Doomsayer Session 15

25 September 2022: Lilikai Singan asks the PCs to meet her at the home of a wealthy Hapan noble family. Through various means, they secure invitations to a dinner party that may or may not be a trap. Nomi Amersu encounters a friend from her past.

Previous: Doomsayer Session 14

Plot Summary
The journey from Dathomir to Hapes took three more days. During this time, Vic Dantor enlisted his newly-programmed medical droid, which the crew nicknamed Beepo, to help heal the lingering injuries Rhen sustained fighting the Nightbrothers and the Sprantal. Beepo was not much help, largely because it believed Rhen was a malfunctioning droid and treated her as such until Vic and 3D6 convinced it that she was actually an organic being. The PCs also experienced another vision from the artifact, this one involving Damasa and Firith.

Somi Amersu stayed focused on her meditations, trying to to tell Lilikai to meet the PCs in the Hapes Consortium. Toward the end of the trip, Somi received the clear impression that her message had been received, along with an image of a distinctive statue carved out of purple crystal, depicting a winged woman swooping downward while wielding an ax. She burst out of her bunk to tell the others what she'd seen, and everyone busied themselves in research. Nawah Masin's knowledge of the Core worlds told her that the statue was not a famous museum piece and seemed more likely to be in a private collection. Vic tried without success to identify the material but was unable to narrow it down between several possibilities; however, all of them were found in mountainous regions, so he suggested landing somewhere in the mountains as a starting point.

After arriving and registering their ship and crew with the Hapan military (Nomi, as Captain Daalo Deelo, came up with an amazingly plausible list of aliases on the fly), Rogue Ronto landed on the primary planet of the Hapes Cluster at a spaceport in the major city nearest a prominent mountain range. The PCs split up into four groups to pursue different strategies:
 * Brawln and Vesper Syl'tine tried to approach the Hapan criminal underworld, hoping to learn more about the location of the statue by insinuating they wanted to steal it. This proved easier said than done because neither of them could figure out how to identify Hapan criminals. As they sat dejectedly on a bench, a young Hapan man sat down next to Vesper and made it clear that he recognized Vesper (as both a member of a powerful Bothan family and a Jedi) from the Imperial propaganda campaign he'd featured in. He asked what brought Vesper to Hapes. Recognizing the opening, Vesper subtly conveyed that he was looking for other surviving Jedi. The man said he might be able to help with that, and said he would contact Vesper through Brawln's terminal with more information.
 * Nawah and Vic delivered their trade goods, then made a circuit of Hapan materials wholesalers to try to determine who might have purchased the large amount of crystal the statue would have required. They used the two crates of "choulder armor" they had salvaged on Zoph to get their foot in the door, and ultimately sold it for a tidy profit. The company owner was somewhat suspicious of Vic's inquiries and subtly asked whether he had Separatist sympathies, as apparently one of the families known for dealing in the crystal in question was also known to harbor Separatist supporters. Vic played along and got the owner to pass along his contact information to someone in the family named Anthami Dara.
 * Nomi and Rhen joined an art and architecture tour of the city, trying to spot the statue. They didn't see it, but did see another one in a similar style which had been sculpted by someone named Nyra Vondell. Apparently, private collectors owned many other examples of Nyra Vondell's work.
 * Finally, Efnir Kis and Somi posed as eccentric art collectors, going around to various galleries and studios in search of the statue in question. Efnir spotted a photo of it hanging on a sculptor's wall, and entered her studio to learn that it was a piece by Nyra Vondell, which the sculptor in question (who was considerably less skilled) displayed as inspiration. It was the property of the Dara family and was displayed on the grounds of their mountain estate, and it was unlikely they would be interested in selling it.

On their way back to Rogue Ronto, Efnir and Somi were stopped in the street by a young Hapan man who seemed to recognize Somi, though Somi had never seen him before in her life. He called Somi "Freyka," said he'd been worried about her since she left him in the middle of the night without saying goodbye, and alluded to various adventures he and "Freyka" had had together including some sort of daring escape on Corellia. It was also clear that this man and "Freyka" had a romantic history together. He asked Somi to join him for a drink to catch up, and Somi didn't know what to do other than agree. (Efnir, who was in extreme protective mode, firmly invited himself along too.) As quickly as she could, Somi excused herself to the bathroom and called Nomi in a panic. Nomi immediately knew Somi was talking to a former crewmate of hers named Boez, and told Somi to stay put. Nomi (and Rhen) rushed to the bar where they executed a complicated switcheroo with the help of Nomi's holographic disguise matrix. Taking over, Nomi apologized to Boez for running out on him before, swapped contact details with him, and learned that he was currently staying on Hapes with his family while waiting to be called back to his ship.

Everyone reunited at Rogue Ronto and compared notes. It seemed clear that Lilikai wanted the PCs to meet her at the Dara family's estate, and Vic thought his contact with Anthami Dara might provide a way in. He excused himself to give his brother Ori Dantor a call and ask whether he knew anything about the Dara family. Ori confirmed that Anthami was a known Separatist sympathizer who had hosted representatives from the Techno Union on Hapes before, but cautioned that not everyone in her family shared her opinions. He told Vic to tread carefully around her, since things were still unsettled in the galaxy and he didn't want Vic to end up promising things he couldn't deliver on. Vic also told Ori, in general terms, about the mining camp on Zoph and said that Ori should go there if he ever found himself in danger.

To be continued

Things to Remember

 * Brawln's HoloNet search revealed that all the PCs (minus Nomi and Vic) are now wanted by the Empire as Jedi or Jedi sympathizers following the incident at L-343.
 * Rhen still has a critical injury and suffers 1 strain for each action she takes until it is healed.
 * Somi and/or Somi's player ship(s) Nomi and Efnir!

Next: Doomsayer Session 16