Episode Two.
By the end of Episode I the party should be leaving Criticorum due to the heat of events that have overtaken them. Most likely no-one in authority will have any idea who they really were unless they gave themselves away at some point. They will most probably be heading for BII to gather information on Sister Maria, but they might also be heading for Nowhere, in which case follow this link.
If they have gone to BII then use the following:
Arriving at Byzantium Secundus
The players ship will dock with Cumulus Station in orbit around the star of BII (but not around BII planet itself). They will have to find their way down to BII itself, but shuttles leave each day so this wont be a problem. Since they are there they may as well have a look around Cumulus Station (they will return to it for a few adventures), allowing the GM to introduce this important feature of the Known Worlds. It would probably be a good idea to run a small event while they are here, but I didnt plan anything myself.
From Cumulus they move to BII.
Tracking Sister Maria
This should be fairly simple as long as the players have picked up the clues you have given them. On BII they will find an extensive Church beaurocracy that can be used to track the activities of church officials. By using the date on the photo and the fact that everyone going to Nowhere is recorded they will be able to isolate which Sister Maria they are after. Following this a search of Sanctuary Aeon records will reveal her current location (use of various skills can be made here, but even if they fail the rolls allow for the use of bribes and charm to correct the problem).
Sister Maria has retired to a Nunnery on Artemis due to ill health. The only way to contact her is to visit the nunnery in person. This will mean finding passage to the planet, which may stretch the resources of the group. Passage costs can be found on page 68 of Forbidden Technology. A standard passage on a transport for one jump will cost 50FB each, so they will need to have some money or earn their passage in some fashion (either have needed skills or a passage contract). Players will probably have some form of regular income so remember they have just spent more than 20+ days in space and may be entitled to some. Jumping to Artemis is 3 gates, so thats 150FB for each player. There is a nice table by Lee Watts you may want to use with regard to income.
My group had a player who took a 10pt Passage Contract, which meant they had a ship on call most of the time, this proved very useful to them even though they didnt know it when they created their characters. In regard to incomes I updated the players every month, charging them a flat 10% off the top to move the money around from their homeworld to whatever major world they were on.
Once they reach Artemis they will need to locate the Nunnery (easy) then arrange travel to the site. It is about 100 km out of the city at which they landed, and surrounded by a high 8 foot wall.
There is a main entrance at which they can ring a bell. A Sister will appear and ask them what they want. The only option she will be able to give them is to see the Mother Superior, who may or may not be available. The players will have to convince the nun at the gate that she should fetch the Mother Superior. One aspect that the players will not be aware of is that the Mother Superior is very taken by nobles. If anyone in the party is a noble, and makes it known, then the nun will be only too eager to get the Mother.
The Mother will deal with a noble if one was present, or with whoever convinced the Nun to fetch her. When the players ask to see Sister Maria she will say that is not possible as she has taken a vow of silence. The players can try to convince the Mother to act as an intermediate (Sister to her, her to them), any other option will just not work. If they try to break into the nunnery then it will cause serious repercussions, and Sister Maria will not talk to them anyway.
The Mother will take one person (the rest will have to wait outside). Inside Sister Maria will pass on that she has not heard from Brother Sabastian for quite some time. The players will need to convince her of their mission and genuine concern over Brother Sabastians death. If they do then she will pass on the last contact she had from one of her friends - Darren Sembler. This letter will be on a single sheet of paper and ask her to pass the enclosed postcard to Brother Sabastian if she should see him (which she thought was a very strange thing to do!). The letter is written on the back of a page from a report written by Sembler. The postcard has a pawn ticket attached to it.
Armed with the clues from Sister Maria the group should be heading back to Cumulus Station. Dont forget that to travel to Artemis will have taken them some time (3 jumps). Returning will again take up their time but may allow them to gain extra income.
Clue 4
This is the back of a letter from Darren Sembler asking Sister Maria to pass the information onto Brother Sabastian.
Darren sent it too her as he suspected that his time was short and needed a safe go between. Unfortunately BS never had a chance to get the info.
Clue 6
This is the attached postcard that goes with the letter above. Stapled to it is the pawn ticket which leads the players Arkadys shop at Cumulus Station.