OOC - Land of Nine Dragons, Enter the Tiger, Mysteries of the East Options

[DireRadiant]

02:15:33 Tuesday 11 February 2070 - Deluxe Harbor View Suite, The Peninsula, Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

The view was spectacular, outside the cloudy haze from the earlier celebrations still lingered in the air, lending a slight warming tone to the scintillating myriad of lights across the harbor. The interior of the room was brightly lit by the antique glass glass chandelier, though that was hardly needed to see what was in the room. Dark mahogany hand crafted cabinets and stuffed hand crafted chairs and a sofa provided plenty of seating. The glistening back lit porcelain vases emphasized the luxurious tone of the room, creamy white walls, and elegant gold embroidered rugs providing elegant backdrop to the scene.

It had been a smooth operation, information provided by Johnny Wang had been confirmed with their own legwork. Planning had been straightforward, there'd been only one time they'd gone with a secondary option, and that had turned out well. All the pieces had worked, everyone had done their part, even if what and why they were doing it was almost impossible to figure out, but that was the nature of a lot of business here. The results had been spectacular. The eighth barge in the fleet of fireworks platforms had fired off it's payload exactly on it's new schedule. To the millions watching there'd not been too much difference, and not much to the team either, but for what they were being paid, the team had been very happy.

All smooth till this. The payoff.

No one was looking at the awe inspiring view outside.

In a pool of still glistening wet blood slowly soaking into the thick gold and silver hand embroidered oriental rug in the middle of the floor lay Johnny Wang.

The last member of the team entered, and closed the door behind, and they all stood quietly looking at each other.

-------------------------------------------

OOC Thread for the Land of Nine Dragons, Enter the Tiger Forum Game

IC Post Format
- Lits style headers
- PC and NPC names in Bold
- No spoiler tags
- No sigs
- Internal monologue in italics
- AR/VR/DNI in italics and yellow

PC
Konsaki - Neko Mahou - Shaman - APPROVED
TheRedRightHand - Mike Root - APPROVED
Vegas - Willow - Elf Thief - APPROVED
Black Hat - Blaze - Burning Mage - APPROVED
MK Ultra - Tough Old Wang - APPROVED
Amra28 - Wu Xian - APPROVED
Mister Juan - Gabe - Teen Hacker - APPROVED
De Badd Ass - Fooey - APPROVED
Toturi - Cloud - APPROVED

Johnny Wang

What Everyone Knows

Johnny Wang is a short pudgy amiable cantonese who dresses in tailored dark grey suits with brilliant white cotton shirts and slim dark red ties. He wears slim gold rim glasses and a discrete but expensive antique gold watch on his left wrist. Johnny is not known for using an external commlink.

Johnny is a johnson of known known affiliation, specializing in corporate data steals. Johnny is a genial host, always providing a 13 course traditional dinner before a run. Johnny very clearly for this run emphasized a respect for people's lives, though he indicates understanding of the perilous situation may require violent measures.

As part of including anyone on the team, Johnny Wang very clearly checked references and knows a great deal about each person he has hired for a job. He has often revealed his knowledge with solicitous concerned questions, such as asking how someone's mother is doing.

[Konsaki]

Neko Mahou; Japanese/American; Support Shaman; Asian; Changeling (Elf); Female; 19

What everyone knows:

Hikaru is a 5'2" half Japanese, half American girl who is generally happy and looks pretty good. She usually wears a black sports shirt that looks like its more than just that, a pair of long black gloves with open fingers, grey cargo pants, grey boots and some stylish shades that she uses for AR. She also wears a silver and gold collar around her neck and two bands of the same color around her upper arms, one on each. To those with astral sight, the bands and collar light up with the indication of being foci.
Her hair is long and bright pink while her eyes are a bright piercing purple. Her ears and hands though, are vastly different than what you would expect. Her ears reside on top of her head and truly look like they were natural cat ears, which she rotates and moves unconsciously. Her hands aren’t too different to the normal look, but upon looking closer, you see that she doesn’t have any visible finger nails... That is until she extends her claws out from her fingertips. The last thing, though usually seen first or second, is the long tail (1-1.5m) that swishes around behind her, twitching and moving like it had a mind of it’s own. Both her ears and tail are covered in short pink fur, though it is a few shades towards red than her hair.

Sometimes, Hikaru will look like a normal girl, like she doesn’t have any of the changes, but that’s only when she doesn’t feel comfortable in her surroundings or the situation requires her to look like a normal elf. When asked, and with her guise down, she attributes the look to 2061.

Though not a party girl, she does like to have fun and that usually involves dancing to techno music in either guise. She wont drink, much, but if she can, she will try a few of the sweet mixed drinks from the local area.


What the team knows:

Hikaru claims her mother was a skilled shaman shadowrunner over in Tokyo, Japan. She is eager to follow in her mother’s footsteps and tries her best. She sometimes complains a little if things are getting boring and slow, but she generally is happy and loves the adventure. She isn’t the most professional out person there, but knows enough from her mother not to act stupid.

Her spread of spells were of great use to the team in the last run. Invisibility, masking, stealth, levitation and healing, though the last one was only used on minor nicks and cuts and nothing big. Her spells almost always worked, but it took her a few tries to summon up even a weak spirit. After a few of the big spells or summoning attempts, she sometimes cant handle the flow of mana and it wears her out.
As for combat ability, she only knows a sleep spell. On the physical combat side, she at least knows enough about unarmed combat to not hurt herself most of the time, but she cant be relied on to shoot a gun or fist fight really.

Note : For a pic of Hikaru when she has her mask up, click on the link in my sig. I know, I’m lazy and reuse the same pic, but hey, it’s a good pic.

[DireRadiant]

Character Introductions

What may be useful for each other, since the characters have done at least one run together, is to a short blurb on yourselves, I recommend two sections;

What Everyone Knows
- In this secton describe your everday appearance and behavior. Short or as long as you like

What the Team knows
- In this section describe what a team mate likely saw you do or behave like during a run. Did the black clad ninja assassin by day turn into a partying glamour set airhead at night? Or vice versa. Or not.

[BlackHat]

Should we go ahead and post something while still under review? or wait for the final verdict on who was in the team before making posts about what the team knows about one another?

[Vegas]

Gee DR, thanks for stealing my line about what my girl is like :P Here’s the generics, if you want your charater to know her, or if it makes sense to know her drop me a PM and we’ll chat.

Willow – Hong Kong native, Chinese, Elf, 23.

What everyone knows:
She’s simply average. Nothing really stands out about her as on first glance she looks like everyone else in Hong Kong. She dresses casually but within the lines of fashion, more for comfort however. She has long dark hair, dark eyes, an average complexion and average height (1.85m) and average weight (70kg) for a female Elf. She’s a club girl on her downtime however, with all the trappings. Very dual personality/dual natured.

What the team knows:
While she may appear average the first time you meet her, she however never looks exactly the same each time she pulls a job. No one is truly sure just what her “real” appearance is, perhaps not even her anymore. Her choice of clothing changes as well while working, she’s often found in tighter clothing that doesn’t restrict her movement. On the job teammates would have likely seen her crack locks and squeeze in and out of some tight spots while doing the infiltration work. While conducting business or on a run she’s mostly all seriousness and down to earth. However once she’s out on the town and has some alcohol in her, all bets are off, she becomes the complete opposite of her working self, much more playful to the point of even recklessness.

[DireRadiant]

[BlackHat]

Blaze – UCAS native, Caucasian, Human, 20.

What everyone knows:
Blaze's short unkept hair has had the tips died red, and he dresses in a trademark black longcoat with red flame patterns. Underneith he wears an urban explorer jumpsuit designed in the same theme, and he definatly looks something like a black-clad superhero, with a flame-motif.

Blaze's eyes seem to hold dancing flames in the irises, thanks to some special contacts he had ordered. The effect is not subtle, and betrays his capabilities only slightly less than the rest of his outfit.

Blaze has a mild (no negative quality though) smoking habit, and a fascination with flames and explosions. He is a bit hot-headed, and seems to have an air of superiority around him that comes off as unjustified to most people. He lacks social skills, and definatly does not scream of professional runner.

To those familiar with those who awaken young, his attitude towards others might remind them very much of how a awakened children often beleive they are better than "mundanes" because of their gift, and wish to flaunt it around carelessly.

What the team knows:
Blaze was young, impatient, and reckless. That was apparant upon first meeting him, and was quite possibly the cause for some concearn among the more "professional" runners in the group. However, when it came time for the job, his attitude didn't stand in the way of success.

His offensive fire-power remains the subject of hearsay, as Johnny Wang expressed concearn that the death-toll be kept to a minimum, during this run - and, luckily, good planning saw the group through to that end. Blaze even seemed a bit disappointed that things didn't go to hell in a handbasket - as if he was looking for an excuse to "cut loose" and show what he could do.

Aside from possessing an outlandish armored outfit, Blaze's defensive abilities were lacking. Johnny cast him as a "combat mage", but unlike your steriotypical "combat mage", who keeps a selection of useful combat-related spells on hand (Armor, Stunbolt, Increased Initiative, Levitate, etc), Blaze's defensive and utility spells were nearly non-existant. Blaze explained that he was not a mage at all, but a born pyrokenetic, and that he couldn't "cast spells," like armor or levitate - just do things with fire. Suffice to say, the group is probably not terribly impressed with him as a "mage" - but Blaze assured everyone that should he get the "green light" to reduce the place to ashes, his usefullness would become quite apparant.

As an unarmed combatent, Blaze was skilled, but nothing breathtaking. He did his best ot keep up with the group, subdue enemies, and shout out (bad) ideas, but everyone else's roles were probably highlighted more effectivly. Blaze was unnecessary firepower, and it showed that he understood that.

[DireRadiant]

Character review status updated. See OP.

De Badd Ass - waiting for updated CS, BG, though the original is fine if you want to go with that.
Toturi - Cloud - waiting for gear list
TheRedRightHand - CS looks okay, need gear, a name, short BG

[amra28]

Wu Xian - Hong Kong native, Chinese, Human, Male, early 20's.

What everyone knows:
He is an average, nondescript Asian male. He is approximately 5'6" tall, thin and young, somewhere in his early twenties. He has short, black spiky hair. His eyes are also black, although they are not often seen because he is almost always wearing a pair of stylish sunglasses. His clothes can best be described as business casual, polo shirts, comfortable slacks and plain leather duster.

What the team knows:
Wu Xian is friendly, outgoing and seemed eager to prove himself as a valuable member of the team. He deferred to those with more experience but made sure that his voice was heard when he had any ideas or suggestions. Since this run went very smoothly his best skills were not used and he was there in more of a support role in case things went sour. His actions and movements were smooth and his gun seemed almost a part of his hand. Unlike some others in the business he seemed pleased that they did not have to escalate the situation to a more violent level.

[Guest_MK Ultra_*]

Tough old Wang*: HongKong/Macao native; Martial Artist; Asian; Human; 60+

* The old man won´t tell his streetname, saying that this is a thing of the past. He would suggest they call him Tai-Lo (a position in the Triades also called elder brother and associated with the number 438), but he will also be ok with any other non-derogatory lable (not Wang, though -even though Jhonny called him uncle at some point during the business-dinner- as not to link this operation to their Mr. Lee). Anyone who builds a good raport to him during the run, he would tell that his streetname was Si Wu Shi Wu and they can call him that way (Si Wu would be the only acceptable abbrevation as anything else would be very unlucky).

What everyoneknows:
On first glance at the business dinner, most would have Jhonny Wang´s elderly relative mistaken as one of the hotel servants, as the old asian human was waring an elegant dark suite. The man is truely ancient by runner-standarts, at least in his late 60s. Though fairly tall for a southern chinese -he might well come from the north or have some caucasian blood- he looks smaller due to his o-leged stance and slightly bend knees and back. He comes about like the kindly old grandpa, everyone would like to babysit their kiddies. He is mostly silent, though he some times mutters something -often not understandable- under his breath. His hands are constantly occupied, playing with something (a pen or chopstick, marbles, rosary, etc.). He has has a pale complexion, a skalp of unruely, bone-white hair, is waring glasses and enhanced earplugs, to compensate for his senses dulled by age. Especially his eyes are obviously not ok. The left one is striking blue and even the eyeball is light blue, the right one, however has the red iris of an albino and the slightly milky pupille of a man loosing his sight.
The old man´s standard answer to people staring at his eye is to tap his finger against the worn datajack in his temple and say 'can´t get any more implants'. Those with good cyberscanners or astral perception would know more: Assensing 1 hit (remember though, that assensing without permission could be received very badly - He won´t give his aproval if asked)

[ Spoiler ]

The old man is cronically ill, but not mortally so. He is also awakened and an ork. 2 hits:

[ Spoiler ]

He is an adept and dos not bare any standard grade implants. 3 hits:

[ Spoiler ]

No alphaware, either. Magic and Essence probably equal or higher. No disease effecting the eyes, some though, effecting nervous system, joints and internal organs. 4 hits:

[ Spoiler ]

Magic and Essenz are 6. The datajack is obviously fake. No bioware or beta implants. The cronical illnesses are nothing unusual for a man of his age.

Cyberware Scanners 1 hit:

[ Spoiler ]

He dos not bare any standard grade implants. 2 hits:

[ Spoiler ]

No alphaware, either. 3 hits:

[ Spoiler ]

No beta implants. 4 hits:

[ Spoiler ]

There is no cyber-ware at all. The Datajack is obviously fake.

What the teamknows:
Throughout the planning session, the old man stayed mostly silent. He made some valid contributions but always in an anoying manner - seemingly falling asleep, only to pointing out holes in a plan after every detail has been set, so they have to start over compleatly, etc.. He would also sometimes make some totally useless comment - pointlessly grumbling around. Despit his slight political incorrectness* he is polite and courtious to everyone who returns the favour and shows much kindness towards everyone who shows him propper respect (especially as local and elder teammember). *He is biased against the out-of-towners, young (basically everyone younger then himself, but the younger the worst), communists, women, non-chinese (and non-asians in general, though he also dislikes japanese) and metahumans (in that order). If someone is im-polite towards any other team-mate, he´d advice, that in HK proper behavior is very important to build a strong Guanxi (network of contacts) and making someone lose face (Mianzi) could easily backfire.
Before the action began, he changed his atire from business to camouflage. From a suitcase, he produced a well worn combat, inc mercenary camouflage suit with some large, faded bloodstaines, a military style backpack and harnesses with lots of equipment -from b&e to sensors, electronics and biotech, but no firearms. In fact no weapons at all, except a huge number of knifes and shurikan and some granades.
"Weapons are for the crude and unsofisticated." "So what are all these knifes for?" "To kill the crude and unsophisticated!"
Then he covered his fatiges with some bland, wide, traditional chinese suite and put the suite-case into the backpack.
On the run, he expressed some good physical skills and remarkable prowess in unarmed combat for his age, which he attests to 'the wonders of modern technology'.

[TheRedRightHand]

Mike Root: Ex-Pat of the UCAS, White Human Male, Early 30's

What Everyone Knows:
A good looking, caucasian male. Tallish, Blond/brown hair. Obviously not from Hong Kong, but speaks the language like a native. Dresses quite casual most of the time, jeans and t-shirt. Cleans up nice and can comfortably ware a suit and tie when needed. He's the quiet sort, seems quite pleasant and easy going. Happy to remain in the background. Very likeable and quick to smile.

What the Team knows:

Not much more then whats above. If you got to talking with him you might have picked up vague comments about him being unwilling (or possibly unable) to return to the UCAS. he likes to bet on the horses and seems to know quite a lot of people and places here in Hong Kong, despite not being from here originally. He seems quite observant, picking up on the slightest details in both conversation and events around him, although he rarely comments on what he sees or hears unless it is important to the mission.

His role on the last job would mainly have been legwork, scouting & surveillance and acting as lookout during the run itself.

[Mister Juan]

Gabe: Québec Ex-Pat, White Human Male, Late teens (VERY early 20s? Maybe?)


What Everyone Knows:
Gabe is of a rather small build, compared to your average North American… which is probably where Gabe is from. Fair skin, clever and laughing green eyes, electric blue hair, clothed in the latest and probably loudest teenage fad, Gabe looks like a teenager. Fact is, simply judging by his face, he probably is one. Always upbeat and optimistic about every single thing he encounters, he isn’t a newcomer to Hong-Kong. He can usualy be found in the newest or hotest night spot, or in the streets, mixing with the go ganger crowd.

What the Team knows:
Although Gabe might look like a kid, the sheer raw talent he brought to the table were more than enough to disregard his age. A talented hacker who has been able to track, crack, exploit, crash, burn and jam pretty much anything in the way, he’s accomplished every task laid in front of him with a little playful smile dancing on his lips. Not a newcomer to Hong-Kong, Gabe seems a little too well informed and connected for his own good. He speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as English, all with a slight hint of an accent. He has to be seen carrying a weapon, and through out the run, has been rather vocal about finding none violent means to ends. Contrary to most of his fellow Matrix cowboys, Gabe is far from being socially inept, making good use of his likeable personality. He shown some rather decent suverillance skills, deploying both ground and aerials drones when necessary.

[toturi]

Cloud

What everyone knows

He is an Asian Hongkong native in his late 20s, but he speaks English better than Cantonese or Mandarin. He seems comfortable enough in casual wear, although you have seen him in a suit during the first meet with Johnny. He does not seem to have any distinguishing features or body markings. He is quiet and withdrawn, he answers politely when spoken to, but otherwise seems content to keep his own council. He lives quietly and seems physically unremarkable.

What the team knows

He seems to be aware of everything around him. He is aware of the slightest physical details. Although the team knows that he was an ex-merc, you think that he was a sniper given that he went on the mission wearing a chameleon suit. His own area of expertise before the mission is limited to the street knowledge he has accrued by dint of living on the streets.

During the mission, he would have been scouting the target and on overwatch, before moving into the target zone as pointman. He is rarely, if ever, surprised by events around him. The reason the team was unaware that Johnny was dead was due to the fact that he was bringing up the rear, making sure nobody was following them or paying undue attention, but before he stepped into the room, he was already aware that something was very wrong.

[Konsaki]

Changed my post way up at the top to have Hikaru's information.

[DireRadiant]

Introductions - Sea Palace Restaurant, Aberdeen

At the near shore the mana flux around the WuXing tower presented a pretty backdrop to the bobbing lights in the dark sea shelter. Small craft are rowed here and there across the few open spaces of water where ancient glossy junks are tied together. Few engines are used as the boat people swirl their single oar back and forth providing both direction and thrust for their craft. Paper lanterns and oil lamps shine brightly.

The plump oriental maintained his pleased smile as everyone enjoyed their fresh sea food dinner highlighted by steamed catfish in scallions and oysters, shanghai crab redolent with eggs, and drunken shrimp, a dish of live shrimp immolated as they swim in potent rice wine.

When the brandy arrives at the end of the meal, he pours a small snifterful for each of you, and makes his toasts.

"To Neko, daughter of lightning, and most auspicious inclusion in this endeavor!"

Raising his glass he sips with pleasure.

"Willow, who follows the road we cannot see, yet will lead us upon it."

Another sip.

"Blaze, whose fires burn inside and out, yet do not burn him, or us."

A wink and nod.

"Mr Root, whose eyes might be able to follow Willow's path."

A raised snifter of brandy.

"Wu, who hopes as I do his skills shall not be needed, as supreme as they are."

A waved hand.

"Gabe, young, yet wise in the ways of the new world around us."

A sniff of the glass.

"Cloud, who shall watch over us."

A slight bow.

"Honored Elder brother, who holds my trust."

With the last sip of brandy a flaming mound of cake is brought to the table, caramelizing the sweet cream exterior of a heavily liquored sponge cake layered with ice cream.

"To our success!"

[DireRadiant]

I have enough players approved at this point so I can realistically consider this event to get off the ground.

Goals and Expectations
- I'm planning on finishing this scenario. I will post something to get things moving on a weekly basis.
- Pacing. There's always a few people who post a lot, and some infrequently. Great! Keep posting. However, I want the infrequent posters to feel involved. How do we do that? Couple things, everyone respect the fact that there are other PC and we need to consider timelines and locations etc and set up the situations where it's easy for the infrequent poster to jump right in with their cool post. Let's all help each other out.
- I'd like to set a target for a minimum once a week post from everyone. It doesn't even need to be an IC post, an OOC post stating what your character might be doing or how they react to something going in is sufficient.

I've just made some of my opinions known, but nothing happens unless we all work together, so I want to hear from you what you want, feel free to drop me a PM anytime with questions or suggestions. I want all of us to have fun.

You are all aware what the opening scene is. For planning nothing will happen in the room for about 5 minutes unless it's actively initiated by the PCs. So if you have things you might say or do, or want to know prior to my starting the IC thread, we can go right ahead and start with questions here.

[Konsaki]

We are just inside the entrance to the room, correct?
Where exactly in the room is the body?
What wounds does Wang have?

What was the job we just did?

[Guest_MK Ultra_*]

I asume the job was changing some of the fireworks timing, so one part would go off with a slight delay.

I´d like to know, if we had someone singled out as being the most profishiant in first aid? My character dos not qualify at all - though he packs a good med kit.
I asume Wang is dead, but first response would be, to see if he is still alife.

Did we see anyone on our way to the room?

[Konsaki]

Well, Hikaru has the 'Heal' spell, so she could try that.

[Guest_MK Ultra_*]

Yeah, thought about that, too.
1st Aid can´t be aplyed after Heal. Can Heal be aplyed after 1st Aid, DireRadiant? I couldn´t find that in the book.

[Konsaki]

In the most effective order it is: First Aid, Heal Spell, Medicine(Only used when naturally healing with bedrest)

[DireRadiant]

To clarify scene. For whatever reason, probably a strange metagaming one, you are all in the room as far as needed to let everyone get into the room, and having not done anything until everyone is in the room and the door closed.

Anyone with astral perception.

[ Spoiler ]

Johnny Wang is not alive. That's obvious.

Normal perception
For more then the fact Johnny Wang is laying very still, and there's alot of blood, which is also still, appropriate rolls are needed.

If you have Thermographic

[ Spoiler ]

Still warm

If you accept and view the rooms AR overlay

[ Spoiler ]

A large pulsating red cross alternating with a chinese character universally accepted for "get a doctor" icon floats of Johnny Wang.

I believe the traditional FIrst aid, magical healing sequence is the standard for those who have the approriate knowledge or background.

[amra28]

Are there any other exits out of the room?

[Konsaki]

So Wang is dead, and it hasnt been long since he was killed. He either has an emergency deadman's trigger to set off the AR visual, or the one that killed him did it.

Hikaru is going to be pretty shocked. She might have seen dead people on the trid due to news reports and whatnot, but this is the first time she has seen one up close and in person. She is probably trying to hold in her last meal during the first minute or so.

[DireRadiant]