The team returned the following day, rested and well-prepared for the next step in their investigation of the scrolls and the Celestial Atal.
Cruiser had used some of his free time overnight in order to repair his heavily damaged Rotodrone, while also enhancing its armor capabilities to make it more formidable in a firefight. The Shadowrunners retraced their steps through the alleyways of Puyallup, winding their way through trash-strewn heaps and scummy passages. Rain pitter-pattered on the crumbling concrete as they returned to the garbage-lined cave entrance and passed through the mouth. They walked through a more subdued marketplace this time, as it was late morning and most of the clientele wouldn't be present until much later that day. At the end of the bomb shelter hallway, they met Gigi, guarding the blast door with her usual serious face and crossed arms. Cruiser was physically present, sans bug drone and she noticed the change in roster. "Who are you?" Gigi asked gruffly. "I drive," Cruiser responded in kind. The answer seemed to satisfy Gigi because she elbowed the door open, stepped out of the way, and it responded with a rusty creak. The five runners were greeted with the same scene they had encountered the day before. A space lined with thick concrete and steel girders, the small collections of waxy candles dotting the periphery illuminated stack of old texts and a robed figure leaning over an old oak table. After a lengthy uncomfortable silence, Rutha's Irish brogue broke the stillness. "I wondered if you'd return." She postulated nonchalantly. Wyrine explained that they had brought the physical scrolls, as requested, and handed the bag to her. She proceeded to carefully unfurl each of the six texts, smoothing them out on the cold floor. Rutha examined them deliberately and pondered for a moment. "I need to make a call." The five looked at each other in confusion; wasn't Rutha opposed to technology? She turned around and started working with a mortar and pestle, sprinkling a variety of ingredients in that the group was already familiar with. They looked strikingly similar to a number of materials pilfered from the two mages involved in the Taff hostage incident: colored powders, baby's teeth, and dried plants. Rutha worked the elements into a paste and used two fingers to stuff a chunk into her mouth, like chewing tobacco. She let it sit there a moment and then spit the mass onto the concrete floor. Turning around to face the crew, a seizure immediately overtook her and as she convulsed, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She looked straight forward with only the whites of her eyes. Rutha spoke in what sounded like four different voices. "Who seeks the Atal?" Wyrine was unsure of how to respond. "We do?" "HAVE YOU BEEN CHOSEN?" "No? Yes." "WHAT YOU SEEK IS BURIED IN A GREAT DESERT FOUND IN A CASTLE LOST LONG AGO." With that last response, Rutha began convulsing again and seized up, then lost consciousness, falling face first into the hard basement. A sharp crack echoed through the chamber as her nose split open and blood spilled across the floor. Everyone was at a loss for how to respond. Silence hung over the Shadowrunners as they held their breath to see if Rutha would regain consciousness or if she needed medical attention. Gigi seemed nonplussed and simply stood there, watching Rutha. After thirty seconds passed, Rutha shook herself out of the stupor, blood streaming down her face. She examined each of the Shadowrunners, mouth caked in blood. "Who did you talk to?" Richard recalled what he had seen in the Astral Plane while watching Rutha's episode. A large, green translucent figure with exaggerated features was boosting itself on her shoulders. It was the kind of figure one would imagine in a pirate fairy tale of a Vodou priestess attaining deity status. "Ah, you've just spoken to Marinette. I was hoping for Papa Legba, but you take what blessings you can get. What did she say?" Wyrine recounted the short conversation to Rutha. It was a cryptic message, to say the least. "Interesting. I don't know what that means," she answered nonchalantly. Rutha didn't have much to say about the interaction. They discussed their options and came to a consensus about paying the University of Denver a visit, seeing as a previous Matrix search had confirmed it had one of the largest repositories of information on the scrolls now in the team's possession. The Shadowrunners were concerned about the opposition that they would face in Denver. It was an extremely divided city, split into quarters to represent the interests of the CAS, UCAS, Pueblo Council, and Sioux Nation. Security was expected to be high, given all the politicking going on there. Furthermore, the group was venturing into a rather unfamiliar city awash with magics. Wyrine asked Rutha if she would be traveling with them. She chuckled and shook her head. "You are the chosen ones and my place is here. I cannot leave my territory." Wyrine wondered if there were some contacts in Denver or assistance she could lend. Rutha thought for a moment and began rummaging through a collection of materials housed in a dilapidated bookshelf on the back wall. After several minutes passed, she located the object of her search. She tossed it at Richard. Everyone held their breath, expecting something akin to the spiritual possession that was still fresh in everyone's minds. Richard caught it with ease and turned it over - it was a stone. It was polished, but otherwise ordinary looking. Richard made a strange face as he concentrated, attempting to decipher the way one would use the stone. Alas, he was unsuccessful. "When the time comes, you will know what to do." That explanation seemed sufficient for Rutha, despite it assuaging none of the fears the Shadowrunners held. The five headed out, discussing their next move. There were a number of complications that needed to be considered for the trip to Denver. Money was an issue, as was identification for people like Kablisk. They called upon their coyote 'friend,' Israel. Richard tried his best to be convincing and influence the troll with his charismatic persuasion, but it was all for naught. Richard chose his words poorly and actually succeeded in increasing the price. Israel hadn't forgotten about the previous promise the team had made, ensuring additional business would be sent his way. It had yet to materialize and his gruff voice was slowly growing angry. Richard had no choice but to follow through on the previous promise before any progress could be made on guaranteeing their transport to Denver. Kablisk opted to call his exotic dancer contact, Candy. Wyrine set up a meet with his Matrix contact, Neo. Candy was chewing gum noisily when she answered with her Southern CAS twang. "What can I do for you, sweetie?" Kablisk awkwardly explained the predicament, but did his best to leave out the most incriminating parts. He appeared to have Candy's attention and she promised she would ask around to see if there were any sex workers in need of a quick getaway. Wyrine set up a meet with Neo on Jackpoint, one of the most popular Matrix locations for all manner of Deckers to engage in criminal activities or just talk shop. Arriving at the agreed upon time and place, Wyrine was faced with what looked like the inside of a prison complex with two open floors full of barred cells. In addition, the cells were rotating steadily in a circuit. Scanning the area, Wyrine located Neo's signature and headed towards that particular space, as it rotated around the building. He was about to be face to face with the entrance when an entity resembling an atom attacked. It connected with Wyrine and the feedback managed to cause some damage. His head throbbing, he swung back with a Data Spike and hit the atom full force. The IC was visibly wounded and made another charge at Wyrine. He dodged this time and landed another of his own attacks, finishing off the program. Wyrine stepped through the void and into one of the white-washed interrogation rooms that are always seen on Seattle crime drama trids. He took a seat and waited no more than a few seconds when Neo appeared, his avatar a picture perfect reproduction of the Hollywood character of late 1990s fame. Neo was mostly a data and contraband smuggler, but Wyrine did his best to present the opportunity with Israel as one that could benefit his business opportunities. It was a bit of a tough sell, as Neo made it clear he had all of his own connections already secured. But Wyrine talked up Israel's prowess as a Coyote and his extensive transportation network. It did the trick and convinced Neo to send some business Israel's way. Wyrine logged off and explained to the rest of the crew that he had confirmed his contact would utilize Israel for some of his smuggling enterprises. With the promise to Israel fulfilled, Richard made another negotiation attempt to secure passage to Denver. Concurrently, Trigger was on his commlink with his fixer contact, Jennette Amos. He had confirmed a straightforward pick up and delivery run that would be built in to the passage to Denver. This would give Israel his transportation payment and also supply the Shadowrunners with some spending money, if needed. Richard was far more successful in this conversation and was able to bring the price down slightly below the original asking fee, while also including the pick up and delivery job. With the logistics of ingress taken care of, the group took the rest of the day off and headed to their local haunt in the evening, Punk Monkeys. Trigger was the first to arrive and was shocked to find himself in the midst of a full-on assault. The outfits the aggressors were wearing were obvious - Humanis Policlub members were terrorizing patrons, staff, and the club itself. They were smashing tables, swinging bats, and attacking people. Trigger immediately jumped into the fray and unleashed a series of Krav Maga moves that dispatched two thugs. Kablisk, Cruiser, and Richard rolled in shortly thereafter and also engaged with the hoodlums. They did their best to tangle with the goons, but only Kablisk was successful in landing a solid punch with his Shock Gloves, incapacitating another. One goon swung a bat and connected with Cruiser, knocking him back as he clutched his arm in pain. Wyrine finally arrived and saw the commotion outside; patrons looked visibly distressed and were comforting each other. He entered gun drawn and saw the skirmish. He fired off a round and was able to take down one of the last two assailants. Trigger finished with an Axe Kick flourish and knocked the last Humanis Policlub member out cold. Everyone began frantically searching for Maxine; she hadn't been seen and was nowhere to be found. They searched the building top to bottom, but turned up nothing. It was time to interrogate one of the criminals. The team dragged one of the disarmed ruffians up to their usual meeting space. Richard woke him up by healing him as little as he could manage. Trigger got in the Humanis Policlub member's face, brandishing his combat knife. "Who sent you? Who are you working for?" The man sneered at Trigger and divulged nothing. Trigger applied pressure in the form of his bladed weapon on the man's genitals. "Say goodbye to your balls." The man's eyes widened and he began to talk. He talked about his boss and their orders to rough the place up because Maxine refused to comply with their business proposal. In the midst of the interrogation, Cruiser was frantically calling Maxine via commlink again and again, to no avail. Finally, it connected. There was no sound on the other end of the call, but Wyrine seized the opportunity to trace Maxine's commlink icon to a sparsely populated industrial area in Renton. The Shadowrunners gathered up the Humanis Policlub members and left them, unconscious and covered in incendiary language, in front of an entrance to the Ork Underground, where they would likely be disposed of in a gruesome fashion. The team arrived at the mouth of a cul-de-sac and utilized Cruiser's drones to examine the layout. They found Maxine, bound, bruised, and bleeding on the second floor of a dim and dirty hovel of an industrial building. Maxine was surrounded by a handful of Humanis Policlub thugs and more were guarding the main entrance outside.
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AuthorI'm Dobie, GM of this Shadowrun group. I've been playing Shadowrun since Second Edition, though I had a serious hiatus and have just recently picked up Fifth Edition to get back into the Shadowrun universe. Archives
September 2017
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