Remaining Strangers

Remaining Strangers
Date 2083-08-03 GM Asmodeus Location SSC, Spokane Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven West Coast Monolith	Unseelie Court
Polka Swerve Flare Ty Vallynn Spirit Speaker	Troy Limburger Jarl Grim Reaper
Casualties and losses
	The Monolithian scouts were rescued.

Summary

Monolithians go doing a quick job in the SSC. It goas badly. Runners get sent to rescue the gangers.

The Meet

Bolt meets the gang at Devil Lake, explaining that Corporal Twitch has extended family in Spokane. Recently the city's had some weird occurrences and he's felt concerned over their safety, so he asked again and again for Bolt to send a team to make sure they're fine. He eventually caved and offered to send one of Platoon Beta's squads, specifically Twitch's. Once the three corporals failed to report in, five days missing total, their squad leader Sgt. Grit went after them, but he failed to report as well.

The Run

Preliminary astral projection and spirit searches let them find Grit who is surrounded by various currencies in a No-Tell Motel. The spirit stabilizes his weak state with Heal and once the team gets there physically, debrief him for what little information he had. Grit shows signs of having signed a spirit pact that is no longer active and he looks immensely weak. He mentions a large, lavish troll offering him services that he felt compelled to accept, but remembers little else from his own scouting.

Polka does various Matrix searches regarding this troll and finds him to be Troy Limburger, a known con artist and fraud that's caused millions of nuyen worth of fraudulent security services, loans and other false bargains. Those that fall for his schemes end up going missing for a period of time with no memory of the time they spend unaccounted for. He's wanted with a hefty bounty, but little more than that is known.

Ty, Flare and Spirit Speaker visit the house Twitch's extended family was at, but after some spooky occurrences they find Cpl Lesion there, one of Twitch's squadmates as well as Twitch's entire extended family reanimated as corps cadavres. Ty and Spirit Speaker find traces of ghost chains on the corpses as well as in the basement, indicating the presence of a phantom or more likely a grim reaper. Flare offers several reagents to get the spirit to speak to them, which it obliges. By seeking a peaceful resolution, the team learns that the family was driven to murdering one another by maddening greed and paranoia by some deceitful entity. This familial killing spree drove the phantom mad and it's trying its hardest to restrain itself from murdering others further. Ty spots that the security system installed in the house is from Limburger Incorporated, a fake company used as a front by Troy Limburger.

The next member to be found is Corporal Candle, a disfigured armored man eating in a diner in Spokane. Once the team catches up to him, he elaborates that he thought it best to stay put and wait to regain his strength as he too was attacked but managed to fend off most of the magical effects. Swerve manages to feel disgustingly rank astral presence radiating from Candle, assensing him to show that he's a null wizard masking as a mundane. Grit is surprised, but not offended.

Further Matrix Searches into Limburger shows that he's had a series of frauds going in a horizontal line from New York to Seattle, following a straight line of reports of increased radiation and toxic background counts. Grit denies that they know anything about it, but the team sees through his facade, realizing he's not telling the whole truth. When they head to Tacoma to try and catch Twitch who might be still kidnapped and in Tacoma, ready to be shipped off by a Jarl, the team calls Bolt. Bolt elaborates that they've looked into things recently since they're housing a recovering astral researcher, Jeanne Hristvilg in Devil Lake. She managed to correlate the toxic taint in Vichnozeleny's gauss rifle to be comparable to the toxic taint in North America's irradiated line. They currently don't know more, but are looking into it out of concern.

The one who managed to figure out that the man behind this kidnapping is a Jarl was Candle, the Null Wizard. He seems to have a degree of knowledge about obscure astral threats and with Polka's matrix searches, the team finds that one Limburger Inc. shipping container did indeed go to Tacoma in the last week, right into territory controlled by Black Vory.

After some careful planning and quick talking (and a 3,000 nuyen bribe to mafia members) they manage to get to the shipping container, finding a magical ward around the container and a near-naked Twitch covered in bruises. He's rescued intact but hurt, foiling at least one of the Jarl's plans. Unfortunately, Limburger and the Jarl are not sighted in person even once.

Aftermath

The WCM squad is saved in its entirety. Twitch is told a lie that his family is relocated up north to keep them save from the Jarl; nobody has the heart to stress him with the true fate of his family just yet. Bolt offers the bounty that Spokane's city hall offered to anyone that could investigate the local background counts, giving it all to the runners instead.

Rewards

• 6,000 Nuyen (3 RVP)
• 10 Karma (10 RVP)
• 8 CDP (3 RVP)
• -1 Black Vory Reputation
• +1 West Coast Monolith Reputation

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Ty Vallynn

Miss Okami was right. These West Coast Monolith guys are alright. A bit secretive, but alright. I've heard rumors, both in the real and astral worlds, about forces involving radiation and toxic things moving in Seattle. I've heard that the WCM has some part in it. But from what I have seen of them, I don't believe they have any nefarious motives in all this, and are really just trying to solve the problem. I didn't know her but I have heard that their old leader was involved in some dark forces. But I also know that she died a hero during the event with the dragons last year that almost saw Seattle destroyed. I think if they ever asked for help again, I'd offer my services.

Strange though that the group of Runners had so many powerful awakened. I think that's the most mages I've ever seen on a Run. And a Sasquatch! How cool! Flare was a little too straight edge for me. I didn't talk to Spirit Speaker that much, which was unfortunate. But that Elf woman Swerve was very interesting indeed. I may be pretty as a babe, but I wasn't born yesterday. I know for a fact that there was more to her than what I assensed. But we'll meet again, I'm sure.

Flare

This was an interesting one, though the monolith guys kinda got on my nerves towards the end. I feel a little bad for snapping at them, but what the hell do the mean "gang business" that some huge radioactive fae is making its way across the entire continent, and even over seattle. I don't think I'm in the wrong for caring about that, since I happen to live there. That grim reaper was pretty scary too, and for a moment I thought we were gonna have to fight all those vory, but somehow in the end it worked out. Though... I have a nagging suspicion Swerve wasnt telling us everything about her conversation with bolt.. but it's probably nothing.

Polka

We were contracted by a gang called the "West Coast Monolith" to track down some of their missing members. They have a paramilitary structure, which made me hesitant at first, but they're alright. Half of the groups out there that have a paramilitary structure also seem to have questionable motivations. We were to recover four of their missing members; three corporals that went missing and the sergeant that went after them. The run took place far outside of their territory because that's where one of the corporal's family was from, and they were trying to protect them. After some astral reconnaissance to find the missing sergeant, we took a road trip up to Spokane.

Spokane was a toxic mess. The sergeant had been mind controlled into a spirit pact. There was radiation in the city. The family of the corporal, Twitch, in the area were all dead. We found a grim reaper at their place... [WIP]