Recaps

LONG SHADOWS

 Chapter I (Session 1) 

Crawl: ''Civil War tears apart the galaxy as the REBEL ALLIANCE have just won their first major victory, destroying the Empire’s DEATH STAR. Encouraged by that success, freedom fighters everywhere try to throw off Imperial shackles by any means necessary. Murmurs of uprising have even reached the quiet, peaceful world of TANETH II, hiding place of the elderly SHAN, a former Jedi Initiate from a generation before The Purge. A small group of young people, mysteriously drawn to Shan’s village over the years, have been secretly trained in the ways of The Force. Now nearing a century old, Shan’s age has finally caught up with her, and she is sure she will not be their mentor for much longer. She has gathered her disciples together for what may be the last time…''

Summary: After a general chat about the world, the players introduced their Hero Characters to each other. (They have all arrived a few weeks before the date Shan asked them to arrive on). The village received a broadcast (mandatory listening) where the Emperor announced the Rebel Alliance had destroyed a 'security station', assassinating Grand Moff Tarkin and other Imperial staff, and to combat this new threat, all worlds in the Empire will face higher taxation and are encouraged to join the military.

The villagers then debated what this would mean; some proposing they join the Alliance (this group's loudest voice is Kestrel), others proposing they appease the Empire (loudest voice is Mazor), and most attempting to keep the status quo (loudest voice is Devouchet, one of the village council). The players managed to use diplomatic social skills to keep the debate relatively peaceful, and the villagers eventually dispersed home.

At dawn the next day, Shan's son Nahan gathered the group and told them an outlying thorp had sent a distress signal as their livestock and a villager have gone missing, and a creature attack is suspected. The group borrowed a landspeed, arrived at the thorp, and discovered animal remains in a trail leading down the riverbed towards the lake. Their scanner detects a large creature moving towards them, and they have set up an ambush site partially down the gulley.

 Chapter II (Sessions 2-3) 

Crawl: ''Shockwaves from the Civil War have reached TANETH II at last. The Emperor has announced the war requires higher taxation of every world in the Empire, and is recruiting aggressively. “Every citizen must do their part…” The village of BETHEBEN anxiously anticipates the arrival of Imperial collectors and recruiters. Many villagers murmur about rebellion, while a few consider crushing sedition internally before the Empire’s forces hear of it. Meanwhile, the hazards of everyday life must be dealt with. An outlying thorp has called for help as their flocks, and one of their herders, have been taken by some vicious predator. SHAN’s disciples accompany her son NAHAN beyond the thorp, following the bloody trail into a narrow stream-bed ravine. Now something large appears on their scanner, moving fast towards them…''

Summary: The party ambushed a Stalking Acklay, but their weapons were almost useless against its natural armor. Using the terrain to their advantage, piling multiple strikes on non-lethal weak spots, and concentrating stunning fire, they eventually knocked it unconscious. May then decapitated it. May and Nahan then performed a field autopsy to examine its stomach contents and found a part-digested human hand, although May received an acid burn in the process.

Following the gulley downstream, they have found signs of the missing herder: a scrap of blue fabric and a wedding wristband. Reaching the end of the gulley, they discovered the stream flows into a huge lake, several miles wide, with some kind of prefab compound or industrial settlement on the far side. Their scanner detects only ordinary fish life-forms in the shallows within range.

Rules Note: Between sessions 2 and 3, GM devised a set of rulings on called shots and spending advantage to hobble targets.

 Chapter III (Sessions 4-6) 

Crawl: ''Shan’s disciples have accompanied her son Nahan to one of Betheben’s outlying thorps, tracking down a monster which has carried off flocks and a herder. After a bloody, drawn-out battle, the disciples managed to slay the ACKLAY at last. In its gut, they discovered a human hand, but could not be certain how long it had been there. Following the gulley downstream, they have found signs of the missing herder – a scrap of blue fabric and a wedding wristband. At the end of the gulley, the stream flows into a huge lake, several miles wide…''

Summary: As the disciples on the lake-shore pondered what to do next, they were hailed on their commlink and then approached by a scarred big-game-hunter in a speeder-truck, introducing himself as Tanith ("Not spelt like the planet, though. Annoying coincidence"). He admired their acklay, explained he had a bounty on some acklays in the area, and offered to deliver the head to the ExoSec compound, and split the bounty. ExoSec had lost staff to an Acklay attack, attempted to retaliate against the Acklay nests and took even heavier losses, before commissioning Tanith to hunt down and destroy the scattered Acklay, including at least one in the lake. Tanith and his surgeon-partner Ralo had also recovered the herder Marcus, crippled and near-dead, from an Acklay lair, and Ralo has been trying to patch him up aboard their shuttle. Tanith acquires the bounty pay, splits it, and they trade some equipment.

After some discussion in which Tanith offers to take them on as a field team hunting Acklays in a couple of days, the disciples ask for a lift back to the village for now. During the ride, Valo Ne [Ben] discreetly used the force to seek for two Acklays Tanith described. A small red one is in the center or south side of the lake, while a black acid-mawed specimen is still in the mountains further north. Upon arriving at the village, they find chaos as the landing pad (west) is guarded by villagers who've heard rumors that the annual tithe collection is coming early, while the east side of Betheben is under attack from unusually aggressive Tusk-cats. The disciples rescue the beleaguered village defenders (mostly unarmed and huddled around several casualties), and kill the tusk-cats without too much difficulty. They heal Kestrel back from the brink of death, and then discover their mentor Shan is also among the wounded. As they go to treat her wounds, she gasps, "they are coming", as a trio of Imperial warships enter the atmosphere.

The disciples start healing Shan's wounds (Valo drawing on the dark side a little to do so), and sorting and treating the other casualties. Gotur [Cam] runs to grab the village's medical kit, only to find another resident has appropriated it to treat her boyfriend. As Shan is healed, she briefly enters a strange state and says "It's happening again". Alzan, standing guard, spots a third Tusk Cat stalking a villager, and engages. Two filfth-covered humans in tattered furs accompany the cat (which is killed) and attempt to capture the villager. As soon as Shan is no longer in critical condition, she demands the disciples assist in the fight, and the party fights them off. The male feral human is stunned and taken prisoner, but the female escapes. Gotur briefly notices a scuttling motion of something small retreating into the undergrowth, but it's too fast and too hidden to follow. Shan then says "I suppose I should explain some things..."