The Found Arcana – Chapter 6 [OOC]
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The Found Arcana – Chapter 6 [OOC]
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As mentioned previously: Jawsey will want to go and pay the interest on his debt early, just to avoid any issues if he can’t get out to do it on Jan 1st.
Aside from that, he’ll be ‘getting into character’ which isn’t really that far apart from what the others are doing (research what his role would typically involve, double check the name he’ll be working under (we hadn’t discussed that part, I suppose by default he’ll be using his R4 SIN), looking at the info on the mansion and their nominal employer and at least reviewing the guest list, but also thinking of what personal history he wants to present to others, including some canned answers for nosy co-workers or casually curious guests.
(His Method Actor quality wouldn’t apply to this roll as it isn’t really an impersonation, even if he had the time to prepare properly. But I figure that is still the approach he would take: make a character who IS this role, and inhabit that character)
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Oh right, AM would pay her dues too. Thanks for reminding me.
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PS It may take me a while to make an involved IC post before Sunday as I have an important deadline. Feel free to carry on (or wait) as you feel.
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Eh, sometimes ‘she pays her dues’ will do. I wrote a long IC for Jawsey because I was in the mood (i.e. was procrastinating on something else). But it doesn’t demand all of that.
And good luck with your deadline!
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One of the drawbacks of this kind of story is that you have to invent mounts of dossiers not only for the relevant NPCs but also the irrelevants.
Let’s see then:
Sir Thomas Pike:
28 year old heir of Earl Nelson Pike, member of the British House of Lords and designated successor in this function. His younger brother George is currently absolving a Tour of Duty at the British SAS.Educated at Eton College (Master in Law and Politics), currently at the end of his Grand Tour. Famously rich family, due to an impressive portfolio as well as extensive lands and grounds all over the world, including South Africa, Azlan, Kongo, Indonesia and Australia.
Difficult relationship with his distant father and his overbearing mother – used the tour to distance himself and develop his own contacts and friends. Tendency to overcompensate against the perceived standoffishness of his parents. Engaged to his College sweetheart The Duchess of Sevilla, Maria Borbón y Parade.
Maria Josefina Isabela Marta Alfonsa Elena Ludovica Carlotta de Borbón y Parade, Duchess of Sevilla:
26 year old heir of the Duchy of Sevilla, Orphaned after her whole family was wiped out during a terrorist bombing at the wedding of her older brother four years ago. She alone survived as she was in the wine cellar at the time. She spend three days trapped in a closed off alcove. Has since then shunned all public appearances and led a very secluded life until she met Thomas Pike at Eton. They kept their romance a secret for three years and haven’t announced their upcoming engagement officially.
Katya Komarova:
Bodyguard and close confidant to Maria. Suspected ex-Speznaz and possibly mercenary. Appeared with Maria shortly after she returned to her studies at Eton after the terrorist attack. Considered very capable and very dangerous, due to cybernetic enhancements and a very keen mind. At odds with yours truly, Mr. Cunningham.
Staff at Pike Hall:
Head Butler Ralph Thornton:
Family butler of house Pike for the last 40 years. Originally from Kent, UK. Very conservative, but by now past his prime and slowing down with age (69). Still, very keen on protocol and “standards”. Received Pike Hall in Seattle as a kind of retirement, as the family sedomly uses this place.
Housekeeper Emily Nassau:
Recently ascended to the highest servant rank, Emily has worked her way up the ladders in record time – first at Pike Manor in the UK, then, as the position in Seattle became available, at Pike Hall. At 38 comparatively young for this post – very strict, but with an unfortunate tendency of favoritism and taking advantage of those in positions below her. Very well informed about everything going on in and around her sphere of influence.
Master of the Hunt Ernest Hamington:
Renowned breeder of hounds, a doctorate in mycology as well as veteran of the desert wars with two unit wins as Major and one disqualification for gross brutality and violation of basic combat etiquette. Best described as ruthless and efficient in everything he does. Takes hunts and dogs particularly serious. Was sent to Seattle after an incident at the yearly royal hunt in Scottland.
Courier Major James McElroy:
Masters of Thaumaturgy at Oxford, rank of captain with a special detachment of the Royal Marines, tour of duty throughout Asia as part of archaeological studies. Gained favor with Sir Nelson Pike in the course of these studies. Infrequently at any one particular holding as he prepares lodgings for all Pike family members around the globe.
Administrator Kurt van der Bloom:
Resident network specialist at Pike Hall. Originally from the Netherlands, carded White Hat hacker and penetration expert. Won several awards for Matrix Sculpting. Implicated at one time with creation of BTL chips, but no charges were ever pressed. Has alledgedly a penchant for gambling and betting.
Guests at Pike Hall:
coming soon.
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Jack, at some point could you copy these into the bottom of the first OOC post, for easy future reference? (or else I could stick them in the wiki on my OP page, or we carve off another corner of Aria’s Wiki — at least that one is linked from here).
To put it another way, I’ll never keep the names straight on my own and will have to refer back to the list.
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Yeah, I sympathize. I almost buried myself with the number of parties involved in Chapter 5. The canon/lore was a double-edged sword, because on one hand it gave me a starting point, but on the other hand there was so much of it that I had to keep in my head at all times in an effort not to contradict anything canon (or anything I had already written).
I made a new Wiki page so that we can all add to it as we learn more:
https://stormy-waters-2075.obsidianportal.com/wikis/pike-hall
We’ll let AM go to town with Matrix Searching, then hit up Lysander and Janet Dime.
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It might be best if you as players copy that there – as you no doubt will want to ammend these dossiers with info you find out during the course of your investigations
Anyway, onward:
Guests at Pike Hall:
Jenny Marshall
It-girl (21, elf) and rich socialite, best known for her attrocious forray into pop music and her less attrocious leaked amateur porn video. Right now she’s promoting nanite infused yoghurt. Always surrounded by a clique of four or five friends (composition varies from day to day). Friends with Maria, militant vegetarian.
Igor Kaminzky
Son of Russian banking magnat Vladislav Kaminzky, fellow Eton absolvent and personal friend of Thomas Pike since their earliest study days. Likes his drinks very much and is a notorious skirt chaser. Has contacts to the Vory and the Russian military. Enthusiastic hunter.
Chan Wu
Daughter of Wuxing CEO Xi Wu, fellow Etonist and 2nd level Initiate. Amateur Urban War player and Co-Owner with Thomas of an Indonesian rubber plant. Several charges of sexual assault were raised against her but never brought to court. Brings her whole equipment to wherever she stays to “stay in training”.
Harabia
Genderfluid actor from the middle east. Best unknown for their uncredited appearances in several blockbuster films during the last six years – extremely changeable appearance, supported by minor magic talent.
Thorbjörn Valez
Computer specialist from Europe, son of a legendary shadowrunner, currently on probation after a conviction for computer fraud. Strong affinity for illegal matrix activities, surprisingly knowledgeable in all kinds of parlor games.
Invictus
Free spirit of man, likes to show up at Thomas Pike’s parties at irregular intervals. Used to be associated with Ares as a consultant in anti-bugspirit matters. Owes Thomas alledgedly a big favor.
Other staff:
Cook: Armand Croix, French Chef with a drinking Problem
Cooking Staff: Tom, Tim and Tamara
Stable Hands: Steven, Sabine and Severin
Gardener: Francis Focoult, 88 year old specialist for garden design – very spry
Garden help: Garry, Gabriele, Gustav
Maid service: Masha, Martina, Michelle, Melinda and Mona
Chasseurs: Lt. John Fines, Sgt. Brad Burns, Corporal Kilian Varis
Wire Maids and Boys: William, Winona and Wesley
Valet to Sir Thomas Pike: Charles Cunningham
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Alright, if you want to check those people out, you’ll have to do matrix searches for each
“Limited Interest” (30 Minute Intervall, Threshold 3) for
Sir Thomas Pike
Maria de Borbón y Parade
Ralph Thornton
Emily Nassau
Ernest Hamington
James McElroy
Igor Kaminsky
Chan Wu
All the other members of staff
“Hidden” (12 hours Intervall, Threshold 6) for
Katjya Komarova
Kurt van der Bloom
Thorbjörn Valez
Invictus
“Public” (1 Minute intervall, Threshold 1) for
Jenny Marshal
Harabia
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Is there a program to speed things up?
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Sure, you can half search time with the Browse program
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How about for the mansion itself? (History, layout, etc)
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Having just been through it myself in Chapter 5 – admittedly self-inflicted – let’s be mindful of content creation demands on the GM’s time. I won’t mind if Jack wants to be fairly explicit OOCly about, “Here’s what you can find information on” so that we don’t crush him under the weight of open-ended information requests.
I thought Mato had a specialization in Matrix Search but he doesn’t so he has a pitiful 4 dice for this, which can buy a hit on Jenny Marshal and Harabia but doesn’t really accomplish much in terms of saving AM time to focus on higher-value targets.
I presume we went to the tailor in the morning and were done by noon. If we’re due at Snohomish tomorrow morning then we have ~20 hours. Let’s say we sleep for 8, spend 1 on getting dressed and ready, and spend 1 on commuting from Redmond to Snohomish. That leaves 10 hours for our various pursuits. Jawsey and AM need a couple hours to make their early debt payments, so let’s say 8 hours available for Matrix Searching and other inquiries.
The “Hidden” ones with a high Interval are going to be tough, even with the Browse program. I would say let’s put AM on the “Limited Interest” list and throw the “Hidden” list at Janet Dime and Lysander.
AM is throwing 11 dice + any from Increase Logic. Even if we’re not buying hits, she should be able to knock off most of the Threshold 3 “Limited Interest” list with a single interval. That’s 15 minutes * 8 targets = 2 hours if the rolls go well. I guess that means she could go after one of the Hidden targets and hope for 6 hits on the roll to get it done within the 12 / 2 Browse = 6 hours that she has left.
Mato and Jawsey can watch trids and do the Public ones.
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Information on the Mansion falls under the “N/A” category – This stuff is as private as it gets.
All I’m asking you is to give me a priority on who you want to learn about first.
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Alright here is how we do it. Buying hits.
Improve logic: 15d6t5 2 she’ll try again.
Improve logic,: 15d6t5 4
drain: 10d6t5 2
drain: 10d6t5 3
So 15 dice for search, +2 for being hot sim, 17 dice enough to finish all the common tasks in two hours. (with 16 dice she can just buy 4 hits – do extra hits shorten the search time? not that it matters just to know.)
Now, let’s assume that Trouble helps her out:
Help AM: 4d6t5 1
18 dice:
AM hidden rooting for 6: 16d6t5 4
forgot about hot sim:
2 dice hot sim: 2d6t5 1
just 5 hits… She has only 2 edge so let’s not invest it in this thing.
and I agree with not overwhelming Jack (and perhaps not overwhelming us).
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Jawsey has a computer pool of 7, but he is anyway limited to one success by his current link (he is using the police style Blue Defender commlink, with its wonderful firewall of 5 and terrible data processing of 1). He could teamwork to add a die for AM, but it doesn’t look like that changes anything.
What he will do is use Knowledge: Seattle Free Spirit Community to see if he knows anything about Invictus. The threshold is likely high as the spirit doesn’t sound like a full time resident, but perhaps it is of enough note that Jawsey has heard something:
Invictus info?: 9d6t5 5
After that, he is going to take his 8 hours of free time, spend 1 karma, and cram learn Arabic 1. It only helps with one guest, and only a little (he may roll 7 dice, but his social limit is still 1), but it is something to make himself feel useful.
ETA: I added the rest of the guests and staff to the wiki.
ETA2: @Jack_Spade I’m not sure if this is German/English differences in translating Chinese names, or meant to be different people. On the guest list is Chan Wu (Daughter of Wuxing CEO Xi Wu). Checking names in the Neo-Anarchists’ Streetpedia, I have the CEO as Sharon Chiang-Wu, and the Quintuplets being Fo (fire), Shui (water), Tou (earth), Moak (wood), and Gum (metal). One of whom went to Oxford, but it doesn’t say which. Is this one of them, or is this another daughter?
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Alright:
Invictus: Jawsey learns that this spirit claims to have been around for thousands of years and actually survived the low mana times disguised as a mortal – a Roman legionary as one of his most important roles. With the return of magic he was physically and spiritually weakened, but has amassed a massive fortune – at least according to what he himself has claimed within the magical community. Most people agree that he is arogant and cruel, but also a bit of a coward – or as he claims, survival oriented.
Sir Thomas Pike: AM learns that the Pike estate is not just rich but has connections all over the world and presumably also to quite a few secret organizations. But the family spends quite a lof of their ressources working against each other. There is bad blood between Thomas and his brother as well as their father and their mother. Not bad enough to disown or do anything especially drastic, but bad enough that they might sabotage attempts of gaining independence from the families finances.
Maria de Borbón y Parade: AM gets the impression that the attack on her family must have traumatized the heiress to her core. Before it, she was outgoing and lots of photos of her made by paparazzi exist. Afterwards, there are no public informations available anymore – not even speculations where she went to hide.
Ralph Thornton: There isn’t much to be found about the man: He served in the military and became a batman/orderly and continued in this profession afterwards. The only other interesting thing is his divorce 20 years ago as well as an illegitimate child he didn’t recognize as his own.
Emily Nassau: Social Media speaks of a rape allegation against a boy under her command at her last posting in Europe. No consequences seem to have arisen from this. The boy in question died from an overdose before anything could come to trial.
Ernest Hamington: Worked for a time as a mercenary in Indonesia before rejoining for the desert wars. There are allegations that he was working for a ghoul syndicate there as a meat deliverer. The hunt incident in Scottland was about a young girl getting mauled by two of his hounds – settled out of court.
James McElroy: The only interesting thing about McElroy is his rather high output of research papers for someone in fulltime employ. But his forrays in magical archaeology are well received by his peers.
Igor Kaminsky: Has almost certainly killed his former, pregnant mistress by pushing her out of a window. As this happened in Russia, no charges have been brought forward. Another theory is that his father had her killed as he didn’t approve of their relationship.
Chan Wu: Allegations, that she had a rival Urban War team sabotaged and infected with HMHVV III to get rid of a challenging opponent. Has a new puppy called Spot, according to the last article about her in a Hong Kong magazine.
Harabia: Born in Persia, Harabia escaped to Europe as a two year old child with her aunt. The reason why she had to leave is described as a “birth defect”. Harabia studied acting and became part of the Royal Shakespear Company and became famous as an actor/actress with their first role as the angel Gabriel in a comic adaptation about the apocalypse. Has by now played in over 30 films, most often in minor roles, but with high impact. Fans declare that their appearance can turn any film into a classic.
Jenny Marhall: All kinds of lurid stories are out about Jenny. All in all it appears that she is highly intelligent and using her vapid image and superficial fame to the hilt to create her own media empire.
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I’ve added that information to our Wiki.
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If you run a matrix scan for tags in your clothing, you’ll find that they are handcrafted without marketing lables. There are a few gadgets with a matrix presence, but those are wholy under your control.
If you want to contact your infobrokers before you start your job you need to hurry (remember, Christmas is close and your contacts might go away for the holidays as well.)
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I sent Janet a message a couple of posts ago right after the matrix search. (at least I meant to send). Anyhow, AM sends her the guests we did not research along with the willingness to pay for information about them.
Jawsey can do the other infobroker (AM does not know him).
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