Lions, Piasma, and Bears Oh My!
| Lions, Piasma, and Bears Oh My! | ||||||||||
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| Part of The C in UCAS is for Corruption | ||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
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ShadowHaven Carleton Moreau Raquel Domage | Chalmers & Cole Exploration LLC | Waswanipi Expeditions Ltd. | ||||||||
| Thunder |
Character1 Character2 | |||||||||
Summary
Thunder successfully neutralizes a corporate prospecting team and corrupt bounty hunters before helping out a distressed ptofessor. All while doing market research.
Background
Carleton Moreau has bundled three jobs from three employers. Jacques Sleeping Bear is the current mayor and tribal chief of Oujé-Bougoumou, Quebec. Elections for council, deputy chief, and chief are soon and corporate resource exploitation is a hot political issue. He wants Chalmers & Cole driven away. Raquel Domage is the head of a Do-Gooder group in Quebec, the Blazing Swords. They want a corrupt team of Cree bounty hunters put out of business. Finally Raquel Domage is worried about a colleague doing field research on horned bears in the area. She wants a wellness check. Carleton is interested in investing in outdoor tourism for high net worth individuals. He will offer a side gig for amenities, a future favor, and a small amount of cash as a bonus if the runner(s) do market research on the sentiments of locals towards such a venture.
The Meet
Carleton's meet with Thunder goes smoothly as they have worked together previously. Carleton lays out the basics of the three jobs and offers 16,000 nuyen. Thunder is worried about amenities such as fake ID and licences. He accepts the jobs & side gig for a burner SIN with bounty hunting and hunting licenses, a round trip on Carleton's jet, lodging, and an additional 1,000 nuyen. Thunder probes Carleton for backgound info on the area including the Wasanipi Cree, Chalmers & Cole Exploration LLC, and the tribal council elections. Then a quick call to Raquel Domage to get additional info on Professor McGill. They arrange to meet at SeaTac at 9:00 am.
The Flight
Thunder meets Carleton at SeaTac with two duffles. He spends the first half of flight discussing logistics and doing some matrix research on Chalmers & Cole Exploration LLC and the Forest Transformation that they use to convert mature pine trees into African blackwood (dalbergia melanoxylon), the most expensive wood in the world. The transformed trees are clear cut and lifted out for transport to market. Carleton gets off in Ottawa and the flight to Chibougamau/Chapais Airport continues after refueling.
The Lodge
After picking up a rental car at the airport, Thunder drives to the Capissisit Lodge where he checks in to one of the four luxury suites on the second floor. The other three are occupied by the members of the Chalmers & Cole Exploration team. After unpacking he visited the bar and restaurant. Seeing the corporate prospecters, Thunder struck a conversation with them. The prospecters were surprised by the genial friendliness unlike the passive hostility they'd received from everyone else. After a nice meal and time chatting up the prospecters, They agree to Thunder going along with them the next day. Breakfast is at 6:00 am and they leave at 7:00.
The Village
Thunder decides to get two birds with one stone by going on a shopping trip to the local vendors of firearms and camping equipment. Two of the three are still open: The Lac Caché relay - Petro-Canada and the Bolorama Bowling Alley, both in Chibougamau. The clerk at the Petro-Canada is well acquainted with hunting and fishing in the area and provides info while Thunder buys survival equipment and rents an Ares Mule to carry gear. He provides specific info on piasma and mantichoras when asked about threats.
The bartender at the Bolorama Bowling Alley split a pitcher of beer with Thunder while he inflicted a troll sized appetite on hotdogs and poutine. The bartender also serves as the clerk for the survival gear shop. The shop is oriented towards selling supplies rather than equipment. He is familiar with the professor who had stopped for supplies the previous week.
The Plan
Thunder decides to neutralize the prospecting team by going with them to the site of the ritual, disrupting the ritual, and altering their memories. He decides to lay the foundation for his plan by giving the lead prospector bad dreams. After climbing two trees to get line of sight he does so.
The Ritual
Having slaved his Mule to that of the corporate team for the drones 4:00 am departure Thunder had breakfast with the prospectors and jumped into the back of their pickup truck. After arriving at the ritual site. Thunder watched the two magicians lay the foundation and anchor for the transformation ritual while the adept set up overwatch. When the magicians started the six hour ritual, the adept meandered about the site. He made the mistake of briefly taking his eyes off of Thunder within melee range. The magicians were focused on casting the ritual and did not notice the adept's body falling to the ground. Thunder was able to stealthily ambush the lead magician but had to eat a magebolt from the assistant. A second later the third prospector was unconscious. Thunder then played upon the dream implanted the night before by altering memories. What the prospectors remember is Thunder setting off to the west to look for professor McGill. Then the surrounding trees transformed into treant form and attacked the team and trashed their equipment.
The Forest
Immediately upon leaving the ritual site Thunder successfully perceives two manifest spirits. The furthest away is a Man-of-the-woods fading away to the west. The closest is a forest spirit serenely sitting on a limb. The forest spirit tells Thunder that the Man-of-the-woods is spreading the word about the disrupted ritual and that the forest domain ahead of him will be welcoming. Thunder changed into armor and took an hour for rest and recovery.
Bounty Hunters
After several hours of waliking through the forest, Thunder came upon the Cree bounty hunters from Waswanipi preparing lunch. Wearing Bug Stomper armor and a ruthenium polymer cloak, Thunder surveiled the hunters with binoculars while stealthily approaching. Seeing that the three were currently armed only with sidearms, Thunder ambushed them at range with his bow and hammerhead arrows. The magician went down while the adept and mundane marksman bolted to their tents to get better weapons. By moving NW Thunder was able to maintain line of sight on the marksman and took him down with an arrow before he could fire his rifle. Thunder then got hit by full auto fire from the adept that left his torso bruised and head ringing. The adept went down with the third arrow. Thunder disabled all their equipment and took their pelts to prove that dna testing had been altered to allow 'double dipping' the bounty system.
The Professor
Since it was still early in the afternoon, Thunder took another rest and recovery break before proceeding further west. After another hour, he came upon a flirtacious Lake spirit in the lake south of the research site. Thunder asked the spirit to guide him to the professor and the spirit obliged up to the stream leading into the lake from the north (the end of the lake domain and the beginning of a river domain). Going upstream Thunder came across a horned bear and the professor. The professor was sitting in front of a tent with a splinted leg. The horned bear was rearing up on it's hind legs roaring a challenge. Thunder had been briefed on the wierd challenge rituals of horned bears and entered into unarmed combat. The bear was Thunder's equal in mass and strength but not agility or reaction time. Thunder did first damage and won the duel. After healing the professor's broken leg and giving him a burner commlink as a replacement Thunder set the Mule to return to the Lodge. He then called the lodge to get a lift back in his rental car.
Aftermath
Thunder calls Carleton to report his successes and arranges a return flight to Seattle with more money in the bank. Professor McGill gets scolded by his colleague. The prospectors report a tale of horror to their bosses at Chalmers & Cole Exploration and demand a transfer to the Waswanipi area. The Waswanipi bounty hunters take up alternate employment as guides and security for prospectors.
Rewards
Lions, Piasma, and Bears Oh My! High TL - 16 RVP 16,000 Nuyen (8 RVP) 1,000 Nuyen negotiation bonus 8 Karma (8 RVP) 2 CDP (Base) +5 Blazing Swords faction +1 chip Carleton Moreau optional: Raquel Domage C4 L2 (5 RVP) https://shreloaded.net/wiki/Raquel_Domage
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Thunder Dear Carleton, The feedback from the Oujé-Bougoumou community on the prospect of more high class eco- and culture-friendly tourism is overwhelmingly positive with the people I spoke to. The community needs jobs and educational opportunities for younger people who are about to embark on studies or looking for their first job. This is both an opportunity to find people to work for you, as it is for the community to keep this age group from moving away. So, expect the support of the Nation if you are willing to embrace locals.
The constructed infrastructure for tourists is limited to the cities and villages. There are not any developed camp grounds with shelters, wired electricity, and regular comm-link access without sat-link in the wild.
The wildlife is abundant and spirits guarding it are present. There is plenty of game to hunt. It will be necessary to educate all visitors about how to behave in a respectful conserving manner in order to not anger nature and its guardians. It might even be an idea to contact the spirits to become a part of the educational experience. I'm not sure if that is something you want, nor if it is something the spirits would agree too, but there is surely one way or another to use the abundance of spirits in the stories told at a camp fire by your local guides.
Henry Longhorn, and the manager at the gas station are both eager to talk to you about involving the local community, getting political backing, and getting more local control of the supply chain of anything new tourists will need while in the area.
Thanks for the opportunity to spend time in the woods. It was wonderful.
PS. Also talk to Professor Mc Gill. I'm sure he will be happy to share some information about some of the dangerous animals in the area and how to deal with horned bears which are kind of cute if one knows how to not get killed.