The session began by navigating a lengthy Haven Turn. The party sold some of their mining equipment for 3000 Darics.
Dr. Trevor Science acquired the new magic words “Insect,” “Teleport,” “Locate.” He then created the spells: Conjure Bone Dragon Zone, Teleport Zone, Acid Insect Beam, Teleport Bone Beam, Locate Control, Control Dragon or Insect, Locate Zone, Conjure Golden Acid Dragon
Gown acquired “Pass,” “Terrain,” and “Steal.” He then created the spells “Steal Control,” “Pass Steel,” “Delaying Terrain,” “Steal Beam,” “Pass Terrain,” “Pass Dragons or Krakkens.”
Magnus Robot Fighter Frankenstein’d the ship’s power plant to boost its output. He also bought Rocket Feet, and a fancy helmet with 8 vision modes. The first is Sonar vision, the remaining 7 may be determined during the course of play.
Elias’ new character, the possessor spirit Erasela Zamorna, met with the spacer T’Let. She offered him a bargain: if he let her use his body for adventures, she’d help him accumulate wealth and experience, then leave his body after a few years to find another. He agreed, and she spent the haven turns working with his body and training her piloting skill up to d8.
With all that done, the party decided they wanted to go on a good old fashioned treasure hunt. They dug around a bit and found mention of a nearby desert world filled with ruins that no one had properly explored beyond a basic survey. It wasn’t far, and within a day they’d reached the place. It was arid, a sort of desert world whose best years were long behind it. Following the survey they managed to find an area with notable ruins, which they scanned, and discovered the entrance to a sort of temple.
The party landed to investigate. The place was covered in carvings of great lizard beasts. They ventured inside where they found a river flowing down a corridor. As they followed it they discovered little side rooms where amazing scrimshawed art was buried. It was the closest thing they’d found to treasure, and they collected it eagerly.
As they did so, some ghosts came marching down the river from the other direction. They demanded the scrimshaw be returned, and seemed ready to do violence, but the party parleyed expertly. They learned that the people of this extinct race experienced a tangible, observable afterlife, but that they could only access it while their ritualistically scrimshawed bones (where the soul is) are buried in sacred ground.
The party pointed out that invertebrates would not have souls in that case, and also that eventually their planet would be destroyed and their afterlife would end. The ghosts did not object to either of these two points. Of course the afterlife wouldn’t end, the same way life ended. Nothing is eternal. And obviously invertebrates don’t have souls. Why should that be a surprise to anyone?
Eventually the party agreed to put the bones back in exchange for artworks of an even more impressive sort: ghost art. A sort of spectral stuff popular in the afterlife. They collected pieces from a variety of styles and movements, even those which the ghosts insisted they wouldn’t be able to appreciate.
As a gesture of good will, the ghosts also gave the party directions to where their capitol city had been. As their entire civilization was dead, they really had no use for the place, and it would be fine if the party wanted to loot it.