The streets of Houston are cold and merciless. Growing up in South Houston (which is much like the Barrens of Seattle) Mitch never really had a childhood. From gang raids and corrupt lonestar cops, to fringe cults, he could never really make time to go play. As a result of this Mitch was forced to grow up early, even being a troll didn’t seem to help. During one of the more violent raids from the Los Padres Mitch’s parents(who were also trolls) gave their lives to protect him. Suddenly orphaned and cast out into a world that didn’t want him the now 13, Mitch joined up with a gang. He didn’t join because he needed protection, or because he needed money, he joined because he was lonely and Nemesis was the sworn enemy of the Los Padres. He brought hell to those that had taken his family from him and had enjoyed it. It seemed at least to Mitch that he was born to kill. Becoming extremely violent towards any none Nemesis member the gang began to fear him, and when a shift in leadership occurred instead of killing just those that were trying to shift the power balance, he went on his first “spree” killing almost all twenty of the gangs core members. With the blood of those he had come to call his family on his hands, he quickly fleed Houston, not for fear of his life but because he was again lonely. On a stolen motorcycle he roared across North America, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, he had honed his art and wanted nothing more than to continue to produce master pieces. When he stopped off at the grand canyon for a pit stop, he was confronted by a pair of lonestar cops about the stolen bike he rode. He made short work of them and headed out to Seattle, where his travels had suggested his talents would be most appreciated.

Arriving in the sprawl on December 7, 2054 he was immediately approached by a yakuza recruiter, it seemed that he had a fan. The yakuza sent him up in their personnel deconstruction project and Mitch had enjoyed that much. His colleagues had felt uncomfortable around him and rightfully so, Mitch was probably the most dangerous troll employed by the Yakuza, he often liked to think. It was on an assignment where he needed to “deconstruct” the CEO of a small corporation known as Globaltech, that he earned his first nickname. Sneaking in to a building unnoticed was no small feet for a nine and a half foot tall troll, but getting in and out in under ten minutes without so much as sounding an alarm was impossible, the few friends that he had began to call him Ghost, because there was no way he could have done that unless he was one. During one of the many Yakuza purges Mitch was ”fired” from his job, but due to his efficiency his superiors wanted to keep him around, so they pulled some strings and got him in with the 7 serpents. Taking to the gangs mindset quickly, Ghost applied his “technical expertise” to many of the various things the gang did. The leader of the gang liked him, he was ruthless, cunning and brutally efficient. The gang had put him in charge of collecting protection money and money that any one else “owed” the gang. He served his first jail time in March of 2059. His group, which consisted of about five strong gangers hand picked from the ranks, was assigned to collect stolen drug money from some Mafia thug who thought they could just waltz right in and knock off a protected dealer. His mission was to collect the drugs, and kill anyone who even looked like they were involved. He didn’t get busted for killing the mafia thugs, apparently the star thought he did them some kind of favor, but he did get arrested for transport twenty kilos of pure heroin. With the help of some of his yakuza buddies, he managed only to spend about a year in prision, which was enough for him. Since he was a troll, he spent most of his time in solitary, so he wouldn’t kill any of the other prisoners. When he got out the gang had a huge party and made him a lieutenant. With his new position in the gang, and his tenure firm in hand, he swung right back into his routine of being the deadliest troll this side of the barrens(or so he thinks).

20 Questions

Background

1. Where is your character from?
Lee Wu Zhao comes from Kirkland, in Bellevue, Seattle, in a reasonably middle-upper-class neighborhood.

2. Does your character have a family?
Yes. He has a father and mother, (Alex and Sharon), who are happily married as well as three sisters and two brothers. He is the third child, with the remaining siblings in this order:
1. Steven
2. Laura
3. Lee
4. Tiffany
5. Robert
6. Nina

3. Does your character have an ethnic background?
Yes. He is ethnically Chinese, but his family emigrated from Indonesia in the 1990s during the racial and religious purges that rocked the region following a change in power.

Appearance

4. What does your character look like?
He is about 5’6, maybe about 140lbs or so. Toned, lithe and muscular, but not extremely big or built. He has black hair and brown eyes, and he wears his hair cut close cropped in a somewhat military style buzz cut. He is always clean shaven and groomed. He is frankly very bland and does his best not to stand out in a crowd.

5. What does your character dress like?
Typically wears gym shoes or running shoes, and tends to favorite loose, athletic style clothing for his pants such as warm-ups or cargo pants, and favors sweatjackets or sweat shirts for his shirts. Tries to wear clothing that is comfortable and loose and allows freedom of movement, but does not allow others an easy time grabbing him or holding him. He always wears dark colors such as black, blue, and grey, occasionally mixed in with white. A very drab, plain, unassuming individual.

6. Does your character have physical quirks?
He has a tendency to flex his hands and massage his knuckles, trying to keep his fingers and hands loose. He also cracks his neck from side to side lot, especially right before a really intense event, like a fight or race or intimidation staredown or something like that.

Skills, Attributes, Resources

7. Where did your character learn their Active Skills?
Lee learned his active skills from his parents, his teachers at school, the university, and from his friends primarily. His father taught him everything he knew about being a warrior, although Lee would eventually show excellence in the Invisible Way, and his father, recognizing the futility of fighting destiny, adapted his teachings to assist his son’s natural development. In particular, his expertise at Pentjak-Silat is a heritage from his family way back from before they emigrated to America from Indonesia.

8. Where did your character learn their Knowledge Skills?
As a teacher, Sharon Zhao made certain that her children were educated and well rounded, and did not allow Lee’s physical training to dominate his mental and spiritual training. Her influence over her son is showed primarily through this aspect of him.

9. Where did your character get his goodies?
Before he quit his job, Lee staged a car accident so he could collect on the medical insurance benefits that his job (and his parents’ jobs) offered. Afterwards, he arranged to get himself fired from his job so he could collect severance pay, while at the same time stealing proprietary information for use to sell on the streets to stake himself to a start.

10. Where does your character live?
He currently lives in a flophouse in the Loveland district, near the gang headquarters. He lives in the heart of the gang’s turf because he cherishes his anonymity and tries as hard as possible to stay isolated from any random events that may intrude upon him.

11. Who are your character’s contacts?
TBD

12. Who are your character’s enemies?
TBD

13. How did your character learn magic?
Lee grew up as an Awakened, but his father taught him all of his magical abilities under the guise of ‘ancient martial arts techniques’, never realizing that the ease with which he picked up these ‘incredibly advanced’ techniques were really aided and enhanced by his magical abilities. It was not until he left home that his father told him that he was Awakened, so that Lee would be able to develop his abilities without the aid and tutelage of his father.

Personality

14. What are your character’s likes and dislikes?
He dislikes bullies and those who oppress the weak. Lee really hates people who try to throw their weight around thinking that they’re all that and a bag of chips when really they are not. He is an avid learner and loves knowledge for his own sake. He is constantly reading and studying to develop his mind, body, and spirit. Frankly, he’s quite the odd man out in the 7 Serpents. He enjoys watching combat sports but also reading and philosophical discussions. Conversely, he hates stupidity and rampant indulgence for the sake of pleasure alone, and he especially hates selfishness and those who put themselves over others, especially when there is no valid reason.

15. What is your character’s moral code?
Lee’s moral code revolves around his identity. He knows who he is, and he must have that at all costs. Whatever it takes to maintain his sense of self is what he will do, while he will not hesitate to take whatever measures necessary to remove anything that threatens his sense of self. As far as his identity, he believes in loyalty, sticking to one’s word, perseverance, dedication, hard work, and continually striving to be better, and to make those around you better. His means to achieving this however, are through whatever means necessary. Lee is a paradoxical thinker who does not hesitate to use any methods necessary to achieve his goals, one he has established in his own mind that the end in question is a result worth striving for.

16. Does your character have goals?
His immediate goals included survival and cementing his position as a hardcore member. However, he seeks to remain out of the limelight and frankly would prefer as few people as possible know about him. Unlike most gangers, he does not desire fame or recognition, even on the streets. His medium length goal is to work his way up to a position in the gang where he would be free to pursue his long term goals without question. As far as his long term goals, they are simple. He wants out. He wants out of the gang, out of this life in which circumstances have forced him, and back into the life he once had. He views this as a walk in the darkness which he must undergo, but one that he will embrace wholeheartedly until such time as comes for him to leave this path behind. Ideally, one day he’ll have a family, kids, a decent house in a decent neighborhood, a real job back, and he can let his family grow up without worrying about getting shot at or people trying to kill him if he wears the wrong colors on the wrong side of the street.

17. Does your character have personal beliefs?
Lee is a firm adherent to Miyamoto Musahsi’s “The Book of Five Rings” and “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. He studies those texts religiously and uses Musashi’s work as the basis for his personal life, and Sun Tzu’s work as the basis for his interaction with others. In regards to the self (keeping with his identity above), he views it as the goal of life to strive to achieve perfection in each element of one’s life, a never ending cycle of improvement, to come into harmony and balance with the world around him. However, recognizing that inner peace is not something that can be found meditating in an empty room, he attempts to achieve peace by coming to peace with his surroundings, no matter what they are. To find a balance between the demands of self and demands of the world.
He constantly seeks that point of perfection where all is in perfect harmony, and strives to circle closer and closer towards it. However, Lee views the world in which he lives as akin to the feudal days of ancient China and Europe, where there are countless small kingdoms rising up and striving for power. He believes that it is his responsibility to protect and serve his ‘kingdom’ to the best of his ability, for at this point in time, it is what is demanded of him as an individual, member of the Seven Serpents, and a as a part of the community in which he finds himself.
As a gang with turf, he views the gang as having a responsibility to the people which comprise its turf. Yes, he will collect protection money, yes, he will enforce the will of the gang, with an iron fist if necessary, but he also will not let others interfere with the lives of their ‘subjects’, and when possible, he tries to ensure that the members of the gang treat the people with decency and respect, out of efficiency if nothing else.


18. Does your character have personality quirks?
Lee is very mystical individual who keeps to himself and refrains from drawing attention to himself in any way, shape, or form. Additionally, he tries very hard to avoid direct methods of confrontation where possible, preferring instead to call the time and place for his encounters. Interestingly enough, despite all his calm demeanor and insightful personality, when push comes to shove he strikes with the intent to kill. He tries very hard to avoid violence and confrontation, but when pressed, he’ll make the first move and do everything he can to ensure that is all that is needed.


Running the Shadows

19. Why does your character run the shadows?

Lee Wu Zhao was born into a middle class family in Kirkland, Bellevue as the third of six children in 2042. Alex and Sharon Zhao were loving parents who raised their children to behave as honorable, decent, moral, upstanding citizens in a day and age where virtue had been replaced with vice, and values being subject to expediency. He grew up in a loving, solid family environment, in a nice, good school with teachers who were paid enough to care about the children’s education and kids who were cognizant of the opportunities they had in life as a result of their birth.

As a child, Lee was a bright, thoughtful, and industrious child, constantly seeking to learn and grow through expanding his mind and his horizons by experiencing different things and learning from those who had different perspectives from him. Although he never compromised his beliefs or identity as a result of the things he learned or saw from others, he did incorporate those perceptions into a more solid understanding of himself, and the world around him.

What he did not know was that his parents were a true rarity in the world: shadowrunners who had managed to retire intact and away from all the problems that typically plague runners who try to enter the light. Alex Zhao was originally a physical adept who specialized in wetwork for Fuchi named Wong Zhi Quan, but upon the company’s dissolution, decided that he’d had enough of that life and wanted out. Taking the opportunity to disappear in the midst of the corporate war, he married his longtime lover Sharon, whom he’d already had several children by. For his family’s safety, they kept their relationship secret from everyone, including, perhaps especially, their children.

Sharon Zhao was a company wagemage who worked for a different branch of Fuchi as well as a researcher. She later left the parent company to teach magic to gifted elementary schoolers under the reason of wanting to study magical development in youth. In reality, this was to gradually free her from the company by deliberately tanking her career, but in a way that gradually ‘locked’ her into her current position as opposed to drawing attention to herself by quitting entirely. Thus, when she wanted to retire and start a family elsewhere, the company agreed to allow her to work for one of their corporate sponsored elementary schools, which basically put her as low as one could possibly be on the career chain as a magician. With the total lack of attention paid to her, it was easy to raise a family in relative obscurity, as by that time her superiors could care less what she did as long as was productive and caused no trouble. When the company went under, she married Wong (now renamed Alex) and they moved to Seattle together, where they found new jobs, settled down in Bellevue, and tried to retire peacefully living a happy life with their children.

Growing up, Lee was a pretty isolated individual who always strived to better himself. This constant struggle for self-improvement often came at the expense of his social life, however, in middle school, he would encounter two people who would change the course of his destiny: Cassandra and James Lin. They were twins, (non-identical) children of a successful corporate executive. The three of them became fast friends, and soon did everything together. James was the adventuresome one of the trio, always seeking thrills and excitement, and was often the one who came up with new and exciting things to do. Cassandra was in marked contrast to her brother: quiet, shy, introspective, she had a gentle soul and a kind heart.

Throughout high school they remained close, but eventually a rift began to form between them. The Lin parents’ company was going through some hard times, and it was affecting their family life significantly. Their father was working longer and harder hours trying to keep his job and their mother took a job to help as well. James began hanging out more and more with a ‘thrill-seeking’ crowd, and got involved in partying, drinking, chips, women, and drugs. That wasn’t Lee or Cassandra’s thing, so they grew closer together as James drifted farther apart from them. As is often the case, they developed romantic feelings for one another and eventually began dating. They dated throughout high school and had hopes and dreams of getting married and raising a family together, but it was not to be.

After high school Cassandra stayed in Seattle to go to college at the University of Washington, while Lee traveled across the country to study business at the University of Pennsylvania. Their relationship stayed strong however, and despite Cassandra’s family problems, it looked like their relationship would survive. But it was not to be. James’s sophomore year of college, he abruptly lost contact with Cassandra. Despite numerous calls and emails, she never responded to him. Worried sick, over Christmas break he flew back to visit her house. What he found stunned him. The Lin parents’ company had been taken over, and their father had committed suicide in shame. Already distant and isolated from his family, James left home and went full bore into a new life, eventually joining up with the Seven Serpents as a way to stay alive and feed his addictions and emptiness that now filled his life. Mentally pushed to the brink, their mother just snapped, and had to be committed to a mental institution to be cared for. And Cassandra…had just vanished. Although he looked for her the entire two weeks, he turned up nothing.

When he returned to school in January, Lee was a changed man. Always a driven individual, his sense of humanity had been anchored by his relationship with his family and his two friends. With his friends just…gone, and so tragically ripped away from him, and a family that was 2000 miles away, he threw himself into his personal development with renewed vigor. His physical training released the stress and anger that had built up within him, and his studies consumed his mental time. Although he excelled in school and had numerous profitable internships and impressive credentials rolling in, he gradually became more and more detached, his philosophies becoming almost mechanistic in their application, with no sense of relation to humanity.

Still, when all was said and done, he had impressively mastered his training and his adept powers had become fully developed. Meanwhile, he had been offered a prestigious job with a regional firm working for them as an accountant. He worked as an accountant for about a year or two when he received the shock of his life. A phone call from James. Having not heard from him in almost four years, they were now both around 21 years old, and had been out of touch for a long time. His friend was so different, when he called, Lee couldn’t even recognize him. His hair was wild and unkempt, his eyes were shot red, his clothes were street and worn.

In tears, James told him that when he’d left home and her mother snapped, Cassandra moved in with him. But instead of taking care of her, he ignored her, neglected her, took his frustrations out on her, and basically used her (who was now working a secretarial job to earn money, needing to drop out of college because she couldn’t afford it) to support him and his habits. When she lost her job due to downsizing, in a fit of rage, he had screamed at her that she was worthless and stormed out of the apartment.

When he came back several days later, she was gone. Frantically James searched everywhere for her and had other members of the game searching high and low. Eventually they found her, with one problem. She was working in a bunraku parlor for the Yakuza.

Desperate and jobless, a yakuza ‘recruiter’ had spotter her, and her innocent spirit and pure heart made her the perfect actress for the always popular ‘asian schoolgirl’ bunraku clientele. Knowing she wouldn’t be missed, he simply drugged her and had the surgeries done, and when she finally came to, although she knew what he had done to her, what choices did she have? She couldn’t run, and she had no one to turn to, so she took cold solace in that at least while…’things’ were happening to her, thankfully her mind was not present.

When he found her, James knew there was nothing he could do about the situation, so he tracked down Lee for help, knowing his friend had made it in the corporate world and hoping he could buy his sister out of her ‘contract’. After so many years, Lee was at a loss. So he did the only thing he could do. He flew home to talk to his parents about the situation and get their advice. Alex and Sharon were silent for a long time before they responded to their son’s story, but having walked these roads themselves, they knew they had raised their son to be true to himself and they would have to support whatever he decided to do.

At that point, Alex told him that he was a physical adept, and all his training that had supposedly consisted of ancient martial arts secrets was really the result of his magical abilities enhancing and working on his physical ones. Shaken by this revelation, Lee asked his father what he should do. Simply put, his father responded that he had to choose his own path in life. Between his physical adept abilities and his lifelong education and training, he had the capability to help his friends. Whether he chose to do so or not was up to him.

After much reflection, Lee came to the conclusion that he could not abandon Cassandra. Her loss had scarred him deeply, and he knew if he was ever going to put that part of his life to rest, it would have to be resolved one way or another. With his parents’ help and experience, he was able to arrange for his death by driving a car off a bridge on a dark and stormy night into the Seattle Bay, in waves that ‘no one could possibly’ survive, but not before he had used proprietary information from his company to secretly steal as much money as he could, knowing he’d need to most likely buy Cassnadra’s freedom. It was ruled he had been intoxicated out of his mind and crashed into the Bay, and the case was summarily closed.

Now the only problem he had was what to do about the Yakuza. One of James’s fellow gang members, Mitch, had ties with the Yakuza and would be able to get him a meeting with the bunraku parlor’s owner. However, he refused to do it for someone who wasn’t even part of the gang, and since James was just an associate member, he wasn’t important enough for Mitch to do this favor for. Knowing he’d have to go through the Seven Serpents to get to the Yakuza, Lee offered them a deal. He would enter the gang as a hardcore member by killing seven people for the gang, the symbolism being obvious.

After hearing this small, unassuming man making such a proclamation, the gang members thought it would a riot to let him try, never believing for a moment that he would succeed, but that it would be fun to watch. In what later became referred to as ‘The Week of Vengeance’ by the 7 Serpents, Lee tracked down and murdered seven chosen enemies of the gang easily; with his mastery of the ‘dim mak’ (killing hands and silent delay damage) no one even knew they’d been attacked until they died suddenly and unexplainably 24 hours later. Carefully keeping his methods a secret and cultivating the mystique that grew with each death, Lee quickly won the respect of the gang, entrance as a hardcore member, and an audience with the yakuza owner.

Using nearly all of the money he’d gained from his life insurance policy, theft of funds, and liquidation of his assets (done by his family after his death), he bought Cassandra’s freedom. Their reunion was loving but bittersweet, as each knew that despite the fact that they had found one another again, before any questions of romance, they had a lot to deal with. For one thing, Cassandra had issues, and understandably so, lots of issues from the trauma that she had been through in the last several years. They both refused to leave James, but he needed therapy and counseling to kick his addictions before he could ever have a normal life. And then there was the small matter of the Seven Serpents. As a new hardcore member who’d made quite an impression on the gang, he couldn’t just walk away so easily. He had to stay and fulfill his obligations to the gang until such time as he could find a way out.

That was one month ago. Now nearly broke trying to pay for Cassandra’s therapy and supporting the two of them, as well as trying to help James kick his addictions (which none of them can afford) and establishing himself as a hardcore member in the Seven Serpents, Lee has his hands full. Destiny called, and he chose his path. It’s been a long hard road to get to this point, and it looks like the road ahead is darker still, with no guarantee of emergence into the light. Still, he chose this path knowingly and gladly, and all who walk their paths must walk it to the end, for such is karma, neh?

20. How does your character view his/her role as a shadowrunner/ganger?
Lee views his responsibility to the Seven Serpents as an obligation to be fulfilled, and will do his best to live up to that obligation and honor the gang. Still, he views it as a means to an end, and became a hardcore member to give himself more influence and power in the gang, and hopefully, in the long run, have more control of his destiny. He knows he made a big impression on everyone with his string of seven kills in seven days, and believes he has the opportunity to provide and care for Cassandra through being a part of the gang. In the end though, fate has called him down this road, and he will follow it to the end, whatever that may be.