What Is Lu-(i)ck
| What Is Lu-(i)ck | ||||||||||||
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| Part of It's a Small Underworld After All | ||||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||||
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ShadowHaven Don Lingxin Bautista Huk TechnoRATS | Black Chrysanthemum Triad | Yama King (Locust Dude) | Ryumyo's Forces | Lung's Forces | ||||||||
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Desi Danger Heart of the Tempest La Rapide Katherine Tyler | 4 Triad Members, 4 Ghoul Customers | Yama King (Locust Dude) |
Yang Lang Gang Quan 6 Black Chrysanthemum Triad Enforcers (Mage Included) F9 Fire Spirits 1-2 F9 Earth Spirit |
Yin Lin 7 Red Dragon Association Enforcers (Mage Included) F9 Water Spirits 1-2 F9 Plant Spirit | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||||||
| None (Assorted Drug Crashes and Rocket Critglitch Damage Only) | 4 + 4 Dead, Big Boom | None (Runners Freed Him) | None (As Far As Runners Are Concerned) | None (As Far As Runners Are Concerned) | ||||||||
| Three parts comprised the run. Thank you for your patience! | ||||||||||||
Summary
When people (and the definition is distinctly flexible in the 6th World) gain power, they grow dangerous. In order to pursue their deepest desires, they have to employ other powerful, dangerous people. As we know, desire drives the world. That's the summary of a girls' night out in the Hong-Kong Free Enterprise Zone to remember…
Background
Aeons ago, Dragon Kings wished to bless metahumanity. They gave them powerful artefacts in the form of humble copper coins - the (in)famous Four Coins of Luck - for great boons of wealth (Lu), longevity (Shou), fertility (Feng) and happiness (Fu). The first three found themselves in possession of Dunkelzahn, who granted them to various people in his last will - to a random fisherman, to Lung, to Wuxing CEO's wife. The fourth, hard to say where it is, but all change hands, different people and dragons seeking them.
One of those people is Don Lingxin, Deputy Chief Marketing Officer of Swift Wind Deliveries Hong-Kong. The Wuxing executive is known as an avid numismatist, but in this case, Wuxing's CEO, Wu Lung-Wei, uses the former's reputation to investigate a promising lead with the hope of gaining the First Coin of Luck, Lu, for himself. As Fu Peng, his friend and a Wuxing shareholder, found apocryphal information than Lu washed up in "the House of Sloth and Greed" - one of the terrifying prisons, err, housing estates in the Kowloon Walled City, Don, who's known for his numismatic hobby and has much experience as a Johnson, is supposed to hire out-of-town runners as a front. He doesn't know he's hiring to seek out Lu, but a coin Wu, a numismatist himself, wants.
As the reputation of the ShadowHaven runners precedes them and they're not very likely to have incentive to mess with the local politics - importantly, Wu Lung-Wei doesn't expect them to serve Ryumyo or Lung, with whom he competes for the Coins - the lovely four-lady crew is hired and their stay at the teahouse and motel of Yanmi Xie for the weekend, together with travel expenses, sponsored.
The Meet
The team scheduled to meet Don in the little teahouse and motel Mrs Xie, a former razorgirl, runs on the edge of the Kowloon Walled City. There, they encounter his entourage - an aging ork wujen (in line with Wuxing's method of two Johnsons - she's there just to cast Analyze Truth, a test the runners pass) and the two adept bodyguards (ork and troll), invited to enjoy the traditional dim sum dishes. Tempest and Raps, meanwhile, are offered close cups with blood not to be left out. The situation is explained as much as Don knows: they're to look for a copper (not bronze!) round coin with a square hole in the middle in a specific building in the heart of the Kowloon Walled City, where Wuxing SINners are understandably not allowed to go without special clearances due to dangers. Don doesn't know for sure, but he was tipped off to the existence of a coin he desires to collect - it's valuable enough to numismatists to be a great bargaining chip with higher-ups. If they find it, he offers a pool of 160000¥ or twice that in Wuxing gear, fashion armors, magical goods and fake Wuxing corporate SINs. Even if the lead doesn't work out, there's a budget of 8000¥ and the Four Sages library subscription available for looking for it. The lodgings at Mrs Xie's are paid for for the weekend, with the opportunity of extending the stay if desired. He also warns the team about the Black Chrysanthemum Triad, although coins like that aren't generally loot worthy of their attention, as well as shadow spirits who'll hopefully leave them alone as too dangerous prey. The runners approve of the offer and shake on it.
The Plan
The plan is simple: follow the coordinates of the building in the center of Kowloon, then continue the treasure hunt inside. Knowledge skills like Underworld, Magical Threats and Matrix searches to prepare for what could be expected. The Black Chrysanthemum Triad and shadow spirits, coins used in feng shui, the legends of the Coins of Luck, Yama Kings and dragons are researched. The previous experiences of Raps and Tempest with Kowloon prove crucial for a map they use to navigate the slums without getting lost. In addition, preparations like buying trolleys for Desi's rockets and drug uses are handled. Then, go-time is planned - quickly in, quickly out.
The Run
The ladies are successful in keeping on the move. Kowloon is understandably uncomfortable, yet they handle the increasing background count (1-5) and Matrix noise (1-5). Through assorted slice of life cameos they choose to interact with or not, they make headway. For example, early on, rather than fight a technocult worshipping the TechnoRATS, a clan of nezumi rats (technocritters), they befriend them with food and learn about multiple shortcuts, bypassing several potentially dangerous encounters. They witness shadow spirits preying on the miserable SINless in sweatshops, avoid danger from rickety buildings and bridges over deep, deep ravines the locals try to source water from, an apparent fight between the Black Chrysanthemum Triad and possibly runners. The one scene they interfere with is a trade between the Triad and four ghouls, buying corpses from four members. It's a moment, flashes of combat magic, swordplay, rockets - subtle, it is not, but the runners emerge unscathed, something which can't be said about the eight additional bodies left behind in a blitz attack.
Then, unbothered, they arrive at the heart of the slums where the building they're hired to search stands. They can immediately feel it's a bad place Kowloon was many things, but never silent. Never can you have some four meters of space, completely clear bar for some airborne trash, with neither man nor beast. Such silence. It and the sensation of foreboding worm their way into their bones. The building doesn't look like much at first glance. No apparent defenses. No screaming, shouting, weeping. No music. No rats, flying rats (pigeons), no nothing. But there's something else: while everything around creates an uneasy and difficult to marry mix of foreboding and sloth, it's cleaner there and with maybe just a dozen lights flickering in the windows. Like someone or something was gathering about everything bigger than a plastic bag or a piece of paper in the wind here.
Tempest continuing her Cleansing duty, Detection spells cast, the four boldly try the door.
There, it's more strangeness yet. No real lock, just open. No power, but relatively clean. Some decor like posters from films - films, not trids! A couple of people moving about, skulking, prowling, searching for "treasures". One is a dwarf named Lim, who after a bit of a chase routine can be sweet-talked into allying with them in pursuit of individual treasures. According to what he tells the team, he's a happily retired museum custodian and treasure hunter who was forced into the latter career due to a professional rival leading to losing his job and SIN. Ken, an old JIS expat and another local treasure hunter who rivals him, acquired what appears to be jade figurines of the Seven Gods of Fortune, but he lost Ebisu and Hotei to others in the building. This leaves five and Lim saw him hiding them upstairs from another person. Because the runners agree to ally with him, each person receiving one of the figurines. With this, he's happy to explain everything he knows.
Through a mixture of physical searching, Detection spells and drones, they search the building. Kate and Desi are one team, Tempest, Raps and Lim another, checking apartments and corridors. None are locked with more than simple padlocks, rusted over, opening after a single glare at them. There are homemade traps in some: little shitty cameras you can simply avoid stepping into the field of vision of, rather easily spotted tripwires, some Home Alone style basic bitch rubble batches to fall down. Not exactly issues. They also find some more people, with the same hungry, but not physically hungry, seeking eyes. They pay them no heed as they go about, investigating the stashes hidden with varied levels of expertise, them finding some, the runners finding others. As long as they don't try to take something from them, they ignore them, taken up by their searches. Everything being found is junk, however, including what Lim triumphantly fetes as the jade figurines of the Seven Gods of Fortune. Bones, scraps of metal, shards of glass. Steadily, feeling a spike in power looking up, together with a gap in assensing - a section covered by some mana barrier - the story repeats whoever they ask. Everyone heard about the building having a local (underworld in the criminal or abyssal sense, they can't quite tell with the Cantonese rolls) king who had many, many treasures and was challenging people to best him for them. All claim succeeded in it, taking his treasures on the top floor for themselves, but because others also seek them and are numerous enough, much has been stolen from them. They can be given junk by the runners, only to praise them as being extremely generous by gifting them treasures like this beautifully carved slab of pure gold with symbols of fortune embossed in it.
The team is now certain there's some magic about. They head toward the top floor where the mana barrier is to investigate it. It doesn't have any windows, unlike the previous floors, so they sneak a drone through a chimney. They realize the floor is empty but for the fireplace in the northwestern corner the drone can glide through - not lit - clean, with bare bones. The only room is southeast, behind an enormous traditional scarlet red double-door gate fashioned from precious wood smelling like roses with elaborate golden decor carved, embossed, painted on it. It's protected by an old-style bolt with a key lock. The Awakened runners confirm the mana barrier is on the lock, covering the room, so they blow the door down.
The room contains minor body horror of a morbidly obese Chinese man with clothes from live locusts which initially look like banknotes 5th World China used. Assensing shows a free spirit stronger than the assensing people, who isn't intimidated by Desi shouting she's there to take his treasures. In fact, he and the team begin talking after an initial tense introduction - telepathic images and emotions rather than Cantonese words. He's a canny trickster with eons of experience with Masking and similar subterfuge-oriented metamagics who fosters feelings of sloth and greed in those who try to steal from him, feeding off of them, but as the runners don't take the credsticks, banknotes, coins, art objects from precious metals and gemstones, only what appears to be Lu, they aren't subject to the mental manipulation the other treasure hunters fell prey to. They only fail to pierce the powerful illusion of the Yama King, taking the coin in return for blowing the roof up and letting him go free.
The runners are satisfied, taking their leave. There, without the spirit, the other people run amok, crazed as they realize their treasures are trash. A veritable pandemonium is going on there. People are screaming they've been robbed of their treasures, running amok in search, fleeing, giving chase, fighting. The runners themselves aren't touched, but the mental manipulation on the rest is broken. They take their leave, the illusory coin hidden in Desi's limb compartment. They're on the edge of the BGC/noise 5 zone when the senses like Combat Sense tingle - the Black Chrysanthemum Triad picked up the signatures of powerful magic from the blown up deal being brokered before, tracked it to the building and tipped off Ryumyo, the dragon they work for! Dragons have serious research firepower and Don stands no chance. Unlike him, Ryumyo and Lung recognize the coin's description as one of the Four Coins of Luck and task some of their agents - respectively Yang Lang, Gang Quan and the Black Chrysanthemum Triad for Ryumyo, Yin Lin and the Red Dragon Association for Lung - to look for the runners and either steal the coin or even buy it if the theft isn't like taking candy from a baby (which of course it isn't). Yang and Co. try to shock and awe the runners as they pass through a narrow (duh, all of Kowloon is claustrophobic) path between two tenements, trying to get them to surrender the coin, if not attacking them. There's a moment of overly zeal from Desi as she starts trying to attack them with rockets, turned to the sky, with one of the fire spirits using Accident and causing a critical glitch where the rocket jams, exploding in her face to some wounds. Yin Lin and the rest arrive shortly after, immediately trying to bargain for the coin. Due to the two drakes' mutual enmity, they start a bidding war, offering the runners more and more. While Tempest, Kate and Raps distract them by needling them for offers if they hypothetically didn't sell to Don, Desi realizes the limb compartment feels empty - the Yama King dropped the illusion!
While they don't have the coin anymore, the team plays it cool, easily leading Yin to believe Yang did something to steal the item and vice versa. The two forces start fighting each other, allowing the runners to escape. On the run, Kate contacts the TechnoRATS again and the technocritters help them use a different shortcut to successfully flee Kowloon. What they're into is seeing the world outside of the slums, so they'll travel with them to Seattle.
Aftermath
The team (and the TechnoRATS) can now return safely to Don Lingxin, who pays them for looking for Lu without actually being able to sell it. They decide not to look for the proverbial needle in a haystack pursuing the Yama King joyriding through Hong-Kong, satisfied with the knowledge and experiences gained. In addition to the money, all gain access to the Four Sages library subscription Wuxing runs (all the CDP). Kate tips off [Bautista]] of the Huk about the whole affair around Lu and where it can be. The Yama King and the draconic agents… This is a story for another time.
Rewards
- Total rewards reach 53 RVP through the 1.75 multiplier.
- 2000¥ (1 RVP)
- 6 karma (6 RVP)
- TechnoRATS at 1/4 (4 RVP)
- -15 rep with the Black Chrysanthemum Triad
- Wanted (Ryumyo, 50000¥) for Tempest
- Counts for the discount for mundane ascension/initiation/submersion
- 2 CDP as usual
- 84 CDP for all your knowledge skill needs (42 RVP)
Additional consequences and changes to the Hong-Kong Free Enterprise Zone as the result of the run will be handled by lvl3 GMs due to the scope at a later date.
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Heart of the Tempest
Well, fuck. Sooo... those weird bastard spirits can apparently disguise themselves, and we got given a fake spooky coin. We got out of there fine, managing to play the triad types against each other when the fake coin went poof, but I'm... worried about the consequences. Oh well, we got pity pay. And some cute techno rats.