Running Out of Time

Running Out of Time
Date 2085-02-28 GM Dawnfire Location Seattle Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	Yellow Lotus Triad	Wuxing
Rurosha Sticks Norville Craddock Runner4	Character1 Character2
Actually took place on the Forbidden Day of February 29th, 2085, but the wiki doesn't like that. Stryker was picked for this run but had to back out during the meet because of IRL stuff so retconning out his presence.

Summary

The metaplane of Kadath is briefly intersecting with the material plane, creating a displacement alchera in a cave system used as a smuggling route by Norville Craddock. He wants the site secured so he can harvest reagents from it and study the strange happenings inside, but Wuxing predicted the event and has paid the Yellow Lotus Triad to take over the spot as soon as the alchera appeared. Craddock hires runners to solve this issue, who chop up both the Triad goons guarding the place and the spirits inhabiting it.

Background

Enterprising talislegger/Elder mage Norville Craddock's smuggling route has been turned into a displacement alchera containing a small portion of Kadath, or at least something resembling it. Normally he'd be all for this, but one of his smuggler's (one Jimmy Tricks) was caught within the cave as the change occurred and is lost and disoriented within. Also Wuxing's geomancers and diviners predicted the alchera's appearance and paid Yellow Lotus Triad goons to rush in and attempt to claim the spot before anyone else could. Triad talisleggers attempted to harvest reagents and magical secrets from the alchera, but end up being swarmed by wild Guidance spirits attracted to the site.

The Meet

It's an odd day in Seattle, no one is quite sure what the date is, maybe February 28th, maybe the 29th (impossible!), maybe March 1st. Regardless of that, Sticks and Rurosha get told by their respective fixers that there's a job available for them if they're interested, all they have to do is head to Syberspace's host and meet their Johnson in the virtual club. Sticks has to buy some trodes first, lacking any source of sound link and realizing that trodes are cheaper than earbuds, but joins the meet in AR. Rurosha attends in VR.

The runners meet their Johnson, or rather his persona. A shadowy, angelic figure with a broken halo and a great many eyes. He explains the background info to them, gives a starting offer, and says that he'd be personally grateful if they found his missing employee Jimmy Tricks but it's not the top priority here. The job seems straightforward, defeat the Triad forces guarding Craddock's cave and clear out any threats inside, and hold the site until his agents could move in and start to fortify it. Craddock hired his own decker to jam the Triad's communications, so if everything went right the team should be able to avoid reinforcements.

The runners agreed to the gig, and their Johnson gave them the location of the cave.

The Plan

Rurosha and Sticks don't spend too much time planning, urged onward by Craddock's suspicion that the alchera would disappear by morning. Rurosha gives Sticks a lift into Puyallup, park at the nearest least terrible spot, and start hiking through Hell's Kitchen to try to get to reach their target. Following some trails found online that are meant for rich tourists wanting to enjoy the splendor and terror of lava flows relatively safely, the crew gets to a burnt out copse and prepares to attack...

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.