(Professional Rating 5)
Like the old United States Marine Corps from which they trace their line, the CAS Marines are an elite group of professional warriors. While they specialize in amphibious assault, they are also well versed in most aspects of ground and air warfare, and they are well suited to the heavy-hitting lightning strike-style of warfare perfected by their predecessors. Aboard ship they generally keep to themselves and spend their time doing physical training in the Kitty Hawk’s gyms or performing live-fire exercises on her flight deck. In the case of a ship-wide emergency, the Marines will muster along with the Kitty Hawk’s security teams to meet whatever is threatening the ship head-on.
B A R S C I L W Ess Init IP
5 5 5 4 3 3 3 4 5 8 1
Condition Monitor Boxes (Physical/Stun): 11/10 Armor (B/I): 12/10
Skills: CAS Marine Corps Tactics (Professional Knowledge) 3, Climbing 3, Close Combat skill group 3, Demolitions 2, Etiquette (Military) 3 (+2), Firearms skill group 4, Perception 4, Running 3, Survival 2, Swimming 2, Throwing Weapons 3
Quality: Toughness
Augmentations: Commlink, cybereyes [Rating 4 w/ flare com-pensation, low-light vision, smartlink], datajack
Gear: Full body armor, helmet Weapons:
2 x flash-bang grenades [Grenade, DV 6S, AP –3, Blast 10m Radius]
FN HAR [Assault Rifle, DV 6P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC 2, 35 (c)
2 x smoke grenades [Grenade, DV —, AP —, Blast 10 M Radius]
Survival knife [Blade, Reach —, DV 3P, AP –1]
2 x thermal smoke grenades [Grenade, DV —, AP —, 10m Radius]
. . . THE GREAT ARTIFACT RUSH . . .
>. Unless.it’s.related.to.bug.spirits,.I.don’t.usually.pay.too.much.
attention.to.magic ..Not.my.area.of.expertise ..Lately.though,.the.
Seattle.shadows.are.all.abuzz.over.this.“magical.artifact”.drek ..It’s.
gotten.to.the.point.I’m.having.trouble.finding.runners.to.fill.the.
jobs.I.line.up.because.the.fragging.Foundations.keep.tying.up.the.
local.talent.pool ..Well,.the.good,.reliable.runners.anyway ..Seattle’s.
got.a.never-ending.supply.of.wannabe’s,.posers,.and.psychopaths,.
but.I.steer.clear.of.them.if.I.can.help.it .
The.foundations—Atlantean.and.Draco,.that.is—have.been.
fighting.each.other.in.the.sprawl.for.about.a.year.now ..Magical.
geegaws.have.been.funneling.into.the.city,.and.between.stealing.
the.same.magical.stone.back.and.forth.from.each.other,.sabo-taging.data,.or.kidnapping.each.other’s.researchers,.it’s.like.a.
frat-house.version.of.a.megacorp.shadow.war ..A.lot.of.money.is.
being.thrown.around,.though,.so.I.started.keeping.my.ear.to.the.
ground.and.my.eyes.on.the.Matrix ..I.came.up.with.this.file,.which.
fills.in.a.few.blanks.about.what’s.going.on .
The.author,.Simon.Andrews,.is.a.mage.and.a.changeling.who’s.
been.operating.in.Seattle.for.almost.a.year,.showing.up.shortly.
after.the.foundies.started.squabbling ..He’s.a.full-body.lizard-man.
changeling,.a.Neo-Anarchist,.and.a.party.animal.who.spends.most.
of.his.time.down.at.the.Rubber.Suit.boozing.it.up.and.terrorizing.
the.patrons.there.who.think.he’s.part.of.the.kaiju.show.the.bar.puts.
on ..Despite.that,.it.seems.he’s.also.an.agent.for.Saeder-Krupp.and.
Lofwyr,.reporting.directly.to.the.big.yellow.wizworm .
>. Bull.
Greetings, oh great golden lizard. As you demanded, I’ve put together an early report on what some of the local screamsheets are calling “The Great Artifact Rush.” There’s still a lot going on in this dreary, drizzly cesspit of a sprawl (Emerald Sprawl my scaled ass.
They should call this the Wet, Grey Sprawl), and I think things are simply gearing up to something bigger. It’ll probably all explode into something bigger by the end of the year, unless something shinier distracts the local sheep and everyone loses interest. You know how it goes.
>. ”Great.golden.lizard”?.How.has.Lofwyr.not.eaten.this.moron.yet?
>. Slamm-0!
>. There’s.something.unusual.about.Simon.that.really.captured.
Lofwyr’s.attention ..He.went.to.great.lengths.to.secure.Simon’s.
services ..It.was.suspected.that.he.was.a.drake.and.not.simply.
a.changeling,.but.that’s.proven.not.to.be.the.case ..It.may.have.
something.to.do.with.his.specific.lizardfish.appearance,.though ..
Rumor.has.it.that.an.archeology.dig.in.the.Mediterranean.turned.
up.some.artwork.that.depicted.some.lizard-men.that.bore.a.
striking.resemblance.to.Simon,.minus.the.piercings .
When.Bull.says.that.Simon.is.a.Neo-Anarchist,.he’s.not.
kidding ..He’s.an.old.school.British.punk.who.was.very.active.in.the.
Neo-A.movement.in.London.through.most.of.the.60’s,.and.a.lot.
of.what.he.did.was.pretty.violent ..Compared.to.some.of.his.past.
activities,.he’s.being.downright.civilized.here ..I.wonder.how.long.
it.took.Lofwyr.to.beat.that.civility.into.him?
>. Winterhawk
>. Calling.it.“The.Great.Artifact.Rush”.seems.a.bit.melodramatic .
>. Cosmo
>. The.media.made.that.term.up.when.a.local.NewsNet.reporter.
named.Joe.Martin.caught.a.group.of.runners.hitting.an.Atlantean.
Foundation. warehouse .. Since. then,. both. Foundations. have.
latched.onto.the.term.and.turned.it.into.a.publicity.stunt.akin.to.
the.“Space.Race”.of.the.mid-20th.century.(and.to.a.lesser.extent,.
the.“Probe.Race”.during.the.Year.of.the.Comet),.as.they.both.try.
to.collect.and.study.artifacts,.each.hoping.to.be.the.first.to.make.
some.big,.new.magical.discovery .
>. Dr ..Spin
Many of the same players are poking their nose in locally as they are on the worldwide stage, though the two primary players seem to be the Draco Foundation and the Atlantean Foundation. They’re at the forefront of this so-called “Rush,”
and they’re milking the media attention over it for all they’re
Inc oming . . . .
THE GREAT SEATTLE ARTIFACT RUSH ...
Inc oming . . . .
worth. Rather than keeping everything a secret and hiding in the shadows like Aztechnology or Celedyr’s agents, they’ve taken their fight public. There are still plenty of shadow activities as the two groups actively work to sabotage each other, extracting each other’s arcanoarcheologists, plant false data, steal newly smuggled-in artifacts, etc. But along with the shadow activities, they’re also holding press conferences every time they find something new, or think they have a new lead. Each is trying to be the first to discover some long-lost secret, some magical power—anything that will make a good headline. And the news agencies are just eating it up.
For the Draco Foundation, the key player seems to be a man named Aaron Craig, who goes by the street name Moreau. He’s a former shadowrunner who specializes in training paranormal animals, and he is rumored to have been a part of Dunklezahn’s Watcher program for a while. He retired from active running some years back and has been regularly consulting for the Foundation since. He’s recently begun acting as a fixer in Seattle, hiring runners on to participate in the “Artifact Rush” for the DF. He’s getting a bit long in the tooth, but he’s still dangerous.
He’s packed with top-of-the-line cyberware, and typically has a few trained paracritters nearby. Midori Kanematsu is the public face of DF’s Seattle offices, having taken over shortly after this whole nonsense began, but Moreau is the work horse, the man who is responsible for making sure that Draco comes out on top of the this contest.
The Atlantean Foundation, by contrast, is being a bit more hands-on. Laurent Nazaire, director of the Seattle Atlantean Foundation offices, is almost obsessively pursuing any artifact or scrap of information that comes into the city. He’s got the entire might of AF-Seattle and the Mystic Crusaders working overtime, and Nazaire himself has been spotted meeting with shadowrunners, taking on the role of fixer himself. He’s a driven dwarf, I’ll give him that. I can respect anyone willing to get their hands dirty to accomplish their goals.
>. Dirty?.Nazaire.is.too.clean.by.hald ..He.worked.for.Cross,.arranged.
In addition to the foundation folks, there’s another party who, like me, is staying on the sidelines and gathering intelligence for the time being. Lin Yao Chang, an elven assassin who works for the Great Eastern Dragon Lung, has been watching things as intently as I have, though he seems to be having much less fun. I have yet to see him even crack a smile the few times I’ve run into him. I haven’t been able to dig up much info on the elf, other than that he’s an adept and very dangerous. What Lung’s interest in this situation is, I can only speculate. I’m guessing that much like your illustrious, malevolent self, the whiskered Asian snake is just keeping an eye on—how did you put it?—“baubles and playthings from a bygone age.” Lin Yao hasn’t interfered with my work, or with the foundations themselves yet, so for now we’re just leaving each other be.
>. Very.little.is.known.about.Chang’s.past ..He.popped.up.a.couple.
years.ago.and.helped.Lung.out.with.his.feng.shui.by.removing.
certain.obstacles ..Lung.keeps.him.under.wraps.most.of.the.
time,.though .
>. Winterhawk
The other companies and interested parties have been pretty quiet. Aztechnology has been mostly silent, which surprises me.
They have a rather large presence here in Seattle, and of course a long history of meddling in the local shadow community. It may well be that they’re simply biding their time. Ares has been assisting both groups, offering up their services, and Knight Errant has been providing extra security for each of them. The other corporations seem to be watching from a distance, but otherwise are staying out of things completely.
>. So.why.would.the.corps.keep.out.of.this,.especially.if.some,.like.
the.Azzies,.are.involved.with.the.artifact.hunt.elsewhere?
>. /dev/grrl
>. Avoiding. publicity,. is. my. guess .. Like. Andrews. says,. most.
organizations.like.to.keep.their.artifact.hunting.activities.a.secret,.
THE GREAT SEATTLE ARTIFACT RUSH ...
Several smaller magical groups have moved into the region lately, no doubt drawn by the artifacts. The Illuminates of the New Dawn, the Order of the Temple, and the Aleph Society have all been unusually active in Seattle lately. I’ll be keeping a close eye on them.
>. Several.other.groups.have.been.sighted.as.well ..The.Dr ..Faustus.
Society,.the.Locus.Elementum,.and.the.Order.of.St ..Sylvester.have.
all.been.moving.quietly.in.the.background,.making.early.inquiries .
>. FastJack
>. Got.one.more.to.add.to.the.list.here,.FJ ..And.it’s.a.doozy:.The.First.
Church.of.Elvis ..I.drek.you.not ..I.ran.a.couple.times.back.in.the.old.
days.with.a.priest.of.that.group,.a.shaman.named.Hound.Dog ..
He.showed.up.in.Seattle.a.couple.weeks.ago.and.looked.me.up,.
asking.how.much.I.knew.about.the.situation ..Apparently.someone.
in.their.church.had.a.“premonition”.that.an.artifact.would.be.
found.that.would.let.them.resurrect.the.King .
>. Bull
>. You.know.some.really,.really.strange.people.Bull .
>. Pistons
With all this hype, the truth of the matter is that there’s only been one artifact that’s come through that’s been of note so far. A small obsidian rock called the Morel Sael. I got a chance to look the item over, thanks to a friend, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever
seen. It used to be part of a larger stone, and it was found buried in some Greek ruins near Phaestos, though carbon dating shows that it’s much older than the ruins it was found in. The really wonky part is that it has an aura—a living one. Faint, very hard to detect, but definitely there. Never seen anything like that on an inanimate object. It caused a big stir for a week or so, though the lab geeks at the foundations have since given up trying to explain it and moved on to the next thing. They hope that stepping away from the thing will help them clear their heads so they can make sense of it when they get back to it.
>. Both.words.are.Sperethiel ..Morel.means.“life”.and.Sael.means.
“stone”.or.“rock .”.Considering.the.aura,.I.suppose.calling.it.a.“Life.
Stone”.or.“Life.Rock”.makes.some.sense ..
>. Haze
>. Good.call,.though.I’m.sure.the.researchers.were.well.aware.of.
that.from.the.get-go,.and.took.that.into.account ..Clearly,.it.
didn’t.help.them .
>. Jimmy.No
This has been a fun assignment so far, boss. Though I have to say I’d rather be a bit more involved. Some of the runners that are working for the foundations are feeding information to me, though some are going with Chang instead. I may have to deal with him one of these days. I’m just waiting for things to break down into chaos. This much ancient, unstable magic coming into
Inc oming . . . .
THE GREAT SEATTLE ARTIFACT RUSH ... The elements of this chapter can be the focus of an entire
campaign, or elements from it can be inserted into an ongoing campaign with relative ease. The plot takes place in Seattle, but can be easily transposed into almost any large city to fit the needs of the campaign.
Most of the artifacts being discovered are generally useless.
They’re relics, and while most of them maintain a magical aura, showing that they once held some kind of force, their power is long gone. They’re interesting artifacts to research, and while it’s possible that they could unlock hidden knowledge, the chances of them being powerful magical items are slim. Those magic items that hold true power are likely either so foreign to modern understanding of magic that they are impossible to unlock, or they require a specialized ritual or rare and unusual conditions to activate (such as during the fourth full moon of the year, or for two minutes each month).
During the Great Artifact Rush, the major parties all play off each other, vying for the characters’ attentions and loyalties.
They each keep a close eye out on each other and have spies in each other’s organizations, so they know almost immediately when characters interact with other organizations or parties.
Each faction has a key representative, listed below, and these representatives can become contacts and fixers that the runners directly work for and with, putting a personal face to what are often large and faceless organizations.
The Draco Foundation and the Atlantean Foundations are directly opposed to each other, and each is trying to gain access to the same resources. Likewise, Lin Yao Change and Simon Andrews are both gathering the same information, and are indirectly opposing each other. What one group gets, the other wants. Early on in the campaign, the player characters may be wooed by both organizations, each offering similar payments and compensation for jobs. As the campaign plays out, though, the runners will find it more and more difficult to stay neutral. Every time they work for one side, they make the opposing side unhappy, and eventually will make enemies of one group of the other.
Early in the campaign, Simon and Lin Yao simply watch.
They will offer the runners a retainer or a bounty for information, copies of data reports, or for the chance to examine an artifact before it’s handed over to the foundations. Later in the campaign, they may begin to get more actively involved as their respective dragon masters desire. Particularly powerful magical artifacts would peak their attention, and anything that the dragons might believe is too powerful for mortals to control would require them to move in and try to get their hands on it, leading them to hire the runners to help them acquire it, or work in opposition to the runners and attempt to acquire it on their own.
A number of shadowrun teams are involved with the Artifact Rush on all sides, and if the runners find themselves working for one group on a regular basis, one or more rival teams could begin opposing them regularly operating on behalf of the other faction.
Likewise, any number of groups could be waiting in the wings to get involved and complicate things. Celedyr’s agents, the Apep Consortium, and Aztechnology could be just biding their time until something significant is found. The Order of the Temple, the Illuminates of the New Dawn, and a multitude of smaller magical groups could have an interest in a specific magical artifact, something that links to their group somehow or that
ovERvIEW
The Great Artifact Rush presents a clash between two large and powerful groups, the Draco Foundation and the Atlantean Foundation. In the wake of the events of the Dawn of the Artifacts adventures, numerous artifacts are being discovered around the world and these two groups have become very interested in getting their hands on as many as possible to study and unlock their secrets.
The foundations have bent considerable time, effort, and resources into acquiring artifacts and those capable of studying them.
Arcanoarcheologists and magical researchers are at the heart of the Foundations’ efforts. Both groups have been on a hiring spree to snap up anyone with the qualifications to help them, and when one groups beats the other to someone, the Foundations’
have been quick to turn to shadowrunners to extract the researcher and bring them over to the other side, playing a game of chess where they keep taking each other’s pieces. Likewise, smuggling, theft, and sabotage have become primary tools in the foundations’
fight. Sneaking artifacts in under the nose of the competition, stealing the artifacts and data from secure warehouses, and planting false data to sabotage their opponents efforts have all become routine.
Originally the two groups were operating solely in the shadows, but when an article by NewsNet makes their efforts public, both groups quickly decided the best course of action was to embrace it. They have both publicly proclaimed how the study of these ancient relics will revolutionize the world and change the way we look at both history and magic. The news agencies have seized upon this, and now every breakthrough and discovery, no matter how trivial, becomes the subject of a press conference as each group strives to outdo the other.
Inc oming . . . .
the region, all these shadowrunners getting involved, and all these interested parties in the mix? How could it not become a total clusterfrag at some point? Till then, I’ll keep my eyes on things and my scales well watered. There’s this fantastic little bar… well, you don’t need to hear about that.
I’ll keep filing my receipts for the bean counters, and I’ll have another report for you shortly.
>. Cheery.outlook.this.guy.has ..Though.he.sounds.like.a.riot ..
I.should.look.him.up ..You.say.he.hangs.out.at.the.Rubber.