Ush's Game Episode III- "Artifact"- collected postscripts

Of all the people in the story, Kuylen did in fact meet Chion first- he and Argentis met (and in fact fought) him whilst he was still a Jedi.
But after Kuylen’s ‘death’, the first person he made contact with was actually Mal Sannan- posing as respectable businessman Kir Ascar on the world of Malastare. How Kuylen knew that Ascar was actually Sannan- one-time talented Jedi Padawan, with a midi-chlorian count almost as high as Yoda’s, who left the Jedi aged 13 and since then received considerable and unusual force training on the world Sirckara (think about it) way outside the Republic- is unclear. But Kuylen certainly seemed to know that Ascar was a man who could help him in his original quest, to find the mythical world known in the common tongue as Avalar.
Having worked in the Jedi Archives for so long Kuylen also knew of the two Sith Astrolabes the Jedi kept- neither of which were functional. He recognised the fully functional one Ascar had at once, and noted it for future reference. Ascar aided Kuylen in finding Avalar, though was very surprised when Kuylen actually pulled it off. Kuylen paid Ascar back with certain objects he found in the Monastery there.
From there, the story moves into the mainstream. Kuylen gathered his allies and formed his group of Dark Siders, made alliance with Faylar on Damagran and Pelloran on Jaglon Beta, and started his excavation work on Avalar. Faylar let him work there and Pelloran kept the authorities away. When the Jedi finally came to investigate this, the first episode of this game started.

As episode III started, the Dark Siders had killed Faylar, who had betrayed then, but seemed to have little to do. The Jedi had destroyed their base at Avalar before they could recover what they needed from it. But the Dark Siders had gotten one other thing from Avalar- maps. Ancient Sith Maps encoded in their archaic and inscrutable ways. Kuylen knew that these maps might just lead him to another place he knew of that could teach him the ways of the Sith- the Mausoleum of Demnos, an ancient site where it is rumoured that those ‘truly with the heart of the Sith’ could learn the true path.

(The legend goes that Darth Demnos ritually sacrificed himself at his own pre-built Mausoleum, and became spiritually one with it, and in future the Mausoleum would reveal itself to Sith Apprentices, and they could enter and learn. Demnos’ faction after this time was a powerful one. Most historians do not doubt his Mausoleum was a powerful Sith headquarters, but the idea that a Sith Lord would sacrifice himself for the good of others is ludicrous; most think he was murdered by his own apprentice who used his name as a rallying call to train new recruits)

But the maps were useless without the correct navigation device- the Astrolabe. And so Kuylen took the huge risk of bringing most of his organisation to Malastare, deep in Republic space, in order to get the Astrolabe and locate the Mausoleum. Whilst risky, Kuylen gambled that as the good guys had lost track of his group, they could be in and out of there before any one noticed.

And so the Dark Siders would have been, were it not for one thing that none of these characters know of. The Sith are not extinct. And Darth Sidious cannot countenance this irritating rival plundering Sith secrets and rising to become a danger to him. Unfortunately, his normal recourse has been removed, as that irritating young git Obi-Wan Kenobi has killed Sidious’ troubleshooter, Darth Maul (and what a fight that would have been!). With all his energies focussed on putting his Clone Wars plan in action, Sidious has no resources to stop Kuylen in his capacity as Lord of the Sith. But as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic… that is a different matter. Sidious’ Sith powers locate Kuylen on Malastare. Palpatine then summons Master Gundark and her Jedi team, and tells them that his ‘contacts’ have located Kuylen there, and that they may go on a mission with his personal blessing to stop him. Palpatine reveals the existence of the Sith to the players, theorising that Maul was the Master and Kuylen is his apprentice, and so must be stopped. Palpatine convinces the Council that the mission is a good idea- for the Council is fearful that trying to stop Kuylen is doing more harm than good, but as his location is known, he cannot really be ignored.

Meanwhile, the Dark Siders (losing queeq and Edna, but joined now by talented but unfocussed Orphan Takuan) meet with Ascar. Ascar (‘played’, as it were, by Malcolm MacDowell), is smooth, courteous and friendly- and Kuylen has not told his people that Ascar is a man of mighty Force power. Ascar happily looks at the maps (and personally notes the location of the Mausoleum) but refused to give Kuylen the information- saying that dealing with Kuylen is too dangerous now he is a publicly wanted figure. The Dark Siders also meet Ascar’s obnoxious bodyguard Persis and smooth (and evil) secretary Majora. No amount of bribery or subtle threats will change Ascar’s mind. Kuylen is unwilling to use force to take the Astrolabe as he believes he will lose men in the process- he knows also that Persis and Majora are Ascar’s apprentices, and a large fight would result in any attempt to force the issue.

After the original talking, the game kicks off with two fights. The Dark Siders take the opportunity to attack a ship-parts depot in orbit around Malastare to steal the long-range hyperdrives they will need to make it to the distant Mausoleum. They cause complete devastation there to hide their theft and are careful to leave no trace of sabre usage. Meanwhile, the Jedi en-route to Malastare answer a distress signal on the way, rescuing the passenger liner Coruscant Star from an unusually bold pirate attack. To their surprise, vicious, Jedi-hating bounty hunter Balek is on board, bound for Malastare. Surely he could not know the Dark Siders, his bounty targets, are there?

Events are overtaking Ascar, however. His undisciplined pupils, who do not follow Ascar’s beliefs in the Force and are complete Dark Siders, have been training at a sword fighting dojo in the capital, run by a former civilian instructor-assistant for the Jedi, named Teshan. (Ascar helped Teshan finance his sword dojo, because Ascar himself is a poor sabre fighter and Persis and Majora needed somewhere to train). They have been fighting disguised as Mogarians, aliens for whom oxygen is fatal and so always wear all-over body suits, handy for disguise. But after arguing with a flashy Gran swordfighter there, Persis and Majora challenge him to an unofficial practice fight in the alleyway at the back of the dojo. His practice sword is of little use against Persis’ lightsabre, and the unfortunate Gran is killed on the spot for no other reason than that his two killers found it amusing- the ultimate Dark Side rationale, ‘because I can’.

Galder and Takuan learn of this murder, and now finally have some leverage over Ascar, for the release of who did it would cause him great trouble. But their further investigation is hampered by the unexpected arrival of the Jedi- something they are at a loss to explain, suspecting a traitor. At this inconvenient time, Kuylen leaves (to go and arrange the military help that the Dark Siders receive later- a plot that would have been seen in more detail if Edna was still playing, and may yet see some relevance in Episode IV). He leaves Chion with the Dark Siders and orders them to get the Astrolabe by any means necessary, but only with violence as a last resort. They know now that Persis is dangerous, though never seem to wonder who trained him, not suspecting Ascar as a force Master.

The Jedi are aided by well-meaning if easily flustered Prefect (police commander) Moran, who gives them the two leads they have, the raid on the depot (which the Dark Siders would have gotten clean way with had Palpatine not located them) and the murder by the dojo (which, ironically, was not the Dark Siders at all!). The players suspect something was taken from the depot but are not sure what (and are confused by the dumped power core which has been left there, actually a result of the amusing sequence where the Dark Side players were actually trying to move the right thing!), whilst they are confused as to the motive of the dojo murder. Teshan- old friend to them all- tips them off about the mysteriously talented Mogarian students he has. But they have been there too long to be Kuylen’s men, which seems to rule them out. Teshan also tells them of Kir Ascar. When the players learn that Ascar has a huge collection of Jedi artefacts, they finally have a possible reason as to why Kuylen is here.

The Dark Siders fail to blackmail Ascar (who thinks he can weather it) and never make good on their threat to release the information they have. The Light Siders meet Ascar, who rather smoothly bullshits them, but they do learn of the existence of the Astrolabe, and know what it is Kuylen wants.

The Light Siders are now joined by old friend of Gundark, Master Grevor Scovione and his Padawan Corelay (both NPCs) and new player Master Marcus. Marcus now joins Kuylen’s team as part of his investigation into Kuylen’s pirate links. Grevor has bad news for Gundark about Balek- it seems Pelloran has not only honoured Faylar’s original bounty on the Dark Siders, he has extended it to the Jedi who caused his downfall, that is, Gundark and Lance. Balek is following the Jedi! Grevor also warns Gundark of his very bad feelings about her mission.

Balek, of course, is too clever to attack a Jedi inside the Republic, willing to wait until they are somewhere more suitable. But he soon learns the Dark Siders are on Malastare and so goes happily back to hunting them.

The Dark Siders, meanwhile, now receive back-up in the form of a large detachment of the Order of Miramar, well-trained and deadly warrior assassins from outside the Republic. Kuylen (and Edna) have sent them to aid the Dark Side players should they need to use force to get the Astrolabe

By now, Ascar is now being pressured on all sides to give up the Astrolabe to either Jedi or Dark Siders. He comes up with a good solution. Ascar, who made his fortune whilst gambling, now running a vast gambling Empire (with Hutt connections) that makes him the richest man on the planet, cannot resist the great opportunity for gambling excellence he now sees. He makes a deal with both sides- that if they enter the Malastare Open Pod Race being held tomorrow, disguised as Mogarians (the first clue to the Light Siders about Persis and Majora being trained at the dojo, and so therefore the killers). As much of the expertise in pod racing was wiped out on Tatooine four months ago (in The Phantom Menace), and as the entrants have force instincts, they have a good chance of winning. No-one else will know of such force instinct, though, which gives Ascar a vast betting advantage. If the person racing wins, Ascar will lend him the Astrolabe. Of course, he tells neither side that he has made the same offer to BOTH sides- indeed, the Light Siders can only suspect he has been talking to the bad guys at all, though Mah has noted that the Astrolabe has been used, and Gundark and Grevor between them have worked out that it was set to locate the Mausoleum, which the good guys are now all updated on.

Both sides agree. Galder races for the bad guys, and Mah for the good, both seeing another Mogarian in the race but unsure quite what is going on. The race is fast, vicious and exciting. Bounty Hunters try to eliminate both competitors- chancing freelancer Vil Istani, mistaking Mah for Lance, tries to bomb Mah’s pod but is stopped by Xeth and Marcus. Balek tries a more sophisticated approach, using an electro-disrupter to make Galder’s pod go out of control and crash, seeming like an accident. Takuan stops Balek but is nearly killed and only barely escapes in the ensuing fight. Mah wins the race.

The Jedi come to claim their prize from Ascar just as the Dark Siders order the Miramar, led by Prelate Nayler, to go and get it. The Dark Siders, meanwhile, are recognised at last and attacked by police on the way to Ascar’s place. This is the start of a very large battle. The Jedi fund themselves badly outplayed by the Miramar’s tactics, but manage to escape downstairs with the Astrolabe, just in time to find out it is fake. Persis has switched a fake he had made for the real one, as Persis is making a rather dumb powerplay of his own. An exasperated Ascar who is now finally exposed fires Persis and attempts to flee before the fighting starts, but has little luck. The police, the Miramar and Persis’ security force clash in a huge battle, each side led by the Jedi, Dark Siders and Persis and Majora respectively. There is much death, and four impressive duels. Dexx and Corelay clash evenly. Gundark has a scare duelling the powerful Chion but survives. Mahg and Xeth fight Persis and Majora, and Mah cuts down Majora. Galder finally meets his match in Marcus, who cuts off Galder’s arm. The good guys are victorious, and the bad guys flee from Malastare to face Kuylen’s wrath. Persis escapes also.

Ascar is chased doggedly by the good guys. Gundark retrieved Ascar’s sabre (posing as a museum exhibit) during the fight and has identified him as Mal Sannan- whom Grevor knew as a Padawan. But Ascar outwits the Jedi and escapes in their own car, after displaying his considerable power, and talking a little of his philosophy of the Force, as he learnt it. Ascar does not believe in Light or Dark, or Life or Death, but instead he thinks the nature of the Force is telebiogenesis, the recycling of all things into another, in an Endless Circle.

Now the action moves out from Malastare. The astrolabe, and the location of the Mausoleum, is still up for grabs. And the good guys now have the Dark Siders on the run, and have a chance to finish this forever. This will be told in episode IV.

The game is a Light Side victory.

I appreciate that the Dark Siders were under-staffed for this one, which was unfortunate- losing Edna, especially, has removed a lot of your direct problem-solving capacity, and poor Dexx had to be thrown into that role as the new guy, which is always hard. This was also a game in which the Dark Siders were up against continuous obstacles, frustrated at every turn, unlike the Jedi who had complete freedom of movement.

However, in most objective areas the Jedi eventually came out on top.

In the depot, the Jedi found enough evidence to suspect the Dark Siders but never confirmed what it was that was stolen from there until the information was given to them sometime later.

At the dojo, the Jedi never sussed that Persis and Majora committed the murder- but they DID highlight most of the problems and contradictions of the crime scene, and with what they had it would have been near impossible to make the link. The Dark Siders knew it was Persis who killed the man but were never able to get the evidence they needed to have any hope at all of blackmailing Ascar (a good starting place, which they never checked out, was to get the registration details that the two Mogarians used, and they could be traced back from there. Or their lockers there could have been checked.) Furthermore only some last second intervention from me prevented the Dark Siders from fatally exposing their position on the planet by talking to people the Jedi had already talked to and given descriptions of the Dark Siders to.

At Ascar’s, the Dark Siders failed to make much of an impression on Ascar. They also sabotaged relations with him with an abortive attempt to take Persis by force. Whilst the Jedi might have felt that Ascar continually gave them the run-around, they never acted illegally and they did, eventually, discover what they needed to know about the Dark Siders’ plans.

And finally, of course, the Jedi won both the pod race and the final battle. Obviously some chance factors had a certain amount to do with this, but that’s how it is with gaming!

The trump card victory for anyone would have been to have gotten the REAL Astrolabe, which would have led to a very different episode IV in which either the Jedi had to stop the Dark Siders meeting again to get the reading they needed, or the Dark Siders having to actually hunt out the Jedi to get it back! Ascar was always a way on for either side in both circumstances. However, someone would have had to deal with Persis first for this to happen. As the Dark Siders didn’t try it in the end, nor were the Light Siders ever tipped off by the Dark Siders as to his nature, this was never a possibility. Episode IV will indeed play out as originally planned.

(Incidentally, playing off Ascar’s people against the Jedi was the best tactic for the Dark Siders, and would have given them options they may have felt they lacked. Whilst the Jedi were focussed on THEM and not Ascar, the Dark Siders were always going to have great trouble succeeding)

All in all, the Jedi won this one by good, solid play and never doing anything silly. This squares the ‘series’ at one all, so all to play for!

Between each game, players have an opportunity to advance the power of their characters. By this method you can eventually become as competent as the legendary heroes we see in the films! But it’s a slow path

Basically each of you can chose one area in which you wish to advance. There are three areas to chose from:

1. General skills. Do not underestimate the importance of being good at ‘mundane’ tasks! Adventurers, Ronins and Fallens all benefit from being good pilots, saboteurs, technicians, computer operators, and so on. Masters also have a broad range of skills; the fighter templates (Swordsman, Corsair, Freelancer) much less so, and Force-based templates like the Acolyte and Orphan have almost none at all.

2. Combat ability. This is proably the most directly used and obviously useful skill, essential for all. Increasing your combat ability means getting a better fighting instinct, learning to use the Force to compliment your fighting style, and getting used, over time, to combat conditions. It is spread out amongst using the sabre, using guns and close combat, depending on your template. But taking combat never directly increases your actual skill with a sabre, something that takes far longer to develop. Hence it makes you no better at duelling.

3. Force ability. Only a fool would totally neglect his skill in manipulating the Force. Masters and the force templates (Acolyte, Orphan, Revenant) have a considerable advantage over the other templates when it comes to using powers. Adventurers and their type are perfectly competent with the force; the fighter templates lack the focus required to be great with it and if they NEVER advance in the Force they will never become truly great Jedi.

Please each of you chose one of these areas in which to become better in. You don’t have to decide right now, but preferably before it becomes important in the story.

Incidentally, some things can never be replicated by experience in this way- like the Warrior Instincts of the Swordsman and Corsair, and the huge force power (from high midi-chlorian count, or tie to the Force, or whatever) of the Acolyte and Orphan.

Note that advances in duelling prowess will now not be an issue until the whole campaign is done. Whilst increasing in combat ability does not make you a better dueller automatically, it might make it eaiser for you to increase your duelling skill at the time when I decide to let you do so.

Also note that I will soon post a table showing the relative skills and abilities of everyone.

great..i'll take no. 2

Originally posted by Ushgarak
The trump card victory for anyone would have been to have gotten the REAL Astrolabe

If you had:

1. Killed Persis in advance of the ending

2. Won the race and kept the Astrolabe, or lost it and taken it

You would have had the real one.

I'll take 3 unless the table makes me change that

Combat advancement please. This is the third time... 😈

The only thing I hate about the game analysis is that it makes us show all of our errors...like that I could have killed Persis when he shot Rura.

Where is Rura anyway?

attacking persis when shooting Rura would've had serious repercusions on the astrolabe negociations

When Persis shot Rura would have been a terrible time to try and kill him.

You would have had to arrange his death.

Rura is alive and well and will meet with you at the start of the next game.

Gee, I wrote that advancment thing a long time ago... I will correct it. As it stood, it made it look like advancing in combat skill was a non-sabre thing, which is not so. You increase in combat skill according to your template- so a Swordsman would improve mostly in sabre combat, a Freelancer in all forms of combat, a Master in sabre only, and so on.

I don't get any improvements because I'm a newb, right?

It's a compelling storyline, Ush. I like it a lot. I can't wait to play and add to it either. 🙂

right

Number 3, of course.

Same here. #3

All being noted. I am afraid I am having to delay the posting of that table, as thre forum formatting prevents me from posting a comprehensible one, as far as I can make out.

Ok, got it working, thanks to Raz!