Pass a Bad Time

Pass a Bad Time
Date 2085-05-16 GM TidanShock Location New Orleans, CAS Status Threat Level: Deadly
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	New Orleans Shedim
Poe Sticks Stryker Trades
Casualties and losses
	Bodies destroyed

Summary

The team is quickly called to New Orleans in the CAS in order to take on a job to eliminate a possessed gang leader. The team does some legwork and visits a church to consult with them regarding the potential threats that the team could encounter. After consulting with the priest, the team does some work on the matrix in order to track down Dark Mark's hiding place. Afterwards, the team prepares an informational packet on the Shedim and broadcast it to the warehouse in order to convince some of them to flee the scene without fighting. Afterwards, the team sweeps in and clears out the warehouse before making haste to the church in order to get Stryker evaluated by the priest.

Background

A new Johnson posts a hurried plea onto the Shadowhaven asking for help in New Orleans. They need the best of the best and are even willing to front the cost of the plane tickets in order to get the runners there as soon as possible.

The Meet

In Redmond, we find Psyche watching some gangers getting into trouble outside their apartment as he eats some soy food. He receives a DNI request from Anna Van Der Pelt who tells him to head to the Puyallup Airport for a new job. We find Trades in the upstairs of Desmond's Cajun Delights where she flutters through the air keeping an eye out with her Fly-Spy. She relaxes on the couch when she receives a DNI request from Heward Smith who tells her that she's got a Krime flight to New Orleans soon. Stryker is hiding out in a bathroom taking a shower where he gets a DNI which he ignores in favor of looking for Sticks. We find Sticks finishing his shift at Desmond's Cajun Delights whipping up some special soul food. Together, the two meet in the kitchen when a snot-nosed brat insults their restrooms. During a lull, Ace Powers starts a call where he offers them a Johnson paid trip back to New Orleans. Trades and Sticks drive up to Redmond to pick up Psyche. They manage to pass through the checkpoints without trouble, and return with Psyche via the ork underground. The team arrives at an airfield in Cutter territory to find a decent looking private jet. Trades FAQs the plane and discovers that it may have belonged to the Silver Crescent crime family who stole it from Renraku about 15 years back.

The team gets a view of the patchwork nature of New Orleans and lands at another smuggling airfield. The team disembarks and meets a woman who tells them that she has a ride and has arranged for them to stay at a hotel for 3 nights. Ms. Johnson explains that she's a member of one of the local crime families. 2 of their main leaders have departed the city to pursue other opportunities. The new boss, Dark Mark, has changed in a mysterious way that she can't quite put her hands on. She wants him removed from power one way or another. When Sticks reveals to the car that they're a member of the Brown family, Ms. Johnson reveals that she was adopted to replace him after he disappeared. Things become very tense in the car with knives being pulled and fire spirits being called. Eventually, the team and Ms. Johnson come to an uneasy entente with each other. The team agrees to perform the job in exchange for their secrecy regarding Stick's presence.

The Plan

Ms. Johnson reports that Dark Mark has been visiting doll parlors, but not visiting for the companionship. She confides that she's been having a gut feeling regarding him. She does tell the team to find separate accommodations. The team arrives at another hotel, and Sticks offers to cover the room. Stryker heads outside to find an ATM to convert their nuyen into CAS dollars. He is able to safely make the reservation at the hotel. Afterwards, the team makes their way to a weapons shop to get Sticks a ballistics mask to hide their face. Trades performs a matrix search and is able to discover that Dark Mark is a powerful mystic adept who has retired into the life of a crime family leader. There appears to have been a period where he went missing and returned changed. He appears to have become a nocturnal creature. He has been seen visiting wooden buildings, which the team is able to determine lowers the chance that he has become an infected. Psyche remembers that the Catholic church has a large presence in New Orleans, and may possess the magical knowledge to identify what has happened to Dark Mark.

Psyche, Sticks, and Stryker head to the Catholic church in order to find out more information about what Dark Mark may have become. They make their way inside and meet father Andre who inquires into whether the afflicted person was a Catholic. They're led into a backroom and given some soy pizza while the priests asks some questions to help narrow down what sort of creature he has become. He cautions the team about the possibility of shadow spirits affecting Mark, and warns them about the danger of summoning them. He offers to teach the team sunbeam in order to conjure light to abjure the creatures of the night for 2000 nuyen. He also offers to sell some silver and wood pulp handloaded ammunition to the runners after extracting a promise not to misuse the ammunition. With a final warning that he will ruin the team's day if they steal his meatloaf, he departs.

Trades performs a matrix search to try and discover where this potential shedim is hiding. She notices that a warehouse near a nice urban area about half a kilometer from the ocean seems to be a hot spot for sightings of Mark. Trades sends in her flyspy and flies a circuit around the outside of the building before locating a potential point to enter the building. Once she's inside, she walks around the inside of the building along the exterior wall getting a view of the interior. During their check, they spot several runes that project a wrongness. She checks the exterior window and spots Dark Mark who gives a wrong stare at the flyspy.

With that information, the team puts together an information packet about Shedim including some of the voice clips from Father Andre that they'll use to help convince the un-Shedim-ed guards to defect or at the very least leave without fighting. The team summons spirits and sprites to assist themselves and dole out support bonuses in preparation for the raid.

The Run

The team breaches into the warehouse led by Stryker and Trade's Duelist who begin exchanging fire with the various guards. Stick's spirit leaps into action, closing with the nearest Shedim. Stryker goes down early in the fight after catching bullets from some of the Shedim and guards. The team begins taking out enemies while Dark Mark's possessed body rapidly closes with them. Stryker is brought back up just in time to launch a grenade to take out a few of the conscripted criminals. The spirits brought in to support the team are quickly taken out by Dark Mark while he closes the distance. Once Dark Mark closes into melee, he pierces Stryker's chest and pulls his blade out with a splash of blood across the platform. Filled with rage, Sticks unleashes a holy blaze of light that incinerates Dark Mark. Trades guides the team to Father Andre's church to hide out.

The team waits for a few hours until Father Andre arrives in his Ford Americar and rushes the team into the church in order to check over Stryker. He determines that Stryker is lucky to be alive, but stable. Afterwards, Sticks and the father discusses the risks of mortality involved in a career as a shadowrunner. The team heads out to rest at the hotel while Stryker remains at the church under the watchful eyes of Father Andre. On the morning of the final day, Stryker awakes from a frenzied dream where voices threaten him with vengeance for the death of the Shedim. The father gives him a brief explanation of the situation and reveals that the Shedim in Mark's body wasn't a master Shedim. The shadows in New Orleans are dark and deep hiding many dangers. The father gives him a warning that he should return to Seattle to avoid the ire of the Shedim who possess a greater influence.

Aftermath

The team departs from New Orleans in peace.

• Stryker suffers "Poor Self Control: Sadistic" as the lingering voices of the Shedim haunt his mind. Influencing him ever so slightly to revel in the feeling of inflicting pain. Ever wondering why it feels SO NICE TO INFLICT THIS PAIN UNTO OTHERS."

Rewards

Run rewards for "Pass a good time."

• Deadly: 37 RVP (17 x 2.1)
• 12 hours, 15 minutes
• 16k nuyen (8 RVP)
• 14 karma (14 RVP)
• 30 CDP (15 RVP)
• +2 base CDP

OPTIONAL QUALITIES

• Witness my hate for Sticks (7 RVP)
• Jack of all trades for Psyche (2 RVP)
• Tough as Nails phys/stun for Stryker (5 RVP per rank)
• Brilliant Heuristics (5 RVP)
• Will to live for Stryker (3 RVP per rank)

Game Quotes

Ace Powers, "They give us some money and have us take a look at our boys and our girls and our thems."

"Please, this is a house of god." Father Andre after the team thirsts after Dark Mark.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them." Father Andre, then eventually Sticks when he killed the Shadim

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Trades

I'm glad that my digital investigations were able to turn up information about the Shedim. I spent a lot of time doing legwork while the rest of the team hit up New Orleans. I didn't expect that priest to just start giving the others bullets. I guess the priests really are different down here in New Orleans. I'm glad that I was able to draw some fire from the others with my drone, but things were pretty touch and go for a moment there. Sticks managed to pull the wrath of the gods down in vengeance. I wonder what Norville will have to say about this whole affair. All this magic seems like something that he'd be able to explain better. Of course, maybe he'll say I'm an idiot to have tried to square up against a Shedim. It burns that Stryker managed to taint my rep through association by holding the J hostage. I can’t trust that he won’t pull something like that again in the future.

Sticks

"Ah never wanna go to New Orleans again after this... Not like ah could anyway. My... Friend... He almost got killed in the fight. Hells, the only reason he lived had to been a mix of his cyberware and some miracle from the Lord himself. Maybe it's time to look into the Catholic church, Father Andre was a kind soul that was prolly the only reason we went out without a causality to ourselves... Maybe it's time to look into sending these shadow-spirit fuckers back into hell."

Psyche

That was an interesting one. I had thought blood spirits to be the worst of the archtypes humanity had conjured into existence, and I believe I may be wrong. New Orleans is interesting however, and I think it may be interesting to continue taking jobs in the UCAS. They have a different speed and way of doing things. Much more research into astral properties and the collective unconscious as well as different types of so called "spirits" in my future. Clearly my education is even more limited than I realized after this first job.