•The party makes the acquaintance of Atherton, a Ryn who sticks to the shadows.
•The Medons fall from power as most of their number is killed in a surprise attack by one of their own.
Having just recovered the carbonite-frozen Aluni Medon from two of Sabinus' Gen'Dais, the party goes to Aluni's estate. Yvegeny decides to send a message to Sabinus, vis-a-vis his PR people, saying Yev's the guy who gets things done. Ras decides to go for a more direct message and has the corpse of the Gen'Dai they killed shipped to Sabinus.
A house doctor thaws out Aluni Medon, who is disoriented by the experience. Aluni says that Sabinus called her to a private meeting, looking to work with the Republic, but she was knocked unconscious. She says Tarn Medon has called a meeting at his estate this evening to rally support for the Republic; Sabinus told her he plans to attend the meeting and kill Tarn to bring the Medons to join the Sith. As she's still coming out of hibernation sickness, she advises the party to go as her representatives and protect Tarn.
Yev calls Aig to get 45 good men to help him arrest Sabinus, but Aig is unsure he'll be able to find any and sets to find some. Instead, to take advantage of his security credentials and be able to get his weapons in, Yvegeny goes as the personal bodyguard of Chuun Medon, a rather awkward, unimportant cousin. Chuun is quite happy to get some attention for once, glad he's "important enough to kill." Evidently the guy does not get out much.
The party travels to Tarn's floating estate — which, as previously established, is quite ornate — and heads to the ballroom, where Medons are mingling. The party sees Aya Lim and Lokksnek, the Trandoshan Republic diplomat, and discusses the situation. Atherton, a Ryn infiltrator working for Norbu Medon, yet another family member, surreptitiously eavesdrops on the conversation, but Lokksnek notices him and calls him over, where he is introduced to the group.
While Yev gets Chuun laid by a non-family member, Devo spots Sabinus and his wife in the crowd and goes over to him. Sabinus is less than pleased to see Devo, referring to him as "Aluni's whelp," and dodges any responsibility for what happened to Aluni. Bao and Ras begin searching the room quietly, looking for any way Sabinus might sabotage the proceedings (though Devo does notice Sabinus carrying a sheathed rapier at his side).
It suddenly occurs to Bao that there are not many Gen'Dai in the room, despite the fact that most of the Medons would have brought them along as security. He tells Tarn Medon, who also finds it odd and relays the message to his security chief to begin investigating. The party splits up to tail Sabinus and stick close to Tarn, just as the power suddenly goes out.
Ladow Medon, the Medon with whom the party first met when they arrived at Chommell Prime (who had also invited the Sith to their meeting), broadcasts a message over the estate: He's sickened that the great Medon family, which has stood independent for millennia, is actually considering allying with the Republic or the Sith; they should stand only for themselves. He's procured a cure for the Gen'Dais' racial mental instability as they age, and so the Gen'Dai gladly provided him with their masters' access codes. Ladow is taking their money and making a run for it (as he says the Medons don't deserve what they have if they're willing to stoop so low), but not before using some cloaked ships of his own to fire on the Republic and Sith, ending the peace and triggering an all-out war between the two enemies.
As the Medons scramble about to figure out what to do, an explosion is heard at the repulsor engines of the estate, as Tarn's estate shudders and begin a freefall into the planet core. Yvegeny quickly calls Nasha Luk to get her ship over and pick them up, and she heads over post haste. Ras grabs Sabinus, Devo grabs Tarn, Yev grabs Chuun and his date, and everybody begins running for the docking bay in time. Bao tries to lead people to safety, but is unable to communicate with the panicking crowd well enough for them to catch up with him, and he's forced to run it alone.
When the party arrives at the docking bay, most of the ships are gone — stolen, presumably, by the Gen'Dai — as Nasha's ship comes in. Bao spots a Medon on the ground nearby, not moving — it's Ladow, surprisingly, and he's been killed by electrocution. He hauls the corpse aboard the ship as the party and about 20 survivors board. As Nasha's ship pulls away, Ras uses the Force to hold up the falling estate as long as she can so that more ships can get away (and about three or four do so).
Nasha starts flying her ship toward the Honor of Coruscant, but while comming the flagship, Ras is told by Plutara that the fighting has already begun, and they won't be able to receive the transport for docking in the middle of battle. The party decides to go to Aluni's estate, instead, to regroup and plan their next move. They turn in Sabinus to Aluni's custody — she has a room she can keep him in. Plutara says she can send a blockade runner to pick up the party shortly.
Bao uses his psychometric powers on Ladow's blaster and sees that he was walking towards his ship when he was electrocuted from behind — he didn't get to see his attacker, though he saw someone walk past him as he died. Bao recognizes the shoe as belonging to Aya Lim, and the party realizes that Aya probably killed Ladow with dark side lightning and stole his ship to escape, putting the question of her redemption in doubt.
As the party waits for the blockade runner to arrive, Devo and another member of Aluni's security staff interrogate Sabinus, who is crestfallen over having lost everything — his fortune, his wife, and his Gen'Dai servants. He says he had no knowledge of Ladow's plan — he'd simply planned to challenge Tarn to an honor duel in the ballroom. When pressed, he admits he helped shelter the Sith at a hidden shipyard (which the party has already been to), and gives up the names of his Sith contacts — Undawai and Stragos — but Devo is unimpressed.
DM's Notes:
- I had originally intended for Ladow Medon to get away in the end, and then the party would find him again later. But I kinda thought it would be silly to have him as some sort of recurring villain, because I didn't really see him as some sort of megalomaniac raising an army or anything, and his whole goal was to not join the Republic or Sith. So I thought it'd be more interesting to have him be killed right after he carries out his big plan, and raise the whole question of "Is Aya Lim light or dark? Did she kill Ladow Medon, and if so, why?" I didn't want the party walking away from Chommell Prime thinking, "Well, everything's going to be super-OK with Aya from now on," because I think she's an interesting character and I'd like to keep her around as long as possible.
- My original intent was to have the skill challenge be whether Aluni and/or Tarn lived. Aluni not going to the "Landsmeet," as it were, and each party member trying something different changed those plans. Too bad Bao Koon left those people to die.
- The whole Sabinus/Ladow thing was a bit of a red herring on my part. I'd always intended that while Sabinus was the most open ally of the Sith, he was inadvertently drawing attention away from the more radical elements (i.e. Ladow). I do wish I'd done a little more with Ladow, but everything proceeded as I had foreseen.
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