High Society (Part 2)

The room in which the globe will be opened is a sealed chamber, utilising the best anti-bugging technology available at TL15. Present are King Oleb, Princess Rao, haut-Belzoni, Ambassador Poloc, Scholar Voha, and the party.

[Background known to the players]
The glorious Empire of Sindal endured for hundreds of years, and ruled over much of the Trojan Reach. The old Emperors of Sindal were proud and generous; their descendants were proud and cruel, and kept order through orbital bombardment and biological weapons. Subject worlds that refused to pay the ruinous taxes demanded by the Star Dragons were blasted into oblivion from high orbit. In time, the Sindalian provinces rose up en masse, supported by rebels within the Star Guard, and the empire tore itself apart in civil war. Old Noricum, the former seat of the Emperor, was destroyed. Parts of the empire survived – worlds like Albe or Drinax had the strength and technology to hold onto some territory – but for the rest of the sector, the fall of Sindal brought an end to interstellar rule of law.

Timeline:-2000: Rise of the Empire of Sindal
-1600: Sindalian revolts begin.
-1400: Fall of Noricum and collapse of the Empire. The duke of the regional capital of Drinax claims the imperial title.
-1000: Aslan first cross the Great Rift to the Trojan Reach
500: Aslan expand into Tliowaha Subsector. Trade between Imperium and Aslan grows.
700: King Glaxo bombs rebel worlds.
884: King Oleb XIV establishes the Drinax tax.
885: Fall of Drinax.The Aslan, led by the Ahroay’if clan, bomb Drinax.
1085: Reconquest of Asim.
1105: Current year. 

It was a cruel irony that perhaps the finest and bravest officer to ever wear the crest of the Star Guard came into her own in that last war. Admiral Gani Peras was a brilliant naval officer, beloved by her crew and feared by her enemies. Both loyalists and rebels courted Peras; her sense of duty demanded that she stay loyal to her oath to the Emperor, but her sense of honour forced her to acknowledge the wholly justified grievances of the provinces. She led the defence of the spinward fleets, slowing the advance of the rebels and ensuring that the war impacted on the civilian population as little as possible. She avoided direct engagements where possible, preferring to use smaller lighter ships to attack enemy supply lines and fuel dumps. Whenever a rebel commander used ortillery on civilian targets, though, Peras showed no mercy. The rings of debris that still orbit Homestead and Vume are testament to the wrath of Gani Peras.

Not even a commander of her calibre, though, could stop the civil war. Around the year -1400, her squadron of five surviving ships jumped into the Noricum system – the besieged seat of the emperor. What happened next is a matter of conjecture, but most historians agree that Peras somehow convinced the emperor to hand over the contents of the Imperial Treasury. Some believe Peras hid the treasury somewhere on Noricum; others claim she intended to use the treasury as a bribe to convince the advancing rebels to negotiate. Others believe the Last Loyal Admiral betrayed her oath at the last, and stole the treasury for herself.

Peras returned to her squadron and they jumped out – out of the system, and out of the history books. There were never any confirmed sightings of them again. Peras became another legend of the Reach, gone for two thousand years.
[End of Background]

In the sealed room, haut-Belzoni explains that twenty years ago he obtained a curiosity – a message globe. These devices are common across Charted Space. Each globe contains a secure message and can only be opened with the proper authorisation (or enough hacking skillz). Open the globe without the right key and its contents are instantly erased. This particular globe bore the emblem of the Empire of Sindal and came from the world of Albe (Sindal/0601), one of the most important worlds in the old Empire and now an imperial protectorate. This globe was a message intended for the Duke of Albe, and required Ducal-level clearance to open. Even more astoundingly, the datestamp on the globe showed that it was sent only a few days before the fall of Noricum. Presumably, similar message-globes were dispatched to the other key systems of Sindal, like Drinax but never arrived, lost in the chaos of civil war.

Haut-Belzoni knew the tale of Gani Perot and the treasure of Sindal, and realised the message globe could be the key to that mystery. All he had to do was open it and the one world where the old Ducal-level clearance codes might still exist was Drinax. So, haut-Belzoni took a leave of absence from the university, and here he is.

At this, Scholar Voha produces another relic from the archives of  Drinax – a second message globe. This one, he explains, was also sent by Gani Peras’ fleet to the Ducal Seat at Drinax at the same time as the message went to Albe. The globe was opened at some point in the intervening centuries but all it contained was a string of numbers and letters. Perhaps these numbers are a code; but not one any cryptographer in all those years managed to break. This second globe from Albe may contain the key to the code.

With great ceremony, Voha accesses the computer archives, and King Oleb gives his authorisation. Computer systems built during the days of the Sindalian Empire flicker into life as Oleb enters the codes passed down to him from the dukes of Drinax. The message sphere pops open, and haut-Belzoni examines the contents.

CONTENTS OF IMPERIAL VAULT TRANSFERRED TO ADMIRAL PERAS’ FLAGSHIP.
ADMIRAL PERAS ORDERED TO SET COURSE SPINWARD ALONG MAIN TO REFUGE.
IMPERIAL FAMILY AND RETAINERS WILL FOLLOW IF DEFENSIVE LINES AT SALIF FAIL.
KEY DISPATCHED TO THE DUKES OF ALBE, DRINAX, DPRES AND YGGDRASIL.
SIGNED BY HIS HAND, FELIX STAR DRAGON, EMPEROR OF SINDAL.

Following that message is a page of closely printed letters and numbers, similar but not identical to the message sent to Drinax, followed by the word ACE.

Haut-Belzoni points out a string of co-ordinates printed at the bottom of the message, and explains they are a date, time, location and verification stamp. It is a genuine message, sent only a few weeks before the fall of Sindal. The location is on Noricum, the old Imperial throne world, but it was not at the Imperial palace. The location is not one he recognises – and he has made a study of Noricum. It must be a previously undiscovered secret base!

The Imperial family died on Noricum; they never followed Peras to the refuge, perhaps because the rebels broke through the lines at Salif (Sindal/0206) quicker than expected. That might also explain why no message-globes are known to have reached Dpres or Yggdrasil - the rebels swept in from the spinward side and may have intercepted the couriers, probably in the Thebus system. The battle of Magg’s Moon was one of the last decisive encounters of the war. It might be worth looking for wreckage in that system, or questioning salvage crews and junk dealers on the markets to see if a sealed message globe was ever found.

King Oleb however appears to be a little uninterested. Perhaps there is something in all this, but it's been over two thousand years so there's very little to be gained by all this. He dismisses haut-Belzoni and the ambassador and says he'll think over it.

As soon as they leave he rounds on the party and excitedly exclaims "You must find this!" in his most enthusiastic voice. He will provide the characters the Ducal codes that may prove useful for opening things, and tells them that they must ensure that if there's anything relating to the Sindalian Empire to be found, it must be returned to him to strengthen his claims. He cares not for gold or treasures that are not directly related to the empire, so there's a good chance, if any of this is true, for the party to fund more piracy and mayhem in the Trojen Reach.

It is the Princess who suggests that it might be useful to escort the scientist, so that they can not only take advantage of his knowledge, but also keep an eye on him. She is not sure how many other people he has told of the message globe but it's a good bet that there will be others interested in the treasures of an empire.

End of Part 2.

High Society (Part 1)

The characters are still on Drinax.

Arriving at the starport on the floating palace the party are informed that none of the royal family are currently available, but that Princess Rao wants to see them as soon as she can get free of her current engagements.

While they wait, the Captain sends the NPC crew to the Frontier Trader to wake it from its mothballed slumber. They arrive and start work, but it will take some time. He then goes with the party to see Rachando, who is just finishing up with a guest and will see him shortly.

When Rachando's guest emerges Sparrow is surprised to see that it is his good friend Kaisyl of the Ahroay'if, an Aslan noble. While Slaid visits with Rachando Sparrow accompanies his furry friend to speak with him.

After the small talk is out of the way, Slaid asks if Rachando can obtain a particle weapon to match that which is in the Harrier already. Rachando thinks that is possible, but will take a couple of weeks as the weapon will be sourced from the nearest Aslan world.

Sparrow finds out that his friend is here without any fanfare. Kaisyl is not in hiding as such, but his ship is hidden in the outer system and he is not insisting on any diplomatic or other rights that might usually be extended to him.

When Princess Rao is available, they meet with her in one of her private rooms. She is pleased that the pirate that menaced Torpol and Clarks has been brought to justice, and more so that those planets are now much more favourably inclined toward Drinax. She insists that while King Oleb is going to want to hear tales of daring and piracy in high space to disrupt trade, she considers diplomatic effort to be much more likely to succeed. The approach therefore is to be in parts piracy, trade and diplomacy.

Princess Rao also informs the party that they are all invited to a banquet to be held that evening, which means getting out the ball gowns, dress uniforms and evening wear once again. Lady Nitrane heads off to visit with Lady Hill, the most influential courtier in the palace, and an old dear friend. When Lady Hill sees Nitrane's Theev dresses she agrees that they are entirely fashionable, and they set to work to prepare for that evening.

Sparrow dusts off his old diplomatic attire, and Unter his tuxedo. Slaid polishes the trinkets and baubles on his admiral dress uniform.

Before the banquet drinks and nibbles are served while the guests mingle and talk. All are introduced to the King (who upon seeing the party mugs and hams it up terribly, winking and exaggerating to make it known that they are not at all doing something for him - with some eyebrow raising from the Imperial ambassador) and to the guest of honour, an Imperium scientist called Yutal Mirobar haut-Belzoni (who appears to be tolerating the backwater hicks to whom he is being introduced, and occasionally cleaning his hands).

Unter meets up with Chieftain Galx, the representative from the Vespexer tribes (those who live on the surface of the planet). She and Unter are very good friends, and she and her muscled companions chat with him while waiting for the banquet to start.

Chieftain Galx

Sparrow notices Kaisyl is there looking slightly frantic. He clearly does not want to make conversation with anyone so is either in motion or hiding behind a pillar until Sparrow catches up with him and Kaisyl relaxes.

Lady Nitrane does the rounds, in her regal manner, passing Lady Hill who murmers approvingly at her dress. Nitrane's ex-husband, Lord Wrax of the Star Guard, appears to be avoiding her however as he is always at some distance chatting to various people who at times turn to look at her.

Slaid notices Rachando in conversation with a number of people who look like merchants. Looking around, Slaid sees a few other people who are unknown to him. One, someone he finds out is called Faihlokh, gives the impression of being rather more than the humble merchant he is dressed as. This Faihlokh at one time is seen with Lord Wrax. Faihlokh looks over at Lady Nitrane, then at Slaid, before returning to conversation with Wrax.

When the gongs are sounded for the meal to commence, the party are split up. Unter and Slaid are with guests of no particular importance, and their meals pass uneventfully. Lady Nitrane finds herself next to Scholar Voha, chief scientists in the Scholars Tower. He is aware of their mission and while some innocuous chitchat indicates that the mission is well, they agree to talk later in more privacy.

Sparrow is seated next to the scientist haut-Belzoni who, it becomes painfully apparent, is a rather boring individual. It's possible that from others historical naval technology, and in particular Vilani logistics during the Fifth Interstellar War, could be very interesting. But not from haut-Belzoni. His droning voice and mannerisms that suggest he's explaining something interesting to a backwoods ape are too much, so it takes a good 10 drinks for Sparrow to be numb enough to nod in a friendly manner and not feel any more pain.

The only vaguely interesting piece of information that comes out of haut-Belzoni's lips is that he's found a message globe from the old Sindalian empire and he intends to open in the next morning in the presence of the King and Scholar Voha. Sparrow nods (at times alarmingly and exaggeratedly) and eventually haut-Belzoni shuts up.

After toasts are completed and the banquet guests start to leave or continue mingling Lady Nitrane, interested to hear what the scientist had to say, catches up with Sparrow and, noticing he is quite drunk, instantly sobers him with a medpack. It is then that Sparrow notices Princess Rao catch his eye, hold for a second, and then continue talking to her companion. The message is somehow clear. He is to come over and talk to her. When he does, she turns to him, as if to just wish him a good evening, and says that he and the party will attend the opening of the globe the next morning. She instantly turns to another guest - the conversation with Sparrow taking no more than two or three seconds.

After alerting the rest of the party, Sparrow heads off to spend an evening talking with Kaisyl while Nitrane, Slaid and Unter return to their lodgings for the evening. Sparrow learns more about why the Aslan noble is on Drinax. He's not very talkative - wanting to keep things even from his close friend - but some things do come out. Kaisyl is here because of something called Ihatei - an assemblage of unattached males who gather to make war. There is a gathering near to the Aslan border and somehow Kaisyl is involved.

The next morning the party are escorted to the Scholar's Tower where the globe will be opened.

Continued in Part 2.