The old man and the sea

The old man and the sea
Part of Artifact hunt
Date 2083-03-19 GM KaterSalem Location Los Angeles / Metaplan of treasures Status Threat Level: semi-prime
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Sea Dragon Sphinx	Metaplan of treasures	Toxic Cult
Pell La Rapide Glamor Swerve	8xShakals 1xSoldier 1xPriest 1xSuper Soldier 1x high Priest	2xToxic Adepts 3xToxic Mages 1xAbomination 3xNuclear
Casualties and losses
Glamor (Burned Edge to life)	8xShakals, 1xSoldier, 1xPriest, 1xSuper Soldier, 1x high Priest	1xAbomination, 3xNuclear, 3xToxic Mages
IG Run for La Rapide and Glamor

Summary

Sphinx stood on the beach and waited. The moonlight illuminated the scene. In front of him, the water parted and a huge shadow obscured the part of the beach where he stood. He could feel a powerful mind connecting with him and then he heard his master's voice in his head.

"The scouts were successful. The collector is hiding in LA. Assemble a group of runners to recover the key and obtain the artifact."

Sphinx nodded, "As you command mistress."

The shadow turned and moved back into the sea. Just before the light of the moon reached Sphinx again, he paused. "Make sure they are motivated. I don't care how, but this is too important to just leave it to some runners. Have him accompany you."

Then the shadow disappeared into the ocean and when the wave of displacement reached the beach Sphinx and a very powerful looking spirit in astral space were already on their way back to Seattle.

Runners are drawn into the Run because of personal entanglements or blackmail. After some hardships, they acquire a keystone that opens a portal to a Metaplane where ancient artifacts are safely stored. The guardian of the Metaplane requires them to pass a quest in order to obtain the desired artifact. The runners succeed in passing the quest and when they leave the Metaplane they are confronted by Sea Dragon herself, who wants her artifact.

Background

General background can be found on the Metplot Artifact hunt. Sea Dragon has gathered enough information to recover the Book of the Underworld. She sends Sphinx to hire runners and motivate them by any means to recover the artifact. At the same time, a detachment of Saeda Krupps monitoring Sea Dragon's activities has become aware of the activity and is trying to acquire the keystone needed to open a portal to the metaplanes of treasure before they do or get it into their possession. The keystone was found by an old artifact dealer named Tian Lu (aka The Collector), but Tian Lu actually wants to keep the artifact for his collection. When he realizes that some powerful parties are after the artifact, he goes into hiding in Los Angeles through his contacts with the Triads (Twenty-Eight Hands).

The Meet

La Rapide

Raps receives a call from Emelie who seems desperate and calls in her favors with Raps. Emelie lets it be known that she has gone a bit too far in a private investigation and is now being held captive by some pretty nasty people who are demanding that she perform a rather dangerous run. Since she is sure that she doesn't have the necessary skills, she offers to send a substitute. Emelie promises Raps that all debts would be settled and Raps agrees. Emelie sends her the meeting place for the meeting with the Johnson, a fish restaurant downtown.

Glamor

Glamor receives a call from an unknown number. She picks up and Sphinx answers on the other end. He tells her that he and the organization he works for know about her wanted status and that they are in a position to solve the problem. All Glamor has to do is participate in a run. Glamor accepts and she receives the information about the meeting in the fish restaurant of Sphinx.

Pell

Pell is on his way to Vashon Island to see the latest collection of Jaqueline Morrison. On the ferry to the island, she stands at the railing and the water starts to get choppy. Then Wusan appears in front of her and reminds her that she owes him a favor that he wants to collect today. He tells her that he is in debt to a very powerful entity and that she needs reliable runes. Pell accepts and Wusan describes the fish restaurant where the meeting will take place.

Swerve

Swerve is contacted by Amélia Bezerra who informs her that she has smuggled her name onto a list of trusted runners for a J named Sphinx. She is told to accept the assignment and report on the activities for Nebelherr, but not to do anything about it. Amélia conceals the fact that the name on the list was created in such a way that sooner or later Sphinx must stumble upon the involvement with Nebelherr - Swerve's involvement is a message to the Sea Dragon in dragon fashion. She actually receives a call from Sphinx a little later telling her the time and place of the meeting.

The Fish Restaurant

Sphinx (together with two powerful spirits in astral space) receives the more or less voluntary runners and explains to them that they are looking for a keystone that leads to an artifact. The keystone was found by a person called the Collector (an old man named Tian Lu), but he refuses to sell it. The Collector is in hiding in Los Angeles with his Triad allies. The Runners are not supposed to hurt the Collector because he might be important in the future, but they have to convince him to sell the keystone (there is a pretty unlimited expense account for that). How it goes on if the runners have the keystone Sphinx does not want to tell them but offers that the runners can get out after this step if they want. For getting the keystone Sphinx offers 20.000 Nuyen as well as discounts on magic utensils and the release of Emely. The runners accept and Sphinx leaves the restaurant but mentions that he will pay for the food if the runners order something.

The Plan

The runners start by calling contacts (e.g. to organize a shelter) and searching the matrix for information. They arrange a passage to Lost Angeles with Bilge-Rat Jones. Their research reveals that there is a P 2.0 influencer (Nathan Wiland) who claims to be connected to the Twenty-Eight Hands. If one follows his publications he makes also quite indirect advertisement for the Triaden. The Runners decide to pay Nathan Wiland a visit.

The Run

The Runners arrive at the port in LA and, thanks to Pell's high life style, first rent a boat to go to their hideout. After settling in, they make their way downtown where Nathan Wiland is live on the air and dining in a restaurant. Glamor and the other ladies ambush Nathan at his table and flirt with him. He suggests going to a club, but the ladies convince him to go to a quieter place (his apartment). So Nathan takes the four with him to his apartment. Once there, he is overpowered and subjected to thorough mind magic. After the runners have all the information they want about the triads and their meeting place, Swerve changes Nathan's memory so that he thinks he had a nice night. With the help of his passwords, the surveillance videos can also be deleted.
La Rapide and Pell first spy the restaurant (Chicken in) downtown the next day. They can observe some Triad members talking to a well-dressed man and then disappear. They follow the men on their bill collector tour until they disappear in the basement of a hotel and ride away on motorcycles. In the evening, Glamor and Swerve go to the Chicken in and ask the waitress to talk to the Triad boss. After some back and forth, the two are taken to a back room. They hear strange noises coming from the walls. Then Juan Han, the current boss of the Triad in LA, comes into the room and explains that he knows he's dealing with banshees and that they need to be aware that the whole room has explosives in the walls and that they are being watched. If something strange happens, we all die together. Glamor and Swerve try to convince Juan to be taken to the Collector. He demands something in return, so far he has refused a visit from various people to the Collector (the runners are not the first to ask), but since he currently has an urgent problem that needs to be solved he would be willing to let the runners go to the Collector if they take care of the problem. It is a construction site (one of those sites that must be 50% complete within 1 year to claim the land) that has stalled because they accidentally dug into the headquarters of a small but militant toxic cult during basement excavations. Juan does not tell the runners that this is a toxic cult. He offers an additional payment of 20,000 Nuyen after a short negotiation. The runners agree. The Runners go on site and summon ghosts as well. La Rapide explores the underground facility and is able to find a circle of toxic mages and adepts. She reports this to the others, who try to enter but are attacked by toxic spirits that La Rapide manages to sneak past. There is a brief exchange of blows and after the spirits are destroyed, the Circle members retreat deeper into the facility. The Runners follow them into the deeper regions and the background counts rises. The toxic contamination of the old skyscraper that stood here before the great flood is clearly perceptible. In an old auditorium, the Runners have their final encounter with the Circle. The mages and a nuclear spirit can be destroyed, but the adepts try to escape.

Aftermath

• Sea Dragon has put her claws on the book of the Underworld

Rewards

For "The old man and the sea" 2.16 Time Multy Semi-Prime:

• 50.000 Nuyen (25 RVP) or double in Magical Gear (incl Ochialcum from Sea Dragon and Foci from Sphinx) Foci up to AV 24
• 20.000 Nuyen (10 RVP) from Triade
• 35 Karma (35 RVP)
• 32 CDP (15 RVP)

• Pell +1 Favor Wusan
• Raps +4 Favor Emely
• IG 7 Discount Glamor
• IG 5 Discount La Rapide
• Swerve +10 Nebelherr Reputation

All: +10 Sea Dragon Reputation

Optional (paying with RVP from above):

• Sphinx C8/L3 for 10 RVP

Glamor:

• Quick Healer (3 RVP)
• Too Pretty To Hit (3 RVP)
• Watch The Suit (3 RVP)
• Buy off Wanted (10 RVP)

Raps:

• Guts (10 RVP)

Swerve:

• Rise Loyaltiy for Amélia Bezerra to 3 for (3 RVP or 6 CDP)
• Too Pretty To Hit (3 RVP)
• Shoot First, Don´t Ask (2 RVP)

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.