The Missing Capsule (Nyxara 0202 - Lowreach.1)
A survey capsule, launched from orbit by an Aleran Technocracy research craft, crashed into the Twilight Lowlands of Nyxara. The capsule contains data cores and precursor fragments collected from a spire filament chamber. Whoever controls it could leverage the information for science, power, or profit.
Which factions are involved?
- Aleran Technocracy (0105 - Aleris): The capsule was theirs. They want it back intact for research and prestige. They’ll pay well but insist on discretion.
- Obsidian Dynamics: Their agents intercepted transmissions about the capsule. They want it first, to plunder for precursor tech.
- Greenflow Biotics: Claim the capsule violates their monopoly on “official” Nyxaran research. They’ve dispatched a security team to seize it.
- Nyxari Lowland Tribes: Locals see the capsule as a falling star, a dangerous omen. Some worship it, others seek to destroy it.
Who is the PCs contact on the planet?
- Dr. Lyssa Veylan – Aleran field scientist.
- Faction: Aleran Technocracy
- Personality: Nervous, brilliant, too honest for her own good.
- Role: She hires the PCs and provides coordinates of the crash site, but her intel is 12 hours old — things have already shifted on the ground.
What other characters may they encounter?
- Karo “Three-Hands” Myrek – Dustveil Syndicate smuggler operating in the lowlands. Offers navigation help through fungal groves… for a cut.
- Sister Alira – A pilgrim of the Crucible, interpreting the capsule as a holy sign. She might help or hinder depending on PCs’ actions.
- Sergeant Marrok – Greenflow Biotics security commander, leading a corporate recovery squad. Suspicious and heavily armed.
- Teyna Hollowborn – Leader of a mutated lowland tribe. Her people think the capsule is cursed and will attempt to drive everyone away.
What environmental and man-made challenge is in their way?
- Environmental Hazards:
- Fungal forests that release paralytic spores when disturbed.
- Swarms of spire-winged predators nesting near the capsule site.
- The Twilight Zone of Nyxara is damp, low-visibility, and filled with treacherous sinkholes.
- Man-Made Obstacles:
- Automated Aleran survey drones that went rogue when the capsule crashed; they now defend the site against anyone.
- A competing Obsidian Dynamics team setting up sensor jammers to mask their retrieval.
- Local lowland traps — concealed pitfall snares and fungal fire-pits around the capsule site.
Potential Twists
- Capsule Integrity Compromised: The capsule cracked on impact, leaking precursor artifacts into the soil. The PCs may have to contain them before recovery.
- Data Core Self-Encrypts: The capsule is actively rewriting itself (similar to the signal on Verdancia), suggesting precursor tech contamination.
- Obsidian Dynamics Agent Inside: When the PCs reach the site, they find an Obsidian agent already embedded in the capsule’s systems — maybe even offering to ally temporarily.
- Lowland Hostility: The capsule has already been claimed by Teyna’s Hollowborn tribe, who see it as a gift of power. Taking it may ignite open war with the locals.
- Greenflow Sting: The entire job is a Greenflow setup to expose Aleran interference — meaning the PCs are now on the hook as corporate pawns.
- The Capsule Moves: The capsule’s onboard AI thrusters reactivated after impact, and it is slowly dragging itself deeper into the fungal jungle.
- Dr. Veylan’s Secret: The Aleran contact knew about the risks — she may have deliberately leaked intel to multiple parties to force a recovery at any cost.
🏴☠️ The Coral Wraiths Crew
A small, semi-stranded pirate band operating out of a hidden mooring carved into a dead coral pillar. Their ships are jury-rigged and fungal-corroded, but their cunning (and desperation) keeps them alive.
| Name | Role | Notes / Flavor |
|---|---|---|
| Captain “Red” Sura Klyne | Pirate Captain | Charismatic, sharp-tongued woman with coral tattoos across her face; ex-Free Corsair deserter turned local raider. |
| Vek “Spindle” Rovan | Pilot / Engineer | Thin and wiry, speaks in a half-mechanical rasp from a failed atmospheric burn; obsessed with pretech engines. |
| Mara Tress | Quartermaster | Cold, pragmatic, former Greenflow security officer who sold out her unit and joined the pirates. Keeps meticulous logs even of thefts. |
| Dagon Holt | Muscle / Enforcer | Jovial brute with a broken spike-implant in his skull; loyal to Sura, distrustful of outsiders, keeps a pet crab-like creature named “Scuttle.” |
| “Fizz” Ril Andok | Hacker / Scavenger | Young psionically sensitive tech scavenger who talks to “ghosts in the signal.” Likely the first to notice the self-modifying code spreading. |