Whose Fuel is Men and Stones
Whose Fuel is Men and Stones | |||||||||
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Factions Involved | |||||||||
ShadowHaven Seattle Volunteer Fire Department | Nestarian Cult | ||||||||
Red Rover Dango Phototaxis Asura |
Captain Harmon's Fire Spirit Harmon's dog, Rufus | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Red got her hand singed a bit but it was fine | Fire Spirit ate a TASERFIST |
Summary
What appeared on the surface to be something banal-a serious of scams, foul play, typical corporate negligence-ended up being a far more existential threat. A cult, originating from ancient times and traveling splintered throughout the ages, has returned with a cataclysmic plot that has already lead to the death of dozens of people. And if they are not stopped...the consequences shall be felt all throughout Seattle.
Background
For the past few weeks prior to the actual meeting, there have been a series of fires all across Seattle at an incredibly alarming rate, and this did not go unnoticed by one Eddie Moreno of the Seattle Volunteer Fire Department. His department had been noticing these concerning fires and doing some investigations into the matter, and suspected that these were not accidents. They had noticed signs in many of the sites they could investigate, either by themselves or with access to the files of one Franklin Associates (more on them shortly), that indicated that these were more than likely intentional, though by whom and for what purpose was unknown. Eddie's suspicions lied with the aforementioned Franklin Associates, a privatized fire department that had a great deal of the jurisdiction of upper-class Seattle areas under their contracts. Though he had no real evidence to prove it, he had an idea that the company had some reason to cover up the fires, whether it was because it was embarrassing or tied to some greater crime though he still had nothing on. So, to investigate, Eddie set about hiring a team of runners who could get the job done.
The night before the meet, Red Rover had actually noticed something dire that awoke her and her roommates from their slumber: the smell of smoke. There was a fire nearby. Specifically, a fire at the house of one of the neighbor's, the Wilmonts, an elderly couple whom the attack dog had been quite fond of. Those nearby were quite concerned by it all, but managed to leave their abodes without too much hassle. Save...for the Wilmonts themselves. They died in the fire.
Red, infuriated that someone had dared to mess with her family's territory and people who were under their protection, was set on dealing with this matter personally, and having been one of the runners called up to the meet the night prior, she felt she should start her investigation early. And with that and a bit of luck, she managed to find...something, in the rubble. A little scarf with a strange symbol on it of a fire surrounded by a spiral. Unsure of what to make of it, the wizganger brought it with her as she called up her taxi buddy to get her to the place- a bar in Purity, Redmond that served as neutral ground for many of the seedier types in Seattle.
The Meet
The Meeting at Purity was a fair bit more eventful than one would expect from the first point of contact between the whole team. The three other runners-Asura, Dango, and Phototaxis-had met each other before in matters outside what is relevant in this report, and the conjurer's insectoid appearance was as always quite striking. There was a bit of tension between the group even at the onset, and when Red Rover arrived the rather straight laced and former Knight Errant Asura did not take a liking to her at all. This would become a re-occurring trend for the group even in the thick of things. But, for now, it was manageable, and it was not long before the group was ready to get to work. They did not waste time meeting up with Eddie in the back and while he went over the details of the job and the unfortunate truth that a volunteer service does not pay especially well, Red Rover showed off the ripped rag she retrieved from the remnants of the fire. As the more academic Phototaxis and the tech savvy Dango began looking into the strange symbol on it, Asura began to look into it for psychometric impressions.
What she saw was rather clear-4 men, in scarves with that symbol covering their faces along with goggles and black cloaks, using this strange sort of torch/wand hybrid to...commit a sacrifice for a ritual. That sacrifice being the Wilmonts, who were tied up in a ritual circle and subsequently burned to death to summon...something. Asura was not sure in the vision, but suspected some sort of fire spirit. Whatever it was, it was more powerful than the bastards expected, and they fled the scene, in the process losing the scarf.
With their searching and academic knowledge, the two braniacs also realized who they might have been based on the symbol. Nestarians, an offshoot of a rather extremist Zoroarnastrian sect from long, long ago, who wished to purge the evil in the civilized world through fire. The remnants of the cult likely still survived to the modern day, evolving and changing over the centuries, and seemed to be here in Seattle now. What exactly they thought they were doing with these rituals was not obvious at the moment, but what was clear was their objective: They needed to find out the truth behind these fires to find those responsible for hurting so many innocents (and protection racket payers) and put an end to whatever the cult was plotting.
The Plan
The plan of attack was fairly easy to outline for the group. They'd first search the most recent fire for any trace evidence on the physical or astral which could further guide the group along the trail. Then in order to find out why Franklin Associates was hiding this information they would have Dango look into their host for any files on the fires, whether to find incriminating evidence about the coverups or to find a connection to the cults which would lead them to the actual members they needed to take down. From there, whatever threads they could pull, they would follow along until they reached their target.
The Run
The first stop on the investigation was also the most...indicative of the major flaws with the team. The actual matter of the site search was simple-Asura tried to look into the astral but accidentally opened herself to the psychometric impression of the two Wilmonts who were sacrificed that morning, gaining no real information but going through a not so pleasant trance collapsed on the floor. But once that was over, she and Phototaxis worked on doing a visual and astral search for evidence, and Dango worked on looking for any sensor information for details on the killers that might have been passively acquired. Unfortunately, as the investigation continued, a rather concerned Crimson Crush member noticed the insectoid looking 10 ft tall woman and assumed the worst of her, though he refrained from actually assaulting her immediately. This led to a rather tense situation where PT was irritably defending herself, Red Rover was as loyal as ever and tried to calm PT down because she had made the mistake of getting on the bad side of the Crush, and the other two tried and failed to mediate. Thankfully this situation did not escalate further with the Crush themselves...but a comment from Dango insulting PT's intelligence was not taken well. The group took a moment to cool off, Phototaxis using the facial information from the sensors and a search from Dango over possible matches to give her fixer, Ms Onyx, a chance to look into any possible occult connections between the positives. Asura meanwhile tried to bridge the tension between the bug and the hacker and...at least managed to make them tolerate one another a little more for now so they could keep working. The group cohesion did not grow much better during this investigation.
The next stop was Franklin's Associates HQ, specifically looking at the investigations through their host. Dango, being the only matrix capable in the team, was alone in this endeavor, but she did her best despite the odds being stacked against her. After some yak-killer hackers tried to bother her and she out-nerded them for the audacity of it, she made her dive in, staying undetected until she managed to find the files...encrypted. It took her a minute to stealthily crack it, but by that point the patrol IC had noticed her, and the spyder would soon descend on her. Thankfully, she barely managed to delete the marks on her and hide again, giving her just enough time to get the files despite the numerous close calls. With them, she found the notes on the fires that Franklin Associates had been dealing with, along with the name of one Roger Harmon, a beloved captain of Franklin's Associates who had saved and helped countless people in his time. This led to some further investigations on him from Dango- he seemed to live a bit beyond his means for what he should be making which isn't that uncommon, but it did mean there was potentially another angle to look into. But the team decided that due to how late it had gotten and how they still needed more information on the faces that Dango had gotten, they turned in for the night.
The next morning, Phototaxis received an update-a positive ID of one of the faces to a suspicious person who had only appeared some 4 years prior and had a bounty on their head for their shady ID situation. One Clive Assaf, a member of Winkel Cleaning Services. it is important to note that the name that popped up originally was not Clive, but Lance. Definitely fishy. Further investigation into this "Cleaning Service" lead to the conclusion that it wasn't much related to the cult on the service. It was your typical Mob Front that was being used to give criminals jobs. The team did a check into the actual premises to see if Clive was there, and upon not finding him there they checked his place of residence. Again, nothing there...but there might have been evidence. Incidentally, during the set up to break into his abode, Red Rover made a joking comment about her invisibility and how you could never see her-just don't look in the Astral. Asura, being snarky, flicked her sight into the astral-and realized she was looking at a Drake Aura (though she didn't exactly know what that was). Phototaxis, also feeling her oats, followed suit. And then, when Red Rover had to break into a foot locker on site to get into potential evidence, transformed...in front of Dango's flyspies, which weren't fooled by the invisibility spell. So now the whole team knew. I'm sure it's fine. Regardless, the team had gotten their hands on the paraphernalia of the ritual the 4 cultists were using - a Calling - along with the cloak and goggles. Some more psychometric searching later, and Phototaxis recognized a scene of an induction ceremony led by a familiar face- one Roger Harmon. The team reported this to Eddie, who believed them, but knew they couldn't do much of any thing with this information. The team was offered a chance to peel back and maybe let someone else take a shot...but they proceeded on. They decided to split their attention- the local news was flaring up with reports of another fire, and they still had the matter of investigating Harmon. So Dango and Rover set out for a drone assisted stakeout of the Harmon home to try and start tailing him if he went out, and PT and Asura went to check out the fire.
As the Dango Rover convention was going to take a bit, we'll focus on the fire investigation. Once more, from the car so Phototaxis wouldn't be immediately accosted, the two took a gander into the astral. A familiar signature of a hazy yellow took their sights, along with two others-a water spirit observing the scene from on high, and a smaller fire spirit hiding amongst the flames. Curious, Asura attempted to call the spirit over using her Reagents and a little gesturing, and they spoke in the car. Though neither had too much information to give the other party, the spirit was quite happy to agree to letting them speak to his boss in exchange for making him look good. Hoping for more astral assistance, the pair agreed and informed the others. And with the stakeout being possible remotely (and Rover growing exceedingly bored) they joined them down in Puyallup-in Lord Emberrage's domain. The Fire Lord was shockingly amenable despite the invae look-alike and his normally explosive demeanor, which made negotiations easier. Asura elaborated on the danger of the cult, and for the price of assisting in the strengthening of Charlie (the fire spirit whom Asura had called over) Emberrage would use his own network to find information on the cult's activities as things moved forward.
With no more avenues available, the gang could only do investigations on Harmon now. First congregated at a bar in Puyallup - The Ashen Chalice - to use the drones for surveillance through the night, Dango managed to get into the garage and throughout the night noticed a strange noise coming from the yard like a hydraulic lift. The team tried to do a more thorough look into the matters of the home using means such as clairvoyance, spirits, and drones from a safe distance (nearly being found by a patrolling cop due to their rather inconspicuous vehicle) and finding the home strongly warded with a watcher keeping an eye out. Finally...they sent Rover to do some rather risky infiltration into the yard when the family was all out of the house, in order to ensure that the nuclear family that they believed weren't involved would remain out of harm's way. After a rather silly sequence of Rover playing with the dog (and Dango scrambling sensor info) and forcibly breaking their way into a secret lift down...somewhere, Dango sent her flyspies down. The site was...horrific. A temple, with a spiral like design in the center that was almost a grill, with fire and wood and coals underneath...and a long since charred corpse pinned in the center. The smell was...something else. Furthermore, at the far end of the temple was...some kind of book, "Letters of Nestar". However, any video evidence they got was...grainy. And another call to Eddie was a good way to confirm-Rover would have to go in herself. With some tactical help from Asura over comes, kami in her blood, and revenge in her heart, she went in. And as she made it down the lift, the thing that immediately sensed her astral presence was Harmon's own personal guard dog, or more specifically a fire spirit of considerable strength. Rover was alone without any direct support and only seconds to attack, but in a frenzied rush she seized her opportunity, charged the spirit with her hand crackling with energy, and with the most energy she could muster...she broke it down with one massive TASERFIST!!!
She immediately made a break for the book, snatching it and heading back up as the police began to arrive to investigate. She dove into the water, a water spirit taking the book and keeping the two of them hidden as they swam away from the scene of the crime. The team scattered, the book being left by the water spirit at a dead drop for later, and they were finally out of there.
Aftermath
Eventually, the team arrived back at Purity and rendezvoused with Eddie. The book had a lot of information on the beliefs of the Nestarian cult, but most notably it had an astronomical chart leading to...some date. With the two braniacs of the group once more putting their wide knowledge base and tech skills into use, they managed to figure out what it was. Some...date about 10 days in advance. Then, Charlie returned, and gave them the news on the findings from the astral: these rituals were a means of helping to throw off the balance of the manasphere in Seattle, aspecting it closer and closer to fire. All for one purpose that Phototaxis soon realized, the summoning of an uncontrollable great form fire spirit that could cause immense damage from the Calling alone. In 10 or so days, the ritual would be done at a tower in the center of Bellevue. They had 10 days to prepare to deal with this, whoever was willing.
Red Rover was putting herself at risk a lot this night. On top of the other runners, Lord Emberrage also noticed her drake nature, and her signature was left at Harmon's abode in the rush to escape. Who knows what that will lead to in the future?
Rewards
4000 nuyen (2 RVP)
8000 nuyen worth of firefighting equipment* (2 RVP)
8 karma (9 RVP - 1 given to Charlie)
18 CDP (8 RVP + 2 base)
+2 SVFD reputation
May join the Seattle Volunteer Fire Department for 2 RVP
Optional Contact: Eddie Moreno (C2/L2 Volunteer Fire Chief) for 3 RVP or 6 CDP
Optional Contact: Lord Emberrage (C5/L1 Fire Spirit) for 5 RVP or 10 CDP
Optional Gear Reward: Firefighting equipment* @ 2:1 cost
- Firefighting equipment includes but is not limited to: Medkits, wool blankets, self-contained breathing apparatti, lighting and power equipment, portable extinguishers, axes, shovels, picks, ropes, pike poles (extendable, two to six meters long), sledges, battering rams, bolt and wire cutters, hydraulic spreaders, power saws, blocks and tackles, portable exhaust fans, stretchers, resuscitators, life nets, scaling ladders, grappling guns, various nozzles, wrenches, and fittings for connecting to hydrants and gas mains, as well as a complete assortment of appropriate drones and hand tools.
For Asura: Optional Quality: Empathic Listener @ chargen price (10 karma)
For Dango: Optional Quality: Impenetrable Logic @ chargen price (3 karma)
For Phototaxis: Optional Quality: Honest Face @ chargen price (5 karma)
For Red Rover: Optional Quality: Animal Empathy @ chargen price (3 karma)
Narrative Consequences:
-Roger Harmon of Franklin Associates is exposed as the leader of a cult of fire-worshippers; the runners tell the SVFD, and preparations are made to put a stop to their plans.
-Red Rover is discovered to be a drake by the rest of the runners, as well as Lord Emberrage - as well, her astral signature was left behind at Harmon's house, and she was seen escaping the scene (and playing with his dog) by his watcher spirit.