Beaked Monkey

The Kitten

Patron: Industrialist
Required Skills: none
Required Equipment: None

Players’ Information:
The crew of the ship has bought some cargo (frozen bug-fish) at Regina (Spinward Marches 1910). They thought that they would make a huge profit at Extolay (Spinward Marches 1711) at the bug-fish festival. But their information was wrong. Their cargo is unsellable. While trying to locate a buyer at Extolay the crew is contacted through their ship’s computer connection by an anonymous caller. The caller wants to know if the crew could help her with something that is legal but may cause some confusion. This is a task that is best performed by outsiders using a cunning plan but could be performed in other ways. Violence should be avoided. In return, she would buy their cargo for what they paid at Regina.

This is better than nothing and it means that it will free up the cargo hold. The crew will get one day to consider the offer. The caller say that she will call them again in exactly 24 standard hours.

Beaked MonkeyReferee’s Information:
If the group accepts the offer, then a meeting will be arranged. The group will meet Clarona Arnomed who is an important business woman on Extolay. Clarona will explain that she wants her beaked monkey (a cute animal) back. Her Beaked Monkey (called Nilson) was mistakenly given to the wife of Baron Didishir from Didisha (a town that can be reached in two hours by maglev).

The story the group gets to hear is that Clarona had a romantic affair with Baron Didishir (who owns most of the land around Didisha). Clarona wants to keep this a secret. That is one reason she needs outside help. While visiting the Baron when her wife was away, she had the beaked monkey with her. When the baroness suddenly and unexpectedly arrived on an earlier spaceship and arrived in the Didisha Estate without calling to surprise her husband, then the Baron made Clarona pretend that she was just a delivery girl who had brought the beaked monkey as a present.

Now Clarona wants the animal back. Nilson is chipped, so Clarona can prove that she owns him. The PCs will get the code and a letter explaining that they work for Clarona. Hopefully, they wouldn’t need it.

Now the PCs will just have to come up with a cunning plan. Clarona can tell the PCs that the Baroness likes to spend the Barons money in shops in both Extolay City and in Didisha. Sometimes her assistants have been seen carrying the beaked monkey.

1: All is as represented. The PCs will be able to snatch the beaked monkey from the assistants.

2: As #1, but the police are called, and the PCs will have to use their letter from Clarona to prove that they haven’t stolen the animal.

3: As #2, but the situation is even more confused since the Baroness has bought another similar looking beaked monkey as a friend to the first one.

4: As #1, #2 or #3, except that Clarona Arnomed have planned everything from the beginning. A passive listening device has been implanted in the animal. Its memory is now full, and she wants it retrieved. She doesn’t really care about the animal. (She isn’t using a device with a radio-link since that may be detected.) It will be very difficult for the PCs to find out about this now. But maybe they will find out about it next time they visit Extolay (in a bad or maybe good way).

5: As #4, but Baron Didishir has detected the listening device. It has been removed. Four disguised and armed guards will always be following the Baroness on her shopping trips. The identification chip has also been replaced.

6: Clarona Arnomed is a Zhodani agent that is using the beaked monkey as a psionic booster to be able to look through its eyes. Now she has the information she wants about the Barons navy contracts and the plans for an extension of the Naval Base close to Didisha. As in #4, it will be very difficult for the PCs to find out about this now.

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