Zenith
 | |
| Gun Adept | |
|---|---|
| A lifelong runner who thought he'd retired | |
| Discord | @OrionsRequiem#2524 |
| OrionsRequiem | |
| Metatype | Human |
| Street Cred | 70 |
| Notoriety | 1 |
| Public Awareness | 2 |
| CDP | 93 |
| D.O.B. | December 29th, 2046 |
| Age | 38 |
| Folder | [1] |
| Priority | Metatype - D Attributes - A Magic/Resonance - C Skills - B Resources - E |
| # Initiations | 21 |
Character Information
Summary
A Barrens raised kid who grew up in warehouses, learning to pick pockets and shoot straight. His Shadowrunner mother raised him alone until she wasn't around any more, then he lived on his own. He started running on his own at 13, using his mother's contacts. At age 17 he met a woman he left the life for, was married and had a child two years later. His wife disappeared in an assault on his home, and he raised his daughter on his own since then. Her schooling is expensive, so Zenith came out of retirement.
Goals
Replace all his old gear with better stuffBuy a proper houseSet himself and Harriot up in a safe place- Find the people that attacked his home and
find out what happened to Scarletfind ScarletFigure out what the frag to do with his life - Pay for Harriot's schooling and make sure she has a good nest egg of an inheritance.
- Avoid becoming a Saeder-Krupp Prime Agent.
- Kill whoever invented Chal'han
- Work alongside Catharsis to protect their life together
Open a restaurant in the BarrensConvince the Corporate Court to designate the Pinnacle House as a safe haven.- Dunk on the elfnostates at every opportunity.
Background
Ethan grew up in the Redmond Barrens alongside his mother, Madeline Quinn and was given pretty free reign. Do whatever you want, just be back by dark. His mother was a Shadowrunner who went by the street name Stiletto, and she taught him the ins and outs of the trade. Most of his friends growing up were her old running crew, but he didn't know anything else, and in the Barrens, if you've got something that keeps you safe, you don't ask too many questions about it. For years, he fell into a pattern. Pick some pockets for a soy burger, get home before nightfall, learn to either not be seen, shoot straight, or pick locks, then watch his mom get into her van with her runner team, and watch garbage trids until they got back. It wasn't a stable life, but it was his. As he got older his mother let him take on jobs, often acting as a distraction or an unseen pickpocket, though as he got more confident in his gunmanship he was allowed to take on wetwork, his mother believing that teaching him to take a life would prepare him for the world better than anything the school system could provide. Then one day, the van never came back. Ethan didn't know if the only family he'd ever known skipped town, got got, or simply needed to disappear, but either way, at 7, Ethan was alone.
Having little more than an abandoned warehouse to squat in and a rapidly dwindling amount of nuyen to bribe anyone who found him, Ethan knew that he needed to make some cash fast or else die in the Barrens like so many others before him. He knew his mother kept a spare gun in her desk, a Ruger Super Warhawk that he'd used to train with sometimes. He took the gun and started using the name Zenith based off a joke his mother used to make about how he'd one day be the top Shadowrunner in the UCAS. At the start, Zenith was bad, the Warhawk was the only tool in his arsenal. He knew how to sneak and pick locks, but he was still a kid, and he drew more attention than he wanted when he was outside the Barrens. His mother's old fixer, Ol'Tusk helped him for awhile, but he eventually made enough nuyen for an apartment and could start building up his materials. However the jobs he took were barely enough to pay rent month-to-month. Eventually, Ol'Tusk found him bigger jobs, and he had to learn that sometimes professionalism was more useful than a gun. Zenith quickly gained a reputation as a wetwork specialist who wasn't decerning about his targets so long as the money was good. This led him to many dangerous jobs, including one such job where he was meant to clean out a building of Halloweeners. During the job Zenith caught away from the rest of the team by a Halloweener with a flamethrower, trapped between a wall and the insane ganger, we was consumed in flame, and would have died were it not for his sudden Awakening, giving him an extra burst of speed that allowed him to get around the 'weener and kill him before the fire burned him away. Though he was left with a burn scar on the side of his neck from the experience.
After ten years of Zenith working in the shadows. He had savings, he was actually comfortable. His reputation wasn't really known outside the Barrens, but he was content. In November of 2064, Zenith and a crew of runners had to grab test answers for a spoiled rich brat from their high school: Overlake Private High School. To this end, Zenith infiltrated the school as a student, despite lacking any education beyond basic reading and writing. The job would have gone smoothly, but Zenith got distracted. One of the "classmates" he was exposed to was an Elf noble woman named Scarlet O'Cathalain who had transferred to the UCAS from Tir Tairngire due to a "cultural exchange program". While she never admitted to it, Zenith felt like Scarlet saw right through him, and could tell that he didn't belong, but she was friendly to him regardless, sharing her thoughts about how metahumanity had the potential for goodness, from the corporate executive to the beetle addict, and that they all deserve kindness and help. Zenith was skeptical of her views, but enamored with her all the same. Even after the job, Zenith kept in contact with Scarlet, and eventually the two started dating.
Things moved pretty fast, getting married in a small ceremony after a year and a half, prompted somewhat by Scarlet's discovery of a pregnancy. The two of them were a bit scared by the prospect of having a child, but they eventually agreed to try it together, and within six months, Harriot Quill was born. Zenith retired, and just became Cedric Quill, the name on his Fake SIN, he missed the thrill of Shadowrunning, but he also knew that Scarlet and Harriot were safer if he just took odd jobs that stayed on the light side of the law. After four years of going straight, and having a family life, Zenith and Harriot had gone out to see a new Trid in the theatre, but when they got back, the door to their apartment building was busted in and when they got back to their door, it had obviously been cracked. Furniture was overturned, blood was spattered on the floor and plates and glasses were shattered. Worst of all, Scarlet was missing. She'd disappeared and Zenith couldn't get any information about the investigation. Zenith was despondent, and while he had to take care of Harriot, he felt his life falling apart. Social Services attempted to take Harriot away if Zenith didn't take therapy and appropriate social care with his daughter. This forced him to give up the search using legal means, Cedric Quill was under too much scrutiny to do what needed to be done.
Assuming that whoever had done this came from his past as a runner, Zenith took what cash he had saved up and started renting a new apartment in Tacoma. He focused on raising Harriot, and when she was asleep, he started diving back into the Shadows, trying to uncover anything about his wife. It's been 11 years since that day, and Zenith has started taking on jobs again. Apparently the old adage is true "Only retired Shadowrunner is a dead Shadowrunner".
Narrative Significant Qualities
Positive
Adept - Ethan awakened shortly after his mother disappeared, leveraging his new powers to increase his value on runs.
Hawk Eye + Shoot First, Don't Ask + Perceptive - His paranoia has made it almost impossible to surprise him.
Sharpshooter + Strive for Perfection + Perfect Time - He gets bored with regular shots. He wants to challenge himself in a gunfight.
Daredevil - Zenith does foolish things for kicks. He's spent his life running the shadows and any chance to spice things up fuels his adrenaline addiction.
Alibi + Social Chameleon - Since first joining the Haven, Zenith has been forced to solve more problems with talking than violence, and has improved his social skills to avoid killing his way through problems.
The Invisible Way - Zenith is an expert infiltrator and assassin, his magic has taken him in a way where being unseen is the best course of action and his magic has molded around this notion.
Lucky - A misnomer at best, Zenith's luck tends to get him out of trouble that his stupidity gets him into.
School of Hard Knocks - Zenith grew up on the streets of the Redmond Barrens and learned all he could from the downtrodden and disenfranchised, which includes knowledge that has come in handy through his Shadowrunning career.
Negative
Dependant (Demanding) - Harriot is a 16 year old Elf, she's smarter than Zenith, and has learned that her father is a shadowrunner, but not the extent to which he markets himself as a wetwork specialist. She has recently Emerged as a technomancer and attends Twin Peaks Private School in Bellevue.
Emotional Attachment - His mother's Ruger Super Warhawk, it's been modded since Zenith started using it, but it's something he'll never part with willingly.
Driven: - Looking for his lost wife Scarlet. He is almost compulsively pulled towards any threads that might have something to do with her. Often to his own detriment or near-death.
Social Stress (Red-Haired Elves): - Between his missing wife and his daughter, Zenith has a hard time dealing socially with red-haired elves. Often avoiding their gaze and trying to avoid engaging with them at all.
Uneducated - Growing up on the streets is not conducive to a regular learning experience. What Zenith lacks in book smarts, he makes up in street smarts, but the former bites him at times.
Run History
January 2082: Having reentered the shadows a few months earlier and reconnecting with Johns, Zenith entered ShadowHaven with the hope that he could find clues to his missing wife, and make enough cred to keep paying rent and his daughter's tuition. Getting off to a solid start by finding a bioweapon and infiltrating an Ares Blacksite, he began to recall what working in the shadows was all about, just in time to meet Amrei Veidt and become connected with the S-K Prime operative while breaking into the Aztechnology Pyramid. He also got a taste of travel, going to the PCC and finding a club run by a Chiron using Amrita to create a bunch of Essence batteries. He is saved from his worst impulses by Delphi, who takes the negotiation on herself at risk of infection. Zenith goes by her office once they are back in Seattle and the two become fast friends over shared trauma.
February 2082: Starting the month off by a confrontation with his past threatening his daughter, Zenith spends this month building up connections. Meeting Vip3r, Lil' Boomer, Ca1yps0 and Skimmer who he maintains a relationship with, including many other runners. On a particularly personal job, he also met Shine, who learned that he had a daughter while defending said daughter's girlfriend from a group of rival shadowrunners. This was also the month where Amrei Veidt found out that Zenith had a daughter, going so far as to drive her home from school under the guise of being a co-worker of Zenith, forcing him to improve his relationship with Saeder-Krupp past his comfort level, including doing spy work for them. This month also gave Zenith his first interaction with Pump King Jack, and the child in the spirit's "care", Mary Jane. The interaction with the child was also what showed him the other side of Babylon, leading to a professional respect between the two. The final event of the month saw Zenith going into a bug's nest, saving the life of Relay from a paint grenade, and firing a Blight round into the mouth of an Ant Queen, allowing the rest of the team to finish the monster off. Before the end of the month, Zenith sits down with his daughter and explains the truth about what he does for a living, though omits that he is a wetwork specialist, including the details that he was part of the team that murdered her new girlfriend's father.
March 2082: A slower month for the gunman, Zenith was forced to go up against other runners and ended up saving them, as well as watching Charon offer to turn Glamor into another Infected while working for Amrei. This is also the month where Zenith tracks down Ol'Tusk, begrudgingly helping Charon with her vengeance quest, and getting confirmation that his mother was alive and involved in something targeting his daughter. Leading to him requesting the aid of Vip3r and Shine in protecting the girl, with some plans being put in place. He also discovers that Mary Jane, the girl he had helped remove from the influence of Jack, was dead, killed by an Infected Troll that he became dedicated to tracking down.
April 2082: Shine moves into Zenith's home, though the older runner is hesitant about such things, Shine has proved herself to be trustworthy and invested in Harriot's protection. This turns out to be fortunate, as Zenith is called to Chicago by Skimmer, as repayment for a favor done in February where Skimmer helped him sell his lie of being a security consultant to his daughter. While in Chicago he helps Skimmer rescue his wife and newborn daughter, but realizes that much like the other adept, if he continues down the blood-soaked path he's been on for most of his life, when he finds his own wife she might see him as a monster. He also takes on a job that dives through the ACHE, seeking the bloodsucker that killed Mary Jane, however the job was a setup to help another associated bloodsucker to wipe out a Tamanous facility.
May 2082: This month started with Harriot's birthday party, with Shine and Vip3r helping Zenith ensure the party was safe and a happy day for his daughter. However at the end of the night, Zenith receives a clue pointing towards his missing wife and leaves his home in the middle of the night to go to Tir Tairngire. The stress of his disappearance causes Harriot to Emerge as a technomancer. In the Tir, Zenith finds that his in-laws are embroiled in a blood-feud that is the reason for Scarlet's abduction so many years ago, and that they will not involve him to get her back. After getting the information, he saved his mother-in-law's life by taking a bullet intended for her, nearly dying from the shot, and escaping on the back of a unicorn. He returns to Seattle to a furious Shine, Vip3r and Harriot, who help him recover. Burning his Tacoma home, he moves into Shine's apartment and realizes that he has been falling for the other runner, coming to a head after an intense fight that leads to the start of their secretive affair. Fulfilling a request from Vip3r, Zenith helps her figure out what to do about her adoptive parents and after a deep run, rescued her mother but found out that her father was going to be kept in a Zero Zone, as well as telling Harriot about his and Shine's relationship.
June 2082: Starting the month off strong, Zenith killed a Blood God on the night of the blood moon eclipse by hurling himself into the mouth of the spirit and shooting Blight into the creature. After King Beef went berserk from K-10. Zenith was part of the team that ultimately took him down and granted him a final farewell to the Shadow Community. This is also the month where Zenith works with Charon as a lookout and backup for another of her targets.
December 2082 - January 2084: After Shine received an offer from Cross to stay in Montreal with their new Emergency Medical services, Zenith and the other adept have disagreements and are distant until they end their relationship. Zenith also moves to Essen in the AGS while Harriot makes the transition to college.
Affiliations
Contacts
| Contact | Connection | Loyalty | Archetype | Profession | Aspects | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johns | 5 | 4 | Fixer | Street Fixer | Black Market Connections, Former Shadowrunner, Redmond Barrens, Novacoke Addict, Street Smarts, Shadow Community | Even |
| Black Cat | 5 | 4 | Gear | Black Marketeer | Burnout Adept, Black Market Connections, Gun Runner, Gang Leader, Demolition Expert, Back Alley Chop Shop | Even |
| Ghaz | 2 | 3 | Legwork | Skraacha Sheriff | Cavalry's Here, Skraacha Sheriff, Coffin House | Even |
| Amrei Veidt | 6 | 6 | Generalist | S-K Prime Operative | Actually a Spy, Deck Jockey, Delta Clinic Access, Former Shadowrunner, Information Broker, One Step Ahead, Prime Datahaven Membership, Saeder-Krupp Employee, Fresh off the Assembly Line | +2 |
| Argent | 1 | 3 | Fixer | Street-level Fixer | Silver Tongue, Elven Blood | Even |
| Sarah Snow | 3 | 3 | Fixer | Fundraiser and Housewife | Novacoke?, Novacoke!, Dinner Parties of Metahumans, Flawless Skin, On Retainer, Fundraiser | Even |
| Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy | 2 | 4 | Custom(A,G,N,K) | Ganger / Tough Guy | Not the Brightest Bulb, Firesaw, Fraggin' Handsome, People Pleaser, WAIT I'm a runner too! | Even |
| Corf | 1 | 4 | Service | Helpful Lil' Minecart | Rail-bound, Small, Living Transport, Underground, Wild Spirit, Smol | Even |
| Bellerophon | 4 | 2 | Generalist | Professional Paracritter Hunter | Artificer, Fantastic Beasts (and Where to Find Them), Pegasus, Reagent Hunter, The Most Dangerous Game | Even |
| Deulara Leorel | 4 | 2 | Networking | OtherCon Representitive | EVO Hatred, OtherCon Folk, Protector Of The People, Leader Of The Pack, Wolf Ears | Even |
| Saint Nick | 2 | 3 | Gear | "Santa Claus" | Blissfully Unaware, KRIME Konnections, Milk and Cookies, Spirit of the Season, We Got Guns | Even |
| Freya | 5 | 4 | Custom(G,A,K,N) | Hacker Extraordinaire | Master SIN Maker, Burner ID, FAKE is my Middle Name!, My Search Function is Powered by Nuyen, Hacking is my other middle name, I eat Hosts for lunch. | Even |
| Anything Andy | 6 | 1 | Generalist | Generalist | Smuggler, Black Market Rumors, Trog-Net, Bootleg Electronics, Bootleg Cyberware, Bootleg Weapons, Bootleg Armor | Even |
| Mush | 4 | 3 | Fixer | Black Magic Man, Black Magic Circles, Focus Fanboy, Fetish Gear, Discretion is the Watchword | Even | |
| Wusan | 5 | 4 | Service | Overlord of the Seas | Ocean Bound, Master of the Sea, Purifier, Trick or Treat, Caller of Tides, Ocean Awareness, Sense of Humor, Spirit Bound, Sense of Duty, Sense of Honor | +2 |
| Dr. Isabel Wirth | 4 | 4 | Service | ER Doctor | Trauma Surgeon, Free Samples, Community Clinic Hours, Performs House Calls, I know a sales rep | Even |
| LB | 2 | 6 | Custom(A,N,K,G) | Tamanous Dumpster Fire | Tamanous Made Man, Goes Loud, Mystic Adept, Lovable Outcast, Explosive Personality, Known Criminal, Connoisseur | Even |
| Nyon Salaine | 2 | 1 | Service | Hottest Elf Around | Devoted BFF (Boyfriend Forever), Sweet Talker, The Right Words, Make Up or Make Out, Emotion Radar | Even |
| Krimelin | 3 | 1 | Custom(K,A,G,N) | FBI's Most Wanted | Albinism, Spirit Savant, Demoncaller, Go On A Trip, Safehouses, Let It All Burn | Even |
| Sidewinder | Contact Not Found. Please create contact using Template:Contact. | 1 | You may also see User:Free Sprite for bot instructions. | Even | ||
| Phil Haskill | 8 | 1 | Networking | Policlub Activist | California Free State, Corporations, Mothers of Metahumans, Policlubs, Politics, San Francisco, Shadow Community, UCAS, Ares Macrotechnology | Even |
| Dr. Hanson | 4 | 1 | Custom(G,A,K,N) | Nanocybernetics Expert, Sufficient Saturation, Nanomachines, Refitted, Off-Grid, Doctorate, Synthesis | Even | |
| Adowa "Moria" Webster | 4 | 4 | Fixer | DIMR Scientist | Hermetic Mage, Decker, Nerd, Draco Foundation Fixer, Arcane-Archaeologist | Even |
| Spinne | 4 | 2 | Service | Draco Foundation Bounty Hunter | Draco Foundation Loyalist, Adept, Spider Follower, Stealth Sensei, Bounty Hunter, Magical Combat, Arachnid Aficionado | Even |
| Cascade | 4 | 2 | Service | International Smuggler and Fence | It's not fun if there's no Risk!, Smuggler Specialist, Garage of Ganked Gear, Stimulant Savant, Getaway Driver, Driver picks the Music, Passenger shuts their trap | Even |
| Ryan Mercury | 8 | 5 | Generalist | Shadowrunner | Dunkelzahn's will, Adept, Assets, Incorporated, Shadowrunning Essentials, Shadow Star, LA Native, Spy Games, Dracocraft, Bonk!, Security, circumventing and securing., Extracting information, Foundation Relations, Too Busy For You | Even |
Organizations
Allies
- Shine: A fellow runner and the person closest to Zenith since he started running the shadows again. Saved his life in May 2082 and started a long term relationship that ended mid 2084
- Delphi: After saving Zenith from being Infected in LA, the two began a quick friendship and have aided one another in the mysteries that each seek to solve.
- Vip3r: After learning that Zenith had a child, Vip3r did everything she could to help him keep her safe from the forces that looked to capture her, and after Harriot Emerged, Vip3r was one of the two technomancers who took her under their wing.
- Ca1yps0: The second technomancer to take Harriot on as a mentee. After initially figuring out that Zenith had a daughter by snooping around his apartment, she proved to be discrete and helpful in buffing up his lax Matrix security.
- Catharsis A trusted ally with a similar background, and the therapist to his daughter.
| Organization | Reputation | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Skraacha | +6 | Shares valuable information |
| Ancients | +4 | Occasional Agent |
| OtherCon | +3 | Saved a Squirrel |
| Saeder-Krupp | +20 | "Trusted Asset" |
| Gianelli Family | +5 | Robbed a yacht |
| The Burns' Coven | +2 | Stole some birds |
| The Black Lodge | +10 | Unwitting Agent |
| Streets of Seattle | +10 | Took down a rampaging bull |
| The Draco Foundation | +19 | Considerable Talent |
| Black Star | +3 | Distant Relation |
Enemies
| Organization | Reputation | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Cutters | -10 | Killed a half-dozen |
| Tamanous | -70 | Destroyed a long-standing facility |
| Lone Star | -5 | Broke children out of jail |
| Mitsuhama Computer Technologies | -40 | Extracted a target and murdered 4 people |
In Character Information
Symbols and Signatures
Ruger Super Warhawk: The classic revolver and his signature weapon. While not ideal for his stealth work, when things go loud it has always been his trusted companion
Matrix Search Table
| Threshold | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Zenith (noun): the highest point reached in the heavens by a celestial body |
| 3 | A well-known hitman operating out of the UCAS. |
| 6 | A long-time thief and assassin operating out of the Seattle Metroplex. Has a 750k Dead or Alive bounty with the Tir States and Telestrian Industries |
Shadow Community Table
| Threshold | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | An infiltrator and gunman. Has a reputation as a professional |
| 3 | A street kid from the Redmond Barrens, grown into one of the most well-known assassins in the UCAS |
| 5 | Has been hoarding nuyen like a dragon for several years, however stays away from criminal associations. |
SINs
Cedric Quill (Rank 6) - Adept License, Concealed Carry, Firearms, Bodyguard and Drivers - Tied to UCAS (Seattle)
Clayton Orr (Rank 6) - Adept, Driver's, Firearms, Concealed Carry, Security Consultant - Tied to PCC (Los Angeles)
Scott Meza (Rank 6) - Adept, Driver's, Firearms, Concealed Carry, Air Marshall - Tied to AGS (Essen)
Ireno Kingston (Rank 6) - Adept, Concealed Carry, Firearms, Private Investigator, Restricted Armor - Tied to Caribbean League (Havanna)
Appearance
Clothing
Matrix Persona
A bright red, t-posing featureless humanoid
Quotes
"If you do magic long enough you learn to be pretentious"