Chapter 1: What's happening at Selena Settlement?

 

The Jungle Planet Damu

Selena settlement was a small little place, on the jungle planet Damu, located somewhere in the Accursed Crossing Sector of the Forge. Damu is a humid, rain-soaked planet that keeps its secrets under a thick canopy of vegetation that people from space cannot see through. Now and then there is a crack in the vegetation and you can see massive canyons dotting the landscape at times. 

The atmosphere is breathable to human life and wildlife is bountiful across the planet. Large rivers criss-cross through the jungle planet and one of the main resources that Damu exports are a special plant called Achonpetta. 

The walls surrounding Selena Settlement look to have significant structural damage to them. On closer inspection, it looks like the settlement had been attacked quite a few times in the past by some kind of plasma weapon. You can see a few people trying to repair the damage to the walls but the process is slow. 

Most of Selena Settlement is a bunch of farmlands to the north of the settlement, within the walls. A large central building is where most people go on their time off. It houses a small tavern, which the settlers make their own alcohol, a meeting hall to meet with people from off-world, and the settlements computer systems.

About two dozen houses spread out throughout the settlement for the settlers. Most of the people are farmers, a few are engineers that keep the machinery running. 

There are 6 landing pads for ships that visit Selena Settlement. On this day only one ship was docked. A multipurpose ship with the name Shard of the Sun etched on the side of it. 

The Scoundrel Flynt Durant, a demolitions expert and former member of The Specters of the Ancient Court has been a fugitive for the last year. His old friend and partner, Nassar Griffin the leader of the Specters, has put a 1,000,000 credit bounty on his head. Nassar framed Flynt for the murder of a powerful official so, in retaliation, Flynt stole Nassar's ship and has been trying to clear his name and get revenge on Nassar ever since. Flynt came to Selena to resupply his ship and try and make some headway into clearing his name, maybe making a few credits in the process.

Flynt is a short man, roughly 5'8" but has a swagger about him. He is scruffy looking but is overly confident in his abilities and is very charismatic. He can always be seen with a blastor pistol hanging from a holster on his hip and a small backpack that holds various items, most of which is a special explosive that he uses for many situations. He also has a whip that he uses with deadly precision at times, hanging from his hip as well. An iron necklace of a small detonator is always hanging from his neck.

After procuring his supplies, Flynt entered the tavern located in the central building and was surprised to see it almost full. About 2 dozen settlers were scattered about the place at the various tables, eating and drinking in silence.

As Flynt entered a few of the people watched him suspiciously, a few looked to be hopefully at his presence in the place. A rather large woman noticed Flynt and waved him over. Her shoulder-length blond hair rested atop her large shoulders. She wore what looked to be some kind of diplomat robes, Flynt had seen them in other settlements across the sector. 

She held out her large hand as Flynt approached. 

"Welcome to Selena stranger. My name is Juliana Sedano. And you are?"

Flynt looked her over for a moment before shaking her hand. "You can call me Whisper."

"Interesting. Well, Whisper" Juliana hands Flynt a mug filled with a dark liquid that had a fruity scent. "What brings you to our humble settlement? 

Flynt takes the drink and has a sip before putting it on the bar. 

"I was in need of supplies and this place was the closest around. By the looks of it though, you seem to be having problems. I noticed the damage to the walls coming in." Flynt said as he looked around at some of the people in the tavern before returning his gaze to Juliana. 

"That's a tale that you have probably heard a hundred times in small settlements across the Forge. But if you are interested in some possible work I'd be happy to explain our situation." Juliana said as she finished her drink.

Flynt sighed and downed his drink. He really didn't want to spend any time in these backwater settlements but he did need credits. Resupplying his ship and being on the run has depleted his stash by a large margin. He also needed to find any info on Nassar and his gang.

"Sure, why not. Let's hear what you have to say." Flynt said as he put the mug on the bar.

Juliana smiled and led Flynt to her office, not far from the tavern. It was small considering Juliana's large physical stature. Juliana made her way to a liquor cabinet as she motioned for Flynt to sit in one of the cushioned chairs.

"Have you ever heard of Achonpetta, Whisper?" She asked as she opened the cabinet.

"Can't say that I have."

"It doesn't surprise me," Juliana said as she looked through the bottles in the cabinet and selected a bottle of dark red liquid, and poured it into a crystal pitcher. 

"Achonpetta is used throughout the Accursed Crossing Sector as a major ingredient for a lot of the medicines produced in the sector," Juliana said as she picked up the crystal pitcher filled with the red liquid and looked at it for a few seconds before smashing it on the ground.

Flynt looked on, amused.

"A few days ago we just finished our most recent harvest of Achonpetta. This harvest was enough to keep this sector in medicines for almost seven months. It was our largest harvest." Juliana looked down at the red liquid splattered on the floor and sighed. "Raiders, Mr. Whisper. That is our problem. They came and took everything we had. Every drop of Achonpetta. We need it back and are willing to pay for it."

Is Nassar's gang responsible for these raids? 50/50 [Ask the Oracle: No]

"And what's it worth to this dump to get it back?" Flynt asked.

Juliana frowned at Flynt's choice of words. "I guess saving the sector of its most precious resource isn't enough for you."

"Not a chance. You need my help, I need credits. It's a win-win situation for us both."

[Ask the Oracle: Does Juliana have the credits to pay Flynt for the job? No]

"Well, I don't have many credits right now since we weren't able to sell the harvest but I can offer you something that may help you in your travels," Juliana said.

Flynt frowns at the mention of no credits. "It better be worth my time. I doubt you have anything that I would want to risk my life over in this place."

"We use Skiffs on this planet to transport the Achonpetta from the farmlands to the landing pads to ship off-world. I can give you one of our Skiffs as payment for services rendered. It would put us back a bit but I am sure a Skiff may come in handy for you at some time down the line."

[Ask the Oracle: Would Flynt accept the Skiff as payment for his services? Yes]

 Flynt thinks about it for a few minutes before nodding in agreement. "It's a done deal." Flynt grabs his iron necklace. "I swear on Iron that I will find the Achonpetta Harvest and return it to you."

[Swear a vow (Dangerous) +Heart. Retrieve the harvest of the Achonpetta plant and deal with the raiders. 6+2+0=8 vs 6|6 Strong Hit with a match:  you are emboldened and it is clear what you must do next. Take +2 momentum(4) taking an extra +1 momentum because of the match (5)]

"And what about the raiders?" Juliana asks.

"I'll get your harvest back, you need to figure out a way to protect yourselves from the raiders. That little skiff isn't enough of a payment for me to wipe out a group of raiders. Now tell me what you know of these raiders."

"I know they come from the North. It was a handful at first. Coming into town and causing problems for people, roughing people up, and stealing whatever they could get their hands on." Juliana bent down and started picking up the pieces of the broken crystal.

"But something changed over the last two years. They became more organized. This past year they showed up in Rovers and hoverbikes. A dozen of them came right after Harvest and took everything we had. We tried to fight them off but they were well-armed. They killed Jacob in the process."

"So, you're telling me well-armed raiders are living in the North somewhere. That about sums it up? Anything else you wish to tell me?" Flynt says sarcastically.

"You need to be careful in the jungle. There are many dangers out there that can kill you besides the raiders." Juliana warned.

"Oh great. Why did I ever bother to come to this shithole of a planet? Like what?"

"There are many types of poisonous plants for starters." Juliana began to say before Flynt cut her off.

"Listen, I'm not going to be eating any plants out there. I have my own food. What do I need to look out for the most?"

"The Oravin," Juliana said as she put the broken crystal in the garbage and began soaking up the spilled wine with a towel.

"What the hell is an Oravin?" 

Oravin

"The most dangerous predator on Damu. They are 8 feet tall and weigh almost a ton. They have four very strong, powerful arms, white fur, dagger length claws to rip your insides out." Juliana says as she grabs another towel. "And they are Intelligent."

Flynt puts his hand against his head and begins to shake it back and forth.

"You're definitely not paying me enough for this. I'll get your Harvest back, I gave my word. But after that, I'm not sticking around. The raiders are your problem."

[End of Session Move: Will Flynt meet an Oravin? Will he find the Raider camp and get the Harvest back? We will find out next chapter. +1 momentum (6)]

[End of session stats: Momentum 6 Health 5 Spirit 5 Supply 5. Dangerous Vow: Retrieve the harvest of the Achonpetta plant from the raiders. Formidable Expedition: Find the Raider camp and live through the jungle]