EXP points. There is actually not much of a randomness element to enemies in this iteration of Heroica. This is something I talked tom WBD about, but essentially, enemies in Heroica 2.0 are built the exact same as heroes, and have all of the same available actions. Every battle is essentially a PVP encounter with the MM controlling the opposing team. In that sense, there's nothing random about it; I'm controlling the enemy party. So I think that actually supports the idea that Warding Bond should be all 3, because realistically if I built an enemy that has access to multiple damage types I would always whack you with the one that you aren't Warding against. Which, from your perspective, would seem terribly rude. So we will say it is all 3 for now unless it seems too unbalanced/WBD steps in to clarify.

I would be okay with that; it would count towards your spell uses for the next battle, I would say, because I think unlimited spell usages goes against the idea of having Spirit as the cap for your spell uses. (As always, any interpretation of the rules I make you are free to challenge. ) That being said, I'm not entirely sure how Obfuscate even works in battle; the passage of time isn't defined in battle, nor is a "sensory effect."

"I've, never heard of a Jek Flakko, no. But wait a second - just, just, wait a second." Faeja listens to the plan, and sees She puts her hands on her hips, and her expression hardens. "Did you just agree to help me to get shiplot access? So you can poke around this Jek character and find his ship? You know what happens if you set off any alarms, don't you?" Yelana sizes up the security around the E-11 Dart. It seemed like Jek had some premium parking in this neck of the woods. There was a gate in the middle of the mental fence, granting Jek the access he would need to get in and out, secured by a keypad. If one were to try to climb over, it seemed there was a camera, panning around to sense motion over the top. (Not to mention, these kind of things were often electrified.) A red droid stands on the outside of the gate, seemingly inert, but almost certainly ready to do... something, if some condition was fulfilled.

The brackets I mentioned would just be a way for MMs to group together players of similar experience and strength; not anything really hard or firm or fast. For example, if you want an experienced party, you'd ask for agents wit 75 cumulative EXP and up, etc. The rules, as written, do not actually mention how much points are earned by individual victories. It simply says that winning battles results in the MM giving out as many level up points (which, as far as I can tell, are the same as experience points) as the MM feels appropriate. The battles in Mission Zero will give out between 1-3 points, for example. Warding Bond's wording is a best ambiguous; it just says that it grants "armor mod" equal to the net success of the dice check. Because there are three armor types, I'd have thought that you have to choose which kind of armor you want to cast, but if people feel it is more balanced for it to grant all three, I'm fine with that.

I'll mark Creation Points/Experience Points on your stat sheet. Level doesn't really exist in this ruleset, to be honest - although I think tracking total EXP ever earned will be a good barometer of progress for a given character. You'd be able to seperate them into brackets of 10/25/50/100/150/etc. Is everyone okay with how I'm ruling on Warding Bond at the moment/am I reading it right? I think having to choose the damage type you wish to defend against gives it some tactical flair.

The guard stands, dumb-founded, as he gets his intel - and his intel giver runs off. "...What the hell?" "I don't know how you negotiate with these... things..." she shivers. Enson didn't even know the man's name, but that didn't mean he was above charity. The blue skinned gentleman happily accepts. "I... Wow! Much obliged, lad!" The party bands together and heads towards the shiplot. Faeja uses her ID card to get into the lot, and the guards roaming the outer perimeter watch the group with some intent. Still, they say nothing, shortly returning to their business. The shiplot was a bustling place, but as they approached the back corner, it got less and less lively. The patrols weren't present and the pilots were less plentiful. Behind one set of bars, the party sees a ship of note, until Faeja keeps walking, her ship now located: "This is my Wayfarer. I can drop the cargo door whenever you guys are ready..." Mission Master Note: I believe I need spells for Classic Spaceman and KoTz... Goliath, I apologize for not answering earlier, but Warding Bond does indeed act as extra armor when under attack by an enemy. You can roleplay it as a force field if you wish! If there is one thing I am unclear on, it is the damage type that it serves as defense for; in case of casting it, I would currently allow you to choose whether you wanted Kinetic, Energy, or Elemental defense.

I'll update character sheets with a spell field enc everyone submits their desired spells.

"I see... Are they like, your siblings? Have you met them?" "Let me do you a favor, girl. I'll be honest with you - first thing is first, name is Bailey. Second thing's second, you can walk all the way to the Bureau if you'd like, but as that lady over there going to the shiplot found out, they are inundated. If it's a personal object claim you're filing, it'll take 48 hours before they dispatch someone. If they think it or you has anything to do with anything remotely seedy, they will not treat you with kindness. Consider this a warning. The agents of our Sovereign will be here soon. We will not tolerate frivolous or suspicious claims at this time." It seems that the Cydonians would be of no help at best, downright antagonistic at worst. Perhaps the Enforcer's Bureau was not the best lead to follow. Did she dare to keep poking this sleeping bear? In the earpiece of her visor, Yelana hears static on all long-range channels... Not a good sign for their operation. "A lot were comin' to and from the shiplot, before going to Commerce Row. Weird fellas... You seemed to have come with an odd group yerself, really, lookin' at 'em. I admit ta never seein' a birdman before, and I swear one of 'em looks dead." Where would Enson go, and what would he do? "Oh, no, no, don't apologize! I must've seemed so insensitive asking that, like it was a title instead of your clan... Well, that all sounds very fascinating! I haven't met any dwarves on my product runs, but I hope I do now."

Let's not forget that the act of relaying information is, in of itself, a roleplaying element. When a party reconvenes and catches each other up, it's not just about getting the other players up to speed. The players could already very well know. It's about putting yourself in your character's mind, and asking, "How did they react to what they just experienced? How do they retell it to the rest?" And from there, other roleplaying questions arise: "How does their audience react? Does the person they were with agree with their retelling? Does this cause conflict? Does it cause characters to grow closer?" It's far from redundant information. Remember, at the end of the day, this is a roleplaying game. That being said, I think the route I am most comfortable taking for this test mission is in-sight, short range comms used to handwave people knowing about certain things in situations like the current city street investigation. However, long-range comms are currently unusable, jammed by the Cydonians. (And yes, that is why I am wary about giving long-range comms in the first place - because I know Mission Masters will inevitably jam them 90% of the time. I'd rather it be a tool that is selectively granted, rather than always given but mostly taken away, if that makes any sense.) This is the way I am most comfortable running Mission Zero for now. It's something worth talking about at the end of the mission, to see if the approach works or not.

There's a couple reasons, in my mind. Keeping track in and out of character knowledge, especially when the Quest Master splits the party on purpose, was/is often a large source of dramatic irony and tension. Especially when it is done via PM sidequest, and is meant to be something that the player/character experiences personally. Time flows weird when the party splits. Allowing instant transmission between two separate parties can lead to paradoxes and plot holes. Let's say that one party gets into a battle that takes a real-life one week to run but happens in ten minutes of game time, whereas the other party goes on an investigation that takes a week but happens over the course of a few hours. All of a sudden, one party might be able to use the comm system to talk to the other party and warn them of something that, on their end, doesn't happen for another 50 minutes. Keeping track of what each character ought to know is a little tricky, but it is a constant thing. You can accurately plan around it, and it isn't that hard, because as the Mission Master I am the one giving out the information. In that sense, I can carefully "budget" it in a way that keeps things sane. Throw in comms, and all of a sudden one character's knowledge becomes everyone's knowledge at a given, and the plot can get shattered really quick in some circumstances. It'd definitely be an adjustment to how we play the game, and all Mission Masters would have to adjust their story structures to match. That's why it is important to talk about this now, while we're still testing. I'll fully admit my bias, by the way: I host a lot more than I play, so I tend to look at issues in the game from a hosting perspective. It's a shortfall of mine. In that sense, I lean "no comms" on this one. However, do players feel that comms would a lot of fun to the game?

That's a very good point. This mission is all for the purpose of mechanical testing and transparency, so for the rest of it I will try to show the rolls. It's a valid assumption. I think this is something that is very worthwhile to discuss now, while we're in the testing phases. I am okay enough with either the party has comms or the party has no comms; a point in "comms" favor is, as you've said, thematic consistency. A point for "no comms" is that it makes Mission Master's life a smidge easier. What I will speak against right now is that "some comms" isn't fair. All of the character's in the party are fun and well realized, but the fact that Yelena, Tester-Three, and potentially Igaz all would logically have comms "inherent" to their characters, while the other three wouldn't, doesn't sit right with me. So lets figure out which approach we want. I actually love that, since it allows the party to gauge how hard a task is without knowing it exactly, especially if it something that needs to be done multiple times.

Although much of the party has some sort of technology on them, they unfortunately lack a standardized comm system to communicate over large distances. That is, however, something that might be able to be acquired at some point in the future. Mission Master Note: So, this is something I'd like to discuss in the brainstorming Heroica 2.0 topic. I am typically used to QMing in Heroica 1.0, in which such communication devices that allowed the free passage of information were very rare. As such, my current ruling is that the party needs to buy or earn a comm item (which I can't promise will happen during this Mission). However, I can't deny that such devices are a pretty commonplace thing in this setting. This is the kind of detail that has a big impact on how Mission Masters may want to put together their campaigns, so it is something that I feel is important to nail down now, when everything is still new and experimental. In short: my initial reaction is no at the moment, but we shall see and I'd like to discuss it. The guard's finger tightens around the blaster trigger as he listens. "Slow down for a second. Listen. If you have a personal item that has been stolen, you can go find the Enforcer's Bureau yourself and file a claim. They're located in the bell tower. If you're on this planet hunting down contraband, which this sounds an awful lot like, I might just have to slap you in cuffs so we can find it and destroy it. But if this is some trick to get me to abandon post, I'm going to have to ask you to vacate the premises. For all we know the Sovereign might be coming to this backwater planet soon, so cause no trouble!" The guard seems pretty agitated. It seems Cydonians were not known for patience. Would Yelana keep pushing her investigation, or follow Faeja? Faeja nods as Igaz speaks, a bit surprised by his joviality, and winces at Tester-Three's mention of "undesired results." "Ah, well, nice to meet you two as well. ...What happened to Testers one through two?"

That was, in fact, a proficiency check roll! Just for context, a Proficiency Check roll is: (3 + Proficiency level) versus Target Number In this case, I classified accessing the database via the signpost port as a Skilled task, so the target was 3. Tester-Three got to roll 5 dice, and got, if memory serves, 4-4-5-4-2. In terms of immersion, would it be helpful to show the details of the calculation? I'm not really of a huge opinion either way - I think leaving it to MM's discretion is a safe bet, especially if you want to hide the difficulty rating of something for some reason.

The blue man scratches the back of his head. "Aye, well, 'ate to tell ya, but no. I will say I've seen a lotta new folks here. A lotta them be these Cydonians in their strange garb, but some other weird looking customers too. Not the way they looked, I couldn't even tells ya that, but just the way they acted; all shifty-like. Maybe the Cydonians watchin' them has got them spooked...?" "Combust 'em, burn 'em, boil 'em, mash 'em, I don't care as long as they're gone. And as long as my ship stays standing," the woman quickly corrects herself. "I'm Faeja, a merchandiser from around these parts, nice to meet you. Tell me... what is a Clan Matar? I've bounced around a few planets but I admit I've never heard the term. It's a big galaxy out there." The search for the word "auction" takes a while to query, before the connection fizzes out and boots Tester-Three out of the network. Seems like the info was there, but heavily restricted. Faeja sees Igaz and tester-Three walk behind her, and the mechanical pair seems to intimidate her a little bit. "Ah, uhm, hello, sir with the visor. And... is that a war droid you guys have with you?" Mission Master Note: I'll give a little more time to let the others who are currently not part of the trip to the Shiplot to finish their investigating before they join up with Faeja and/or do something else, but now is as good of a time as ever to bring up Heroica 2.0's spell system! Much like how Smarts decides how many Proficiencies you can learn, your Spirit stat dictates how many Spells you're allowed to learn, as well as the number of times you're allowed to use the Cast A Spell action per battle. Most of you have your Spirit at 1 for now, but two of you in particular - Lord Duvors' Enson and Kintobor's Dunola - have access to 2 and 3 spells, respectively. When picking what spells you wish your characters to know, you can refer to the following "menu:"

"Hell if I know. I've been out of work, so I've jus' been listenin' to passerby... And trying to sleep through the damn bells. Cydonians are here because... Well, not really sure? You might be better off askin' one of their bigwigs, if you catch one in a good mood." "That sounds more than fine. You guys look dependable, you can probably handle those awful, icky, ugly... Ugh, they make my skin crawl." "They're tentacled little monsters, maybe the size of a borg-ball. They've developed something of an appetite for spaceship insulation, of all things, so they tend to infest spaceports... Some must have hitched a ride with me. Please take care of them - I need my ship and I need my cargo back." How many party members would be joining Faeja to the Shiplot? Tester-Three finds a port on one of the sign poles. Although not the robot built to access them, having a proficiency with technology, manages to get some info. NOTE: Due to revision by the Cydonia Collective, archives may be incomplete. PLANET: Gnorra CAPITAL CITY: Velka CURRENT CITY: Haurbo RULING PARTY: Formerly the Gnorran Royal Family, now under the control of the Cydonian Collective and their Sovereign CURRENT GOVERNOR: Venn Impalo, member of the Collective PLANET'S MAIN EXPORTS: Metal, space ships (from the Velka Mines and Velka Shipyard respectively.) CURRENT CITY'S MAIN BUSINESS: Shipping cargo, housing, commerce. UPCOMING EVENTS: Official inaugruation ceremony of Gnorra into the collective. Visit from one of the Soverign's Knights and one of the Soveriegn's Voices. Speech to be delivered by Venn Impalo. He also extracts a map:

"Really, that's tha long n' short of it. One day, we're mindin' our business, and all of a sudden these massive dreadnoughts uncloak in atmosphere. Our royal family goes up n' has a chat wif' em, and we're all jus' down here, holdin' our breaths. And then talks end a coupla days later, and all of a sudden tha Cydonians are the ones in charge. Probably coulda rained hell on us if we didn't do things the "peaceful" way. Those dreadnoughts of theirs, lemme tell ya, they were somethin' else." says the man with a low whistle. "I worked in tha Gnorran shipyards back in the day, back when we made military craft and not these nancy "consumer friendly" ships, and lemme tell ya... I was awed by the things I helped put together. But these Cydonian spaceships? Hoo boy. They got a fleet, lemme tell ya. I'm willin' to bet they still got a couple cloaked up in atmosphere..." "Oh, you are? Were you planning on meeting someone there? Because only Gnorrans can swipe people in... That being said, if you'll help me out, I'll certainly give you guys access. I'd appreciate it so much."

"Well, I've lived here m' whole life, so if it's questions about Gnorra ya got, I probably have tha answers. As fer the bells... don't even get me started wif' em! I hate those damn things.They go off every hour, startin' when the sun rises and endin' when the sun falls. Somethin' about keepin' productive... The sound of the bells is supposed to remind you to focus on yer current task and the like, if yer slackin'? Some weird thing these clangers are into. All it does is stops me from gettin' any decent sleep! As fer knockin' out, well, if you come back in a few days and I still haven't gotten a wink of sleep, jus' clonk me over the head at that point. Oh! And if I remember, these holo-signs have some data port or what have you on 'em... For guide bots to download info? Maybe a steel-skin like you, or someone more savvy wif' technology than me, can access 'em." Yelana heads north in the direction of the Central Forum to talk to the Cydonian soldier. The guard immediately stands at attention as Fennix approaches him. "Miss, going to have to ask you to stay put and not go through here. Only specific personnel are allowed in the Central Forum for now - preparations are underway and we can't have spectators yet. As for the Enforcer's Bureau... Well, the Cydonian soldiers are now running the Gnorran police departments. The Enforcer's Bureau dispatches agents to handle domestic affairs, so that our patrol teams can actually cover routes." "Thank you, someone finally gets it." "We wish you the best, Miss. Hopefully the Enforcers get to your claim before long." One of the troops in the back snickers, as if that was a ridiculous proposal, and the trio march off to patrol parts unknown of Haurbo. "Ugh, these clangers, such thick skulls! Although you can't deny they're organized..." Her demeanor shapes up a little when she realizes someone was actually listening to her. "I'm Feaja. I'm a merchandiser for one of the shops on Commerce Row, and I went to go grab some product... only to find that some Oozelings were stowing away in the cargo! When I docked in the civilian shiplot and opened up the back, I saw them..." Feajsa shudders. "Urgh, they are just so awful. I have them locked in the cargo hold of my ship right now, just so they wouldn't get out and start doing whatever Oozelings do. I, I hear they can multiply all on their own, is, is that true?" "Regardless, I really need someone's help taking care of those awful things, so I can get to my cargo..."

One of the soldiers turns, and looks at the avian alien now before him. "You want to - what? You wanna be more cultured? Hit up a museum, buddy, we're kind of in the middle of something-" "Now, now, they're travelers, surely, be kind" says one of his compatriots, clearly the more level headed of the two, and more amicable to Kleek's demeanor. "As for what is going on, we were just telling this Gnorran on how she should go through the proper channels to -" "I did talk to them, and they said it would take time before they could help! Oh, please, you have to at least try to lend me hand here..." "Miss, I'll explain it again. We're a patrol group. We cannot deviate from our route unless it is to report or engage an active incident, commander's orders. If you already called for help from the Enforcers Bureau then all you can do is keep calm and wait." No maps were in sight, but some holo-signs dangled above the party, projected by narrow posts. Somehow they were rigged that you could aways read them, no matter the angle you were standing at. They always pointed in just about the right way, too. How curious! Tester-Three scans the areas for a "planetary communications hub," but finds no such device in the immediate vicinity that he can network with. Meanwhile, the metallic clanking of his iron joints causes the nearby bearded man to stir from his half-slumber. "Ah, hell, it's not even tha clangers wakin' me up this time! Jus' swell... What in the solar blazes are ya lookin' about fer, anyway, steelskin?" Now that he was almost fully awake, conversation was possible with the blue-skinned gentleman. "Aye, sure. Not like there's shut-eye to be had in these parts anywho..." He was in rather shabby clothes that looked like that might have been rather nice, once upon a time. Igaz looks up and peers at the signs above through his visor, the blue light looking even brighter through the tinted glass, somehow. They read thus: "Welcome to Haurbo!" "Proceed North to the Central Forum. Proceed South to the Spaceport. Proceed Southeast to the Citizen's Shiplot. Proceed East to Commerce Row."

MM Note: I apologize samurai-turtle, it appears I got my post off just before yours. You're free to poke around and perhaps find the answer to that question in this scene, though.

The commando nods along as Enson lists off the names of the names of his compatriots. She inspects the permit carefully, glancing between the party and the passcard. With a flick of her hand, a wristbound computer comes on, and she cans in the pass. There's a ding as it is accepted as legal - and then, as quickly as she cans it in, she destroys it with a quick point-blank burst of energy from her blaster. "Your permit is valid - welcome to Gnorra. Cause no trouble. And do not mistake subtlety for weakness. There just might be more of us than there appears," urges the soldier cryptically. "And besides, you have one last checkpoint to pass through anyway. Proceed East." The soldier nods at Dunola. "Likewise, though I am afraid that you are not permitted to loiter. What I wouldn't give for a smoke break..." She grumbles, before waving the party to move down the line. The party proceeds East, until they run into the aforementioned checkpoint. Two more Cydonian soldiers, seemingly of lesser rank, stand guard. A familiar sigil was stamped onto their chest plates, and they look over the party. One in particular seems particularly wary of a War-Droid passing through their checkpoint, and so keeps his finger tight around his blaster. "Single file through the tunnel. Keep your arms by your sides, and do not reach for any pockets, accessories, or implements." The tunnel was dark, and the organics among the party could feel their skin tingle as they were bombarded by all sorts of scans. Nonetheless, they emerge on the other side without further issue or any sirens, blaring, stepping out into the confines of Haurbo City. Gnorra was now theirs to investigate and explore. What would the party do?