Crashing Footfalls
| Crashing Footfalls | ||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Comanche Mob | Dog Men | ||||||||
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Obsidian Doctor Q Gremlin Rogozhin |
Character1 Character2 | |||||||||
Summary
A Korean organization of some persuasion (we never figured out who) wishes to re-acquire an associate that they have tracked to a small town in the PCC. There's just one problem: There's been a Juggernaut sighting.
Background
An Elf shaman named Caller recently escaped from the Korean Organization and is currently hiding in the Mojave. He has secured an agreement with the local Comanche Mob to help them with a problem in exchange for protection. The runners have to enter the town where Caller is holed up and relieve him of his new post so that he may return to his old post.
The Meet
The crew meets the client in a parking lot where they have a giant carrier helo waiting. The client explains that they are looking for the crew to find an elf known to them as 'Caller' and to return him alive and unharmed back to them. The client also mentions they spotted a Juggernaut that has already made several incursions into the town where Caller is staying at. The client provides no further details but does mention Mana storms and they fact that the crew only has 24 hours...after dropping them off. Truly unprofessional.
The Plan
With not a lot of information on the town or Caller's role in that town. The crew decides to make plans on the fly. Using their vehicles. The crew will scout the town, find targets of opportunity and Caller's whereabouts and then formulate a plan to extract him.
The Run
After some initial trouble with sand. The crew is able to arrive at the town. Once there, Rogozhin sets his "Dog" to to a Spirit Search, using the provided picture of Caller. Obsidian hears gunshots and the crew decides to investigate. They find a group of Comanche Mobsters sieging a group of Dog Men. Dr. Q uses a Trid Phantasm to convince the Mobsters that there are more than the 4 runners behind them, and initiates talks. The Mobsters originally want the crew to finish off the Dog Men; however, the crew is divided on whether to help, and ultimately did not as the Dog spirit returned with a fix on Caller's Location. Doctor Q and Rogozhin stayed with the Mobsters to stall, while Gremlin and Obsidian investigated Caller's location.
Gremlin and Obsidian find the building Caller is in, but also find the Juggernaut outside fast asleep. Gremlin is able to sneak inside and find Caller. Caller and another Mage are in ritual circles concentrating on a ritual spell, while 6 other mobsters sit nervously. Obsidian sees the ritual circle, realizes that it is a Path of the Wheel and Shamanic circle for Manipulation Magic, and makes a gamble that this ritual is why the Juggernaut is asleep, using that to sneak up to where Gremlin is. She is successful and decides the best course of action is to walk confidently into the hornet's nest with just the two of them....
Meanwhile, Doctor Q and Rogozhin are running a stall for the Mobsters and Doctor Q decides to distract them with his mangaka. It works.....too well in fact. Years of competition and hatred between The Comanche Mob and the Dog men erased in the blink of an eye and the brush of the pen.
All hail the power of Boy's Love.
Obsidian and Gremlin decide to try to convince The Comanche Mob to give up Caller without bloodshed. Through a combination of Shotgun diplomacy, bluffs, counterbluffs, and suave manipulation, the pair realizes that Caller is called on to deal with the Juggernaut, but has oversold his capabilities and can hardly do more than strand this group in this building with the sleeping juggernaut outdoor. The Comanche leader determines this also by inspecting Caller's hands--the smooth, untested, twink hands of a liar, while Obsidian and Gremlin's hands show years of hard work and tough calls. The leader gives the crew a deal: Deal with the Juggernaut and Caller is theirs.
With that Obisidian hatches a plan, Rogozhin heads out and lights a massive bonefire out deep in the desert, while Obsidian calls a Water spirit to summon a damp, cold desert thunderstorm to blow through the city. The Juggernaut's physiology prefers warmth, so it should avoid the city and go towards the warmth. Rogozhin's Dog spirit also harries the Juggernaut with its icy death aura. The effort is successful, and the Juggernaut moves, but not before gulping down Rogozhin's dog like a Yoshi.
With the objective complete. The crew collects their elf charlatan and returns him to the mob.
Aftermath
The city is spared from further attacks from the juggernaut, and the Comanche Mob and Dog Men can hopefully build a new, cooperative future centered around Boy's Love Mangaka. All's well than ends well. Except for Caller, he's kinda screwed. But hey, a charlatan reaps what he sows.