Alone Among the Stars: Journey of Burnir Chapter 2
This is the gameplays of a solo RPG game known as Alone Among the Stars. Set in a distant galaxy, the journal entry-style story is generated using dice rolls and playing cards. Here is the notes taken during gameplay, hope you enjoy.
Burnir, one of the last survivors of the Palian race from the planet Palrun, now known as New Teblov. He is bored of living in hiding and decides to steal a ship to explore the stars in search of a new life for himself. So, with his broken ship’s AI he flies away from his home world.
Star System: Void
Planet: COTU Comet
Cycle 62: Floating Plants
The Palian idio… survivor known as Burnir has gotten himself into something that wasn’t his fault, for once. Whilst drifting in the void getting some shut eye after his last escape, the ship’s sirens wake him up. Warning Burnir of a fast approaching asteroid about to collide with his ship. He jumps out of bed, still in his pajamas and races to the navigation deck to get out of the way. Why he didn’t tell the ship’s AI to do it I will never know. I know I am capable but my programming should not compensate for a lifeforms stupidity. Anyway, somehow he slides into the chair and takes the ship out of harm’s reach. As they asteroid passes, time almost slows down as he observes the peculiar space rock. It burns in the empty void with no air. Its flames are almost transparent with the ends flickering various colours as if breaking the spectrum of visible light in its ember tails. The rock itself is jagged and rough in texture, having more resemblance of a shard of shattered emerald than a typical grey blob of stone. And tracing the path of the comet is various orbs, each containing a cluster of mushroom caps, suspended inside the orb. The fungus inside doesn’t appear to be sentient and yet, it follows the comet as it rushes past. All of this observed in a matter of seconds before it shoots off into the distance of darkness. Leaving Burnir to wonder at what in all the realms did he just witness.Cycle 63: Living Beings, Snowy Peaks
The following cycle greets us with a new uncharted planet in the depths of the void. It appears cold and desolate, so of course Burnir wants to explore it. So, he pilots the ship down into the almost opaque clouds and struggles to land on the side on what appears to be a mountain. But scans of the planet suggest it is merely a solid ice structure glued to the storming snow clouds like stalagmites in a cave. What is even more surprising is the scans of the area suggest life outside. This piques Burnir as he races outside in an attempt to help whoever maybe stranded in this harsh nightmare habitat. After an hour of time, the Palian drags and scrapes a block of ice onto the ship. Inside said block is a very frozen reptilian creature. After scanning for life, it is confirmed the reptilian creature is alive and immediately taken to the ship’s engine rooms to defrost, in the hopes of breaking it free from the icy suspension chamber.Cycle 66: Plants, Near Volcano
Despite his best efforts, Burnir is unable to melt the ice. He has tried blowing really hard on it. Covering it up with blankets and even using a blowtorch he somehow got onto the ship without the AI’s knowledge. Still, the reptile is still trapped in ice. So the Palian has the idea of taking it somewhere warmer. He jets off into hyperspace, setting co-ordinates to the planet Dhovah, home of the dragons. The ship lands on the surface of the hottest climate on database and he creates a makeshift sledge to transport the block of ice down to the surface. Whilst on the ground, he brushes past several plants that seems to disintegrate into ash at the mere touch of his shoes. But that is not on his mind right now. Instead he brings the ice to the edge of a volcano top, hoping to sweat the ice away with the fumes and heat of the active volcano. He sits and waits... And waits… and waits some more. Before finally seeing the ice drip onto the ground and sizzle as it evaporates into the smog clouds. Once all the ice has melted, the only thing that remains is the reptile who turns from a shade of frosty blue to a cozy red on its scales. It opens its eyes to see a Burnir welling up at the site of this new life. It rolls on its back, trying to find its feet after however long trapped in ice. But to the horror of our little hero, it rolls straight into the mouth of the volcano. Followed by a plop sound and a small eruption of lave spewing up above the head of Burnir. He sobs as he realizes his efforts were useless. Locking himself in his room for many cycles. Perhaps this was a good thing though, as scans of the creature later revealed it was carrying a deadly disease with no known cure. A disease that could have potentially killed off any reptilian species. Close call I say.Star System: Void
Planet: Zao
Cycle 70: Living, In A Field Taller Than You
Landing in a random location to clear his head, Burnir wanders a field of sparse flowers that have grown 8ft tall. Sporting an array of tear shaped petals and blushing in shades of reds and pink. The area is quite quaint and peaceful. That is until Burnir comes along. Misplacing his foot and tripping down a few steps, he reveals a broken spiral staircase leading down into the ground. Curiosity gets the better of him and his agility allows him to hop over missing steps and into the tunnels of some kind of city. Rooms are carved out of stone, images cover the walls with basic depictions of stubby looking creatures. Matching records of the planet, he is able to identify the people of this seemingly abandoned settlement as Munchkins. He calls out into the tunnels to see if he gets some kind of response, but all he hears the echoes of his own voice. So he idly brushes his hand over various items to find anything interesting.Cycle 71: Natural, Deep Underground
Passing through the twisting tunnels, our explorer is able to find an underground lake. As he toutches the water, he feels it satisfyingly warm and decides to take a quick bath inside. The water seems to wash away all his worries and negative thoughts. Leaving him in a trance of peace and tranquillity. The spacious void above the water has a few glowing minerals poking out of the walls to give the room a nice purple glow. The water ripples reflect onto the ceiling and compels Burnir to lay and watch his upset dissipate into nothing.Cycle 71: Plant, Deep Water
The calming area is almost too good to be true. As Burnir looks at the water and notices something moving under the surface. Its dark figure wobbles in the water, but he is able to make out a thick stem with various tiny leaves poking out. The tendril slowly makes its way to Burnir, like a snake slowly slithering to its prey as not to scare it. Burnir, being the naïve creature he is, puts his hand towards it and offers a friendly handshake. Instead of shaking the Palian’s hand it quickly wraps itself around and pulls him under the water. A lot of flapping and splashing occurs making this next part a little hard to see. But from what I can tell, Burnir uses his unexpecting strength to pull away from the animated kelp vine, ripping it in half and making a hasty escape out of the water and searching for his clothes.Cycle 71: Natural, Cliff Face
As he squelches into his final shoe, Burnir watches with horror as this underwater kelp seems to regenerate itself, introducing a new tendril to the party. They both break out of the water and grow towards our adventurer. He scrambles to the tunnels in the hopes of escaping this plant beast. Getting completely lost, he fumbles his way to a moonlit exit. Now outside, he finds himself at the bottom of a ravine that soars high into the night sky. But at the very top he is able to spot one of those tall flowers he walked by yesterday. The plant doesn’t seem to be approaching but he can hear the drips and slithers of movement from the tunnels behind him. In a moment of pure hope, he signals for the ship to fly to his location. But the ravine seems to block any signal. With nothing better to do, Burnir walks along the bottom of the ravine, vaulting over boulders and side stepping past uneven ground to escape yet another thing trying to kill him.Cycle 71: Natural, Hot Environment
After a few mintues, Burnir rests to find he is no longer being chased by the kelp. All this running has gotten him into quite a sweat and he leans against a stone wall to catch his breath. What he doesn’t notice immediately is that his hand rests on an ancient button, and with the weight of his hand is able to grind into action. The stone button plate presses into the wall and stone begins to crumble and dust spews out of cracks. Revealing to our hero a dark tunnel, releasing a wave of humid air nearly choking him. Once the loose pebbles and crumbling of rock subsides, Burnir simply calls into the tunnel expecting some kind of answer. He does not get an answer. Therefore, it must be safe to enter and he does so with caution. The tunnel is a lot shorter than the ones he previously encountered, forcing him to crawl and try hold his breath. As the air in this tunnel system is stuffy. Almost setting fire to the back of his throat as he breathes. But still, he continues for what seems like an eternity before coming to a dead end. He checks the walls for anymore buttons and to his surprise finds yet another button. The familiar movement of stone opens a doorway to the surface and Burnir climbs out to a cool night sky full of stars. He lays on the ground with a sigh of relief. Upon returning to the ship, he asks for a medical check for the cuts on his hand and sets sail to explore more planets. Hoping to meet more friendly creatures. And as he returns to his quarters, he pulls out of his pocket a small trinket he found in the underground town. A stone model of a Munchkin, at least that’s what he thinks it is.Star System: Naasea
Planet: Machan Orbit
Cycle 84: Living, In Water
Needing fuel for the ship, Burnir takes the opportunity to land on one of the moons in the Machan Orbit. A collection of moons all inhabited by factories and industrial machinery. Also, the home of androids, robots and droids. Upon opening the doors, he is met with a clockwork city. Rusted orange floors and burnt bronze piping snaking up walls. How fascinating. He wonders around the streets asking for some help fueling his ship. This is where he meets an android labelled 85GG8-N (Gigi), they introduce themselves and take Burnir to the fountain of oil. Where various pumps and tubes are submerged, sprouting off to various machinery. Some to Pill Droids, some to generators and now one to his ship.Cycle 87: Ruins, Glacier
Gigi has been a most wonderful tour guide, showing off the production line of Yalencite’s Hover Bikes to the impressive vents of biospheres. To ensure the air is breathable to beings visiting the planet. The final stop on the sites to see is the scrapyard. A place that feels cold as he enters. Inspecting decommissioned robots, various cybernetic limbs and one very realistic eyeball. As he wanders the scrapyard, Burnir asks Gigi what her purpose is on the planet. What is she programmed for? Her response reels off a list of actions that makes her sound like a site surveyor. One that is efficient and pays attention to details. He asks if she would like to explore the stars with him but she declines, her programming and data core is linked to the cloud network on the planet. Meaning she cannot leave the planet without wiping her memory. Nodding to show understanding, Burnir thanks Gigi and heads back to the ship. Before heading back, she asks the Palian a question. What is her programmed for? He replies unsure. Beings are not programmed; they just exist and they make up things as they go along. Eventually the sums of their actions become reason they exist. Nothing is predetermined for him. When he finds out his purpose he shall return to tell her. He waves goodbye and sets off back into the stars to explore even more of the worlds that lie ahead.Check out Chapter 1 Here:
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