Foot Fetish

Foot Fetish
Part of Dragon of a Problem
Date 2082-05-15 GM OrionsRequiem Location Edmonton, Athabaskan Council Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven "Lucky" Lucia Carina	NAN Government
Six of Hearts Swerve Barracuda Rewired Samsara	Professor Skydancer NAN Guards

Summary

In which "Lucky" Lucia Carina hires runners to steal yet another Amerindian artifact in an attempt to regain the luck that was taken from her by a dragon's curse

Background

Back in the early days of the Awakening, while animals were starting to Awaken, there was a creature known as an Elil-Hriar-Rah (Sperethiel for Prince with a Thousand Enemies). This Awakened rabbit was a popular hunting target for many of the tribes, and many times were turned into luck totems or fetishes by the NAN tribes. One such fetish is being held in the Prince of Wales armory in Edmonton, capital of the Athabaskan Council.

Lucia, in her search for a way of breaking the curse that was placed on her by a dragon that strips away her luck, desires to obtain the luck fetish for any chance to regain her life.

The Meet

The runners are called by their various fixers, and arrive at the penthouse of Lucia Carina, going up the elevator while Samsara discusses her discomfort at the nice surroundings. The runners enter and they sit down across from Lucia, who deals out a pair of cards for each of the interested runners for a run of Blackjack. While Lucia herself is stuck with a pair of twos for her hand, the rest of the people playing get a Jack-Ace for a Blackjack. The runners comment on her misfortune and she agrees, trying not to give away too much.

Lucia shows the team a display of the black rabbit's foot that she wishes for them to steal for her, and explains that it is a NAN artifact from the early days of the Awakening. As well that it's being held in a government building. She also explains that she has hired a smuggler friend of hers to get them to Edmonton without alerting the NAN of their presence.

The Plan

The runners ask questions and make their preparations, gathering up their gear before meeting up with Cascade on the roof where she's got a Chinook-style helicopter waiting for them. While Swerve and Barracuda reminisce about their trip to Denver and the dangers of the trip out of the Free City, Six of Hearts hands out sandwiches and Samsara attempts to fly the helicopter, while risking the lives of all of the other runners. While they nearly die several times, the runners manage to make it to the Edmonton airport, and while Cascade knocks out the guard who attempts to ask why they are landing there, the runners jump into action, blowing up the cameras that surround a town car and the gates outside. Rewired hacks into the car, pushing back against the autonomous defenses and getting the car under their control, getting out of the airport and heading down the highway.

About an hour later, the runners ditch the car, with Swerve and Six heading down into the sewers to keep out of the sun, they meet CAGE, the Canadian Association of Ghoulish Ex-Patriots. They share some food, and begin to discuss the circumstances that have lead them to living beneath the ground. The rest of the team get some local flavor in the form of Harvey's, getting reasonably priced soyburgers and milkshakes. Once they are able to get a cab into the city proper, Rewired uses a mapsoft to guide Swerve and Six over to the city through the sewers, gathering together in a No-Tell Motel and deciding on the plan. They find that the armories guard their artifacts closely, and that they're only brought out of the vault for appointments made several years in advance. The team decide that Barracuda and Swerve should go in as grad students and try and trip the fire alarm to cause a panic and grab the item in the chaos.

Rewired jumps into the Archives host and implants a scheduled appointment for the burner SINs that the runners purchased. He also goes to the University of Athabaskan Council host and puts the same identities into the student registry. The rest of the team agree that they're gonna be on overwatch outside, and will wait to call Cascade when they're ready for an extraction. Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy shows up at the hotel after Samsara called him to try and secure a Fake SIN, giving it to her in person, and while Swerve and Barracuda go shopping for clothes befitting a grad student, the rest of the team finish their preparations and get a rental car to get to the Prince of Wales Armory.

The Run

The runners arrive to the Prince of Wales Armory and let Barracuda and Swerve face the NAN guards that are guarding the front door. The runners have their SINs scanned and after a quick con-job by Barracuda they are able to get inside. They are eventually greeted by a Professor Skydancer, an Inuit researcher of magical artifacts and historian. She brings the runners up to the reference room and asks what it is that they are there for. They discuss topics of research that they have an interest in, and Barracuda eventually asks for the luck fetish. The shaman goes down to the vault and brings the artifact back up after a few minutes, presenting it in a glass case to prevent the Awakened from Assensing it.

While Barracuda and Swerve check out the artifact, Rewired jumps into the archives host again, able to find the fire alarm and the professor's commlink. He spoofs a call from her wife to the commlink, and while having to step away, she takes the artifact as a precaution. When the fire alarm is pulled, the rest of the archives begins to evacuate, and Barracuda and Swerve attempt to stick close to the professor. While attempting to convince the professor to go to another exit rather than the main, Swerve uses mind magic in order to get the professor to give up the artifact. However it's spotted by the NAN guards who begin trying to suppress the crowd in order to stop the thieves from escaping.

Making their way out of the building and towards the car, Six and Samsara get out and try and protect their fellow runners while Rewired starts the rental car and the team call Cascade to make a hot pickup. While driving down the street, the team is picked up by the helicopter's winch, and the runners are able to enter the helicopter and get back to Seattle.

Aftermath

Returning to Lucia's apartment, the runners give her the rabbit's foot and she pays them with her custom credsticks shaped like poker chips. On the way out, Samsara assenses Lucia, seeing the large dragon curse choking out the woman's aura, and as she brings close the rabbit's foot, the dragon consumes that aura as well, robbing it of the luck, and leaving Lucia with nothing once more.

Rewards

• 2 CDP
• 16k Nuyen (8 RVP)
• 8 Karma (8 RVP)
• Optional Contact: "Lucky" Lucia Carina (4/2 Gambler) (5 RVP from Karma or Nuyen)
• Optional Contact: Cascade (4/2 Smuggler) (5 RVP from Karma or Nuyen)
• Optional Contact: Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy (2/4 KENNY!) (5 RVP from Karma or Nuyen)

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Six_of_Hearts

Did not really do much on this run... spent some time with Swerve on the sewers and met the C.A.G.E. down there... they were nice. I think I fired a total of three rounds this whole run... I mean, things certainly could have gotten screwy if those rounds had not done the trick... but they did... and I am almost sad that they did. Well, a successful run, nonetheless. Had to collect something for the J from the Athabasakan Council. Dunno what it did, bit it seemed valuable, given the protections around it... oh, and we almost died... in the chopper... twenty minutes into the ride... to go TO the run... sti that was fun. Anyway, run completed. Do sleduyushchego raza, moya lyubov'!

Samsara

This job was awesome! I got to see Cascade again and fly a helicoptor and go to a new city and get ice cream and hang out with Kenny! No complaints here really, we got to go to this huge mall and get him a hockey jersey and do stuff together while the others were planning. Like, yeah I guess it got a bit hairy at the end - I figured I was gonna have to take a bullet for someone actually - but it all worked out in the end. Cascade even picked us up while making the getaway, it was so cool!

I feel a bit bad for the J though - sure she had a really nice apartment and a lot of cool stuff, but she still seemed really sad. I tried to cheer her up by playing cards, but she got really unlucky with her hand. There was something strange going on with her aura too, like it had something wrapped around it; when we brought her the foot, there was some sort of aura on it that got absorbed into hers, until that thing wrapped around it just sort of ate it. It was weird. I hope she can figure out what's going on and fix it soon.

Swerve

I'm honestly surprised this job worked as well as it did! When Rewired just blew up those cameras in the airport, I was sure security was going to swarm us. And then they went to go get ice cream! I can't believe they didn't get caught! Well... at least they diversion let me meet some nice ghouls. They were pretty awesome people. I hope the money I left them help some. Things are hard for infected everywhere. Speaking of crazy, I can't believe we talked our way so far through the mission. Who would actually think Barracuda is a magical theorist? Or me?!

Well, it worked I guess. Rewired did some solid hacking to get us that far too. The shooty people also saved me so much at the end. Things really fell apart in the last thirty seconds. All together though, the job was pretty smooth.