Ancient Idioms

Ancient Idioms
Part of Temple in the Shadows Part of Light the Shadows
Date 2082-06-30 GM Asmodeus Location Seattle Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	Seattle District Attorney's Office	The Order of the Temple, The Black Lodge
Swerve Fed Up Artemisia Bland Delphi	District Attorney Mark Donaghy	Clergy Representative SK subsidiary Security Guard Blood Mage
Casualties and losses
None	None	Clergy Representative

Summary

Runners are hired to deal with the uncomfortable issue of legal and religious pressures being brought down on the shadow runner and infected communities of Seattle.

Background

The Seattle shadows are in turmoil. With the recent push by District Attorney Mark Donaghy to "light the shadows", being a shadow runner has become tougher than ever. That and the recent influx of the Order of the Temple, who seek to purge Seattle of it's rampant infected "problem", makes the city a rather unwelcome place for many individuals. A trio of these individuals have come together to address this situation, by forcing the two factions to tear at each other's throats.

The Meet

The runners are invited to a meet at the "Bawdy Lass", a low key biker bar located in Sonohomish. Upon arrival, the team is met by a trio of scary individuals, namely DeFrost, the drake Lamashtu, and the former Demon Caller Krimelin. Defrost does the talking, explaining that the recent pressure from the DA and the Order of the Temple has placed his many safehouses in jeopardy, and rather than lose access to them, they would see the two factions biting at each other, rather than him and his associates. His target: a Knight Errant Officer by the name of Lombardi "Paladin" Walkstrong, who has been working to make life extremely uncomfortable for those in the shadows.

Paladin has been the focus of efforts to locate and purge the safehouses belonging to Defrost, and needs to be severely curtailed. If the Knight Errant efforts could be redirected towards the activities of the Order of the Temple, then things might lighten up across the community for those who would prefer to walk in the shadows. Deforest explains that this could be done by planting a provide commlink upon an unsuspecting member of the Order's clergy, then alerting Paladin to the Order's new culpability. The clergy member is currently staying at a Saeder-Krupp subsidiary hotel; all they need do is formulate a plan to get in, plant the evidence, and get out. He offers that if the team needs a distraction, he has a lead on a new group of cybered up loup-garou just outside of town, who might be willing to aid the team, if appropriate arrangements are made.

Defrost is quite helpful, offering schematics to the hotel, burner SIN's, and Pass keys to the S-K VIP grounds. He offers the team 30,000 Nuyen or access to specialized Drones of the highest functionality. It's almost to good to be true...

The Plan

The team head's to Bland's apartment at his invitation, to plan the job. While there, the lights and electronics suddenly go dark, and a shadowy mist begins to pour into the room, coalescing into the Black Lodge member and magic slinging vampire, Harenight. He explains, mostly aimed at Delphi, that he is just there to help, and offer a potential solution to their problems with the job. He provides information to a dinner with Paladin, where all the team has to do in place an alchemical preparation on the Officer's back, and it will "brand" him with the mark of the Black Lodge. Then all they have to do is score a picture of said brand and provide it to the clergy representative. The team agrees to the additional terms, not exactly sure as to the why, but realizing that the chances of setting the Seattle forces against each other would greatly increase.

Delphi not willing to trust Harenight or Defrost at their word, arranges to inspect the commlink for it's proposed "dirt" against Paladin. Discovering that it instead carries various death threats against the DA and his closest family and working relationships, she decides to instead approach the DA, and after an exhaustive process of attempting to lose her constant watchers, appeals to his better nature to ease up on the safehouse crackdowns, for the greater good of him and those associated with him. The DA reluctantly agrees, incensed at the threat, but willing to see past it for a potential gain further down the road. Having secured the Knight Errant participation, Delphi lets out a sigh of relief, despite the fact that she has turned informer.

Meanwhile, the vampiric team of Swerve and Artemisia decide to visit the werewolves and ascertain their potential usefulness in this or possibly future endeavors. Fed Up offers to come along, bearing a trunkful of meaty femurs and blood packs as offerings, but Swerve quickly shuts down his participation, suggesting that all he will do is get himself eaten.

Entering the territory of the cyber-werewolves, they are soon met by a hulking white werewolf named Sanguine Loup and his pack, all shaking in earnest, rage, or move-by-wire systems. Swerve vets the leader, only to discover that involving him and his pack would probably be quite devastating for anyone they encounter, and the price is steep; 15 doses of Zombie Dust for their services. Saying that they will keep them in mind, the vampires quickly make their exit, wondering at the sheer savagery displayed by the wolves and their leader, glad to escape unscathed.

Delphi DNI's the group, explaining her "plan" to handle the meet with Paladin alone, and suggests the others deal with the hotel situation simultaneously, with Bland in the lead. They reluctantly agree, worrying that Delphi is taking to much responsibility on herself and placing herself into a severely dangerous situation alone, but she quickly explains that she is confident in her ability to control the situation. Bland offers his complete faith in her capabilities, and the others agree to the plan. Bland with the aid of Swerve will infiltrate the hotel, plant the evidence and get out, with Fed Up and Artemisia posted up outside if things should go badly. A plan made, the team moves to make it happen.

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.