TEXT: BY CRYSTAL FRASIER
  THE HOLLOW CABAL
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  
  ROSELIGHT ORACLE  
  TIER 7
  Large heavy freighter
  Speed 8; Maneuverability good (turn 1)
  AC 20; TL 20
  HP 140; DT —; CT 28
  Shields medium 100 (forward 25, port 25, starboard 25, aft 25)
  Attack (Forward) heavy laser net (5d6; 5 hexes)
  Attack (Port) heavy laser cannon (4d8; 10 hexes)
  Attack (Starboard) heavy laser cannon (4d8; 10 hexes)
  Power Core Arcus Maximum (200 PCU); Drift Engine none; System advanced medium-range sensors, crew quarters (good), mk 4 armor, 
  mk 4 defenses, mk 3 trinode computer; Expansion Bays cargo holds (2), escape pods (18), life science lab, physical science lab, recreation 
  suite (trivid den)
  Modifiers +3 to any 3 checks per round, +4 Computers (sensors only), –1 Piloting; Complement 18 (minimum 6, maximum 20)
  CREW
  Captain Computers +13 (7 ranks), Diplomacy +19 (7 ranks), Engineering +13 (7 ranks), gunnery +12 (7th level)
  Engineer Engineering +19 (7 ranks)
  Gunners (3) gunnery +12 (7th level)
  Pilot Piloting +19 (7 ranks)
  Science Officers (2 officers, 5 crew each) Computers +19 (7 ranks)
  Though sometimes mistaken for cloud formations, Roselight Oracles are a common sight drifting through the colorful Liavaran skies. Most of these 
  vessels are owned and operated by barathus at Roselight’s Office of Commercial Interests (OCI). Ostensibly, Oracles monitor the environmental 
  health of the gas giant and its denizens and patrol for unauthorized gas-mining activity. However, given the OCI’s rampant corruption, Oracle 
  patrol routes are frequently “adjusted” to benefit clients who pay under the table. Oracles are even occasionally lent out privately, as long as 
  clients can cover the operating fees and provide a suitable bribe. The crew of an Oracle is assisted by scientists and researchers who constantly 
  analyze the ship’s surroundings. These researchers are usually associated with the Brethedan administration, but the OCI is not above taking 
  bribes to grant third party individuals research stints onboard a patrolling Oracle. Though primarily used for observation and research, these 
  ships are equipped with weapons capable of defending Roselight and approved mining operations from outside dangers.
  The domed structure and high ceiling of a Roselight Oracle allow its systems to be arranged vertically in open space, giving barathus 
  and other flying creatures with perfect maneuverability the ability to easily navigate the ship. The officer stations on older Oracles are on 
  open platforms inaccessible to creatures who can’t fly, but newer models include retractable ladders for non-barathu crew. While the officer 
  quarters aboard these ships are of good quality and relatively spacious, the scientists dwell in more cramped conditions, sharing rooms with 
  up to four bunks each. 
  The Roselight Oracle’s design includes modular satellite bays, reflecting barathus’ penchant for evolution and self-modification. These sections 
  can be detached and replaced with different modules, making the ships easily customizable. The circular design of an Oracle also gives the ship 
  improved maneuverability, and a complete set of escape pods is housed inside the ship’s thick outer hull.
  
  On the Cover
  28
  BY CRYSTAL FRASIER
  THE HOLLOW CABAL
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE HOLLOW CABAL
  PART 4 OF 6
  The Hollow Cabal 
  2
  by Crystal Frasier
  Roselight and Upwell 
  38
  by Crystal Frasier
  The Mysterious Dycepskians 
  46
  by Katina Davis
  Alien Archives 
  54
  by Alexander Augunas, James Case, Crystal Frasier, Georg Mir, and Jessica Ross
  Codex of Worlds: Tudine  
  62
  by Crystal Frasier
  Starship: Roselight Oracle 
  Inside
  by Emily Parks 
  Covers
   
  This book refers to other Starfinder products using the following abbreviations, yet these additional supplements are not required to make use 
  of this book. Readers interested in references to Starfinder hardcovers can find the complete rules of these books available online for free at 
  paizo.com/sfrd.
  Armory 
  AR 
  Character Operations Manual 
  COM
  Could it be that Chief Inspector Molu Umana Dylaska 
  of Clan Vialo of the Stewards is up to something in 
  this illustration by Tomasz Chistowski?
  Paizo Inc.
  7120 185th Ave NE, Ste 120
  Redmond, WA 98052-0577
  paizo.com
  AUTHOR
  Crystal Frasier
  ADDITIONAL WRITING
  Alexander Augunas, James Case, Katina Davis, 
  Georg Mir, Emily Parks, and Jessica Ross
  DEVELOPERS
  Jason Keeley and Jason Tondro
  EDITING LEAD
  Leo Glass
  EDITORS
  Judy Bauer, Patrick Hurley, Avi Kool, Kieran Newton, 
  Adrian Ng, Lu Pellazar, Rep Pickard, Josh Vogt, and 
  Taryn Summer Walls
  COVER ARTIST
  Tomasz Chistowski
  INTERIOR ARTISTS
  Javier Charro, Michele Giorgi, Marko Horvatin, 
  Sammy Kahlid, Pixoloid Studios (Mark Molnar, 
  David Metzger, Gaspar Gombos, Zsolt ‘Mike’ Szabados, 
  Janos Gardos, Laszlo Hackl, Orsolya Villanyi), 
  Ramon Puasa Jr, and Sebastian Rodriguez
  PAGE BORDER DESIGN
  Tomasz Chistowski
  CARTOGRAPHERS
  Robert Lazzaretti and Damien Mammoliti
  ART DIRECTION AND GRAPHIC DESIGN
  Adam Vick
  CREATIVE DIRECTOR
  Robert G. McCreary
  MANAGING DEVELOPER
  Amanda Hamon
  STARFINDER LEAD DESIGNER
  Joe Pasini
  PUBLISHER
  Erik Mona
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  2
  PART 3: YOUR CALL IS IMPORTANT TO US 
  27
  Investigating the source of the strange infection that is seizing control of the reptoid infiltrators, the 
  PCs penetrate the research labs of a biotech firm and uncover a plot by the fungal dycepskians to 
  spread their influence across the Pact Worlds.
  PART 2: A SCRATCH IN THE SURFACE 
  10
  The PCs investigate their enemies in the picturesque city of Roselight and meet the eccentric Steward 
  Xych Vorsen—who helps guide them through the beautiful city’s ugly underbelly. There, they discover 
  that though the reptoids have infiltrated the Stewards, a malevolent force has overrun the reptoids 
  as well.
  PART 1: RETURNED TO SOCIETY 
   3 
  The PCs dock at the space station Upwell—their first real contact with wider society since their 
  ordeal began on the Chimera. Though they have time to shop or investigate as they negotiate for 
  passage to Roselight, hidden enemies watch their every move. 
  THE HOLLOW CABAL
  ADVANCEMENT TRACK
  “The Hollow Cabal” is designed for 
  four characters.
   
  The PCs begin this adventure at 7th level.
   
  The PCs should reach 8th level as they confront 
  members of the corrupted Stewards.
   
  The PCs should be 9th level by the end of 
  the adventure.
  7
  8
  9
  
  Industry flourishes among the clouds of Liavara. While 
  gas mining dominates the local economy, biotechnology—
  genetically 
  engineered 
  bacteria 
  and 
  plants, 
  medical 
  treatments, and augmentations—runs a close second. While 
  the peach-colored gas giant’s biotechnology industry lags 
  behind that of neighboring Bretheda, firms explore new, novel, 
  or sometime even cruel approaches, thanks to the planetary 
  authority’s laissez-faire approach to regulation. Despite the 
  free of flow of credits within Liavara and its implicit capital, 
  Roselight, neither has traditionally attracted reptoid attention. 
  The city is an island unto itself with little political power, and 
  barathus—a species the reptoids can't easily mimic—make up 
  half its population. Only after the Stewards of Roselight turned 
  their focus to monitoring for extrasolar threats, such as the 
  Unseen, did the shapeshifting aliens finally step in.
  For nearly 10 years, the reptoids have quietly infiltrated 
  the Roselight Stewards, both by taking the forms of existing 
  officers and introducing reptoid agents as new recruits. While 
  Director Deepadra Evosco is under too much direct scrutiny 
  to replace, the reptoids have infiltrated her innermost circle—
  including Chief Inspector Molu Umana Dylaska of Clan Vialo, 
  Director Evosco’s direct intelligence report. 
  But Liavara has a much longer history with the Unseen 
  than the recent reptoid infiltration.
  Over 30 years ago, a race of fungal parasites called the 
  dycepskians (page 55), who consume and replace a host’s 
  nervous tissue, absorbing their memories and skills in the 
  process, infected the remote Zeffrac Science Platform in orbit 
  around Nchak. On the isolated research station, the dycepskians 
  attempted to adapt their physiology to infest and control the local 
  barathus, whose adaptive nervous system proved remarkably 
  resilient. The grays noted the dycepskian effort and engineered 
  a bioweapon to wipe out the invaders, but the fungal mass 
  mind reacted more quickly than anticipated to quarantine and 
  exile its infected members. Falling back to a regrettably public 
  solution, the grays sabotaged the Zeffrac Science Platform, 
  decompressing it in a hard vacuum and killing thousands of 
  infected and innocent staff alike before the dycepskians could 
  crash the platform into and infest the populated moon.
  Zeffrac was forced to sell much of its lab equipment on 
  the secondhand market. A scrappy start-up called Gamut 
  Bio purchased several pieces, including a DNA sequencer 
  laced with the last surviving spores of the dycepskian’s 
  advanced barathu strain. The spores sat dormant for years 
  before a young barathu researcher cut themself repairing the 
  well-worn device. The Zeffrac strain went to work, overrunning 
  the barathu’s mind and spreading to the company’s other 
  barathus every time they merged to collaborate, eventually 
  assuming control of the rest of Gamut Bio and spreading to 
  Roselight. As part of this plan, the dycepskian-controlled 
  researchers developed a new biotech augmentation—one 
  secretly preloaded with established dycepskian mycelium—to 
  more reliably infect new hosts.
  The unexpected arrival of the reptoids on the scene 
  spooked the dycepskians, who believe the reptoids wiped 
  out their progenitor colony 30 years ago. As the replaced 
  Chief Inspector Dylaska realized the dycepskians were 
  maneuvering to conquer the city, she unwittingly turned to 
  Gamut Bio's new HepatoDyne implant to protect herself and 
  her allies. As the adventure begins, she and several other 
  reptoid infiltrators have fallen under dycepskian control.
  At the end of “Deceivers’ Moon,” the PCs learned that the 
  reptoids transmitted extensive profiles on each of them to the 
  Liavaran city of Roselight. They are unaware that the recipient 
  is a reptoid who has replaced the kasatha Chief Inspector 
  Molu Umana Dylaska of Clan Vialo, a senior member of the 
  Stewards and one of Director Evosco’s closest confidants. The 
  false Dylaska has tasked other reptoids to gather information 
  on the PCs in hopes of manufacturing criminal charges 
  against these “mysterious enemy soldiers.”
  While the clues all point the PCs to the floating city of 
  Roselight, the barathu-run Office of Commercial Interests 
  (OCI)—the de facto planetary government—forbids direct 
  access to the gas giant to curtail illegal mining and poaching. 
  Ships that run the blockade risk a direct confrontation with 
  the Corporate Authority gunships that enforce the OCI’s 
  edicts, drawing plenty of attention even if they win or escape. 
  A PC who succeeds at a DC 16 Culture check recognizes that 
  the easiest, quietest way to gain access to the Cerise City 
  is to blend in with the thousands of other ships docking 
  in Upwell—a giant orbital station and transport stop—and 
  petition the OCI for legal passports.
  INFORMATION GATHERING
  The PCs can attempt to recall information about Upwell, 
  Roselight, and the Stewards if they wish. A PC learns all the 
  information listed with a DC equal to or less than the result 
  of their check. 
  UPWELL
  A PC can attempt a Culture or Profession (corporate 
  professional, dockworker, merchant, or smuggler) check to 
  recall knowledge about the spaceport. 
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  3
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  ADVENTURE 
  BACKGROUND
  PART 1:  
  RETURNED TO SOCIETY
  
  Result 
  Information
  12+ 
  Upwell is an enormous space station run by the 
  gas-mining corporations that control Liavara. It orbits 
  the planet above the city of Roselight, its so-called 
  sister city, which floats in Liavara’s atmosphere.
  15+ 
  While Upwell has a corporate-run police force, law 
  enforcement authorities don’t generally care about 
  how you behave as long as you don’t damage the 
  station, interfere with the corporations’ interests, or, 
  to a lesser extent, disrupt local businesses.
  20+ 
  The barathus from Bretheda administer Liavara 
  through the Office of Commercial Interests, or OCI, 
  though they generally turn a blind eye to most of 
  what happens in Upwell. Still, making a reputation 
  as a troublemaker is a sure way to be barred from 
  visiting Liavara or Roselight.
  ROSELIGHT
  A PC can attempt a Culture or Profession (actor, artist, 
  corporate professional, herbalist, manager, merchant, or 
  musician) check to recall knowledge about the Cerise City. 
  Result 
  Information
  12+ 
  Roselight, also known as the Cerise City, is essentially 
  Liavara’s “capital” and is a popular tourist spot for 
  Pact Worlds elite. It has scenic views, museums, 
  nightlife, and is home to most of the barathus who 
  watch over Liavara.
  14+ 
  Roselight is a major business and industry hub, despite 
  its picturesque appearance. Many gas refineries and 
  warehouses occupy the floating city’s lower levels, 
  and some major mineral and biotechnology companies 
  have headquarters above. The Office of Commercial 
  Interests, or OCI, serves as the local government.
  16+  
  The OCI tightly controls who can approach the 
  surface of Liavara, including Roselight. Travelers 
  must apply for a visa at the OCI satellite office in 
  Upwell to travel without risk of being shot down.
  20+ 
  The OCI has much more influence on Roselight than 
  on Upwell, but mostly focuses on protecting the 
  native Dreamers and the local environment. Most of 
  the local police work is handled by private security 
  firms and the local Steward base. In fact, Roselight is 
  home to a large Steward precinct.
  THE STEWARDS
  A PC can attempt a Culture or Profession (bounty hunter, 
  con artist, lawyer, mercenary, or smuggler) check to recall 
  knowledge about the law enforcement organization. 
  Result 
  Information
  10+ 
  The Stewards maintain alliances between disparate 
  members of the Pact Worlds through diplomacy and, 
  when necessary, force. Leaders of the organization 
  strive to protect the citizens of the Pact Worlds from 
  threats, both internal and external, though they 
  leave the policing of individual planets and moons to 
  those entities’ law enforcement agencies.
  15+ 
  Roselight is home to a large Steward base, the 
  largest one this far from Absalom Station. They help 
  police illegal gas-mining operations, smuggling, and 
  poaching, but specialize in monitoring for extrasolar 
  threats from outside the Pact Worlds.
  20+ 
  Director Deepadra Evosco is one of the three leaders 
  of the Constabulary, the Stewards’ investigatory and 
  intelligence-analysis branch, and maintains a post in 
  a base on Roselight. 
  UPWELL APPROACH
  Flying the Steward ship confiscated from Varos, it takes 1d6 
  days of Drift travel to reach Liavara (or 1d6+2 days using 
  standard thrusters) and a few additional hours to enter the 
  gas giant’s orbit and approach Upwell. As the PCs do so, 
  the utilitarian form of the space station spreads across the 
  view screen of the PCs' vessel. Two colossal, rotating wheels 
  dotted with gantries, cranes, and docking spars have been 
  constructed around the remains of a small moon. Countless 
  cargo ships—most of them stenciled with garish corporate 
  logos—come and go. The PCs are soon contacted by an Upwell 
  docking assistant over their ship’s comms.
  “Attention, vessel. You are cleared to dock, but you’ll need to 
  visit the Office of Commercial Interests if you want a passage 
  to Roselight. Proceed to Spar N-380, sponsored by Hexane 
  I THINK I’'M  A CLONE NOW
  Once the PCs gain access to wider infosphere newsfeeds, 
  they may begin to suspect something is amiss with their 
  identities. Computer searches for their pasts reveal no 
  information, as their memories and documentation 
  are all forgeries created by the grays. If you want to 
  push the themes of isolation and paranoia endemic to 
  The Threefold Conspiracy, communicate this by saying 
  “Someone has erased all traces of your existence,” to 
  keep the PCs centered in their narrative, rather than 
  making them feel like outsiders by telling them “It looks 
  like you’ve never existed.” You may also drop the first 
  hints that the PCs are clones by having them notice a 
  politician or media influencer who bears a striking family 
  resemblance. You might even imply that this figure could 
  be a clone of them, rather than vice versa.
  While the PCs will learn more of their falsified 
  backgrounds and true nature in future adventures, at 
  this point they only need to suspect that something far 
  larger than themselves is going on, and like it or not, 
  they are at the center of it.
  4
  
  Fuels and Almost Chicken. Remember: When it’s almost time 
  for dinner, it’s time for Almost Chicken. Welcome to Upwell.”
  The PCs may worry about their ship’s transponder not 
  passing muster, but a successful DC 14 Sense Motive check 
  reveals no trace of suspicion in the comm officer’s voice, while 
  a successful DC 14 Culture check suggests that Upwell is the 
  kind of space station where credits matter far more than a 
  questionable background. 
  For the time being, the PCs have room to breathe. There are 
  no indications that the false Stewards from Varos pursued them 
  (if any of them even survived). If the PCs seem reluctant to 
  show their faces in this public space station, let them know 
  that their ship needs refueling, resupplying, or minor repairs. 
  If the PCs haven’t attempted to recall information about the 
  area, encourage them to do so now, stressing that Upwell is a 
  large spaceport and it will be easy to blend in with the crowds 
  of other travelers there. Continue to area A when the PCs dock.
  A TICKING CLOCK?
  The PCs have as much or as little time as they need to shop, 
  research, build equipment, heal, and otherwise catch their 
  breath on Upwell (or elsewhere if they so desire) after their 
  long and arduous past few days, but you should give them the 
  impression that it’s only a matter of time before their reptoid 
  enemies catch up with them. 
  Don’t rob the players of much-needed time to learn about 
  the universe they inhabit and catch up on the normal business 
  of adventurers. This trip to Upwell is likely their first visit to a 
  public spaceport and their first chance to buy and sell equipment. 
  Encourage them to shop, listen to rumors from locals, and 
  peruse the news. For more information about the space station’s 
  geography, see Upwell Notable Locations on page 44.
  However, giving the players downtime doesn’t mean you 
  should allow them to get comfortable. Security cameras are 
  ubiquitous around Upwell, so anytime the PCs linger, make 
  mention of a black, unblinking eye scanning the area and 
  relaying the information to unknown masters. Upwell is home to 
  unaligned criminals, bounty hunters, and toughs, so mention the 
  occasional lingering stare from a stranger, who then returns to 
  their own business. Whenever the PCs try something unusual or 
  aggressive, ask how much attention they want to attract.
  Ultimately, you can use Event 1 to push the plot forward 
  when you need to, but your players should worry that their 
  enemies watch their every move. 
  A. SPAR N-380 (CR 6)
  When the PCs disembark from their starship, read or 
  paraphrase the following.
  An inch of ship exhaust and grime covers every wall of Spar 
  N-380. The air reeks of coolant, fuel, and something that smells 
  vaguely like heavily spiced chicken. An arching sign overhead 
  reads “Welcome to Upwell: Gateway to Roselight,” though 
  someone has graffitied over the last word with a crude, obscene 
  drawing. The deafening shriek of metal against metal and the 
  hiss of industrial ventilation drown out the conversations of 
  locals and other travelers in the wide hallway.
  The indifference of Upwell toward small-time traders 
  and visitors works in the PCs’ favor. Without corporate 
  sponsorship, their ship is relegated to a run-down, third-tier 
  docking spar with little security and dubious amenities. A 
  few dozen figures in utility clothes and jumpsuits mill about, 
  deliberately avoiding eye contact with passersby. 
  Each of these mediocre docking spars have exterior airlocks, 
  clamps, and cranes that can support, service, and refuel up to 
  six Medium or smaller ships at one time. The interior, a long 
  hall with bolted-down chairs and basic services, resembles 
  an airport terminal but with the additions of rudimentary 
  storage, industrial services, and a tight roadway for transport 
  vehicles. The spar is 650 feet long by 65 feet wide, with 
  ceilings that rise 25 feet overhead.
  Creatures: Even these anonymous corners of the spaceport 
  aren’t without their dangers. Members of a small android 
  gang, the Docksmythes, call Spar N-380 their territory, 
  shaking down local businesses for protection money and 
  charging visitors “docking fees.” As the PCs disembark, three 
  tough-looking androids, Ivoe, Millicut, and Square, approach 
  the PCs and politely insist that the group owes a collective 
  sum of 2,000 credits in docking fees before they can continue 
  on to the station. The androids aren’t especially aggressive—
  they just want a payday—but grow increasingly hostile if the 
  PCs ask questions like “Do you even work for the station?” or 
  insist “We already paid our docking fees.” The Docksmythes’ 
  starting attitude is indifferent, but their general swagger and 
  overconfidence increases the DC of any Diplomacy checks to 
  improve one of their attitudes by 5. If the PCs refuse to pay, 
  the androids try to rough them up.
  The androids can also be chased off with a successful DC 
  18 Intimidate check before combat starts, but this tactic has 
  drawbacks (see Development on page 6). However, if the 
  THE MAN IN THE GRAY  
  FLANNEL SPACESUIT
  Because Upwell and Roselight both operate under a 
  heavy-handed business authority, consider allowing 
  players to use an appropriate Profession skill, 
  especially Profession (corporate professional), instead 
  of most Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Sense Motive 
  skill checks attempted here. Less-fitting Profession 
  skills, like accountant, manager, or merchant, might 
  only be used in specific instances as appropriate, while 
  tangentially related professions like lab technician, 
  maintenance worker, or politician can only offer the 
  smallest amount of information.
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  5
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  Intimidate check result exceeds the DC by 5 or more, the 
  Docksmythes leave the PCs in peace.
  DOCKSMYTHES (3) 
  CR 3
  XP 800 each
  Gang machinist (Starfinder Pact Worlds 179)
  HP 17 each
  TACTICS
  During Combat On the first round of combat, the 
  Docksmythes whistle to summon their chop cycles 
  (which are leaning against some crates 30 feet away) 
  to move between them and the PCs. The androids 
  then attempt to overload the weapons of PCs who are 
  adjacent to their drones, fire their static arc pistols, or 
  command their cycles to shoot.
  Morale The Docksmythes only want cash. An android 
  who is reduced to half their Hit Points retreats on their 
  chop cycle.
  Development: If the PCs pay the fee, the androids leave 
  them alone and wander off, but the PCs return to find vulgar 
  graffiti sprayed on one side of their ship. If the PCs improve at 
  least one of the Docksmythes’ attitudes to friendly, the gang 
  members reduce their fee to 1,000 credits and will actually 
  protect the PCs’ ship from vandalism. If they manage to shift 
  the androids’ attitudes to helpful, the Docksmythes waive 
  their docking fee and become local contacts the PCs can ask 
  about Upwell and even secure a favor from the criminals 
  when they begin the process of acquiring visas to Roselight 
  (page 9).
  If the PCs frightened away the Docksmythes using 
  intimidation, the androids return while the PCs are gone to 
  tag their ship and break in to steal approximately 2d4 × 1,000 
  credits worth of gear and valuables.
  Treasure: The Docksmythes are carrying 2,500 credits on 
  various credsticks from previous shakedowns.
  Story Award: If the PCs deal with the Docksmythes through 
  a payout, or by using either the Diplomacy or Intimidate skills, 
  award them XP as if they defeated the androids in combat.
  RANDOM UPWELL EVENTS
  As the PCs explore Upwell, you can use the following random 
  encounters to help convey the station’s atmosphere and set 
  the stage for events to come. You can drop in the following 
  events whenever the PCs start to lose focus or go looking 
  for trouble.
  The ConspiraCy TheorisT (Cr 6)
  One of the human dockworkers on Spar N-380, Vee Andano, 
  suffers from paranoia and anxiety. His delusions are 
  well-founded; the grays abducted and experimented on Vee 
  years ago while he served as security on Absalom Station. 
  His unexplained absence got him fired, and he eventually 
  relocated to Upwell, where no one paid him much mind.
  A. SPAR N-380
  A. SPAR N-380
  B. SWIFT PERSONNEL
  B. SWIFT PERSONNEL
  D. ANCILLARY
  D. ANCILLARY
  1 SQUARE = 5 FEET
  1 SQUARE = 5 FEET
  B3
  B3
  B1
  B1
  B2
  B2
  6
  
  Something about the PCs sets Vee off when he spots them 
  on the docking spar. He becomes certain the PCs are agents 
  sent to recover him and begins sending them anonymous 
  threatening messages such as, “I know who you are,” and “I 
  won’t let you take what you came here for.” If a PC succeeds 
  at a DC 27 Computers check, they track the messages 
  back to Vee’s apartment. They find it hastily abandoned, 
  but can uncover books about conspiracies and mysterious, 
  invisible alien masterminds, as well as a camera with several 
  candid holophotos of the PCs themselves. For now, Vee has 
  abandoned his home to search for a suitable weapon.
  Creature: Vee Andano genuinely believes the PCs have come 
  to kill him, and that they are the masterminds manipulating 
  the Pact Worlds (or at least serve said masterminds). To 
  protect himself and destroy his tormentors, he tracked down 
  a bioweapons dealer and purchased a Damoritosh’s arm 
  symbiend (Starfinder Alien Archive 112). Once the creature 
  bonded with him, it stoked his paranoia and transformed 
  his anxiety into uncontrollable rage. When he sees the PCs 
  in public, he attacks. While Vee likely isn’t an overwhelming 
  physical threat against the PCs, he likely adds to their unease, 
  both with his random, threatening messages and by creating 
  a public spectacle with his attack.
  VEE ANDANO 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Male Damoritosh’s arm host (Starfinder Alien Archive 112)
  HP 90 
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Vee tries to catch the PCs by surprise, 
  ideally while they’re eating, reading, or otherwise 
  preoccupied. He appears to be just another local as he 
  approaches the party. A PC who succeeds at a DC 18 
  Sense Motive check picks up on his aggression before he 
  attacks, and a PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Perception 
  check notices his bloodshot eyes and flecks of spittle at 
  the corners of his mouth. A PC who succeeds at either of 
  these checks can act during the surprise round.
  During Combat Vee immediately enters into a frothing rage 
  and makes full attacks whenever possible, screaming his 
  nonsensical personal theories about the PCs’ goals.
  Morale Thanks to the influence of his symbiend, Vee is 
  beyond reason and fights to the death unless somehow 
  separated from the symbiend.
  Treasure: In addition to his collection of discursive books 
  and unhinged conspiracy-theory trivids, Vee’s apartment 
  contains an endurance module armor upgrade (Starfinder 
  Armory 83) from his time on Absalom Station. The upgrade 
  can be found with a successful DC 25 Perception check.
  MisTaken idenTiTy (Cr 5)
  While wandering through Upwell, one of the PCs experiences 
  a chance encounter with someone who knew the person that 
  the PC is a clone of. This angry confrontation draws plenty of 
  public attention.
  Creature: Jeva Quon thinks they recognize the selected 
  PC as an ex-lover and angrily storms toward them in a public 
  thoroughfare, screaming “You jerk, I want Mallo back,” before 
  attempting to slap the PC. Jeva’s true ex took the couple's 
  shared pet squox, Mallo, during their breakup several months 
  ago. Now believing they’ve located their thieving ex-lover, 
  Jeva is ready to make a public scene. Jeva’s gender and 
  sexuality are left intentionally vague so you can adjust them 
  to fit the PC as appropriate, though to increase the oddity of 
  the encounter, you might mix up those elements to make Jeva 
  someone the PC never would have dated.
  Calming Jeva requires two consecutive successful DC 
  20 skill checks, though the exact skills depend on the PCs’ 
  approach. Convincing Jeva they have the wrong person requires 
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  7
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
   Docksmythe
  
  a successful Diplomacy check, while chasing Jeva off requires 
  a successful Intimidate check. The targeted PC can attempt 
  to escape the situation with a successful Athletics or Stealth 
  check, while they could simply pretend to be the ex in question 
  and take Jeva’s abuse with a successful Bluff check. The PCs can 
  attempt any of these checks in any order they desire, though 
  if the group fails two consecutive checks after attempting four 
  skill checks, the scene attracts attention from many onlookers, 
  one of whom steps up to the group to ask what is wrong. Jeva 
  then storms off yelling, “This isn’t over!” leaving the PCs to offer 
  any explanation they want to the confused passersby. There 
  are no repercussions for failing these skill checks, though you 
  shouldn't reveal that to the PCs.
  If the PCs attack or cast an obvious spell on Jeva, they 
  run away, claiming that they are going to alert the local law 
  enforcement. Several onlookers shoot the PCs dirty looks.
  Treasure: If the PCs can calm or soothe Jeva and stop them 
  from attracting even more attention, Jeva apologizes 
  profusely for making a scene. They acknowledge that 
  Mello and their ex are probably long gone but offer the 
  PC in question their ex’s old hoverskates (Starfinder 
  Armory 104).
  Story Award: As long as the PCs de-escalate 
  the situation without violence, award 
  them 1,600 XP.
  PAPERS, PLEASE
  To reach Roselight and continue 
  their investigations into the reptoid 
  invasion, the PCs must obtain 
  visitors’ visas for themselves and 
  their ship. The heroes can acquire 
  a legitimate visa only from the 
  Office of Commercial Interests, 
  a 
  barathu-run 
  bureaucracy 
  ostensibly intended to govern the 
  planet, limit development, and 
  protect the indigenous Dreamers 
  (Starfinder Alien Archive 2 44). In 
  reality, the OCI is over-extended, 
  myopic, and relies heavily on the 
  Corporate 
  Authority—the 
  advisory 
  council of Liavara’s biggest economic 
  interests—for funding and enforcement. 
  Because of this, obtaining a Roselight 
  visa is normally a long process that 
  takes upwards of 6 months for anyone 
  who doesn't represent a major business 
  interest. However, there are also 
  ways for the PCs to acquire these 
  visas 
  less 
  legitimately; 
  for 
  more information, see the 
  Stowaway! sidebar on 
  page 9.
  When the PCs decide to apply for their visas, locals can 
  point them toward the OCI building or they can look up its 
  location on the infosphere. It sits at the end of a wide, well-lit 
  plaza lined with other corporate offices—perhaps the cleanest 
  and most open space on Upwell. Several holodisplays lining 
  the area show sweeping vistas and sunny cloudscapes, 
  though the effect is marred by the occasional burst of static.
  The interior of the OCI building is built to accommodate 
  barathus first and foremost, and while the reception area 
  and meeting rooms accommodate humanoid visitors, flight 
  is required to access the offices. The barathus assigned to 
  work here generally hate the assignment, and the normally 
  cooperative aliens can get particularly passive-aggressive, 
  resisting efforts to goad them along. 
  A bored barathu named Cavence Sy Reel (N agender barathu) 
  is currently working at the reception desk. They laconically 
  greet the PCs and can aid the group with the visa process, 
  but it’s clear that Cavence would rather being doing 
  anything else. The barathu gives the PCs several 
  electronic forms to fill out, and as long as the PCs 
  remain calm and respectful, they drop subtle hints 
  about things that might speed along the paperwork 
  with phrases like, “If you were working with one of 
  the local corps, this would likely proceed faster” 
  and “Certainly a higher class of transit ticket 
  would receive higher priority.”
  The PCs’ road to legitimate passage is 
  complicated by the fact that they have 
  only dubious ownership of their starship 
  and can’t prove who they are. Upwell 
  serves pirates, shipjackers, and smugglers 
  alongside its lawful traffic, and the 
  authorities don’t especially care so long 
  as those visitors keep their heads 
  down and don’t start trouble. But 
  the OCI goes through considerable 
  effort to keep those elements away 
  from Liavara. Because the PCs 
  are clones—though they are likely 
  oblivious to this fact—they lack 
  any official documentation or ties 
  to the lives they believe are theirs.  Any 
  attempts by the PCs to point to official 
  records or apply celebrity status only 
  results in a frustrated Cavence insisting 
  they can’t find any such records.
  The PCs can either wait 6 months for 
  the official visa process or cut through the 
  red tape with a variety of tactics, including 
  manipulation, 
  under-the-table 
  payment, 
  and loophole exploitation. Each tactic 
  can only get them so far, however, 
  and they must successfully perform 
  three such tactics to finally obtain 
  8
   Vee Andano
  
  their visas. In general, performing a single tactic takes the 
  majority of the day, but the PCs can still pursue their own 
  interests in off-hours. If the group isn’t sure how to proceed, 
  a PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Culture or Diplomacy check 
  reveals at least one of the tactics listed below. These tactics 
  are representative of only some of the ways the PCs might 
  want to move things along. If your PCs have ideas of their 
  own, you should encourage such thinking and use these rules 
  as guidelines for how to adjudicate imaginative plans.
  Charm: The PCs can win over Cavence to their side by 
  befriending the barathu and making their workday a little 
  easier, and they will reciprocate by helping the PCs dodge 
  some of the most common paperwork pitfalls. Cavence begins 
  with an initial attitude of unfriendly; a PC who succeeds at a 
  DC 27 Diplomacy check improves the barathu’s attitude by 
  one step. If the PCs fail a Diplomacy check, they can attempt 
  another after bringing Cavence a gift—such as flowers for their 
  desk, concert tickets, or succulent borax—costing at least 100 
  credits. This tactic counts as a success once Cavence’s attitude 
  shifts to friendly or better.
  Corporate Sponsorship: If the PCs have corporate 
  sponsorship or become Corporate Authority employees, their 
  visas get bumped up in priority. The same plaza containing the 
  OCI offices also hosts several other business fronts for major 
  local companies like the Aspis Consortium, Hexane Fuels, and 
  Fairwinds. Landing a corporate job requires a successful DC 
  22 skill check, with the exact skill varying by what job the 
  character applies for. For example, a character might attempt 
  Diplomacy to work in management, Life Science for biotech, 
  or Physical Science or Athletics to obtain gas-mining work.  A 
  corporate job may require attending a few days of training 
  or actual work to keep up the charade until the PCs leave 
  Upwell. Every PC must secure a corporate job for this tactic 
  to be successful.
  Friends in Low Places: Criminal contacts can help the PCs 
  worm through the official channels. If the PCs allied with the 
  Docksmythes (page 6), this tactic succeeds automatically if 
  they ask the android gang for assistance. Otherwise, making 
  the right criminal contacts requires a successful DC 22 
  Diplomacy check to find a potential lead and a successful 
  DC 25 Bluff or Intimidate check to convince the lowlifes to 
  help. The PCs can gain a cumulative +1 circumstance bonus 
  on either of these checks for every 200 credits they spend on 
  bribes or free drinks.
  Hacking: Hacking the OCI computers to prioritize different 
  tasks is a proud tradition in Upwell and half the reason why so 
  many OCI tasks take forever. The system is air-gapped, so the 
  PCs must first gain access to the floating OCI offices overhead 
  (disabling the security after hours requires a successful DC 25 
  Engineering check), then hack the tier 3 computer, requiring 
  a successful DC 25 Computers check. Finally, the PCs must 
  forge additional permissions or identity documents, requiring 
  an opposed Computers skill check against the barathu 
  workers (total +9 modifier).
  Payment: The PCs can push the process along with cold, 
  hard credits, which can either represent bribing officials to 
  speed their paperwork along, or buying high-priority luxury 
  tickets to Roselight, which automatically bumps up their visa 
  priority. Either technique costs 5,000 credits.
  Development: Once the PCs succeed at three tactics, they 
  receive word that their visas have been approved, allowing 
  them and their ship to travel to Roselight.
  Story Award: Award the PCs 3,200 XP once they secure 
  their travel visas.
  EVENT 1: A TIME TO KILL (CR 8)
  Eventually, Chief Inspector Dylaska’s reptoids track the 
  PCs to Upwell, either through tracing their flight plan or by 
  intercepting security reports of their activity on the station. 
  Unfortunately for her, she discovers this mere hours before 
  the PCs are scheduled to leave Upwell for Roselight. Pressed 
  for time, Dylaska opts to recruit some local muscle, using a 
  reptoid-controlled staffing agency, Swift Personnel, to hire 
  several down-on-their-luck dockworkers to ambush the PCs. 
  Swift’s proprietor, Lunabellox deBrie, scrounges up a handful 
  of thugs for the job.
  The impromptu hit squad ambushes the PCs on Spar 
  N-380, outside the airlock leading to their ship. If the PCs 
  allied themselves with, or paid off, the Docksmythes earlier in 
  the adventure, the android gang warns them that some tough 
  figures are waiting outside their ship. Otherwise, the killers 
  try to look like dock workers and take the PCs by surprise.
  Creatures: DeBrie assembled a team of three haan 
  prospectors and two human rig technicians. The band is 
  comprised of rough-and-tumble opportunists, not spies 
  or experienced killers. The roughnecks gloat that the PCs 
  STOWAWAY!
  Rather than jump through the official hoops of 
  obtaining visitors’ visas, your PCs may decide to 
  smuggle themselves down to Roselight aboard one of 
  the gas tankers that routinely run between the surface 
  and the space station. To do so, use the same system 
  described above, where the heroes must successfully 
  perform three tactics. In this case, the tactics represent 
  things like learning the transport schedules, finding a 
  friendly (or bribable) pilot, convincing dockworkers 
  and inspectors to look the other way, and acquiring 
  resources to make fake worker visas. They can reduce 
  the number of successful tactics needed to two if they 
  don’t create fake visas, but in this case, the PCs must 
  slink stealthily around Roselight and can’t patronize 
  legitimate businesses like clinics and markets.
  PCs reaching the surface illegally will also likely need 
  to leave their starship behind, limiting their mobility and 
  removing their de facto base of operations.
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  9
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  must have “pissed off someone important,” and should 
  generally accept their fates. All of them have taken similar 
  jobs for deBrie before, generally disposing of witnesses and 
  troublemakers they assume have crossed one corporation or 
  another. None of them know deBrie is a reptoid.
  HAANS (3) 
  CR 3
  XP 800 each
  HP 36 each (Starfinder Alien Archive 58)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The haans close to melee range with the 
  PCs but are reluctant to use their firespray in the tight 
  confines of the spaceport. If one haan is brought to 0 HP, 
  one of the others lets loose with a blast of flame.
  Morale The haan prospectors are accustomed to risking 
  their lives for credits, but they aren’t suicidal. Each 
  attempts to run or surrender if reduced to fewer than 
  10 HP.
  RIG TECHNICIANS (2) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  Male and female human mechanic
  CN Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +1; Perception +10
  DEFENSE 
  HP 45 EACH
  EAC 16; KAC 17
  Fort +5; Ref +5; Will +5
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee sledge +10 (1d8+5 B)
  Ranged tactical semi-auto pistol +8 (1d6+4 P)
  Offensive Abilities overload (DC 15), target tracking
  TACTICS
  During Combat This team is new to working together, so 
  they don't always end up in the most advantageous 
  positions. The technicians hang back and overload the 
  PCs' weapons and gear. Occasionally, a technician uses 
  distracting hack to feint one of the PCs before firing 
  on them. 
  Morale The rig technicians have difficult and dangerous 
  jobs, but they aren’t suicidal. Each attempts to run or 
  surrender if reduced to fewer than 15 HP.
  STATISTICS
  Str +1; Dex +1; Con +3; Int +5; Wis +0; Cha +0
  Skills Athletics +15, Computers +15, Engineering +15, 
  Intimidate +10, Piloting +10
  Languages Brethedan, Common
  Other Abilities artificial intelligence (exocortex), custom rig 
  (toolset), mechanic tricks (distracting hack, neural shunt)
  Gear casual stationwear, sledgeAR, tactical semi-auto pistol 
  with 18 small arm rounds
  Treasure: Each of the five assailants carries a credstick 
  loaded with 1,000 credits.
  Development: None of the attackers are especially savvy. 
  All of their comms show recent calls (within the last 2 hours) 
  from the same source: Swift Personnel in Roselight. Two of the 
  haans and one of the technicians also carry holo-embossed 
  business cards from Lunabellox deBrie, head of that agency.
  Once the PCs have acquired their travel visas, they can head 
  to Roselight to continue their investigations, both regarding 
  the reptoids’ contacts within the Roselight Stewards and the 
  connection between Swift Personnel and the roughnecks 
  hired to kill them.
  The flight from Upwell to Roselight takes 2 hours. Dylaska’s 
  reptoids won’t know their efforts to kill the PCs have failed until 
   Rig Technician
  10
  PART 2:A SCRATCH IN 
  THE SURFACE
  
  after the PCs have reached Roselight, and as long as the PCs 
  keep their heads down and don’t attract undue attention, they 
  can maneuver freely within Roselight without harassment for 
  at least a few days. As the PCs’ vessel approaches the city, read 
  or paraphrase the following.
  Roselight emerges from the roiling pink and peach clouds, 
  sparkling like a web of jewels hanging in midair. City-sized 
  floating platforms support glittering buildings, all protected 
  from the planet’s weather by transparent domes.
  At this point, the Roselight docking authority contacts the 
  PCs’ vessel, asking for their credentials. After the PCs transmit 
  the codes on their visas, the docking authority agent returns 
  with the designation of a slip where they can dock their ship. 
  The difference between this dock and the one on Upwell is 
  like night and day, with the Roselight slip being vastly cleaner 
  and more stylish than that of the space station.
  The PCs have two primary leads they can investigate on 
  Roselight. They can either surveil the Stewards directly to learn 
  the identity of the reptoid agent among them, or investigate 
  Swift Personnel to learn who tried to kill them and why. 
  Otherwise, they can essentially explore the city as they see fit; 
  for more information about the Cerise City, see page 38.
  Luckily, the PCs have an unlikely ally in Roselight: Stewards 
  Investigator Xych Vorsen. This suspicious shirren specializes 
  in unusual phenomena and conspiracy theories. However, 
  Vorsen’s erratic behavior, paranoid nature, and embarrassing 
  news coverage have alienated the inspector from their 
  department. Vorsen is certain something is influencing their 
  fellow Stewards, but doesn’t know who to trust beyond their 
  partner, the android Ephecta. Vorsen sees the sudden Steward 
  interest in the PCs as something to follow up on.
  If the PCs investigate Swift Personnel, they cross paths 
  with Inspector Vorsen’s own scrutiny of the agency. If they 
  instead ignore Swift Personnel to look into the Stewards, 
  Vorsen spots them and interrupts them before they can 
  subject themselves to much danger. In either case, Vorsen’s 
  introduction can be found on page 13.
  B. SWIFT PERSONNEL
  Swift Personnel is a small staffing company with an exclusive 
  list of corporate clients. It specializes in employees with 
  advanced technical knowledge to staff the many gas-mining 
  rigs around the planet. The company's offices are located in a 
  posh-looking one-story building in the Gold district.
  Local reptoids replaced the company founder, Lunabellox 
  deBrie, 8 years ago—though the job was poorly researched 
  and has been sloppily handled. A DC 22 Computers check to 
  search public records reveals that the original deBrie was an 
  elf; inexplicably, the male reptoid who replaced him has decided 
  to take the form of a human. It's a wonder that the impostor 
  hasn't been found out, as he bears almost no resemblance to 
  the original deBrie, beyond using his name.
  The reptoids now use the company as a pool of disposable, 
  deniable agents for simple acts of violence, theft, and 
  sabotage—all of which easily blend in with the cutthroat 
  corporate politics of Roselight. The non-reptoid agents have 
  no idea about the true nature of who is paying them for their 
  illegal actions, and Chief Inspector Dylaska helps stall and 
  divert any Steward investigations into the company. A PC can 
  hack into Swift’s computer network (treat as a tier 3 computer 
  with an alarm) from the building’s exterior with a successful 
  DC 25 Computers check, but they will find only legitimate 
  business and financial records.
  The PCs can try to break into the building after hours or force 
  their way in, but they might also choose to pose as potential 
  staffers. If they do so, they are cursorily questioned about their 
  training and work history by Swift's android receptionist, Kavo. 
  The android doesn’t probe too deeply, expecting most people to 
  tell the truth, and tells them that the company will soon contact 
  them for an interview if their credentials interest the boss. 
  Assuming the PCs did not attempt to make any outlandish 
  claims, deBrie wants to interview them the next day.
  When the PCs return, the impostor deBrie recognizes 
  them instantly if they don’t think to disguise themselves. 
  However, the reptoid plays along to learn what he can about 
  the PCs before attempting to dispose of them. If the PCs 
  disguise themselves, deBrie attempts a Perception check 
  opposed by their Disguise check to see if he recognizes 
  them. If not, he conducts a normal interview, asking them 
  about their previous gas-mining or technical experience 
  while subtly probing their morality to see if they’d be willing 
  to undertake criminal work on the side; a successful DC 
  20 Sense Motive check picks up on the unusual nature of 
  deBrie’s questioning. If deBrie doesn’t see through their 
  disguises and believes they’ll be useful criminal assets, he 
  hires them and leaves them alone in his office for 10 minutes 
  while he makes arrangements with his receptionist in area 
  B1—possibly providing the PCs with the chance to search for 
  clues or hack into his private terminal.
  Most of the front wall of the office consists of transparent 
  aluminum windows (hardness 10, HP 15), and the doors are 
  securely locked in the evenings (Engineering DC 30 to open). 
  The door and windows are wired to a silent alarm as well 
  (Engineering DC 30 to disarm), which alerts deBrie in the 
  event of a break-in.
  The map for this area appears on page 6.
  B1. reCepTion (Cr 6)
  Swift Personnel’s reception area has few amenities beyond a 
  few uncomfortable chairs, a reception desk, and a vidscreen 
  showing barathu romantic dramas. Few companies do 
  business with Swift in-person—deBrie normally takes 
  corporate clients for meals or drinks—so the only visitors are 
  job applicants.
  Creatures: DeBrie’s receptionist, Kavo (LN male android), 
  minds the front office. Kavo knows nothing of deBrie’s illegal 
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  11
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  activities, but he has his suspicions. DeBrie pays him enough 
  to ignore them, though. DeBrie has no true emotions toward 
  Kavo and was planning to kill him eventually, so the android 
  has no value as a hostage or humanoid shield.
  Two security robots concealed within the walls are 
  automatically activated by the same alarm system tied to 
  the door. DeBrie can also activate them from his datapad, 
  especially if he hears a commotion.
  PATROL-CLASS SECURITY ROBOTS (2) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  HP 52 each (Starfinder Alien Archive 94)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The robots begin combat by attempting to 
  catch as many PCs in their jolting arcs as possible. They 
  then fire with their tactical arc emitters set to stun.
  Morale Unthinking automatons, the security robots fight 
  until they are destroyed.
  B2. deBrie’s offiCe (Cr 8)
  Fine fixtures of molded ceramic and carved quartz 
  adorn this surprisingly warm office. A massive desk 
  sits in the middle of the room—sparsely furnished—
  and the floor behind it is an open rectangle 
  of mahogany.
  Lunabellox deBrie keeps his office a 
  few degrees hotter than humanoids 
  generally find comfortable, both because 
  he prefers the warmth and because 
  he likes to watch applicants squirm. 
  Beyond seeming more lavish and richer 
  than a staffing agency owner should 
  be able to afford, the office contains no 
  incriminating evidence beyond a concealed 
  door in the north wall (Perception DC 30 to spot) 
  leading to deBrie's private apartment.
  Creatures: Lunabellox deBrie is a cold-blooded 
  serpent, even by reptoid standards. He took over 
  control of the agency shortly after his fellow 
  reptoids began infiltrating the local Stewards. 
  Overconfident 
  and 
  condescending, 
  he 
  invariably feels like he’s holding a wonderful 
  secret over everyone else’s head. Thanks to 
  his quick temper, deBrie can easily be goaded 
  into revealing his true form. While he isn’t 
  foolish enough to disclose any other reptoid 
  agents’ true names, he eagerly gloats that 
  the PCs have nowhere to run. He has no 
  idea that his reptoid brethren have been 
  corrupted by the dycepskians, and the 
  dycepskians haven’t attempted to infest 
  deBrie yet.
  The original deBrie was a consummate gamer, keeping a 
  gamedroid in his office to play with during lunch hours. His 
  reptoid replacement doesn’t have the coordination needed 
  to master these games and has turned the construct into 
  a weapon he can turn against unsuspecting victims. The 
  weaponized gamedroid responds to deBrie’s voice commands.
  If the PCs break into the building at night and set off the 
  silent alarm, deBrie emerges from his apartment to attack. 
  Otherwise, the PCs find him resting in area B3.
  LUNABELLOX DEBRIE 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Male reptoid master (Starfinder Alien Archive 92)
  HP 77 
  TACTICS
  During Combat When combat begins in his office, deBrie 
  activates his weaponized gamedroid.
  Morale Arrogant to a fault, deBrie fights to the death.
  WEAPONIZED GAMEDROID 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  HP 75 (Starfinder Alien Archive 3 132)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The gamedroid uses fabricate scrap, 
  then uses junksword to conjure a junksword 
  with the block, disarm, and reach special 
  properties, then attacks.
  Morale The gamedroid fights until it is 
  destroyed.
  Treasure: The previous deBrie left a 
  platinum smartwatch worth 5,000 credits in 
  the desk, and the reptoid deBrie never saw the 
  need for it; a PC can discover this item if they 
  succeed at a DC 25 Perception check or  find it 
  automatically if they search the desk. 
  B3. deBrie’s aparTMenT
  DeBrie maintains a small but lushly appointed 
  studio apartment adjacent to his office and 
  accessible via a secret door. He keeps his private 
  chamber significantly warmer than his office. 
  The home address in his public records is a 
  nearby deli.
  The apartment has clearly been modified 
  to house a nonhuman, based on its unusual, 
  den-like bed, an assortment of curiously organic 
  furnishings, and a refrigerator filled with raw 
  meat and live insects in jars.
  Development: In his apartment, DeBrie 
  tracks his criminal activities on a high-end 
  portable tier 5 computer (with five 
  miniaturization upgrades, the range 
  II upgrade, and a rank 2 shock 
  12
   Lunabellox deBrie
  
  grid countermeasure). A PC can hack into this computer with 
  a successful DC 33 Computers check. The computer contains 
  enough evidence to prove that 
  deBrie ran a criminal conspiracy 
  through Swift Personnel for eight 
  years. However, deBrie was clever enough not 
  to keep any solid connections between Swift 
  Personnel and the corrupted Stewards.
  MEETING XYCH VORSEN AND EPHECTA
  The PCs' investigation into reptoid activity 
  in Roselight soon comes to the attention of 
  Investigator Xych Vorsen (CG host shirren 
  envoy). Born with an anxiety disorder that 
  makes it difficult for them to trust others—a 
  rare malady among the normally social 
  shirren—Vorsen reads every bit 
  of unusual body language 
  or aberrant speech pattern 
  as a warning sign. This trait 
  makes them an extraordinary 
  investigator, but also socially 
  isolated and prone to deep-set 
  suspicions. They refuse to dismiss 
  anything out of hand and, over the years, have gained a 
  reputation both among the Stewards and in the local media 
  for chasing down urban legends, cryptids, conspiracy 
  theories, and other Pact Worlds myths to no avail. They 
  rarely wear their Steward uniform anymore, preferring a 
  rumpled suit and a long trench coat like the ones they saw 
  in old mystery vids.
  Chief Inspector Dylaska saddled Vorsen with a partner, 
  Investigator Ephecta (LN female android operative), to curb 
  the shirren’s erratic behavior and act as a voice of reason 
  before Vorsen’s antics brought media scrutiny onto her 
  own operations. Ephecta is a forensic investigator with a 
  surprisingly vast knowledge of both machines and living 
  tissue, and can sometimes be humorless and by-the-book. The 
  pair make a strong team (when they get along).
  If the PCs headed to Swift Personnel first, Vorsen walks in 
  after their fight with deBrie, saying, “Well, you charming folks 
  just ruined a 10-month investigation.” Alternatively, Vorsen 
  could step in to aid them if deBrie gets the upper hand.
  If the PCs attempt to investigate the Stewards first, 
  Vorsen instead flags them into a nearby cafe and comments, 
  “Interesting. Normally I’m the only one sensible enough to 
  keep an eye on the Stewards.”
  Ironically, 
  because 
  Vorsen’s 
  anxiety 
  disorder 
  is 
  pattern-based, they have an easier time trusting strangers, 
  as their behaviors have not yet displayed any anomalies. This, 
  plus the fact that Vorsen has seen some suspicious Stewards 
  around the base take a sudden, quiet interest in the PCs, 
  makes the shirren believe they can trust the PCs—or at least 
  ally with them.
  Vorsen is willing to answer most questions the PCs 
  have. Ephecta arrives halfway through the conversation, 
  introducing 
  herself 
  and 
  asking Vorsen if they’re 
  sure they can trust the 
  PCs. She otherwise hangs back, observes, 
  and—if the group is at Swift Personnel—
  processes the crime scene. While Vorsen 
  believes whatever wild claims the PCs 
  make about reptoids, grays, and secret 
  facilities, Ephecta is skeptical, asking for 
  proof, or at least additional details to fill 
  out their stories. Her flat monotone is a sharp 
  contrast to Vorsen’s dramatic tones.
  Who are you? “Vorsen. Xych Vorsen. I’m a 
  Steward agent.”
  Why are you following us? “It’s my job 
  to poke my antennae into anything 
  weird. And judging by the chatter 
  I’ve been overhearing, there’s not 
  much in Roselight that's weirder 
  than you right now.”
  What chatter are you hearing 
  about us? “Bits and pieces. Certain people 
  seem to think a lot of you. And don’t want other people 
  thinking about you at all. They don’t want anyone knowing 
  you flew in from Varos. I wouldn’t be suspicious except for 
  who’s doing the thinking.”
  You know about Varos? “I know I’ve been seeing unusual 
  activity pointing to Varos for years now—narrow-beam 
  communications to an address that doesn’t exist, material 
  requisitions with no recipient. Varos is a black hole of Steward 
  resources. The only thing to come out of it… is you.”
  Who is watching us? “Well now, that’s piqued your interest, 
  hasn’t it? But I’m not sure I trust you with that just yet.”
  How can we trust you? “You don't have to, yet—trust should 
  be earned, and I appreciate the healthy paranoia. The wrong 
  sorts of people are worrying over you, and that’s a good start. 
  But maybe they just want me to think that. They’re clever. I 
  believe the old human expression is… snakes in the grass.”
  Snakes? You mean like reptoids? Vorsen says nothing, but 
  taps the side of their head, pantomiming thinking.
  How can we get you to trust us? “Trust is a tricky thing. 
  Tough as wet tissues. Give it to the wrong people, it ends 
  lives. But give it to the right people… I’ll tell you what. I need 
  someone to check a message drop I’ve been monitoring for 
  years. Simeon Creamery, in the Sundown District. Booth four. 
  They hide data chips in the napkin dispenser. I can’t get near it 
  anymore, but you have fresh faces that no one in town knows. 
  Check out the message drop for any communiques and bring 
  me what you find.”
  Anything else? “Yeah. Order the womberry. It’s delicious.”
  Once Vorsen sends the PCs to pick up messages from the 
  drop at Simeon Creamery, the detectives say their goodbyes 
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  13
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
   Xych Vorsen
  
  and watch the group leave. While inclined to work with them, 
  the shirren is still suspicious of their motives and background.
  Story Award: If the PCs ally with and question Xych 
  Vorsen, award them 1,600 XP.
  C. SIMEON CREAMERY (CR 7)
  A fatty-sweet scent hangs in the air surrounding 
  this otherwise unremarkable shop. A silver 
  cooling case contains an assortment of frozen 
  desserts, toppings, and other treats. Several 
  booths line the opposite wall.
  Simeon Creamery is a popular, cheap ice 
  cream parlor in Roselight’s overcrowded 
  Sundown District. It serves a variety of unique 
  flavors like salted kelp, sweet corn, and 
  womberry (a fruity and musky flavor 
  popular with shirren and ysoki but 
  generally repulsive to anyone 
  else). The owners, Ulapa (N 
  female human) and Nosa 
  Simeon (N male ysoki) are 
  vegans who make everything 
  from the gene-modified nuts and plants 
  available in Roselight.
  The anonymous location and high turnover rate in 
  the parlor’s clients and staff make it a popular place for 
  clandestine meetings, and Dylaska’s reptoids previously used 
  it as a message drop to communicate with non-reptoid agents.
  When the PCs arrive, the parlor has 10 customers, and the 
  two owners are working behind the counter to serve them. 
  No one is sitting in booth four, possibly because the napkin 
  dispenser appears empty.
  Trap: The reptoid realized several weeks ago that Xych 
  Vorsen was watching their message drop and changed 
  locations. Vorsen is well aware they’ve changed locations and 
  intentionally sent the PCs on a wild goose chase, surmising 
  that if they were reptoid agents sent to earn his trust, they 
  wouldn’t bother checking a drop no longer in use. What 
  Vorsen doesn’t realize is that Dylaska has left a trap here 
  for the shirren. When the PCs sit at booth four and open its 
  napkin dispenser, a timer on a bomb hidden under the booth’s 
  table activates, accompanied by a brief hologram message.
  A low-resolution hologram appears just above the table, 
  showing a scaly humanoid in Steward garb. A feminine voice 
  purrs, “You’ve become more a nuisance than an amusement, 
  Vorsen, and so the time has come to dispose of you. You 
  have twenty seconds to reflect on your wasted life. And 
  before you think of running, the bomb under you is attached 
  to weight sensors in the seats. Perhaps you can warn the 
  rest of the restaurant to run… if you think anyone in this 
  miserable city will listen to you.”
  The bomb is indeed designed to detonate early if anyone 
  stands up from the booth after it has been triggered. Otherwise, 
  the PCs have 3 rounds to disarm the bomb and/or convince 
  others to flee before it detonates. Each attempt at a skill check 
  is a full action, but multiple characters can attempt to disarm 
  the bomb in the same round; the PCs must succeed 
  at all three of the disable checks listed below in 
  order to disarm the bomb.
  Shouting a warning and evacuating the 
  restaurant quickly requires a Diplomacy or 
  Intimidate check; only one of these checks 
  can be attempted each round. If the result 
  of the check exceeds 15, it causes a panic 
  and only three people are able to get outside 
  that round. If the result of the check exceeds 
  20, six people flee the scene and make it clear 
  that round. If the result of the check exceeds 
  25, all 12 people make it clear of the ice cream 
  shop that round. The Simeons are the last 
  to leave.
  FIRE AND ICE CREAM CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Type technological; Perception 
  DC 30; Disable Computers or 
  Engineering DC 25 (spoof tamper circuit), Engineering or 
  Physical Science DC 25 (analyze the trigger system), and 
  Engineering DC 27 (disarm the detonator)
  Trigger location; Reset none
  Effect explosion (6d12 fire damage); Reflex DC 17 half; 
  multiple targets (all targets within 30-ft. radius)
  Development: Assuming the PCs survive, they probably want 
  to analyze the hologram for any clues. Unfortunately, it is either 
  too damaged or, if the PCs disarmed the bomb, too low of a 
  resolution to be a good source of information. The voice, however, 
  is very distinctive. The PCs recognize it later if they investigate 
  Telimovna (page 20). If the PCs disarmed the bomb, they can 
  salvage the projector to show the message to Vorsen; the shirren 
  immediately recognizes Telimovna’s voice. This grants the PCs a 
  +4 circumstance bonus when investigating that Steward.
  If there are still NPCs in the ice cream parlor when the 
  bomb detonates, they are heavily wounded or killed at your 
  discretion. Whether the explosion results in any deaths or just 
  causes major property damage, the reptoids might use this 
  incident against the PCs in future volumes.
  Vorsen followed the PCs to observe, and rushes in to 
  offer first aid (if the bomb detonates) or apologize (if the PCs 
  disarm the trap).
  WHAT VORSEN KNOWS
  After delivering whatever assistance or emergency care the 
  PCs need, Vorsen apologizes for putting them in harm’s way. 
  They knew the reptoids had burned the drop but had no idea 
  14
   Ephecta
  
  they were prepared to kill over it. The encounter solidifies the 
  shirren’s belief that they can trust the PCs for now. Vorsen 
  leads the PCs somewhere private several blocks away and 
  opens up. Ephecta joins them.
  “Reptoids are a lot of things, but self-sacrificial isn’t one of 
  them. And yeah, I know reptoids. I’ve been trying to warn the 
  Stewards about them for twenty years. Noticed they started 
  replacing Stewards a decade back, but it’s hard to tell the 
  infiltration from the run-of-the-mill corruption. Right now, 
  Ephecta here is the only one I can trust.
  “I think several reptoids have infiltrated the local base. At 
  least a few of them are high up. Maybe the highest. That’s all 
  it takes to bring down the hammer on their enemies. And if 
  they’ve got you in their sights, you won’t have a leg to stand 
  on when they’re done falsifying records and evidence.
  “Now, I can’t exactly walk into the base and put bullets in 
  my fellow constables, just hoping that my hunches are right. 
  But I’ve got a little side project cooking with a gene-sculptor 
  called Flomeraccu Im Siblen. Locals call them ‘Doctor Flo.’ 
  Almost brought them in for selling black-market tardigrades 
  two years back, but they’d seen some strange things 
  themself. They know what we’re up against.
  “Doc Flo’s been working on a special project for me: a 
  modified paramyxovirus. It’s a nasty little flu the vesk get, 
  but with Flo’s adjustments, it should infect reptoids and 
  disable their ability to take on new forms. But the Doc goes 
  dark sometimes, and I have no idea how far along the project 
  is. Now that I know the reptoids are watching me, I can’t get 
  close to Flo without tipping my hand.
  “I need you lot to check in on Doc Flo and give them 
  whatever help is needed to finish this. Sounds like all our 
  lives depend on it.”
  Ephecta is hearing most of this information for the first time 
  and expresses her own discomfort at unleashing an untested 
  bioweapon against Stewards based on Vorsen’s conspiracy 
  theories, but the shirren reminds her that someone just tried 
  to blow them up. The grim reality gives Ephecta pause to think, 
  though she remains visibly uncomfortable with the tactic.
  Vorsen can answer additional questions, if the PCs need 
  additional reassurance.
  How do you know we can trust Doctor Flo? “Flo may be a 
  criminal, but they're also a barathu. The reptoids can’t mimic 
  their kind. Makes them safe to trust. Well… safer.”
  Where do we find Doctor Flo? “They work out back 
  of a medical supply depot on the other side of the 
  Sundown District. Fullerene Fulfillment. Look for the door 
  labeled ‘Ancillary.’”
  How do we get Doctor Flo to trust us? “Telling Flo I sent 
  you might not be enough. Tell them…. Tell them you know 
  about the time they saw the guy from the repair shop shed 
  his skin. Underneath he had scales, a fin, and yellow eyes. 
  That should convince Flo.”
  We almost died because of you. How do we know we can 
  trust you? “So don’t trust me. I’m not putting a gun to your 
  head. But we’re all in the crosshairs right now, and I’m telling 
  you the truth. You can use the info, or you can run away. But 
  if you do, you might never stop running.”
  The PCs can also ask Ephecta about the plan, though 
  she remains hesitant. She admits that Vorsen is right about 
  someone trying to eliminate them and doesn’t have a better 
  plan for dealing with that violence, but she plans to conduct 
  her own investigation. For the time being, she asks the PCs to 
  be safe and not do anything reckless.
  Story Award: For learning more of what Xych Vorsen knows 
  and agreeing to contact Doctor Flo, award the PCs 1,600 XP.
  D. ANCILLARY (CR 8)
  Doctor Flo’s laboratory is easy enough to reach via public transit 
  or by foot. Located in a small industrial complex behind several 
  rows of cramped apartments, the area is as close to a “bad side 
  of town” as Roselight offers, though that mostly just means 
  shabby buildings with faded paint and little ornamentation. 
  Vorsen’s directions point the PCs to a locked steel door (hardness 
  20, HP 60, Engineering DC 30 to open) marked “Ancillary,” with 
  an intercom box installed next to it. If the PCs knock or buzz 
  the intercom, Doctor Flo opens the door and greets them with a 
  cheerful “Oh, visitors! How lovely. Please come in.”
  The map for this area appears on page 6.
  The lab interior is little more than a retrofitted manufacturing 
  shop. On a counter set with hydraulic lifts, beakers of fluid 
  bubble above gas flame burners. Decrepit drums of industrial 
  lubricants and solvents are piled in the corners. Several 
  datapads and laptops sit on a table, chained together with 
  networking cable. Behind the table stands a wall of frosted 
  glass globes, in which vague movements can be seen.  
  Creatures: Doctor Flo has been compromised, not by the 
  reptoids, but by the parasitic fungi known as the dycepskians. 
  Taking full advantage of their modified genome and ability 
  to infest barathus, this faction of the Unseen has corrupted 
  several black-market scientists to help produce resources for 
  their invasion, infecting Flo a few weeks after they agreed 
  to work on Vorsen’s bioweapon. Doctor Flo now focuses 
  on working with creatures called needlehawks, bird-like 
  arthropods from a planet outside of the Pact Worlds. While 
  the creatures aren’t sapient, and so can’t support a true 
  dycepskian, infecting one with the colony’s mycelium creates 
  an obedient, organic drone that follows instructions and feeds 
  everything it sees back to the fungal mass mind. 
  Unsettlingly cheerful, Doctor Flo invites their visitors to 
  enter and have a look around as they “complete a special order.” 
  They deflect any inquiries about their work, chiding, “Naughty! 
  That would be telling.” If the PCs inquire about Xych Vorsen, 
  the barathu’s tentacles sag briefly and they say, “Such a sad, 
  frightened little shirren.” Doctor Flo responds with a similar sigh 
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  15
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  if the PCs repeat the story the detective told you to mention, 
  insisting that they were only pulling Vorsen’s leg.
  Most importantly, if the PCs ask about their anti-reptoid 
  plague, Flo responds, “Oh, that silly idea? It never went 
  anywhere. I’m sure that silly Xych has come to their senses by 
  now and knew I was kidding.” Doctor Flo knows all about the 
  reptoid invasion, and also knows that their dycepskian colony 
  is slowly usurping the reptoids’ position within the Stewards. 
  The infested doctor refuses to create a disease that disables 
  reptoid shapeshifting and expose the agents the dycepskians 
  have flipped.
  When they realize that the PCs are investigating the 
  Stewards and could expose the dycepskian infestation, Doctor 
  Flo opts to remove the PCs. They apologize for not having what 
  the PCs were looking for but insist, “You came all the way out 
  here, I can’t send you away empty-handed.” After that, they 
  open three of the frosted glass bubbles—which contain the 
  needlehawk hosts—and telepathically order them to attack. 
  They don’t expect the tiny beasts to kill the investigators, just 
  distract them long enough so Flo can sacrifice themself. 
  NEEDLEHAWK HOSTS (4) 
  CR 3
  XP 800 each
  Dycepskian-infested needlehawk (pages 55, 58)
  N Tiny animal (dycepskian)
  Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +13
  DEFENSE 
  HP 34
  EAC 14; KAC 15
  Fort +4; Ref +8; Will +2
  Immunities mind-affecting effects
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (Ex, perfect)
  Melee sting +7 (1d4+3 P plus needlehawk toxin)
  Ranged needle launch +9 (1d4+3 P plus needlehawk toxin)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The needlehawks obey Flo’s mental 
  commands, each attacking a different PC.
  Morale The infested needlehawks fight to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +4; Con +2; Int –4; Wis +1; Cha –2
  Skills Acrobatics +13 (+21 to fly), Bluff +13, Stealth +13, 
  Survival +8
  Other Abilities active camouflage, fungal mass mind
  DOCTOR FLO 
  CR 5
  XP 1,600
  Dycepskian-infested barathu (page 55, Starfinder Alien 
  Archive 20)
  N Large aberration (dycepskian)
  Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17
  DEFENSE 
  HP 65
  EAC 17; KAC 18
  Fort +4; Ref +4; Will +10
  Defensive Abilities amorphous; Immunities mind-affecting 
  effects
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed fly 30 ft. (Ex, perfect)
  Melee slam +12 (1d4+6 B)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  TACTICS
  During Combat On the first round, while the PCs worry 
  about the needlehawks, Flo adapts a vulnerability to fire 
  (something sensible barathus are capable of but don’t 
  normally do) as a swift action and douses themself with 
  a drum of solvent as a standard action. On the second 
  round, Flo ignites themself by touching one of the lab’s 
  burners as a standard action (if Flo is struck with fire 
  damage before this, they are also set aflame). Flo gains 
  the burning condition, taking 6d6 fire damage each round, 
  and voluntarily fails the Reflex save to end the condition. 
  As this happens, the barathu doesn’t seem to be in pain, 
  and they seem to have the wherewithal to attempt to 
  grapple the closest PC. A PC grappled by Flo takes 3d6 
  fire damage each round. Due to the volatile nature of the 
  solvents, water alone isn’t enough to extinguish Flo; the 
  PCs require a fire extinguisher (or similar equipment).
  Morale Doctor Flo hopes to perish in the encounter. Their 
  last words, directed at any surviving needlehawks, are, 
  “Goodbye, my children!” If extinguished, the barathu 
  simply attacks, hoping the PCs will destroy their form. 
  STATISTICS
  Str +1; Dex +0; Con +3; Int +2; Wis +5; Cha +0
  Skills Acrobatics +17 (+25 to fly), Bluff +17, Diplomacy +17, 
  Life Science +12, Sense Motive +17
  Languages Brethedan, Common; telepathy 100 ft.
  Other Abilities adaptation, combine, fungal mass mind
  Treasure: Doctor Flo’s laboratory contains an assortment 
  of valuable drugs and equipment, including four doses of 
  tier 2 antitoxin, two doses of tier 2 stimulant, and five doses 
  of sprayflesh. The gathered equipment also counts as a full 
  medical lab. A PC who succeeds at a DC 21 Life Science or 
  Medicine check while searching the lab also uncovers a mk 2 
  synergizing symbiote among the other tissue samples.
  Development: The Roselight dycepskian hosts get an 
  empathic flash of Doctor Flo’s death thanks to the boosted 
  range of their fungal mass mind (see area E), which sets them 
  on edge. Chief Inspector Dylaska begins quietly investigating 
  the tragedy, but luckily for her, Ephecta’s report (see Event 2) 
  solves that mystery.
  While Doctor Flo likely destroys themself in the encounter 
  to conceal the presence of their dycepskian infection from 
  the PCs, they have overlooked the needlehawks, which 
  also contain the fungus. If a PC examines one of the slain 
  needlehawks and succeeds at a DC 20 Medicine check, they 
  find waxy, greenish-yellow filaments evident within the body; 
  16
  
  a PC who succeeds at a DC 24 Life Science check identifies 
  these as mycelium; and a PC who succeeds at a DC 24 
  Medicine check notes that the fibers seem to have completely 
  replaced the creature’s original nervous system. The infested 
  needlehawks are like nothing the PCs have seen before, and 
  for now, these discoveries will remain a mystery.
  There is no trace of Vorsen’s anti-reptoid bioweapon in 
  Doctor Flo’s laboratory, nor any notes on the topic. Bringing 
  this information back to the Steward agent breaks the 
  shirren’s spirit. They thought they’d finally had a plan to 
  confront this overwhelming, invisible menace, and being sent 
  back to square one leaves them wracked with anguish and 
  guilt over endangering the PCs.
  Vorsen asks the PCs to lie low for a few days while they 
  collect their notes and figure out what to do. Allow the PCs 
  some time to heal or shop before moving on to the next event.
  EVENT 2: UNDER ARREST (CR 10)
  While the PCs went to retrieve Doctor Flo’s engineered virus, 
  the android Ephecta continued to wrestle with the moral 
  dilemma of unleashing an untested bioweapon against the 
  Stewards, even if those Stewards might be double agents. 
  Unsure of what else to do, she consulted with her superior, 
  Chief Inspector Molu Umana Dylaska, as not even Vorsen 
  suspects her of being a reptoid agent. Dylaska listened 
  intently to the android’s confessions of what has happened 
  so far, then used security footage from Upwell and Varos to 
  convince Ephecta the PCs are dangerous, deeply unsettled 
  terrorists, manipulating her by leveraging her shirren 
  partner’s paranoia and fraught reputation. 
  Thanks to transmissions intercepted from Varos, the 
  dycepskian-infested reptoids were aware of the PCs before 
  they arrived at Roselight, but Ephecta’s confessions fill 
  in many vital details about the fungal conspirators’ new 
  enemies. The dycepskians resolve to eliminate the PCs before 
  they endanger their plans on Roselight, and the android agent 
  creates a perfect opportunity to do so.
  While the PCs rest and recuperate, Ephecta decides—
  with Dylaska’s coaxing—to protect her partner and bring the 
  fugitives into custody to sort everything out. 
  The ideal time to spring this event on your players is 
  after they’ve had a chance to take a full night’s rest but 
  before they get comfortable. If they had a particularly easy 
  time battling Doctor Flo’s needlehawks, you might instead 
  have Ephecta and her team appear as the PCs leave the 
  barathu’s lab, as the android fears that an untested 
  bioweapon could endanger the entire city. In either case, 
  the android agent attempts to arrest the PCs on a quiet 
  street with few passersby.
  Creatures: Ephecta had hoped to confront the PCs by 
  herself, but Chief Inspector Dylaska insisted she take a squad 
  of two rookies for backup, along with Marduq Char, a senior 
  constable. Marduq was once a reptoid infiltrator disguised 
  as a human Steward agent but, like Dylaska, has become 
  a dycepskian host. The rookies are simple human recruits 
  following orders.
  Marduq was originally an aggressive reptoid, and his 
  dycepskian infection has had difficulty aligning his bloodlust 
  with the fungal mass mind’s general bliss. This manifests as a 
  generally withdrawn personality with manic bursts of delightful 
  cruelty, which begin to slip out as Ephecta drags her feet.
  Ephecta begins the encounter almost apologetically, 
  demanding that the PCs come with her but also promising 
  they’ll “sort everything out.” The presence of the occasionally 
  belligerent Marduq makes her uncomfortable. A PC who 
  succeeds at a DC 21 Diplomacy check before combat begins is 
  able to convince Ephecta that she’s making a terrible mistake. 
  If Ephecta switches sides, she allies with the PCs and orders 
  Marduq and the rookies to stand down, to no effect. Marduq 
  screams that the PCs must have corrupted Ephecta, draws his 
  firearm, and orders the rookies to attack. If the PCs do agree to 
  come peacefully, Marduq suddenly shouts that one of them has 
  a bomb and opens fire; in such a case, Ephecta is staggered for 
  the first round, but then allies with the PCs in further rounds. 
  Otherwise, if Ephecta believes the PCs are resisting arrest, she 
  shakes her head and tells her squad to take them down. 
  During the fight, a PC can attempt to convince Ephecta 
  of the group's innocence with a successful DC 24 Diplomacy 
  check attempted as a standard action. If any of the PCs have 
  wounded Ephecta, this check takes a –4 penalty. Ephecta then 
  fights alongside the PCs, though she tries to deal nonlethal 
  damage to her former coworkers.
  STEWARD ROOKIES (2) 
  CR 3
  XP 800 each
  Human operative
  LN Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +5; Perception +14
  DEFENSE 
  HP 42 EACH
  EAC 14; KAC 15
  Fort +5; Ref +5; Will +6; +2 vs. disease and poison
  Defensive Abilities evasion
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee tactical baton +7 (1d4+3 B)
  Ranged static arc pistol +9 (1d6+3 E; critical arc 2) 
  Offensive Abilities trick attack +1d8
  TACTICS
  During Combat The Steward rookies try to remain mobile 
  and take advantage of their trick attack ability at range.
  Morale A rookie breaks and attempts to retreat if reduced 
  to fewer than 10 HP.
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +4; Con +1; Int +1; Wis +2; Cha +1
  Skills Athletics +9, Culture +9, Diplomacy +14, Piloting +9, 
  Profession (law enforcement officer) +9, Sense Motive +14
  Languages Brethedan, Common
  Other Abilities specialization (detective)
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  17
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  Gear casual stationwear, static arc pistol with 2 batteries 
  (20 charges each), tactical baton, Steward badge
  EPHECTA 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Female android operative
  LN Medium humanoid (android)
  Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; 
  Perception +19
  DEFENSE 
  HP 75 RP 4
  EAC 18; KAC 19
  Fort +5; Ref +8; Will +9; +2 vs. disease, mind-affecting 
  effects, poison, and sleep
  Defensive Abilities evasion; Resistances cold 5, fire 5
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee tactical baton +12 (1d4+7 B)
  Ranged cupric ionizer +14 (2d4+6 E; critical arc 1d6)
  Offensive Abilities debilitating trick, trick attack +3d8
  TACTICS
  During Combat Ephecta prefers desk work, 
  but she can handle herself in a firefight. 
  She prefers ranged attacks, relying on 
  her staggering shot to leave opponents 
  vulnerable to her allies.
  Morale Ephecta retreats or surrenders if 
  reduced to fewer than 30 HP.
  STATISTICS
  Str +1; Dex +3; Con +0; Int +5; Wis +1; 
  Cha +2
  Skills Computers +14, Diplomacy +14, 
  Medicine +19, Physical Science +19, 
  Sense Motive +14
  Languages Brethedan, Common, Triaxian, 
  Vercite, Vesk, Ysoki
  Other Abilities constructed, flat affect, operative 
  exploits (glimpse the truth, staggering shot 
  [DC 16]), specialization (detective), upgrade 
  slot (mk 1 thermal capacitor)
  Gear elite stationwear, cupric ionizerAR  with 
  2 batteries (20 charges each), tactical 
  baton, medpatches (2), Steward badge 
  MARDUQ CHAR 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Male reptoid host (page 55)
  HP 80
  TACTICS
  During Combat Marduq gets 
  in close, using his uncanny 
  shooter talent and trick attack 
  to devastate the most intimidating 
  opponent first, laughing with unsettling 
  glee through the entire fight.
  Morale Marduq fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Gear elite stationwear, corona laser pistol with 2 batteries 
  (20 charges each), survival knife, Steward badge, 
  credstick (5,000 credits)
  Treasure: Marduq had planned to drop off whatever was 
  left of the PCs with a local organic recycler who doesn’t ask 
  questions. He was going to use the credstick he carries to pay 
  for the disposal.
  Development: Marduq reverts to his reptoid form upon 
  death, confirming Vorsen’s theories about reptoid infiltration 
  to both the PCs and Ephecta. Though shocked, the android 
  insists they find Vorsen and begin planning what to do 
  next, provided the PCs are willing to accept her help. She 
  also recounts approaching Chief Inspector Dylaska with 
  her concerns and her superior’s insistence not only in 
  apprehending the PCs, but in assigning Marduq 
  to supervise, suggesting that Dylaska may have 
  ulterior motives in arresting the PCs.
  If the PCs didn’t convince Ephecta to aid them 
  and she escapes, they can later find her with 
  Vorsen, who has convinced her of the reality of 
  the situation. If she surrenders, she explains 
  her fears of using an engineered virus on the 
  populace, especially one created without 
  any oversight or rigorous testing. She 
  tells the PCs the same information about 
  Dylaska as above. This Adventure Path 
  assumes that Ephecta survives this 
  fight, one way or another.
  A 
  PC 
  who 
  closely 
  examines 
  Marduq’s body and succeeds at a 
  DC 22 Medicine check discovers 
  a fresh surgical incision on his 
  left arm where the HepatoDyne 
  implant (see the sidebar on page 
  23) was installed less than a week 
  ago. They also spot the same 
  strange greenish-yellow filaments in 
  his body that they saw in Doctor Flo’s 
  needlehawks. If the PCs didn’t spot the 
  mycelium then, they can attempt the 
  same checks to identify the strands now.
  Story Award: If the PCs sway Ephecta 
  to join them, award them XP as if they 
  had defeated her in combat.
  THE SERPENTS’ TURN
  After their near arrest, the PCs probably 
  want to contact Xych Vorsen and let 
  the shirren know they are right 
  about the Stewards. Vorsen asks 
  the PCs to meet back at their 
   Marduq Char
  18
  
  ship, which can serve as their base of operations for the 
  investigation to come. Ephecta joins them, having either 
  been brought along by Vorsen or by the PCs. The android’s 
  testimony detailing Chief Inspector Dylaska’s strange 
  behavior takes Vorsen by surprise. 
  “Dylaska… even I didn’t see that one. She’s got Director 
  Evosco’s ear on intelligence matters. Canny, though. 
  Replace Evosco and you’ve got everyone’s eyes on you. But 
  control everything she sees and hears? It’s just as good as 
  controlling her directly.
  “If Dylaska is the reptoids’ commander here in Roselight, 
  we can likely narrow down who the possible reptoids are 
  by seeing who’s had the most contact with her recently.” 
  Vorsen pulls out a datapad and begins tapping at it. “That 
  gives us… just shy of a dozen names. Difficult to believe 
  they could do so much damage with so few hands. But as 
  the saying goes, give me a long enough lever and a place to 
  wedge it, and I can move a planet.”
  Vorsen exhales with frustration. “But we need 
  more information. “Here, I’ll send you my notes. If you can 
  get evidence on which are reptoids, we should be able to 
  clear all our names. I’ll work a few of my contacts to get you 
  some resources.”
  Vorsen can answer a few additional questions, but the PCs 
  have exhausted the extent of their knowledge.
  How do we investigate these names? “I don’t know. What 
  are you good at? Maybe dig around in their computer records 
  for suspicious activity. Tail them and find explanations for any 
  suspicious behavior. Maybe find a way to provoke them from 
  a safe distance? Hell, you’ve got a dead one now; maybe you 
  can scrounge up some DNA samples and compare results! Be 
  creative; it’s gotten you this far.”
  Do we need to investigate Director Evosco? “Like I said, 
  Director Evosco’s likely too high-profile for the reptoids to 
  replace... for now. Besides, she left for a leadership conference 
  at Peacewatch a few days before you arrived and will be there 
  for another week. But I do appreciate your healthy paranoia.”
  Can we really trust Ephecta? “She’s a good cop, but she trusts 
  the system, and that bit her on the posterior this time. Maybe 
  she’ll learn from it. Compared to me, she’s the smart one. If you 
  can bring yourself to trust her, her help would be invaluable.” 
  If nearby, Ephecta chimes in to note she has reconsidered her 
  position regarding the PCs due to having additional facts.
  What do you know about the strands of mycelium we keep 
  finding? “A fungus that replaces the nervous system? That’s 
  new. Perhaps this is part of some new reptoid method of 
  control? I don’t know, but keep me informed.”
  INVESTIGATING THE STEWARDS
  Of the dozen Stewards that Vorsen suspects of being reptoid 
  agents, only five are actually reptoids, with another two 
  being humans who have recently been infected by the 
  dycepskian fungus thanks to their HepatoDyne implants 
  (see sidebar on page 23). All but one of the reptoids (Pik 
  Nath) have received the HepatoDyne implant and are now 
  dycepskian hosts.
  Provide the PCs with the list of the names Vorsen has 
  collected, as well as their general appearance and Vorsen's 
  notes (as found on page 20), but don’t reveal their status 
  as reptoid or not until the PCs successfully investigate that 
  individual. In addition, keep their status as a dycepskian 
  host a secret, but use the details provided to flavor how the 
  investigation into that individual proceeds.
  PCs can try to identify who is and who isn’t a reptoid in 
  a multitude of ways. Allow the PCs to attempt skill checks 
  with appropriate Profession checks instead of the listed skills, 
  but with the DC reduced by 4. Each attempt to investigate 
  a suspect takes an individual at least 12 hours. Every time 
  the PCs successfully use one tactic to identify one of Vorsen’s 
  suspects (whether they turn out to be reptoid or human), 
  the DC for future skill checks using that particular strategy 
  increases by a cumulative 2 as the Stewards grow more wary 
  of the strange activities around them; if necessary, the stats 
  for many of these individuals appear later in the adventure.
  Use the following options as guidelines for the strategies 
  the PCs might employ.
  Blood Test: A PC can surreptitiously collect a sample of 
  a suspect’s DNA with a successful DC 26 Sleight of Hand 
  or Stealth check to compare it to reptoid DNA. This is only 
  possible if the PCs killed Marduq in Event 2 and thought to 
  collect a trophy or tissue sample. 
  Comparative Analysis: A PC can find and compare 
  childhood images and vids of a suspect with current ones to 
  look for subtle differences in bone structure, scars, and other 
  permanent markings that a shapechanger may have missed 
  with a successful DC 27 Disguise or Perception check.
  Hack: A PC can access various computer networks around 
  Roselight to study a suspect’s online movements, spending, 
  certifications, and communications with a successful DC 24 
  Computers check.
  Legwork: A PC can find and question people close to a 
  suspect to learn more about their behavior and history with a 
  successful DC 25 Diplomacy check.
  Magic: Casting speak with dead on Marduq’s remains might 
  force his spirit to reveal a collaborator, though he attempts to 
  resist with a Will saving throw, and if he succeeds, he gives 
  misleading information to the PCs with a Bluff check. The magical 
  sensor of clairaudience/clairvoyance is unlikely to catch a reptoid 
  dropping their disguise, but it does grant a +2 circumstance 
  bonus to skill checks attempted during the Shadow and Profile 
  tactics. The PCs can try to lure a suspect into the area of a zone 
  of truth spell, but the suspect can still attempt a Will save or 
  be evasive under direct questioning. Reptoid shapeshifting is a 
  supernatural ability but is unaffected by spells like dispel magic.
  Profile: A PC can study past and current writings (which can 
  be found online) to compare a subject’s behavior and develop 
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  19
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  a solid assessment of their personality with a successful DC 
  25 Sense Motive check.
  Shadow: A PC can stalk the suspect (either in the shadows 
  or from rooftops) to observe where they go and what they do 
  with a successful DC 23 Athletics or Stealth check.
  X-Rays: Costly equipment like an X-ray visor or X-ray serum 
  (Starfinder Armory 116), in conjunction with a successful DC 20 
  Life Science check, enables a PC to study a suspect’s anatomy 
  in detail to identify any trace of unusual biology.
  Treasure: After the PCs successfully investigate their first 
  suspect, Vorsen returns to their ship with supplies from their 
  anonymous source: four mk 2 mindlink circlets. They comment, 
  “I have found my ability to communicate silently with nearby 
  allies increasingly useful in this clandestine work. I think 
  you’ll find these handy.”
  Development: Once the PCs have identified the six reptoid 
  impostors aiding Chief Inspector Dylaska—Bridjet Sochlain, 
  Lanni Sedjewick, Pik Nath, Taj Lhannar, Telimovna, and Voomey 
  Wite—Vorsen suggests that their next step should be to capture 
  one of them to be absolutely sure. See Event 3 below. 
  Story Award: Award the PCs 400 XP for every Steward 
  they successfully investigate, whether they turn out to be 
  human, reptoid, or other.
  EVENT 3: AMBUSHING A REPTOID (CR 6)
  The reptoid Stewards stick to public, well-monitored areas—
  ironically using Roselight’s police-state tendencies to hide 
  themselves—unless 
  explicitly 
  engaging 
  in 
  clandestine 
  operations. They even reside in the Steward barracks, leaving 
  them vulnerable to ambush only on rare occasions when 
  they travel outside the precinct grounds. When the group 
  is ready to capture one of the suspected reptoid agents for 
  interrogation, as Vorsen suggests, a PC who succeeds at a DC 
  22 Perception or Sense Motive check can deduce that their 
  NAME
  APPEARANCE
  VORSEN’S   NOTES
  REPTOID?
  DYCEPSKIAN 
  HOST? 
  DETAILS
  Bridjet 
  Sochlain
  Female 
  human
  Noteworthy scent of 
  ammonia.
  Yes
  Yes
  Sochlain is the most subtle of the reptoid agents. 
  Only Vorsen’s keen senses have noticed a strange 
  tinge to her scent.
  Dunhet 
  Wesser
  Male human
  Heartrate increases 
  noticeably when they 
  catch me watching.
  No
  Yes
  Until recently, the human Wesser harbored romantic 
  feelings for Vorsen, which the shirren’s sensitive 
  antennae misread. Wesser's recent dycepskian 
  infestation has curbed these feelings. 
  Ganzer 
  Ahlo
  Female 
  human
  Sudden, erratic 
  personality shift 
  months ago combined 
  with subtle changes in 
  appearance.
  No
  No
  Ahlo gave birth to twins 3 months ago. Her 
  shift in personality and appearance were due to 
  pregnancy, then sleep deprivation and postpartum 
  depression.
  Lanni 
  Sedjewick
  Female 
  ysoki
  Recently began saying 
  hello to me every 
  morning. Previously 
  never made eye contact. 
  Yes
  Yes
  Sedjewick has been a reptoid for 8 years, 
  but Vorsen only became suspicious when the 
  dycepskian infection made her much friendlier.
  Li Qua 
  Wan
  Agender 
  human
  Frequently disappears. 
  after work and returns 
  with unexplained injuries.
  No
  No
  Wan works after-hours as a bouncer at a local club 
  called the Jeweljammer and takes bribes from the 
  club ownership to hush up noise complaints, health 
  inspections, and other crimes.
  Peri 
  Hasseld
  Female 
  damaya 
  lashunta
  Office is unusually warm 
  for lashunta tolerances. 
  Takes regular sick days.
  No
  No
  Hasseld hails from Castrovel and grew up in tropical 
  temperatures. Her sick days are being used to help 
  cover for a small vidgame-pirating operation. 
  Pik Nath
  Male ysoki
  Nath’s diet is almost 
  entirely carnivorous. 
  No ysoki could survive 
  eating only meat patties.
  Yes
  No
  Pik can’t stand most ysoki foods thanks to a 
  relatively common reptoid disorder that makes it 
  difficult to digest vegetation and carbohydrates.
  Suso 
  Aderring
  Female 
  human
  Recent transfer without 
  friends, contacts, or 
  records.
  No
  No
  Aderring’s lack of records is due entirely to a 
  bureaucratic snafu, and otherwise the young 
  Steward is simply shy.
  Taj 
  Lhannar
  Male human
  Spends extraneous time 
  in copy room.
  Yes
  Yes
  Lhannar replaced the original 18 months ago and 
  began making extensive copies of Steward records.
  Telimovna Female vesk Seen at Simeon Creamery 
  three times. Tends to 
  watch over her shoulder.
  Yes
  Yes
  Telimovna has been a reptoid for 5 years, replacing 
  the original vesk during a vacation to Vesk-Prime.
  Voomey 
  Wite
  Male human
  A little too on-the-ball 
  and attentive. Always  
  taking notes.
  Yes
  Yes
  Wite is a reptoid who stepped in to replace the 
  original nearly 5 years ago and now specializes in 
  analyzing humans to find more targets to replace.
  Yona 
  Raito
  Female 
  human
  Long, intense stares 
  without blinking.
  No
  Yes
  Raito, a data scientist, has recently been taken over 
  by a dycepskian infestation.
  20
  
  best chance of success is to go after the archivist Taj Lhannar. 
  Vorsen and Ephecta know that Lhannar makes frequent trips 
  to various media vendors for books, data chips, albums, and 
  other cultural artifacts; the shirren suspects that Lhannar 
  works to keep the reptoid’s network of spies-in-training 
  supplied with various current news and pop-culture elements 
  to help them blend in better. 
  Creature: The PCs can tail Lhannar as he leaves the 
  Steward base to walk to a nearby media vendor, catching 
  him unawares in an isolated alley. This requires the PC with 
  the lowest total Stealth skill modifier to succeed at a DC 20 
  Stealth check, though the PC with the highest total Stealth 
  skill modifier can use the aid another task. If the PCs set up a 
  more elaborate trap or choose a perfect ambush location, you 
  can grant a circumstance bonus to this check or allow the PCs 
  to use a different skill altogether.
  If the PCs fail this check, Lhannar grows suspicious and 
  avoids the ambush by remaining in public and returning 
  quickly to the Steward base. Afterward, the reptoid begins 
  traveling outside with a patrol-class security robot (Starfinder 
  Alien Archive 94). If the PCs try to ambush him again and fail 
  the check, Lhannar walks into the trap but isn’t surprised by 
  it. He believes he can best whoever is attacking him.
  TAJ LHANNAR 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Male reptoid host (page 55)
  HP 80
  TACTICS
  During Combat The infested reptoid attempts to 
  remain mobile during a firefight, using trick attack 
  at every available opportunity. When he realizes 
  he is outnumbered and outmatched, he transmits 
  an empathic warning to the other dycepskian hosts.
  Morale Lhannar fights to the death.
  Development: If the PCs examine Lhannar, they find a 
  small scar on his left arm similar to Marduq’s. Lhannar had 
  his HepatoDyne installed at the same time. If the PCs cut 
  open the reptoid’s body, they discover more mycelium strands.
  Regardless of whether the PCs kill or simply subdue their 
  target, the dycepskian fungal mass mind is alerted to the 
  attack, though the hosts aren’t aware of the specifics. The 
  infested Stewards begin cleaning house and preparing to strike 
  back; they also send a message to Gamut Bio, alerting the 
  dycepskians there of the PCs’ actions.
  EVENT 4: THE HIT (CR 9)
  As the dycepskian-host reptoids begin covering their 
  tracks, they need to eliminate loose ends, such as former 
  shapeshifting comrades who haven’t yet fallen to the 
  infestation. It should rouse the PCs’ curiosity when four of 
  the remaining five reptoids—Bridjet Sochlain, Lanni Sedjewick, 
  Pik Nath, and Voomey Wite—pile into an unmarked car and 
  drive to an industrial site in Roselight’s Sunset district. If 
  the PCs themselves aren’t watching the base, Vorsen or 
  Ephecta contacts them to report this event, asking the PCs to 
  investigate. If the PCs do not follow, the car returns without 
  Pik Nath, and the other three reptoids return to their business 
  without expressing any apparent concerns. 
   Pik Nath
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  21
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  AN ALLY IN EPHECTA
  If the PCs convince Ephecta to join them rather than 
  support the corrupted Stewards, they gain a valuable 
  inroad into the organization. While Inspector Vorsen 
  has always been an outsider and the conspirators now 
  want him dead, Ephecta remains a seeming patsy and 
  can move freely within the base to assist the PCs with 
  their future investigations.
  To help the PCs in their investigations, Ephecta 
  can access classified information, collect physical 
  samples from suspect Stewards, or create distractions 
  and opportunities for the PCs’ activities. Ephecta’s 
  assistance provides a +5 circumstance bonus to a skill 
  check to identify the reptoid infiltrators. Each time the 
  PCs call on Ephecta, suspicion surrounding her loyalty 
  grows, reducing the circumstance bonus by 1 until it 
  reaches +0, at which point the android becomes as 
  much of a pariah as Vorsen.
  
  This event takes place in a little-used corner of a 
  hydrocarbon processing yard owned by a dycepskian-infested 
  barathu, who has “conveniently” shut the plant down for the 
  day. There is little here in the way of machinery, and only 
  a few empty barrels here and there can provide cover (as 
  well as a place for the PCs to watch from afar). The PCs can 
  intervene or not as they see fit.
  Creatures: The four reptoids park their vehicle in this corner 
  and get out. Pik Nath seems confused, but the others look 
  distressingly serene. Nath is the only reptoid here who isn’t 
  infested with the dycepskian fungus; his digestive problems 
  stem from a rare reptoid immune disorder that, among other 
  problems, make his body reject implants. He refused Dylaska’s 
  orders to receive a HepatoDyne implant on such grounds, and 
  while the false inspector relented, she has been looking for 
  another way to bring the sham ysoki into the fungal mass 
  mind. With the PCs cracking down, though, the dycepskians 
  have determined that Nath is too much of a liability.
  If the PCs simply watch events unfold, they hear Nath 
  ask in confusion why they’ve come to this particular place. 
  Sedjewick tells him that this area is an active crime scene, 
  pointing out some imaginary evidence behind a rusty 
  barrel. While Nath walks over to that spot, the other three 
  reptoids draw their weapons and gun him down. Afterward, 
  they seal his corpse into the same barrel (which the 
  barathu owner is meant to dispose of in a high-temperature 
  distillation tower), get back into their vehicle, and return 
  to the base.
  The PCs can intervene at any point during the exchange, but 
  if they attack (or are spotted) quickly, Nath doesn’t realize he 
  is about to be betrayed and will fight alongside his would-be 
  murderers. If the PCs attack once the dycepskian-infested 
  reptoids draw their weapons, or after they kill Nath, they only 
  need to fight three opponents.
  PIK NATH 
  CR 1
  XP 400
  Male reptoid (Starfinder Alien Archive 92)
  HP 16
  TACTICS
  During Combat Nath takes cover 
  behind a barrel and shoots his pistol 
  at whomever he believes is the closest 
  enemy.
  Morale Nath surrenders once he has been 
  reduced to 5 or fewer HP.
  BRIDJET, LANNI, AND VOOMEY CR 6
  XP 2,400 each
  Male and female reptoid hosts (page 
  55)
  HP 80 each 
  TACTICS
  During Combat The three reptoid hosts focus 
  their attacks on the PCs, even if they haven’t 
  already killed Nath, recognizing that the PCs are 
  the bigger threat. They take cover behind their vehicle 
  and attempt trick attacks. However, if Nath deals a 
  significant amount of damage (or scores a critical hit) 
  against one of the reptoid hosts, that host turns on Nath.
  Morale Cornered, the reptoid hosts fight to the death.
  Treasure: If Nath survives, he offers the PCs a bribe 
  to let him go. He’s been squirreling away credits into an 
  “emergency fund” for years, and is willing to point the PCs 
  toward his storage unit and provide his unmarked key card if 
  they release him. The unit contains a bug-out bag filled with 
  six changes of clothes (for both Small and Medium bipedal 
  creatures), an advanced medkit, a hygiene kit, a week’s supply 
  of field rations, a set of fake identification (which could be 
  sold on the black market for 1,000 credits), and a credstick 
  with 10,000 credits. 
   Yona Raito
  22
  
  If Nath dies and the PCs recover his body, they find an 
  unmarked key card in his pocket and can trace it back to 
  the storage unit with a day’s work and a successful DC 30 
  Computers or Diplomacy check.
  Development: If the PCs intervene after Nath realizes he’s 
  being betrayed and the reptoid survives the encounter, he is 
  willing to cut his losses and cooperate with the PCs. He informs 
  them that his fellow reptoids began acting strangely 6 weeks 
  ago, around the same time that Dylaska began pondering about 
  “the enemy” being close. Soon after, Nath started feeling like 
  the only member of the reptoid cell not in on some joke, as 
  everyone had begun acting too “chummy” for his liking. He isn’t 
  aware of any other reptoid cells in the Pact Worlds; Dylaska 
  specifically keeps that kind of information to herself to keep 
  any captured agents from leaking valuable intelligence.
  If the PCs ask about the strange filaments they found in 
  other reptoids’ bodies, Nath doesn’t know anything about them. 
  However, if they also mention surgical scars on their arms, 
  Nath recalls that Dylaska got something called a “HepatoDyne 
  implant” almost 2 months ago, and encouraged other Stewards 
  (reptoid and otherwise) to get them as well. Nath explains why 
  he didn’t receive one. After spilling his guts, Nath bribes the 
  PCs to let him go (see Treasure on page 22), but if they don’t, he 
  tries to slip away and flee the city as soon as possible.
  If the PCs don’t intervene here, the three remaining reptoid 
  hosts fight alongside Chief Inspector Dylaska during her last 
  stand (see Event 6).
  EVENT 5: THE OUTLIERS (CR 7)
  The PCs’ actions against the reptoid invaders aren’t alerting 
  only reptoids. Two human Steward analysts—Yona Raito and 
  Dunhet Wesser—also received HepatoDyne implants in the 
  past few weeks and have become dycepskian hosts. They 
  realize the PCs are likely targeting reptoids and use this 
  information to set a trap.
  Creatures: The two contact the PCs, mentioning that they’ve 
  recently been threatened by “lizard-aliens” posing as Stewards. 
  They want to arrange a meeting to share what they know and 
  offer help, offering to let the PCs choose the location.
  However, the meeting isn’t what it seems. The PCs can realize 
  this if they are suspicious that two random analysts know who 
  they are, let alone how to contact them, or with a successful 
  DC 28 Sense Motive check when speaking to the pair online.
  Raito and Wesser leave their sidearms behind if the PCs 
  request they come unarmed, but the technomancers still 
  carry concealed grenades. Both are chipper, smiling as they 
  greet the PCs. While they know they should simply kill the 
  PCs, these hosts have come to appreciate the PCs’ skills and 
  ask if they would wish to join the fungal mass mind. The 
  pair magnanimously offer to “implant” the PCs but refuse to 
  offer any details as to what that means, only adding with a 
  chuckle that “You can never beat us. You don’t even know 
  what we are.”
  If the PCs resist, the two human hosts attack.
  YONA RAITO AND DUNHET WESSER 
  CR 5
  XP 1,600
  Dycepskian-infested human technomancers
  N Medium humanoid (dycepskian, human)
  Init +2; Perception +11
  DEFENSE 
  HP 60 RP 4 EACH
  EAC 16; KAC 17
  Fort +4; Ref +4; Will +8
  Immunities mind-affecting effects
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee tactical baton +8 (1d4+5 B)
  Ranged frostbite-class zero pistol +10 (1d6+5 C; critical 
  staggered [DC 15])
  or frag grenade II +8 (explode [15 ft., 2d6 P, DC 15])
  Technomancer Spells Known (CL 5th; melee +8)
  2nd (3/day)—inject nanobots (DC 17), knock 
  1st (6/day)—detect tech, jolting surge, magic missile
  0 (at will)—detect affliction, mending
  THE HEPATODYNE IMPLANT
  The 
  HepatoDyne 
  implant 
  is 
  an 
  augmentation 
  manufactured by the small biotech company Gamut Bio. 
  According to its advertising, it acts as a secondary liver 
  implanted in the arm to help filter poison and disease 
  from the recipient’s blood. The implant is still in its 
  testing phase, but its stated purpose made it appealing 
  to law enforcement personnel, particularly Dylaska’s 
  reptoid agents once they realized dycepskians were 
  present in Roselight.
  Discovering the implant’s true purpose requires a 
  successful DC 30 Medicine check and unfettered access 
  to the piece of equipment (whether installed or not). 
  Thorough analysis of the implant’s bio-filters reveals 
  that they are made from a parasitic mycelium and can be 
  remotely triggered to infect the bearer with that fungus, 
  which quickly replaces the victim’s nervous system with 
  unexpected, though obviously deadly, results. Only a 
  high or severe dose of radiation can kill the mycelium 
  prior to infestation, rendering the implant inert and 
  useless. Removing the implant before it is triggered 
  requires a successful DC 30 Medicine check; failure by 
  10 or more immediately triggers the conversion process.
  Until its true purpose is discovered, a HepatoDyne 
  implant seems to be a level 6 biotech augmentation 
  implanted in an arm. Once per day, the user can spend 
  1 Resolve Point to automatically succeed at a saving 
  throw against a disease or poison. It does not yet have 
  a market price. Gamut Bio’s infosphere site notes the 
  implant is going to begin market testing in the next few 
  weeks in preparation for widespread commercial sales.
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  23
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  TACTICS
  During Combat The pair prefer to get in close to cast inject 
  nanobots to confuse opponents before switching to 
  jolting surge or their sidearms.
  Morale The infested humans fight to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +2; Con +1; Int +5; Wis +3; Cha +0
  Skills Bluff +16, Computers +16, Mysticism +16, Sense 
  Motive +11
  Languages Brethedan, Common, Eoxian, Kasatha, 
  Shirren, Ysoki
  Other Abilities fungal mass mind, magic hacks (empowered 
  weapon, debug spell), spell cache (datapad)
  Gear business stationwear, frostbite-class zero pistol with 1 
  battery (20 charges), tactical baton, frag grenades II (2), 
  spell gem of caustic conversion, spell gem of make whole
  Development: Like Marduq and other reptoid hosts the PCs 
  have faced so far, both Raito and Wesser have faint scars on 
  their arms from recent implant surgery. They also have similar 
  mycelium strands within their bodies. The PCs can spot these 
  anomalies automatically, if they know to look.
  EVENT 6: THE SERPENT’S HEAD (CR 9+) 
  Chief Inspector Molu Umana Dylaska sits at the center 
  of both the reptoid and dycepskian infiltration of the 
  Roselight Stewards. The original Dylaska had been a patient 
  kasatha with a keen eye for detail and a need to protect 
  others. With these traits, she quickly rose through the ranks 
  of the Stewards. She was imprisoned and interrogated by 
  reptoid forces 9 years ago to gain access to the constabulary’s 
  most sensitive information and personnel, and when they got 
  all the information they could out of her, she was killed by 
  her shapeshifting replacement. Her cold-blooded duplicate is 
  equally observant and driven, but firmly believes the universe 
  needs a strict social order to prevent civilization from spiraling 
  into chaos. 
  The false Dylaska put a last-ditch contingency plan in 
  place several years ago before she became infested by the 
  dycepskians, never expecting to use it. However, with the 
  PCs clearly closing in, the reptoid host inspector enacts this 
  scheme by first activating a dormant computer worm that 
  scrambles local Stewards, dispatching agents all across the 
  city with inaccurate and misleading reports of public violence, 
  looting, and fires. She then releases a mild nerve gas within 
  the Steward base, rendering the remaining staff unconscious 
  while she heads to the server room to wipe the base’s 
  computers clean.
  The reptoid Dylaska doesn’t know that Xych Vorsen 
  discovered one of her concealed canisters of nerve gas 
  years ago—this was one of the early clues that tipped off the 
  shirren to the reptoid infiltration—and wired a sensor of their 
  24
  
  own into the system. Vorsen dons a gas mask when they 
  learn the system is activated, contacting the PCs from their 
  office to inform them of the situation. They ask the PCs to 
  come and help investigate what is going on, noting that the 
  environmental protections of their armor will protect them 
  from the gas. 
  When the PCs arrive, they find the entire base’s security 
  system deactivated and many personnel sprawled out 
  throughout the building, unconscious but breathing. Vorsen 
  and Ephecta meet the PCs in the lobby. The shirren says that 
  they and Ephecta will check out Chief Inspector Dylaska’s 
  office, while the PCs should head to the server room; 
  Ephecta gives them directions. When the PCs arrive, read or 
  paraphrase the following.
  Three technicians lie unconscious on the floor, illuminated by 
  the humming glow of the station’s immense computer core. 
  Klaxons sound and lights flash as the glow shifts from blue 
  to red and back again. The large monitor overlooking the 
  room is rapidly counting down from nineteen seconds.
  Dylaska has already installed her virus via a data chip. 
  Anyone trained in the Computers skill can immediately 
  recognize that the server is counting down to a full system 
  wipe, potentially jeopardizing thousands of investigations 
  and court cases in addition to wiping out the reptoids’ data 
  trail. The PCs have 3 rounds to stop the process! They can 
  also easily spot Dylaska’s data chip incongruously jutting 
  from one of the computer core’s ports; removing the chip 
  has no effect.
  The PCs can override the virus with three successful DC 
  29 Computers skill checks, each requiring a standard action. 
  Any result of 20 or higher adds 6 seconds (1 round) to the 
  timer. Alternatively, the PCs can mitigate the destruction by 
  destroying the terminal (hardness 13, HP 39) or disabling it 
  with a successful DC 32 Engineering check (which takes a 
  full action). Doing either ends the system wipe but deletes 
  any recent records that haven’t been backed up in the last 24 
  hours (including any records of Dylaska gassing the facility 
  and attempting to wipe the core).
  Creatures: Dylaska recognizes that the PCs have taken 
  aim to cut off her support network before attacking her 
  directly. She fully expects that by now, the PCs have 
  gathered enough evidence to expose her and burn her 
  entire operation; while she wants to flee, she first needs 
  to eliminate all evidence of her activities and collaborators 
  within the Stewards.
  Dylaska has remained near the computer core to make sure 
  the wipe fully activates. Both she and any remaining reptoid 
  agents (one by default, unless the PCs allowed others to 
  escape in earlier encounters), have taken up sniping positions 
  in the corners. The false chief inspector has also recovered 
  her pet needlehawk, leaving the infected beast to guard the 
  computer core.
  NEEDLEHAWK HOST 
  CR 3
  XP 800 
  HP 35 (page 58)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The needlehawk host attacks anyone who 
  attempts to stop the core wipe.
  Morale The needlehawk host fights to the death. 
  TELIMOVNA 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Female reptoid host (page 55)
  HP 80
  TACTICS
  During Combat Telimovna remains in her vesk disguise, 
  hoping it will let her get a little closer to the PCs before 
  she attacks with her laser pistol. The reptoid uses trick 
  attack whenever possible.
  Morale Telimovna fights to the death. 
  MOLU UMANA DYLASKA 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Dycepskian-infested reptoid technomancer (page 55, 
  Starfinder Alien Archive 92)
  N Medium humanoid (dycepskian, reptoid, shapechanger)
  Init +1; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14
  DEFENSE 
  HP 90 RP 5
  EAC 18; KAC 19
  Fort +8; Ref +6; Will +10; +2 vs. poison
  Immunities mind-affecting effects; Resistances electricity 5
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee claw +13 (1d8+9 S)
  Ranged blasting advanced semi-auto pistol +11 (2d6+7 P)
  or shock grenade II +13 (explode [15 ft., 1d12 E, DC 17])
  Technomancer Spells Known (CL 7th; ranged +11)
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  25
   
   
  THE H0LLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  INFESTATION
  The only sign of dycepskian infestation beyond 
  behavioral change are greenish-yellow veins that develop 
  within the sclera of the eye where mycelium replaces the 
  existing optical nerve. Most dycepskian hosts recognize 
  this giveaway and conceal these signs with dark glasses, 
  contact lenses, or a variety of medications to temporarily 
  conceal these tendrils, much like a human might use eye 
  drops to conceal their bloodshot eyes.
  An autopsy reveals the same greenish-yellow 
  filaments throughout a host’s body, clustered in what 
  should be the major nerve pathways, making the body’s 
  status as a host obvious. If the PCs don’t pick up on 
  these clues themselves, Vorsen or Ephecta can point out 
  this infectious danger and ask the PCs to investigate. 
  
  3rd (3/day)—discharge (DC 20), lesser resistant armor
  2nd (6/day)—caustic conversion, inject nanobots (DC 19), 
  mirror image, see invisibility
  1st (at will)—erase, holographic image (DC 18)
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Dylaska has studied the PCs’ tactics 
  through security footage and spy reports, and casts 
  lesser resistant armor to protect herself from whatever 
  energy type they seem to rely on most (or simply provide 
  herself with damage reduction).
  During Combat Dylaska casts mirror image before using 
  her spell grenade hack to combine her shock grenades 
  with inject nanobots. If one opponent in particular 
  seems too dangerous, she targets their weapons 
  with discharge.
  Morale Exposed and backed into a corner, Dylaska fights to 
  the death. 
  STATISTICS
  Str +2; Dex +1; Con +2; Int +5; Wis +1; Cha +4
  Skills Bluff +19, Computers +19, Mysticism +14, Sense 
  Motive +19
  Languages Brethedan, Common, Reptoid
  Other Abilities cache capacitor (keen senses), change 
  shape (any specific humanoid), magic hacks (selective 
  targeting, spell grenade), spell cache (datapad) 
  Gear estex suit III (mk 1 electrostatic field, load lifter, 
  radiation buffer), blasting advanced semi-auto pistol 
  with 30 small arm rounds, shock grenades II (2), mk 2 
  null-space chamber, serum of enhancement (diplomat), 
  datapadAR
  Treasure: Dylaska’s mk 2 null-space chamber contains 
  valuables collected during her career that she intends to sell 
  on the black market after escaping: a minor W-boson crystal, 
  a mk 2 computer idol (Starfinder Armory 120), and extensive 
  false identification papers (which could be sold on the black 
  market for 2,000 credits).
  Development: If the PCs save the Steward computer 
  core, they earn the respect of the local law enforcement 
  officers who haven’t been replaced by reptoids, though to 
  what extent that affects the campaign is left up to you. At 
  minimum, you can increase Roselight’s maximum item level 
  to 13th to reflect the increased access the Stewards have to 
  special technology.
  If the PCs lose the last 24 hours of files, they don’t have any 
  solid proof of Dylaska’s corruption or her role in poisoning 
  the precinct and threatening the computer core, making it 
  far more difficult to conduct an extensive investigation into 
  any remaining reptoids within the Stewards’ ranks.
  In either case, the PCs can find memos written by Chief 
  Inspector Dylaska within the backups that refer several 
  officers—those the PCs have already encountered—to Gamut 
  Bio to receive the experimental HepatoDyne implants. 
  Indeed, Dylaska and any reptoids with her have recent 
  surgical scars on their arms. Even a cursory autopsy reveals 
  the same mycelium strands the PCs have likely discovered 
  time and again.
  If the PCs comb through Dylaska’s datapad, they find the 
  reptoid’s personal journal, though the entries appear to have 
  been scrubbed on a regular basis. A PC who succeeds at a DC 
  26 Computers check can retrieve fragments of these records, 
  though not enough to fully prove the reptoid conspiracy 
  here on Roselight. However, there is a final entry dated 
  only a few weeks ago. It reads, “Investigating the barathu 
  tinkerer Flomeraccu proves my fears. The dycepskians have 
  a foothold somewhere on Liavara. I will root them out before 
  they become a threat, but until then I have learned of an 
  experimental bio-filter augmentation being produced by 
  Gamut Bio that explicitly filters out similar infections. My 
  contact there owes me a favor. I’ll continue my investigations 
  once I’m protected from their contagion.” 
  The word “dycepskian” should be new to the PCs. A PC 
  who succeeds at a DC 35 Computers check to search the 
  infosphere finds a few scattered mentions of the name 
  applied to the fungal parasites uncovered during the 
  Zeffrac Science Platform incident (as referenced in the 
  Adventure Background).
  If the PCs don’t intercede at the Steward base, Dylaska 
  and any remaining reptoid infiltrators retreat to the Gamut 
  Bio facility. The PCs can reencounter these remaining 
  Roselight reptoid hosts in the lower level of that facility, 
  wherever you deem appropriate.
  Story Award: If the PCs completely stop the core wipe, 
  award them an additional 1,200 XP. If they only save the 
  backup files and lose the last 24-hours’ worth of information, 
  award them 600 XP instead.
  ON TO GAMUT BIO
  All but one of the reptoids the PCs encountered were 
  implanted with the same experimental HepatoDyne 
  augmentation, created by the biotech company Gamut 
  Bio. Researching the implant requires a successful DC 24 
  Computers or Diplomacy check, revealing that the implant 
  is the first augmentation release from this small, 30-year-old 
  company, which operates from a private science station 
  about 1 hour outside the city. Any attempts to contact the 
  facility results in an automated recording that states, “Your 
  call is very important to us,” before asking the caller to leave 
  a message.
  Most of the available information on the infosphere refers 
  to Gamut Bio’s exciting new implant, which the company 
  claims to have almost ready for widespread sale. While the 
  reptoid menace in Roselight is subdued for the moment, the 
  dycepskian threat remains, and with the Stewards reeling 
  from Dylaska's gas attack, only the PCs can intervene. Vorsen 
  and Ephecta drive this fact home for the PCs and encourage 
  them to investigate while they aid their coworkers in cleaning 
  up the mess at their base.
  26
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  The Gamut Bio facility is an independent aerial station 
  (or aerostat) floating in a region of calm atmosphere about 
  1 hour’s flight from Roselight. As a registered corporate 
  outpost, its location is publicly available on the infosphere, 
  as is the company charter describing its purpose: to engineer 
  stable symbiotic food crops for Liavaran epifarms. Nothing 
  in the corporate charter discusses medical or augmentation 
  research. Gamut Bio’s infosphere site mentions that the 
  company’s founder, a barathu biologist named Jesara Hy 
  Nevintsi, is a well-respected scientist with a vision for the 
  future. Of course, it fails to note the dycepskian infestation 
  that has befallen most of the company.
  While PCs with explosives might consider simply 
  destroying the station, they have no way of knowing how 
  many employees remain innocent, unwitting pawns of 
  the dycepskian masterminds, nor do they have any way 
  of knowing whether Gamut Bio has already shipped their 
  conversion implants elsewhere. 
  E. GAMUT BIO
  As the PCs approach the Gamut Bio facility, read or paraphrase 
  the following.
  Acres of balloon-like plants float lazily around the research 
  facility, blossoming in a rainbow of colors and scents. The 
  station bobs slightly in the air, a lopsided, oblong building 
  supported above the soft glow of hover engines. Stenciled 
  letters across the aerostat’s side read “Gamut Bio” in large 
  letters. Countless bulbs and knobs dot the irregular surface, 
  but a distinct series of landing pads is attached to the 
  station’s eastern edge.
  Built during Roselight’s retro-modernism architecture fad 
  several decades ago, the Gamut Bio facility is an eclectic 
  collection of broad curves, black windows, and sleet-gray 
  metal. It broadens at the top and narrows in the lower levels 
  where the smaller, restricted labs are located. Below those 
  are the water systems and a forest of long, trailing antennae 
  and stabilizers. 
  As an aerostat, the Gamut Bio facility is neutrally buoyant, 
  relying on several large, lighter-than-air ballast tanks to 
  maintain its altitude. This prevents the station from plummeting 
  deeper into the atmosphere in the event of a power outage. 
  The station also uses several large hover engines to maintain 
  a stable location and to use as backup in case the ballast 
  tanks leak. Constructed primarily to be light, rather than 
  durable, most of the exterior walls are lightweight metallic 
  foam (hardness 20, HP 45, break DC 27), while the interior 
  walls are mold-grown, wood-like filaments covered in plastic 
  and metallic films to contain atmosphere (hardness 8, HP 40). 
  Similar aerostats are especially popular on Liavara because of 
  their reduced environmental impact.
  Gamut Bio is divided into two distinct security levels: 
  the low-security upper levels—generally called the public 
  labs (though these also include employee facilities)—and the 
  high-security lower levels that workers call the inner labs. A 
  PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Engineering check while looking 
  over the station recognizes that the hover engines aren’t 
  powerful enough to the keep the entire facility aloft on its 
  own, and that it must rely on buoyant air tanks, using the 
  hover engines to maneuver. A PC who succeeds at a DC 27 
  Perception check spots the machine shop’s loading bay doors 
  (area E6).
  Gamut Bio’s restricted lower level contains the reactor, 
  computer core, aquaponics, and the seed shop once used for 
  mass production of new plant strains. While never intended 
  to be a fortress, it is secured against corporate espionage and 
  sabotage, and has proved a perfect breeding ground for the 
  dycepskians as they cloned new fungal tissue. 
  The Zeffrac strain and its ability to infect barathus also 
  provided an enticing new resource to the dycepskians. They 
  found they could remove slices of host barathu tissue and 
  combine them to create an organic computer upgrade for 
  their hive mind. This CPU organelle adds no memories or 
  thoughts to the fungal mass mind, only raw mental power, 
  which the dycepskians have used to accelerate their research 
  and planning. They were able to design the revolutionary 
  HepatoDyne implant in under a year; expand the range of the 
  fungal mass mind to reach distant Roselight; and manifest 
  powerful, short-range psychic powers.
  Distinctive green filaments cover almost every surface of 
  the restricted labs, forming a psychic antenna to help the CPU 
  organelle connect Liavara’s dycepskian network. A PC who 
  succeeds at a DC 28 Life Science check identifies the tendrils 
  as a combination of barathu tissue and fungal mycelium. 
  Destroying the filaments cuts the dycepskians off from any 
  remaining agents in Roselight, but otherwise has no effect.
  The CPU organelle requires intensive resources, and dozens 
  of larger, vine-like structures snake through the restricted labs 
  to collect water and nutrients from the aquaponics lab (area 
  E12) and power from the reactor (area E14) using specialized 
  remote nodes. While there are too many tendrils—snaking 
  through hallways, vents, and even inside the walls—for the 
  PCs to sever, destroying the collection nodes in those areas 
  has a devastating effect on the processor itself (see area E16).
  If the PCs scan the aerostat from afar, a few noninfested 
  employees leave at the end of business hours, but many 
  stay behind to work late. As the PCs land their vessel, the 
  noninfested employees are asked to relocate to the cafeteria 
  (area E5) as part of a routine drill for when suspicious or 
  unscheduled visitors approach the facility.
  PART 3:YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  27
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  e1. Landing pads
  Two small private pads and a large multi-craft pad 
  provide easy access for visiting shuttles and other 
  vessels. Normally, employees commute by 
  company shuttle from Roselight or other 
  nearby residential facilities. The landing 
  pads are monitored by cameras but have 
  no other security. The front door is left 
  unlocked to throw off any unexpected 
  visitors and maintain the facade of Gamut 
  Bio being an ordinary lab.
  e2. reCepTion (Cr 7)
  There is an array of transparent 
  cylinders along the south wall, 
  each containing a replica of 
  a plant floating in a colored 
  fog, showcasing Gamut Bio’s 
  various products. The western 
  wall is transparent, offering a 
  stunning view of the surrounding 
  skyscape marred only by the industrial 
  utility of the landing pad. A reception desk and various hard, 
  plastic chairs fill out this room.
  Visiting guests and job applicants wait here, usually 
  proceeding to the meeting room (area E3); the reception 
  area also serves as the front line of security for the 
  dycepskian-infested inhabitants.
  Creature: A bubbly receptionist named Salis Tillegu (N 
  female dycepskian-infested [page 55] damaya lashunta) sits 
  behind the desk. She greets the PCs warmly regardless of 
  how armed or aggressive they seem, assuring them that 
  business has been lovely and inviting them to learn about 
  and invest in Gamut Bio’s exciting new ventures. By now 
  the dycepskian fungal mass mind recognizes the dangers 
  the PCs pose to their plans, and Tillegu is running token 
  interference while the rest of the company prepares. She 
  politely but firmly refuses them access to the rest of the 
  facility, citing a “minor security situation” and apologizing 
  for the inconvenience.
  Tillegu is a noncombatant, has an EAC of 11, a KAC of 13, 
  and 6 HP; she has a total +1 bonus to all her saving throws. 
  If the PCs threaten her or make moves to charge past her 
  through the door to the east, she presses a button beneath 
  her desk, which causes the door to area E3 to open. The 
  threshwolf hosts in that room come charging out to attack 
  the PCs. Meanwhile, Tillegu sits calmly at her desk, despite 
  any violence going on around her.
  Development: If she survives any combat that happens 
  here, Tillegu refuses to give any information to the PCs, 
  though her demeanor remains chipper. She doesn’t resist if 
  the PCs restrain or even kill her.
  A PC can access a small part of Gamut 
  Bio’s computer network from the terminal 
  on Tillegu’s desk with a successful DC 25 
  Computers check. Within, they can find 
  public 
  financial 
  statements, 
  marketing 
  materials, and lists of client data for their 
  previous legitimate business dealings, but little 
  on the HepatoDyne’s design or test location 
  beyond a list of Steward test subjects (which 
  the PCs should already know about).
  e3. ConferenCe rooM (Cr 7)
  The doors to this room are kept locked (requiring a 
  successful DC 30 Engineering check to open), with 
  posted signs reading “Maintenance Hazard: Do 
  Not Enter” in both Brethedan and Common. The 
  room contains a curved conference table 
  lined with chairs, a holographic projector, 
  and several cracked display screens. A 
  pungent smell of ammonia hangs in the air.
  Gamut Bio’s noninfested employees 
  know nothing of the conference room’s 
  residents. They have been grumbling about 
  the closed room and smell for a week now, but have also been 
  happier with the general lack of meetings.
  Creatures: Before it became infested, Gamut Bio used 
  security robots to protect the facility, like many other 
  businesses. They have been replaced with a pair of dangerous 
  predators called threshwolves that have been subjected to 
  the dycepskian mycelium. Like the needlehawks the PCs 
  encountered in Roselight, the threshwolves are organic drones.
  THRESHWOLF HOSTS (2) 
  CR 5
  XP 1,600 each
  Dycepskian-infested threshwolf (pages 55, 60)
  N Medium animal (dycepskian)
  Init +5; Senses blindsense (scent) 30 ft., low-light vision; 
  Perception +11
  DEFENSE  
   
   
            HP 76 EACH
  EAC 15; KAC 17
  Fort +9; Ref +9; Will +9
  Defensive Abilities quills; Immunities mind-affecting 
  effects, poison
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction, vulnerable to 
  sonic
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee bite +11 (1d6+8 P plus grab)
  Offensive Abilities thresh (1d6+5 S)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Each threshwolf attacks a different PC, 
  attempting to bite and grab them before subjecting them 
  to their thresh offensive ability.
  Morale The threshwolf hosts fight to the death.
   Salis Tillegu
  28
  
  STATISTICS
  Str +3; Dex +5; Con +2; Int –4; Wis +1; Cha –3
  Skills Athletics +11, Bluff +16, Stealth +11, Survival +16
  Other Abilities fungal mass mind
  e4. offiCes
  This average-looking workspace is empty (having been 
  recently vacated when the PCs arrive). These seven desks 
  are assigned to Gamut Bio’s accounting and marketing teams. 
  Many of these employees haven’t been infested by the 
  dycepskians yet and know nothing of the sinister purpose 
  of their new implant. Their computers can be accessed the 
  same way as the one in area E2, and the PCs find similar 
  information within.
  e5. CafeTeria
  The bowed outer wall of this staff cafeteria is transparent, 
  looking over the cloudscape beyond. Several large bubbles in 
  the curved expanse provide a broader view, with tables set in 
  them to create cozy nooks. Several automated machines sit 
  on a counter to the west, smelling of coffee and burned corn. 
  The cafeteria serves all of the facility’s staff and occasionally 
  doubles as a secondary work environment for some.
  Creatures: When the PCs raid Gamut Bio, the infested 
  management has instructed any nonhost employees still 
  present to take shelter here.
  None of the terrified office workers here are dycepskian 
  hosts, just panicked accountants and researchers who think 
  they’re being attacked by space pirates. A PC who succeeds 
  at a DC 20 Sense Motive check can tell the staff is panicked 
  and has no combat experience. The group is easily cowed 
  with a successful DC 22 Intimidate check, or if any of them 
  take any damage; treat each employee as having an EAC 
  of 11, a KAC of 13, 6 HP, and a total +1 bonus to all their 
  saving throws. Calming the group requires a successful 
  DC 25 Diplomacy check; this DC increases by 5 if the PCs 
  have already cowed them. If all the PCs lay down or holster 
  their weapons, they gain a +2 circumstance bonus to this 
  Diplomacy check.
  The staff doesn’t leave the cafeteria to chase fleeing heroes.
  Development: If cowed, the group retreats as far back 
  into the cafeteria as they can and stay put until told 
  they can leave. If calmed instead, the group can answer 
  questions about the facility, with Morja Sonn (NG female 
  korasha lashunta), a graphic designer, acting as their 
  spokesperson. They have no real information about the 
  company’s new augmentation, and most of them thought 
  it was strange to pivot to producing augmentations in the 
  first place.
  These employees know all the augmentation research 
  and production happens in the restricted inner labs—where 
  most of the research and senior staff retreated to when 
  trouble began—which are only accessible through “the 
  farm,” a test chamber for aero-crops (area E9). If the PCs 
  have already attempted to access the farm, they will have 
  discovered that the door to the chamber is welded shut. If 
  they mention the welded doors to the employees, one of the 
  maintenance workers mentions that the water reclamation 
  system in the machine plant (area E6) reaches the inner 
  labs as well, but that the barathu Dr. Senoika Iz Mollus 
  confiscated all the maintenance key cards a few days earlier. 
  Sonn also tells them the shutdown code for the dangerous 
  cyclers in area E13 if they ask.
  Treasure: The equipment on the counter includes a mk 
  3 culinary synthesizer (Starfinder Armory 129), while the 
  cupboard below contains 500 UPBs.
  Story Award: If the PCs negotiate with the staff 
  nonviolently, award them 2,400 XP.
  e6. MaChine pLanT (Cr 8)
  Both interior doors to this room are locked, requiring a 
  successful DC 27 Engineering check to open. The alarmed 
  exterior loading door, which a PC may have spotted with a 
  successful DC 27 Perception check while flying outside the 
  station, is used for industrial supplies and heavy equipment. It 
  is also kept locked, requiring a successful DC 32 Engineering 
  check to open, but the alarm has been broken for months 
  without any of the employees noticing.
  The machine plant houses much of the station’s support 
  mechanisms: water filtration, air filtration, waste disposal, 
  and facility repair. The dycepskian janitors normally keep it 
  in immaculate condition, but their attention has shifted from 
  maintaining the facade of normalcy to reinforcing the station 
  in anticipation of an attack, so they have largely ignored 
  the area for several days. None of the equipment here can 
  immediately shut down the station; engines and main power 
  are controlled from the power plant (area E14); the PCs can 
  turn off the lights, water, or air conditioning to the upper 
  labs, but none of those actions create an immediate hazard 
  to residents.
  A large hatch in the floor here labeled “water reclamation” 
  leads down to the lower restricted levels, specifically area 
  E13, and ultimately into the hydroponics lab (area E12). The 
  hatch is electronically locked, requiring a successful DC 30 
  Computers check to hack or a successful DC 35 Engineering 
  check to disable; the barathus in area E9 carry the only 
  remaining key card.
  Creature: Part of the maintenance staff’s responsibilities 
  included cleaning the station’s biofilters and scrubbing them 
  for contaminants. However, the dycepskians have been lax 
  while preparing for the PCs’ arrival, and a moonflower seed 
  washed into the plumbing system. With the facility locked 
  shut for several days now, the dangerous moonflower has 
  quickly grown to full size, stripping other organic material 
  from the filters. It is now ravenous and aggressive, attacking 
  anyone who enters the room.
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  29
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  E. GAMUT BIO
  E. GAMUT BIO
  E1
  E1
  E2
  E2
  E3
  E3
  E4
  E4
  E5
  E5
  E9
  E9
  DOWN TO
  DOWN TO
  E10
  E10
  UP TO
  UP TO
  E9
  E9
  UP TO 
  UP TO E6
  E6
  DOWN TO 
  DOWN TO E13
  E13
  1 SQUARE = 5 FEET
  1 SQUARE = 5 FEET
  E7
  E7
  E8
  E8
  E6
  E6
  E16
  E16
  E13
  E13
  E15
  E15
  E14
  E14
  E10
  E10
  E11
  E11
  E12
  E12
  30
  
  MOONFLOWER 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  HP 125 (Starfinder Alien Archive 2 84)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The moonflower begins combat with a light 
  pulse, and then tries to swallow the nearest PC whole.
  Morale The aggressive moonflower fights to the death.
  Treasure: Six dive helmets, each with its own air supply lasting 
  1 hour, hang on the wall above the water reclamation hatch. The 
  staff use these to clean or repair the station’s sophisticated water 
  recycling system. A PC who succeeds at a DC 25 Perception 
  check also uncovers a laser drill (Starfinder Armory 105).
  e7. BoTany LaB (Cr 8)
  Bubbling tubes and bulbs line most of the cluttered workspace 
  here, with tall stands of greenery growing from tub-sized 
  pots of black soil. Balloon-like plants bob near the tall ceiling, 
  trailing streamers and leaves beneath them. The room reeks 
  of industrial cleansers and compost in equal measure.
  Much of Gamut Bio’s research work happens in this botany 
  lab. Research here focuses on unnatural selection: manual 
  cross-pollination, selective breeding, and nutrient changes, 
  with the most successful specimens being transplanted to 
  the adjacent greenhouse (area E9) for additional breeding 
  and testing. The lab’s researchers focus primarily on the 
  floating plants that can survive in Liavara’s atmosphere, 
  cross-pollinating them with more traditional terrestrial crops 
  in order to produce a wider variety of foodstuffs and biomass.
  Creature: Before the dycepskian infestation of Gamut Bio, 
  the researchers were studying the hard rinds of Liavara’s 
  floating reebadarus plants and how the saliva of the vaguely 
  avian kriegakos is able to break it down. To do so, the 
  scientists captured a kriegakos and kept it in a cage here. 
  When the dycepskians realized they couldn’t infest the beast, 
  they left it to starve. When the PCs arrive, the kriegakos has 
  dissolved a hole in its cage and has been snacking on the lab’s 
  plants. It ferociously defends its new home turf.
  KRIEGAKOS 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  HP 115 (page 57)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The kriegakos darts around the room, 
  taking full advantage of its flyby attack ability. If it gets 
  surrounded, it flings its corrosive saliva everywhere.
  Morale The escaped creature fights to the death.
  Treasure: A medical emergency kit on the wall contains 
  two tier 3 antitoxins, two mk 3 serums of healing, six cans 
  of sprayflesh, and two white nanite hypopens (Starfinder 
  Armory 106).
  e8. deep freeze
  This walk-in freezer is used to preserve interesting 
  specimens and genetic material for future analysis. A PC 
  who succeeds at a DC 30 Perception check while searching 
  the freezer finds Sivich Trobel, a dead reptoid, tucked into a 
  crate marked “moss starters.” Trobel was the first reptoid to 
  stumble across the dycepskian infestation as he attempted 
  to infiltrate the small biotech company, accidentally alerting 
  the fungal invaders to their reptoid rivals.
  At your discretion, a datapad under Trobel’s body 
  contains details on the adventure background the PCs 
  haven’t yet learned.
  e9. The farM (Cr 9)
  The arched dome of this greenhouse reaches some forty feet 
  overhead, with floating Liavaran plants bobbing throughout 
  the open space. Raised garden boxes and glass cylinders 
  overflow with mosses, flowering plants, and small crops. 
  A pair of sturdy metal doors to the east reads, “Restricted 
  Labs: Extreme Biohazard Risk! No Unauthorized Personnel!”
  Gamut Bio uses this large greenhouse to test-grow 
  promising specimens before moving them to the seed shop 
  (area E15) for mass production, as well as growing a steady 
  supply of staple plants used in experiments. 
  The reinforced security doors (hardness 20, HP 80, break 
  DC 32) lead down to the security gantry (area E10) and the 
  restricted labs beyond. In addition to the normal lock (which 
  requires a successful DC 30 Engineering check to disable), 
  the janitorial staff have welded the doors shut from the other 
  side, making it impossible to open without blowing the door 
  apart or cutting it open with specific equipment (like the laser 
  drill found in E6). It takes 30 minutes to drill a hole in the 
  doors large enough to squeeze through with this tool, making 
  enough noise to alert any dycepskians on this floor.
  The large planters here offer concealment but not cover.
  Creatures: Four barathu research scientists, including the 
  research lead Dr. Senoika Iz Mollus, were among the first 
  Gamut Bio employees infected by the dycepskians. The four 
  have continued their work here, but when the PCs’ vessel 
  approaches the facility, they merge into a single, huge barathu 
  entity for mutual protection and to more easily destroy any 
  intruders who try to access the restricted labs.
  BARATHU BRUISER 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  Dycepskian-infested combined barathu (page 55, Starfinder 
  Alien Archive 20)
  N Huge aberration
  Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +22
  DEFENSE 
  HP 135
  EAC 26; KAC 27
  Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +14
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  31
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  Defensive Abilities amorphous; DR 2/—; Immunities 
  mind-affecting effects; Resistances fire 5
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed fly 30 ft. (Ex, perfect)
  Melee slam +19 (3d4+15 B)
  Ranged stone thrower +17 (2d8+9 B)
  Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
  TACTICS
  Before Combat These combined barathus chose the 
  following adaptations when they merged: increased 
  Armor Class, damage reduction, fire resistance, and a 
  natural ranged attack. If the dycepskians learned the 
  PCs prefer a specific type of damage, these barathus 
  select resistance to that energy type in place of fire.
  During Combat The barathu bruiser is little more than four 
  scientists combined together. They use the most basic 
  of combat tactics, moving behind cover to engage one 
  or two opponents at a time. If the PCs do something 
  unexpected, the barathu bruiser may sacrifice their 
  increased AC adaptation to respond.
  Morale The dycepskians fear only isolation, so the barathu 
  bruiser fights to the death to preserve the larger colony.
  STATISTICS
  Str +6; Dex +0; Con +4; Int +3; Wis +2; Cha +0
  Skills Acrobatics +22 (+30 to fly), Bluff +22, 
  Life Science +22, Physical Science +17, Sense Motive +17
  Languages Brethedan, Common; telepathy 100 ft.
  Other Abilities adaptation, combine, fungal mass mind
  Development: If the PCs search the barathu corpse, they 
  find a sticky security key card among the flesh. This key 
  card opens the water reclamation maintenance hatch in the 
  machine plant (area E6), as well as the security doors in the 
  security hub (area E11).
  e10. seCuriTy ganTry (Cr 8)
  This curving hallway separates the secure level from the public 
  areas above. The door at the western end of the hallway is 
  electronically locked, requiring a successful DC 30 Computers 
  check to bypass the key card reader or a successful DC 30 
  Engineering check to disable the lock. The key card found on 
  the barathu bruiser’s body in area E9 unlocks this door. 
  Trap: An array of stun ordinance once lined the gantry, but 
  the dycepskians have replaced these with plasma weapons to 
  disintegrate any trespassers. The sensors are controlled by 
  the CPU organelle and allow dycepskian hosts to pass, with 
  their fungal mass mind acting as a psychic security key. The 
  guns fire on anyone else entering the area for 10 rounds or 
  until they are destroyed, whichever comes first. 
  There are four turrets, and each one has EAC 
  19, KAC 23, Fort +11, Ref +8, hardness 5, 
  and 35 HP. Destroying a turret reduces the 
  damage dealt by 1d12.
  PLASMA TURRETS 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  Type technological; Perception DC 32; Disable 
  Engineering DC 27 (shut down the 
  turrets) or Mysticism DC 27 (fool the 
  psychic sensors)
  Trigger location; Init +14; Duration 10 rounds; 
  Reset 1 minute
  Effect plasma turrets +20 ranged (4d12 E & F); multiple 
  targets (all non-dycepskian targets in the area)
  e11. seCuriTy huB (Cr 8)
  Two dozen security monitors are mounted on the 
  southern wall here above some small desks, though 
  many of them stand dark and overgrown with 
  greenish-yellow filaments. 
  The security hub was formerly used to watch over 
  the rest of the facility, but the dycepskians use their 
   Barathu Bruiser
  32
  
  fungal mass mind to stay in communication and have left the 
  monitors here alone. The two working monitors show areas 
  E12 and E14. A PC who succeeds at a DC 25 Perception check 
  notices the fungal nodes in those rooms. A PC who then 
  succeeds at a DC 28 Life Science check can surmise their 
  general purpose as described on page 27; in short, they help 
  maintain an as-yet-unknown fungal entity.
  The doors here are labeled but kept locked, and like the 
  turrets in the entryway, are controlled by the CPU organelle 
  and can be bypassed by those who are part of the fungal mass 
  mind. Otherwise, the doors can be opened with one of the 
  old security key cards (such as the one found on the barathu 
  bruiser in area E9), a successful DC 30 Computers check to 
  bypass the reader, or a successful DC 30 Engineering check to 
  disable the lock. Any of the doors opened without a key card 
  stay open; otherwise they close after 30 seconds.
  Especially massive trunks of tendrils extend across the 
  ceiling between the northern, northeastern, and western doors.
  Creatures: The Gamut Bio janitorial staff are actually 
  dycepskian hosts “recruited” from a dangerous mercenary 
  group that passed through Roselight several weeks ago. The 
  crew acted as muscle for the dycepskians until the fungal 
  invaders began infesting the local Stewards, after which they 
  shifted to a defensive role here in the facility.
  GAMUT BIO JANITORS (4) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  Male and female dycepskian-infested korasha lashunta 
  soldier (page 55)
  N Medium humanoid (dycepskian, lashunta)
  Init +9; Perception +15
  DEFENSE 
  HP 50 EACH
  EAC 16; KAC 19
  Fort +6; Ref +4; Will +5
  Immunities mind-affecting effects
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft. (25 ft. in armor)
  Melee hook sword +9 (1d8+7 S; critical bleed 1d4)
  Ranged advanced plasma bolter +12 (2d8+4 E & F; critical 
  wound [DC 13])
  or stickybomb grenade II +9 (explode [15 ft., entangled 
  2d4 rounds, DC 13])
  Offensive Abilities fighting styles (hit-and-run), opening volley
  Lashunta Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th)
  1/day—detect thoughts (DC 12)
  At will—daze (DC 11), psychokinetic hand
  TACTICS
  During Combat As former mercenaries, the janitors move 
  with military precision, targeting spellcasters or nimble 
  combatants first. Every round, at least one of them 
  throws a stickybomb grenade in an attempt to keep the 
  PCs locked down.
  Morale These hosts fight to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str +3; Dex +5; Con +1; Int +0; Wis +1; Cha +0
  Skills Athletics +10, Bluff +15, Engineering +10, Stealth +10
  Languages Common, Lashunta; limited telepathy 30 ft.
  Other Abilities fungal mass mind
  Gear officer ceremonial plate, advanced plasma bolterAR 
  with 2 high-capacity batteries (40 charges each), hook 
  swordAR, stickybomb grenades II (2)
  e12. hydroponiCs (Cr 8)
  Two large pools of water and several hydroponic racks 
  fill much of this laboratory, each overgrown with aquatic 
  plants. A grated well in the eastern pool plunges down into 
  darkness. A throbbing node three feet across hums softly 
  in the largest tank, tied into the vine-like fungal tendrils 
  leading across the ceiling and to the eastern door. 
  While Liavara’s atmosphere can’t support aquatic plant 
  life, many stations use hydroponic systems as part of their 
  atmosphere processing, water filtration, or food systems. Gamut 
  Bio catered to this niche by selling the specially cultivated 
  plants, algae, and bacterial colonies found in this chamber. A 
  sturdy grating (which can be removed with a successful DC 15 
  Strength check) covers the passage to area E13.
  Creatures: If the PCs don’t enter the restricted labs through 
  the water-reclamation tank, they encounter Dr. Callajam and 
  her eels here. While the kalo biohacker can move freely around 
  the room thanks to her armor, her pets are restricted to the 
  two large tanks, forcing them to attack mostly via their electric 
  arc ability.
  Development: If the PCs destroy the fungal node here 
  (hardness 5, HP 15), they restrict the CPU organelle's access to 
  the water it needs for cooling. This reduces the DC of the spell-like 
  abilities cast through its psychic network by 2 (page 36).
  e13. WaTer reCLaMaTion (Cr 8)
  The interior walls of this large water tank are covered with 
  bacterial mats and ultraviolet lamps that help break down 
  containments, while a large turbine in the northeast corner 
  circulates the water. Gravel has been spread along the floor, 
  and large tubes lead to the west and south.
  The ceiling here is 15 feet high, and the chamber is 
  completely full of water. Dim light filters through the water 
  from lights in the ceiling. This tank, which sits at the lowest 
  level of Gamut Bio, provides nutrient- and bacteria-rich water 
  that is ideal for growing the facility’s plants. A secondary 
  system further purifies this water into sterile water for 
  drinking and lab use. A ladder at the end of the western tube 
  leads up to area E6, and the southern tube curves up to a 
  grate (which requires a successful DC 15 Strength check to 
  open), leading to area E12.
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  33
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  Hazard: At the end of each round, every creature in the 
  water here must succeed at a DC 15 Athletics check to swim 
  or be dragged 10 feet closer to the churning turbine. A 
  creature that moves into the turbine’s space or ends its turn 
  there takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage. The turbine can be shut 
  down by entering the security code obtained from employees 
  in area E5 into a waterproof panel (or by succeeding at a DC 
  28 Engineering check) next to the ladder to area E6.
  Creatures: Dr. Phryine Callajam once led Gamut Bio’s 
  aquaponics research. The dycepskians claimed her to exploit 
  her understanding of biology and gene-splicing. The doctor’s 
  pet project was studying arc morays, an eel species native 
  to Kalo-Mahoi that hunt by discharging electric arcs from 
  bulbs in their foreheads. She had once hoped to splice this 
  ability into bacteria to create organic power cells, but her 
  dycepskian infestation redirected her priorities. She has 
  since converted her pair of tame research subjects into vicious 
  guard animals.
  ARC MORAYS (2) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  N Medium animal (aquatic)
  Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +10
  DEFENSE 
  HP 50 EACH
  EAC 16; KAC 18
  Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +3
  Resistances cold 10
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 50 ft.
  Melee bite +9 (1d6+7 P)
  Ranged electric arc +12 (1d4+4 E; critical arc 1d4)
  STATISTICS
  Str +3; Dex +5; Con +1; Int –4; Wis +1; Cha –3
  Skills Athletics +15 (+23 to swim), Stealth +10, Survival +10
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Electric Arc (Ex) An arc moray can generate a powerful 
  bolt of electricity from a special organ embedded in its 
  forehead as a ranged attack. It has a maximum range of 
  10 feet in air or 20 feet in water.
  PHRYINE CALLAJAM 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Dycepskian-infested kalo biohacker (page 55, Starfinder Alien 
  Archive 68, Starfinder Character Operations Manual 40)
  N Medium monstrous humanoid (aquatic, dycepskian)
  Init +3; Senses blindsight (sound) 60 ft., low-light vision; 
  Perception +18
  DEFENSE 
  HP 80
  EAC 18; KAC 19
  Fort +7; Ref +5; Will +9
  Immunities mind-affecting effects; Resistances cold 5
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft., swim 50 ft.
  Melee sharp-pointed syringe stick +12 (1d4+6 P; critical 
  injection DC +2)
  Ranged advanced needler pistol +14 (1d6+6 P; critical 
  injection DC +2)
  Offensive Abilities biohacks
  TACTICS
  During Combat Dr. Callajam relies heavily on her needler 
  pistol, attempting to impart a vulnerability to electricity 
  to one or more PCs using her genetics inhibitor. 
  Morale Like all hosts, Dr. Callajam fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +3; Con +0; Int +5; Wis +2; Cha +1
  Skills Athletics +13 (+21 to swim), Bluff +18, Culture +13, Life 
  Science +18, Medicine +18, Physical Science +13
  Languages Brethedan, Common, Kalo, Shirren, Triaxian, 
  Vesk, Ysoki
   Phryine Callajam
  34
  
  Other Abilities breakthroughs (gene therapy), custom 
  microlab (datapad), fields of study (genetics), fungal mass 
  mind, theorems (hampering inhibitor, treat condition)
  Gear d-suit I, advanced needler pistolCOM with 16 darts, sharp-
  pointed syringe stickCOM, golden locket (worth 250 credits)
  Treasure: Dr. Callajam’s locket contains a hologram of her 
  parents, brother, and sister, as well as their current contact 
  information so Phryine could always reach them no matter 
  where she traveled. If the PCs contact the Callajam family, 
  share the tragic news of their daughter’s death, and arrange to 
  deliver the locket to them on Kalo-Mahoi (costing 100 credits), 
  the family reaches out to them 2 weeks later to express their 
  undying gratitude (which includes a funds transfer of 2,500 
  credits) for the PCs’ kindness. 
  e14. poWer pLanT (Cr 7)
  A large reactor in the far corner of this long chamber bathes 
  the whole room in a soft, blue glow and the scent of ozone. 
  Thick bundles of organic tendrils—shaded black by the 
  chamber’s light—cluster around the reactor, with a pulsing, 
  organic node half-concealed by the machine’s bulk.
  The fusion reactor here powers the entire complex, including 
  the hover engines, though emergency batteries will keep the 
  facility operating normally for several hours if anyone deactivates 
  the reactor. Gamut Bio also used this as a workshop to 3D print 
  whatever tools and supplies were required for its research.
  Hazard: The dycepskians have neglected the reactor, which 
  has begun to crack from the surrounding tendrils and leak 
  radiation. This chamber is now bathed in radiation: severe 
  within 10 feet of the reactor, high 10 feet beyond that, and 
  medium for the rest of the area.
  In addition, the reactor discharges an arc of plasma each 
  round. The bolt targets the creature closest to the reactor 
  (+15 ranged attack, 8d6 E & F). The reactor has energy 
  shielding, giving it EAC 22, KAC 18, hardness 10, and 100 HP. 
  When it takes 50 damage, the radiation increases to severe 
  throughout the entire chamber.
  The reactor can be safely repaired or shut down—
  eliminating the radiation and plasma discharge—with three 
  successful DC 28 Engineering checks. 
  Development: If the PCs destroy the fungal node here 
  (hardness 5, HP 15), they restrict the CPU organelle’s access to 
  the raw energy it needs to process information. This reduces 
  the DC of the spell-like abilities cast through its psychic 
  network by 2 (page 36). 
  Treasure: A crate under a workbench holds 2,000 UPBs 
  for use in the 3D printers. A PC who succeeds at a DC 25 
  Perception check also finds a suit of white carbon skin armor 
  with a radiation buffer augmentation.
  Story Award: If the PCs destroy, repair, or shut down the 
  reactor, award them 3,200 XP.
  e15. seed shop (Cr 8)
  Lab workstations frame this chamber, each bearing a set 
  of assembly tools and hexagonal casings stamped, “Gamut 
  Bio HepatoDyne Implant.” The northeast corner contains a 
  tall, transparent aluminum tube, which contains bundles of 
  writhing greenish-yellow filaments.
  In its pre-infested days, Gamut Bio produced small batches 
  of their designer seeds here. The dycepskians have turned this 
  lab into a place to experiment on their own fungal filaments; 
  first, to construct their living supercomputer and amplifier, 
  and more recently to manufacture the HepatoDyne implants, 
  which can quickly convert recipients into new members of 
  their horde.
  A PC who succeeds at a DC 24 Perception check, or a 
  DC 20 Life Science or appropriate Profession skill check, 
  realizes that the amount of equipment present implies that 
  there might be some assembled implants that are currently 
  unaccounted for.
  Creature: When the dycepskians first began tinkering with 
  the idea of building an augmentation to surreptitiously infect 
  new hosts, they purchased dozens of different designs and 
  began installing them into an unfortunate host volunteer. Very 
  little of the human Dr. Iwan Tallouchi survived the extended 
  grafting process, but the networked augmentations have kept 
  their body alive and under the control of the CPU organelle. 
  When the PCs enter this room, the CPU organelle activates this 
  cybernetic golem as a defense. 
  CYBERNETIC GOLEM 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  HP 125 (Starfinder Alien Archive 2 66)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The golem activates its haste circuit and 
  makes full attacks with its artillery laser in the first round. 
  After, it moves into melee range against the nearest PC. 
  All the while, the human parts of Dr. Tallouchi mindlessly 
  recite biochemistry facts.
  Morale The golem fights until it is destroyed.
  Treasure: While many of the augmentations purchased 
  by the dycepskians were installed in Dr. Tallouchi or 
  disassembled for study, a handful remain new and untouched, 
  including an accelerated datajack and a mk 2 weaponized 
  prosthesis (Starfinder Armory 89). A PC who succeeds at a DC 
  28 Perception check also uncovers an x-ray visor accidentally 
  tossed in the trash container after the most recent operation.
  e16. server rooM (Cr 11)
  Fleshy tendrils web across every flat surface of this chamber, 
  dripping fluid and spraying glowing spores into the air. At the 
  far end of the room, a mass of fungus and undifferentiated 
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  35
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  brain tissue throbs and twitches, coating what looks to be a 
  server tower.
  Once Gamut Bio’s server room, this chamber now houses 
  the dycepskian CPU organelle in its western half. The regular 
  server is still operational, interfacing with the organic 
  systems thanks to a series of datajack-like implants, allowing 
  the organelle to comb the infosphere.
  The control panels to the north and southwest are sturdy 
  enough to offer cover. The dycepskians have been working 
  to extend the CPU organelle’s psychic range, trying to take 
  advantage of the recent increase in their numbers.
  Creatures: A handful of dycepskian hosts—two barathus and 
  two humans—have retreated here for this final confrontation, 
  hoping to draw on their creation’s psychic power to finally 
  crush the meddling PCs. While the CPU organelle is mindless 
  and inanimate, its vast processing power grants creatures 
  with the dycepskian subtype within this chamber access to 
  potent psychic powers (see the psychic network ability below). 
  However, if the PCs destroyed any of the nodes in other 
  areas, those powers are lessened. The PCs can target the CPU 
  organelle for destruction if they wish. As a Large, unattended, 
  inanimate object, it has an Armor Class of 2, but it has hardness 
  15 and 42 HP. It has Fortitude and Will saving throw bonuses 
  of +9 and spell resistance 20, but it automatically fails any 
  Reflex saving throws. If the PCs destroy the CPU organelle, the 
  dycepskians can no longer use the psychic network ability.
  Once combat begins here, the dycepskian hosts use their 
  fungal mass mind to call out to any allies in the facility. 
  Undefeated foes arrive in 1d6 rounds.
  GAMUT BIO IT STAFF (2) 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200 each
  Male and female dycepskian-infested human operative 
  (page 55)
  N Medium humanoid (dycepskian, human)
  Init +7; Perception +20
  DEFENSE 
  HP 100 EACH
  EAC 19; KAC 20
  Fort +6; Ref +9; Will +10
  Defensive Abilities evasion; Immunities mind-affecting 
  effects; Resistances cold 5, fire 5
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee vanishing tactical knife +13 (2d4+8 S)
  Ranged corona laser pistol +15 (2d4+7 F; critical burn 1d4)
  Offensive Abilities debilitating trick, psychic network, trick 
  attack +3d8
  TACTICS
  During Combat These hacker operatives attempt to stay 
  mobile, moving about as they try to trick attack the PCs. 
  If a PC gets too close to one of these hosts, they attack 
  with their vanishing tactical knife instead.
  Morale The infested IT staff fight to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str +1; Dex +5; Con +1; Int +4; Wis +1; Cha +0
  Skills Acrobatics +15, Bluff +20, Computers +20, Culture +15, 
  Engineering +20, Life Science +15, Physical Science +15
  Languages Brethedan, Common
  Other Abilities fungal mass mind, operative exploits 
  (bleeding shot [7 bleed], elusive hacker, uncanny 
  mobility), specialization (hacker)
  Gear d-suit II (mk 1 thermal capacitor), corona laser 
  pistol with 2 batteries (20 charges each), vanishingAR 
  tactical knife
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Psychic Network (Sp) As a standard action, a creature with 
  the dycepskian subtype can psychically tap into the 
  CPU organelle to cast lesser resistant armor, mind thrust 
  (3rd level), or synaptic pulse as a spell-like ability, using 
  their CR as the caster level. The DC to resist any of these 
  effects is 21, which is reduced by 2 for each fungal node 
  the PCs have destroyed (see areas E12 and E14). Only 
  one creature can activate this ability per round.
  GAMUT BIO MANAGEMENT (2) 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200 each
  Dycepskian-infested barathu (page 55, Starfinder Alien 
  Archive 20)
  N Large aberration
  Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +14
  DEFENSE 
  HP 102 EACH
  EAC 23; KAC 24
  Fort +6; Ref +6; Will +12
  Defensive Abilities amorphous; Immunities mind-affecting 
  effects
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed fly 30 ft. (Ex, perfect)
  Melee slam +15 (1d8+8 B)
  Ranged red star plasma pistol +13 (1d8+7 E & F; critical 
  burn 1d8)
  Offensive Abilities psychic network
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  TACTICS
  During Combat One barathu taps into the psychic network 
  to cast synaptic pulse on as many PCs as possible, while 
  the other hangs back to fire their plasma pistol. If the PCs 
  favor a certain type of attack, one of these two barathus 
  casts lesser resistant armor to protect one of the IT staff.
  Morale The infested hosts fight to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str +1; Dex +1; Con +4; Int +2; Wis +5; Cha +2
  Skills Acrobatics +19 (+27 to fly), Bluff +19, Diplomacy +19, 
  Life Science +14, Physical Science +14, Sense Motive +19
  Languages Brethedan, Common; telepathy 100 ft.
  Other Abilities adaptation, combine, fungal mass mind
  36
  
  CONCLUDING  
  THE ADVENTURE
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Psychic Network (Sp) Page 36.
  Treasure: With the Gamut Bio facility in tatters and its 
  upper management defeated, its remaining budget—20,000 
  credits—is up for grabs. The PCs can transfer these funds to a 
  credstick once they access the servers.
  Development: Once the CPU organelle has been destroyed, 
  the PCs can access Gamut Bio’s servers and download the 
  restricted development files for the HepatoDyne implant. 
  These detail the augmentation’s development and installation, 
  as well as noting that a handful of them were taken possession 
  by the company’s founder, Jesara Hy Nevintsi, to a place called 
  Diorama R&D on the small Brethedan moon of Molovis.
  The ultimate fate of the Gamut Bio facility is up to the PCs. 
  About a dozen employees still work for the company and 
  aren’t infected by dycepskians, but without the research staff 
  they’ll have very little to do. The facility itself is also filled 
  with fungal tissue, both the inert fibers of the CPU organelle 
  and the active strands used to build the HepatoDyne implants, 
  all of which pose a very real risk of infecting unsuspecting 
  humanoids. The PCs can cleanse the entire facility using 
  organic solvents or fire (requiring a successful DC 30 Life 
  Sciences or Physical Sciences check, respectively, to do 
  thoroughly). Disabling the station’s hover engines or power 
  plant only launches the facility into the winds, as it relies 
  mostly on gas buoyancy to remain afloat and only uses its 
  engines for maneuvering. Destroying the gas tanks keeping 
  Gamut Bio afloat requires powerful explosives, after which 
  the station sinks quickly into the clouds of Liavara to be 
  crushed by the immense pressure.
  With Gamut Bio’s experimental computer neutralized and 
  the local Stewards purged of reptoid infiltrators, Roselight is 
  relatively safe from the Unseen. When the PCs return to the 
  city, investigator Xych Vorsen agrees to try to downplay the 
  PCs’ involvement in any reports of activity at the facility. Any 
  remaining reptoids who escaped the PCs go to ground and 
  attempt to assume new identities. 
  However, the PCs aren’t yet finished with the dycepskians. 
  Vorsen and Ephecta worry that the missing Nevintsi is also 
  a host and might be carrying the HepatoDyne implants to 
  Diorama R&D for nefarious purposes. They encourage the 
  PCs to travel there and investigate, as detailed in the next 
  adventure, “The Cradle Infestation”!
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  37
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  38
  “How’s that gut wound healing up, newbie? Well, buckle 
  up—Roselight may've got ninety percent less knife fights 
  than Upwell, but don’t let the pretty orange skyline and 
  fancy coffee fool you. Piss off the wrong person here 
  and your bank account will be bleeding worse than your 
  belly was. Locals call it the Cerise City, and they got a few 
  nicknames for Upwell, too, but HR says I gotta stop using 
  them. Everyone else just calls them the Sister Cities for 
  a reason: They look different, but you scratch them, and 
  they bleed the same.”
  —Phyx Gatterlain, Executive Officer of 
  The Spinward Minister
  ROSELIGHT AND UPWELL
  
  M
  ost Pact Worlds residents consider Liavara a paradise, 
  untouched by development and corruption and 
  occupied solely by beautiful floating flora and fauna 
  and the romanticized Dreamers. The truth of Liavara, as with all 
  things, is much more complex. Much of the gas giant remains 
  wilderness, but the wealth promised by its rare elements means 
  that it has not remained unspoiled. The barathus of its sister 
  planet Bretheda administer the world to protect their Dreamer 
  cousins, but gas extractors and refineries dot the wilderness, 
  and much of Liavara’s beauty and wealth are bought through 
  uncomfortable alliances and a history of rights violations.
  These strange bedfellows—barathu preservationists and 
  industrialist plutocrats—lend the planet a strange character, 
  and nowhere is this dichotomy more clearly displayed than in 
  the sister cities of Roselight and Upwell.
  HISTORY
  Liavara is a settled world, with no indigenous sapient life. The 
  barathus of neighboring Bretheda tend the world on behalf 
  of their Dreamer cousins, but large corporate interests fund 
  the barathus’ preservation efforts, and small prospectors and 
  gas-mining poachers routinely establish pirate refineries to 
  gather the world’s mineral wealth.
  Barathus founded Roselight soon after their second 
  delegation arrived on Liavara—many centuries before the 
  Gap—but it existed as little more than a rest stop and seasonal 
  camp from which they observed and theorized about the 
  Dreamers. It was likely during the Gap that the city expanded 
  into a predominantly barathu-run colonial power. At the end of 
  those lost years, however,  the barathus realized that various 
  gas poachers had riddled a small Liavaran moon with concealed 
  refineries, starports, and storage depots—the original pieces 
  that would eventually coalesce into the city of Upwell. Even 
  as the barathus of Roselight escalated their policing efforts 
  over the next few decades, the entrenched poachers grew 
  increasingly wealthy and organized, eventually forming powerful 
  corporations with their own quasi-legal claims to the planet.
  Rather than resort to war, the barathus formed the Office 
  of Commercial Interests in 57 ag. Ostensibly a barathu 
  bureaucracy under the control of Confluence, the OCI pays 
  heed to “advisors” from a dozen major gas-mining corporations 
  collectively known as the Corporate Authority, which controls 
  the organization’s purse strings. The arrangement allows the 
  barathus to steer industrial development away from Dreamer 
  territory and other sensitive ecosystems while empowering 
  the corporations to protect their holdings with official policing 
  and military power, chasing off unlicensed mining operations 
  that may encroach on their territories. Under the alliance, 
  the Corporate Advisors redeveloped the former pirate moon, 
  gradually breaking down the rocky surface to build one of the 
  largest space stations in the system. Upwell now accommodates 
  an entire planet’s worth of refineries, warehouses, processing 
  plants, reactors, and dockyards. Xenowardens still refer to the 
  century-long process as the Moonwreck and consider it a prime 
  example of the evil the OCI allows to ravage Liavara in the 
  interests of peace and profit.
  Despite their alliance, the barathu overseers and the 
  corporate advisors of the OCI constantly argue and fight 
  for control, and the organization has alternately existed as 
  either a beneficent administrator or a capitalist dictatorship 
  at varying points in the last 200 years. Under barathu sway, 
  Roselight grew and flourished as not just a series of corporate 
  headquarters, but as a city invested in the arts and philosophies 
  embodied by the Dreamers. Under corporate influence, Upwell’s 
  refinery structure and military might expanded while workers’ 
  rights evaporated. Even at their worst excesses, each side turns 
  a blind eye to their counterpart—barathus enjoy their normal 
  freedoms even as corporate powers restrict other inhabitants’ 
  movements and speech, and the barathus never look too 
  closely at industrial facilities unless they intrude on or pollute 
  protected sites. Many barathus bridge the divide, forming 
  biotech companies that sit on the OCI’s advisory council, and 
  even today, Liavara attracts those ambitious Brethedans whose 
  loose ethics have stymied their work in the stricter business 
  climate of their home world.
  Roselight’s expansion into a true city began under the 
  oversight of Karobel Hark, the first human to occupy the OCI’s 
  executive chair. The phenomenally wealthy CEO of Liavara’s 
  largest gas corporation, Fairwinds, Hark invested their vast 
  fortune into developing a “capital” city for what they saw as 
  their planet. Hark added additional domes to house parks, 
  a theater district, and museums, inadvertently attracting 
  ecologists, actors, writers, and artists to the city while 
  retrofitting existing barathu domes with humanoid amenities. 
  While most humanoids of the Pact Worlds consider Hark’s 
  magnum opus to be a city of beauty, barathus shudder at the 
  tacky aping of their traditional architecture and ham-fisted 
  addition of walkways and other horizontal surfaces.
  Roselight and the OCI seem to be entering a new era of 
  heightened barathu control after a series of compromises and 
  ROSELIGHT
  LN city
  Population 54,000 (35% human, 30% barathu, 
  8% ysoki, 6% android, 2% lashunta, 1% haan, 1% 
  sarcesian, 1% vesk, 16% other)
  Government autocracy (Confluence)
  Qualities bureaucratic, insular
  Maximum Item Level 12th
  UPWELL
  N space station moon
  Population 186,000 (33% human, 23% andoid, 8% 
  barathu, 8% ysoki, 5% dirindi, 3% sazaron, 1% 
  sarcesian, 19% other)
  Government plutocracy
  Qualities bureaucratic, polluted
  Maximum Item Level 12th
  39
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  
  UPWELL
  UPWELL
  ROSELIGHT
  ROSELIGHT
  E1
  E1
  SOUTH RING
  SOUTH RING
  AXLE
  AXLE
  NORTH RING
  NORTH RING
  SAINTS  
  SAINTS  
  DISTRICT
  DISTRICT
  GOLD  
  GOLD  
  DISTRICT
  DISTRICT
  CORE 
  CORE 
  DISTRICT
  DISTRICT
  SUNDOWN 
  SUNDOWN 
  DISTRICT
  DISTRICT
  •HEXANE ARENA
  HEXANE ARENA
  •THE FAIRWINDS  
  THE FAIRWINDS  
     BUILDING
     BUILDING
  •CLOISTER OF 
  CLOISTER OF 
      THE ONEIROLIST
      THE ONEIROLIST
  •AEROGEM LABS
  AEROGEM LABS
  •THE SPIRE
  THE SPIRE
  •OLD HARK PALACE
  OLD HARK PALACE
  •HARK'S NEEDLE
  HARK'S NEEDLE
  •ROSELIGHT AVARIUM
  ROSELIGHT AVARIUM
  •THE LISTING OMA
  THE LISTING OMA
  •FLOTILLA COMMAND
  FLOTILLA COMMAND
  •FIRST UPWELL BANK
  FIRST UPWELL BANK
  10,000 FEET
  10,000 FEET
  40
  
  extraordinary luck by Wiodraoe Li Ashtea (LN agender barathu 
  envoy), who assumed the executive seat of the OCI four years 
  ago. Rumors suggest that they allied with an aggressive 
  Xenowarden faction to undermine and even assassinate 
  corporate powers in the OCI—rumors that could plunge the 
  two cities into outright war if confirmed. Even if untrue, the 
  rumors have sparked increased tensions among the barathus 
  and Liavara’s gas corps, and free agents are drifting into the 
  sister cities to take advantage of the rising paranoia.
  SOCIETY
  While Roselight and Upwell seem like strikingly different 
  settlements—Roselight with its shining domes and swooping 
  architecture and Upwell with its harsh, industrial brutality—they 
  both grew from the same core of industrial wealth and power, 
  held in check by oversight and ego. Upwell is the gateway to 
  Roselight; travelers must stop at the station to secure clearance 
  to travel to Liavara, while cargo ships above a certain tonnage 
  must remain in orbit here and be filled drop-by-drop by licensed 
  cargo haulers planetside. Outsiders lament that vulgar, polluted 
  Upwell can’t be more like Roselight, blithely unaware that the 
  beauty and resources of the latter would never exist without 
  the wealth generated by its grimier counterpart. Both places are 
  dens of cutthroat commerce; Upwell is just more honest about it.
  Upwell was built with processing, storing, and selling Liavara’s 
  resources in mind. Any accommodations for life are necessary 
  evils that stand in the way of maximizing profit. The entire 
  station is utilitarian, with little consideration to aesthetics. The 
  same gray ceramic paneling covers every wall, unadorned save 
  for the few places an inspired resident has scrawled graffiti, 
  and exposed ducting and bundles of wire line every corner. 
  While a few luxury accommodations exist, most residents 
  make do with single-room apartments, vat-grown food, and 
  water tainted with traces of whatever infrastructure-preserving 
  chemical was last flushed through the plumbing. Workers are 
  expendable and conditions are brutal, but the refineries, docks, 
  and construction derricks buzz with activity all day, and anyone 
  with fortitude can make a good living. Plenty of businesses prey 
  on those paychecks, with hundreds of unregulated restaurants, 
  holotheaters, brothels, casinos, kismet-menders, and bars filling 
  the station’s commercial spaces. 
  While the OCI technically controls Upwell, in reality the 
  barathus can’t spare the resources to monitor the station—
  nor do they especially care what happens in orbit. Confluence 
  subcontracted control of the city to the Upwell Residency 
  Group (URG to the locals), which acts as the governing 
  body. Historically, the URG has put station stability 
  and infrastructure above resident lives, but some 
  small, overworked pockets within the organization 
  do genuinely push to improve living conditions. Few 
  laws govern the station beyond those that protect 
  infrastructure and corporate interests, so locals enjoy 
  easy access to drugs, technology, and pleasures that 
  other communities heavily regulate or forbid altogether. 
  Most people simply arrive at Upwell, rather than call it 
  home; the station has few amenities for children and little basic 
  healthcare beyond emergency response. Upwell residents 
  have been conditioned to take pride in their ability to survive 
  the long shifts and dangerous occupations, and corporate 
  propaganda crushes any efforts to unionize the populace and 
  lobby for safer conditions.
  Roselight, by contrast, centers around aesthetics, 
  environmentalism, and peace—or at least the illusion of it. 
  This attitude hails partially from barathu preservationists, but 
  also from the fact that most of Liavara’s wealthy families—the 
  so-called gas barons—make their homes in the city, enjoying 
  the sweeping vistas, pristine sunrises, and untainted air. The 
  city’s elite wander wide avenues, sip genetically modified 
  teas, and tend gardens of exotic xenoblossoms, all the while 
  supported by a caste of service workers who live in tiny 
  apartments in the city's outlying bubbles. While conditions 
  are far safer for workers in Roselight, they enjoy far less 
  autonomy than their counterparts in Upwell. Some districts of 
  the city are restricted to the corporate elite, and while workers 
  in Upwell can simply hop the next transport to continue their 
  41
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  Wiodraoe Li Ashtea
  
  lives elsewhere, Roselight workers must acquire a transit 
  permit, often at outrageous expense, to travel into orbit and 
  eventually move on. 
  Roselight also boasts an impressive artistic scene. While 
  no match for the elegance of Kalo-Mahoi, the city’s elite spare 
  no expense importing painters, holo-sculptors, architects, 
  chefs, fashion designers, and performers. Its various festivals, 
  theaters, galleries, seasonal parties, and holidays attract 
  wealthy tourists from across the system. Many creative souls 
  flock to Roselight in the hope of finding a rich patron only to 
  find themselves struggling and trapped, working a thankless 
  job cleaning homes or slinging coffee as they try to save 
  enough for passage offworld.
  But the city’s truly unique resource—one that constantly 
  influences its artistic and financial scenes alike—is prophecy. 
  The barathus administer, protect, and record the songs of the 
  Dreamers, publishing much of what they discover but selling 
  the choicest bits. Businesses bid and backstab to learn the latest 
  economic forecast, while wealthy elites clamor to hear what the 
  future may hold. Many of the city’s creatives either incorporate 
  Dreamer songs into their creations directly or take inspirations 
  from the prophets’ musings, movements, and appearance. 
  Fashionable Roselight residents pay gene-shapers to grant them 
  synesthesia, while the less financially blessed turn to dreamsnuff 
  (Starfinder Alien Archive 2 45) for the same experience. Both 
  mystics and the mystically inclined claim to hear the same songs 
  that influence the Dreamers and sell their own predictions. 
  Divinatory practices that the rest of the system scoffs, such as 
  astrology, enjoy legitimacy in the Cerise City.
  RESOURCES
  According to major economic interests, Liavara is a planet of 
  resources awaiting exploitation. The gas mines—more akin to 
  petroleum platforms than true mines—fuel much of the local 
  economy, with the cities exporting everything from helium 
  and hydrocarbons to exotic compounds found nowhere else in 
  known space. Mining platforms bob through the atmosphere 
  using hover technology, magic, or ingenious applications of 
  gas buoyancy. Each platform develops a unique character, but 
  like Upwell, they generally attract a hardy workforce who put 
  in long hours performing dangerous tasks. Equally important 
  are the refineries, storehouses, and cargo haulers that take 
  Liavara’s mineral wealth into orbit.
  Roselight and Upwell both boast impressive biotech 
  industries. While neighboring Bretheda has better-developed 
  infrastructure and a certain prestige, Liavara has a fraction 
  of the oversight; as a result, most Brethedan chemistry and 
  biotechnology firms of note maintain at least a satellite office in 
  either Roselight or Upwell. Combined with the planet’s unique 
  flora and mineral wealth, Liavara enjoys a small but bustling 
  trade in biotech augmentations.
  Upwell specifically also offers some of the largest docking 
  and shipyard facilities in the Pact Worlds, though the 
  entrepreneurs behind the station focus their efforts primarily 
  on the accommodation, modification, and construction of cargo 
  haulers and tankers. Still, facilities exist to build and maintain 
  the gunships the Corporate Authority uses to patrol the planet, 
  and adventurous souls who grease the right palms (or similar 
  appendages) can gain access to military-grade ship modifications 
  with no questions asked. The station also caters to every vice 
  imaginable, so long as the buyer doesn’t care about quality.
  Money comes easily in Roselight—at least to those who 
  already have it—so the true currency of the city is information. 
  Between prophets, libraries, and corporate spies, secrets can 
  make or break an empire, so naturally, every secret is for 
  sale. Disreputable souls looking for blackmail material need 
  look no further than the shadowy supper clubs of Roselight’s 
  evening scene.
  CONFLICTS AND THREATS
  Most of the conflicts in Upwell and Roselight are economic, 
  to one degree or another. Businesses square off against one 
  another for a market percentage. Industrial espionage runs 
  rampant. Given the cities' often literally explosive cargos, acts 
  of sabotage can leave a body count. The gas corps square 
  off against barathus for control of the OCI and the Stewards, 
  trying to push their profit margins at the expense of safety, 
  legality, or base morality.
  Workers suffer excruciating or humiliating conditions for 
  the almighty credit, and the work wears down their souls. 
  Reformers bend the ears of the masses and every decade or 
  two, often after a tragic industrial accident, rhetoric turns into 
  riots. While the OCI generally tries to contain and deescalate 
  such events, the corporations also wield considerable policing 
  power, especially on Upwell, and crack down with varying 
  levels of brutality. In the wake of these uprisings, the cost of 
  off-world transit always drops sharply as the gas barons try to 
  break up and relocate any agitators or organizers they can find.
  Wherever coin flows, crime sprouts, and neither Upwell’s 
  utilitarian corridors nor Roselight’s shining streets are perfectly 
  clean. Smuggling of both goods and people runs rampant. 
  Upwell’s gangs, particularly the Arkanen-dominated 99 Akatas 
  and the ysoki Decaders, flourish so long as they remain small 
  enough to not disturb the station’s day-to-day business, and 
  in some areas, they even act as the de facto police force. 
  Roselight’s criminal entities move more quietly, focusing on 
  obtaining and trading information, connecting companies 
  with deniable “freelancers,” and the machinations of extremist 
  environmentalist and resistance groups. Pirate gas-mining 
  operations constantly threaten Liavara’s ecosystem and the 
  bottom line, but more concerning to the barathus are a new 
  wave of poachers who have begun to target the Dreamers. 
  Dream poachers run the gamut from social media starlets 
  harassing the gentle savants for holo-ops to illegal recording 
  operations and even amoral body-snatchers who break 
  Dreamers down to sell their fluids and organs to research labs. 
  Rumors among Roselight’s elite even suggest (falsely) that 
  Dreamer components can grant psychic powers, cure disease, 
  42
  
  and promote virility, leading to a new black market trade in 
  Dreamer organs.
  Roselight supports a special detachment of the Stewards 
  dedicated to monitoring the planet below. This adds a tense 
  third party to most struggles in the city, as the Stewards 
  ostensibly wield the authority of the Pact Worlds, which 
  neither the barathus nor the corporations are eager to 
  acknowledge. But the Stewards provide additional resources 
  to combat illegal mining operations and dream poachers that 
  both sides desperately need.
  ROSELIGHT NOTABLE 
  LOCATIONS
  Roselight exists within a series of floating domes, buoyed 
  in an oxygen-rich current of Liavara’s gases. Despite the 
  breathable ribbon of atmosphere it generally inhabits, most of 
  the city is a closed system, both to protect Liavara from urban 
  pollution and to shield residents from toxic gases carried by 
  the gas giant’s frequent storms. Locals refer to each bubble as 
  a district, ranging from the Core District, which contains the 
  original barathu settlement; the Gold District, which contains 
  most of the Cerise City’s corporate headquarters; the Saints 
  District, where the city’s wealthy elites make their homes; and 
  the overcrowded Sundown District, where most of the poor 
  rest their heads and scrape by.
  AEROGEM LABS
  AeroGem Labs developed the first epifarms (Starfinder 
  Pact Worlds 113) and in the intervening century grew into 
  Roselight’s premiere agribusiness. The lashunta-owned 
  company limits its research entirely to the world 
  of plants, bacteria, and fungi, keeping them outside 
  the cutthroat circles of Roselight’s other biotech 
  giants. While appearing sedate to those outside the 
  company, AeroGem’s internal politics are an entirely 
  different matter, with the seven founding families 
  that comprise the board of directors constantly 
  jockeying for control. Often resorting to violence 
  and sabotage, these family squabbles occasionally 
  threaten the majority of Liavara’s food supply. The 
  last all-out war for control of the company 40 years 
  ago led to famine across the sister cities.
  CLOISTER OF THE ONEIROLIST
  While barathus look upon their Dreamer cousins 
  with a certain reverence, most fall well short 
  of worshipping them. But the Cloister of the 
  Oneirolist—an offshoot of the church 
  of Ibra—believes the Dreamers 
  were touched by something 
  divine during their early 
  exploration 
  of 
  Liavara, 
  and their songs aren’t 
  prophecies, but echoes of 
  divine creation. Cult doctrine states that more of the divine 
  song will be revealed if members can ascend to become new 
  voices in the Dreamers’ chorus. To that end, members of the 
  Cloister meditate, study existing songs, and make heavy use 
  of hallucinogens to open their minds to whatever divine force 
  still dwells within Liavara. Despite the fringe nature of their 
  beliefs, they have several generous, anonymous backers who 
  pay for the Cloister's opulent facilities and then some, giving 
  them enough resources to hire adventurers to chase down 
  any rumors surrounding the Dreamers or ancient mysteries 
  of planet.
  THE FAIRWINDS BUILDING
  To many people, Fairwinds is Liavara. The oldest, largest, 
  and wealthiest of Roselight’s gas corps, Fairwinds began as a 
  pirate drilling operation and helped organize other criminals 
  into a coalition that forced the Brethedans to acknowledge 
  their claim to the world’s resources. The corporation still 
  honors Besmara, who serves as a mascot aboard many of 
  their rigs, lending an opportunistic menace to their corporate 
  culture. They occupy the largest tower of the Gold District, 
  and despite its opulence and expensive art, the entire building 
  is a fortified maze designed to protect Fairwinds’ wealth, 
  personnel, and secrets—a pirate fortress under gold leaf.
  While the company’s most famous CEO, Karobel Hark, 
  died a century ago, Breg Castervin (LE female half-elf envoy) 
  carries on her great-grandparent’s legacy, manipulating 
  local politics to maximize her company’s profits and 
  power. Castervin innovated local politics 20 years ago 
  by transforming Fairwinds into a holding company, 
  purchasing several media and security corporations 
  to help control what the people of Roselight see and 
  hear, and how far the law can reach.
  HARK’S NEEDLE
  The Fairwinds mining company dredged this 
  enormous silicate crystal—over 70 feet tall and 
  weighing 200 tons—up from one of Liavara’s lower 
  layers years ago after it damaged a methane 
  extractor. Rather than destroy or sell the curiosity, 
  Karobel Hark erected it in Fairwinds Park as a 
  public monument and show of wealth. The Needle 
  displays no extraordinary properties other than 
  size, which has baffled the city's scientists, as 
  Liavara’s silicate crystals rarely grow larger than 
  one or two feet long. Many Roselight residents 
  and visitors can’t help but notice the Needle’s 
  curious, obelisk-like shape, and it is also a 
  popular subject for local spiritualists and 
  conspiracy theorists.
  OLD HARK PALACE
  Upon assuming command 
  of the city, Karobel Hark 
  43
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  Hark’s Needle
  
  began diverting public funds to build an opulent palace for 
  themself and their family. Because of certain legal loopholes, 
  the Palace reverted to the city after the plutocrat’s death 
  rather than to their descendants. Today, the Old Hark Palace 
  stands as Roselight’s central government offices. The barathu 
  administrators dread the upkeep costs, but humanoid locals 
  adore the building's opulent scrollwork trim, rich murals, 
  and rippling smart-material walls. The Palace serves as an 
  art museum as well, displaying much of the Hark family 
  collection to the public, though clear barriers and security 
  guards denote where the museum ends and the offices of 
  government begin.
  PEACHBLOSSOM SPAN
  Roselight’s second-largest park is an enormous bridge 
  connecting the Gold District to the Saints District. Transit lines 
  run underneath the structure, but most of the city prefers the 
  manicured gardens, orchards, ponds, and walkways that line 
  the top of the Span. Some vendors sell small treats and drinks, 
  while others rent skyboats and windboards to tourists, and at 
  night, the city sponsors musical and theatrical performances. 
  The high foot traffic and easy access to two districts makes 
  the area popular with spies who want to blend in with a crowd.
  Unlike most of Roselight, Peachblossom Span is not 
  contained within a permanent dome. Its breezy access to the 
  planet’s atmosphere provides part of its charm. A powerful 
  shield generator in the bridgework protects the park from 
  storms and toxic gas currents, but technology failures in the 
  past have resulted in great loss of life, and some insist that 
  the mystics who help tend the park are employed more to put 
  down angry spirits than water the trees.
  ROSELIGHT AVARIUM
  Liavara’s rich native ecology is largely inaccessible to 
  the people of Roselight, so interested barathu parties in 
  the city constructed the Avarium decades ago, allowing 
  their humanoid neighbors to marvel at the aerial ecology 
  barathus take for granted. Popular species like the grazing 
  kriegakos, bioluminescent fungi sprites, and cloud skates 
  draw locals and tourists, and most of the city’s schools 
  make an annual field trip to the unusual zoo. Much of the 
  ticket fees go to support the city’s Xenowardens at the 
  nearby Rose Garden.
  THE SPIRE
  A small, bustling bar founded by an Absalom Station émigré, 
  the Spire is a popular watering hole for the city’s Stewards 
  and Absalom expats. Situated at the base of Peachblossom 
  Span on the Saints District side and specializing in affordable 
  food and drink, it attracts little attention from tourists or 
  elites. During Roselight’s annual Carnival of Winds, the Spire 
  is one of the few bars to remain closed while the owner, 
  Dolen Hazzerfel (LN agender android engineer), disappears 
  for the week to parts unknown.
  UPWELL NOTABLE 
  LOCATIONS
  Beginning its life as an unusually mineral-rich moon, 
  Upwell’s corporate masters insist the planetoid was begging 
  to be hammered into steel and ceramic to achieve its fullest 
  potential as a space station. Today, most of Upwell has 
  been mined, refined, and built out, leaving only a dense, 
  radioactive core called the Axle that serves as an enormous 
  power plant for the city's extensive industrial infrastructure. 
  The station’s habitable portions are roughly divided between 
  the North Ring and the South Ring—aligned with the moon’s 
  former north and south poles—which counterspin to provide 
  stability. Eight thick spokes support each ring, and locals 
  provide directions by way of which ring and spoke a business 
  or bay occupies, such as North Spoke 2 for the second spoke 
  supporting the North Ring. Thousands of spars, arms, and 
  struts branch off from the rings to accommodate incoming 
  and outgoing traffic.
  FIRST UPWELL BANK
  Beginning as a joint holding company owned by pirates 
  and founded on secrets that would mutually assure 
  destruction should anyone attempt to rob the vault, the 
  First Upwell Bank has grown into a business juggernaut 
  and is one of the few Liavaran corporations to make their 
  headquarters on the orbital station. While it controls a 
  significant pool of funds, much of First Upwell’s wealth 
  exists in the form of corporate stocks and company scrip. 
  Because the failure of any major business on Liavara could 
  wipe out a sizable percentage of their resources, the bank 
  is generous with loans and acts as a neutral negotiator 
  between existing corporations.
  HEXANE ARENA
  Hexane Arena is Upwell's premiere sports complex, hosting 
  various sporting events and musical performances. While its 
  sponsor, Hexane Fuels, is far from the largest member of 
  the Corporate Authority, the company certainly has a keen 
  sense for how to endear itself to the public. Locals cheer on 
  their favorite stormball (a sport unique to gas giants) teams 
  from the stands, with games often turning into riots that 
  rock the surrounding bars and eateries.
  FLOTILLA COMMAND
  The Corporate Authority maintains a sizable navy to 
  maintain control of the airspace near Upwell and Roselight 
  and hunt pirate mining operations that cut into their bottom 
  line. FlotCom, occupying a large portion of the South 
  Ring, directs, trains, and repairs the organization’s flotilla. 
  On par with any other planetary defense force, FlotCom's 
  equipment is top-notch, though staffing leaves much to be 
  desired. The Corporate Authority’s military arm is still run 
  like a business, and promotion is more about nepotism and 
  bribes than genuine skill.
  44
  
  THE LISTING OMA
  According to rumors, the Listing Oma dates back to when 
  Upwell was still a moon and inebriated construction workers 
  kept forgetting to break it down for parts. Located near the 
  Axle and decorated with rough stone walls, a visitor’s initial 
  impression is one of an asteroid miner dive bar rather than a 
  space station. The Oma stands out for catering to barathus 
  as well as humanoids, with tall ceilings and chemically 
  engineered intoxicants that either life form can indulge in. 
  Currently owned by the industrious Zybollo Mykinosk (N 
  female vesk mystic), the bar traditionally only changes hands 
  as gambling stakes, with the proprietor choosing the game.
  VEHICLE OPTIONS
  Liavara’s gaseous atmosphere is an easy and convenient 
  environment for barathus, but less so for most other peoples of 
  the Pact Worlds. Roselight’s natives have invented a number of 
  specialized vehicles for navigating the cloud seas of their world.
  SKYBOAT 
  LEVEL 2
  PRICE 1,400 
  Large air vehicle (10 ft. wide, 15 ft. long, 3 ft. high)
  Speed 20 ft., full 200 ft., 22 mph (fly and hover)
  EAC 13; KAC 15; Cover none
  HP 20 (10); Hardness 5
  Attack (Collision) 5d4 (DC 11)
  Modifiers +0 Piloting, –1 attack (–2 at full speed)
  Passengers 3
  DESCRIPTION
  Built with lighter-than-air ballast chambers and a bare 
  minimum of hover technology, skyboats rely on sails to soar 
  through the clouds of Liavara, leaving virtually no chemical or 
  energy waste to disturb the delicate ecosystem. 
  SKYACHT 
  LEVEL 6
  PRICE 12,000 
  Gargantuan air vehicle (20 ft. wide, 80 ft. long, 20 ft. high)
  Speed 30 ft., full 550 ft., 65 mph (fly and hover)
  EAC 17; KAC 18; Cover cover
  HP 80 (40); Hardness 8
  Attack (Collision) 8d8 (DC 10)
  Modifiers +2 Piloting, –1 attack (–3 at full speed)
  Systems autopilot (Piloting +8), planetary comms;
  Passengers 50
  DESCRIPTION
  A massive and elegant style of skyboat with 
  luxury accommodations and powered engines, 
  the skyacht can carry passengers and servants 
  through the clouds in style.
  WINGBOARD 
   
  LEVEL 1
  PRICE 900 
  Tiny air vehicle (1 ft. wide, 3 ft. long)
  Speed 40 ft., full 100 ft., 22 mph (fly) 
  EAC 11; KAC 12; Cover none
  HP 12 (6); Hardness 4
  Attack (Collision) 1d4 (DC 16)
  Modifiers +2 Athletics, –3 attack (–6 at full speed)
  DESCRIPTION
  Simple, single-person vessels, wingboards can only gain 
  altitude by catching updrafts and thermals or by hitching a 
  ride on other vehicles. Riders use the Athletics skill to control 
  a wingboard instead of the Piloting skill.
  NEW TECHNOLOGICAL ITEM
  The wingsuit is emergency equipment standard to most 
  gas-mining platforms and skyboats, but they are also popular 
  with thrill seekers looking to fly in Liavara’s turbulent 
  atmosphere without the aid of magic or technology.
  WINGSUIT 
  LEVEL 2
  TECHNOLOGICAL ITEM 
  PRICE 800 
  BULK L
  A wingsuit consists of a tight-fitting overall with smart-fabric 
  membranes stretched between the arms and legs. When 
  wearing a wingsuit, you can retract or deploy the membranes 
  as a swift action. When the membranes are deployed, your 
  falling speed is slowed, reducing the maximum damage you 
  could take from a fall to 10d6 (rather than 20d6), and you act 
  as if you deliberately jumped instead of fell. The wingsuit 
  grants you a +5 circumstance bonus to Acrobatics checks 
  to reduce falling damage, as long as you are falling from 
  a height of at least 30 feet. If you succeed at this 
  check, you also don’t land prone. If the result of this 
  check exceeds 20, you reduce the damage by an 
  additional 1d6, and if the result exceeds 30, you 
  further reduce the damage by 2d6 (4d6 total). 
  While falling with the membranes deployed, 
  you can also make small adjustments to 
  move yourself laterally, moving up to 10 
  feet for every round spent falling.
  45
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  skyboat
  
  46
  THE MYSTERIOUS DYCEPSKIANS
  "Some say it’s impossible to tell the difference, but I 
  knew right away something was wrong. He remembered 
  everything about his life; he just didn’t care about it 
  anymore. He’d always had a hard time opening up about 
  his late mother, but now he spoke of her death like it was an 
  afterthought. He’d been working so hard for a promotion, 
  but then his performance at work took a nosedive. Most 
  suspicious of all was when he suddenly insisted I should 
  move in with him, but we hadn’t yet met in person!"
  —excerpt from My Infosphere Boyfriend Had Brain Slugs! 
  by Zelxar Fimber
  
  WHO ARE THE 
  DYCEPSKIANS?
  This special report has been assembled by an elite team of 
  investigative journalists at the Station Scoop. For too long, 
  other news outlets and public agencies have denied you the 
  truth about dycepskians. But the Scoop is here to expose a 
  catastrophic threat to the Pact Worlds and beyond. For their 
  own safety, all of the eyewitnesses and other sources who 
  contributed to this report provided their testimony on the 
  condition of anonymity. In this exclusive article, we here at 
  the Station Scoop will provide you with everything you need 
  to be prepared for the looming dycepskian invasion.
  Though they are known colloquially by many names—brain 
  slugs, mind Gap, and head fog, to name just a few—most of 
  these terms are inaccurate, because dycepskians are fungi. 
  They aren't even sentient until they successfully infect a 
  host, but at that point they begin to slowly take over the 
  host’s body and completely overwrite their thoughts. Once 
  safely hidden inside a host body, the insidious fungus 
  uses it as a puppet: assuming the victim’s identity, taking 
  advantage of their memories and skills, and carrying out 
  its own nefarious plans. A dycepskian is canny enough to 
  fool most observers—even the host’s friends and family. It 
  takes a well-educated individual to recognize the signs of 
  dycepskian infestation. 
  WHAT ARE THE TELLTALE SIGNS? 
  If you suspect someone you know may be infected or at risk 
  of infection, carefully and discreetly examine them for the 
  following signs. Make sure to protect yourself from contact 
  at all costs. Constant vigilance is key!
  Dycepskians originate as tiny, invisible spores with a 
  biological imperative to multiply as quickly as possible. 
  Though the spores cannot be seen, a lashunta medical 
  examiner we’ll call Ro, who has worked with the bodies 
  of deceased hosts, discovered that those in the advanced 
  stages of infection sometimes have a small stalk protruding 
  from the back of their necks. Ro has been researching 
  dycepskians in an unofficial capacity for more than a decade, 
  and she believes this stalk has two functions: it acts as a kind 
  of antenna that allows a dycepskian to communicate with 
  other infected hosts, and it’s also the means by which spores 
  are dispersed for breeding. Ro wasn’t allowed access to the 
  Zeffrac Science Platform after the sudden decompression 
  that revealed dycepskians to the public, but she did obtain 
  some of the autopsy reports, and she’s confirmed to us 
  here at the Scoop that the entire Wise Council (all of whom 
  died in the incident) had these mysterious neck stalks. But 
  not every dycepskian has one of these stalks; it seems to 
  take about 6 months after a successful infection for these 
  unusual growths to appear. Once a neck stalk reaches 
  maturity, however, the dycepskian can use it to release a 
  small puff of pale green pollen. These are fresh dycepskian 
  spores that can contaminate new hosts, and a mature host 
  produces increasingly large clouds of spores every month. 
  And if there’s no likely target for a dycepskian to infect, the 
  creature can even harvest its spores, gathering them up to 
  release in vast quantities later on!
  Though dycepskians take great pains to hide anything 
  that might give them away, they can’t conceal their activities 
  from an educated and vigilant public. The most-reported 
  indication that a person might house an infection of this 
  deadly fungus is a pattern of greenish-yellow veins around 
  their eyes. Many dycepskians, especially those whose hosts 
  must regularly travel or appear in public, use cosmetic lenses 
  or facial cream to conceal these veins. Strong, musty breath 
  has also been associated with dycepskian hosts, who may 
  become preoccupied with dental hygiene. As a consequence 
  of their hunt for cosmetics that improve their appearance, 
  dycepskians that mingle among the non-infected are very 
  susceptible to beauty aid infomercials and other scams. 
  Other hosts, however, are less concerned with hiding their 
  true nature and more interested in upgrading their purloined 
  body with augmentations. Ro, our source on this aspect of 
  dycepskian biology, has noted that biotech augmentations 
  like chameleon skins and dragon glands are more common 
  among these creatures than cybernetic options, simply 
  because the fungus finds it easier to control organs made of 
  tissue rather than metal. 
  Despite retaining all the memories of the bodies they 
  usurp, dycepskians find it difficult to process the logical 
  and emotional importance of those memories. One reader—
  who worked for a starship engineering firm and asked to 
  be identified only as TJ—wrote to us describing an abrupt 
  change in the behavior of their boss. We all know the 
  type: that frustrating supervisor who seems to delight in 
  making life unpleasant for everyone in the office. But after 
  returning from an offworld vacation, this manager suddenly 
  had no interest in the work or personal lives of their own 
  underlings. TJ left the office soon thereafter, but the entire 
  company abruptly and unceremoniously shut down only a 
  few months later. Now, TJ can’t find any trace of the firm 
  he once worked at: all records of the company are gone, 
  the building is empty, and even his former coworkers won’t 
  return his calls.
  All the memories of a host body are accessible to a 
  mature dycepskian, and this perfect recall sometimes gives 
  the creatures away; although they remember everything, 
  they are unable to measure the relative importance of each 
  memory, so that every recollection seems to be of equal 
  weight. For example, a dycepskian won’t understand why its 
  host was angry at a parent who cut them out of a will, but 
  they will recall every word of a 6-month-old conversation 
  with a mail carrier. When a dycepskian is trying to assert its 
  normality in public, it often repeats memories from its host; 
  however, because the fungus can’t tell the important from 
  the everyday, this can result in a long recitation of useless 
  trivia that, in fact, only gives the impostor away. So the 
  47
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  
  next time a friend of yours starts to recite every lyric on 
  an album from 10 years ago, get out of there fast! Though 
  once-beloved pets will remain unfed and uncared for by 
  an uncaring dycepskian-infected owner, these companions 
  can also be infected with spores themselves and become 
  nonsapient slaves of the fungal hive mind. And finally: Ro, 
  TJ, and others who have been in contact with the infected 
  also report that dycepskian hosts suffer from bouts of 
  insomnia that worsen over time. 
  WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? 
  A dycepskian infestation isn’t usually discovered until after 
  the target population has been completely overtaken, and if 
  there are live dycepskian-infested specimens being kept in 
  a research lab somewhere, this truth has been hidden from 
  the public. So piecing together the origins of this mysterious 
  species is difficult. One version of their origin, relayed to us 
  through an intermediary working for the Starfinder Society 
  faction known as the Seekers, is that the fungus was first 
  picked up by an unwitting spacefarer who landed on a 
  planetoid covered in towering mushroom forests, rotting 
  trees, and vast clouds of floating spores. This explorer fled 
  after being nearly overwhelmed by poisonous and otherwise 
  hostile plant life, but deadly spores coated the traveler’s 
  environment suit. When this hapless individual removed 
  their helmet, they became the dycepskian Patient Zero, 
  eventually bringing the scourge back to their home in the 
  Pact Worlds. Some other news outlets, notably our rivals 
  at the Starstone Trailblazer, have reported on this very first 
  case of “fungus fever,” but we here at the Scoop have not 
  been able to confirm these reports. After all, if there had 
  been any witnesses to the arrival of dycepskian fungus in 
  the Pact Worlds, they would have been taken completely 
  unaware by this unknown horror and instead succumbed 
  to the outbreak. Our sources have provided records that 
  hint at dycepskian activity as far back as the Gap, and 
  we reject the so-called “experts” who claim these records 
  to be just coincidences and hoaxes, nothing but outdated 
  and exaggerated records of natural disasters. But the most 
  irresponsible reaction we’ve seen to our evidence—which 
  proves dycepskians have been infiltrating Pact Worlds 
  cultures for centuries—comes from unethical individuals 
  who insist this evidence is actually just a ruse planted by a 
  sinister mastermind to throw researchers off the true scent. 
  That sort of unfounded accusation could easily start a panic.
  One popular theory among fringe scientists is that the 
  dycepskians are actually part of the reptoid conspiracy, 
  created to do the bidding of those shapeshifting monsters. 
  After all, dycepskians have no particular agenda or free will 
  in their spore form before they obtain a host; they have only 
  one goal: to reproduce. But if this theory is true, reptoids 
  would need to direct the fungus towards targets and monitor 
  each dycepskian outbreak to prevent it from spreading 
  too fast and compromising whatever larger mission the 
  reptoids pursue. Even a single dycepskian can wipe out an 
  entire space station or outpost, so these creatures would 
  represent a very dangerous weapon indeed. In the aftermath 
  of both the Zeffrac Science Platform incident and the more 
  recent crash of the starliner Auberix near Idari (an incident 
  covered up by government sources but exposed by us here 
  at the Scoop), almost all the victims were compromised 
  by dycepskian fungus, including several important and 
  high-profile individuals who were revealed to actually be 
  reptoids. Only one group of casualties was entirely free of 
  dycepskian infestation: a handful of reptoid bodyguards 
  wearing modified air filter masks. These reptoids were also 
  found to have been doused with antifungal chemicals. 
  HOW DO THEY OPERATE?
  No one’s sure if you can survive contact with a dycepskian. 
  Ro’s autopsy work reveals that a victim’s entire nervous 
  system is replaced with fungus, which isn’t a promising sign. 
  There is some evidence the infestation begins with a brief 
  incubation period; during this period, it would theoretically 
  be possible to remove the spores through a vigorous 
  decontamination process, but this procedure has never been 
  successfully tested. As of this writing, there are no known 
  cases of a host surviving dycepskian control. Promising 
  research in this area ended when the lab maintained by 
  our source, Ro, came under attack by the Verdant Shield, a 
  militant ecoterrorist organization outraged by animal testing 
  and the use of organic material in laboratory settings. 
  Verdant Shield burned Ro’s lab to the ground, along with 
  years of research, prompting the brave scientist to come to 
  us in the hope of combating the dycepskian menace.
  Dycepskian tactics would make more sense if we better 
  understood their origins. If dycepskians really are a reptoid 
  weapon, then they do not infest a population so much as 
  they are set loose upon it. And while they don’t seem to 
  have any kind of inherent social structure, dycepskians can 
  telepathically communicate among themselves over limited 
  distances. Surveillance footage from an abandoned colony 
  on a Liavaran shepherd moon—an installation suspected 
  to have fallen under dycepskian control—shows crowds 
  of individuals moving in wordless synchronization, their 
  movement similar to that of a flock of birds or a school of 
  fish. Lab tests on infected tissue has shown that if a sample 
  from a host is removed and stimulated or threatened, other 
  specimens from the same host react. These tantalizing 
  bits of evidence suggests that dycepskians may stay in 
  closer communication than we’re presently aware of, and 
  that a dycepskian’s control over its host body continues 
  even if limbs from that body are severed and separated by 
  a distance. 
  Though technically infestation can begin with just a single 
  tiny spore, body mass is an important factor in determining 
  a host’s vulnerability. A shobhad, for example, would be able 
  to resist the dycepskian infestation longer than a lashunta 
  48
  
  or shirren, simply because the fungus needs more time to 
  spread through the shobhad’s larger physiology. During 
  this incubation time, a victim of dycepskian infestation 
  retains control over their body and thoughts. However, an 
  initial exposure to a large enough quantity of spores can 
  allow the fungus to seize immediate control of even very 
  large creatures. To this end, dycepskians hoard spores 
  or weaponize their own host’s augmentations in order to 
  spread spores more efficiently. 
  Scientists have not yet been able to determine how long 
  it takes for a victim’s consciousness to truly die. During the 
  incubation period, the fungus spreads through the nervous 
  system and learns the routine and thought patterns of its 
  victim, preparing to take control of the body. But some 
  patients in the early stages of actual dycepskian possession, 
  after the fungus has taken control, have displayed shocked 
  and confused expressions, or even a look of panicked horror. 
  This occurs even as the dycepskian wields full control over 
  the host’s speech and motor functions. We here at the 
  Scoop are forced to conclude that, for a time during the 
  transition from victim to dycepskian, the subject is at least 
  partially conscious, even as their body is being piloted by 
  the fungus controlling their nervous system. Eventually the 
  fungus completely dominates the host, and the victim, after 
  spending an indeterminate amount of time entombed within 
  their own body, fades away.
  Nobody seems to know the natural lifespan of a 
  dycepskian, although no one has observed a creature that 
  has served as a host for more than about 10 years. This 
  suggests that something about the fungal infestation is 
  degenerative, and dycepskians can survive as a species only 
  by constantly seeking out new hosts. But if a dycepskian 
  does live long enough to reach the end of its natural 
  lifespan, it has one lethal trick still to play: it explodes in a 
  devastating cloud of spores. The expired husks of fungal 
  hosts have been found in the air ducts of buildings and 
  space stations, where they cling to the inside surface of 
  these ventilation spaces with a stiff rigor and house a 
  rapidly-growing mycelia network of infectious pollen.
  CAN THEY BE STOPPED?
  Dycepskians do have one known natural predator: 
  repulsive little aberrations known as zernivians. 
  Like 
  dycepskians, 
  zernivians 
  choose 
  host 
  bodies to inhabit, but these creatures prefer 
  small, harmless animals as their hosts. Unlike 
  dycepskians, zernivians eventually depart their 
  host animals, leaving them unharmed. Zernivians 
  can sniff out dycepskians, and they use their 
  own unassuming host bodies to get close to the 
  target before slurping up the fungus with four 
  herbicide-tipped tongues. This natural acidic 
  herbicide, which the zernivian can also spit 
  over long distances when threatened, is now 
  being studied for its medicinal properties, but no one has 
  yet been able to “cure” a dycepskian host, even with the help 
  of a zernivian.
  Naturally, unscrupulous merchants have sought to 
  capitalize on the justifiable fear of dycepskian infiltration by 
  selling house pets possessed by zernivians. But consumers 
  should be wary of any such claim; a zernivian does not 
  linger in its host body unless prey is near. Pets advertised 
  as housing zernivians are probably just normal animals with 
  an inflated price tag, and their vendors may be dycepskians 
  themselves. A consumer who knows the value of a zernivian 
  is precisely the sort of person a dycepskian would want to 
  eliminate, and what better way to do that than luring the 
  unsuspecting target in with a cute little animal?
  PLOTS AND PLANS
  When we asked our sources about the goals and plans of 
  the dycepskians, they couldn’t agree; indeed, dycepskians 
  may not even be capable of making plans beyond 
  endless procreation... until everything is ruled by one 
  all-encompassing fungal hive mind. But we here at the Scoop 
  have sources throughout the Pact Worlds and beyond, and 
  the tips sent to our reporters have led us to important 
  stories. Remember, the vast majority of dycepskian activity 
   
   
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  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  
  is covered up, not only by the dycepskians themselves, but 
  also by local governments that wish to avoid embarrassment 
  or further compromise. If indeed some other mastermind 
  agency, reptoid or otherwise, is unleashing and coordinating 
  these microbial terrors, it is certainly taking every precaution 
  and erasing all evidence of its involvement. 
  BREACH ON BRETHEDA
  Our sources in law enforcement have long been concerned 
  that allowing an entity like Confluence—a merged collective 
  of hundreds of telepathic barathus—to govern two of the 
  largest planets in the Pact Worlds creates an opportunity 
  for abuse of power and political corruption. Setting aside 
  any personal feelings about Confluence, a single group 
  mind in such a leadership position poses many questions: 
  Is Confluence vulnerable to dycepskian infestation? What 
  would happen to the group mind if dycepskians took 
  control? Would other barathu be affected? What measures 
  can we take to prevent such a catastrophe?
  The truth is, we simply don’t know how a barathu’s anatomy 
  and telepathic connections are altered by dycepskian 
  infection, nor do we know how easily dycepskian spores 
  could be transmitted among barathus. But one biologist we 
  consulted—we’ll call her Bee—suggested that barathus may 
  be uniquely vulnerable to the dycepskian threat. Barathu 
  physiology and biochemistry are highly mutable, and the 
  fungus could take advantage of this fact, altering its host 
  to be more susceptible to the fungus. Dycepskian fungus 
  might also be able to exploit the process by which barathus 
  combine, rapidly spreading an infection to all the barathus 
  who make up the larger organism. It’s true that a perceptive 
  barathu who becomes aware of its own exposure to 
  dycepskian spores could make itself more resistant, slowing 
  the spread of the disease, but this would only prolong the 
  inevitable. And while the group mind of a combined barathu 
  might be better able to discover a dycepskian infiltrator, 
  Bee was forced to acknowledge that a dycepskian could 
  sustain its charade even while merged with multiple other 
  minds. Most alarming was Bee’s suggestion that, because 
  dycepskians identify and communicate with other hosts 
  telepathically, a barathu’s telepathic brain could act as an 
  amplifier, giving a dycepskian-infested barathu prodigious 
  range and telepathic power. 
  Unfortunately, our consultation with Bee left us 
  with more questions than answers, and other scientific 
  professionals we attempted to consult for further opinions 
  on the dangerous possibility of a dycepskian infestation 
  of a combined barathu such as Confluence just mocked 
  us. However, we remain undeterred, for anyone that has 
  ignored the latest evidence gathered from the site of 
  dycepskian attacks simply cannot be trusted. The experts 
  we could consult agreed that a mind-controlling menace like 
  the dycepskians would logically target the largest collection 
  of powerful minds it could find. And the potential results 
  of such a takeover—particularly when we consider barathu 
  dominance of the biotech industry—are shocking. We could 
  be looking at a telepathically coordinated army of adaptable 
  mutants able to create their own bioweapons.
  SABOTAGED IMPLANTS
  Be alert to the possibility that biotech facilities have become 
  the target of dycepskian infestation. Augmentations 
  and implants can house active spores, or may even be 
  designed for this express purpose. Biotechnology from a 
  compromised facility becomes a time bomb inside your 
  own body. Some of the most informed people we talked 
  to believe the contamination and dissemination of biotech 
  augmentations is the second and most sinister phase of the 
  dycepskian takeover. 
  Fortunately, only a handful of tainted implants have so 
  far been discovered, but the fact they exist at all is cause 
  for concern. These spore-laden biotech specimens have been 
  traced back to multiple widely scattered factories, leading 
   MUSHROOM MOON
  50
  
  our sources to conclude the fungus was surreptitiously 
  injected into the augmentations by individuals, presumably 
  dycepskians, acting alone. If this strategy were to be 
  implemented on a larger scale—if a biotech facility, for 
  example, were taken over by a dycepskian manager or 
  even an entire workforce—these factories could churn 
  out dangerous implants at an astounding rate, shipping 
  spore-laden traps to innocent consumers throughout the 
  Pact Worlds. If everyone at the factory was under the sway 
  of the spores, there wouldn’t even be a need to conceal their 
  activities, and lethal augmentations could be produced even 
  faster. Health and safety inspectors at these facilities are 
  especially in danger, as they present the greatest threat to 
  this scheme and, once targeted for contamination, become a 
  vector that can spread the infection to other facilities, even 
  on other worlds.
  We sent detailed letters to leading biotech firms warning 
  them of this danger and urging them to implement more 
  rigorous product testing. However, our efforts earned 
  nothing but condescension, a smug assurance that “all our 
  products are up to industry standards,” and an insistence 
  that “dycepskian spores are not a legitimate threat.” You, our 
  readership, know better! And when we showed these same 
  biotech firms documentation linking verified dycepskian 
  infestations to biotech augmentations, they fell silent. Is this 
  because they recognize their distribution networks may be 
  used to facilitate the spread of the dycepskian living plague? 
  We here at the Station Scoop can only hope so. Because the 
  alternative—that they are knowingly participating in this 
  heinous crime for profit, or because they themselves were 
  already compromised by the dycepskians long ago—is too 
  frightening to contemplate.
  SOWING SOCIETAL SEEDS
  When the dycepskian threat is capable of spreading itself 
  so quickly and virally, the number one concern of our 
  government officials should be reducing the risk of exposure 
  and containing the danger. For this reason, a growing number 
  of theorists are concerned that whoever—or whatever—
  controls the dycepskians is using the Starfinder Society to 
  spread spores far and wide while avoiding suspicion. The 
  leadership of the society may already be indoctrinated, slowly 
  infesting more Starfinders before sending them back out on 
  missions to the far reaches of the galaxy. At first, it may seem 
  our concern regarding the Starfinder Society is unfounded. 
  But their missions provide a perfect excuse for a dycepskian 
  host to visit far-flung planets for extended periods—long 
  enough to propagate and disperse their spores—and they 
  are routinely granted access to locations forbidden to other 
  travelers. Starfinders like the Seekers are always exploring 
  new places and meeting new species who won’t be able to 
  identify the unusual behavior of a dycepskian host. By the 
  time anyone becomes suspicious, the Starfinder would be 
  gone, headed back to the Lorespire complex.
  Analysts we spoke to with access to Society records 
  and travel logs have noticed a pattern of increased mission 
  frequency in a relatively unexplored section of the Diaspora. 
  Some suspect this location may be where the dycepskians 
  arose or is perhaps their headquarters in the Pact Worlds. 
  Such a world would be covered in spores, a perfect place 
  for Starfinders to be infected or gather contaminants for 
  dissemination on other planets. Unfortunately, when we 
  asked for its cooperation in our ongoing investigation, the 
  Starfinder Society dismissed our concerns as ridiculous.
  TERRORISM ON TRIAXUS
  Our readers on Triaxus have reported suspicious activity 
  in remote settlements around the northern reaches of 
  the Allied Territories. These witnesses report unmarked, 
  low-flying black aircraft leaving behind long trails of what 
  authorities say is merely condensation. A small group of 
  observers calling themselves the Triaxus Guardian Force 
  (TGF) has tracked these incidents, and they believe the 
  substance released by these craft to be a chemical mixture 
  that infects and subdues citizens with dycepskian spores. 
  There haven’t been any incidents of fungus-related deaths 
  in the region recently, but this wouldn’t be the first time a 
  string of suspicious deaths was covered up. 
  The real question for our journalists is who would want to 
  infest and take over sections of the Allied Territories? TGF 
  members agree the most likely mastermind is Dretchnyliax, 
  the cybernetic green dragon of Dretchnyl. Rumors of her 
  expansionist agenda have intensified, and the TGF suspects 
  she has weakened the ryphorian territories with proxy 
  agents wielding biological weapons designed to control 
  organic creatures. What we don’t know, however, is if she’s 
  using dycepskian fungus to control these fringe ryphorian 
  societies, or if she’s using the spores to eliminate all sapient 
  creatures in these territories without arousing suspicion. 
  Some within the TGF believe this plan goes further than 
  merely spraying infectious material over settlements. One 
  member, codename Vermis, saw dragonkin spies on the 
  glaciers abutting the northernmost forests of the Allied 
  Territories. It’s not clear what these dragonkin were doing, 
  but Vermis theorizes they were drilling into the glacier to 
  implant pockets of dycepskian spores in the permafrost; 
  next summer, as the ice melts and recedes, the spores will 
  be released. No one is sure if dycepskian spores remain 
  viable and contagious after being thawed and frozen, but 
  our contact Ro is investigating this possibility, so keep an 
  eye out for future updates from the Station Scoop!
  STARDUST PLAGUE IMITATORS
  The infosphere is buzzing with reports of a group with 
  plans to spread dycepskian spores in a recreation of the 
  Stardust Plague of 67 ag, perhaps unleashing an even worse 
  catastrophe across multiple star systems. Reported to be a 
  splinter faction of the Xenowardens, this group—identified as 
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
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  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
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  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  
  the Golarion Liberation Alliance (GLA)—is convinced that 
  Drift travel and space exploration cause nothing but harm, 
  and that the interstellar population must be reduced by 
  any means necessary, even biochemical terrorism. The GLA 
  uses coded language and coordinated tactics to recruit new 
  members on public infosphere forums. When we contacted 
  the Xenowardens for comment, their representative denied 
  any knowledge of such schemes and insisted that, if such a 
  group were discovered, the Xenowardens would cooperate 
  with law enforcement to protect all living things. 
  That’s all well and good, but the Xenowardens offered 
  no explanation for why the crash and subsequent cover-up 
  of the Auberix happened just after that starliner was 
  the subject of Xenowarden protests. This can’t be mere 
  coincidence; the protest provided a perfect opportunity for a 
  rogue Xenowarden to sneak aboard and release some spores 
  into the air vents. That would be difficult for the activist to 
  pull off without being themselves exposed to spores, but 
  dycepskian fungus wouldn’t be a problem for Xenowardens 
  if they’re already indoctrinated by the fungus and acting 
  on the order of the current Greenspeaker! Double agents 
  among the Stewards and other organizations could help in 
  the coordination, execution, and concealment of strategic 
  spore attacks.
  Dycepskian spores are incredibly infectious, but an 
  infestation on the scale of the Stardust Plague would 
  require a massive quantity of fungus. Some of our sources 
  theorized this obstacle could be overcome with secret 
  caches of the dycepskian parent plant hidden throughout 
  the Pact Worlds. It’s impossible to say where these caches 
  might be, of course, but there are some likely candidates; 
  for example, the Floating Gardens of the sun are shielded 
  from investigation by the Xenowardens’ mission to collect a 
  specimen from every species of known plant life in the Pact 
  Worlds. Other locations where secret growing operations 
  might exist include a potential dycepskian place of origin 
  in the Diaspora, secret labs in Triaxus’s frozen north, the 
  biotech factories of Bretheda, and Absalom Station’s seedy 
  underbelly. Indeed, there are so many places the dycepskian 
  plague could be incubating that it's a mystery how any of us 
  remain uninfected.
  DYCEPSKIAN EQUIPMENT 
  Without a host, dycepskians are incapable of using, let 
  alone building, equipment or weapons. But dycepskians 
  inhabiting hosts trained in biotechnology have used 
  those skills to develop both defensive weapons 
  and tools based on their fungal spores. These 
  illicit items can sometimes be found on 
  the black market, if you have the right 
  connections and know where to look.
  FUNGAL BOMB 
  LEVEL 10
  TECHNOLOGICAL ITEM PRICE 2,750 
  BULK L
  These sealed and pressurized glass tubes 
  are filled with a substance derived from 
  dycepskian spores. Each can be used 
  only once. When a fungal bomb explodes, 
  it releases a cloud of modified spores in 
  a 20-foot-radius spread. This is a disease 
  effect. Creatures in this area must succeed 
  at a Fortitude save or be sickened for 1 day. If 
  a sickened creature spends Resolve to recover 
  Stamina Points, it can attempt this saving throw 
  again, ending the sickened condition on a success. 
  FUNGAL BREATH 
   
  SYSTEM 
  LUNGS AND 
  THROAT
  BIOTECH AUGMENTATION 
  PRICE 9,000                            LEVEL 8 
  Autopsies on dycepskian hosts have revealed victims whose 
  lungs have been genetically altered. These biotech lungs 
  are large, delicate white sacs with trailing wisps of mycelia. 
  Once implanted, they produce modified dycepskian spores 
  and stimulate growth of a mycelial network that snakes up 
  Fungal Breath
  52
  
  the throat to expel the spores with great force. Once per 
  day as a standard action, you can use your fungal breath 
  on a creature within 15 feet. Unless it is immune to disease, 
  the target is sickened for 1 day and, if it fails a 
  Fortitude save, is stunned for 1 
  round. Creatures sickened by 
  this effect who spend Resolve 
  to regain Stamina Points can 
  attempt the saving throw again, 
  ending the condition on a success.
  ADVANCES IN 
  DYCEPSKIAN 
  DEFENSE
  Luckily, dycepskians aren’t the only 
  ones dabbling in custom equipment. 
  The more we research these heinous 
  invaders, the better we can prepare ourselves for the battle 
  to control our own minds. 
  FUNG-EYE GOGGLES 
  LEVEL 5
  HYBRID ITEM 
  PRICE 2,800 
  BULK L
  CAPACITY 20 
                                                                USAGE 2/MINUTE  
  These lightweight goggles are programmed to recognize fungi, 
  bacteria, molds, and similar organic matter. Each unique form 
  of contaminant is color-coded for the wearer’s convenience, 
  whether it is coating the surface of an object or in an airborne 
  cloud. By focusing on a particular sample, the wearer can 
  trigger magnification and a HUD that provides helpful 
  analysis and commentary. Fung-eye goggles are popular 
  among scientists, custodial employees, and school children. 
  The latest model, however, can also identify dycepskian hosts 
  and free-floating dycepskian spores. 
  While you have fung-eye goggles activated, you have a +1 
  circumstance bonus to Perception checks to spot bacteria, 
  fungus, molds, spores, and similar organic material, and a 
  +1 circumstance bonus to Life Science checks to identify 
  these targets once you see them. These bonuses rise to 
  +2 to spot and identify dycepskians, dycepskian spores, or 
  creatures infested by dycepskian spores but who have not 
  yet succumbed.
  HERBICIDAL GLANDS 
   
  SYSTEM 
  THROAT
  BIOTECH AUGMENTATION 
  PRICE 19,000 
  LEVEL 10
  These small tubes implanted into the sublingual salivary 
  glands recreate a zernivian’s natural herbicide, mixing it with 
  saliva to coat the inside of the mouth and esophagus with 
  antifungal properties. You have a +2 circumstance bonus to 
  saving throws against plant-related effects that are inhaled 
  or ingested, such as corpseflower pollen (Armory 132), 
  hyperleaf, id moss, or a ksarik’s carrion spores (Alien Archive 
  70). In addition, once per day as a standard action, you can 
  make a ranged spit attack that deals 5d6 acid damage against 
  a creature within 15 feet.
  CREATURE COMPANIONS
  Dycepskians have come to fear tiny plant-eating aberrations 
  known as zernivians (page 61). Zernivians inhabit the bodies 
  of harmless animals in order to get close to intelligent 
  plant-based creatures, which they 
  then harvest with a natural 
  herbicide delivered through 
  acidic 
  spittle. 
  Although 
  unethical 
  pet 
  dealers 
  sometimes offer zernivians 
  for 
  sale, 
  zernivians 
  actually 
  move constantly from one host animal 
  to another and seldom bond with another 
  species. However, sometimes a zernivian’s 
  ability to inhabit a host goes awry, and the 
  creature is permanently trapped inside that 
  host. When this happens, the physiologies 
  of the zernivian and its host combine and mutate. Perhaps 
  realizing it can no longer find prey without help, the zernivian 
  becomes more amenable to other species. A caring and patient 
  individual can sometimes forge a bond with such a creature. 
  TRAPPED ZERNIVIAN COMPANIONS
  TRAPPED ZERNIVIAN 
    LEVELS  10-20
  Small aberration
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., herbsight 60 ft., low-light vision
  Good Save Will; Poor Saves Fort, Ref
  Immunities disease
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee Attack tongue (A & B)
  Ranged Attack acid spittle (A)
  Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  Ability Modifiers Dex, Wis
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Acid Spittle (Ex) Every 1d4 rounds, a trapped zernivian 
  can spit a blob of acidic spittle with a maximum range 
  of 30 feet. 
  Herbicide (Ex) Plant creatures, creatures with the 
  dycepskian subtype, and creatures with the plantlike 
  universal creature rule take half again as much damage 
  (+50%) from the trapped zernivian’s acid spittle and 
  tongue attacks, and are never immune.
  Herbsight (Ex) Trapped zernivians have an extrasensory 
  ability that enables them to rapidly seek out and find 
  plant life. This ability functions as blindsight (scent), 
  except the trapped zernivian can detect only plant 
  creatures and creatures with the dycepskian subtype or 
  the plantlike universal creature rule.
  Host Body (Ex) A zernivian trapped in a host body appears 
  to be a Small predator or herd animal (Starfinder Alien 
  Archive 2); anyone who might penetrate this disguise 
  must succeed on a Perception check with a DC equal to 
  the bound zernivian’s skill bonus + 15. 
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
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   Fung-Eye Goggles
  53
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  
  54
  ALIEN ARCHIVES
  Though you may have found a reputable service to give 
  you a tour of the beautiful peach-colored clouds of Liavara, 
  there are still other factors to consider. The skies of the 
  gas giant can be a dangerous place! The better skyboat 
  crews will be able to keep the acidic kriegakoses at bay, 
  but even the most seasoned tour captain can be fooled 
  by a light-bending keji swarm cloaked in the illusion of a 
  gentler creature. So invest in some quality eye protection 
  against the bright lights (or perhaps an emergency force 
  field), and if you think an oma sighting is too good to be 
  true, it probably is!
  —excerpt from Liavara on 50 Credits a Day
  
  55
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
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  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
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  DYCEPSKIAN
   
  CR  
   VARIES
   
  XP
  VARIES
  REPTOID HOST 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Dycepskian-infested reptoid operative (Alien Archive 92)
  N Medium humanoid (dycepskian, reptoid, shapechanger)
  Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14
  DEFENSE 
  HP 80
  EAC 18; KAC 19
  Fort +5; Ref +8; Will +9; +2 vs. poison
  Defensive Abilities evasion; Immunities mind-affecting effects
  Weaknesses vulnerable to remove affliction
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee claw +12 (1d6+8 S) or
  survival knife +14 (1d4+8 S)
  Ranged corona laser pistol +14 (2d4+6 F; critical burn 1d4)
  Offensive Abilities debilitating trick, trick attack +3d8
  STATISTICS
  Str +2; Dex +5; Con +1; Int +1; Wis +3; Cha +2
  Skills Acrobatics +19, Bluff +19, Culture +14, Disguise +19, 
  Sense Motive +14
  Languages Common, Reptoid
  Other Abilities change shape (any specific humanoid), 
  fungal mass mind, operative exploits (master of disguise 
  [2/day, 60 minutes or 6 minutes, DC 16], uncanny 
  shooter), specialization (spy)
  Gear elite stationwear, corona laser pistol with 2 batteries 
  (20 charges each), survival knife
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary, pair, or circle (3–8)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Fungal Mass Mind (Ex) A creature with the dycepskian 
  subtype can communicate telepathically with another 
  such creature within 100 feet, even if they don’t share a 
  common language. In addition, if one creature with the 
  dycepskian subtype is aware of a combatant, all members 
  of the fungal mass mind within 100 feet are aware of it, 
  and no member of the fungal mass mind can be surprised 
  unless all members within range are surprised.
  Vulnerable to Remove Affliction (Ex) A dycepskian host 
  who is targeted with remove affliction is staggered for 
  1d4 rounds (no caster level check required).
  Dycepskians are a mysterious species of fungus that only 
  gain sentience when they infest sapient hosts, completely 
  overwriting their unfortunate victim’s mind. However, the 
  dycepskian-infested host retains the original creature’s 
  memories and skills, making it difficult to notice the change. 
  An infested host can be recognized by yellowish-green 
  veins visible around the eyes, though most dycepskians take 
  great pains to hide such signs. Theories about the dycepskians’ 
  origins and goals can be found in “The Mysterious Dycepskians” 
  on page 46.
  DYCEPSKIAN-INFESTED 
  TEMPLATE (CR 3+)
  Dycepskians can infest almost any living or undead creature 
  with a brain and a central nervous system. The creature 
  retains its type and subtype, as well as any abilities it has 
  from its species or class graft.
  Suggested Alignment: Neutral.
  Traits: Dycepskian subtype; immunity to mind-affecting 
  effects; vulnerable to remove affliction (see stat block), Bluff 
  as a master skill; fungal mass mind (see stat block).
  
  56
  KEJI SWARM
   
  CR
    10
      XP
     9,600 
  N Diminutive animal (swarm)
  Init +8; Senses low-light vision; Perception +19
  DEFENSE 
  HP 165
  EAC 23; KAC 25
  Fort +14; Ref +14; Will +9
  Defensive Abilities diffraction, swarm defenses; 
  Immunities acid, swarm immunities
  OFFENSE
  Speed fly 30 ft. (Ex, perfect)
  Melee swarm attack (1d10+10 A)
  Ranged focused light +22 (2d10+10 F; critical burn 1d6)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
  Offensive Abilities distraction (DC 17)
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +8; Con +5; Int –2; Wis +3; Cha +0
  Skills Acrobatics +19 (+27 to fly), Disguise +24, Stealth +19
  Other Abilities reflective mimicry
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any air (Liavara)
  Organization solitary, pair, or mirage (3—5)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Diffraction (Ex) A keji swarm can disperse the energy of 
  light-based attacks. It has resistance 10 that applies to any 
  damage from a laser weapon and effects with the light 
  descriptor. For 1 round after its resistance prevents it from 
  taking such damage, a keji swarm can use its focused light 
  and reflective mimicry abilities as if it were in an area of 
  bright light, regardless of the actual light level.
  Focused Light (Ex) As a ranged attack, a keji swarm can 
  collect, focus, and redirect ambient light in a beam to 
  strike a single target within 60 feet. If the keji swarm 
  is in an area of bright light, this attack deals 3d10+10 
  damage; if the keji swarm is in an area of dim light, this 
  attack deals 1d10+10 damage instead. A keji swarm 
  cannot use this ability in an area of darkness.
  Reflective Mimicry (Ex) A keji swarm can redirect light with 
  great precision to construct a holographic illusion around 
  itself (DC 17 Will to disbelieve). As a standard action, the 
  keji swarm can create a purely visual image of a creature 
  or starship, which fills a 20-foot cube centered on the 
  keji swarm. The image automatically moves with the keji 
  swarm and appears to react appropriately to damage. 
  A keji swarm cannot use this ability in an area of 
  darkness, and the illusion is automatically dispersed 
  when the keji swarm enters an area of darkness or 
  is reduced to less than half its maximum Hit Points.
  Many a sightseeing skiff drifting through the upper reaches 
  of the Liavaran atmosphere has drawn close to what its 
  captain thought was a peaceful oma, only to have the creature 
  dissolve into a cloud of aggressive glimmering specks 
  that ravenously set upon the vessel. These multitudinous, 
  amoeba-like creatures are known collectively as a keji 
  swarm. Each keji is surrounded by a transparent 
  silicate shell that can distort the passage of 
  light; working together, the swarm diverts 
  photons to construct holograms to camouflage 
  themselves as an innocuous-seeming creature 
  or bit of debris. Once curious prey have drawn 
  close, the swarm ambushes, focusing light from each keji 
  into powerful beams like a magnifying glass before setting in 
  to feed. Though keji swarms are relatively small, several can 
  work together to project starship-sized disguises.
  
  57
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  KRIEGAKOS  
   
  CR
   8
    XP
   1,800 
  LN Medium animal
  Init +6; Senses blindsense (vibration) 60 ft., low-light vision, 
  sense through (blindsense [fog]) 60ft.; Perception +16
  DEFENSE 
  HP 115
  EAC 20; KAC 21
  Fort +9; Ref +13; Will +7
  Defensive Abilities corrosive saliva (2d8 A, DC 18), evasion, 
  unflankable; Immunities acid
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (Ex, average)
  Melee slam +17 (1d8+12 A & B; critical corrode 1d4)
  Offensive Abilities flyby attack (4d8 A), saliva shake (DC 18) 
  STATISTICS
  Str +4; Dex +6; Con +2; Int –4; Wis +2; Cha +0
  Skills Acrobatics +21, Athletics +16, Stealth +21, Survival +21
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any air (Liavara)
  Organization solitary, pair, or flock (6–12)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Corrosive Saliva (Ex) A kriegakos secretes 
  corrosive saliva from the dozens of 
  digestive pores along its body. 
  A kriegakos automatically 
  deals 2d8 acid damage 
  to a creature that it is 
  grappling at the start of 
  that creature’s turn. A creature that 
  hits a kriegakos with an unarmed 
  attack takes this acid damage (Reflex 
  DC 18 half). The same amount of damage 
  is also dealt to a melee weapon that strikes 
  a kriegakos, though the wielder can attempt a DC 18 
  Reflex save to halve the damage.
  Flyby Attack (Ex) As a full action, a kriegakos can fly up 
  to its speed and make a single slam attack without 
  provoking an attack of opportunity from the target of 
  the attack. The kriegakos can move both before and 
  after the attack, but must fly at least 10 feet before the 
  attack, and the total distance flown can’t be greater than 
  the kriegakos’s fly speed. The kriegakos can’t use this 
  ability to attack a foe that it is adjacent to at the start 
  of its turn. Before making the attack, the kriegakos can 
  attempt an Acrobatics check with a DC equal to 20 + 
  the target’s level or CR. If it succeeds at this check, the 
  target is flat-footed to the kriegakos’s slam attack, and if 
  that attack hits, it deals an additional 4d8 acid damage.
  Saliva Shake (Ex) As a standard action, a kriegakos can 
  shake off its current layer of corrosive saliva, causing all 
  adjacent creatures and objects (and all armor and other 
  items those creatures are wearing or holding) to take 
  4d8 acid damage (Reflex DC 18 half). Carried or worn 
  gear succeeds at this save if its wearer succeeds but 
  fails if its wearer fails. 
  Soaring through the clouds of Liavara, kriegakoses are 
  vaguely avian creatures that constantly ooze an endless 
  supply of highly acidic saliva from the many specialized pores 
  in their skin. This secretion breaks down the steely rinds of 
  the floating reebadarus plants that are the kriegakos’s primary 
  source of sustenance, though it is also a potent deterrent 
  against predators. A kriegakos’s body is covered in millions 
  of hairlike proboscises capable of lapping up whatever their 
  body’s saliva dissolves. As a result, a kreigakos’s primary 
  feeding strategy is simply to slam itself into its prey. Its 
  membranous wings allow it to soar through the Liavaran 
  gases, and the creature’s multiple visual sensors empower it 
  to see in all directions at once.
  
  58
   
  CR
    3
   
  XP
    800
  NEEDLEHAWK
  N Tiny animal
  Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +13
  DEFENSE 
  HP 34
  EAC 14; KAC 15
  Fort +4; Ref +8; Will +2
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (Ex, perfect)
  Melee sting +7 (1d4+3 P plus needlehawk toxin)
  Ranged needle launch +9 (1d4+3 P plus needlehawk toxin)
  STATISTICS
  Str +0; Dex +4; Con +2; Int –3; Wis +1; Cha –2
  Skills Acrobatics +13 (+21 to fly), Stealth +13, Survival +8
  Other Abilities active camouflage
  ECOLOGY
  Environment warm and temperate forests
  Organization solitary, pair, or prickle (3–12)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Active Camouflage (Ex) A needlehawk can adjust 
  chromatophores in its exoskeleton to blend in with its 
  surroundings. When motionless or moving fewer than 
  10 feet per round, it gains a +5 racial bonus to Stealth 
  checks to hide.
  Needle Launch (Ex) As a ranged attack, a needlehawk 
  can launch a needle from its barbed tail with a range 
  increment of 30 feet.
  NEEDLEHAWK TOXIN
  Type poison (injury); Save Fortitude DC 14
  Track Dexterity; Frequency 1/round for 4 rounds
  Effect progression track is Healthy—Sluggish—Stiffened—
  Staggered; no end state
  Cure 1 save
  Winged arthropods from an unknown world (presumably in the 
  Vast), needlehawks are gifted with a sophisticated spinal cord 
  and brain, making them intelligent and curious creatures that 
  can build complex nests and even open latches. These traits, 
  combined with their ability to fly and anesthetizing venom, 
  make them difficult pests to eliminate once a prickle finds a 
  steady food supply. While xenobiologists believe needlehawks 
  are indigenous to a jungle ecosystem, the animals have been 
  spotted across many worlds. Once established, needlehawks 
  hunt insects, scavenge or steal food, and build their homes 
  from whatever materials they can find—often tearing up 
  valuable cargo or disassembling machinery in the process.
  Needlehawks reproduce asexually, but they produce 
  larger and healthier egg broods when all three sexes 
  contribute. Sticky egg clusters hatch into thousands of 
  mite-sized young, which infest and devour any detritus as 
  well as each other. Eventually, a half-dozen or so young 
  grow large enough to climb onto their parents’ backs and 
  learn to survive through observation. While needlehawks 
  have no attachment to their miniscule hordes of young, 
  they are fiercely protective of their larger, nymph-stage 
  offspring after they grow wings.
  Needlehawks are especially sensitive to fungal 
  diseases, and dycepskians (page 55) sometimes infest 
  them to create organic drones enslaved to their alien 
  hive mind. Infested needlehawks act as silent lookouts, 
  spies, and guardians. As the dycepskian fungus requires 
  a sentient mind to develop self-awareness, infested 
  needlehawks retain animal-level cunning but react 
  intuitively to the commands of higher-order dycepskian 
  hosts. Conspiracy theorists speculate that dycepskians and 
  needlehawks originate from the same world, and that the 
  crustacean-like scavengers were the parasite’s original host.
  
  NIGHT HAG
   
  CR
    9
   
  XP
    6,400
  59
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  NE Medium outsider (evil, extraplanar) 
  Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect alignment, detect 
  magic, detect tech; Perception +17
  DEFENSE 
  HP 117
  EAC 21; KAC 22 
  Fort +10; Ref +8; Will +12 
  DR 10/cold iron and magic; Immunities charm effects, cold, 
  disease, fear effects, fire, sleep; SR 19
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee claw +18 (3d4+13 S) or
  incapacitator +18 (3d4+13 nonlethal B; critical staggered 
  [DC 18])
  Ranged aphelion laser pistol +16 (3d4+9 F; critical burn 1d4)
  Offensive Abilities dream haunting
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; ranged +16) 
  1/day—bestow curse (DC 20), deep slumber (DC 20) 
  3/day—inflict pain (DC 19), invisibility
  At will—command (DC 18), magic missile
  At will (with heartstone)—ethereal jaunt
  Constant—detect magic, detect tech
  STATISTICS
  Str +4; Dex +3; Con +6; Int +2; Wis +2; Cha +2 
  Skills Bluff +22, Diplomacy +17, Disguise +17, Intimidate +17, 
  Mysticism +22, Sense Motive +17
  Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Infernal
  Other Abilities change shape (any humanoid), heartstone
  Gear gold AbadarCorp travel suit, aphelion laser pistol with 
  1 high-capacity battery (40 charges), incapacitator with 
  1 battery (20 charges), heartstone
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any evil-aligned plane 
  Organization solitary or coven (3 hags of any type)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Dream Haunting (Su) A night hag can visit the dreams of 
  chaotic or evil targets by using her heartstone to become 
  ethereal, then hovering over the creature. Once she 
  does so, she rides on the victim’s back until dawn. The 
  sleeper suffers tormenting dreams and takes 1 point of 
  Constitution drain upon awakening. 
  Heartstone (Su) Every night hag owns a heartstone—a 
  special gemstone worth at least 4,000 credits that she 
  wears as a periapt. The heartstone makes her immune to 
  diseases and grants her special powers, such as the ability 
  to cast ethereal jaunt at will as a spell-like ability. Once 
  per day, a night hag can trap the soul of a recently dead 
  creature within the heartstone (Will DC 23 negates); the 
  creature can’t have been dead more than 8 rounds, and 
  once its soul is trapped, it can’t be returned to life by any 
  means (even miracle or wish). The soul can be freed only 
  by destroying the heartstone or rendering it nonmagical, 
  and a heartstone can hold only one soul at a time. A 
  heartstone’s magic is fueled by the night hag’s spirit and 
  proximity—once separated from its owner (or upon the 
  night hag’s death), a heartstone functions as a 9th-level 
  worn magic item for only 24 hours before becoming a 
  nonmagical gem again. A heartstone instantly cures 
  any disease contracted by the wearer and provides a +2 
  enhancement bonus to all saving throws. A night hag that 
  loses her heartstone is no longer immune to disease and 
  can no longer use ethereal jaunt until it is replaced.
  Night hags trade in souls and revel in the grief they cause. 
  They prey on mortals who are in their most vulnerable state, 
  first toying with victims by haunting their dreams night after 
  night. When the unfortunate mortal passes, the night hag 
  traps their soul within her heartstone, eventually transferring 
  the soul into another magical object that she can sell in the 
  infernal markets of the outer planes.
  Night hags vary in appearance, as they can resemble cruel, 
  horned versions of almost any humanoid species. They can be 
  anywhere between 3 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 100 
  and 400 pounds.
  
  60
   
  CR
    5
      XP  
  1,600
  THRESHWOLF
  N Medium animal
  Init +5; Senses blindsense (scent) 30 ft., low-light vision; 
  Perception +11
  DEFENSE 
  HP 76
  EAC 15; KAC 17
  Fort +9; Ref +9; Will +4
  Defensive Abilities quills (1d4 P, DC 13); Immunities poison
  Weaknesses vulnerable to sonic
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee bite +11 (1d6+8 P plus grab)
  Offensive Abilities thresh (1d6+5 S)
  STATISTICS
  Str +3; Dex +5; Con +2; Int –4; Wis +1; Cha –3
  Skills Athletics +11, Stealth +11, Survival +16
  ECOLOGY
  Environment warm and temperate forests and mountains
  Organization solitary, pair, or pack (5–10)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Quills (Ex) A threshwolf’s mane consists of sharp, glasslike 
  hairs that protect its neck and shoulders. A creature 
  attacking a threshwolf with a natural weapon, an 
  unarmed strike, or melee weapon without reach must 
  succeed at a DC 13 Reflex saving throw or take 1d4 
  piercing damage as several of these sharp quills break 
  off in their flesh. The attacking creature also gains the 
  off-target condition until the beginning of its next turn 
  due to the pain and irritation.
  Thresh (Ex) Whenever a threshwolf succeeds at a combat 
  maneuver to grapple or maintain a grapple, it can 
  immediately shake its mane as a swift action, raking a 
  grappled or pinned victim with razor-sharp quills and 
  inflicting 1d6+5 slashing damage. 
  Hailing from an unknown world of fierce natural selection 
  (presumably in the Vast), threshwolves are vicious 
  mammalian predators. Though also gifted with teeth and 
  claws, these hunters’ most identifiable feature is a mane of 
  glass-like fibers they use to gore prey and shred undergrowth. 
  While predominantly carnivores, threshwolves also feed on 
  fruit, vegetation, and fungus when available. When a pack 
  claims territory, they spend time carving a labyrinthine den 
  within the thick, thorny undergrowth they favor. They raise 
  their young communally, with the largest female taking the 
  lead in most hunts. Packs develop complex social hierarchies 
  and delineate labor much like ant colonies or formians, with 
  different members focused on hunting, patrolling territory, 
  maintaining the lair, or rearing young.
  Social behavior and reasonable animal intelligence make 
  threshwolves easy to train, though the aggressive predators 
  will constantly test the resolve of their trainers with 
  challenges for dominance. Vesk colonies in the Vast 
  have experimented with truly domesticating 
  the alien beasts, yielding mixed results. 
  Threshwolves 
  can 
  be 
  bred 
  for 
  obedience, and the same genes 
  that control this behavior seem 
  linked to their iconic mane; more 
  approachable 
  and 
  malleable 
  threshwolves develop finer quills 
  that cause minor irritation rather 
  than lacerations.
  Xenobiologists have determined 
  that threshwolves originate from 
  the same world as needlehawks (page 
  58), and the two likely shared biomes. 
  Many 
  believe 
  needlehawks 
  would 
  scavenge what they could from threshwolf 
  kills, provided that the small fliers could stay away 
  from these larger predators’ jaws. Like needlehawks, 
  threshwolves are sometimes employed by dycepskians 
  (page 55) as scouts connected to the fungal mass 
  mind and as living containers to breed more of their 
  mindless mycelium within.
  
  61
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE 
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  ZERNIVIAN 
   
  CR
    9
   
  XP 
  6,400
  N Tiny aberration
  Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., herbsight 60 ft., low-light 
  vision; Perception +22
  DEFENSE 
  HP 135
  EAC 22; KAC 23
  Fort +8; Ref +10; Will +12
  Immunities disease
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee tongue +17 (1d6+12 A & B plus zernivian toxin; 
  critical stunned)
  Multiattack 4 tongues +11 (1d6+12 A & B plus zernivian 
  toxin; critical stunned) 
  Ranged acid spittle +19 (2d6+9 A plus zernivian toxin)
  Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. (5 ft. with tongue)
  Offensive Abilities herbicide
  STATISTICS
  Str +3; Dex +6; Con +0; Int +0; Wis +4; Cha +0
  Skills Disguise +17, Life Science +17, Sense Motive +17, 
  Stealth +22, Survival +22
  Other Abilities animal puppeteer (DC 18), spaceflight 
  (Survival)
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Acid Spittle (Ex) As a ranged attack, a zernivian can hurl a 
  blob of acidic spittle with a maximum range of 30 feet.
  Animal Puppeteer (Ex) As a full action, a zernivian can 
  insert itself into the body of an adjacent unconscious or 
  helpless Small animal with an Intelligence modifier no 
  greater than –4 (Fortitude DC 18 negates). While inside 
  an animal in this way, the zernivian has total cover and 
  takes no actions of its own; however, it gains full control 
  of the host animal’s actions. The zernivian can use its or 
  its host’s saving throw bonuses (whichever are higher), 
  its host’s extraordinary abilities, and its or its host’s 
  natural attacks. The zernivian remains in control of the 
  animal until it leaves the host’s body, which it can do 
  as a full action; the host animal is then stunned for 
  1 round but is otherwise unharmed.
  Herbicide (Ex) Plant creatures and creatures 
  with the dycepskian subtype or the 
  plantlike universal creature rule aren’t 
  immune to a zernivian’s toxin. When 
  such creatures attempt a Fortitude 
  saving throw against zernivian toxin, 
  they must roll twice and use the worse result. 
  Herbsight (Ex) Zernivians have an 
  extrasensory ability that enables them to 
  rapidly seek out and find plant life. This ability functions 
  as blindsight (scent), except a zernivian can only detect 
  plant creatures and creatures with the dycepskian 
  subtype or the plantlike universal creature rule.
  ZERNIVIAN TOXIN
  Type poison (injury); Save Fortitude DC 18
  Track Constitution; Frequency 1/round for 6 rounds
  Cure 1 save
  Zernivians are a species of rodent-sized aberrations whose 
  bodies are covered in grisly fur the color and texture of 
  exposed arteries. Constantly driven to root out and consume 
  intelligent plant creatures, zernivians stalk their prey by 
  taking over the bodies of harmless animals as a means of 
  camouflage. Once a zernivian locates a plant creature, it 
  quickly emerges from the host animal and attacks, using 
  a combination of tongue lashings and a natural herbicide 
  to take down its victim. Xenobiologists are unsure 
  where the solitary zernivians originate from or even how 
  they reproduce.
  Although zernivians have become a problem on Ghorus 
  Prime, the native ghorans are far from the zernivian’s 
  favorite food. That “honor” goes to the fungal dycepskians, 
  who do whatever they can to terminate these predators 
  on sight, as zernivians have the uncanny ability to sniff 
  out dycepskians occupying even the most unlikely of 
  host bodies.
  
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  TUDINE
  Blissful Colony on the Edge of Oblivion
  Diameter: ×1; Mass: ×1
  Gravity: ×1
  Location: The Vast 
  Atmosphere: Normal
  Day: 28 hours; Year: 16 months
  Tudine is a remarkable world only in its general lack of 
  unusual traits. A temperate, terrestrial world of diverse 
  biomes orbiting a binary star, it hosts four continents, several 
  chains of islands, and poles of ice-covered tundra, which 
  help moderate ocean currents and weather patterns. The 
  first native life consisted mainly of large herbivores, small 
  pack predators, and scavengers, and by the time sentient life 
  evolved—remarkably similar to humans in everything save 
  their pale skin and white hair—the natural world boasted a 
  rich diversity that supported agricultural development.
  Tudinian civilization had just developed intrasystem space 
  travel when trouble began. Whether Tudinian explorers brought 
  the infection home or it arrived independently on space debris, 
  a hostile alien fungus species known as dycepskians arrived 
  and spread silently across much of the world before anyone 
  realized their friends and families were being taken over by 
  an extraterrestrial menace. Through segregation and wars, 
  governments futilely tried to isolate “susceptible populations” 
  or eliminate nations they believed had fallen to the invaders, 
  but the dycepskians are as much a pandemic as a conqueror. 
  Within two generations, only a handful of unaffected Tudinians 
  remained in isolated fortresses.
  The survivors knew their world was doomed and watched 
  in horror as the dycepskians began to rekindle their waning 
  spaceflight program to spread to the stars. In a desperate feat 
  of engineering, the native citizens unleashed a doomsday 
  weapon into the sky, collapsing one of their suns into a small 
  black hole. They hoped the singularity would crush their 
  world and stop the dycepskians’ spread, but the resulting 
  black hole was too small to swallow Tudine. However, the 
  intense gravity still made it impossible for the dycepskians to 
  escape the system using existing technology.
  For over a century now, the dycepskians have remained 
  trapped on the edge of a black hole’s event horizon, watching 
  as it slowly devours their second sun. In the meantime, they 
  have rebuilt Tudinian society into a utopia. They know the 
  end approaches, and they broadcast invitations into the void, 
  cheerfully advertising their unusual planet as a welcoming 
  waystation, a scientific wonderland, a resource-rich trading 
  hub, or anything else they believe will attract travelers with 
  more advanced space-flight technology. Until then, they go 
  through the motions of productive industrial lives, an uncanny 
  facsimile of the capitalistic family ideal.
  Tudine’s system once held eleven planets, but three have 
  since been devoured by the black hole, throwing their moons 
  into the void to become rogue asteroids. A large gas giant 
  on the system’s edge emits powerful radiation after several 
  moon impacts, acting as a natural lighthouse to mark the 
  system’s location.
  62
  
  ADVENTURE PATH
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
  THE THREEFOLD CONSPIRACY
   
   
  THE HOLLOW  
  CABAL
  PART 1: 
  RETURNED TO 
  SOCIETY
  PART 2: 
  A SCRATCH IN THE
  SURFACE 
   
   
  PART 3: 
  YOUR CALL IS 
  IMPORTANT TO US
  ROSELIGHT  
  AND  
  UPWELL 
   
  THE MYSTERIOUS 
  DYCEPSKIANS
  ALIEN
  ARCHIVES
  CODEX OF WORLDS
  THE CRADLE INFESTATION
  By Vanessa Hoskins
  With a possible dycepskian contagion still present, the 
  heroes must find and seize some dangerous augmentations. 
  They then learn of a plan to infest an important barathu at 
  the hospice of Laoe Araae. Unfortunately, the heroes’ task is 
  complicated by the return of the grays!
  THE CUSTODIANS OF 
  BRETHEDA
  By Lyz Liddell
  Barathus, native to the gas giant of Bretheda, are evolutionary 
  marvels, with the ability to adapt their physiology at a whim. 
  Learn more about their history and culture.
  BIOTECHNOLOGY GEAR
  By David N. Ross
  Discover a catalog of interesting equipment crafted from 
  primarily biological components, including weapons, armor, 
  and even personal items. Of course, no such list would be 
  complete without new biotech augmentations!
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  Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
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  Hamon Kunz, Jason Keeley, Robert G. McCreary, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Mark Seifter, 
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  Adam Daigle, Crystal Frasier, Lissa Guillet, Thurston Hillman, Erik Mona, Mark Moreland, Jessica 
  Price, F. Wesley Schneider, Amber E. Scott, and Josh Vogt.
  Starfinder Adventure Path #28: The Hollow Cabal © 2020, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Crystal Frasier, 
  with Alexander Augunas, James Case, Katina Davis, Georg Mir, Emily Parks, and Jessica Ross.
  NEXT MONTH
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  NEAR SPACE
  WORLDS OF POSSIBILITY!
  WORLDS OF POSSIBILITY!
  WORLDS OF POSSIBILITY!
  WORLDS OF POSSIBILITY!
  
  ROSELIGHT   
  ORACLE 
  1. Airlock
  2. Escape pods
  3. Cargo holds
  4. Integrated science lab
  5. Recreation room
  6. Galley
  7. Engineering
  8. Crew quarters
  9. Officer quarters
  10. Bridge
  a. Captain's station
  b. Pilot's station
  c. Engineer's station
  d. Science officer's 
       station
  e. Gunner's station
  MAP KEY
  1 SQUARE = 5 FEET
  1 SQUARE = 5 FEET
  FORWARD
  FORWARD
  8
  8
  8
  8
  8
  8
  8
  8
  8
  8
  8
  8
  10
  10
  9
  9
  9
  9
  4
  5
  6
  7
  3
  3
  2
  2
  d
  e
  c
  a
  b
  1
  1
  
  To warn the Stewards that a sinister force has infiltrated their ranks, the heroes travel to a city in the 
  clouds of a gas giant, only to discover that their enemies are fighting a battle of their own. If the heroes 
  want answers, they will have to figure out who to trust in a world where no one is what they seem!
  This Starfinder Adventure Path volume continues The Threefold Conspiracy Adventure Path and includes:
  • “The Hollow Cabal,” a Starfinder adventure for 7th-level characters, by Crystal Frasier.
  • A combined gazetteer of the floating bubble city of Roselight and its gateway, the moon-sized space 
  station Upwell, by Crystal Frasier.
  • A treatise on the mysterious fungal parasites known as dycepskians, by Katina Davis.
  • An archive of alien creatures, including a swarm of light-refracting amoebas and a collector of souls, by 
  Alexander Augunas, James Case, Crystal Frasier, Georg Mir, and Jessica Ross.
  • Statistics and deck plans for a barathu-piloted patrol ship frigate, by Emily Parks, plus a glimpse of a 
  planet at the edge of a singularity, by Crystal Frasier.
  DON’T TRUST YOUR ENEMIES
  paizo.com/starfinder
  Printed in China. PZO7228
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Starfinder [multi]/Adventure Paths/SF25-30 The Threefold Conspiracy/The Threefold Conspiracy - Part 4 of 6 - The Hollow Cabal.pdf