Umbrae Europae [IC] (part 3) - Mist of Nycthemeron, A third installment of the Umbrae Europae Campaing (started elsewhere) Options

[Haywire]

#43

"Well, there is a time for everything as they say. When this papers were written my great-grandfather was fighting in the war... However, I think now is the time for a dive in the deep end of the Matrix..."

[ Spoiler ]

I'll try to translate the papers and then cross-reference them with our results and eventually in the Matrix
teamwork test from sekretar: 6d6t5 1
Teamwork test from Deck: 12d6t5 3
matrix search: 20d6t5 6

[Jack_Spade]

Once they were secure, Rex released the Kami from it's remaining services and found a place to lie down and rest while Haywire took care of the research.
He felt dog tired - pun intended - and had barely his wits about him to call up a small kami that would sustain the transformation on him while he slept.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F3 Spirit Man: 22d6t5 4
F3 Spirit Man resist: 3d6t5 1
Drain Resist: 21d6t5 6
Spirit casts shapechange to dog:
Shapechange: 6d6t5 2 (Bod 6)

Rex: Recovery from Physical drain: BOD+BOD+2 Quickhealer
Recovery: 14d6t5 5

Fully healed after 24 hours of rest

[Romain Pelisse]

It takes several hours for Waywalker to research the documents Rex's spirit managed to lift off the old building. Of course, he is being over careful, not simply uploading the document the matrix to avoid broadcasting their content, but rather downloading software on his link. Anyhow, after a few hours, both Rex and him have finally a good grasp of what the documents are about.

Apparently, a few years after WW2, and before the estate got sold, someone did some research about the first print of the Eliphas Levy's book the runners have been hired to investigate. Whoever he was gathered a very thorough dossier - that someone, maybe the same person, carefully hide inside the wall. The dossier tracked down the book from his previous owner, some rich Englishman living in France since the 1930's, to his "requisition" by the Nazi soldiers in the very first month of France's occupation.

From there, the researcher went into a rabbit hole of paperwork produced by the (infamous) Vichy Government, to try to figure out where the book ended up. Apparently, the vice-président back then, Pierre Laval [1] was very eager to help the Hitler's war effort and try to secure as many "magical" relics and books he could, in order to gain favor from the most "mystically inclined" member of the Führer inner circle.

Like many "initiative" from the (too) cooperative french government, this got more/less ignored, and when Laval left the power for a couple of years (he came back to power early '42), the all project fell apart, and with it, its paper trail. Whoever did the research however managed to track down that the item was stored into a precinct in a small town, named Moréac, in Brittany.

Quickly looking up the place in the Matrix, Waywalker and Rex quickly found out that the place abandoned for decades, because of the infamous Mist have swollen it... [3]

[ Spoiler ]

@Jack_Spade yes, after dragging your ass into the SOX, I'm tossing it into the Mist - I know, know,... I am bastard (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Laval (as many people noted, Laval's name can be written from left to right or right to left, symbolizing perfectly his own political opportunism).
[2] https://goo.gl/maps/P6B7yvzEuAx
[3] http://shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/Mist

[Jack_Spade]

Having slept a solid 8 hours (Rex was so used to getting woken before sunrise that by now he could do it on instinct), the results of Waywalkers research made Rex wide awake:
<<So if I get this right, the copy we are looking for might actually be still in a haunted house on a silent hill where it was hidden by occultist fascists, surrounded by a magical mist that abducts people?

France just has the nicest spots for a vacation.

This time we might be better of to send a drone remotely with a spirit there instead of travelling ourselves into the danger zone.>>

[Haywire]

#44

"I fully agree with you. Maybe, now that we are in France, should we go to Lourdes? Our bad luck is becoming legendary...
However, I'll research in the Matrix for information on effects of the Mist on non-organic things and spirits."

[ Spoiler ]

I mean no offense for the Lourdes joke to religion, it's only a joke (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) .
teamwork test from Sekretar: 6d6t5 4
teamwork test from deck: 12d6t5 4
matrix search: 21d6t5 9
[\spoiler]

[Romain Pelisse]

It comes to no surprise to Waywalker that there is a lot of data on the Mist on the Matrix - from the general safety advise from the French government, to magic amateur forums discussion (real magical discussion happening certainly behind close door), to numerous non-sense, conspiracy blog, blaming the mist on almost everything in between (and including) AIs to insect spirit. He even find one blaming the all things on the Pixies of the Brocéliande Forest ! All of this is related to the topic, but very few factual information on the danger of the Mist are mentioned - and when they are, they are not all correlating themselves.

Basically, the semi-autonomous land of Brittany, in some kind of unclear arrangement with Druidic Revival of Brittany along with Korrigans living in the nearby forest of Brocéliande, is keeping the Mist under control, but patches of Mist can still be found here and there all over the county. The patch surrounding Rex and Waywalker target has been around for a long time, and seems somewhat, sadly, stable.

Switching his focus to more Shadowrunner oriented forums and hosts, Waywalker also gather that some local smuggler, or even druid, may act as guide - but sadly no method of communication, other than "ask people who knows and can vouch for you" has been recommended.

In the meantime, Waywalker also plots a course to Brittany. From their current location, it is a 4 to 5 hours trip to border of the country. Leaving now, the duo might there in the early evening, and be able to book a room in a hotel in Nancy or nearby...

[ Spoiler ]

Basically public information on the Mist boils down to this: http://shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/Mist

[Jack_Spade]

After receiving the information, Rex replied:
<<Alright, let's make a trip into the Normandy. If we are looking for local druids, I can try and search for any holy stone circles.
Failing that, we get as close as it's safely possible and try using your drone to locate the book, accompanied by a strong Kami to secure it and bring it back. That will probably be the cheapest and safest solution anyway.>>

[Haywire]

#45

"At the moment, for what we know, we are leading the run to the book. Before someone else realizes this, I'd suggest to press the advantage, buckle up and go to the Brittany. The van will be ready at a moment's notice.
However, I know magic and tecnology don't mix very well; what if I bring an Anthro drone, renting one in Nancy, to get the physical book? What do you think?"

[Jack_Spade]

<<Sounds like a good idea - provided things like those can be rented.>>
Once again Rex prepared for a road trip - slowly he and his partner are developing routine with that.

[Romain Pelisse]

While the van is on his way to the border of Brittany, where Rex and Waywalker found a nice, small hotel to spend the night, the Waywalker looks at his option to buy and pick up an anthropomorphic drone for their plan to remotely access the mist invaded building. Surprisingly, it is fairly easy to buy one of the drone - well as long as you have a SIN, or a good fake one. Renting one is also an option, but it often requires a deposit equals to the drone cost, plus a fee of 5% of the overall cost by day. Obviously, as the drone might get badly damaged in the process, and simply because runs often turns into a mess that simply does not allow to drop by the renting company, it might not be the best option for the duo.

Also, most offers on the matrix requires several days to deliver almost anywhere in France. Sadly, there was a provided in Nantes, on the border of Brittany, but it got bought out and turn into a Stuffer Schack Plus, and the world wide brand dropped the drone selling from the catalog a few month ago. For pick up, there is then only one option : going back to Paris.

Taking one hour to do some astral reckon, Rex's astral form flies nearby Normandy and also the Brocéliande forest, but he does not dare get close to both wilderness area, because they are clearly inhabited by many astral entities, and a simple drop in might be far more risky than would expect. Of course, to be able to spot a stone circle and maybe contact some local druids this way, he would need to cross over the boundaries and maybe have to deal with some potentially difficult astral encounter.

[ Spoiler ]

Whatever you do next, I'll recommend you stop at a hotel, or back in Paris, at your safe house, just to catch your breath and restore one edge - if nothing else.

Also, as you are spending almost an all day in the van, feel free to buy a level one skill - as long as it is somewhat realistic you either pick up on the mission or can learn it from the matrix.

[Jack_Spade]

Rex used most of the time perusing the basics of ritual spellcasting, since that was likely the basis for most of what the book they were looking for revolved around.
Taking the chance to eat and rest after the strenuous two days, Rex didn't feel like pressuring Waywalker to hurry up with his drone.
Only once did he chime in: <<If you need money, I can loan you for the drone. But I'm curious: what do you plan to do against EM interference? I don't expect the mist covered village to have good matrix reception.>>

[ Spoiler ]

I'm spending two Karma to take ritual spellcasting to 1

[Haywire]

#46

Waywalker spent most of the time looking on the Matrix for some basic information on how to pilot an Anthro drone. "There's a first time for everything..." Luckily, the trip was rather uneventful.
"I think money is not a big issue this time - but thank you for the offer, chummer. I am pretty well covered against static, but I think I'll do a little recognition before entering with both feet. I'd say: since we're here in the hotel and pretty comfortable, I'll send the van autonomously to Paris to pick up the drone, and in the meanwhile I'll get a few maps of our target from the Matrix."

[ Spoiler ]

I'll train Pilot Walker 1 with 2 Karma.
I'd buy a Manservant (Juan in the Rigger 5) for 8.000 NY, sending the van autonomously to recover it while we sleep/recover.
I'd also like to buy or find Mapsoft of the zone we're supposed to enter.
Van autopilot: 11d6t5 3
teamwork test from Sekretar: 6d6t5 3
teamwork test from deck: 12d6t5 6
matrix search: 21d6t5 5
[\spoiler]

[Jack_Spade]

<<Since such a robot is pretty expensive: Do you think we should buy it some armored clothing to wear? I could enchant it to be even more durable - but of course that might increase the risk from the mist if it is triggered by life and magic.

The magic landscape is pretty fascinating around here, but I don't dare get closer - it has a pretty hostile vibe to it.

Can you share the feed with me, so I know where the drone is? If necessary I can than send a Kami to assist it.>>

Rex told Waywalker

[Romain Pelisse]

Arriving at night, in the suburbs of Nantes, in cozy, small hotel, that appears to be still run like a family business - but a brief matrix search quickly disillusion the runners, the establishment has been bought by a subsidiaries of Renraku a few years ago. Regardless, the staff is nice and polite, despite the late arrival and the all building, guests like management, seems sound asleep. The room they booked is small but coy, and the staff took the time to bring a basket for the "service dog", with a bowl of water.

Once done with the necessary "human interaction" due to their check in, Waywalker jumps back in to VR, his meat on the bed, to order the van to go back to Paris and to browse the matrix for more information. He does not have to look too long for a mapsoft of Brittany, the local government, run by the High Council of Brittany, has a semi-public node publishing (almost) real-time data on the mist. The VR environment is actually incredibly well-done, where the person used being automatically wrapped by a sort of Hazmat suit and allowed to fly across a real size representation of the region, where to examine each patch of Mist, and even access some local data along with (a lot of) warnings from the agency.

It is a perfect environment to do the sort of reckon Waywalker wants to do and he quickly get access to all the data he wants. But, sadly, the news are not good for the runners.

First of all, the village is deep into on of the most stable patch of Mist. Actually, this patch has never receded since the first apparition of the mist, so nobody has been to this place for decades in the place. Exploring the VRscape, he also discovers that Brittany has very poor coverage, most people of sat-link, in their village, but once one is away from 10 to 20 km from a civilized place, the place is more/less a static zone. To make matter worse, the mist has an effect on technology, creating a lot of interference, increasing again the level of noise.

Correlating old maps, still mentioning the village and the current data provided by the public node, Waywalker estimate that their target is 10 to 15km inside the mist. The patch of Mist the village resides in is also quite far away from most inhabited part of the region, so it most likely to be a static zone.

The rigger keeps exploring the node available information and, at last, stumble upon some information about sending drone inside the mist. Apparently, the Council uses a lot of drone to monitor the mist's progress, but generally tries to not sent them inside. As far as he can gather, drone often come back, but some times "disappear", exactly like people tends to do...

Waywalker is still processing the amount of data when he finally notices the message of his partner. Before replying, he does a quick research over the matrix to confirm his intuition. As he expected, having drone upgraded - whether to have extra armour or some other (non-military) transformation, is possible but not quickly, and not... discreetly. Clearly, people are expected to buy them "out of the shelves" and extra tuning is not a common demands of most buyers. However, Waywalker have found several places, in Paris or around, to buy part he would need to add almost any kind of modules to his new "Nestor" (which, for some reason, is the name given to Juan line in France.

[ Spoiler ]

@Waywalker short from adding weapon, you can buy whatever you need to implement any modules described in Rigger 5. Buying the part will be the cost mentioned in Rigger 5 to make it simple. You will however need to modify the drone yourself.

Just in case the fluff text above was not clear - you send a drone into the mist to do the job, but given the amount of Noise, you should rather be nearby the mist to reduce the chance of losing contact with the drone. Given that searching the place where the book was stored is not going to be simple task, it is unlikely the dog brain will be able to do it on its own, so you will need to either jumped in it or at least able to direct it.

[Haywire]

[ Spoiler ]

For the armor, being a Walker drone, could I buy a simple armor jacket and put it on the drone? Rigger 5 says they can use equipment meant for metahumans.

[Romain Pelisse]

[ Spoiler ]

Yep, that works too - and Waywalker should be able to buy such vest somewhere on the van's path back to Brittany (or in Paris)

[Haywire]

#47

The informations were dumped on him by the Matrix, and they were not nice. "As usual with our luck, the Mist in which we find our target is one of the furthest from other villages, and we should be able to go inside by fifteen kilometers. I do not want to enter with the van, so the Nestor will do it the hard way, on foot." Surfing the Matrix he quickly finds what he needs for the drone and schedules the pick-up so the van getsit without further delay.
"I don't know what you want to do before we go, but I think we can settle for the night and depart in the morning. I'm ready."

[ Spoiler ]

I'll buy an armor jacket and a spotlight to attach on the drone (1000 NY and 50 NY, the modification requires a kit and I can do it without problems buying hits.
Total cost for our Nestor 9050 NY.
I'm ready to run!
[\spoiler]

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

adding a satellite link to the drone should mitigate the noise of the static zone somewhat

<<I'm ready when you are. And look at the positive side: With the mists here the chances are good that no magic user has come here to beat us to the prize.>>
Rex replied, while further reading up on ritual magic.

[Romain Pelisse]

Between the few extra stops to buy the material and the distance from Paris, the van joins back his owner only in the beginning of the afternoon, letting some time for the two runners to enjoy the quietness of the local country side. After the busyness of Paris and the posh-ness of the Camargue, Brittany turns out to "yet something else" again. People around the hotel are very neighbourly, despite being often surprises to run into strangers (understand here non french speaking people). Waywalker and Rex being used to the metahumans "natural segregation" happening in most sprawl, with ork and trogs living in one part of the city, and the rest in an other part. Thus, they are quite surprised to see many orks, but also elf and dwarfs being seemingly part of the same community as the humans.

Both had indeed heard that France was a rather accepting country, but it is quite astonishing for them to be able to experience it. Actually, people around this part seems more disturbed by the amount of cyberware on Waywlaker - a control rig being quite invasive, a lot of blue, green tube tends to be visibly beneath the skin, than by the huge old troll woman, named Giselle, coming form a local farm to buy some bread at the bakery nearby the hotel.

Once the van is back, the two runners jumps on board, and stars driving toward their target, while Waywalker set up the gear of his brand new Nestor drone. As the zone is pretty remote, it very rather difficult to get close to their target. The route still maintained get them in the ballpark of 50 km for the village, but there found, as expected, that the route taking further is closed down. A physical barrier, a simple one blocking the road is there to stop the vehicle to take the road by mistake, and there is a large wall in AR, going around the all patch of Mist, starting almost 30 km behind it. Given the amount of monitoring done by drone on the Mist, Waywalker also excepts that something else might be monitoring the access to this road...

[Jack_Spade]

Rex opened his eyes to the astral to see if the French government had tasked any Kami's with guarding the perimeter. Not that he expected a drone to be noticed by them, but you never new if it weren't manifested, invisible Kami.

Before he did that he asked Waywalker <<You wouldn't happen to know, if you can if it's forbidden to send research drones into the mist or if you need a permit to do so?
If it were that way, maybe we could semi-officially purchase one.>>

[Romain Pelisse]

Rex opens his astral sense and almost immediately feels a strange pull. Even kilometers from the mist, the astral feels already strange, like something is trying to pull toward or inside the mist. He takes a few seconds for him to gets his bearing and look for potential astral entity nearby, but the astral is strangely ... void. It feels, for a lack of a better analogy, standing on the edge of a black hole sucking everything into it. The astral space seems just populated by the "Wash" sounds made by the Mist...

Shacking his head before focusing his sense again on the physical world, Rex is pretty sure no magic use will ask a spirit to patrol such a apocalyptic site on a permanent basis. Well, no magic user who is not a sociopath that is to say...

[ Spoiler ]

For sake of speeding things along, I'll assume Waywalker did the research requested by Rex and roll enough hits to learn the following

A quick search over the matrix, allows Rex's partner to look into his suggestion. Sadly, the High Council of Brittany does not deliver such permits of exploration. Actually, the High Council forbids anyone to get close to the Mist, and has the full support of the french government about that, along by the help of the Korrigans of Brocéliande. They have allowed, in the past, some powerful organization, like the Atlantean Foundation or the Astral Space Preservation Society to send expedition to the region, but even then, there was some frustration on their side, due to the limited access and the lack of freedom of maneuvers that was given to them.

[Jack_Spade]

<<It will come as no surprise that this is a really bad place to be - and I likely won't be able to get a Kami to go in there as well.
Now it's your turn with your new toy. I'll keep watch over your body in the meantime.>>
Rex replied.

[Haywire]

#48

"Well, this is farther than I expected, but nothing impossible. I'll set up something nice for us."
Waywalker parked the van and instructed his Agents to monitor the Matrix for nearby presences, and set a regular scan on his van to be sure no one came near them.
After tweaking his RCC to connect with the satellite link and compensate for the noise he deployed Nestor and jumped in it, ready to go into the Mist.
"I'm afraid it will take a while to walk to the village. If you want to stretch your legs, help yourself."

[ Spoiler ]

teamwork test from Sekretar: 6d6t5 1
teamwork test from deck: 12d6t5 4
matrix perception (RCC Agent): 17d6t5 5
electronic warfare (scanning for signals): 19d6t5 6
My RCC loads up Signal Scrub and 4 Noise Reduction (total 6+3 Antennae=9) and I jump in Nestor
Pilot Walker: 8d6t5 1

[Romain Pelisse]

Waywlaker's scan quickly gives him a good picture of the situation. There is, indeed, a large number drone, from different size, flying all over the region - clearly task to monitor both the Mist growth and the human activity. Fortunately for the rigger, most of those drones are clearly designed and set to scan for vehicle or maybe group of human, so hopefully, Nestor may be able to sneaks by them...

After a good spot for parking the van - a spot both hidden from the drones up in the sky and the road, but also not too far away from the village they target - Waywalker jumps into his brand new drone, and make it jumps out of the vehicle, before starting a rather long trip.

[ Spoiler ]

@Waywalker can you roll Intuition + Sneaking for Nestor ? (assuming Waywalker is jumped into it) To see how much the little drone is able to not be noticed by the Mist monitoring infrastructure.

Also, assuming your want both Nestor to be invisible, remember that you have to run silent which most likely just cancel out the full VR bonus to Matrix Action.

The drone has a lot of distance to cover - almost 30km before reaching the ridge of the Mist, and then ten more kilometer to get in the vicinity of the village. It's a good thing that drone are not human being, and can therefore endure a forced march for a little while. Given a 5km per hour ratio, Nestor will have reached the limit of the Mist in 4 hours. Of course, Waywalker could make the anthropomorphic devices runs for the all trip, but it would be detrimental to discretion, and more importantly, might taxing for his own ability. He has far from, yet, a good grips on the device.

It's actually reminded to him after only a couple of hours. The Nestor is already midway to its target, when, Waywalker over stretched its own piloting skills, making the walker jumps over a tree's trunk lying in the middle of way. Landing behind it, the drone loses his footing and tumble over, and before Waywalker can do anything, starts rolling a bit down the hill.

The fall is nothing that drone can not handle, and it gets out with scratches. However, as Waywalker tries to make it stand again, he realizes the drone's left feet is now stuck into a hole in the ground, and the little drone is now badly exposed...

[ Spoiler ]

@Waywalker sadly the road Nestor follows has not been maintained for years, so the threshold was 2.

@Jack_Spade Am I right to assume your will follow the drone astrally ? At least, until the Mist starts having effect on your astral self ?

[Haywire]

[ Spoiler ]

May I post-Edge that roll?
[\spoiler]